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.

Nuclear Family by Joseph Han

 

The Cho family is a Korean family living in Hawaii.  They own a restaurant and their dream is to set it up as a franchise, a dream that seems within reach after Guy Fieri visits it and raves about it.  There are two children.  Jacob, the older, has moved to Seoul for a while to teach English there.  Grace is in college where she is working on a journalism degree.  

Then everything falls apart.  Jacob is videotaped trying to cross the no-man's land between the two Korea's and force his way into North Korea.  He is shot and imprisoned and people start to look strangely at the Cho's.  Orders start to diminish at the restaurant and when a cockroach is found there, it's the end.  Grace falls into spending her time getting high on marijuana.  

What no one knows is that Jacob has been taken over by the ghost of his grandfather, the n'er do well who left his family behind in North Korea and wants nothing more in the afterlife than to go back and find them.  When he leaves Jacob and becomes part of the wall dividing the two Korea's, he receives his punishment for his betrayal.  Jacob is returned to himself and later released by the South Korean authorities and returned home.  Can the family find it's way forward?

Joseph Han was chosen as a 5 Under 35 recipient and this is his debut novel.  It received a Time Best Book Of The Year Award and a New York Book Review Editor's Choice award.  I listened to this novel and the narrator was able to make each character come alive and transport the reader to a culture that might not be familiar.  The rise and fall and rebuilding of the family is interesting and the reader will probably remember the false nuclear warning in Hawaii that the book features.  This book is recommending for literary fiction and multicultural readers.  

Harrow The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

 

In this second novel of the Locked Tomb Trilogy, Harrow has survived and won the contest to become one of the Emperor's Lyctors although it came at the cost of her companion, Gideon's life.  But she has arrived at God's habitation ready to serve him.  Unfortunately, she finds that she has arrived to face what could be an unwinnable war.

The other Lyctors are not welcoming and some are directly hostile.  Her main teacher spends his time trying to kill her which is his way of getting her ready for battle.  She spends her days and nights in ward-protected rooms, her only friend the other survivor from the first competition.

Eventually, all blows up in a climatic battle and revelation about Harrow's backstory and how the Locked Tomb came into existence.  Those who enjoyed Gideon the Ninth will also enjoy this second book in the series which explains more of what is happening in this totally unique world.  

Tamsyn Muir is an author from New Zealand.  Her work has won praise and many awards.  This book is recommended for readers of fantasy, especially those who read Gideon The Ninth and enjoyed it.  It is a unique work and builds a world unlike any other currently being written about.  

The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman

 

They were a group of five that summer.  Two girls, Mickey and Gwen, and the three Halloran brothers.  Mickey was a quicksilver girl, always full of ideas of things to do.  Gwen was a follower, fat at first but then she grew into her body and became the beauty.  Tim was the oldest Halloran brother and only hung with them because there was no one else.  Sean, the middle brother, was the perfect one or that's what everyone said.  Gordon, known as Go-Go, was the youngest, full of energy and desperation to be liked; he would go anywhere and do anything and was always in trouble.

The five roamed the woods that backed onto their houses, Baltimore's infamous Linkin Park.  No one seemed to care what what they were up to or watched over them.  The Halloran's marriage always seemed iffy and Mrs. Halloran had all she could do to survive in a household of boys and a husband who was often out of work.  Gwen's mother was into hobbies and this summer's was painting while her father was a doctor who taught.  Mickey's mother was a waitress, working long shifts and moving from man to man.  Everyone expected the teens to entertain themselves and they did.

They explored further and further into the woods.  They fell into creeks, got bit by bugs and then they discovered a house.  An old man they called Chicken George lived there.  He asked them to bring him things like food and they did.   His only possession was a steel guitar that he loved.  They knew seeing him was not something their parents could ever approve of so they kept Chicken George secret.  That is, until the night of the hurricane when Chicken George lost his life.

Now the teens are adults with their own issues and marriages.  They are brought back together when Go-Go, now the owner of several failed marriages and an alcoholic, falls off the wagon and dies in a car crash.  As the five are reunited for the first time in years, the secrets start to emerge  What really happened that night?

