Clock Without Hands by Carson McCullers

In Clock Without Hands, Carson McCullers portrays what she sees as a typical Southern town in the late 1950's. The book starts with the story of the town pharmacist, J.T. Malone, who has just been diagnosed with leukemia. It goes on to explore the personality and relationships between other town residents. There is Fox Clane, a former Congressman and local judge. He is now elderly and stuck in the past, mourning the death of his son, Johnny years before. He has raised his grandson, Jester, by himself. But as Jester has gotten older, he is interested in new ways of relating and living in the South and he and his grandfather start to clash. Then there is Sherman Pew. Sherman was abandoned as a baby and shows his mixed heritage with his blue eyes in his African-American face. He both craves attention and is filled with hate and disgust for the white race he sees ruling everything around him.

The book seems to meander between plotlines to me. One chapter will follow Malone and his struggle to face his pending death while the next will focus on racial relations. The old segregationist mindset is explored and it's fallacies shown, but much of the point is lost in the vagueness of the book. Living in the South, I've met people like these, older people stuck in their ways and conflicting with younger people who are ready to move on and live a better, different way.

Carson McCullers has several noted books. These include The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter and The Member Of The Wedding. She is considered one of America's best authors. I'm sorry that my introduction to her work was this book, which I was a bit disappointed in.

Conspiracy Of Silence by Martha Powers

Claire Prentice, a journalist, has come to Grand Rapids. Five months ago, her life was moving along steadily. She had a job she loved and was engaged to be married. Then she discovers that she was adopted, and that the woman she called her mother all her life, had not shared this with her. Thrown by this news, and by her adoptive mother's death, she comes to Grand Rapids where she believes her birth family's story can be found. Her seemingly perfect life is in tatters. So upset that she can't work, she has also ended her engagement after her fiance's reaction to her traumatic news. Her editor, who knows what is going on in Claire's life, gives her an assignment in Grand Rapids that can serve as cover while she searches for her personal story. She is to interview the reclusive novelist Nate Hansen for a magazine article.

On her first day in Grand Rapids, Claire starts an intensive, exhausting journey of discovery. She discovers that her name is not even Claire Prentice, but Abby Claire Newton. Her adoptive mother turns out to have been her aunt. She adopted Abby and changed her name after a family tragedy. Claire's mother, Lily, was murdered, and the murderer was her father, Jimmy Newton. Jimmy had confessed to the murder, left town and been killed himself in a railroad accident. Reeling, Claire is determined to find out more. Along the way, she is helped by the local librarian, various townspeople, and most importantly, by Nate. They have an instant connection which ripens into a romantic interest. His father had been the sheriff who investigated the murder, and as the sheriff, he never believed that Jimmy was the murderer. The book rackets up suspense with every chapter as the truth of that tragic night comes closer and closer to being revealed.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. The characters are well drawn, and the book moves along without straining the reader's incredulity. Reaching the climax of the book has the reader concentrated on the mystery, and satisfied when the truth is finally revealed. This book is recommended for suspense lovers and readers of romances.

The Night Battles by M.F. Bloxam

In M.F. Bloxam's debut novel, The Night Battles, she has created an unforgettable character. Joan Severance, a history professor from Brown, has come to the small Italian town, Valparuta. New archieves from medieval times have just been opened to scholars for research. The town fathers hope that this will bring tourism to their town. La Professoressa, as the townspeople call her, is happy to have been chosen as the first scholar to review these archieves and discover what life was like in the area hundreds of years ago.

But all is not as it seems. Severance, far from being the esteemed scholar Valparuta thinks it is getting, is one step ahead of being discharged from Brown. Her academic career has been filled with appointments from one college to another, always leaving when it becomes clear she won't be renewed. Her personal life always emerges in a negative way, jeopardizing her career. She cares little for the opinions of others, having love affairs with colleagues and having little rein on her temper, resulting in actual physical violence against a student.

