The End of the World Running Club by Adrian Walker
Sourcebooks: 9/5/17
eBook review copy: 464 pages
ISBN-13:
9781492656029
The End of the World Running Club by Adrian Walker is a highly recommended post-apocalyptic thriller.
When an asteroid breaks apart showering meteors, destruction and doom
onto Earth, Edgar Hill of
Edinburgh, Scotland, must finally confront and face his
responsibilities, or lack thereof, as a husband and father. Before the
world ended, Edgar was an overweight, lazy, unhappy man, likely an
alcoholic, who left most of the responsibilities and sacrifices of
parenting young children up to his wife because, well, he was the one
who worked. (Yeah, right.) When the world ends he realizes he needs to
up his game, but is wholly unprepared to do so - until his wife and
children are whisked away in a helicopter and he has to cross 450 miles
of unknown chaos to try to reunite with them.
Edgar heads out traveling with a group of men and one soldier, a woman,
from
Edinburgh to Cornwall in hopes of finding his family and evacuating with
them on the boats. The boats are rumored to be taking people from
Cornwall and going south, to Australia, maybe, or South Africa, to
safety and civilization. Along the way the group encounters violence and
chaos. Edgar's endurance is tested once the group realizes that they
must head south on foot and that to make it, they must run.
This is really more of an end-of-the-world novel than a running to
survive novel. The running club doesn't actually start running until
half way through the novel. Before you get to the running though, you
see scenarios of how quickly the veneer of civilization falls away and
lawlessness, chaos and bedlam take over. It's kind of standard fare for
an end of the world novel, though, so it is also expected.
The End of the World Running Club is well written, with plenty of
gripping action along with reprehensible scenes and despicable actions.
It is an engrossing novel that will hold your attention to the end - as
any good apocalyptic novel should. I really liked the novel. The
problem is that I never grew to like Edgar. I felt like his family
might be better off without him.
I also understand that he was written as a disagreeable character; Edgar
tells us all his flaws and his feelings. He whines about his
inadequacies as a man, husband, and father. He is expected to miss his
family and, suddenly, he does after the world has ended and they have
been taken away from him. Sometimes it's easy to say you want something
or someone when they aren't there, in all their neediness, clinging, and
crying. I get it, the running club is representative of Edgar's
evolving and changing into the man he should have been. But... let me
just say that the ending was pitch perfect for me.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.
Fever by Deon Meyer
Grove Atlantic: 9/5/17
eBook review copy; 544 pages
ISBN-13:
9780802126627
Fever by Deon Meyer is a very highly recommended post-apocalyptic
thriller, survival tale, and coming-of-age story, set in South Africa.
Fever opens with Nico Martin at age forty-seven writing his
memoir, beginning with
"I want to tell you about my father's murder."
Then the story jumps back in time to when Nico was fourteen. He and his
father, Willem, are driving a truck filled with supplies, looking for a
safe place to live after the population was decimated by the fever, a
devastating coronavirus that wiped out 95% of the Earth’s
population in just a few months. Willem and Nico make their
way to the town of Vanderkloof, a town Willem knew before the epidemic,
and one that he feels will be a good location to start a new society.
It is in Vanderkloof that the town of Amanzi is founded and survivors
make their way to the town. Meyer introduces a wide variety of people as
the town grows. There are struggles and challenges to be faced between
factions within the town and from threatening biker gangs from the
outside. As he discovers what he views as his father's weaknesses, Nico
discovers his strengths and comes to the realization that he is going to
be his father's protector. It is in this changed post-apocalyptic world
that Nico recalls the beginning of his rite of passage to become the
man he is destined to be, while he remembers his father, the man he
loved who was murdered.
Integrated into the plot are parts of transcripts from the recorded
personal stories of survivors. This historical record not only tells the
detailed stories of others, it also adds to the richness of the
narrative, expanding the background information of what the reader
knows. These personal views from other survivors also tell about events
from different perspectives.
This is an extraordinary novel with wonderfully executed characters and a
compelling, intelligent plot. The characters are all well developed,
fully realized with a complexity and depth that is to be admired. Meyers
sets his characters into a detailed, intricate plot full of tension and
formidable obstacles and opponents making this sweeping epic novel a
page-turner that will keep you up way-too-late finishing. The ending was
a surprise, but perfect. I didn't have a clue until it was almost over.
Additionally, Meyers did research into several areas of his novel ( a
list of further reading is included) making the narrative a great
combination of facts and fictional storytelling. Along with other
readers, I do enjoy a well-researched novel, fiction or nonfiction. It
always adds an astute depth and intricacy to the plot.
An absolutely perfect stuck-overnight-at-the-airport book or, more
accurately, a stuck-glued-to-the-pages-where-ever-you-start-reading-it
book.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Grove Atlantic.
The Assault: Cycle Two of the Harbingers Series
by Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt, Bill Myers, Alton Gansky
Baker Publishing Group: 8/1/17
eBook review copy; 368 pages
ISBN-13:
9780764219757
The Assault: Cycle Two of the Harbingers Series by Frank Peretti, Angela
Hunt, Bill Myers, Alton Gansky is a highly recommended second
installment of the group-story.
