Lost December

October 15, 2011
The parable of the Prodigal Son reworked as a parable for Corporate America. Luke Crisp has always revered his father, Carl, self-made multi-millionaire founder and CEO of Crisp's Copy Centers, a burgeoning chain of print shops headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz. Carl is grooming Luke to take over the company, a goal that Luke has worked toward since managing several Crisp's locations as a teen. An MBA from the Wharton School, Carl decides, is just the polish his son needs. Luke reluctantly agrees. Once at Wharton, Luke falls in with a clique of East Coast sophisticates, led by Sean, dissolute son of a hedgie. Carl and Luke lose touch, as Luke embraces Sean's hard-drinking, free-spending lifestyle. After graduation, Sean suggests a whirlwind tour of Europe, where only the most expensive hotels, restaurants and entertainments will do. Almost immediately, Sean, pleading momentary illiquidity, persuades Luke to tap into his million-dollar trust fund. When he's forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to ransom Sean from casino thugs, Luke tries to escape, but one last Sean-fueled spending spree in Vegas instantly bankrupts Luke. Betrayed by friends and lovers and convinced that his father has disowned him, Luke joins the growing contingent of Las Vegas homeless people, until robbers take everything but his boxers. A passerby, Carlos, rescues Luke, providing him with a job and room and board at a nursing home. As Luke regains his self-respect doing menial chores, he takes a second job at the Vegas Crisp's, wowing supervisors with his expertise in all things Xerox. Without revealing his family connections, Luke moves up at the store and wins the trust of a disgruntled colleague, Rachael. When, however, Crisp's Corporate HQ abandons Carl's philosophy of caring for employees and starts laying off people in Vegas before their pensions vest, the prodigal son must return. Although Luke's downfall is a mesmerizing train wreck, his redemption is predictable and unearned. Worse, sentences like "Morning came early" abound. Wish-fulfillment for a blighted economy.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2011

Middle Eastern terrorists who think they're angels plan to blow the entire world sky-high, and their plan hinges on kidnapping an American scientist who possesses a pair of ancient stones that reputedly allow one to talk with God. Only the scientist's wife can save him; she has psychic power over the stones. If you loved the author's The Secret Supper, you'll probably love this, too.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2011
Evans offers up another heartwarming, feel-good tale in time for the holidays. Luke Crisp is the son of a successful business owner, a man who has built a copy-shop empire from scratch. Luke lost his mother at a young age, leaving his father, Carl, to raise Luke alone while running Crisp's Copy Centers. Luke starts working when he is in his teens, learning how the centers run and soaking in his father's strong work ethic. Carl hopes Luke will take over the company when he returns from Wharton Business School, but Luke soon falls in with a group of hard-partying students, led by the charismatic Sean. Rather than return to Arizona to work for his father upon graduation, Luke decides to travel to Europe with his girlfriend, Candace; Sean; and several of their friends. This proves to be a terrible mistake when Luke, with the help of Sean, runs through his trust fund and finds himself truly brokeand disowned by his father. Based on the parable of the prodigal son, Evans' latest is a touching redemption story. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Evans' Christmas novels always garner mega-attention.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)