Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

 

In this novel set in the 1950's, Frank and April Wheeler are living in a commuter town, a suburbia where children can grow up safely and couples can live their married lives.  Frank works at an office machine company at the age of the beginning of computers for business uses, before the idea of personal computers had taken hold.  He hates his job.  He had thought he was destined for great things after the war and university, where he met April.  She also had academic yearnings and supported Frank as he took a job.  They wanted to travel but April became pregnant so they married instead.

Now they feel like they are in an intellectual wasteland.  They look down on the other couples they socialize with, feeling that they are humdrum and suited for the stultifying life suburbia offers while only the Wheelers realize there is more to life.  After the failure of an attempted community theatre, the couple decides that they will throw over everything and move to Europe where April will take her turn supporting them while Frank has time to decide what he was really meant to do.

Except.  Except that Frank is suddenly offered a promotion within the company.  Except that both of them are having affairs.  And the biggest except, that April has just found out that she is pregnant yet again, the result of the time before reliable birth control.  

I can relate to this novel.  My parents would have been the Wheelers, the same ages and more interested in books and theatre and art than many others in our small town.  But I see the uneasiness of the Wheelers as a lack in their characters.  Not many others in my childhood had houses full of books, or mothers who left in the summers to get a master's degree or go visit museums in the bigger cities.  But we never felt that we were better than those who enjoyed other things nor felt the lack of friends.  I do remember the time when it was difficult to get birth control, when only married women had the chance to get them and they were frowned upon.  This was a debut novel for the author, Richard Yates, and was nominated for a National Book Award.  The writing is easy and immediately paints a picture of the Wheelers.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers and those interested in the culture of the 1950's in America. 

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

 

Wylie Lark is a true crime writer.  She has come to Iowa to write about a famous case.  One night, someone came to a family farm there and killed both the parents.  At first the suspicion fell on the teenage son but he was found dead and hidden on the property.  The only survivor was a young teenage girl who had run and hidden all night in the towering cornfields.

Now Wylie wishes she had finished her book about the case earlier.  There's a blizzard coming down and the house she is renting could easily lose power and heat.   When she goes outside to get more firewood in, she sees something lying in the yard.  When she checks, she is shocked to see a young child around ten.  Where did he come from?  Getting the child into the house, she does her best to warm him up and then goes back out to see if she can discover where he came from.  She finds a wrecked car and a woman.  Once she gets her inside as well, she can see that the mother is injured from the wreck.  Neither of them want to talk but eventually Wylie manages to find out that they are being chased by a man.

Then there's a knock on the door.  Is it the man who the two are fleeing from?  Is it the snowplow driver who said he would come by and check on Wylie?  Someone else from the wreck?

This is my first book by Heather Gudenkauf but it won't be my last.  She has a real ability to racket up the tension and I had to put the book down at times and walk around a bit before going on with it.  Wylie is resourceful but can any woman manage to defeat both a raging man and weather that isolates her and makes everything much more difficult?  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

How To Become The Dark Lord And Die Trying by Django Wexler

 

Davi is tired of her life.  She dies over and over, coming back to live it again.  She has been on the side of the Kingdom but maybe it's time to do something different.  She decides if she can't make it being virtuous, she'll become the opposite.  Why not become the leader of evil, The Dark Lord?

It isn't something that happens overnight.  She would have to be chosen at the Convocation and she isn't sure where that happens or what it takes.  She starts out but there are many instances of dying and starting over.  Eventually, she becomes the leader of a ragtag group that can form the basis of her horde; mostly orcs with some fox-wilders and rock-wilders as well.  

They start off on their journey to the Convocation picking up new horde members along the way.  After running afoul of a kingdom which found them trespassing, Davi and her horde make a hasty escape and climb over the mountains, finally getting to the Conclave.  Davi has three opponents there.  Can she reach her goal?

Django Wexler started his career as a software engineer and that had to help with the intricate plotting and the creation of the magic used.  But what is most noticeable about this book is the sheer fun of it.  Davi is a villain but one with a heart of gold, who insists on finding love along the way.  She is making it up as she goes but has an inborn ability to bond a group and share power that moves the story along.  I can't wait to read the next one in the series and I'm thrilled to have found Wexler as another author whose work I can explore.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.    

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

 

Andrew Less is not having a good year.  His most recent novel has been passed on by his long time publisher.  His boyfriend of nine years is getting married to someone else and even worse, has invited Andrew to come to the wedding.  To cap things off, he's turning fifty in a few years.

But Less has a plan.  He is constantly getting invitations to conferences, writing retreats, places to review for magazine articles and travel with friends.  He looks at his recent ones and decides to accept them all.  That will take him abroad for a couple of months with stops in Mexico, Germany, France, the Arabian desert and Japan.  It should be safe to return by then.

As Less travels, he meets a wide variety of characters.  Some become lovers while others become friends and memorable individuals he'll never forget.  He has adventures wherever he is but his trusty blue suit which is his touchstone takes him through anything.  Whenever he meets an acquaintance he refuses to hear anything about Freddy's wedding and plows on.  He is accused of being a bad gay but also singled out as someone who has the best blind luck of anyone.  

