The Animators

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker

Random House: 1/31/2017
eBook review copy; 384 pages
ISBN-13: 9780812989281

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker is very highly recommended. This is a powerful novel that explores the creative process and coming to terms with your past. It's about friendship and secrets. It's about ambition and self-doubt. It's about fame and dark secrets. It's about gifts and inner demons. Expect language and self-destructive behavior. It is heartbreaking, funny,  scathingly brilliant and one of the best novels I've read this year. This is a debut novel and Whitaker just made a fan.

Mel Vaught and Sharon Kisses met in a college art class and became fast friends as well as artistic partners. They both came from a white trash background, especially to their elitist college classmates. Sharon's family is in rural Kentucky while Mel's is from Florida, where her mom is in prison. The two, who seem to be opposites - Mel is gay and outgoing while Sharon is straight and reticent - share a love of comics and drawing. They become animators. Even though they may be motivated by different desires, together they struggle and drink and smoke and work hard. After a decade collaborating, their first full length movie, Nashville Combat, is released and they are the recipients of a prestigious grant.

Nashville Combat is autobiographical and based on Mel's childhood. The fame and notoriety that follows their success leads to self-destructive behavior on Mel's part and self-doubt for Sharon. Their collaboration and friendship seems to be on the verge of imploding when a tragedy happens that pulls the two back to an understanding of what they mean to each other. After secrets Sharon has been keeping are revealed, they understand how important it is for them to continue working together. But this is just the start to their story...

There is so much more to The Animators than this brief description. That is only the beginning. I would say it is a coming-of-age novel, but it's more a coming-to-terms-with-a-crappy-childhood novel. But it is also about the secrets we keep, secrets from our past, family secrets, and how long some of us carry the burden of those secrets. It questions which relationships can survive revelations? How much do you have to sacrifice for your art?

The writing is exceptional, extraordinary, amazing! All the characters are well developed, even those briefly introduced. Sharon and Mel will become real to you. You will know these women and their inner turmoil. Your fingers will feel sore and you'll swear they are ink stained. You'll have an urge to smoke. You'll laugh at the jokes. And your heart will break. The settings are just as finely drawn and skillfully described. Whether in Brooklyn or Florida or Kentucky, you will know where you are. Whitaker captures the ambience; you feel the atmosphere, smell the odors and hear the defining sounds.

The Animators is an exceptional novel and certainly one of the top books of the year, which is why this review, originally published on 11/26/16, is being reposted.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.

Quotes:
And I see something I have never seen before in Mel: self-removal. Inside, she has fled. The ability of anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of something violent to grasp the details that remind them of their humiliation - smells, colors, sounds - and blur these details so that they become foreign, someone else’s property. It is a cultivated skill, requiring time, experience, unspeakable mental real estate. It is, for the desperate, the only chance to leave what happened with the part of yourself that is still yours. Children learn it. Boys, but more often, and more closely, girls. When girls learn it, they learn it for the rest of their lives, inventing two separate planes on which they exist - the life of the surface, presented for others, and the life forever lived on the inside, the one that owns you. They will never forget how to make themselves disappear. To blend into the air.  

She turns, giving me her ultimate nonplussed look. “You may not know this about yourself,” she says, “but you’ve got a serious gift for self-containment. You run a pretty tight f*ckin ship, presentation-wise. Kind of freaks people out.”
 

Swimming Lessons

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

Tin House Books: 2/7/17
eBook review copy; 356 pages
ISBN-13: 9781941040515

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller is a very highly recommended family drama/mystery. "Gil Coleman looked down from the first-floor window of the bookshop and saw his dead wife standing on the pavement below." Gil Coleman saw his dead wife, Ingrid, twelve years after she disappeared and followed her outside into the rain where he ended up falling and is hospitalized. It is discovered that Gil is dying from cancer. Daughters Nan and Flora meet at the family home. Gil's sighting of Ingrid is not believed by sensible Nan, who writes it off to senility, but Flora believes her mother is still alive.

Ingrid Coleman disappeared in 1992, leaving behind her older husband and two daughters. It was believed that she drowned since it was well known that she loved her daily swims in the sea, but her body was never found. Gil and Ingrid met in 1976 when she was a university student in his literature class. An affair starts, Ingrid discovers she is pregnant, and the two marry. Gil is dismissed from the university and the two settle in his family home in Dorset where Gil also has a writing cottage. But Gil is a womanizing philanderer and not even remotely faithful.