This
volume contains the second collection of four interconnected stories in the Harbingers Series that started with Invitation. This is an
ongoing series
created by these Christian authors with additional stories already available. In the series a team of four widely
diverse people join together to use their individual skills.
The author's set up two rules for their collaboration:
Rule #1 Each author would write as one of the characters in
the series: Bill Myers's character is Brenda, the street-hustling tattoo
artist who sees images of the future. Frank Peretti's character is the
professor, the atheist ex-priest ruled by logic. Angela Hunt's character
is Andi, the professor’s brilliant but geeky assistant who sees
inexplicable patterns. Alton Gansky's character is Tank, the naïve,
big-hearted jock with a surprising connection to a healing power.
Rule #2 They would write the stories like a TV series with an
overarching storyline. The series part would be their individual
stories, novellas, written from their character’s point of view.
The stories in Cycle 2 of the Harbingers series continues the story of
four gifted strangers brought together to fight a growing darkness. From
the synopsis:
In
Bill Myers's "The Revealing," the team finds themselves in Rome trying
to retrieve the mystical spear Hitler once owned--the very spear that
pierced Christ's side. This task will take them from hidden chambers
inside the Vatican to a mysterious seaside cave with powers they could
never expect.
Frank Peretti's "Infestation" unleashes a
microscopic evil on the world that deceives, blinds, kills, then
spreads. The Harbingers team must confront a monster bent on seducing
and destroying mankind.
In "Infiltration" by Angela Hunt, the team
is wounded and barely holding together. Forced to split up, they
realize their investigations have led them into dangerous waters.
Alton
Gansky's "The Fog" unleashes a supernatural mist unlike any other.
There are vicious things in the fog that kill whatever they find. One
team member realizes that the ultimate sacrifice may have to be made.
I enjoyed this second installment of the series a bit more than the
first, probably due simply to knowing the characters already and what
they are facing and also understanding what how the authors are
collaborating on the series. Additionally, I also felt that this cycle
of stories was stronger than the first, but, again, they are building on
the previous stories.
As I noted before there are pros and cons to this collaboration. Since
these are four individual short stories are written like a TV series
with the same characters, each story stands alone while also working
with the others to create a larger overwhelming story arch. This makes
it
easy to quickly read one story and know the next one will be a new
adventure from a different character's point-of-view. This is also the
potential
downfall of the series. Because it is
written as an ongoing series there is no concluding resolution and the
character growth is
limited.
In the end the real
questions for readers are: Do you like episodic ongoing stories? How
much time are you willing to invest in an ongoing series? I'm not even
sure about my answer to these two questions. So far I do like the series
and the stories. On the other hand I am also growing weary of authors
making an ongoing series that lasts too long and reading books with no
real conclusion. I have liked the first two, but I do wonder how many I
am willing to read to reach the end. (I am positive the number is much
small than it used to be due to the abuse of making an ongoing series by
some authors in the past.)
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of the Baker Publishing Group
If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss
Sourcebooks: 8/22/17
eBook review copy; 320 pages
ISBN-13:
9781492647454
If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss is a highly recommended debut novel set during the 1970's in the Appalachian community of Baines Creek, N.C.
The cast of characters tell the story from their point of view through
their own chapters. Weiss have given each character their own unique
voice in their chapters. Some characters are heard from once or a few
times while others have multiple chapters to propel the story forward
through their personal narrative. This approach creates a powerful
ensemble piece with strong character development and develops a
compelling sense of place in the setting.
Sadie Blue has been Roy Tupkin's wife for fifteen days and she knows
that she has made a terrible mistake. He is a bully and his beatings are
endangering their unborn child, as well as her own life. What she needs
to do is listen to her Daddy's voice and find a smart way out. Her dour
grandmother, Gladys Hicks, knows what Sadie is going through because
she had
to deal with her own abusive husband. Sadie's Aunt Marris Jones, a
caring, optimistic neighbor to her grandmother, sees what is going on
and wants to help
Sadie.
Then Preacher Eli Perkins welcomes the new teacher to town, Kate
Shaw. At 51 years old and over 6 feet tall, Kate is not at all what the
community expects, but she is made of tougher stuff than they realize.
She is also determined to make sure her students are fed during the time
they are in school. Eli is attracted to her intellect, even though she
is an agnostic, while his sister Prudence
sets out to set others against Kate. Sadie likes Kate and Kate has
promised to teach her to read. Birdie Rocas, a neighbor of Kate's and a
local healer/diviner, watches Kate, protects her, and then befriends
her. Everyone is concerned for Sadie's well-being.
If the Creek Don't Rise is a collection of many points of view
where the characters are in each other's stories. While the synopsis makes
it sound like it is solely Sadie's story, it really is a character
driven novel. Telling the story through the viewpoints of different characters works
extremely well in this novel with a southern Gothic feel to it. Even Roy
gets a chapter. I will note that ultimately, Sadie gets the last word, so the arch of her
story is told.