Yet Valparuta is also not what it seems. The head librarian, Chiesa, turns out to have his own secrets, and it is quickly clear that he is a drug addict. As Joan starts her research, she quickly discovers accounts of church trials of witches and what are known as benandanti. The benandanti were considered good witches, who traveled out of their bodies at night to fight the evil witches and assure bountiful harvests. Also considered a fertility cult and heretics by the Catholic Church, they were jailed and sometimes executed, and historians believed that they were stamped out. This discovery is major and Severance plans to organize her research around the topic. Yet, sinister events soon lead to the revelation that this is not a medieval belief in Valparuta. The entire town still believes in witches and benandanti, and everything revolves around the battles between the two sects.

The Night Battles is well written, and the tension mounts from the first page. The reader is quickly drawn into the beliefs of the town and its people, and many will find they must put down the book occasionally to take a break from the suspense. Both Joan Severance and Chiesa are well-drawn, and the more minor characters are also fleshed out believably. It is a major coup to make such beliefs in modern times appear believable and the mainspring of action, and Bloxam pulls it off. This book is recommended for suspense readers.

Burn Out by Marcia Muller

Sharon McCone has gone to a ranch to rethink her life. A long-time private investigator, she wonders if she has had enough of the death and corruption that she makes her living investigating. She is burned out, fresh from a case which almost took her life and she resolves to do nothing for a while. Fate has other plans. Her foreman's family is in trouble. His sister-in-law Meri, considered the town drunk, is in trouble. Her oldest daughter has been found murdered, and her younger daughter is missing. Sharon starts to poke around in the case to help out her foreman's family. Soon more and more bodies start appearing, and Sharon is drawn fully into the case. The murders seem related to an old crime that was never solved successfully.

Marcia Muller has written twenty-five other Sharon McCone mysteries. Fans of the series have watched Sharon from her start as a private investigator, to her rise and eventual ownership of an agency, and now through her questioning of her life. Readers of this series won't be disappointed in this latest version. I've read probably a dozen of her mysteries over the years, and reading one is like going to a reunion. The plots are tight, the characters are believable and the mysteries are always successfully resolved.

This book is recommended to all mystery readers. It is particularly nice to see a woman detective who is smart, successful and resourceful. Muller's McCone is all three and I always enjoy reading about her.

The Survivors Club by Ben Sherwood

In The Survivors Club, author Ben Sherwood sets out to determine what makes people survivors. Why does one person survive a tragedy while another can't handle it and ends up broken or even dead? He interviews survivors in many categories as well as the prominent scientists in various professional circles. The result is an interesting, fact-filled book that outlines the common characteristics of survivors and what the average person can do to improve their survivability quotient. Sooner or later, everyone faces some life test, and preparation for this kind of test is key.

Each chapter starts with a true story of a person who survived an accident or situation that could result in severe injury or death. There were stories of airplane crash survivors, those who were left to survive in water, victims of car crashes, accidents of accidental shootings or falls and those who have had serious illnesses such as cancer or heart disease. The stories of crime victims and prisoner of war captives are given. After each story, the chapter talks about the scientific research relevant to the situation. It then ends with survival tips for that category.

In addition to these stories, research and tips, there is another interesting feature of the book. Readers can go online to www.thesurvivorsclub.org and get a code to take a test that will rate their survival skills. The test results tell you what type of survivor you are and the three main strengths that you can draw on in a survivor situation. I was not surprised to find out that my survivor type was a fighter, as are 15% of the population. Having survived some fairly horrific family events, the thing that always got me through was a determination to get to the other side of the tragedy. Other survivors types include the Connector (28%), the Realist (24%), the Thinker (21%) and the Believer (12%). There are twelve survivor strengths. They are adaptability, resilence, purpose, tenacity, faith, hope, love, empathy, intelligence, ingenuity, flow and instinct. Again, unsurprisedly, my top three were resilience, purpse and tenacity. I've always said that the greatest gift I was given was an optimistic nature and this is indeed a powerful tool in the survivor's toolkit.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. The research was interesting and allayed fears, as facts often do. For example, I'm a horrible flyer, as I have no control in that situation. It helps to know the statistics of what percentage of flights are successful, and more importantly, the high number of survivors when a plane should crash. Sherwood has provided an exhaustive survey of this topic, and provided food for thought on many topics. This book is highly recommended for nonfiction readers and anyone interested in increasing their odds of surviving life's hits.

