HHhH by Laurent Binet

 

Reinhard Heydrich was one of the top men in the Nazi organization.  The HHhH stood for 'Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich' which means 'Himmlers brain is called Heydrich'.  He was high up in the SS organization and one of the main architects of the Final Solution.  He ruled occupied Czechoslovakia and sent out Death Squads.  

This is the story of how two men, Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis as they escape Czechoslavakia to England where they were trained as assassins.  They parachuted into the country and eventually attacked Heydrich as he was riding to work one day.  He survived the attack but died later in the hospital.  It also covers what happened after the assassination and the brutal standoff that ended in both men's deaths.

Laurent Binet is a French author and this was his debut novel.  His work focuses on history, mostly current and political.  This novel alternates between the facts of the event and the process of Binet writing it.  It was a New York Times Book Review Editors Choice as well as a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.  I was not familiar with Heydrich's role but this book was written in such a way, alternating between the evil he was committing and the preparations for his death, that I'll never forget him and the courage of men who volunteered for a mission they knew would result in their own deaths.  This book is recommended for historical fiction readers.  

The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis

 

Rose Lewin is a journalist, her joy researching and writing long articles.  She was pushed out of a network job and has landed at a startup online magazine.  Rose is living in the Barbizon Hotel, a New York landmark where seventy years ago models and secretaries lived while working and looking for Mr. Right. Rose's latest project is telling the story of those women, some of whom are still living at the Barbizon in rent-controlled apartments while the rest of the building has gone to high priced condos.

There was a scandal with these women back in 1952.  Something happened on the rooftop and at the end of the incident, one woman had fallen to her death while the other, Darby, has lived in seclusion ever since, her face veiled whenever she has to go out.  Rose wants to tell Darby's story but Darby isn't interested in talking.  When Darby leaves on a trip, Rose and a photographer at the startup start to research the story.  They learn that the woman who fell was a Puerto Rican maid at the Barbizon named Esme.  But as they research they learn that the two women were friends and that Esme was also a singer and perhaps mixed up with gangsters.  What's the real story of that night?

Fiona Davis is an American author who specializes in historical fiction.  This novel was her debut and it transports the reader back to the 1950's New York City.  Readers will learn about expectations of women, cooking with spices, gangs running heroin and jazz clubs.  Darby had a love story to be discovered and Rose also has one that adds interest.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.  

Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland

 

This is the story of the Jewish Adler family living in Atlantic City in the 1930's.  Esther and Joseph rent out their house every summer to tourists and move into the small apartment above their bakery.  This summer, the apartment is full.  Their daughter Fannie is pregnant with a high-risk baby and has been hospitalized for the end of her term.  Gussie, the Adler granddaughter is living with her parents so her father Issac can work in the plant and rest at night.  Florence, who is college aged, is home for the summer and plans to spend it training to swim the English Channel, coached by her boyfriend Stuart.  Then there is Anna, who has managed to escape Hitler's Germany to attend school in the United States.  She and Joseph, who knew the parents before he immigrated, are trying to get visas to bring Anna's parents over as well.

But tragedy awaits.  Early in the summer, Florence goes swimming alone in the ocean and drowns.  The family is devastated but also fearful that if Fanny hears about it, she will go into premature labor and lose another baby.  They get everyone including the press to not report the name of the woman who drowned and swears Gussie to silence.  In the meantime, Issac is getting more remote from his family while Anna is becoming attracted to Stuart.  What will the summer bring?

Rachel Beanland is an American author who grew up in Connecticut but has lived in the South as an adult.  This is her debut novel and I really enjoyed it.  I enjoyed learning about the history of Atlantic City and about the foreshadowing of World War II and the influence Hitler had before the war started  The glimpse into a Jewish family's traditions and family life was interesting.  Gussie is a delightful ten year old, not always sure what is going on and just wanting someone to love her as her mother does.  This book is recommended for historical fiction readers.  

What's The Matter With Kansas? by Thomas Frank

 

Covering the early 2000's, this book purports to explain how Kansas and the majority of the Midwest, went from voting liberal to becoming a conservative haven.   His premise is that there is what he calls a thirty-year backlash against the ruling liberal class, which never existed.  He follows this premise into topics such as religion, social mores, farming, the loss of factory jobs, etc.  He believes that these converted voters are voting against their own best interest.

Thomas Frank is a political analyst and columnist.  He is a liberal and writes from that perspective.  I had interest in this topic but found the book more like a screed than fact-based.  Rather than statistics and analysis, the mantra seemed to be, 'Conservative bad, liberal good'.  There is nothing the liberals have wrong which makes one wonder why they lost followers.  There is nothing the conservatives have right from his perspective.  I ended up disappointed in this book.  I listened to it and the author was the narrator.  He did do a good job with the narration which is often not the case with authors reading their own works.  This book is recommended for die-hard liberals.

When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham

 

Philomena McCarthy is a female police in London but she has baggage.  Besides the normal fight against her peers' misogyny, Phil comes from one of the biggest crime families in the city.  The McCarthy brothers are known for their organization, although these days they are into more stable and legal businesses.  Phil hasn't spoken with her family in years, not since her father walked out on her mother when Philomena was a teenager.  These days she lives with her boyfriend Henry, who is a fireman and weekends with his son.  