Andrew Sean Greer is an American author whose books have garnered much praise, with this one winning a Pulitzer Prize.  Readers fall in love with Andrew Less as do the people in his life and those he meets.  He stumbles through with exquisite manners and never quite sure what is next but he is endearing and memorable.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction. 

Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo

 

In The Kingdom, Nesbo fans met Carl and Roy Opgard who live in the small town of Os, Norway.  Carl is the local entrepreneur, lately returned from the United States, bringing home a wife and lots of plans for a luxury hotel.  Roy works in the local garage.  The two share a weighted childhood with abuse a common feature until Roy takes matters into his own hands.  Since then, the two have managed to remove any obstacles in their way, making them look like accidents or suicides.

Things have moved on.  Carl and Roy are living together in the family home, their love/hate relationship still intact.  But Roy now owns the garage he used to work in along with some other properties.  Carl, now without the wife, is building the biggest house Os has ever seen and planning an extension to the hotel/spa.  He is back with his high school sweetheart although she is married.  

Roy has a new woman in his life as well.  Natalie is a local Os girl but she was sent away when she hit puberty, the result of Roy's interference in her life.   Everyone knew her father was abusing her every night but only Roy stepped in.  He gave the man a beating to within an inch of his life and insisted that he send Natalie away to grow up in peace with relatives.  Now Natalie is back in town and Roy can't believe that she is attracted to him but she is.

But everything isn't perfect.  There are business problems with people trying to take what the Osgard brothers have built or cheat them.  The local sheriff has been a long time enemy as he suspects that the brothers are behind the death of his father and he won't give up until he has them behind bars.  The government is planning a new road, one that will bypass Os and make the hotel obsolete.  Will the brothers continue to thrive?

Jo Nesbo is known for his mysteries set in his native Norway.  In this novel, Roy is no doubt a horrible person but most of his crimes come from his desire to protect those he cares for.  Even though Carl has cheated him all his life, he still loves him and tries to protect him.  The reader can't help but pull for Roy as he outmaneuvers his enemies.  The plot is intricate and it is a joy to watch it unfold.  For me, Jo Nesbo is an automatic read as his work is complex and satisfying.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.   

Fatal Witness by Robert Bryndza

 

DI Erika Foster is a Polish immigrant who came to England and has worked her way up to DI, heading a team of other police officers.  She has just moved into a new house and too tired to cook, has walked a block or so to get dinner.  As she is returning, she is met with screams.  Rushing to see what is happening, she discovers a woman and a body.  The woman had some to check on her sister, Vicky, as she hadn't come to work that day.  Instead she found the bloody body, stabbed and joints dislocated.

Erika calls in her team and they start to work the case.  The victim lived in a small apartment building.  Living there are two Bulgarian sisters here to train as doctors, a man who travels on business most of the year, an elderly woman, a middle-aged man who is the victim's neighbor and the owner of the building, a woman who has taken the entire top floor as her apartment.  The middle-aged man comes under immediate suspicion as he is carrying a bag which he refuses to let the police inspect.  Before all is done, he ends up jumping out a window while trying to flee and hurting himself.  Erika and her team take him to the station where it comes to light that his brother is high up in the police structure.

Who could have done this crime?  Was it Eddie the next door neighbor?  Her brother-in-law with whom she had a terrible relationship?  Her former boyfriend?  Vicky had been a podcaster and her focus was true crime.  Was this a crime to stop her from investigating a case?  

This is the seventh novel in the Erika Foster series.  I liked Erika who has a can-do attitude and who is frustrated by all the rules and procedures that must be followed.  She is friends with a wide variety of people and during the case, reunites with her first boyfriend from Poland, who is actually delivering her new furniture.  The plot is involved enough to be satisfying.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did an excellent job.  Robert Bryndza is known for his crime novels although he started out as an actor, switching to writing when one of his plays was selected for production.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis

 

Jeff Johnston is a researcher for a novelist who focuses on the Civil War.  He has been to all the battlefields and knows much more about the subject than the average person.  But his author has become fixated on the topic of Lincoln's dreams and it's putting the deadline for his latest novel in jeopardy.  Lincoln dreamed of his death days before his assassination.  He dreamed often of his son who he loved to distraction and who died, Willie.  He dreamed of the war and the battles before they happened.  What do his dreams mean?  Lincoln had acromegaly.  Were his dreams related to this?

The novelist gives a party and invites Jeff's college roommate who works at a dream institute.  While he is talking to the roommate, Jeff talks to the man's girlfriend, Annie.  It turns out that Annie came to the institute because she is having vivid dreams of the Civil War battles.  Instead of helping her, the roommate has brought her to his house and turned her into his girlfriend, obviously a professional error.  Jeff is intrigued by Annie and wants to help her.  

Soon Jeff is taking Annie to various Civil War battlefields and helping her interpret her dreams.  Can he save Annie with whom he has fallen in love?  They soon realize that she is somehow dreaming Lincoln's dreams.  While it is useful for the book, it is also tearing Annie's mind apart.  What can be done?

Connie Willis is well known in the science fiction/fantasy world having won numerous Hugo and Nebula awards and been named a SWFA Grand Master.  Often her books are humorous fantasy and I've read and enjoyed several of those.  This one is quite serious and the reader will learn much about the battles of the Civil War, about Robert E. Lee's life and his horse, Traveller, and about Lincoln's life during the war and leading up to his assassination.  I often see this book in those lists of books you should read and I'm glad to have read it although it is quite a difference from other of her books.  This book is recommended for historical fiction and science fiction readers.  

