“...[T]he author effectively exposes the vulnerabilities and insecurities that older people, particularly women, face in today’s society.” from feisty old ladies
Feisty Old Ladies
complex; characters like Ruby’s mother and best friend, Charlie, achieve beautiful realization. Whether Strick’s final reveal is garish or truly shocking will be up to the reader—but it is executed masterfully. A clear new voice offering a startling, memorable debut.
Jackson Place
Taylor, John H. CreateSpace (312 pp.) $11.48 paper | $2.99 e-book | Jul. 17, 2014 978-1-4995-3083-4 A historical novel that cleverly postulates an alternate reality in which President Richard Nixon refuses to resign. The author, former chief of staff to Nixon, is well-positioned to pen a novel based on Nixon’s drama-ridden presidency. Taylor’s second book (Patterns of Abuse, 1988) follows the events on the day Nixon announced his intention to vacate the White House in 1974. In this version, without informing his closest advisers, Nixon decides to remain in the Oval Office. In order to properly defend himself against his Watergate accusers, the president invokes the 25th Amendment, which allows him to temporarily hand over his executive powers to Vice President Gerald Ford. Only one person, an unheralded and green staffer, Emily Weissman, seems to be in the know; Nixon asked her to help him craft his bombshell remarks. What ensues is the chaos that often accompanies uncertainty. Will Nixon’s unprecedented transfer of power generate the appearance of national weakness, potentially emboldening North Vietnam to defy a standing peace accord with the South? Will a battered Republican Party, likely to lose even more ground in the upcoming congressional elections, be further demoralized or find renewal in Nixon’s intransigence? Even mundane practical matters seem difficult to settle decisively: Does the Constitution mandate that Ford be sworn in? Emily, a staunch Nixon loyalist, is the beating heart of the narrative, rising to the challenge of historymaking. And to complicate matters, she falls for a calculating Reagan operative who takes the other side in an internecine war brewing within the Republican Party. The prose is razor-sharp and historically astute, and the dialogue is crisp and witty. Consider this gem from the staff secretary at the National Security Council; he’s talking to the White House operator after Nixon handed the baton to Ford: “ ‘This is Mr. Szabados at the NSC. May I please speak with the president?’ ‘Which one?’ she said. ‘The one who bombed Cambodia.’ ” An artfully rendered, suspenseful look at an imaginary turn in Nixon’s presidency.
Weitz, Cynthia CreateSpace (330 pp.) $13.95 paper | $3.99 e-book | Jun. 6, 2014 978-1-4974-6207-6 Sexy senior socialite Margot Manning makes friends and investigates suspicious deaths during her short-term stay at the Shady Palms life-care center in this mystery debut. Injured after falling off her stilettos, Weitz’s 65-year-old heroine must recover for a spell at the Shady Palms senior care complex, not far from her home in Laguna Hills, California. Her boyfriend, Hans, a Danish former race car driver, reassures her that she’s as beautiful as ever. Unfortunately, Margot’s disgruntled nephew, Rudy, seizes this opportunity to move into her house and apply to be conservator of her estate, claiming she can’t manage her own affairs. Margot is shocked when the case is treated seriously at an initial hearing and annoyed when Hans keeps suggesting that she use Diana, a younger, attractive neighbor, as her attorney. She retains another lawyer, who encourages her to do volunteer work at Shady Palms to demonstrate her responsibility. Margot forms friendships with other residents and initiates group activities, including makeovers and a trip to a museum. Then a series of incidents (two deaths, one coma) occurs in the area overseen by mean head nurse Helga. While Hans advises her not to meddle and suggests that her sleuthing could be risky, Margot checks herself in and out of Shady Palms to pursue various leads that include meeting up with Rick, a local, handsome golf pro. By the novel’s end, Margot and other female residents create an ambush to solve the mystery, after which the heroine gets back on track with her life. Weitz has admirably created a senior sleuth who is not a Miss Marple type but instead a fun-loving fashionista who likes to flirt and (gasp!) have sex. Through her nursing-home setting and conservator subplot, the author effectively exposes the vulnerabilities and insecurities that older people, particularly women, face in today’s society. Weitz never lets this occasionally meandering narrative stay downbeat for long, however, and leaves readers looking forward to the next adventures featuring this lively, life-affirming protagonist. An affecting, amusing whodunit that defies ageist stereotypes.
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kirkus.com
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indie
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1 october 2014
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143