One night Phil and her partner get a domestic violence call.  They rescue a woman named Tempe but her boyfriend tries to intimidate them and ends up in a physical encounter with Phil.  She arrests him although he tells her that he is a DI in the police.  When they get to the station, he wins the encounter and Phil is sent home on suspension

But Tempe is still around.  Phil helps her find a safe place to stay and soon Tempe has wormed herself into Philomena's life.  She helps plan Phil and Henry's wedding, shows up on Phil's girls night out and meets her friends, does household chores.  Phil is uneasy at how dependent Tempe seems to be and the stories she tells about her background don't seem true.  

Phil finally reconciles with her family at her father's sixtieth birthday.  The timing is good as the DI she has issues with is found murdered and Philomena is the main suspect.  She will need all her wits and the help of her unique family to solve the murder and get out of trouble.  

Michael Robotham is an Australian author who spends time there and in London.  He was a ghostwriter for years with twelve of those books ending up on the bestseller lists.  I'm glad he moved on to mysteries and suspense as he is one of my favorites and the reader always knows they will be entertained with a riveting story when they open one of his books.  I'd love it if he created an entire series about Philomena and the McCarthy family.  There is a second one but I could read about her for an entire series.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi

 

They were the outcast group, the ones with issues and poverty-stricken houses.  Jamie and Dennis were brothers but Dennis has mental issues.  Clay is a black guy with vitiligo, the disease where his skin had huge white splotches.  Mia is a goth girl who won't change for anything and could care less what anyone thinks. They  all can't wait until they can grow up and leave Black Mouth, a dying town that offers nothing good.   One summer when they are about thirteen, they meet The Magician.

He seems to be homeless and living near the old mine shafts.  Middle-aged, he wears an eye patch to cover the eye he lost somehow.  He is scary looking, but seems to have plenty of time for the four and is willing to teach them magic tricks.  Soon, they are spending all their spare time with him.  They don't realize when things start to change and he asks them to do more dangerous things.  Then finally, when The Magician thinks he has them under control, he tries to make them kill Dennis.  But he is wrong and as the teens run from him, they set off a disaster that ends in tragedy regardless.

Now grown, Jamie has never been back.  His life has been guilt and alcoholism and attempts to forget that summer.  He lives from job to job.  But when he gets the call, he has to go.  His mother has died after all these years and arrangements have to be made for Dennis who has stayed in Black Mouth.  He thinks he will be there only a week, but when he arrives, he hears the news about a young girl who has stabbed her best friend to death and who says a man living in the woods made her do it.  Mia coincidentally is also there and calls Clay who is now a social worker.  They believe that The Magician is back and they must band together one more time in order to defeat him.

Ronald Malfi always delivers a great horror novel but this one may be my favorite.  The mystery and the contrast between that summer when they are teenagers and now that this one when they are adults and supposedly more able to fight evil.  The affection between these four who found affection in short supply growing up is admirable and a great offset to all that is happening.  Dennis is a loveable character who shows unimagined knowledge and strength in the battle.  Jamie's love for him is touching and the interplay between the characters who meet up again for the first time since that summer is great.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did a marvelous job.  This book is recommended for horror readers.  

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

 

This is the story of the Barnes family.  Dickie grew up in the shadow of his younger brother, Frank, whom everyone loved and admired for his outgoing personality and athletic prowess.  The family business is selling cars and the family has two dealerships.  Dickie was always slated to take over once his father decided to retire although he has little interest in it while Frank would love to have the business.  

Dickie married Imelda who was Frank's girlfriend first.  They had two children.  Cass is about to go off to university while PJ just wants to get along with everyone.  

Things aren't going well.  The dealerships are failing and Dickie just can't bring himself to care.  He spends his days in the woods behind their house, building a survivalist refuge with PJ and a scurry handyman who Imelda despises.  Imelda spends her days worrying about where the money will come from if the business fails and wondering how she ended up in a loveless marriage.  She is still beautiful and men are still attracted to her.  Should she find love elsewhere?

Things come to a head when the accountant finds a large sum of money missing from the business accounts.  Dickie knows where it went but he's not talking.  Now he needs to find more money for the same reason.  

Paul Murray is an Irish author who often writes about family relationships.  This novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and it was Murray's second nomination for that award.  What I noticed most in this book was the pacing.  It starts out with long, luxurious sections about each main character so that the reader gets to know each of them.  Then the chapters start to be shorter as the ending approaches and the pace becomes faster and faster building suspense.  I really liked this novel and can't wait to read more of Murray's work.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Wolves Of The Calla by Stephen King

 

In this fifth book in the Dark Tower series, Roland, Eddie, Jake and Susannah come upon the town of Calla Bryn Sturgis.  It seems prosperous compared to many places they have encountered; food seems plentiful, there is a store and the outlying farms and ranches seem to be doing well.  One thing seems strange though.  There are children everywhere.  Most are twins.

Then they find out the horror that periodically visits the town.  About once a generation, the Wolves come on gray horses.  They take one of each pair of twins from about four to fifteen.  When those taken are returned after a few months, they come back Roont as the town calls them.  They have been taken back to the brain level of a two year old and they grow into giants.  They also die much earlier than one might expect  The worst is about to occur.  Andy, the robot who travels the roads and picks up news, tells the townspeople that the Wolves will be coming in about a month.

The Tet discusses it and decides to stay and help.  They meet Father Callahan, an alcoholic priest who understands the travel between worlds as he used to be the priest of Salem's Lot.  He has the most powerful ball which can take someone wherever they want to go.  Eddie makes several trips back to New York where there is a fight about who will own the lot where the rose that makes beauty and peace is harbored.  But all is not good.  Susannah is pregnant, but not with Eddie's baby.  She has also developed another personality named Mia who has no interest in being part of the Tet.