Gazelle by Rikki Ducornet

Lyrically written, Gazelle by Rikki Ducornet, portrays a young girl's sexual awakening while her family is spending a year in Cairo. Elizabeth is thirteen, and is a sensitive girl who is devoted to her father. Her father is an academic and lives the life of the mind. Her mother, on the other hand, is an extremely physical person, and her time in Egypt is spent making romantic conquests of various men. After an especially cruel betrayal, the mother moves out and pursues her life without her husband and daughter.

Elizabeth and her father become close friends with an Egyptian perfumer, Ramses Ragab. Ragab owes a perfume shop, and his obsession is recreating the ancient scents from the past that have been lost. He is a sensitive and brilliant man, and provides a lifeline to the father, who has collapsed after his wife's departure. Elizabeth is entranced with Ragab, and fantasizes about him. She spends the summer lost in a series of dreams and beginning flirtations with Ragab, and longs to give herself to him. Her romantic fantasies are crushed when Ragab is involved in the ultimate betrayal.

The language in this book is langerous, and excites the various senses. It recalls that time we all went through as children, when we are ready to put down the toys of childhood and start to learn the joys and pleasures of adulthood. The story weaves back and forth between the present and the past, as Elizabeth recalls that time in her life. The reader learns of ancient Egyptian history, of magicians and mummies, of perfumes and the clash between the culture of Egypt and that of the visiting Americans. Relationships between men and women and how love can crush as well as exalt are explored. There is some sexual content that could be objectionable to some readers. This book is recommended for those readers willing to walk with Elizabeth on her voyage of self-discovery.

Like A Good Neighbor by Dwayne Murray, Sr.

Not for the faint-hearted, Like A Good Neighbor starts with an in-your-face scene of heartstopping violence. At an apartment building in Chicago, police have been called. Once there, they face a scene of mayhem. In almost every apartment, there has been a murder, a suicide, a maiming. It is one of the most horrific crimes ever seen. But one woman walks away....

Cut to New York. Raven Thorn has moved into another apartment building, and starts doing what she does best. An early blow in life has turned her into an evil manipulator, never happier than when creating havoc and chaos in others' lives, so that they will suffer as she has. Raven is a larger than life figure, gorgeous and sexy. She goes out of her way to insinuate herself into the lives of her new neighbors. She sympathesizes with a young woman trapped into being a caretaker for her insensitive, ungrateful father. She works her way into relationships, breaking up marriages. She encourages drug dealers. She uses her sexuality to bring teenagers, always impressionable, into conflict. There seems to be nothing she won't do.

The only people in the apartment building that seem to see through her try to fight back. Crystal is a young woman in recovery from a crack addiction. She sees the problems with Raven right away, but her insights are ignored by her neighbors. Eddie is a policeman, but wracked by guilt from an incident where a child was killed. He is slow to see the truth about Raven also.

Many readers will be put off by the violence, sex and language. For those who aren't, Dwayne Murray, Sr. has woven an intricate tale of suspense and a memorable character who will not be quickly forgotten.

Bones by Jonathan Kellerman

A young woman's body has been found in a marsh. Selena Bass, the victim, is a pianist whose job is giving lessons to a wealthy family's child prodigy son. The case is given to Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis. He calls in his friend Dr. Alex Delaware. Delaware is a psychologist who works for the police as a consultant. The circumstances indicate that his expertise may be needed. Selena's body is left on display in the marsh, and the killer has called and left her location. More chilling, her right hand has been severed. Is this a tie-in to her profession as a pianist?

As the case progresses, complications arise. Three additional bodies are found in the marsh and all of them have severed right hands also. All the victims have been buried facing east. The older bodies are all women who worked the streets as prostitutes. The investigators go to talk with the wealthy family who employed Selena, only to find that they have gone overseas. They are left with only a caretaker who seems strange and reclusive, and the family's grown daughter, who doesn't live with the family and has only tangential information. More bad news occurs when the marsh's caretaker who found the first body is himself killed in the preserve. Soon other bodies are found, and the story gets more complex. The events seem to go back for many years, and each individual's history must be discovered and integrated with that of others.

