The story moves forward, but the journey is uninspired.
Samantha Collins is shocked when her grandfather leaves her his auto turbocharger empire; even worse, he expects her to get Collins Industries back on track with Dillon Montgomery, the man she’s secretly loved since she was 13.
Abe Collins was always a stubborn man, but on his deathbed, he can see a few things clearly: That he’s made some serious mistakes playing it safe; that his company is in trouble because of it; and that there’s no way he can trust his elder son, Evan, to put it right. That leaves Samantha, orphaned daughter of his younger son William, who died in a plane crash with his wife when Sam was a teen. Now she’s a bright young woman, and Abe knows she can turn the company around with help from Dillon Montgomery, a true automobile visionary and son of Abe’s secretary, Marlene. So Abe changes his will the day before he dies, leaving the company to Samantha and Dillon, expecting them to put their heads together and save Collins Industries. Of course, this move does not sit well with Evan and his family, and in fact, it’s uncomfortable for Sam and Dillon, too, since they shared an awkward encounter years ago, soon after Sam lost her parents. When the will is read, everyone is stunned, but Samantha does as he asks to honor him, and Dillon can’t find it in him to abandon Sam. As the two work together to adjust the technologies that will put Collins back on the map, they find that there are other reasons for the company’s decline, and they’ll have to dig deeper to get answers. Using an outside CPA and Dillon’s friend Roman to audit the books sheds light on some financial mysteries while also bringing a new chance at love for Dillon’s mom and possibly creating danger for them all, forcing Sam and Dillon to face their attraction head-on. Conceptually, this plot sounds interesting, and there are some compelling details to the story. However, poor pacing and otherwise lackluster storytelling hinder what could be an engaging book.
The story moves forward, but the journey is uninspired.Pub Date: June 18, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-312-68163-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.
Coelho is a Brazilian writer with four books to his credit. Following Diary of a Magus (1992—not reviewed) came this book, published in Brazil in 1988: it's an interdenominational, transcendental, inspirational fable—in other words, a bag of wind.
The story is about a youth empowered to follow his dream. Santiago is an Andalusian shepherd boy who learns through a dream of a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. An old man, the king of Salem, the first of various spiritual guides, tells the boy that he has discovered his destiny: "to realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation." So Santiago sells his sheep, sails to Tangier, is tricked out of his money, regains it through hard work, crosses the desert with a caravan, stops at an oasis long enough to fall in love, escapes from warring tribesmen by performing a miracle, reaches the pyramids, and eventually gets both the gold and the girl. Along the way he meets an Englishman who describes the Soul of the World; the desert woman Fatima, who teaches him the Language of the World; and an alchemist who says, "Listen to your heart" A message clings like ivy to every encounter; everyone, but everyone, has to put in their two cents' worth, from the crystal merchant to the camel driver ("concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man"). The absence of characterization and overall blandness suggest authorship by a committee of self-improvement pundits—a far cry from Saint- Exupery's The Little Prince: that flagship of the genre was a genuine charmer because it clearly derived from a quirky, individual sensibility.
Coelho's placebo has racked up impressive sales in Brazil and Europe. Americans should flock to it like gulls.Pub Date: July 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-250217-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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