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

 

At Dellecher Classical Conservatory, the students are expected to devote themselves to their art.  They can focus on either art, music, or theatre.  The theatre syllabus is devoted to Shakespeare and the plays are all his works.  Each year those who don't make the cut are released from the school and by the fourth, final year only seven students remain.  Going through such an intensive program, the seven are each other's best friends, enemies, lovers and every other category.

But there are pairings.  Richard is the school's lead actor, a huge bass voice and imposing physical bearing.  He is in an intense relationship with Meredith, who is the troupe's femme fatale.  Another pairing is best friends James and Oliver.  James is the second lead while Oliver is less well regarded in terms of drama.  Wren is the troupe's ingenue and Richard's cousin.  Phillipa is another female secondary character and also plays male characters as needed.  Alexander is the group's openly gay friend who spends much of his time in a drugged haze.  

As the story begins, we see Oliver being released from prison after ten years.  The rest of the book goes back and forth between his current life and the story of the troupe's senior year when things fell apart and someone died as a result, a death for which Oliver was imprisoned.  We see the group as their dynamic created over years starts to fall apart, as different pairings start to form and students start to think of their adult lives and what they will be.

M.L. Rio was both an actor and a Shakespearean student before she turned to writing.  There is Shakespeare throughout the book, with the plays all focusing on him and the students, devoted to their art, often speaking using his words in everyday life.  The tension builds slowly as relationships strain and break and new ones are formed and as the students react to the changes and the tragedy that will define all their lives.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and mystery.

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

 

Liv Reese shows up home at her apartment building with no memory of the night before.  Had she been drinking that much?  She reaches for her phone but it's not there, nor is her purse.  No keys then.  She buzzes for her roommate to let her into the building.  But it's not her roommate who shows up at the door.  A couple she doesn't know comes to the door.  They don't want to let her in but the man agrees to let her in long enough to borrow his phone.  When she enters what she thought was her apartment, she doesn't recognize anything.  None of her furniture or belongings are there.  She calls her roommate but gets a message that the number is out of service.

Liv leaves after finding a knife in her pocket which she hurls away and heads back to the bar where she had been earlier.  Her phone and purse aren't there but the bartender gets her a taxi and sends her to a hotel.   Liv finds she has quite a lot of money in her pockets.  The next morning she goes to the magazine where she works and where her last memory is of answering her phone.  She finds no one there she knows and people who assume that she is back visiting from London where they believe she has been leaving.

A murder is on the television news and all the newspapers as well as everyone's lips.  A man was killed in an apartment, stabbed.  The words Stay Awake have been written in blood on the window.  Liv looks down and sees the same words written on her hand.  Has she somehow lost two years?  Who is the man and why does she think she is involved?

Megan Goldin started her writing career as a correspondent.  She is now writing psychological thrillers and has had several successful novels.  This one is particularly scary as it is easy to imagine oneself in Liv's shows, unsure what is going on and everything you thought you knew turning out to be wrong.  Liv is determined to find the truth and that is dangerous for her as someone is tracking her every move waiting for a chance to end her forever.  I listened to this novel and had to stop it occasionally as the tension mounted.  This book is recommended for mystery fans.

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

 

Kel's life changes forever when he is plucked from an orphanage at age ten and taken to the Castellane castle to become the body double for Prince Conor Aurelian.  He is also his bodyguard, sworn to give his life to save Conor's.  The boys grow up together, sharing a room, lessons, fighting readiness and playing.  Now that the two are grown, Kel's tasks have changed but his mission remains the same, to do anything to protect Conor.

Lin Caster is a member of a cultural group that is forbidden from leaving their compound after dusk.  They are both valued for their knowledge and hated for their magic.  Lin's grandfather is the King's Counselor.  Lin has fought against tradition her entire life for her desire has always been to become a physician which she has against all obstacles.  She meets Kel when he is injured and later also treats Conor.  There is an attraction between Lin and Conor but nothing can come of it.  Marrying someone from her culture is not something that could ever happen and Conor must marry for political alliance.

Both Kel and Lin become involved with the ruler of the underground in Castellane, the Ragpicker King.  He lures Kel in with news of danger to Conor.  Lin is brought into his orbit when the Ragpicker King agrees to let her use his extensive library and his laboratory, both things forbidden to Lin in her culture.  What they don't know is if the Ragpicker King is for or against the ruling class.

Cassandra Clare is known as a star in the fantasy world.  She has written several very successful fantasy series.  This is her latest series and I fell into it head over heels.   The characters are well drawn with many subplots.  Kel is a compelling character, who made an agreement when he was a child that both expanded his universe and hemmed him in, never to be able to marry or make a life separate from Conor.  Lin is an interesting character although more of a stock one and the attraction between her and Conor is expected and is playing itself out.  The Ragpicker King is fascinating, a menacing figure hidden in the background where he manipulates those around him for his own purchases.  This is the first book in the series and I can't wait to read the next.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

Go As A River by Shelley Read

 

Victoria Nash walks to town with her brother one day when she is seventeen and her life changes forever.  She meets a boy Wilson Moon and is instantly entranced.  Torie has never had a boyfriend or even thought about having one.  She is busy running the house for her father, brother and uncle.  They live on a peach orchard in Colorado and Torie has been the household glue since her mother died.