Readers of the Alex Delaware series will be thrilled with this book. This is Kellerman's 23rd book in the series. I've been a fan for years, and this one is a master effort. But, readers who've never read any of the series will also find it intriguing. It is not necessary to know the background of the other books; Bones is more than capable of being read as a stand-alone thriller. Kellerman uses his background as a clinical psychologist to make all the characters lifelike and believable. Series characters change over time as they would in real life. The evil that man is capable of is outlined and the work of a detective is carefully followed. New characters are introduced in this book. I hope to meet some of them again in later books. It will be a sad day indeed when there are no more books in the Alex Delaware series. This book is highly recommended for mystery readers.

Tomorrow by Graham Swift

After reading and loving Waterland by Graham Swift, I was excited to read his 2007 effort, Tomorrow. In it, Paula Hook spends a night lying in bed next to her husband, Mike, contemplating their marriage and the big secret they have kept for years. The next day, they will reveal this family secret to their sixteen-year old twins, Kate and Nick.

Swift is apparently incapable of writing bad prose. The reader is swept along in the story, reading of Paula and Mike's courtship, early marriage and decision to have children. Their relationships with their parents and their feelings about careers are explored. We even hear the story of the only pet they ever had, Otis, their pet cat.

While the book is interesting, I wouldn't rate it as highly as Waterland. The big family secret seemed like fairly trivial to me, and the book was a bit of a letdown after the revelation of it. Perhaps a more emotional person would have found the secret more devastating than I did. Regardless, I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy great writing and like reading about family relationships. I will definately seek out other novels by Graham Swift in the future.

The Islands Of Divine Music by John Addiego

John Addiego's debut novel, The Islands Of Divine Music, is a multigenerational saga of the Verbicaro family, Italian immigrants. The matriarch, Rosari, fled Italy after getting involved with a criminal in Italy when she was a young teenager. Fooled by him into activities that could get her into legal trouble, her family migrated to America for a better life. Once here, Rosari and her father moved on from New York City to San Francisco, where there was a large Italian settlement. There she met Giuseppe, the man she would marry and have seven children with.

Although she and Giuseppe had a long marriage, it was not a happy one. In his older years, he left Rosario and married a prostitute, who had a son, Jesus. Jesus's life story is intertwined with that of the Verbicaro children, throughout their lives. Rosario's children follow Giuseppe into the construction business, where they are successful. Jesus and his mother become migrant workers, and later he becomes a transexual prostitute.

Each chapter in the book narrates the life of another Verbicaro family member. There are the smart brothers, the dumb yet charming ones, the girls who make good marriages and those who make good careers. As time goes on, the children of these family members grow up and their life stories are explored also. Some family members reappear in multiple chapters, like Paul, who comes back from the war addicted to drugs and plagued by the things he'd seen. A continuing theme is also how the family searches for their missing half-brother, Jesus, over the years.

This book will be enjoyed by those who like to read family sagas, and have an interest in the lives immigrants built in this country. The characters are distinct, and remain in the reader's thoughts well after the book is finished. This is an impressive debut for a new author, and I hope to hear more from him.

The Coming China Wars by Peter Navarro

In his book, The Coming China Wars, Peter Navarro outlines the startling evidence of how China is becoming a world leader and the frightening side effects of their policies. This is an expanded and updated version of Navarro's findings. The book is broken into various areas of China's dominence or attempts to dominate with experts and scientific studies quoted to support the author's thesis. It would be a rare reader who wasn't concerned or even alarmed after reading the facts laid out by the author.

