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THE TIGER'S EYE

ANGELS IN MUMBAI

A gripping spiritual tale with a memorable real-life setting.

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An American-founded ministry group in India faces a band of terrorists in this Christian thriller sequel.

Andrew Morrison helped start The Call, a Christian movement in the United States. Now that it has gone worldwide, Andrew and his family and friends plan to spend two years in India to aid in developing the Global Calling Ministry. Sadly, not everyone welcomes the Americans’ religious message. A radicalized militia against the West and “any formal religion” launches a devastating terrorist strike at a crowded Global Calling event. Meanwhile, seven guardian angels “protect the chosen”—presumably individuals serving God in any capacity. The angels can’t prevent the terrorist attack but may be able to help when one of the culprits, Sanjay Swaminathan, seems to have a change of heart. Intelligence agencies can use him to take down the faction, which brutally trained him and other recruits at a camp. Sanjay’s role becomes even more important once terrorists kidnap members of the Global Calling, including someone close to Andrew. While the authorities take on militia operatives and angels battle demons, good strives to triumph over evil. As with Delaney’s preceding book, The Shaft (2018), the supernatural facet doesn’t overwhelm the plot. The angels act more like guides; they visit Sanjay, who merely surmises what their nonverbal presence means. This supports a notable theme of divine will; even the angels don’t know God’s plan. As Andrew and his family settle in India, the author vividly describes the country, from the bad (unpleasant smells) to the wonderful (its linguistic diversity and stunning landmarks). Nevertheless, the Morrisons, prominently featured in the series opener, take a back seat this time despite Andrew’s periodically narrating. They contribute little to the suspenseful, action-oriented final act, which focuses on rescuing the abductees. Sanjay is the standout among the cast; he earns sympathy both during his recruitment and after the terrorist attack.

A gripping spiritual tale with a memorable real-life setting.

Pub Date: May 31, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-66-280910-1

Page Count: 362

Publisher: Xulon Press

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021

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THE WOMEN

A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.

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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

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DEVOLUTION

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

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Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).

A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Pub Date: June 16, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine

Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020

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