Wil is a drifter and has ridden in on a train.  He is looking for work but instead found the love of his life.  He is an Indian, taken from his tribe and sent to a government school but when he ran away from there, he hit the rails.  The two start to meet secretly because there is a lot of prejudice against Native Americans in rural Colorado.  Soon they end up in bed and Torie knows this is who she wants to build a life with.

But that isn't to be.  Wil is set upon by vigilantes and killed.  Soon afterward, Torie realizes she is pregnant and runs away into the mountains to the shack where she and Wil were happy.  She lives there by herself until her baby is born.  Heading back, she realizes that her baby is starving and that she can't take care of him.  She leaves him with a family picnicking and returns home.

The years drift by and Torie loses more people.  Her father, brother and uncle are soon gone as is her elderly neighbor who helped her and Wil.  Torie endures, keeping the farm and orchard going and grieving Wil and her baby.  When the government decides to build a dam for water, her farm is one of the ones that will be destroyed.  She moves elsewhere and rebuilds a life.

Shelley Read is a native of Colorado and her love of her state shines through in this novel.  Readers will admire Torie although they will grieve along with her about the hard life she has been handed.  I learned a lot about the state and its beauty.  This book is recommended for readers of women's and literary fiction.

The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden

 

Tom's life has been defined by one thing; his love for Daisy.  He has loved her since he was four years old but finally, in high school he has managed to let her know and to his delight, she feels the same way.  Outside of Daisy, he has one friend, Slug, and a cowed mother and an alcoholic father.  Tom is smart and determined to make his way out of his little town.  

Sydney is living in New York.  She is almost thirty-five and still hasn't found her partner in life.  She thought her last boyfriend was it but they broke up over his workaholic devotion to his life as a policeman.  So Sydney and her friends are on the dating carousel, meeting men and hoping this one will be the one.

But what Sydney finds instead is the worst date ever.  She leaves the restaurant as quickly as she can only to have him follow her and attack her.  She is rescued by a mystery man, who helps her and then disappears without telling her his name.  

But fate is fate.  Sydney runs into her mystery man again and starts dating him.  It's Tom, now a doctor and also unattached, his romance with Daisy long over.   Sydney is soon hopelessly attracted to him but then the doubts start to creep in.  Is he really using a burner phone to communicate with her?  Is he really working all those nights he breaks their plans?  

There is a madman stalking the streets and when Sydney's friend downstairs is the killer's latest victim, that fact hits home.  Who could it be?  Was it one of Bonnie's dates that she gave a key to?  The handyman who has a master key?  It had to be someone who could get in the apartment house which was locked and then into Bonnie's apartment.  Could it be Tom?

Freida McFadden is known for her psychological thrillers.  This one races along at a rapid clip and delivers a shocking ending that I wasn't expecting.  Evil is out there and it only takes one unguarded moment to be a victim.  This book is recommended for thriller fans.

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz

 

Odd Thomas is just a guy living in the desert town of Pico Mundo where he is a fry cook at the town diner.  But he isn't an average guy.  Odd Thomas sees dead people and has a long lasting relationship with Elvis in ghost form.  Odd never asked for the ability to see dead people and he isn't that thrilled with his ability.  It cost him the love of his life, Stormy, and he is still in the grieving phase after her death last summer.

But life moves on. Odd is called in when a local doctor is found murdered in his house.  His son, Danny, is Odd's best friend and has always been.  Danny has an illness that affects his bones and makes it difficult for him to walk and get around.  Danny's father is dead and Danny is missing.  

Who could have done this?  Odd follows the trail and ends up at a burnt out casino and hotel in the desert.  He believes that is where Danny is being held and there are lots of ghosts in the building.  But Odd isn't afraid of ghosts.  He can't say the same for a woman called Datura, a name he is sure she has given herself.  She has wormed her way into Danny's life and then kidnapped him just to get Odd in a vulnerable position.  She and her two henchmen want Odd to find a way for Datura to see the dead people he sees.  Datura has gone around the world, seeking out witchdoctors and juju men to fulfill her dream but has never been able to see the dead.  She believes Odd can help her and she's willing to kill Danny in order to force him to her will.  Can Odd escape Datura and free Danny before it's too late?

Dean Kootnz has written over one hundred twenty novels with over five hundred million copies sold.  Of all his novels, the Odd Thomas series is my favorite and this is the second book in the seven book series.  Odd Thomas is just a guy dealing with life and a supernatural ability he never asked for.  His innate goodness opposed to the evil surrounding him is admirable and the reader is swept along on his adventures.  This book is recommended for thriller readers. 

The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji

 

The Valiat family is famous in Iran.  Fabulously wealthy and owning lots of land, their famous ancestor had risen to fame on his defense of the country.  But times are changing in Iran and the majority of the family relocates to the United States when the revolution comes and money and land starts to be confiscated.