Laura Lippman is known for her mysteries, set in Baltimore which is her own city.  This novel almost reads like a literary fiction about people's lives until slowly at the end, the real truth of what happened that night comes to light.  Each of the five has their own life now but all their lives are forever touched by that summer when they were a group and ran free.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Kingless Crown by Sarah Cradit

 

Fans of epic fantasy rejoice!  This series by Sarah Cradit is the first that I've loved the way I loved The Game Of Thrones series, but there are only three books and it comes to a finish.  In this Kingdom of the White Sea, there are four reaches and a huge area just called The Wastelands.  The reaches used to fight among themselves until the king called the oldest son and daughter of each house together for a royal ball.  But at the ball, he announced his command: he chooses a husband and wife for each reach, regardless of whether there were existing agreements in place.  Now twenty years later, the reaches no longer battle each other but the king now has just sent for the eldest daughter of each reach.  He plans to marry them all and the resulting children will bring everyone even closer.  This king, Eoghan Rhiagain, is called The Pretender King, as it is thought he got his crown by murder of his siblings.

But the daughters of today are not without resources.  Without consulting, each decides to run away and does, some taking siblings, some accompanied only by trusted servants.  There is a school of magicians and that is one destination.  Some even choose the Wasteland, where there are said to be fairy like inhabitants along with the biggest prison of the kingdom, one that is a death sentence to those sent there.  Along the way, some fall in love, some find they are warriors, and some worry about what will happen to the parents they have left to face the king's wrath.  There are shapeshifters and secrets that slowly become revealed.  

Sarah Cradit has written over forty books of epic fantasy.  I'm so excited to have discovered this author and I've already bought the remaining books in this series and look forward to her others.  The world building is intricate and believable and the cast of characters is huge, each with their own story, history and often secrets.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did an excellent job.  I can't wait to finish this story of the Kingdom of the White Sea and recommend this opening novel to epic fantasy readers.  

Radiant Fugitives by Nawaaz Ahmed

 

An Indian mother and her two daughters have gathered in San Francisco for the birth of the elder daughter's first child.  Seema left her family in disgrace when she came out to her father during her university days.  He has since refused to have her home or even speak to her.  Seema has led a turbulent life, moving from city to city and from lover to lover.  She has been here in San Francisco the longest.  Working on political campaigns, she met Bill and to her surprise, they fell in love and married.  They are now divorced but conceived this baby at the end of their marriage.  

Nafessa is the mother and she is torn apart by the gulf between her husband and his daughter Seema, and between her two daughters, Seema and Tahera.  Nafessa recently was diagnosed with a disease that will take her life and she insists on going to San Francisco to help her daughter.  She also convinces the estranged sister, Tahera, to come and help also.

Tahera hasn't seen Seema since she left when Tahera was a teenager  She is now a doctor living in Texas with her husband, son and daughter.  Tahera and her family are strict observant Muslims and she wears the full complement of coverings and raises her children strictly.  They attend a Muslim school.  She has thought they had a happy life but recently there has been anti-Muslim occurrences in the city and she now questions if she and her husband have made the right choices.  

Nawaaz Admed is an Indian author who also left India to live openly as gay.  He started his career as a computer scientist but has returned to the world of literature that meant so much to him growing up.  This novel was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award.  Readers will learn much about the Muslim culture, it's food, rituals and the varying ways of living as a Muslim from very strict to very loose adherence.  It is also a novel of separation and how we heal such separations, a process that this country is in need of.  The family is separated by gender identity, by past resentments and by religious adherence but find ways to come together.  This book is recommended for readers interested in Indian and Muslim culture and those who read literary fiction.  

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

 

A journal is found during a restoration project.  It is determined that it was the journal of a Lutheran minister out in the West in the early 1900's.  Etsy Beaucarne is an academic and the last member of the Beaucarne family and this is the journal of her great-grandfather.  She hopes that publishing it can be her pathway to tenure so she starts the process of reading about her grandfather's life.