The writing is excellent and the characterizations are exceptionally
well done. The sense of place is firmly established. I liked the ending
too. This is certainly a novel worth reading, but for me, a well
developed plot was a wee-bit lacking in If the Creek Don't Rise.
Oh, there are anecdotes told and stories shared while confronting the
immediate question of helping Sadie, but there were so many other
stories and questions that were never resolved. For example, why give us
the chapter from Prudence, and then not another word from that harpy?
Or just drop the thread of Reverend Eli's attraction to Kate? In the
end I liked If the Creek Don't Rise quite a bit, but not enough to give it my highest rating.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Sourcebooks
The History of Bees by Maja Lunde
Touchstone: 8/22/17
eBook review copy; 352 pages
ISBN-13: 9781501161377
The History of Bees by Maja Lunde is a highly recommended novel spans the generations with alternating chapters from families in 1851, 2007, and 2098.
In 1851 William Savage is a biologist and seed merchant in England.
After an agonizing bout of depression that left him bedridden for
months, his passion for research returns. He becomes obsessed with
building the perfect beehive, one that will benefit the bees and his
family for generations. Mainly, William is focused on his son Edmund's
education to prepare to take over his life's work.
In 2007 George is a beekeeper in Ohio whose ancestry is traced back to a
long lineage of beekeepers. He still makes his hives by hand according
to the dimensions passed down through the generations and recorded on
old yellowed diagrams his wife Emma found in an old trunk and framed.
His whole family has the detailed instructions to build their unique
hives memorized. George and Emma sacrificed and saved for years to send
their son Tom to college so he could return with new ideas to keep the
family business going.
In 2098, Tao is a pollinator in China. The bees have long since
disappeared. She climbs the pear trees daily along with the many other
workers and painstakingly hand pollinates each flower with a specially
developed feather brush. Tao spends her precious free time trying to
teach her three-year-old son Wei-Wen hoping that he will be chosen to be
further educated. Otherwise in five years, at the age of eight, he will
be done with school and sent into the fields to begin helping with the
hand pollination. When Wei-Wen has an accident and is taken away to the
hospital, Tao is desperate to find him.
While The History of Bees is about our dependence on bees and the
devastation that would occur with their disappearance, the main theme
is really the bond between parent and child - more specifically the
desire of parents wanting their sons to take over their passions and the
sons wanting no part of it. It is the story of the bees that ostensibly
ties these three narratives together, but the stories are really about
the expectations of individual families. Ultimately Tao's story will
provide the thread that will truly tie the three narratives together.
I read the English translation of The History of Bees, which was
originally published in Norwegian. While I'm sure the translation was
very good, the voices of George and Tao almost seemed a little
simplistic at times. Since this is Lunde's first book for adults, that
may explain it. William is a decidedly annoying character. Certainly,
however, she did an excellent job making their three different voiced
separate and distinct and mixing historical fiction, present day, and
future dystopian narratives into one coherent novel.
I had two problems with The History of Bees. First, the
narratives do meander off course at times, which slows the actual flow
of the novel down a bit. Secondly, the distracting focus on sons taking
over in all three time periods might have been alleviated with a
daughter written in as one of the offspring for which the parents had
expectations, or, if all main characters were fathers with expectations
for their sons. In William's time period the sexism makes sense,
although ultimately it is a daughter who cares about his work. Certainly
both George and Tao could have had daughters without damaging the flow
of the story. (This doesn't seem to concern other reviewers, so it may
just be me.)
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Touchstone.
The Massacre of Mankind by Stephen Baxter
Crown/Archetype: 8/22/17
eBook review copy; 496 pages
ISBN-13:
9781524760120
The Massacre of Mankind: Sequel to The War of the Worlds by Stephen Baxter is a recommended estate-authorized sequel to H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds.
Set in the early 1920s, it has been thirteen years since the Martians
invaded England. When it is announced that the Martians have launched
another, much larger invasion, humans are sure we can defeat them again,
with the exception of one man, Walter Jenkins (the unnamed narrator of
Wells'
book). Jenkins is sure that the Martians have learned, adapted, and
understood
their defeat so they will be prepared this time. Referring to the first
book, Walter is often called out as a liar and an
unreliable witness by those characters who appeared in the first book. A
journalist, Julie Elphinstone, the former sister-in-law
of Jenkins, reports most of the action in the narrative to the reader
as she tells the story of the second invasion. She witnesses the first
wave of Martians landing outside of London. The world is watching for
the subsequent invasive Martian forces to land around the world.
The good news is that Martians are still terrifying. The first Martian invasion changed history, thus in this alternate
history universe, Britain is a fascist state,
Germany rules much of Europe, and the Titanic never sank. You will
recognize historical figures but now in different contexts. While this
is an interesting take on a second invasion, it has a slow start and
I'll admit that keeping my undivided attention during the whole novel
was a challenge. It felt overly long, perhaps it was the writing style,
but I also didn't connect to any of the characters. We know right from the start that this account is Elphinstone's
memoir so we know the outcome of the war, which removes some of the sense of
urgency and tension. She is also not an entirely sympathetic narrator.