The family's story is told through its women.  Elizabeth is the matriarch, a strong-willed woman who is narcissistic and whose life has been based on secrets.  Her two daughters are Seema and Shirin.  Seema's only child is Bita, now studying to be a lawyer.  Shirin has two children.  Her son, Mo, is in the United States, a wealthy entrepreneur whose business takes him worldwide.  Her daughter, Niaz, was six when the family emigrated.  She had gone to tell Elizabeth goodbye and when Shirin called to see where she was, Elizabeth insisted she wanted to stay behind.  Afraid they would lose their seats on one of the last planes out of the country, Shirin and her husband agreed but they thought everything would blow over in a month or two.  Instead, Niaz has been in Iran her whole life, living with Elizabeth and fighting in her own ways against the government.

All the Valiat women are vain and sure that they are entitled to whatever they want, whenever they want it.  All are beautiful and often get their way.  When Shirin is arrested on the annual family trip to Aspen, a misunderstanding caused by vanity and alcohol, the family rallies around.  This is an event that even draws Elizabeth and Niaz to come to the United States.  Once there, the family secrets start to unravel and the family must decide how to move forward in the future.

This is a debut novel and it has been shortlisted for the Women's Prize in 2025.  The focus in on women and how they live their lives and especially on the culture of the Persians.  Their history extends back centuries and they look upon those they are forced to live with in exile as barbarians.  The women are more focused on themselves than on their children and it causes rifts that are unusual in their culture.  Mahloudji writes a tale of love, betrayals, sex and money that may be new to the reader.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and multicultural novels.  

None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

 

One their forty-fifth birthdays, two women both go out to eat with their families at a local restaurant.  The two meet and find out that they are birthday twins; born on the same day and year in the same hospital.  But they couldn't be more different.  Josie Fair is married to a much older man and her children are grown.  She lives in public housing and money is always an issue.  Alix Summer is married to a successful man and she has made her own success with a podcast about women and their lives.  Her children are still young and they live in a gorgeous house with everything perfectly arranged.

Josie suggests that Alix's next podcast focus be her and Alix reluctantly agrees.  She isn't sure she is comfortable with Josie, something about her seems a little forward.  But her first series is done and she is looking for a new focus and Josie's idea about women who are facing a change is interesting.  They agree to meet and start.  Josie comes to Alix's house and wants it all.  She starts to tell Alix more and more lurid tales about her life as time goes on.  She seems to be always there and things start to disappear from the house, little things that one could imagine they had just misplaced somehow.

Josie's marriage seems a disaster and Alix is having troubles in hers as well.  Her husband, Nathan, has been going on alcoholic benders where he goes out for a drink and doesn't return until the next day.  Once he starts drinking it seems he can't stop.  Josie finds out about this and tells Alix they would both be better off without their husbands.

Then the night comes.  Josie shows up on Alix's doorstep with a battered face and a story of domestic abuse.  Josie agrees to let her stay the night and soon Josie has worked herself into staying fulltime.  She continues to disparage Nathan and tries to worm her way into Alix's children's affections.  Will Josie succeed in taking over?

Lisa Jewell is a British author who started her successful career in 1999.  Since then she has written more than twenty novels, and this one is definitely one of my favorites.  In this one, the reader can see how Josie is slowly but surely manipulating everyone around her and how Alix has let her own problems blind her to the evil Josie is introducing into her life.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Skin And Bones by Paul Doiron

 

Mike Bowditch is a game warden in Maine, a surprising career move as his dad was a famous poacher in the area.  Mike has found an eagle shot and on his weekly visit with his mentor, Charley Stevens, who is retired now.  That brings back memories for Stevens of a time that he joined forces with Bowditch's father.

Jack Bowditch flagged down Stevens one day with a bald eagle in the back of his truck, outraged that someone had killed the nation's symbol.  Both men had been in the armed forces but took different paths afterward.  Bowditch insisted he knew who had done it, a young boy who was making his way after his parents were killed by living with his abusive older brother and making a little cash on the side by poaching and selling his catch.  Stevens went to their house to check it out but Bowditch followed him and things escalated  It ended with the abusive brother in jail that night and the younger one, having been beaten by the older, running off into the woods.

Bowditch comes back in a day or so saying now he really knows who did it, an Indian who is a cook in a notorious bar.  But by then, the young boy has been missing for a few days.  His girlfriend said he wanted them to run off but she hadn't heard anything else from him.  Stevens puts the blame for whatever happens to the boy on Bowditch's shoulders due to his false accusation.

This novella tells a story that adds more information to the backstory of Mike Bowditch who is the hero of Paul Doiron's series.  Mike has devoted his life to the Forestry Service and taken Stevens as his hero since his own father scoffed at the law and did whatever he wanted.  It is an interesting story and fans of the series will enjoy it.  This book is recommended for mystery readers, especially fans of the Mike Bowditch series.

Portrait Of An Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett

 

This novel, set during the time of King Henry VII's reign, focuses on the life of Meg, who is a ward of Thomas More.  More is Henry's secretary or right-hand man and one of the most powerful men in the kingdom.  But a division has begun lately as Henry seeks to put aside his first wife to marry Anne Boleyn and hopefully create a male heir.  This desire conflicts with the Catholic church and Henry is edging towards renouncing that religion.  More is a staunch Catholic and does not approve even when he knows that disagreeing with a king is a short road to trouble.

