A navel-gazing but forthright and entertaining spiritual novel.
A veteran cop questions Jesus Christ about the darkness and human suffering he’s seen during his 30 years on the job in LoRusso’s (The World Class Rainmaker, 2012, etc.) novel.
Deputy chief of police Scotty Painter suddenly finds himself in a world of near-perfect serenity, featuring clean air, lush fields, and endless beaches, where he’s finally able to relax the constant vigilance that comes with being a cop. Jesus Christ—here, a wry, loving, reassuring agent of a merciful God—joins him as he struggles with the horrors he’s witnessed in his long career in law enforcement, as well as the fact that he had to take lives in the line of duty. Scotty questions whether he’s done enough with his life; he’s a man who feels his failures more deeply than his successes, fearing that his greatest achievements—such as stopping an abusive husband, training and supporting his fellow officers, and establishing a special counseling program—weren’t enough. LoRusso wrote extensively about officer-involved shootings in his 2013 book When Cops Kill, and in his first work of fiction, he couples that real-world knowledge with a spiritual focus. He presents Scotty as an unimpeachable officer who still wrestles morally with using lethal force. The book’s conversation-with-God approach feels pat. However, the author has a knack for action scenes, keeping them exciting but never exploitative; even in flashbacks, the danger feels very real. Scotty experiences bouts of sudden sleep and pain throughout the narrative, which provides a clue to why he has an audience with Jesus and offers a nice metaphor for life itself. There are some underused story elements, such as the death of Scotty’s father when he was a child, the recent loss of his wife, and his relationship with their daughter, Celina, which take a back seat to tales of his work as a cop.
A navel-gazing but forthright and entertaining spiritual novel.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61005-688-5
Page Count: 140
Publisher: BookLogix
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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