The rooms and halls of the family home are lined with thousands of books that Gil has collected over the years. It was the same way when Ingrid first moved in the house. As Ingrid learns more and more about Gil's character, she turns to writing letters. Her letters tell the brutally honest story of their marriage. After she finishes a letter, she tucks it into one of Gil's books where it awaits discovery. Each letter concludes with the name of the book in which that letter was hidden.

Swimming Lessons is told through two timelines. The present day shows Flora's perspective and the decline of Gil. The past is recounted through Ingrid's detailed letters, telling the story of their marriage. Through Ingrid's letters, the past is exposed and more and more secrets and betrayals are revealed in their troubled marriage.

This is an incredible, well-written book. I was engrossed and invested in the story from beginning to end. The writing is phenomenal. I loved the epistolary parts of the novel that tell the story of the early years through Ingrid point of view. I loved the juxtaposition of the present and the past. There are surprising revelations toward the end and an epilogue that adds depth. The characters are well developed and fully realized. The intricate story reaches a satisfactory conclusion that made me want to read Claire Fuller's first book asap.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of W.W. Norton & Company and Tin House Books

Three Years with the Rat

Three Years with the Rat by Jay Hosking
St. Martin's Press: 1/24/17
eBook review copy: 288 pages
ISBN-13: 9781250116307

Three Years with the Rat by Jay Hosking is a highly recommended debut genre-bending novel about a young man looking for his sister.

The unnamed narrator in Three Years with the Rat is called by various nicknames, Grace's little brother, Scruffy by a friend, and Danger by his new Toronto girlfriend, Nicole (or Trouble.) When our narrator, an underachiever with no real life goals, moves to Toronto where Grace and John, her boyfriend, live, he meets their friends and is included in their social circle. Grace is graduate student in psychophysics. She and John are working on a project involving rats and "subjective time."

When John and Grace's landlord calls and wants him to clean out their apartment because they are gone, our narrator discovers in their apartment a handmade wooden box big enough to crawl inside and lined with mirrors, Buddy the rat, a notebook written in code, and a note that says: This is the only way back for us. Now he must unravel what they did and how to get them back. He knows that somehow Buddy can disappear and travel back and forth between wherever space the box leads to and where our narrator lives.

The narrative jumps back and forth in time over the three years in the title, 2006-2008, so readers will want to pay attention to what year they are in which is noted at the start of each chapter. That doesn't mean you will understand everything that is happening during that timeline, but eventually more and more information is revealed that will help you later. This shifting chronology makes the presentation feel fragmented, so you will have to overcome this as you are reading.

The novel itself has elements of science fiction, a mystery, suspense/horror, and magic realism. It is definitely not straight science fiction. The writing is good. Characters aren't as well developed as I prefer so I was never fully invested in what happens to them, and the dialogue is awkward. While the narrator seeks answers about where his sister and John went, he is also seeking answers about what happened with his relationship with Nicole, and he's trying to care for Buddy.

All this seems like I might rate Three Years with the Rat lower, but I was intrigued by the idea and was able to overlook some elements of the presentation to get to the end of the story. It's not fully resolved, but enough for closure. Additionally, I was eager to read what happened next and thought about Three Years with the Rat after I was finished with the novel. 3.5 rounded up.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press.

This Is Not Over

This Is Not Over by Holly Brown

HarperCollins: 1/17/17
eBook review copy; 400 pages
ISBN-13: 9780062456830

This Is Not Over by Holly Brown is a recommended novel (highly for the right reader) of domestic suspense.

Dawn Thiebold, 30, is incensed when she reads Miranda Feldt's email informing her that her security deposit, minus $200 for the stained sheets which had to be replaced, will be refunded to her within seven business days. Dawn and Rob, her husband, rented the Santa Monica beach house as a mini-vacation for Dawn to escape from her real life and pretend to be something better, something more than her reality. Dawn is always trying to outrun her past - as well as her complexion. Although she's married to a perfect man, they live in a tiny run-down apartment in Oakland. Dawn isn't working while she finishes her degree in communications, so essentially Miranda is stealing from her husband. She decides to write a negative review about renting Miranda's house because it did not live up to her fantasies.