But this is no pleasant retelling.  It is the story of Arthur Beaucarne and Good Stab.  This Indian starts coming to the services at the church and after everyone leaves he weekly tells Arthur his life story.  Can it be believed?  He claims that while out hunting with other members of his Blackfeet tribe, they come across a group of white men with one imprisoned in a cage.  A battle ensues, and everyone is killed except for Good Stab and the caged man.  He is called Cat-Man and is a vampire who came over to America from Europe.  He infects Good Stab who then becomes known as Fullblood or Takes No Scalps among his people.  He becomes an outcast, roaming the West killing white men to survive.  Good Stab still has a loyalty to his people and saves children when he can and any buffalo he can spirit away as calves to a place where they won't be hunted.  Both Arthur and Good Stab are associated with a famous Indian massacre by the white soldiers although that is slowly revealed as the weeks go by and Good Stab's story is fully revealed.

Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfeet Native American author.  His work is in the horror, science fiction and crime genres.  This may be his best novel so far.  The slow revealing of the story, the Americanization of a European horror trope, the revenge and the heart of Good Stab, all are fascinating and draw the reader deeper into the story.  I can't recommend this one highly enough for his fans and those who have heard of him but haven't yet read his work.  This book is recommended for horror readers. 

The Murderess by Laurie Notaro

 

I had heard of Winnie Ruth Judd, the woman who murdered her two best friends and was caught when she shipped their bodies to Los Angles from Phoenix in the summer heat.  But this book showed me how much I didn't know about Judd.

I didn't know anything about her two victims, Anne LeRoi and Hedvig 'Sammy' Samuelson.  I didn't know anything about her marriage.  I definitely didn't know about her story after the murders.  Laurie Notaro has given me that information in a blend of novel and true crime fiction.

Judd was born into a family in Indiana and married at 19, a man who was twenty-two years older than her.  He was a doctor but he didn't share with her until they were married that he was also an addict.  Due to this the couple spent long periods apart as he tried to deal with his addiction over and over.  One of those separations led to the murder.

One of those separations happened in 1930 with her husband in Los Angeles and Judd in Phoenix where she was expected to make her own way.  She found a job in a medical clinic and that's where she met Anne, who also worked there.  She, Anne and her roommate Sammy became friends.  But Judd was also seeing a local married man and soon he was coming over to Anne's house as well, and the three became known for hosting raucous parties for the local businessmen who had 'summer wives', married women who left Phoenix in the summer for cooler environments.  Over time, Judd became dependent on drugs and jealous of Anne, who had begun to flirt with the man Ruth was seeing.  One night, Anne and Sammy were killed.  The married man and a friend helped Ruth put them in trunks and she sent them to Los Angles, where he said someone would meet her and take care of the bodies.  But he was lying, leaving her to be arrested.

After the trial, Ruth was sentenced to death.  She was weeks away when she was declared insane and sent to the state mental hospital instead.  Although there is no firm diagnosis, Ruth was probably either bipolar or schizophrenic, her mother ending up in the same mental hospital later.  Ruth was the star of the hospital and allowed to become a hair dresser for the women of Phoenix and the hospital staff.  She remained in the hospital for thirty years and was finally released in 1971.

Laurie Notaro is known for her humorous memoirs but has done a great job in this foray into recounting a true case.  She grew up in Phoenix so would have heard about Judd as a local celebrity.  The book is recounted in great part from Judd's point of view, making her sympathetic and putting much of the blame on the men in her life and her underlying mental issues.  In the afterword, Notaro was able to locate and first publish Judd's own account of the murders.  This book is recommended for true crime readers.

The Library Of The Dead by T.L. Huchu

 

When Gramps lost their house gambling, Ropa's life changed.  She, Gramma and her little sister are now living in a tiny caravan in a campground of the poor and homeless.  Ropa left school although she was top of her class to find work to support the family.  Her main talent was her ability to see and talk with the dead so she became a ghostalker, carrying messages from the dead to the living.  

But one ghost is adamant that Ropa help her.  The ghost's little boy, Ollie, had gone missing before the woman died.  She wants Ropa to find him.  Ollie went missing with another little boy, Mark, but Mark came home and Ollie didn't.  Ropa doesn't want to take on this job but her grandmother convinces her to.  When she goes to talk to Mark, she finds that his body is still that of a little boy but his head is that of an old man.  Ropa is appalled and then she finds another little girl, one she used to babysit, in the same condition.  She is convinced that someone has to find out what is happening to these children.

Ropa's best friend tells her he is now working at a secret library.  He sneaks her in but they are discovered.  The only way to keep Ropa alive is to give her membership in the library which is one for magicians.  There she finds a friend in Priya and a mentor in an older man.  They agree to do what they can to help Ropa.  But can she find and save Ollie and the rest?

