At once a charming exploration of small-town life and a realistically heartbreaking depiction of Alzheimer’s disease.
A 20-something takes over caring for her aging father and suspects he may be able to see the future.
Cricket Campbell is 26 but considers herself “essentially a larva.” She lives in New York City and works as an assistant at a company similar to Goop. Her father, Arthur, has Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a lake house in the Adirondacks, where her older sister, Nina, handles his care. When Nina is offered a postdoctoral position in Stockholm, she says it’s time to sell the house and move their father into a memory care facility. But Cricket, ready for a big change, decides this is the moment to step up. She quits her job and moves into the house to take over her dad’s care, even though she’s avoided the lake since she was a teenager because of a tragedy that fractured her relationship with her father. Arthur may not remember who Cricket is, but he’s oddly prescient, predicting the future on more than one occasion. As Cricket adjusts to being a caretaker and tries to find a source of income, Arthur (somewhat accidentally) becomes famous for his clairvoyance, at first locally and then on a much larger scale. Hoen deals with the harsh realities of Alzheimer’s while still creating an atmosphere that’s cozy and welcoming. As Cricket puts it, Alzheimer’s “has the capacity to be both devastating and hilarious, and those who witness it learn to live in limbo, because there’s nowhere else to live.” Cricket’s quarter-life crisis forces her to grow up, finally come out of her shell, and realize that there’s value in community and forgiveness. The lakeside town is reminiscent of Gilmore Girls, with a cast of quirky but well-meaning characters who pitch in to help Cricket and her father. Hoen delicately handles the slow-moving grief of Alzheimer’s as Arthur’s health declines. It’s especially moving to see Cricket realize that the love her father has for her can transcend his own limitations—and their past.
At once a charming exploration of small-town life and a realistically heartbreaking depiction of Alzheimer’s disease.Pub Date: Dec. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9781250276797
Page Count: 288
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: yesterday
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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