Reilly says he had to self-publish Contest “after every major publisher in Sydney rejected it.” Those editors should keep...
The Australian author of three breathlessly plotted action thrillers (Area 7, 2002, etc.) unveils what was his first novel.
You’d think a bunch of highly advanced aliens would find some other place in the galaxy to hold a gory death match than the 42nd Street New York Public Library, and that they’d pick someone other than radiologist Stephen Swain to represent the human race. A brainy, good-natured widower who quelled a violent disturbance a few weeks back (and thus gained the approval of extraterrestrial watchers), Swain finds himself teleported into the library, unwitting and unarmed, from his Long Island home, with his eight-old daughter, Holly, in his arms. There, a fussy, four-foot humanoid named Selexin spends far too many pages explaining the contest rules, which are, basically, that the last of the seven species to survive has to kill the Karandon, a big, stupid, hairy ape with claws, who has already shredded a library security guard. Oh, and Swain better not flee: the library is enclosed in a lethal electrical field and, even if Swain finds a way to disable it, a band on his wrist that he can’t remove will incinerate him if he’s outside the field for more than 15 minutes. Why 15 minutes? Why do all the creatures Swain has to fight resemble hokey Hollywood monsters from cheesy horror and science fiction shows? Why do aliens with such advanced technology use claws, knives, horns, fangs, mesmerizing antennae, or big ugly feet to kill their prey? Why does the National Security Agency send in a platoon of macho commandoes to investigate when New York’s Finest deals with illegal aliens all the time? Reilly has little concern for these and other preposterous plot holes, and, on page 89, he begins the inventive, highly contrived, breathtakingly executed mayhem that makes his thrillers such quick, mindless reads.
Reilly says he had to self-publish Contest “after every major publisher in Sydney rejected it.” Those editors should keep their jobs.Pub Date: March 10, 2003
ISBN: 0-312-28625-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
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
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