Finally, Baxter's
choice to write in the style of H.G. Wells, no offense to Wells, didn't
quite work for me in this case. The descriptions are complex and
noteworthy, but I guess I wanted a more action-packed terror-filled
novel. Parts of it met this description, but the totality of The Massacre of Mankind missed the mark as a sequel to the classic science fiction novel. It is certainly good, but not great. Hard core fans of The War of the Worlds will likely want to read this, but it will not quite live up to the original.
The Other Girl by Erica Spindler
St. Martin's Press: 8/22/17
eBook review copy; 256 pages
ISBN-13: 9781250083654
The Other Girl by Erica Spindler is a recommended police procedural.
Officer Miranda Rader of the Harmony, Louisiana PD is called in to
investigate the brutal murder of popular English
professor Richard Stark, son of the powerful university president in
this small town. The murder has every indication that it was one of
great anger and planning. While Miranda is now a successful, respected
police officer, she has a past. When a newspaper clipping from her past
is found at the scene along with her fingerprints, it seems that someone
is trying to set Miranda up, but why?
The clipping is from 2002 when she was a teen. At that time she was
known as Randi, and she was from the wrong side of the tracks. After an
assault that was never confirmed and an arrest for possession, she
spends some time in juvie. This was the impetus that propelled Miranda
to turn the direction of her life around. Now someone is trying to set
her up. But the case is more complicated than that because Miranda
realizes that the victim was also a sexual predator and has likely been
abusing woman for years. To complicate matters even more, now is the
time her partner, Jake, decides to confess his love for her.
The Other Girl starts off strong with Randi's misguided actions
in 2002 and the present day brutal murder of a man who has a hidden
past. Chapters continue to jump between the past and present to explain
the connection. The novel, however, soon veers off course and becomes a
mash-up of subplots. If you want a little romance with your police
procedural and don't care about surprising evidence being uncovered or a
shocking conclusion, this is a well-written book. Yes, it relies
heavily on several tried and true plot devices and stereotypes, but it
flows smoothly and is a quick read. Spindler brings it all to a
conclusion.
There were problems that made me feel The Other Girl is just an
average mystery. The fingerprints at the scene, the chief questioning
her integrity, the chief's cowering before the university president,
combined with her personal life, the sudden romance, the estranged
family, etc. (there are more issues) all resulted in the feeling that
generic subplots were all mashed together in this one novel. This
culminated in more than a few eye-rolls. The whole romance portion could
have (and should have) been left out. The idea that Miranda is a smart,
intuitive investigator never makes sense because she's not approaching
everything in an intelligent manner.
Spindler has written better novels, so, for me, this is a good airplane book. It'll help pass the time.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.
Everything We Lost by Valerie Geary
HarperCollins: 8/22/17
eBook review copy; 480 pages
ISBN-13:
9780062566423
Everything We Lost by Valerie Geary is a very highly recommended psychological thriller/coming-of-age family drama.
On December 5, 1999, sixteen-year-old Nolan Durant left his home in
Bishop, California, with a backpack and several hundred dollars in cash.
He never returned. Ten years later Lucy, his now twenty-four-year-old
younger sister, has been kicked out of her father's house. This, along
with an article her mother wrote, becomes the impetus she needs to
set off back to Bishop where she will try to reconcile with her
estranged mother, get answers, and confront her missing memories of
Nolan and that night.
Although she and Nolan were close as children, as a fourteen-year-old
Lucy became progressively distant and hostile toward Nolan. Nolan was
increasingly becoming more and more fixated with UFOs. He recorded his
obsession in his casebook, a composition book where he noted his UFO
sightings, strange happenings, and supporting information about the
events. As Nolan's paranoid delusions increased, so did Lucy's distance
from him.
Chapters alternate between the voices of Lucy today and Nolan in 1999.
In the present day, Lucy returns to Bishop, reflecting on the past while
trying to recover her missing memories and figure out what really
happened to Nolan. In 1999 Nolan is the narrator. His chapters open with
a section from his casebook notes and then tell his story from his
point-of-view. It becomes steadily obvious that Nolan is suffering from
an undiagnosed mental illness.
The writing is excellent. I was totally immersed in the story and
anxiously read to find out what would happen next in the present as well
as 1999. Both Lucy and Nolan are well-developed, believable characters.
Present day Lucy is stuck in a rut and needs to find some kind of
closure in order to move on with her life. Geary has accurately captured
the cruelties of peer pressure, being an outcast, and trying to fit
into high school cliques with Lucy and being an outsider and
increasingly different with Nolan. Their totally inadequate ineffectual
parents are equally well-developed. The way the three handle the
uncertainty of Nolan's fate is an insightful look into their
personalities.
I was captivated by Everything We Lost and anxious to read what
happened next in both timelines. (I am actually surprised that more
ratings aren't glowing about this fine novel. I can concede that the
ending might disappoint some readers but I thought it was well done.
I'll be anxiously awaiting Geary's next novel.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
The Last Lost Girl by Maria Hoey
Poolbeg Crimson Press Ltd: 7/11/17
digital reading copy; 448 pages
paperback ISBN-13: 9781781998311
The Last Lost Girl by Maria Hoey is a highly recommended family drama and mystery set in Ireland during two time periods.
