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THE SUN SINGER

A studied and thoughtful religious novel.

De Laine presents a heady novel about Jesus’ possible return to Earth.

In 2035, a journalist named Ethan Tellinger ventures to a refugee camp in Jenin in the West Bank. He’s there to interview a person whom some are calling “the Forever Man.” However, Ethan comes to think of him as “Denim Guy”—a reference to the man’s choice of shirt. Whatever name one uses, the stranger is rumored to be Jesus himself, which, as Ethan puts it, “sounds crazy because it is crazy.” Nonetheless, the journalist spends time with Denim Guy to investigate the matter. The two travel the world, and wherever Denim Guy goes, from the Vatican to Florida’s Jacksonville Correctional Center, he quickly wins over those around him. Indeed, people often tell him their life stories. However, although he even convinces the pope of his legitimacy, he’s not without his detractors. He’s not exactly keen on wealthy megachurches, for instance, and those that lead them have their doubts about the stranger; after all, they’d always been led to believe that there would be more fanfare when Jesus returned. Meanwhile, Ethan has a pressing problem of his own: His son is terminally ill. If Denim Guy is truly so powerful, why doesn’t he save Ethan’s boy? Much of the novel is made up of scenes of Denim Guy speaking on faith, as when he asserts that the “rules and regulations” in the Bible aren’t a burden, “because in me, anyone can do this, but apart from me, they can do nothing.” He explains such issues carefully, allowing readers to reflect on the meaning of Scripture in the modern world. However, the action is generally kept to a minimum. Although Denim Guy faces danger, including at the hands of an unsavory warlord, he always emerges unscathed, and his identity isn’t much of a mystery. Still, other questions do effectively remain, such as the fate of Ethan’s son, and what the world will look like when Denim Guy is finished shaking things up.

A studied and thoughtful religious novel.

Pub Date: June 30, 2024

ISBN: 9798869217318

Page Count: 204

Publisher: Argonaut Books

Review Posted Online: May 1, 2024

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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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THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE

Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.

Life lessons.

Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.

Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.

Pub Date: July 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-345-46750-7

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004

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