This series just keeps getting better and better as it progresses.  This is truly King's masterwork and has depth and interest for readers.  I have to take a break between volumes as the tale gets ever more intense leading up to the final battle that is coming.  This book is recommended for fantasy and horror readers.  

The Executor by Jesse Kellerman

 

Joseph Geist is at loose ends when he sees the ad.  He has been kicked out of his graduate program after years of not producing his dissertation.  His girlfriend has broken up with him and since they live in her apartment, he no longer has anywhere to stay.  The ad asks for someone who can provide discussion on various topics on a regular basis.  Desperate, he answers the ad and meets Alma Spielman.  Alma is an elderly woman who is wealthy.  She is lonely and wants someone intelligent to talk to a couple of days a week.  After meeting Joseph, she hires him.  After a few afternoons of conversation, Joseph ends up moving in and starts taking care of Alma, at least as much as she will allow.

But there's always a fly in the ointment.  With Alma, it's her nephew, Eric.  Eric was raised by Alma and he is a drifter, a con man, someone who lives waiting for his rich relative to die and leave him the money he thinks he is due.  Eric strikes up a relationship with Joseph and soon is suggesting that if they killed Alma, he would get his money and would give Joseph the house.  Joseph is appalled and tries to warn Alma but she brushes him off.  Where will it end?

Jesse Kellerman started as a playwright.  He is the son of Jonathan and Faye Kellerman and has written several books with his father.  In this book, the tension mounts slowly.  Joseph knows what is about to happen but can't find anyone to take him seriously.  He starts to unwind himself as he tries to save Alma yet lured by the thought of riches for himself.  This book is recommended for suspense readers. 

The Suitcase Clone by Robin Sloan

 

James Bascule has always lived in Northern California except for one trip to Europe where he fell in love and got his heart broken.  Now he is adrift.  It's time for college but he's not sure that's what he wants to do.  He knows the military isn't for him but what is?

Then James meets a man who would love to hire him.  The man is starting a vineyard and wants to hire a suitcase clone.  That's someone who goes to a famous vineyard, snips a vine from there and brings it home to be propagated elsewhere.  James doesn't have any other plans so he says yes.

But can he pull it off?  There is a partner, a woman who plays techno music and he can go into the vineyard as her technician.  He has the suitcase and a place to hide the cutting.  Now the only thing that's left is to find a way to steal a cutting and get home without being detected.  Is he up to the task?

Robin Sloan is an American author and his interests lie in the fields of technology and AI.  He also is part owner of a company that makes olive oil and lives in Northern California.  This novella fits between two of his other books, Mr. Penumbra's Twenty-Four Hour Bookstore and Sourdough.  James is a loveable villain who the reader is sure will eventually be caught but probably get by with not much punishment.  It is comedic without being overwhelming, just enough to make reading about James enjoyable.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

 

This is the story of the Buendia family who settled and founded the mythical city of Macondo.  It follows the lives and loves of the men and women who made up the family.  Some of the men were inventors and magicians, some were warriors, all had lovers and sometimes their love was sustaining and sometimes their downfall.  The exact location of Macondo is never specified so it becomes the archtype for South American culture.  It is a blend of love, lore, politics, mystery, decades-long feuds and resentments and history that continually circles around again.  The novel follows the birth, life and eventual death of the city and those within it.

Although Marquez did not invent magic realism, this novel soon became known as the masterpiece of this technique.  This technique is known for weaving magical or supernatural elements into a story as if they were just commonplace occurrences.  In this novel, some examples include the entire town having insomnia for an extended time, a four-year rain of yellow flowers, the extreme old age of the founding characters, a female character ascending to heaven while folding clothes, the wizard's workshop and many other things.  

Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a Colombian author whose work brought Latin American literature to the world's notice.  It won awards as the best foreign book in both Italy and France and was a founding brick in the body of work that brought Marquez the Nobel Prize in Literature.  The book was written in 1967 and released in the United States in 1970.  I read it first in 1971, a college freshman.  It was probably the most significant book I read during those years of college and my first experience of magic realism as a literary technique.  As I downsize my library, I read it again and was delighted to find that I loved it as much now as all those years ago. Some readers may find the similar names confusing as new babies are named after ancestors and it is easy to confuse characters at times.    This book is recommended for literary fiction and multicultural readers.   

The Visitors by Miranda Rijks

 

Most would say that Hannah has it all.  She lives in a large house in the English countryside with her husband, Daniel, and her two children.  Prior to her marriage she was a music teacher and she still has a few students she teaches on her grand piano.  But it's not enough.

She wants a project and Daniel agrees to let her turn the barn into a guest cottage, one that she plans to rent out.  She creates a lovely space and the first guests love it.  Everything is going well when her second guests arrive.

Nadia and Mike are very different from her first guests.  They arrive in a beat up car with their daughter.  They are loud and as Hannah soon finds out, messy and demanding.  They expect Hannah to keep their daughter whenever they leave.  When they take Hannah's daughter on a quick outing with them, they don't return or answer calls for hours.  When Hannah looks inside, her beautiful renovation is trashed; garbage everywhere, cushions in the floor.  Mike demands new bedding even though what is there is new.  Then he trips and breaks his ankle and they insist they need to stay another week so he can be treated.  Since they are hinting at a lawsuit, Hannah and Daniel agree.