One of the first areas is familiar to all, the explosion of Chinese products on the American consumer market. Many even remember the recent scandals and recalls of items from pet food to toys. Yet, most don't stop to think of the implications of China winning market after market. Jobs are exported overseas, as manufacturers look for decreased costs of production. These costs are often achieved at the expense of horrific working conditions, little if any quality control, government disregard of counterfeited name brand products and little concern for environmental factors. That results in Chinese goods of inferior quality flooding markets. While many consumers are aware of fake brand name pocketbooks or watches and may see little reason to worry about them, the picture changes rapidly when the counterfeit goods happens to be the pharmacuticals that consumers count on to save lives or alleviate medical conditions. This was one of the topics I'd never heard of before reading this book that is truly frightening. Imagine relying on a medication to lower your cholestrol or diabetic condition, and after a tragedy, finding out that what you were taking wasn't the real product at all. Navarro mentions two areas that are particularly prone to these products. He speculates that small, locally owned pharmacies might be willing to buy products that are cheaper in order to compete with the large drugstore chain's discount purchases. He also points out that most of the medication purchased on Internet sites is in fact this adulterated medication.

Another side effect that is slowly becoming evident is the financial implications of purchasing such a large amount of Chinese goods. This results in large trade deficits for the American economy, pumping billions into the Chinese economy to fuel their projects. American jobs are being outsourced at an alarming rate. This cash drain has further implications. It leads to the need for the federal government to borrow vast amounts on the international financial markets. China then turns around and uses these dollars to buy up our debt. This scenario is being played out right now in the current financial straits that the country finds itself in. It leaves the country dependant on the whims of another country which can dry up the credit market at will, forcing policies to be initiated that are not in our best interest, or that diverts money from projects we need to do.

As a result of the lax industrial policies of China, the environment is suffering. Working conditions are horrific in Chinese factories, with many workers toiling away as little better than slave labor. Industrial accidents abound, and the victims are rarely compensated, just released from their job to make their way as best they can. Toxic ingredients are released into the air or water. China's rivers and water supply are so polluted that cancers and other illnesses are on a steep incline. Worse, China is becoming a major exporter of food products, spreading that exposure throughout the world. The need for large dams to provide the electricity needed is changing the natural rise and fall of rivers, diverting water and interrupting natural food chains. The toxic waste in the air results in large acid rain areas, both within China and in neighboring countries.

China seems to be on the rise in international matters. The country has an increasing need for energy, which translates into oil and natural gas. They have no qualms about exporting weapons and technology to smaller nations that could be terrorist nations in exchange for access to their natural resources. China also wants to corner supplies of various minerals. They come in and provide technology and infrastructure to small nations, which seems like a good relationship to the country that wants to modernize. But in return, the natural resources of the country are stripped and sent to China, draining the supplying nation of resources needed to become self-sufficient down the road.

There is also concern about China's military rise and future intentions. The large cash flows into the country fuel expansion of their military arsenal. Large stockpiles of missles, aircraft, nuclear submarines and other weapons is occurring. It is unclear what the intent of such a massive arms buildup is. There are various trouble spots that China is involved with that could trigger international warfare. Some of these include Taiwan, a conflict with India, the funding of Iran which might then attack Israel, a Russian conflict, or Korea. In addition, China has entered the space race, and seems to be making progress on this front also. Again, the secrecy that characterizes this country makes it difficult to discern their goals in this area.

The final chapter in the book outlines various steps that Navarro believes can stem some of the rising problems that China presents to the United States, and indeed, to the world. He provides items that consumers and governments can pursue in each of the areas outlined in the book.

I found this book compelling. It opens the curtain on issues that most Americans are unaware of, except in a dim recognition that more and more of what they buy seems to have a Made In China sticker on it. Even when noticed, most are unaware of the implications of allowing another country to have such a large cash drain from us, or that this cash then funds negative events in the environment, or military issues. The Coming China Wars is recommended for those readers concerned about the world and the realities that it is facing from a rising supernation.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

The Vanger family is one of the richest families in Sweden; heads of a multinational corporation. Yet there is a tragedy in the Vanger background. Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger, only sixteen, vanished one summer day. The disappearance has never been solved. Henrik Vanger, the family patriarch, has decided that the time has come to try once again to find out what happened to Harriet. Now 82, he has given over the reins of the company to his nephew, Martin, and has spent years trying to solve the mystery to no avail. Harriet was Henrik's niece and was his favorite family member.

