A fresh concept and protagonist that breathe life into a conventional but exciting actioner.
In Marquis’ debut thriller, a man hoping to confront the author who plagiarized his unpublished work winds up in the middle of a CIA operation to take down Russian mobsters.
Unemployed geologist Nick Lassiter knows one thing for sure: the story portrayed in the new film Subterranean Storm is highly similar to his unpublished manuscript, Blind Thrust. Convinced that celebrated author Cameron Beckett, whose latest novel was the movie’s source text, pilfered his story, Nick and his pals head to New York. Nick just wants an apology from Beckett, but causing a scene at a book signing indirectly incites the Russian Mafia. They’ve got their hooks in Beckett’s agent, Anton De Benedictis, whose gambling brother has racked up significant debt. Nick’s CIA father, Austin Brewbaker, is working an operation involving De Benedictis and the Russians, but he struggles to keep his son, his son’s friends, and Nick’s ex-girlfriend—and CIA asset—Natalie Perkins safe. There’s a lot going on in Marquis’ book, as the author smartly builds off a solid premise. De Benedictis, for one, is also Natalie’s boss, while Nick has issues to work out with his ex as well as his estranged father. Nick’s initial goal seems over-the-top—he treks from Denver to the Big Apple just for Beckett to explain himself—but it’s actually quite reasonable. Nick is a realist and knows that a lawsuit against Beckett will likely go nowhere; readers, meanwhile, know without a doubt that Beckett indeed got his novel idea from Nick’s manuscript (courtesy of a slush pile). Russian thugs, with Alexei Popov at the helm, become a stronger presence in the story’s latter half, a decidedly more intense (albeit a smidge less original) turn that features Austin, and even Nick and Natalie, engaged in gunfights and a riveting car chase with the Russians. The story can occasionally be repetitive: Beckett is frequently compared to James Patterson, and Nick et al. either discuss their hastily created group (the title’s namesake) or chant its moniker a few too many times. Still, in Nick, unpublished authors have a formidable ally.
A fresh concept and protagonist that breathe life into a conventional but exciting actioner.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-943593-00-2
Page Count: 373
Publisher: Mountain Sopris Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Above-average formula fiction, making full display of the author’s strong suits: sense of place, compassion for characters...
Female rivalry is again the main preoccupation of Hannah’s latest Pacific Northwest sob saga (Firefly Lane, 2008, etc.).
At Water’s Edge, the family seat overlooking Hood Canal, Vivi Ann, youngest and prettiest of the Grey sisters and a champion horsewoman, has persuaded embittered patriarch Henry to turn the tumbledown ranch into a Western-style equestrian arena. Eldest sister Winona, a respected lawyer in the nearby village of Oyster Shores, hires taciturn ranch hand Dallas Raintree, a half-Native American. Middle sister Aurora, stay-at-home mother of twins, languishes in a dull marriage. Winona, overweight since adolescence, envies Vivi, whose looks get her everything she wants, especially men. Indeed, Winona’s childhood crush Luke recently proposed to Vivi. Despite Aurora’s urging (her principal role is as sisterly referee), Winona won’t tell Vivi she loves Luke. Yearning for Dallas, Vivi stands up Luke to fall into bed with the enigmatic, tattooed cowboy. Winona snitches to Luke: engagement off. Vivi marries Dallas over Henry’s objections. The love-match triumphs, and Dallas, though scarred by child abuse, is an exemplary father to son Noah. One Christmas Eve, the town floozy is raped and murdered. An eyewitness and forensic evidence incriminate Dallas. Winona refuses to represent him, consigning him to the inept services of a public defender. After a guilty verdict, he’s sentenced to life without parole. A decade later, Winona has reached an uneasy truce with Vivi, who’s still pining for Dallas. Noah is a sullen teen, Aurora a brittle but resigned divorcée. Noah learns about the Seattle Innocence Project. Could modern DNA testing methods exonerate Dallas? Will Aunt Winona redeem herself by reopening the case? The outcome, while predictable, is achieved with more suspense and less sentimental histrionics than usual for Hannah.
Above-average formula fiction, making full display of the author’s strong suits: sense of place, compassion for characters and understanding of family dynamics.Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-312-36410-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2008
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.
Passion, friendship, heartbreak, and forgiveness ring true in Lovering's debut, the tale of a young woman's obsession with a man who's "good at being charming."
Long Island native Lucy Albright, starts her freshman year at Baird College in Southern California, intending to study English and journalism and become a travel writer. Stephen DeMarco, an upperclassman, is a political science major who plans to become a lawyer. Soon after they meet, Lucy tells Stephen an intensely personal story about the Unforgivable Thing, a betrayal that turned Lucy against her mother. Stephen pretends to listen to Lucy's painful disclosure, but all his thoughts are about her exposed black bra strap and her nipples pressing against her thin cotton T-shirt. It doesn't take Lucy long to realize Stephen's a "manipulative jerk" and she is "beyond pathetic" in her desire for him, but their lives are now intertwined. Their story takes seven years to unfold, but it's a fast-paced ride through hookups, breakups, and infidelities fueled by alcohol and cocaine and with oodles of sizzling sexual tension. "Lucy was an itch, a song stuck in your head or a movie you need to rewatch or a food you suddenly crave," Stephen says in one of his point-of-view chapters, which alternate with Lucy's. The ending is perfect, as Lucy figures out the dark secret Stephen has kept hidden and learns the difference between lustful addiction and mature love.
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6964-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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