Meg has been raised in More's household since she was nine along with More's children.  He believed in educating women so she and her sisters are highly educated.  But she is now of marriage age and wonders why a marriage has not been arranged for her.  She falls in love with John Clement, who was the tutor for the girls and after a delay, they marry.

John Clement has a secret.  He was one of the Princes in the Tower who everyone suspects were killed by Richard III and should have been a king.  But to save his life, he was spirited away and raised under another name.  He is now a doctor having given up any thought of being a king.

Another famous name is Hans Holbein, an artist who fled his home country due to the Protestant Revolution.  He comes to London to make his name and is hired by More to paint the family's portrait.  But Hans falls in love with Meg, although he has left a wife and family behind him in Holland.  

Vanora Bennett has worked as a journalist as well as the author of historical novels.  Readers of this novel will learn more about the break between Catholicism and the Protestant religion and the tortures given to those accused of heresy.  They will also learn about painting and how the artist goes about his craft and the hidden messages and jokes often hidden there.  I was impressed with all the things that I would normally miss in a work of art and have a new basis on which to observe great paintings of this time period.  I'm not so sure I buy into the whole John Clement is one of the Princes in the Tower scenario but it is a possibility in a time where there was little in the way of news except gossip and where moving twenty miles away was a distance far enough to start a new life.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.

The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima

 

Mizoguchi is the son of the local priest.  But he becomes traumatized when he sees his mother making love with another man and is left with a severe stutter.  His father expects him to take over the local temple when he is grown so he is sent for instruction to the temple of the golden pavilion, one of the most revered sites in the country and where the head is a friend of his fathers.

Mizoguchi's stutter once again sets him apart and he doesn't make friends easily.  Over his time there, he makes two friends.  One accepts him as he is and is a good influence while the other becomes friends with him as he is in the same outsider status as he is born with a clubfoot.  This friend is a bad influence and tries to lead Mizoguchi into trouble.

One night a prostitute comes to the temple as a tourist with a soldier.  The two start to argue and the soldier hits her and knocks her to the ground.  He instructs Mizoguchi to stand on her stomach and he complies.  He expects to feel guilty but instead feels powerful and like he has revenge on all the women who have rejected him.

This sets Mizoguchi on a trail of trouble.  He starts skipping his classes and finding trouble wherever he can.  He finally decides that the beauty of the temple is what sets him apart from others as he can never obtain beauty himself.  He decides that if he burnt down the temple it would free him for a normal life.  Will he commit this final act?

Yukio Mishima is considered one of the preeminent Japanese authors of modern times.  Many readers will have heard of his novel The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea which was made into a movie.  In this novel, the reader is transported into the Japanese culture with its emphasis on honor and tradition and what occurs when someone is not able to live up to the expectations of such a culture.  The reader will watch with horror as Mizogchi strays further and further from the honorable plans of his youth.  This book is recommended for readers of multicultural and literary fiction.

Oleander City by Matt Bondurant

 

This novel takes place in 1900 in Galveston, Texas.  This was the time and place of the hurricane that still remains America's worst natural disaster, killing from 6000 to 12,000 people and almost totally destroying the city.  The reader sees the action from the viewpoint of three individuals.

Joe Choynski or 'Chrysanthemum Joe' was a famous boxer of the time and considered the best ever Jewish boxer.  He has traveled the United States and has been apart from his ill wife for over a year as he must continue to box to pay for her treatment.  He comes to Galveston for an exhibition bout against the young Jack Johnston, known as the Galveston Giant and later holder of the heavyweight championship for seven years.  The two men become friends after the fight and Joe becomes a mentor to Jack.

Diana comes to Galveston with the Red Cross to lend medical aid and relief in the form of food and finding housing for orphaned children.  She is Clara Barton's chief assistant and heads up the effort in Galveston when Clara who is in her eighties, arrives too fatigued and ill to do so.  She meets Joe at the theatre and there is an attraction between them although Diana never thought she could be interested in a man who makes his living by violence against other men.  Diana also becomes attached to Hester who is an orphan.

Hester had been an orphan before the hurricane.  She lived in an orphanage run by Catholic nuns along with ninety-two other children.  All were killed in the hurricane including all the sisters except for six year old Hester.  She can't believe that she is alive and lives on the streets by herself for weeks until she is finally brought to Diana and the Red Cross.  

Hester is the focus of many.  The mayor and the press want to make her the face of the Galveston survivors, even though she has not spoken since the storm.  But there is another group that doesn't have Hester's best interests at heart.  One night, from her hideout on the streets, she sees a group of Ku Klux Klan men kill three black children, the children of the city's most prominent black minister.  That makes her a witness and the Klan tries to capture and kill Hester as well.  The Klan has come to prominence after the storm with all its looting aftermath and turmoil in the streets.  

Matt Bondurant is an author specializing in novels, short stories and screenplays.  He often writes about adventures and bases his works on true stories such as the Galveston hurricane and a novel about bootlegging based on his own family.  In this novel, he brings together these three individuals who would never have met except for the storm and made their lives believable.  He weaves the lives of individuals who did exist along with those invented for the novel such as Diane and Hester.  Readers learn about the world of boxing, the work of the Red Cross and the rise of such organizations as the Klan.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did an excellent job of transporting the reader to another place and time.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.

