A caustic, mordant depiction of the war in Ukraine with a true underdog as hero.
A courier’s risky mission to steal a package from an oligarch leads him back to his native Ukraine in Stelmach’s novel.
Though his origin story is a remarkable one, involving a rather notorious place in Ukraine, Adam lives in New York, working as something like a courier. His uncle Victor persuades him to deliver a package to Warsaw. First, though, he has to steal the package out of an oligarch’s safe in Switzerland. The job pays $500,000, but Adam has some reservations: He doesn’t work east of Poland or in countries with a dictator or without a McDonald’s. On the other hand, the money will move him closer to financial security and an imagined perfect life. (“To hell and back for an apartment in Florence.”) In Switzerland, he secures the package, but not before his Chernobyl-bred superhuman power becomes apparent: He can grab people and experience their memories. He uses this to his advantage, but a problem arises when a woman, masquerading as his ex, steals the package. He heads to Poland in search of her but, inevitably, ends up in war-torn Ukraine. Masquerading as a German, Adam relentlessly pursues the package, hoping against hope it might help end the brutal conflict. Fans of Stelmach’s earlier novels, particularly The Boy from Reactor 4 (2011), will recognize Adam, the radiation-scarred Ukrainian who is now a death-defying courier. In a compelling story that manages to blend spy and caper scenes with wartime atrocities and even some dark humor, the author is unafraid to confront the more unpleasant side of humanity and its subsequent body count. The action is fast-paced and the story doesn’t linger in one place too long. Stelmach’s impressive ability to get inside the heads of his characters to reveal their secrets, their memories, and their motivations gives unique insight into both the narrative and the war.
A caustic, mordant depiction of the war in Ukraine with a true underdog as hero.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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