Miranda rents out the Santa Monica beach house that she inherited from her parents (for $600 a day) because she needs the money. Sure her husband is a doctor and it appears that her life is one of privilege and ease, but appearances aren't everything. She needs that income for her son, Thad. She can't allow one bad review out about her property since it could threaten future income. The rental income is her only source of funds that she can siphon money from to send her son. She cannot allow Dawn's negative review to stay posted.

The chapters alternate between the two characters. Each chapter opens with some form of contact by one, and then the interpretation or misinterpretation of the communication by the other as she goes about her daily life. The chapters then provide insight into each woman. Slowly backgrounds and personal information is revealed which offers some explanation for their reactions. 

I really liked the concept of this book and could totally see how a partial return of a security deposit and a negative rating could send two people into battle mode. If you've ever worked closely with other people (on a job, sat on a board or a committee, in any service-industry, etc.) you've seen people get angry over various minor perceived injustices or opinions that differ from their own and have the discussions escalate into the absurd, ridiculous, and petty. The ability today to take these opinions and disagreements online and not in person (email, social forums, Facebook, twitter, texting, etc.) is a situation almost guaranteed to have some people go to extremes. I'm sure almost everyone has some stories to tell along this line; I know I have some great ones.

The problem I had with This Is Not Over lies neither with the writing, which is good, nor the initial hook. I started it and was eager to finish it. I had two problems with it. The first is that the characters are not likeable, and, in fact, were both a bit whinny and narcissistic.  It became increasingly difficult to care what happened to either of them - or their husbands. The second problem ties into the first. The novel started to feel repetitive and overly long. In the end, the promised suspense was pretty mild considering how minor disagreements can explode into huge battles anymore (see the local news).

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.

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Of G-Men and Eggheads

Of G-Men and Eggheads by John Rodden

University of Illinois Press: 1/30/17
eBook review copy; 152 pages
ISBN-13: 9780252081941

Of G-Men and Eggheads: The FBI and the New York Intellectuals by John Rodden is a recommended account of the FBI files kept on three men: Irving Howe, Dwight Macdonald, and Lionel Trilling.

"During the Cold War, dissent against U.S. international policy was looked upon as inherently suspicious. No one was more suspicious than outspoken left-leaning intellectuals, especially those who lived in Manhattan. For national security reasons, the federal government expended considerable resources surveilling men and women who might harbor communist sympathies and exert influence over others. In this book, John Rodden reveals how the FBI and CIA kept track of three highly regarded New York intellectuals--Lionel Trilling, Dwight Macdonald, and Irving Howe"

Three mid-20th century American intellectuals were investigated by and had extensive files kept on them by the FBI. It was under the assumption that they all presented some kind of security risk and anti-American sentiments. Although each of them were "critical Americans" in that they raised questions about policy or government activities, they did not warrant the scrutiny or the intense surveillance by the FBI. With all the current questions about FBI investigations, the NSA collecting data on and tracking Americans, and privacy concerns of average citizens, Of G-Men and Eggheads raises some important questions about how much surveillance we will allow to be conducted on citizens today. Where is the line of personal privacy versus public safety.

This is a well-researched presentation of the historical records. The text includes photos, notes, and an index.

I might have rated this higher if my review copy wasn't one that left out the letters "f, i, l, t." It makes it a struggle to smoothly read the text and, sometimes, decipher the words. Also, all dates were left out of my copy so I had to do my own research while reading the book. Two examples of what I had to wade through should make my struggles real to those who don't read advanced reading copies for review purposes:
 "War of – (and again a er ) lay in Russia. e immigration of such Russian Jews into the United States o en raised"
and
"this seasoned veteran of internecine Le sectarian warfare would have proudly brandished his les of yesteryear"

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.

Armor of Glass

Armor of Glass by R. M. A. Spears

IndieReader: 10/31/16
eBook review copy; 232 pages
ISBN-13: 9780990887195

Armor of Glass by R. M. A. Spears is a so-so novel that reads like an autobiography.