The Strange Case Of Jane O by Karen Thompson Walker

 

This novel is told from the point of view of a psychiatrist who gets a new patient, a woman in her thirties who works in the New York Library.  Jane O. come to him because she says she saw him once before years ago after a friend committed suicide although the doctor doesn't remember her.  This time, she had blacked out and left her young son at daycare overnight.  When she was found, she had no memory of the time she was away.

The doctor believes she had dissociative fugue although he isn't sure.  He discovers something else about Jane.  Her memory is one of those that remembers everything; conversations in full from years ago, the placement of books on a shelf she saw once, what day of the week any date from the past was.  At first he can't believe her ability but he soon realizes that it is real.  But it isn't keeping her from disassociating. She also reports hallucinations such as seeing a man she knows died years ago.   Soon she disappears again, this time for three weeks, taking her son with her.  What can he do to help?

This is an interesting novel.  Both the main characters, Jane and Dr. Byrd, are unreliable narrators, leaving out major plot points or steering the reader in the wrong directions.  The doctor has had some personal setbacks the main one being the sudden death of his wife, leaving him to raise their young daughter alone, but he has also had professional setbacks due to his interest in researching minds that don't fit into the standard diagnoses available.  There is also a forbidden attraction between the two main characters that breaks every rule and makes the doctor doubt his ability to help Jane.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers. 

The Death Of Us by Abigail Dean

 

Abigail Dean relates the life of a married couple after they are the victims of a man in London similar to the Golden State Killer in California.  Like him, he starts by breaking into the houses of single women and assaulting them.  He escalates to breaking into the homes of couples and separating them.  He moves the husband to an adjacent room where he can hear what is happening to his wife but can do nothing about it.  Edward and Isobel are the last couple this man attacks before he starts killing the victims.

The story is told in alternating chapters by Isobel and Edward.  They split after the attack as many in those situations do but have been reunited years later by the trial of the man who terrorized the city who has finally been caught after many years.  Through these chapters, we go back to the beginning of the couple's romance, their early years and marriage and then the attack and the aftermath.  

I've read every book Abigail Dean has written.  She never disappoints and always delivers a highly readable psychological terror tale.  In my opinion, this is her best book.  The emphasis is less on the crime and more on the aftermath and the effect that crime has on the lives of those affected, often for years.  Isobel is a strong character and not to everyone's liking but I admired her.  Edward is successful in business where he is decisive but that did not carry over to the night the couple was attacked.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

 

Casey Peabody is stuck in life.  She's back in Boston after a disastrous relationship for which she moved to Spain.  Although she has degrees, she's working in a restaurant for any shift she can get.  Her living arrangement is a former shed which smells like potting soil and she only has that because her landlord is her brother's friend.  She has been writing a novel for six years and it's still not finished although it's close.  Her mother recently died suddenly without Casey having a chance to say goodbye and her only other family is a brother three thousand miles away.

She is also stuck between two men.  Oscar is older, a widower with two small boys and a reputation as a successful author.  He shows his interest immediately and never wavers but there's really no sexual attraction.  Silas is another writer and she is very interested but he seems to blow hot and cold.  He can be very present one minute and then she won't hear from him for weeks.  

With all the stress in her life, Casey starts to have panic attacks and she's not sure what comes next.  

Lily King is an American author whose work often explores relationships.  This novel was a Jenna Picks book and she has won many other writing awards.  Most women can relate to Casey as they struggle to grow up and carve out a life for themselves doing what they decide to do.  The choice between two men is also a common dilemma that many can relate to.  All the characters, even the lesser ones like her brother, a former lover or the people she works with in the restaurant are finally drawn until the reader feels like they have met each character before.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.   

Shifty's Boys by Chris Offutt

 

Mick Hardin is not in a good place.  He is back in rural Kentucky, the place he spent so much time getting out of.  He's living with his sister, the local sheriff, while he recuperates a leg he injured in Iraq when an IED exploded.  He returned to find divorce papers from the wife he left behind and who has already moved on, living with the man whose baby she just had.  Mick is bored and taking too many painkillers when he gets the news.

Mick is about out of painkillers when he hears that the local drug dealer, a guy he grew up with, has been shot and killed, his body right over the county line so not a case for his sister's office.  In fact, it seems that no police are that concerned as they don't regard the death of a drug dealer as a major disaster and don't seem to be doing much to solve the case.  Mick is summoned by Shifty, the man's mother.  She asks Mick to look into the death since the police are writing it off.  Hesitant but bored, Mick says he'll look into it and see if there is anything to be done.

Before he can do much, the first man's brother is shot and killed right in the middle of town.  Now it is his sister's case, and much worse, Shifty has lost two sons in a week.  Shifty is the epitome of a hill woman, as quick to pull a gun as to cook up a mess of greens.  But Mick feels for her and is now determined to find out who is causing this grief and unrest in his home town.  He starts to investigate in real aided by Shifty's last remaining son, a Marine who lives in California but is home for the funeral.  Can the two find out what is going on?  

