The novel begins in 1950 in the Kotlar home in Washington, D.C., as young Nick tries to make sense of the masses of reporters who have gathered outside his house. Though his parents struggle to shield him from the truth, he inadvertently sees a newsreel that reveals his father's predicament: State Department undersecretary Walter Kotlar is under the intense scrutiny of Congressman Kenneth Welles of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Kanon perfectly captures the sensibilities of a child with a parent in peril; disbelieving Nick becomes a fledgling spy, trying to erase any clues in his home that might support Welles and his committee. But one night, after an explosive conversation with Nick's mother, his father disappears. That same night, the woman who had accused Walter Kotlar of spying commits suicide--or was she murdered? In 1953, Mr. Kotlar gives a press conference from Moscow announcing his defection. The book then moves to London in 1969, where Nick meets a young woman who tells him that not only is his father still alive but he has been keeping tabs on his son for the 19 years since he fled to the Soviet Union. This revelation draws Nick into a meeting with the seriously ill elder Kotlar and propels Nick into some intelligence gathering of his own--to uncover the man who caused Walter Kotlar's defection and who killed his father's accuser. With The Prodigal Spy, Kannon has once again breathed new life into spy fiction. --Patrick O'Kelley
]]>When his school bus crashes, teenage karate star Rando is sent into a coma. A year later he wakes up to find that his disfigured face has been reconstructed in the image of his secret crush, Rina! Not knowing what Rando originally looked like, the mad plastic surgeon Dr. Manabe used a photo in Rando's pocket as the model for his reconstructive surgery. Abandoned by his friends and parents, the all-new Rando is mistaken for his would-be girlfriend's long-lost twin sister and adopted into her family. Can he put aside his feelings and be a good "big sister" to Rina...when he's still a teenage boy from the waist down?
]]>Obwohl Adams Freundin Claudia einmal bemerkt, das alte Venedig mit seinem Karneval, den Masken und Fächern gebe es nicht mehr, so ist es doch genau dieser Eindruck, den Kanon dem Leser von der Stadt vermittelt. Hinter der Maske der Frivolität und der ausgelassenen Feste scheint ein jeder die eigene Vergangenheit verbergen zu wollen. Diese kollektive Amnesie funktioniert jedoch nur so lange wie kein Außenstehender das geschlossene System stört. Kanons Roman liest sich beinahe wie ein Drehbuch. Mit einer außergewöhnlich plastischen Sprache beschwört er ein nebliges, marodes und geheimnisvolles Venedig herauf, dessen dichte Atmosphäre den Leser sofort gefangen nimmt. Die tragischen zwischenmenschlichen Verwicklungen erreichen ein atemberaubendes Tempo, so dass der Leser kaum noch Zeit hat, sich über seine eigene Meinung zu Kanons Fragen nach Schuld und Vergebung im Klaren zu werden. Stadt ohne Gedächtnis ist sowohl ein fesselnden Thriller als auch eine dramatische Liebesgeschichte; ein Roman auf höchstem Niveau. --Nathalie Schwering
]]>