In the summer of 1976 Jacqueline Brennan's
fifteen-year-old sister, Lilly, disappeared. Of the Brennan girls,
Lilly is the beautiful older sister, Gayle is the middle sister, and
eleven-year-old Jacqueline is the youngest. During 1976, Lilly is
chaffing under her father's rules and is secretly seeing a boy who works
at the carnival. Much like any younger child, Jacqueline secretly
watches her older sister, trying to capture clues about what she is
doing, thinking, and planning.
Jumping thirty seven year later, now Jacqueline is returning to her
childhood home in Blackberry Lane to visit her father for several weeks.
Gayle is usually the one who regularly visits him and takes care of
him, especially during the anniversary of Lilly's disappearance, but she
has other pressing needs with her own family so it falls to Jacqueline
to stay with him. While in her old home events happen that lead her to
search for the truth about what happened to Lilly. Jacqueline has always
believed that Lilly ran away and may still be alive somewhere today.
The police never found a body and there were no arrests. After finding
an old postcard at her father's house, she sets off to see if it holds a
clue to Lilly's whereabouts.
The Last Lost Girl is a well written family drama with a
narrative that jumps back and forth between the two time periods and
what was happening in the Brennan family, including the increasingly
rebellious behavior of Lilly. While the question of the mystery is
captivating, it also drags out a bit when Jacqueline takes off for
England in hopes of clues or information about what happened to Lilly.
This section is more a time of self-discovery for Jacqueline more than
any in-depth fact-gathering mission.
While the character of Jacqueline and the fifteen-year-old Lilly are
well developed, neither are particularly sympathetic characters. Young
Jacqueline is portrayed as a typical younger sister snooping on her
older sister, who resents her and her snooping. Sibling rivalry, and
secrets, abound, as does some favoritism by the parents. Jacqueline does
grow as a person, which is a plus.
The ending provides closure for the mystery, but I found it to be too abrupt and a little unbelievable. The Last Lost Girl
is really more about Jacqueline growing as a person than a thrilling
mystery. What happened to Lilly is supposedly the big question, but
Jacqueline's sudden search almost seems too contrived. As a single,
independent woman she could have searched for her sister long before
this and, after asking a few questions, would have visited the same
place in England without the discovery of the postcard. Read this one
for the great writing, and the self-discovery rather than the mystery.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of the publisher/author via Library Thing.
New Boy by Tracy Chevalier
Crown/Archetype: 5/16/17
advanced readers copy; 208 pages
ISBN-13:
9780553447637
Hogarth Shakespeare Series
New Boy by Tracy Chevalier is a highly recommended retelling of Othello for the Hogarth Shakespeare series.
Chevalier sets her tragic story based on Shakespeare's Othello in
an elementary school located in the Washington D.C. suburbs during the
1970s. With only a month of school left, sixth grader Osei
Kokote is yet again the new boy in school, a position he has found
himself in repeatedly as the son of a Ghanaian diplomat. Osei is also
used to being one of the few students of color in school, so he knows he
must find an ally. He is lucky that the teacher told popular student
Dee to help him. He is even luckier that he and Dee hit it off
immediately.
As adolescent mercurial romances and allegiances ebb and flow quickly,
the connection between the new boy and Dee is noticed by everyone,
including teachers. There is one student, Ian, who can't stand to see
the black boy and the white girl together and he decides to destroy
their friendship. Ian is already a known bully. How far will he go to
destroy Osei and Dee?
This is a very well written and great addition to the Hogarth
Shakespeare series. The action all takes place here in the course of one
day, which is rather quick. Additionally, of course, if you know Othello,
you know basically what is going to happen. This does take some of the
surprise out of the retelling, which has been the case in some of the
other books in the Hogarth series. Chevalier sets her book in five parts
which portray the five acts in the play, and she does incorporate
Shakespeare's plot into her novel.
Actually this is more successful when taken on its own as a novel and not as a retelling of Othello.
Since Chevalier uses adolescents as her characters, their emotions,
allegiances, and angst are front and center. This works well when New Boy
is considered as a novel about racism in suburban schools in the
1970's, but, in my opinion, it doesn't work quite as well for the
Hogarth Shakespeare series. So, I liked it very much as a novel, but a
little less as a Shakespearean tragedy for the Hogarth series.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Crown/Archetype.
I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen
Random House: 8/15/17
eBook review copy; 336 pages
ISBN-13: 9780345543882
Rizzoli and Isles Series #12
I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen is the very highly recommended twelfth installment of the Rizzoli and Isles crime series.
Boston PD
detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are
investigating homicides that are linked by more than just the
investigative team. Indie horror filmmaker Cassandra Coyle is found
murdered with her eyeballs cut out and put in her hands. When Timothy
McDougal is found dead with three arrows in his chest, Isles and her
priest
friend realize that the two murders have been done to resemble pictures
of the death of saints. Specifically these two murders have been staged
to depict Lucy, patron saint of the blind, and
Sebastian, patron saint of archers. They soon discover that what ties
the two victims together is that twenty years ago they were children at a
local day care center during an
infamous child abuse case. Now the two must find out who the killer is,
as well as who might be the next victim.