But things don't improve.  Soon Nadia and Mike have changed the locks on the doors and don't give Hannah a key.  They invite themselves on Hannah and Daniel's family outings and are loud and rude in public.  Surely something has to give....and it does.

Miranda Rijks is an English author.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did an excellent job, helping to build the tension that Rijks increases bit by bit.  Although the tenants are unreasonable, she makes Hannah's actions seem logical although she needs a bit more backbone as she is way too polite as she hopes to build a successful business.  There are also hints that all is not well with Hannah and Daniel and those hints continue to accumulate throughout the book.  Rijks has written scores of psychological thrillers and this one is a great beach book or one to read while staying in an AirBnB.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Sons Of Cain by Peter Vronsky

 

Peter Vronsky is a filmmaker and historian.  He became interested in serial killers when he actually encountered two of them.  The first was in New York and the man had a duffle bag when they brushed in a hotel corridor.  In the bag was a decapitated head from the woman the killer had just murdered.  Vronsky also encountered a serial killer in Moscow.  He spent years documenting Russian history as well as Canadian and various counter-terrorism and espionage topics.

In this books he gives an overview of serial killers over the ages.  In early years, most were not known with the location often rural and the lack of communication.  The first well-known serial was, of course, Jack the Ripper, and he covers that case as well as the French ripper who came after him. 

He also covers in detail the American period from 1950 to 2000 when 83% of the serial killers in the United States were active.  I've read several books that question why serial killers were so active at that time.  Vronsky believes that it had to do with the aftermath of World War II and all the men who fought in that war yet came home and never talked about what they saw and were forced to do yet raised sons while damaged.  

This is an interesting book for readers of true crime.  It is a great survey of serial killing throughout the ages.  Vronsky is not a psychologist so there is not as much as an in-depth analysis of the causes of serial killing although he is familiar and talks about the topic.  He has also spent time talking with the killer he encountered in New York who is now imprisoned.  His partner in that endeavor is the daughter of the woman killed that day.  Their interest is to find all the victims of that killer and where the undiscovered bodies of some of his victims still lie undiscovered.  This book is recommended for true crime readers.  

The Sideways Life Of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy

 

Denny has a good life.  He lives with his Nana-Jo, his elderly mother with his cousin, Angus, next door in the duplex.  He has George, his rescued Saint Bernard.  Denny is intellectually challenged, the result of a birth accident that kept oxygen from getting to his brain but he is quick to tell everyone his number is 72, and you're not retarded unless your number is seventy or less. He has a big sister named Lydia who he seldom saw and with whom he wasn't on good terms He works with Angus, the two of them riding the roads for the city, scooping up roadkill and various other tasks.

Their is one person Denny doesn't like.  Henry Tesky employed Nana-Jo for years as the housekeeper.  But when his first wife died and he quickly remarried, Nana-Jo was fired.  Denny asked Mr. Tesky to give Nana-Jo her job back, but Tesky yelled at him and called him an idiot.  Mr. Tesky is also running for town mayor and Denny hopes he doesn't win.

When Tesky is found killed, Denny ends up being arrested.  He had been found near Tesky's house, on a sled full of guns.  With the animosity between the two, Denny seems like the perfect suspect.  He is put in jail where his lawyer and a doctor try to get the story of what happened from Denny.  Denny, who never uses one sentence when twenty come to him, tells stories and hides from the truth of what happened that night and what he has found out about his life.  

Holly Kennedy is a Canadian author.  Her novel about Denny is delightful with plot twists and secrets that are slowly revealed.  Denny is a lovely man, making the best of a life that has challenges and taking joy in the everyday events that we all have but most ignore.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers who also enjoy comedy.

The Book Of Doors by Gareth Brown

 

Cassie Andrews is living in New York City with her friend, Izzy.  She works in a bookstore and she's not sure if that's what she wants to do but it's great for now as she loves to read and has customers who come often enough that they are familiar.  One of those, an elderly man she always talks with, unfortunately dies in the bookshop, his heart giving out.  He leaves a book behind for Cassie.

Cassie loves the book which is full of pictures and strange writing.  But soon she notices that another man seems to be wherever she and Izzy go.  He finally introduces himself as Drummond Fox, a Scotsman who tells her that her book is special, one of a set of special books.  Hers is the Book Of Doors and with it, she can be transported to anywhere that has a door, even back or forward in time.  Cassie doesn't believe him until she uses it to do just that, go somewhere else without trying.

But Fox warns her there are people who will want her book.  Some buy the books they are able to locate but there are others who will kill for them.  There is a woman who has killed all of Fox's friends and another evil man who will do whatever it takes to get books.  Soon Cassie and Izzy are being chased all over the world by these evil people.  What will it take to be safe?

I can hardly believe this is a debut novel as it is one of the best standalone fantasy novels I've read in a long time.  Gareth Brown is a Scottish author and I really hope he is working on another book.  Cassie grows from a young woman who is pretty aimless to a strong character willing to do whatever it takes to protect those around her and keep her book.  The other characters are imaginably drawn and I wonder if a romance could happen between Cassie and Drummond.  I can highly recommend this book to fantasy readers.  

My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley

 

This is the story of Bridget and Helen Grant, daughter and mother.  Bridget's parents divorced when she was young and she and her sister saw her father less and less often so they were mainly raised by Helen.  Helen is narcissistic, finding ways to make every situation about her.  The wants and needs of the girls are far down on her scale and she only wants their adoration.