This is the first book in what will be a five book series.  Huchu is a Zimbabwean author and this is his fantasy debut.  Ropa is an original character, rough around the edges but with a heart of gold.  She takes on the responsibility of her family and that of finding the children although it is a mission that could kill her.  The idea of a ghostalker is interesting and it will be fun to see where the rest of the series takes Ropa.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.  

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

 

Five years ago, a group of young people came together and created a collective called Birnam Wood.  Mira and Tony were founders and soon afterwards Shelley came on board.  The purpose of Birnam Wood is to provide more food and they grow crops wherever they can find land, regardless of who owns it and whose water they are using.  They are somewhat criminal but believe they have right on their side.  The collective is constantly in financial trouble as the plots they can find are far sprung and its difficult to grow enough to make a profit.  Tony left and went to the United States for years but is recently back.

But there may be an opportunity for Birnam Wood.  A landslide near the mountains has left a large farm fairly deserted.  The owners, a recently knighted businessman and his wife, had planned to subdivide it and sell it for housing estates but after the landslide that plan had to be put on hold.  That huge plot of land, backing onto a national park, could be Birnam Wood's salvation if they get there and start planting.  But they aren't the only ones interested in the farm.  A billionaire named Robert Lemoine is in the process of buying the farm.  When he finds Mira on the land, he seems interested in Birnam Wood and soon is offering to sponsor it.  He tell Mira and Shelley that he is planning to build a bunker on the farm but they are welcome there in the meantime.

Meanwhile, Tony suspects something is going on and camps out in the park, looking for what is going on so that he can fulfill his dream of becoming a journalist.  He discovers Lemoine's true purpose and puts himself in danger along with the people of Birnam Wood.  Can he survive long enough to get the story out?

Eleanor Catton is a New Zealand author who was the youngest Booker Prize winner ever with her second novel, Luminaries.  This book is her third novel and generated a lot of buzz as it was chosen as a best book by NPR, Kirkus, The Washington Post, Time and others.  The action is fast and furious and the characters are all given sufficient backstories that the reader feels they understand them.  The inevitable clash between idealism and capitalism provides lots of drama although the ending is a bit abrupt.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.  

The Last Days Of Kira Mullan by Nicci French

 

A year ago, Nancy North's life was great.  She had a wonderful boyfriend, Felix, and they live in a great flat.  Nancy had recently accomplished her life's goal and was running her own restaurant, a job that was all consuming.  But all the long hours and new responsibilities proved to be too much for Nancy and she had a psychotic break.  After the hospital, her life is much different.  She and Felix can no longer afford their flat so they have to move across London to a smaller, dingy one that one of Felix's friends was giving up.  Her restaurant is gone and Nancy is now writing copy from home for an online site, a job she feels doesn't challenge her at all.   Worst, everyone around her treats her like she is fine china and about to break at any minute.

Nancy starts to notice things about Felix.  He seems more than okay with her new situation in which she has to depend on him for more.  He now makes the most money and he treats Nancy as if she needs to be wrapped in cotton.  Worse, he tells all their new neighbors about her breakdown and they also treat her as if she wasn't all there.  He disapproves of her friends and soon most of them are gone.  But as bad as it is, Nancy never expected what happens in the flat below.  A young woman, Kira, is found hanging from her bedroom rafter.  The police determine that it is a suicide but Nancy saw Kira right before her death and she doesn't believe it.  

But if it's not suicide, it must be someone with keys to the building.  That's a small group of suspects.  There's the personal trainer who is handsome and had a fling with Kira.  He says he dropped her but his roommate, who also had eyes on her, says Kira dropped him.  Then there's Derrick, the next door neighbor who along with his wife, has keys to everything and who is always on the prowl for new women.  There's a doctor with a wife and new baby and then there's Felix.  Could one of them have killed Kira or let in someone who did?  

Nicci French is the writing name of a husband and wife author team.  The reader can always count on an engaging mystery with lots of twists and turns and as a sideline, lots of information about London and what's it's like to live there.  Nancy is a strong character even with her issues as she persists in doing whatever it takes to get well and to find out the truth about Kira.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.  

