Blood Foam

Blood Foam by Brendan DuBois
2/13/24 (originally 6/8/15) ; 246 pages
Severn River Publishing
Lewis Cole #9

Blood Foam by Brendan DuBois is an excellent, very highly recommended addition to the series. Retired Department of Defense analyst Lewis Cole helps his friend, journalist Paula Quinn find her missing fiancé,  attorney Mark Spencer.

Still waiting on the insurance payment for his fire-damaged home on Tyler Beach, Lewis Cole agrees to help Paula find Mark who has been missing for several days. He and the police assume an accident sent Mark off the road and his body will be found soon, but he still begins searching for Paula's sake. The search quickly becomes complicated and dangerous, requiring some assistance from Felix Tinois, a "security consultant," as they try to evade a truly bad guy.

Another superb well-written Lewis Cole novel features a compelling case, lightning-fast pace, surprising revelations, some good food, and heart-stopping action in the intricate plot. As this series is being re-released, I am enjoying it more and more with each new addition to this action/adventure series. Lewis and Felix are both familiar interesting characters, along with Paula, and other known characters in the series make an appearance. This was an un-put-downable, stay-up-late to finish novel. DuBois is a wonderful writer. Thanks to Severn River Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Book of Doors

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
2/13/24; 416 pages
William Morrow

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown is a debut magic realism novel exploring the power of magic books and evil. It is highly recommended.

Cassie Andrews works at Kellner Books in Manhattan when long-time elderly customer Mr. John Webber passes away in the store. With him is the copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, which he was reading, and a small leather-bound book which says inside the cover: "This is the Book of Doors. Hold it in your hand, and any door is every door." After that is an inscription to Cassie from Mr. Webber: "This book is for you, a gift in thanks for your kindness."

It's a strange little book. Inside are indecipherable marks and illustrations of doors. When Cassie shows it to Izzy, her best friend and roommate, Izzy is leery about it, especially when Cassie is holding it and the door opens up to a scene from her trip to Venice, but then the two experiment with the book visiting some local haunts and deem it safe. Cassie and Izzy soon meet Drummond Fox, the librarian, a Scottish man who has a collection of magical books he protects. There are several copies of various magic books that are highly sought after by collectors and The Book of Doors is the most sought after powerful book. He warns them that malevolent people are seeking the book and will stop at nothing to get it.

The time travel drew me into reading The Book of Doors, but in reality the novel is much more focused on magic and dark forces wanting to use the books for evil. In some ways at the beginning it felt like a YA novel until the descriptions of the actions of very violent, evil people entered the narrative. I honestly hoped the novel would go in a different direction, one of wonderment, then the direction it went, but I gamely stayed with it. Admittedly, I often struggle with magic realism in novels.

This was an entertaining novel for me, like a super hero action movie, rather than a great read. There were a few things in the narrative that were a definite negative. The characters of Cassie and Izzy felt really young to me and I never felt any affinity toward them until later in the novel. Expect lots of magic, superpowers, and evil. Thanks to William Morrow for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Stolen Girls

The Stolen Girls by Jeff Stetson
2/9/24; 382 pages
Storm Publishing

The Stolen Girls by Jeff Stetson is a story about grade school-aged girls being abducted and two fathers working together to find their missing daughters. It is a recommended mystery.

Ron is a widowed single father of eleven-year-old Jennifer who disappears waiting for her father to pick her up after school. A week later twelve-year-old Rebecca disappears on Venice beach when her father, Todd, is getting them food. When the news is immediately focused on Rebecca's disappearance due to her wealthy influential family, Ron busts into the news conference demanding the same kind of attention for his daughter. Todd later reaches out to Ron and the two fathers, from very different backgrounds begin to look together for their missing daughters.

The narrative follows the point-of-view of the fathers, kidnapper, and the girls. The start is promising but the challenge is to lift the plot beyond the expected trajectory of the plot and take it in a unique, unexpected direction because this is a common plot. Alas, that didn't happen which then means going through all the personal reminiscing, soul-seeking, and revelations of the fathers is diminished by the predictable direction the narrative takes.  some connection between the kidnappings should have been investigated.

It was satisfying to see two very different fathers join together to find their daughters and the two police officers understand their positions. Based on the dialogue, the girls seem older than their ages. Perhaps they are just mature for their age, but this isn't a persuasive argument. I'm also not entirely convinced that introducing race and income to the plot helped in the final denouement. Two very different father teaming up was a good choice but to keep mentioning the racial and class differences was too much. 3.5 rounded down. Thanks to Storm Publishing for providing me with an advance reader's copy. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Other Profile

The Other Profile by Irene Graziosi, translated by Lucy Rand
2/20/24; 224 pages
Europa Editions

The Other Profile by Irene Graziosi, translated by Lucy Rand  is a so-so novel about social media influencers. Maia, 26, is living with an older professor and works a couple days a week as a waitress at his insistence. After the death of her younger sister she just wants to lay on the sofa and watch Law and Order SVU. Then the opportunity arises to work for Gloria, an 18-year-old influencer with millions of followers. Maia's job is basically to help Gloria keep her image which is all she has and maybe include a bit of personality in her interactions.