As adults, both the girls have moved away and have little to do with their mother.  Bridget, who lives in London with her partner, sees Helen about once a year.  Helen does what she can to make friends.  She goes to anything free; galley openings, lectures, club gatherings.  As social as she is, she has few if only friends, others sensing the vast cavern within Helen that she expects others to fill.

As Helen gets older, she wants more from her girls and they reluctantly do what they can as Helen's health falters and then crashes.  Yet even as they face losing their mother forever, the women know that they must protect their own core and the lives they have built without her.

Gwendoline Riley is an English author whose books have won acclaim.  They tend to be short and to the point, outlining lives in an unsparing fashion.  This novel in particular may be helpful to those struggling to separate from overpowering parents when they are adults.  Bridget manages to move away and build a satisfactory life without her mother but her interactions with her are sharp and some readers will be uncomfortable with them.  This book is recommended for literary and women's fiction readers.   

When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory

 

No one was the same after the Great Reveal.  That's when the Creators told everyone that they were just a simulation, a computer program that could be crashed or deleted whenever they chose.  Suddenly, marriages fell apart.  People quit jobs.  Suicide rates increased at first but have settled out as time went by.  It's kind of hard to just go along with your life when you find out something like that.

Dulin is worried about his friend, JP.  JP had a brain tumor and went through the surgery and radiation and chemo.  He got a clean bill of health but now it's back and JP isn't doing another round of treatment.  Dulin sees that JP is depressed and thinks what could cheer him up.  Maybe a cross-country bus trip to see some of the computer created miracles?

JP agrees and Dulin signs them up.  They have a busload of other folks riding.  There are four older folks who move and talk to each other and consider themselves a group.  There is the bus driver who's seen it all and the tour guide who just started working and doesn't know much about what she is doing.  There's an older woman in a wheelchair who spends her time complaining and her daughter, a middle-aged nurse.  There's a very pregnant influencer who thinks she can spin the birth of her baby into more clicks and likes.  There's the skeptic who is determined to show that the Great Reveal was false and his son who is college aged. There is a woman on the run, a scientist who is working against the government and who is being hunted by both government agents and a right-wing group stirred up on the Internet against her.   Finally there are the nuns; an older one who is having doubts and writing a book about them and a young one sent by those higher up to keep an eye on the older one.  Finally, there is a rabbi who is the older nun's friend.  

Together they ride the bus, view the sights which are manipulations of the world as they know it, such as a tunnel where they can spend five minutes or weeks but it will seem like the same time on the other side, or the site where things put in a vortex disappear.  They make friends and try to make sense of lives turned upside down.  Where will this tour end up?

Daryl Gregory is an author who focuses on science fiction and who writes with humor and a genuine liking of his characters.  His work has garnered awards such as the World Fantasy Award, the Shirley Jackson Award and notice by various publications.  He has also been nominated for the Nebula award.  His comic take on the situations he writes about is one of the main reasons Gregory is a must-read for me.  His books can never be called boring as he pulls the reader along on his newest adventure and his characters are everyday folks who encounter extraordinary events.  This book is recommended for science fiction and fantasy readers.  

The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill

 

Darby hasn't been home to Oak Falls for a decade.  Not since that disastrous senior year in high school when suddenly his best friend, Matt, iced him out and found a new best friend.  Not since he realized why he felt so different from everyone else and found a way to transition from a woman to a man.  Not since he found a new life and a family of friends in New York

But when Darby loses his job, realizes that he can't make his rent and his mother lets him know that she is selling the house he grew up in for a condo, he decides to go back and help her pack up.  Who knows?  Maybe the next chapter of his life is in small town America.

One of the few places Darby has fond memories of is the bookstore where he worked throughout high school.  When he gets into town he stops by there even though he knows it is closed by now.  When he looks through the window, he is surprised to see that it looks the same, exactly the same.  He is shocked when he sees the salesperson who is closing up.  It is his teenage self doing the same routine he is familiar with.  As he turns away, he runs into Matt, an encounter he is definitely not ready for.  But Matt seems friendly if surprised.

As the days go by, Darby haunts the bookstore.  If he is alone, it's the bookstore of his high school days and he strikes up an acquaintance with his old self, trying to steer her towards realization of why she feels different and what to do about it.  If he is with his mother or anyone else, it's a modern bookstore, much fancier and modern.  There seems to be a breakthrough with Matt as well and Darby wonders if he stays if Matt will be a part of his new life.  

Edward Underhill grew up in a similar small town.  He started writing young adult novels and this book is his first in the adult market.  It is a great book about finding your place and how everyone feels like an outsider sometimes.  It is also a book that is accepting of all lifestyles and one that someone thinking about transitioning would appreciate.  The physical side of things is handled nicely, steamy without being too much.  This book is recommended for readers of fantasy and those wondering about their next stage in life.  

Trouble In The Brasses by Alisa Craig

 

Detective Inspector Madoc Rhys of the Canadian Mounties is visiting his parents.  His father is the conductor of an orchestra and the rest of his family is musical as well with the exception of Madoc.  While watching one of his father's performances, Madoc notices that one of the players in the brass section seems to be having issues.  The man finishes the performance then collapses and dies.

It appears to be a health issue and the orchestra needs to leave for their next performance in another town so they leave and board a plane.  However, it definitely isn't their night and the plane develops engine problems and has to make an emergency landing in remote country near a deserted resort.  The orchestra is able to stay in the resort and there is some food left in the hotel kitchen but there is no phone or radio to summon help.  Soon more deaths occur and it is clear that someone is targeting orchestra members.  Can Madoc solve the case before more tragedy occurs?