Chris Offutt is a product of Kentucky.  He is known as a novelist and screenwriter, having worked on the television shows True Blood and Weeds.  This novel is the second in the Mick Hardin series, of which there are four so far.  I could relate to the rural Kentucky setting as my father came from a small Kentucky town and we would go and visit the relatives, some of which refused to observe Daylight Savings Time or still had an outhouse.  But they were good decent folks as the ones in this book are.  Mick is a reluctant hero but uses his Army training to set things right when he feels they need to be addressed.  I listened to this book but the narrator didn't use the Kentucky twang I'm used to hearing there.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Time Of The Child by Niall Williams

 

Williams takes the reader back to Faha the scene of some of his other novels.  Faha is a small rural town in Ireland, the kind of small town where there is one road in and out and where everyone knows everyone's business.  It's almost Christmas and there is drama as always.

Dr. Troy is the town doctor as his father was before him.  He was married with three daughters in his younger days but two of his daughters are grown and gone to marriages and his wife passed away.  That leaves Dr Troy living in the house he had grown up in with his eldest daughter, Ronnie, who organizes his life and his practice. 

The time of the Christmas market has come and the farmers bring in their livestock to sell.  Travelers set up an open air market and the town turns out to look for last minute Christmas gifts.  One family isn't there as the wife is on her deathbed with Dr. Troy making daily housecalls.  He believes that their grandson had been courting Ronnie but he discouraged it and the young man went to the United States instead.  The town's priest is showing signs of aging as well, with his younger helper insisting the priest is in dementia and needs to be sent to a home.  

But there is bigger news  Late that night, while waiting for his father to leave the pub, a twelve year old boy finds a baby behind the church.  Whose could it be?  Everyone would know if a young lady of the town had gotten pregnant and all are accounted for.  The boy asks the help of the town's twins, two men in their fifties who are so alike that they even share a name, Tim-Tom.  The twins give him a ride on their tractor to Dr. Troy's house.

Dr. Troy takes the child in and examines the baby girl.  As no one knows who she belongs to and no one wants to turn her over to the authorities, he swears all to silence and he and Ronnie take over.  Soon Ronnie has fallen in love with the baby and named her.  How can Dr. Troy deny this child to Ronnie when she has devoted her life to him?  

What makes the Irish such great storytellers?  I've found so many Irish authors that I love and Niall Williams is another on my list.  I grew up in a small Southern mill town and although the environment was different, it is recognizable in the characters everyone knows in town and the respect given to doctors and men of the cloth.  Everyone knows everything about everyone else and a secret is a thing hard to keep.  In times of trouble, everyone rallies around.  Williams also immigrated to the United States after his university time but returned with his wife to Ireland and lives in the same cottage his grandfather left behind when he immigrated.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Behold The Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

 

This is the story of Jende and Neni, a couple from Camaroon who are now in the United States.  Jende has been in the country for several years, working at whatever he can and saving to bring his wife and son over.  Shortly after they arrive, Jende has a major stroke of luck.  He gets a job as a chauffer for Clark Edwards, one of the top executives at Lehman Brothers.  Jende works long hours but he is able to send Neni to college to start working on her dream of becoming a pharmacist.  She also works as a home health aide and they save every dollar they can although it is expensive to live in Harlem and they must constantly send money back home to their families for various emergencies.

The Edwards family is extremely wealthy.  The husband works all the time, rarely spending time with the family.  The wife lunches with her friends, shops and goes to charity balls, and increasingly, drinks to hide her pain.  Their older son has renounced their way of life and heads to India to try to find a different way of living.  Their younger son is the same age as Neni's and when she spends a summer working for the Edwards, becomes very attached to her.

But things constantly change in life.  Jende's quest for asylum and legal papers is not going well.  Neni becomes pregnant and the couple have a daughter who is now an American citizen when they are not.  Mrs. Edwards takes against Jende and he loses his job which is keeping them afloat.  With Neni not yet back to school or work, he must work two jobs and still doesn't make the same salary as he did working for the Edwards.  It is unclear what will happen to the family.

This is a debut work by the author who is herself an immigrant from Cameroon.  The reader learns some of the obstacles that an immigrant faces when they pick up their lives and move to another country, hoping to fulfill their dreams.  There is also a bit learned of the Cameroon culture, the food, the way marriage is in that country and how family is regarded.  The couple only gets as far as they do because of a cousin who has successfully come to the United States and is a lawyer, and in turn, they help their family and friends as they can.  This book is recommended for multicultural readers.  

No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister

 

The title of this book comes from the saying no two persons read the same book, a truism any member of a book club can attest to.  Alice writes a book about a boy growing up in a loveless family and it becomes a hit.  She is shocked by her fame and dismayed by it and retreats to a small town where she is a bit of a recluse.  But her book sallies forth into the world and we read in succeeding chapters how it affects different readers.

There is the actor whose gorgeous looks are wiped out and who becomes an audiobook reader.  The artist on an island who uses the book as material for her masterpiece sculptor.  The bookstore worker who is about to marry a scientist until he realizes that she has disdain for reading and those who love it.  A deep sea diver who pushes things too far until he damages himself.  Each has their own reaction to  Alice's novel.

Erica Bauermeister has written five novels, all of which have been chosen as Indie Reads.  Her ability to discern how Alice's novel affects such different people in ways that are only similar in that they change lives is fascinating and each reader will probably relate most to a different story.  Underneath it, she relates the truth that reading is a valuable activity that can change or validate lives in many ways.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.