In order to try once more, Henrik hires Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative reporter. Mikael has recently been convicted of libel and is at loose ends. Henrik hires him to use his skills to see if there is anything left to discover. The cover story is that Mikael is writing a biography of the Vanger family. He meets the various surviving family members and digs into the story. Along the way, he is helped by a young computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo. Antisocial and living below the radar, she adds her unorthodox methods to Mikael's investigation. Against all odds, Mikael and Lisbeth are able to find out what happened that long-ago summer day and bring closure to Henrik with the case's resolution. In the process, though, they uncover vile crimes that have gone undetected for years.

I enjoyed this book. It was more literary than the usual mystery, and delved into the relationships between the various characters. Lisbeth Salander is a unique character, and one that the reader is left wanting to know more about. This book is the first of three in a series, and I will definately look for the others as they become available. This book is recommended for general fiction readers and mystery lovers.

An Exact Replica Of A Figment Of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken

In An Exact Replica Of A Figment Of My Imagination, Elizabeth McCracken tells the heartbreaking story of the stillbirth of her son. McCracken never expected to have children, but fell in love in her mid-thirties, and was pregnant at 39. She and her husband were living in France when something went wrong with her pregnancy. In a horrific scene, the doctors confirmed to her that her baby had died. She then went through delivery and saw her perfect son, who unexplainably would not be coming home with them.

The book follows McCracken and her husband's journey through the year after the death. She goes through all the stages of grief, and wonders if she is a mother if her baby isn't there for others to see. Some days start to seem better, only to have the rollercoaster of grief crush her again the next. The lifelines she grabbed for were the love and support of her family and friends. She got pregnant again three months after the stillbirth, and gave birth a year later to a healthy baby boy.

This book was absolutely accurate. I went through the same thing years ago, and had almost the same story. The pregnancy was uneventful, and then one day, my daughter didn't seem to be moving as much, and then there was the doctor visit and the news that no pregnant woman expects to hear. I lived with that news for almost a week before my body was ready to deliver, and like Elizabeth, my baby was perfect. The grief was like nothing I had ever encountered. The guilt is overwhelming. Having to talk to strangers about how many children you have, or what did you have or how does your son like his baby sister were unimaginably hard. Emotions that vary greatly from day to day and second-guessing are inevitable. Finally, with time, the raw grief subsides, but the family is never the same again. Like Elizabeth, I was able later to have another baby, although it took five years for me, and was a surprise pregnancy.

This book is recommended for anyone facing this situation, or for anyone with family or friends going through this disaster. I couldn't put the book down; it felt so real and so close to my experience.

Good-bye And Amen by Beth Gutcheon

The Moss family has come together in the wake of the deaths of the parents. The lives of this family were detailed in Leeway Cottage, and Good-bye And Amen is the next stage in this family's saga. Laurus and Sydney Moss were strong individuals. Their deaths leave three grown children. Eleanor is the oldest daughter, and probably the best adjusted. She married her college sweetheart, Bobbie, and has three children of her own. Monica, the middle child, was engaged in lifelong conflict with Sydney. Sydney picked her out early as an enemy and carried out a lifelong war against her. Monica is married to a charasmatic preacher, Norman, with two grown children. Jimmy, the only son and youngest child, spent years rebelling against the family and its influence. He now lives out west, married to Josslyn, and their three children.

The book details the various family relationships. Parent and child, husband and wife, sister and brother, in-laws, aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews, cousins, old friends and current relationships. We see how patterns established early tend to play themselves out over the years. We see how each generation takes from the past and carries forward with new relationships and ways of handling the world. There are sibling rivalries, marital issues, yet underneath it all, we see the love that holds this family together over the generations.

I really enjoyed this book. I had not read the predecessor but plan to go back and read it, since this book was so intriguing. The method of narration was interesting. The entire book was told in first voice, but not one narrator as you might expect. Each character told their part of each event, and we got to see how each person's mind worked and what was important to them. Often an issue of major importance to one character was totally insignificant to another. Seeing this, it was easy to see how conflicts and misunderstandings occurred over the years. I enjoyed the sense of family over the generations, grounded in one spot regardless of where life had moved them. This book is highly recommended for readers of fiction and those interested in family relationships.