Alisa Craig is a pen name for the well known mystery author, Charlotte MacLeod.  She was born in Canada but spent most of her life in New England.  She wrote more than forty novels under both her birth name and as Alisa Craig, most of which were in four different series.  This book was published in 1989 and does show its age somewhat, specifically in gender roles.  Still, the mystery has twists and turns and is successfully solved.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

 

The Thursday Murder Club is worried about Elizabeth.  She is still grieving the loss of her husband and they aren't sure what to do for her.  Joyce is ecstatic as her daughter is getting married to Paul.  Ron and Ibrahim are going about their lives.  They all attend the wedding including Elizabeth.

When things get too much for her, she goes outside for some air.  There she is approached by the groom's best friend, who tells her that someone is trying to kill him and that he heard she might be able to help him.  The man, Nick, tells Elizabeth that he and his friend, a woman he and Paul both knew from their university days, had been in business together for years.  They have something that is very valuable and only they can retrieve it.  When the woman is killed and Nick goes missing, the Thursday Murder Club goes into action.

But of course, there's always more to the story.  Ron is involved in family matters and worried that he may be getting too old to be the protector that is so much a part of his identity.   Ibrahim is treating a non-reformed criminal and just when he thinks he's making progress with her, she brings a naive young girl into her criminal world.  Can all these issues be solved?

This is the fifth Thursday Murder Club mystery and it is just as much a joy as the others were.  The supporting cast of Donna and Chris from the police, Bogdan the handyman who can do anything, and Ron's family are there.  The way these individuals all work together and put each other first is an amazing testament to the human spirit and it's all funny on top of that!  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

 

Birdie isn't living the life she envisioned for herself as a child.  She's stuck in a cabin next to the diner where she works and caring for her daughter, Emaleen.  She hadn't planned on being a single parent but loves her daughter more than anything.  But she wants to be free; free to wander, free to do whatever she wants whenever it strikes her fancy.

She sees another life when Arthur starts to come to the diner.  He is about her age but rarely comes to town, preferring to live miles away in his family's summer cabin deep in the forest.  He seldom speaks and when he does, it's like speaking is a task for him.  There are scars on his face and head and rumors about how he got them.  But Birdie sees more in Arthur and they strike up a relationship.  When he suggests that she and Emaleen move in with him, Birdie is ready to go, even when her boss and Arthur's father both recommend against it.

Because Arthur has a secret.  His father found him deep in the woods as a toddler, unable to speak English and apparently raised by a mother bear sow and her cub.  His father takes him home and he and his wife spend the next years trying to help Arthur settle into human society.  Only they know his secret but now Emaleen knows it as well as she watches Arthur near the forest where they now live.

Cut forward fifteen years.  Emaleen is now grown and has returned to Alaska to try to remember her early life which just seems like a dream to her now.  Will she learn the truth finally?

Eowyn Ivey was born and raised in Alaska and still lives there with her family.  In this book, there is a mythic quality about the writing.  What is the truth about Arthur?  Is he really different or does he have mental issues that can endanger Birdie and Emaleen?  The author leaves the issue open so that the reader can make up their own minds what really happened in the forests of Alaska in Emaleen's childhood.  I'm still thinking about it and can't decide what the author believes herself.  I find myself pondering questions about the book days after I finished it.  Emaleen is a real heroine and the reader will cheer for her.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

The Bones Beneath by Mark Billingham

 

DI Tom Thorne can't believe what those above him want him to do now.  Years ago, he put away a psychotic killer named Stuart Nicklin.  Now Nicklin has agreed to tell the authorities where he buried one of his first victims and the boy's family wants nothing more than to have him home to give a decent burial.  The catch?  Nicklin will only tell if Thorne is the policeman to accompany him and if his friend from the prison goes also.

The murder happened when the victim and Nicklin were teenagers.  They were both sent to an experimental prison that gave the boys much more freedom than most youth prisons and that was on a small island.  The water surrounding the island were the only bars.  But Nicklin escaped one night, killing the victim as he left. 

Thorne takes two of his team, the prison sends a couple of guards and there is a forensic team  The island is remote and can only be accessed by boat and not even that on every day if the sea is rough.  The group heads out and looks where Nicklin says he thinks is the spot..  Soon they find the victim and another one as well.  But when they are ready to leave, the weather has changed and a storm is coming.  They will have to stay on the island until things settle down.  What could possibly go wrong?

This is the twelfth Tom Thorne book in the series and one of the best so far.  The tension steadily increases as the book progresses.  The reader knows something will happen but what is it?  Thorne is still with his new girlfriend and it's nice to see this relationship and especially Thorne's relationship with her young son.  Readers will definitely get their money's worth from this episode.  I've started reading these more and more slowly as I dread when the series is over.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Venetian Vespers by John Banville

 

Evelyn Dolman is a journalist but not a top-flight one.  His talent has taken him only to a job on a middling newspaper  When he meets Laura Rensselaer, whose father is one of the richest men on Earth and she seems amenable to his romantic pursuit, he is ecstatic.  The two marry and Evelyn expects that he and Laura are set for life.  But Laura and her father fall out shortly before his death and when his will is read, he has left the majority of his estate to Laura's sister.