While investigating these cases and others that may be tied together,
the two women are also facing some struggles in their personal lives.
Even while Maura's biological mother, the infamous serial
killer Amalthea Lank, is dying from cancer, she still finds a way to
get into Maura's psyche with a comment that may apply to her current
cases. Rizzoli
is watching her own mother's unhappiness grow while her spirit is being
crushed from staying in a loveless marriage.
This is an intense, extremely well written mystery that will hold your
rapt attention from beginning to end. Those unfamiliar with Rizzoli and
Isles will easily be able to enjoy this suspenseful novel even if it is
their first book in the series. Although the two character are well
established at this point, Gerritsen provides enough character
background along that way for anyone to easily slide right into this
novel and enjoy Rizzoli and Isles for the first time. Expect some twists
and surprises. This is one you won't want to put down once you start
it.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Random House.
The Luster of Lost Things by Sophie Chen Keller
Penguin Publishing Group: 8/8/17
eBook review copy; 336 pages
ISBN-13: 9780735210783
The Luster of Lost Things by Sophie Chen Keller is a very highly
recommended whimsical story teeming with feel-good emotions, lyrical
writing, and a dash of magical realism.
Walter Lavender Jr. is a twelve-year-old boy who lives with his mother,
Lucy, above their bakery, The Lavenders. Walter's ability to find things
has been developed because he has been silenced by his motor speech
disorder. Because he found it impossible to talk, he observed the
world around him. "My whole life, my mouth had been shut and my eyes
wide open, and the
deeper and darker my silence became, the more I began to sense outside
of it - traces of light, shifts in matter, changing undercurrents. As I
grew older and it became clear to me that Lucy didn’t perceive what I
perceived, it was already just another part of me, and there was nothing
so incredible about that. The things I noticed were small and fleeting,
easy to miss - scratches or flourishes in reality, clues that pointed
the
way to the larger truths buried beneath the surface, like the molten
ripple along the base of a vase of lilies in danger of tipping over or,
when it came to people, the disappointed hiss of something doused before
it could be said."
Walter lost his father, an airline pilot, whose plane
went missing three days before he was born. While Walter
observations of the world have helped him become a
master of finding lost things, he is ultimately hoping to find his lost
father. Lucy has told him stories about his father and the connection
between them and the book that is proudly displayed in the shop. The
book brings magic to their bakery, a bakery where the deserts come
alive. You can see vol-au-vent mice jump double dutch with licorice
ropes and marzipan dragons breathe fire. Walter's life is happy and safe
in his limited world - until someone steals the book, causing the
bakery to lose its magic. Walter, along with Milton, his golden
retriever, must find the missing book and bring the magic back to the
bakery.
Walter's search is an archetypal story of a hero on a quest. While
seeking the missing book, Walter must leave the safety of his home, go
on a long adventure, face adversity, overcome challenges, and return
home changed from his journey. As Walter seeks what he has lost, he
learns lessons from those he meets. Along with his quest, it also
becomes a coming-of-age story for Walter, who makes friends outside of
his sheltered home life. This allegorical narrative not only deals with
things lost and found, but also deals with our capacity for kindness
and how our acts of kindness can ultimately
change the lives around us, as well as our own life.
The writing is poetic and expressive, capturing descriptions, emotions, and even humor with grace and beauty. The characters in The Luster of Lost Things
are all well-developed. Their descriptions make them all come alive on
the page. While I can concede that having twelve-year-old Walter seek
out and meet so many strangers on his quest was a bit far-fetched, I
must also equally acknowledge that passing many trials is often the case
with a hero on a quest. In any event, I liked this story and Walter. I
liked Walter's written comments in his notebook along with his
observations of the world. The world can always use a good hero story
with a touch of magic realism and Sophie Chen Keller has given us just
that.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group.
The Great Quake by Henry Fountain
Crown/Archetype: 8/8/17
eBook review copy; 288 pages
ISBN-13:
9781101904060
The Great Quake by Henry Fountain is a highly recommended account
of the Alaskan earthquake of 1964, especially for those who enjoy
historical background and
personal information about those affected by the quake and tsunamis.
"At 5:36 p.m. on March 27, 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake - the
second most powerful in world history - struck the young state of
Alaska. The violent shaking, followed by massive tsunamis, devastated
the southern half of the state and killed more than 130 people. A day
later, George Plafker, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey,
arrived to investigate. His fascinating scientific detective work in
the months that followed helped confirm the then-controversial theory of
plate tectonics."
