A lively cast of shady characters headlines this energetic tale.
A fiery onslaught and a devastating accident rock a nation in this third installment of Kyzer’s crime-thriller series.
Early on in this novel, Tommy Lorenz executes a very specific attack in downtown Athenia City. While masked, he uses a flamethrower to torch a local store, which ends in a fatality. Upon hearing of the incident, Tommy’s twin brother, Jimmy, a wildly popular livestreamer, rightly guesses that his sibling is responsible, but doesn’t know where he currently is or what his motivation was. Not long afterward, elsewhere in the Athenian Union, a serious road accident results in “raging fires and smoke-covered skies.” It turns out that there’s more to these incidents than there initially appears; indeed, there’s a good chance that other seemingly unrelated events—one region wants to build a pipeline; three prisoners make a daring escape; a degenerate gambler loses millions—are, in fact, connected. Jimmy just wants to find his brother, if he can, and get some answers. At first, Kyzer’s brisk novel feels like a string of disjointed subplots, but they’re each entertaining on their own; a standout is an interrogation scene featuring gruff but charming Hieronymus “Old Man” Kelski, whom authorities suspect of harboring the escaped convicts. Although this somber tale is rife with deception and betrayal, it’s also frequently tongue-in-cheek. For example, its fictional pop-culture nods (which sometimes include footnotes) are delightful, whether they’re referencing a decades-old TV show or a classic comedy duo. Moreover, Kyzer’s series entry offers a scathing take on commercialism, as when a newscaster recites a promotional ad immediately after a tragic story, or when names of organizations, drinks, or weapons are registered trademarks. Most of the characters and subplots tie together by the final act, but in dizzyingly fun and unpredictable ways.
A lively cast of shady characters headlines this energetic tale.Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781038313249
Page Count: 174
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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