Booksie's Shelves, April 17, 2025

 

Spring has sprung but I've been stuck in the house for a week with a virus.  That's a bummer but it's on its way out and I got lots of reading time.  Our cat count increased by one as Brad, a Siamese mix, showed up a few weeks ago.  He is very feral at the moment so we're working on being able to handle him so we can get him in to a vet.  My birthday was last week so another year has rolled around.  I had to cancel both a birthday dinner with my BFF and worst, a day of hanging out with my lovely daughter.  Still, both can be rescheduled for when I'm feeling better.  Here's what's come through the door:

1. The Lion House, Christopher De Bellaigue, history, purchased
2. The Conjuror's Bird, Martin Davies, historical fiction, purchased
3. Lola, Melissa Love, thriller, purchased
4. The Nimbus, Robert Baird, science fiction, sent by publisher
5. Automatic Noodle, Annalee Newitz, science fiction, sent by publisher
6. Luckenbooth, Jenni Fagan, horror, purchased
7. Bearer Of Bad News, Elisabeth Dini, mystery, sent by publisher
8. Girl In The Creek, Wendy Wagner, mystery, sent by publisher
9. The Accident On The A35, Graeme McCrae Burnet, mystery, purchased
10. I Am Made Of Death, Kelly Andrew, YA, sent by publisher
11. The Accidental Favorite, Fran Littlewood, family drama, sent by publisher
12. Anji Kills A King, Evan Leikam, fantasy, sent by publisher
13. The New Life, Tome Crewe, literary fiction, purchased
14. What Will People Think, Sara Hamdan, literary fiction, sent by publisher
15. We Are Water, Wally Lamb, literary fiction, purchased
16. Love And Trouble, Claire Dederer, memoir, purchased
17. The Heather Blazing, Colm Toibin, literary fiction, purchased
18. The Panopticon, Jenni Fagan, literary fiction, purchased
19. Pyre, Perumal Murugan, literary fiction, purchased
20. All The Men I've Loved Again, Christine Pride, literary fiction, sent by publisher
21. The Lonely Places, J.M. Morris, mystery, purchased
22. Magnificence, Lydia Millet, literary fiction, purchased
23. Binstead's Safari, Rachel Ingalls, purchased
24. Heart-Shaped Box, Joe Hill, horror, purchased
25. Highway Blue, Ailsa McFarlane, literary fiction, purchased
26. Reservoir 13, Jon McGregor, literary fiction, purchased
27. When We Were Birds, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, literary fiction, purchased
28. A Necessary Evil, Abir Mukherjee, mystery, purchased
29. Olive Grove In Ends, Moses McKenzie, literary fiction, purchased
30. The Garnett Girls, Georgina Moore, women's fiction, purchased

Here's what I'm reading:

1. The Last Days Of Kira Mullen, Nicci French, mystery, hardback
2. Birnam Woods, Eleanor Catton, literary fiction, Kindle
3. The Murderess, Laurie Notaro, true crime, Kindle
4. Harrow The Ninth, Tamsyn Muire, fantasy, Kindle
5. Radiant Fugitives, Nawaaz Ahmed, multicultural, paperback
6. The Kingless Crown, Sarah Credit, fantasy, audio
7. In A Place Of Darkness, Stuart Macbride, mystery

Happy Reading!

The Lady Upstairs by Halley Sutton

 

After a disastrous workplace romance, Jo finds herself on a Los Angles street, crying in her car.  That's where she is found by Lou who talks with her and takes her to a diner to eat and pull herself together.  By the time they separate, Jo has a new friend and a new job although it's not one she ever thought she would have.

For Lou is the recruiter for a blackmail scheme.  The team targets rich men of which there are many in LA, sends a girl to seduce him, takes photos and blackmails them.  Jo starts as one of the girls who do the seducing but three years on, she is now a recruiter.  The rest of the team is Lou, Jackel who is the photographer and Jo's lover and the Lady.  The Lady runs everything and no one is allowed to see her or know anything about her except Lou.  

Still, things are going well until they aren't.  Jo's latest girl, Ellen, has decided to back out of the game right before the pictures are taken and the money is collected.  That causes Jo issues as she owes the Lady money she had planned to pay back out of this job.  Unsure of what to do, she gives Ellen the thousands that were meant to be given to the police as a bribe, so now she owes both the Lady and the police.  Can Jo pull everything together and find a way to break away from the team?