Fountain approaches the story of the Alaskan earthquake from a
human-interest angle, discussing the people, their way of life, and the
history of Alaska more than the actual quake itself and the exciting
scientific enlightenment that resulted from studying the quake. He
offers details about some of the citizens of the small village of
Chenega and the
little town of Valdez, both of which were devastated, changed, and
altered by the quake and resulting tsunamis. While there is scientific
information about the quake and tsunamis,
Plafker observations that resulted in changing the way we look at
geology and the theory of plate tectonics is condensed into just a
couple chapters. Those who appreciate the science might desire more, but
most readers will concede that Fountain chose an interesting and
basically
successful way to approach the topic,
It is a well written account of a historic natural disaster that is both
factual and accessible. Fountain succeeds in showing what happened, who
it happened to, why we should care about what happened, and the results
of the scientific fieldwork and analysis. The book opens with a map of
the area and the final version will have notes and suggestions for
further reading, additional sources, and an index. (I would hope that
the final version includes photos, but I have no information about this.
There are photos available online that are worth looking up after you
have read this book.)
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
Binary System by Eric Brown
Solaris: 8/8/17
eBook review copy; 400 pages
ISBN-13:
9781781085516
Binary System by Eric Brown is a recommended science fiction novel with a YA vibe.
Delia Kemp manages to survive the explosion of the starship she was on
by getting into an escape pod on the advice from her Imp, a computer
implant in her brain. With only her Imp for advice and company she makes
her way to the world of Valinda
where the winters are nine years long following one year of a scorching
hot summer. Fortunately for her, it is nearing the end of winter and
soon the year of summer will begin. She finds herself crash landing when her pod is hit by some laser or weapon.
She is stranded on the ice-world and taken hostage by the Skelt, a
cruel race of giant mantis/insect beings who move at incredible fast
speeds. After her Imp deciphers the language of the Skelt, she discovers
that they are relative newcomers to the planet too. Their race arrived
thousands of years ago and they have enslaved and dominated the other
two sentient races on the planet while the Skelt have digressed into a
more primitive society.
The blue chimpanzee-like aliens are the
Fahrans. Their people are captured and made to work for the Skelt. The
giant crab/spider-like aliens are called the Vo. The Skelt use them as
beasts of burden and often sacrifice them. Delia makes an ally of a
Fahran, Mahn, who helps her escape from the Skelt. They later save and
befriend a Vo. The three travel together trying to avoid the Skelt,
heading for what looks like another downed escape pod that will
hopefully contain other survivors from her starship.
This is mainly a story of Delia's extraordinary escapes and recaptures,
as aided by her Imp, which has some neato, quite coincidental features
tailor made for her to communicate with, survive and outwit an alien
race while befriending other races and trying to make her way to the valley of Mahkanda.
Now, I'm recommending Binary System because there are plenty of
readers who will enjoy the escapism and won't care one iota about any of
the things that annoyed me. The ending makes up for much of the slow
start and a reader can chose to ignore many of my gripes. The writing is
technically excellent, descriptive and fluid. The characters jump from
one adventure/escape to another while encountering all sorts of new,
interesting settings and creatures. There are battles and celebrations.
The good guys are all good and the Skelt are all bad. It is like a
classic sci-fi/western plot.
However, there were many cons for me, including the plot, simplistic
world building, aliens, characters, and the Imp. I almost stopped
reading after several escapes, etc. when the alien Vo was giving Delia
and Mahn a ride, and said in reply to her questioning their weight that
they were as light as a fly on its back. Hello... this is an alien race
and world and there are no flies here. Why on earth would an alien say
that? Well, actually the aliens, other than descriptions, aren't all
that alien-sounding. I'm betting the Imp humanized them for us and gave
them personalities we could relate to.
The Imp is the real hero here. The Imp is the one thing that keeps Delia
alive. Delia is supposed to be a doctor, but in reality, mentally, she
is just in the Imps way. I'm sure if the Imp could experience human
emotions, it would be just as annoyed as I was over her swooning over
Tim in the beginning. It must be hard to be an Imp in an adult who acts
like a teen. Perhaps the whole character of Delia could have been
destroyed with the starship but the imp survives. It could set a new
directive, finding a way to be mobile, making its way to a planet,
communicating
with the inhabitants, and escaping the bad guys.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of Solaris.
Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker
St. Martin's Press: 8/8/17
eBook review copy; 320 pages
ISBN-13:
9781250141439
Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker is a highly recommended psychological thriller/mystery.
On one night both of the Tanner sisters disappeared. At that time Emma
was seventeen and Cass fifteen. Now three years have passed and Cass has
returned home, without Emma, and she is sharing an incredible story of
what happened and begging her family, the police, FBI, etc. to find
Emma. She says that three years ago the two girls were picked up from a
beach on Long Island Sound by a couple who wanted to help Emma, who was
pregnant. They were both subsequently held on a mysterious island in
Maine and the couple took Emma's child as their own. Cass escaped and
now she wants them to find the island where she was held and find Emma.
It's a bit more complicated than this because the two girls came from a
dysfunctional family. Cass calls their mother, Judy, Mrs. Martin and
Mrs. Martin is a classic example of Narcissistic personality disorder.
The FBI forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Abby Winter, knows about Narcissistic
parents and identified Judy Martin as such three years ago when her
girls were missing and she became a minor celebrity. She's back on the
case with
Special Agent Leo Strauss. It
seems that Cass may be leaving things unsaid in her many interviews,
trusting that Abby will be able to figure it all out, while making sure
Mrs. Martin hears every word.