Bad Seeds In The Big Apple by Patrick Downey

In this exhaustively researched book, Patrick Downey writes of the robber gangs that were common in New York City in the 1920's through the 1940's. The time was ripe for such gangs. Police work did not have the investigative or forensic tools now available. More importantly, since electronic fund transfers were not available, businesses and banks tended to have large amounts of cash on hand.

Each case is presented with the gang leader, his nicknames, biography, crimes attributed to him, and members of his gang. The captures, trials and often the deaths of each individual is detailed. Death sentences were much more common then than now, and an astounding number ended their days in the electric chair. There were several interesting facts I discovered. One was the number of escapes from prison that occurred, and the frequency of these. I hadn't realised how often criminals were able to escape through various plots and schemes. One fact that was striking was a man who was electrocuted with a wieght of 220 pounds. At the time, he was the heaviest person to be electrocuted, but these days a man weighing 220 pounds is not uncommon. Another striking fact was how young these men tended to be. Most were in their early twenties. Finally, I found it interesting how many criminals really did stick to the credo of not informing on their associates. While many did, there were just as many who refused to help police even when it would result in lighter sentences.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. I had not heard of many of these individuals, and it was interesting to read their stories. There was an extensive illustration section in the middle of the book, allowing the reader to visualize the individuals being discussed. This book is recommended for readers of nonfiction and especially true crime.

Onitsha by J.M.G. Le Clezio

Onitsha is J.M.G. LeClezio's Nobel Prize-winning book. The book follows Fintan, a young boy who travels to Africa, and specifically, the town of Onitsha, with his mother in 1948 to join his father who works there for United Africa, a trading conglomerate. Fintan does not know his father, Geoffroy, as he had been separated from Fintan and Maou, his mother, during the war. Now that the war is over, they are following Geoffroy to Africa to reunite as a family. The book follows Fintan's relationship with Geoffroy and Maou as well as his perceptions of Africa.

His first perception of Africa is space. Everything is bigger there than in his native Italy, more sun, the sky spreads forever, the rain is fierce. He sheds his protected persona as a little boy and learns to explore and fend for himself as he grows up. The reader sees the people of the area through Fintan's eyes. Bony is another boy who befriends Fintan at first, then turns against him as the colonial establishment starts to crumble and the natives are treated even more shabbily by those who control the area. He learns about sex from Oya, a beautiful, mysterious native woman. There is an English gentleman, Sabine Rodes, who seems to love the country but is considered an outsider by the establishment. He teaches Fintan much of the history and customs of the native people.

The establishment is a group of Englishmen set up in a typical Colonial situation of businessmen and governmental representatives. Gerald Simpson is the leader and he expects everything to be ordered by rank. He considers the natives as lesser beings, and his expectation of a swimming pool dug by black convicts fuels much of the conflict shown between the natives and those in the local government. The other English have carved out their own fiefdoms. They gather in the local club and attempt to set up a mirror of the England they have known. Contact with the natives is rare, except for expectations of service. The native people are treated with condescension at best and more often, with total contempt.

Over time, Fintan grows to disapprove of all the other English. His sympathies lie with the native population, who are treated with disdain and routinely humiliated and exploited. His parents also fall out of favor. Geoffroy has an obsession with local history and the legends and religion that fuel it. Maou quickly becomes shunned, as she shows her contempt for the way the other colonials treat the native population. Geoffroy is considered weak since he does not control Maou and her display of emotions. This disfavor finally results in Geoffroy losing his job and the family leaving Onitsha.

Readers of this book will learn a lot about Africa. It is set in the area that later becomes Biafra. The food, customs, religion and people are portrayed in such a way that the reader is transported there, and the descriptions of the area leave one with a feel for what draws people to the area. The language is haunting and dreamlike. The contrast between the language and the harsh events that are explored sets a stark contrast that outlines the brutality of colonialism. This book is recommended for all readers.

