A fast-paced, exuberant outing for the virtuoso clergyman and his numerous comrades.
In this 11th installment of a thriller series, a combat-trained pastor helps protect a Chinese golfer and his cleric father.
Xin Chen is a talented golfer currently on his first PGA Tour and admirably representing his home country of China. But some in the Chinese government are upset that he told the American media about the “hostility” his father, Ho Chen, has faced as a Lutheran pastor. Police officers later arrest Ho at his Shanghai church. Believing Xin is now in danger, United States President Adam Links recommends that CDM International Strategies and Security, a team run by former CIA operative (and his secret fiancee) Paige Caldwell, protect the golfer. Shockingly, Chinese Ministry of State Security agents target and critically wound Xin’s friend and caddy, Les Donaldson. As no one at CDM knows much about golf, Paige enlists pastor Stephen Grant, an old CIA pal, as Xin’s new caddy and bodyguard. Chinese President Bo Liang already has Xin in his sights but now has further incentive, as two decades ago, Stephen and Paige were part of a CIA operation in Taipei that killed the leader’s half brother. While Paige wants to send CDM members to China to extract Ho from prison, covert MSS teams in America become assassins aimed at Stephen, Xin, and any loved ones in their proximity. As in preceding volumes, this book is jam-packed with characters, most of whom are returning players. Keating (Shifting Sands, 2018, etc.) proficiently manages them along with appealing new faces, such as the Chens and Donaldson. Correspondingly, there are intimidating foes, including MSS officer Kang Wu, who survived the Taipei mission and is just as tenacious as Liang. But while the author churns out his typically tight, enjoyable action sequences, stretches of the narrative center on golfers in the field. These brisk scenes are never tedious, but they probably won’t attract new fans to the sport. Nevertheless, when the action does hit, it’s exhilarating, and Stephen proves once again he’s as capable in fights as he is in quieter times of prayer and worship.
A fast-paced, exuberant outing for the virtuoso clergyman and his numerous comrades.Pub Date: July 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-07-308843-0
Page Count: 453
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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