Chapters alternate between the point of view of Cass or Abby. Cass
relates privately, to the reader, the story of her family, specifically
her mother, and how Mrs. Martin's narcissism has poisoned her
relationships and her choices have resulted in unstable parental
support and put her daughters in compromising situations. Dr. Abby
Winter has her own struggles and understands Narcissistic personalities,
she is determined to uncover the clues and hints that she believes Cass
is so carefully revealing to her.
The writing is good and Walker slowly reveals the girls background with
their mother along with little clues about what may have happened.
Cass's story is very compelling, especially because you know she is
leaving something unsaid, that she has a plan, but you really don't have
a clue what it could be. The character development is well done. Both
Cass and Abby are complicated characters and Walker manages to capture
this part of their personalities while exposing why they exhibit some of
their traits. It all combines into a narrative that will hold your
attention.
There were drawbacks. Clues were slow to come in Cass's interviews and
the ending wasn't quite worth the wait for me. Additionally, parts of
the narrative became too repetitious. This is almost a partial study of
Narcissistic personality disorder in all of the background stories of
Judy's behavior - the abuse heaped upon the girls because of her
personality disorder and the men she married. Second is the girls
behavior and reactions to everything. We hear almost too much of their
past - what they were putting up with, doing, and fighting about - along
with Cass's interviews. Solid 3.5 rounded up.
Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka
Simon & Schuster: 8/1/17
eBook review copy; 368 pages
ISBN-13:
9781501144370
Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka is a recommended murder mystery,
highly for the right reader, that focuses on character studies of three
individuals.
The body of 15-year-old Lucinda Hayes, a popular high school student, is
discovered on a playground in Broomsville, a quiet Colorado town. Girl in Snow
follows the investigation through three different characters: Cameron,
Jade, and Russ. Ninth-grader Cameron Whitley was obsessed with Lucinda
and stalked her, often watching her house at night. He also did numerous
drawings of her. Did Cameron's love for her somehow result in
violence? Jade Dixon-Burns, an overweight 16-year-old with acne and an
abusive mother, hated Lucinda for stealing her babysitting job and her
best
friend. Russ
Fletcher is a local police officer who is on the case. He promised his
former disgraced partner, Cameron's missing dad, that
he'd look out for Cameron, but he is unsure if this is possible. Russ's
ex-con brother-in-law, Ivan, is the overnight janitor at the school and
also a suspect.
Chapters in the novel switch between these three narrators and the bulk
of the action is set over a three day period. The murder mystery part of
the novel is downplayed in favor of the careful scrutiny of the
thoughts, actions, and past events in the lives of Cameron, Jade, and
Russ, whether it all relates to the mystery or not. This makes for an
interesting character study but becomes tedious as solving the murder
mystery is exponentially drawn out for far too long in the plot. It
almost felt like the end result was an afterthought.
There is also a slight YA feel to the novel, perhaps because of the
focus inside the heads of two teens. Cameron's narrative feels dreamy,
unfocused, and there are large section of time where he can't remember
what happened. Jade's narrative sections also include scenes from plays
she is writing based on real life interactions and conversations. She
had some big reason's to hate Lucinda and this is fully explored. The
end result of focusing on these two teens is that you get a
double-portion of teen angst and anxiety, but less murder investigation.
Kukafka is a writer to watch, however, because of the quality of her
writing and the portraits she creates of these three individuals. While
the novel did feel a bit overlong and drawn out at times due to the
dense prose, the skillful character studies also set it apart. This may
not quite be the murder mystery you hoped you were picking up, but it is
a fine character study and it does provide an answer to the mystery in
the end. (3.5 rounded up.)
Impossible Views of the World by Lucy Ives
Penguin Publishing Group: 8/1/17
eBook review copy; 304 pages
ISBN-13:
9780735221536
Impossible Views of the World by Lucy Ives
is a so-so novel about a hipper-than-you-or-me art curator.
This is a week in the life of Stella Krakus, a curator at Manhattan's
renowned Central Museum of Art. Her friend and colleague, Paul, has gone
missing. Her mother, the world renowned glamorous art dealer Caro, wants
to have lunch with her. Her soon-to-be ex-husband is stalking her. She's
been having an affair/fling with her boss. And she's uncovered several
different secrets, including an intriguing map, that she wants to
research and solve the mystery.
Billed as a mystery, it really isn't, so if you are a fan of mysteries
you might want to by-pass this selection. Sure she discovers some
answers to the questions she raises about her discoveries/encounters
along the way, but it never has the feeling of a true mystery. To make
following the mysteries more challenging is the fact that Stella's not
very likeable, or perhaps I'm just not as cool as she is.
I'll go with a so-so rating, conceding that small glimmers of hope for
the quality of future novels appear in the pages. Honestly, I struggled
to finish this one but kept reading for one reason alone - some of the
descriptions in the writing. Not all of the writing is worth the
struggle, but there are small, subtle gems hidden among the dregs of
way-too-much. The problem was in the way-to-much. It isn't always
satisfying to read a novel that seemingly strives for pretentiousness.
Disclosure:
My review copy was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group.