"A lieutenant colonel once warned me I was brutally honest. I considered myself a realist, not a skeptic or cynic. What I thought to be brash and bold, many took as ass and a hole. I think not, therefore I am not. I settled on my first nickname, Brick..." Brick is a hard-working every-man. He has been a husband, father, soldier, Marine. Brick feels beleaguered and put upon by almost everyone in his life. He is skilled at making poor decisions and life choices that he subsequently blames on other people. He blames everyone for his mistakes except the one woman he loves and never married - Cameo.

Armor of Glass features a disagreeable main character who feels sorry for himself and throws blame at everyone else even though he brings many of his problems as an adult on himself. The abuse by a coach when he is young is unforgivable. He should have had some kind of counseling for this since it is implied that this determined the course of his whole life. However, his affairs and throwing blame toward his wife who he portrays as treating him wrong is untenable. If you are sleeping around and so is your wife, it is not evil of her but okay for you because you feel your lover is your long-lost love. And this guy really doesn't like women; or he likes them, but it's all about what he wants out of them and them meeting his every need. There is no question of his even thinking about meeting a woman's needs, because it's all about him. Someone needs therapy here, even though they don't believe in it.

Although the cover says it is a novel, the description says it is based on a true story. After finishing reading Armor of Glass, I felt repulsed and regretted the time spent reading it when I thought it was a poorly organized memoir. Then, when I thought perhaps it might be a novel, it was still not good, but not as bad. Wade into this one at your own risk and decide what you think; 2 stars if it's really a novel.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher/author.

Depraved Heart

Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell

HarperCollins: 1/3/17
trade paperback; 496 pages
ISBN-13: 9780062561329
Dr. Kay Scarpetta Series #23


Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell is a highly recommended addition for fans of the long running Dr. Kay Scarpetta series. It is set during one day.
 
Scarpetta is at a crime scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, investigating the death of a young woman. While taking note of the scene and her observations, Scarpetta receives a message, a video, from Lucy's in case of emergency (ICE) cell phone line. While simultaneously watching the video and observing the crime scene, Scarpetta knows two things. First, from the initial impression of the scene it appears the death was accidental, but upon further observation it seems to have been staged. Second, Lucy is in trouble.

The video sent to her was a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago by Carrie Grethen at the FBI academy when she was Lucy's mentor and lover. Carrie, a sociopath and the archenemy of both Scarpetta and Lucy, is the depraved heart "void of social duty and fatally bent on mischief." Scarpetta rushes to Lucy's house where she discovers the FBI is in the middle of a raid. They are harassing Lucy and trying to build a case, any case against her. "Data fiction" may play a part in the case being built against her. But even more suspect is how and why Lucy's harassment may be related to the death scene Scarpetta is investigating.

Patricia Cornwell is an accomplished writer. Her long-running Scarpetta series indicates just how talented she is at writing great crime scene investigation/psychological thrillers that keep her huge fan base reading. I started reading the Scarpetta series from the beginning and stayed with it for years until I finally took a break from it several novel ago. Depraved Heart provided some of what I love about Cornwell's books - the great writing and the detailed scene investigation - and also why I took a break from the series. The positives are the quality of the writing, the tight focus of the plot, and the tense atmosphere. The downside is that this is the 23rd book in a series so it is competing with all the other books in the series for a rating. That is tough competition.

It's a given that I know the characters and could jump into Depraved Heart after a hiatus from the series. If you have never read any Scarpetta books, this is not the place to start. At All. Go back to the beginning and work your way through them. At this point the characters are so established and so well-developed that long-time readers know them intimately. It's simply a fact that you can't include a detailed background of these characters for new readers after so many novels featuring them.

Is Depraved Heart my favorite addition to the series and worthy of my highest rating? Nope. Is it a huge disappointment? Nope. I like Kay Scarpetta. I enjoyed the novel, was hooked to the end and felt like it was a perfectly satisfactory novel. I do wish questions were answered and threats removed rather than continuing. It's a 3.5 for me (rounded up). It's not going to be one of my favorite books in the series, but it's not worth a horrible review.

After I finished reading I was ready for Scarpetta to take a break from Marino, Benton, and Lucy. It's my opinion that the woman needs some quiet time to reflect on the way her loved ones treat her and how much she should be willing to tolerate. Perhaps a break from them would help Marino, Benton and Lucy realize how much they need and depend on her. (Not that I could ever tell Patricia Cornwell how to write any novel.)

Disclosure: My copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.

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