http://www.epinions.com/content_18885...

Recommend: No

Pros:
Strong characterization (for the most part), somewhat interesting story but

Cons:
not an interesting read. Multiple POV is distracting, book is confused and cluttered.

The Bottom Line:
Nancy Kress can write very good short stories, but I do not recommend this book as a method to sample her work. The multiple POV method is annoying.

Full Review:
A book told from many points of view. Points of view: 1) A young woman experiences a major shock when her friend is run down by a car, right in front of her, and decides to give up the Vegas showgirl life to return home and go to college. 2) A relatively young FBI agent wants to head up his own case, and might have gotten more than he can handle when he is tasked with investigating a biotech company and its possible mafia connections. 3) A woman is worried that her husband is cheating on her. The husband is a top DNA scientist and has just been offered a great high paying job with a biotech firm. Suddenly the husband is dead and the woman falls apart. Eventually she pulls herself together and tries to track down the killer. 4) Meanwhile a father struggles to stay sober, stay in his job and gain back his children and ex-wife. The children and ex-wife are members of a cult that the father fears might have started sacrificing humans.

Author: Nancy Kress
Title: Oaths and Miracles
Series: FBI Agent Robert Cavanaugh (sequel - 1998's Stinger)
Place in Series: 1st

Books Read by Author: only this one
Book Average Rating: 3.80
Short Stories: 13
Short Story Average Rating: 3.76
Short Story Highest Rated: 4.90
Short Story Lowest Rated: 3.00
Read Author Again?: In book form, not likely.
Quick Note: POV = Point of View - the story is told from the point of view of a particular character (or narrator).

Plot: The book is told from the point of view of four characters and the story unfolds through their "eyes."

The book opens with a Vegas show-girl stumbling down the stairs during a performance (the person in front of her on the stairs keeps her from failing completely). She appears glassy-eyed, and maybe drugged. Eventually she completes the fall by slumping forward and sitting down on the steps. The girl behind her in the line steps down onto her, and the entire line on that side of the stage ends up collapsed on the stage. The singer continues singing (red-faced), and the other line of dancers continues to dance. The stage manager drags the drugged looking girl off the stage and deposits her in the bathroom. The girl's friend, a fellow female dancer, searches for her, finds her and drags her from the building (oh, and the stage manager informs this friend that the girl is fired). Apparently, the glassy-eyed dancer isn't on drugs but is in fact in a state of shock. Her boyfriend was murdered that day and the girl believes that she is next. The friend shoves her into a car and drives to the airport. Once at the airport, they head toward the entrance, but the friend returns to her car because she forgot something. Just then, a car picks up speed and slams into the glassy-eyed, now dead, girl. The girl's friend (whose name is unfortunately forgotten by me) is one POV (1), but a very minor character. Another character, a much larger character, and another POV, interviews the girl.

FBI Agent Robert Cavanaugh (POV 2) was in Vegas on other business and was the closest agent. Cavanaugh interviews the girl but can't get anything out of her, except that the girl plans to leave immediately, return home, and enroll in college. After that interview Cavanaugh returns to Washington DC.

Meanwhile, a husband and wife were also in Vegas and are also on their way back to the east coast. The wife (Judy O'Brien Kozinski; POV 3) is another POV and major character. Dr. Ben Kozinski is a very handsome intelligent and prominent DNA scientist who is in Las Vegas to present a paper. Judy, a very insincere woman that can't stop nagging her husband nor thinking that she isn't really good enough for him, is in Vegas to interview a prominent scientist (she is a science reporter). While in Vegas, Ben receives a very good offer to join a struggling biotech firm. The husband and wife fly back to the east coast, the husband interviews for the job, and shortly afterward, he ends up dead.

Right before Ben is murdered (the fact of his death has already been mentioned in the book by this point, the book goes backwards in time, somewhat, to get the FBI's story), FBI Agent Cavanaugh is informed of a potential mafia connection with this particular biotech company and is sent off to investigate (one of the pieces of evidence is an anonymous tip sent in that mentions the possible connections, and warns that Ben Kozinski should be warned off). Right as Cavanaugh is leaving the office to head up to the biotech company, a phone call is received notifying the agent's that Ben is dead. Cavanaugh heads to New Jersey and interviews Judy.

Later both Cavanaugh and Judy separately search for Ben's killer, while Cavanaugh is also trying to tie the biotech company to the mafia (referred to in the book as "The Relatives"). Judy uses the investigative skills of a science reporter to attempt to track down her husband's killer. Judy works alone and her questions disturb the criminals enough that Judy finds herself on the run for her life. Cavanaugh, on the other hand, works inside the FBI and has a lot of help (including from other government agencies and local police).

The fourth POV, whose storyline started earlier in the book, is one Wendell Botts. Mr. Botts had been a drunk and abusive man who broke his own little girl’s arm and ended up in jail. Oh, and at the time, he was a member of the “Soldiers of the Divine Covenant” cult that really hates blood (can’t get blood transfusions, can’t eat meat, etc.) but likes ritualistically sacrificing animals. Botts isn’t a member of the pacifist Soldiers anymore, but his ex-wife, daughter, and young son are still members. Botts has tried to clean up, he has stopped drinking, goes nightly to AA meetings and has a steady construction job (he’s saving up his paychecks to show his worth). Botts wants to get his wife and children back, but at the moment, only gets very brief visitation rights (the kids visit him, the unpure are not allowed on Soldiers property). Somewhere along the line, Botts gets it into his head that the Soldiers are now conducting human sacrifice and tries to spread the news to the media. Eventually some in the media pay attention to him, but in the end, this doesn’t help him retrieve his kids. Yes, this particular POV thread does in fact eventually interact with two others (the now college student POV thread is very small, and never intersects Bott’s POV thread).

The book continues . . .

One point of view, the ex-Vegas showgirl's, comes from a very thin character, and her section just barely qualifies as her POV. Though FBI Agent Cavanaugh's character continues on to a sequel, his character's point of view and "screen time" is about equal to Judy's section of the book. Botts "screen time" falls somewhat short of Judy and Cavanaugh's.

Review: The various POV threads are distracting and annoying, and none of the characters are very interesting (or someone I would like to read about - follow for a full book). Judy is too whiny, the ex-Vegas show-girl's part is too small and thin to get a handle on, the FBI Agent is too full of himself and anti-lawyer, while Botts swears too much. Three of the main POV characters are fully formed, with just the ex-Vegas show-girl ending up having a rather thin cipher-like character. The story structure is annoying, and the plot is somewhat absurd. Overall, I am very disappointed that I ever started to read this book and would highly recommend readers to skip this book (but I would recommend that readers try to find and sample Kress' short stories, because Kress does, occasionally, know how to write good stories). Overall, I would give the book 3.80 stars. ( )