Mr. Rensselaer had paid for the couple's honeymoon, so they go to Venice.  Laura has acted strangely since the wedding, refusing marital relations and acting like she is distracted and is not sure what Evelyn is doing accompanying her.  Fed up, Evelyn goes for a walk alone the first night they are in Venice.  He stops at a restaurant and runs into a man who claims that he remembers Evelyn from a shared boarding school experience.  Evelyn doesn't remember him but the man is younger and schoolboys don't hang out with younger ones although the younger ones may idolize the older boys.  Evelyn is about to brush off Freddie FritHerbert when he insists that Evelyn come and meet his sister.  

Cesca FitzHerbert is gorgeous, a woman who knocks the newlywed Dolman off his feet.  He believes he has fallen in love at first sight.  All he can think about is how can he find a way to see Cesca again?  He returns to his rented villa and has a fight with Laura.  When he wakes up the next morning, Laura has disappeared with no note left behind.  

John Banville, an Irish author, is one of my must-read authors.  This book was a joy to read.  The reader feels like they aren't sure what exactly is going on.  Cesca wraps Evelyn around her little finger and he is willing to do anything for her to be near her.  The atmosphere is haunting and it feels like everything should be shrouded in fog.  It is unclear what is happening for most of the book and then there is a stupendous climax where everything is explained and the reader is left saying, 'Of course!'  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and I won't be surprised if this novel is on the next Booker longlist.  

The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh

 

The time is Victorian London.  The Variety Palace Music Hall is one place people can go for entertainment, trapeze artists, animal acts, singers, comics, acrobats and mediums.  Minnie Ward used to be a mimic on the stage but got tired of it and now helps run the Hall  She is shocked when her best friend goes missing and is found dead.  It's ruled a suicide but Minnie doesn't believe it nor does her friend's mother.

Minnie and the mother decide to hire a detective since the police consider the death a closed case.  Albert Easterbrook comes from money.  He was a policeman himself and a boxer but he left both professions to go private.  He starts to investigate and soon agrees that the girl's death was no suicide but murder.  Minnie insists on helping and soon the two are deep in the midst of a scandalous club whose members regard women as disposable.

This is Bridget's debut novel.  She was an English teacher for twenty-three years and has a degree in Victorian domestic murder so the setting and actions are quite realistic.  There is romantic tension between Minnie and Albert, as they both realize that a romance between two people from differing social classes is fraught with difficulties.  I enjoyed this mystery and will be looking for others by the author.  This book is recommended for mystery and historical fiction readers. 

Rednecks by Taylor Brown

 

This is the story of the battle to unionize the coal industry of West Virginia. Miners were little better than indentured servants.  They lived in company houses from which they could be thrown out of at a minute's notice.  They were paid in company script which could only be spent in the company store with outrageous prices.  The miners seldom saw sunlight, entering the mines before sunrise and only emerging after sunset.  The mines were dangerous places with few safety devices and if a man was injured, he was done working.

A few men were willing to do whatever it took to make things better  They talked to the others and the miners decided to go out on strike.  The company responded by kicking them out of their houses to live outside with their families in tents in the freezing West Virginia winter.  Scabs were hired to break the strike and the union leaders had to go into hiding when several of them were beaten to within a beat of their lives.  Hard men who didn't care about the law were brought in to break the miners' will, no matter how far they had to go. 

The local law enforcement was on the miners' side.  Sidney Hatfield, from the Hatfield and McCoy family feuds, was the local sheriff.  When the company's men came to town with guns and the desire to use them, a fight broke out, leaving company men dead as well as some of the townspeople.  This brought things to a head.  Soon hundreds of miners from all over come to support the men of West Virginia.  It turns into a battle that ends with the largest battle ever fought on American soil outside of the Civil War.  

Taylor Brown was born in the South and his novels have focused on those who settled the land and built the country.  His work has been awarded various prizes and this work was a revelation to me.  I vaguely knew that there had been violence while unionizing but had no idea of the magnitude of the fight.  Historical figures were featured such as Sidney Hatfield and Mother Jones, a female union organizer who traveled the nation fighting for rights for working men until she was in her nineties.  Even those characters who were fictional were based on real men such as the author's grandfather who immigrated from the Middle East and was a doctor in the area and a composite figure who was legendary in the battle.  

The book also gave a reason for the term redneck.  Growing up, we always thought that the term came from farmers in the field who wore hats but their necks were unprotected and got red from the constant sun.  But these brave men also used the term, wearing red bandanas around their necks to distinguish themselves in the fight from those determined to break them.  This book is recommended for historical fiction readers  

Behindlings by Nicola Barker

 

Wesley has a following, although most people aren't sure why.  There are groups of people that attempt to locate where he is at all times and follow him.  They are known as Behindlings for their locations walking behind him.  Wesley is either loved or hated with a passion.  He is considered evil by some, a savior by others.  What does Wesley think?  Now that is something no one knows.

This week Wesley is in Canvey, a small island town.  The Behindlings discover he is there due to a contest that he is running that hints at the location.  Some of the more prominent characters in the group that follows Wesley are Shoes, an aging hippie, Doc who pretty much leads the way, Patty who is a young boy who should never have gotten mixed up in this quest and Josephine who is a nurse and acts as a go-between.

Then there are the town inhabitants, many of whom know Wesley.  There is Katherine, a woman who is known for her promiscuity.  Dewi is a huge man who lives across from Katherine and loves her even as she sleeps with other men.  Ted is a real estate man, a close friend of Katherine's and someone who despises Wesley.  Arthur is a sponsor of the contest Wesley is running and falls under Katherine's sway.