Maia is an unreliable and unlikeable narrator. Gloria is an insipid, vacuous inst-influencer. It is a struggle to care about either of these characters throughout the whole novel, beyond being annoyed by them. The novel itself has a vague, unfinished feeling. This one is best skipped unless you are really interested in on-line personalities. Two stars because I finished it, but, honestly, I wish I had simple set it aside and moved on. Thanks to Europa Editions for providing me with an advance reader's copy. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Women

The Women by Kristin Hannah
2/6/24; 480 pages
St. Martin's Press

The Women by Kristin Hannah is an exceptional portrait of a nurse serving "in country" during the Vietnam War and then returning home. This is a very highly recommended, emotionally charged historical fiction novel which will certainly be one of the best books of the year. This would be an excellent choice for book clubs and will certainly result in thought-provoking discussions.

After nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears the words "Women can be heroes too," while looking at her father's wall of heroes featuring pictures of the men in their family who served their country during a party for her brother Finley who is leaving to serve his country in Vietnam. After she gets her RN she follows the lead of her older brother, and joins the Army Nurse Corps and begins basic training in 1966. Once she arrives in Vietnam, she is overwhelmed by the smells, sights and chaos, but is shown support and the ropes by fellow nurses Ethel and Barb. She quickly steps up and adapts to the responsibilities of a surgical nurse dealing with horrific injuries under extreme conditions.

After serving two years, Frankie comes home and faces a different kind of battle. Her father is ashamed of her service, the country does not recognize nurses who served and sacrificed as veterans, and the country is in turmoil. The only help and support she can find  for her PTSD are from Ethel and Barb who understand what she is going through mentally and help her adapt to civilian life in a changed country.

The writing is phenomenal and manages to create an emotionally charged, realistic, and vivid portrait of Frankie's service and her struggles. I was completely immersed in The Women from start to finish. Part of my complete captivation with the narrative was based on my memories from that time period. I was young, but have vivid memories of events from the sixties and certainly more from the seventies. Hannah managed to create a complete portrait of the women and the times (including clothing).

The experiences the characters experience is heart-breaking. Frankie is a completely fully-realized realistic character who garnered my compassion and empathy. Her treatment when coming back from war to work in a hospital is eye-opening and in many ways disgusting. 

This is the best kind of historical fiction as it takes a long sweeping view covering years of a character's life as society, information, and point-of-views constantly change around the characters. It covers an era and a turbulent time. The narrative is broken into two parts. The first deals mainly with the war and the second with trying to reenter civilian life after the war. 

The Women by Kristin Hannah is a must read novel. I expect it to be on many lists for the best novels of 2024. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The Ghost Orchid

The Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman
2/6/24; 304 pages
Random House
Alex Delaware Series

The Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman has Psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD  Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis return to solve a perplexing double homicide. It is a very highly recommended procedural and marks the 39th Alex Delaware novel. Newcomers to the series who enjoy well-written procedurals can easily enjoy The Ghost Orchid as a standalone novel, but once started you will want to delve deeper and read more novels in the series.

Alex has recovered from a previous injury so when Milo calls he is eager to assist him on another case. Two bodies are found by the pool at a house in Bel Air. The residence is that of male victim, Gio Aggiunta, the wealthy heir to an Italian shoe empire. The female victim, Meagin March, is an even wealthier married older woman. Robbery doesn't appear to have been a motive. And while Meagin's husband Douglass is a natural suspect, it becomes clear as the investigation continues that, while he is a jerk, he's likely not the suspect they are looking for. The case requires Milo and Alex to fig deep into the past of the two victims.

This is an excellent addition to the very well-written long-running series. The case is fascinating, the pace is fast, the details are interesting, and the plot is compelling from start to finish. The intricate investigation into the lives of the two victims is engaging and riveting as details emerge. While I am well acquainted with the characters, enough details are provided for new readers to easily follow the dynamic relationship between Alex and Milo.

Once I started The Ghost Orchid I kept reading until I finished it, the mark of a very satisfying procedural. Thanks to Ballantine Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Nightwatching

Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra
2/6/24; 368 pages
Penguin Viking/Pamela Dorman Books

Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra is a highly recommended domestic horror novel that morphs into a psychological thriller.

There is a blizzard outside and a mother is at home alone with her two children, ages 8 and 5, when she hears something and knows that someone is in the house. She happens to be in the shadows of the hall by her son's room when she seems the huge, tall man come up the stairs, hesitate, and then head in the opposite direction, to her room. She wakes the children with admonishments to make no noise and they quickly creep downstairs to hide in the hidden, tiny secret space concealed behind a wall. They can hear the man searching for them, while talking to them out loud and taunting them. The mother has one goal now - she must save her children.

While the tension is almost unbearable during the current situation, the narrative has flashbacks to previous events in the protagonists life. Readers will realize her husband is missing on this night and will also learn about earlier events in her life. The novel is written in a third person limited point-of-view, which works well in this case. The descriptions within the settings are very well-written and bring the struggles and challenges facing her to life.

The characters are unnamed in this debut novel, which would not be my preference in a novel, but it is handled adeptly. Everything we know is filtered through the unnamed mother's perspective and we are only following her thoughts and observations. To be honest, the frequent mentions of how tiny, small, and petite the protagonist is does become a tad bit annoying at a certain point as does her hesitation to stand up for herself.

The first part of Nightwatching is definitely written as a horror novel and then the novel transforms to more closely resemble a psychological thriller. The final denouement is very satisfying and makes up for some of the earlier doubts and questions about the plot that arose while I was reading. Thanks to Penguin Viking/Pamela Dorman Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.