This is Halley Sutton's debut novel and it is one I won't soon forget.  It is written as a modern noir and the reader can imagine the streets of Los Angeles, not the ones for the tourists but the gritty ones for those struggling to make it.  It's a novel with cynicism about male desire, cops on the take and a cutthroat business where no one can trust anyone else.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.   

Imposter Syndrome by Joseph Knox

 

Lynch is a con man and sometimes things get hot and he has to leave quickly.  He arrives in London with a passport, a phone and no money.  That doesn't worry him, he can have cash anytime where there's a crowd.  But what does worry him is when a woman looks at him, and exclaims, "Haydon, is that really you?"

The woman's name is Bobbie and she mistakes Lynch for her brother, Haydon, who disappeared five years ago.  His car was found parked on a bridge and he had been having mental issues so the police assumed suicide.  Bobbie has a room, some cocaine and booze and suggests that Lynch stay and party.  Having nowhere else he agrees.

He wakes up the next morning, hungover to find Bobby gone but she has left something behind.  She has tattooed a heart beneath his eye just like Haydon had.  When he calls her, she says she is on a plane to California and rehab but gives him her parent's address and door codes and insists they will give him some money and pay to have the tattoo erased.  When he goes there, he finds armed security but Haydon's mother vouches for him and hires him to impersonate Haydon and get back a trunk he has left with a loan shark.  He agrees and soon is over his head.  It turns out that lots of people are looking for Haydon and now they think Lynch is their man.

Sometimes when I read a book, I'm left in awe of the author's mind and that's always my reaction when I read a Joseph Knox novel.  He seems to be living and operating on a higher plane than I am and it's always fun to go along for the ride.  Lynch encounters a cyptoking, an ex military man who now sees security and intelligence and the rest of Haydon's family, each of whom have their own agenda.  Knox is an English author and I've loved each of his books I've read.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.  

Oblivion by David Foster Wallace

 

This is an anthology of eight stories, although several of them could be called novellas.  In one, Wallace writes in the mindset of someone considering suicide and it is masterful.  I've encountered this tragedy personally and as an eternal optimist have had difficult understanding what could trigger it.  This story takes us into the mind that is making the decision and it is the first time I've come anywhere close to understand the tragedy.  Of course, Wallace went on to commit suicide after years of battling depression.  The last story is one of the longer ones and tells the story of a rural artist whose medium was his own excretions.  In this story, what stood out to me was the way each character, no matter how tangential to the story, was given a full backstory and described wonderfully.  

David Foster Wallace was considered one of the best authors of his time.  He wrote novels and short stories and was a professor.  His best known work was Infinite Jest, a lengthy novel which explored personality and addiction and was chosen as one of the best novels of that decade.  His forte was explaining character and that shines through in each of these stories.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.    

Love In The Time Of Global Warming by Francesca Block

 

The worst has come.  In California where Pen lives, an earthquake of unimaginable strength has destroyed much of what was Los Angeles.  Pen gets separated from her parents and brother and doesn't know if they are still alive.  She stays in their house for six weeks, living off the food and water her father was wise enough to stockpile.  When a roving band breaks into her house, she escapes and takes their van.  Now she sees the worst.  Fire still rage, most structures have fallen and giants roam the streets, eating humans.  

Pen manages to find refuge in an abandoned hotel where other teens have gathered.  There she meets Hex, a young man who seems to know what has happened.  He says the giants are the result of genetic engineering gone wrong and they roam destroying what they see.  After several weeks, Pen gets a message that she might find her family in Los Angeles and she and Hex head that way.  Along the way, they pick up other stragglers, Ash, Ez and Venice.  Along the way, they discover that all of them are gay or transgender and they find it ironic that a despised group are the survivors of a world catastrophe.

This is the first in a young adult dystopian series.  Pen is the hero and her ability to go from a middle class home to a survivor in a world gone mad is encouraging.  This band of misfits, who had all been looking for a place in the world, now can make the world what they want it to be, a more accepting place and the need to band together to fight the dangers.  This book is recommended for young adult readers.