Nicola Barker was born in England but raised in South Africa.  Her novels are often about eccentric or offbeat characters and it is sometimes difficult to understand the points her novels are making.  Behindlings falls in this category, full of strange characters and leaving the reader with multiple questions.  Is Wesley evil or good?  What's the truth about Katherine and is her character maligned?  What will the Behindlings do if they manage to catch up with Wesley?  I feel like I will need to reread this novel in order to settle my mind about what is happening and which characters I like.  This novel is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

Wolf Hour by Jo Nesbo

 

A new serial killer is working the streets in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  To all accounts, it seems to be a man called Tomas Gomez, who is an immigrant and who used to be an assassin for a local gang.  Now he seems to be working off a list and killing all those who were involved in a murder of a family on the streets of the city.

Bob Oz is a city cop but he's not been the same reliable detective for the past year.  These days, after a tragedy of his own, he comes to work when he comes, drunk.  His squad has been carrying him for almost a year but the higher ups are getting tired of him and he's been given warnings that its shape up or ship out.  Maybe catching Gomez will be his golden ticket back into the force's good graces.  

This is a new departure for Jo Nesbo.  His most famous work is his Harry Hole series with a detective set in Norway.  But his sympathy for those who life has beaten down is evident in this mystery as well.  I could read more books about Bob Oz, and I love that Nesbo is branching out as I always read everything he writes.  He is one of my favorite mystery authors and this one is no different.  This novel is recommended for mystery readers.  

The Net Beneath Us by Carol Dunbar

 

Silas and Eva are living deep in the country, off the grid as much as they can.  Silas works as a logger, using the techniques used by the settlers who lived there before, with horses and sleds.  Eva grew up with money and no one would have predicted that she would end up with Silas.  She was in art school when they met and everyone expected an art career for her.  Instead, she married Silas and moved with him to his family land.  Now, they have a small daughter and a toddler son.

Things are going well and everyone is happy when it happens.  An accident with a rotten tree brings it down prematurely and Silas is trapped underneath it.  His uncle, who works with him, barely escapes.  Silas is taken to the hospital where he is in a coma, brain-dead.  Eva makes the hard decision to let him go but takes him home to die with the family.  Now she must figure out how to do everything he did and keep things going for the children.  Should she stay in this hard-scrabble life to honor Silas?  Or should she take the children and move away for an easier life?

This is Carol Dunbar's debut novel.  Eva's life echoes Dunbar's, although she was more of an actor and soprano than an artist.  But she also gave up her city life to live off the grid with her husband and children.  The reader will be crushed as Eva was by the accident and will question what they would do in such a circumstance.  It could be a depressing book but I felt the hope in it as Eva finally grows up without someone to watch over her and to start to make logical decisions for her family going forward.  I listened to this book and the narrator did such an impressive job.  This book is recommended for women's and literary fiction readers.  

Days At The Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

 

At twenty-five, Takako finds herself at loose ends after her boyfriend announces that instead of them getting married, he is marrying another woman.  Since they work together, she ends up losing her job as it is too painful to go in and see the couple together day after day.  She spends her days holed up in her apartment, spending entire days in bed.  Then her uncle calls.

Satoru runs a bookshop, one that has been in their family for several generations.  It is located on the street where there are more bookshops than in anywhere else in Japan and he suggests that Takako come and stay with him and work in the store.  Satoru has had his own heartbreak when his wife, Momoko, left him out of the blue five years ago.  Takako reluctantly agrees.

Slowly she gets her feet back under her as she works and starts to know Satoru's customers.  She finds a coffee house where she spends time reading and chatting.  When Momoko shows back up, she befriends her to help her uncle figure out why she left, why she is back, and if she plans to stay.

Satoshi Yagisawa is a Japanese author and this is his debut novel.  It has been popular and Yagisawa wrote a sequel to this one.  As in many Japanese novels, not much occurs but readers will get a real sense of the Japanese culture and the ways it differs from the more open friendships and casual ways other cultures handle friendships and acquaintances.  At the end of the novel, there is a hint that Takako has found a new relationship that could be very important in her life.  This book is recommended for multicultural readers.  

Solar by Ian McEwan

 

Dr. Michael Beard won a Nobel Prize when he was a young man.  These days, as a middle-aged one, he has skated on his reputation for years.  Headlining a conference here, giving a lecture there, sitting on corporate boards and currently, heading up a company interested in alternative energy.  He is on his fifth marriage and due to his constant cheating, is about to get his fifth divorce.

He knows it's about time to reinvent himself and when a young research scientist at the company gives Beard his research notes shortly before he dies, Beard sees the way.  He appropriates the young man's work as his own and creates a new kind of solar energy device.  It doesn't hurt that he is able to frame his wife's lover as the young man's murderer and get him out of the way as well.

Although Beard is a despicable man and most people don't like him, somehow he still manages to get good women interested in him.  He currently has two on the go.  One has been with him for years and he has a daughter with her.  The other is a woman he met in Texas where the new solar device is about to be tested and wants to be the sixth Mrs. Beard.  Will he ever get his comeuppance?

Ian McEwan is a British writer whose novels have been nominated six times for the Booker Prize and his novel Amsterdam won.  Another novel, Atonement, was adapted into a movie.  He has also won various other literary awards.  In this novel, he has created a villain who readers will long remember while also sending up the environmental crisis field of study a bit.  His works are quite readable and are memorable after reading.  This one wasn't his best but I enjoyed reading it quite a lot.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.