Divine Justice by David Baldacci

Divine Justice is the fourth book in David Baldacci's series, The Camel Club. The book opens with two murders, that of a Senator and that of the head of Intelligence. Oliver Stone is the assassin, and the reader starts with a negative impression of him. However, the secrets of why Stone has done such an act are revealed as the book unfolds, and it is soon clear that, while a troubled man, Stone has reason for doing such horrific things.

Stone is a former CIA assassin, and has been living below the radar for years. He goes on the run after the murders. On the train he is riding, he defends a young man attacked by a gang, and after saving him, accepts his invitation to go home with him. Home is a small coaltown in Southern Virigina named Divine. Divine appears to be a typical coal mining town, but it is soon evident that there are troubles in the town. There are several murders and suicides that may not be what they appear. Drug abuse is rampant, and several of the town's young men are caught up in drugs and their havoc. Stone quickly gets tangled up in the troubles and tries to find out what is happening, while staying underground.

Back in Washington, D.C., Stone's disappearance isn't unnoticed. Joe Knox is one of the CIA's best agents, and he is sent to find Stone. As he investigates, he realises that Stone is not even this man's name. He started life as John Carr, one of the most courageous soldiers the U.S. ever had. For some reason, Carr was denied the honors he earned on the battlefield. Knox also finds out why Stone has killed the two men whose murders opened the book. As he follows Stone, Knox encounters Stone's friends, who call themselves the Camel Club. The plot pulls all these threads together into an intricate plot that resolves satisfactorily.

Although I haven't read the first three in the Camel Club series, I didn't find it difficult to catch up with the back story to Divine Justice. The book is quick-paced and action-packed. I enjoyed it and will look for other books by this author. It is recommended for thriller and legal mystery fans.

The Subway Chronicles by Jacquelin Cangro

The Subway Chronicles, edited by Jacquelin Cangro, is a collection of essays by various authors about the New York subway system and their experiences riding it. Some of the authors include Francine Prose, Lawrence Block, Calvin Trillin, Jonathan Lethem, Colson Whitehead, Jennifer Toth, April Reynolds and others. There are 27 essays. Each essay is followed by a short biographical sketch of the author and their body of work.

The stories range from comic to haunting, from history to wry observations about the people encountered riding. I enjoyed it quite a lot, partially because New York City is my favorite place in the world, and I have experience with the subway system as a visitor. The book is a great pick up book when the reader only has a few minutes as most of the essays are fairly short. I recommend this book for the general reader and for those planning a trip to New York City.

Cakes And Ale by W. Somerset Maugham

Cakes And Ale by W. Somerset Maugham follows the lives of a great novelist, Edward Driffield, and his first wife, Rosie as seen through the eyes of a young man who knows them over a span of years. Set in the early 1900's, the book is a telescope into the culture and attitudes of England during this time. Life is changing there, and while the nobility is still honored, more and more "trade" people are moving into society. Edward Driffield is such a man, and he compounds the disdain polite society has for him by marrying Rosie, who was a barmaid.

Yet, Edward's talent and the couple's social skills mean that soon they are at the center of a social group that includes up and coming artists, authors, bankers, and an occasional earl or duke. The narrator, a well-brought boy who becomes a doctor and later an author himself, is at first diffident about the couple. Yet, they are charming to him and he soon finds himself caught up in their circle.

Rosie is a great beauty, and it soon is revealed, a woman who spreads her charms widely. The narrator becomes one of her lovers. None of the men in her life seem to scorn her for her lifestyle as all are captivated with her. As an analogy, one likens her to a cool, refreshing forest pool. Does the enjoyment of diving in and cooling off diminish because others have also done so?

I adored this book. It is totally charming, while outlining a story that could have been sordid. Maugham writes about various aspects of society comically. The tone of the entire book is wry, while outlining a young man's growth and the morals and culture of an age gone by. I enjoyed this one immensely and recommend it wholeheartedly.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain

The Road Home starts with a bus journey. Depressed by his wife's death and his sawmill job disappearing, Lev is leaving his Eastern European home, immigrating to England to try to restart his life. The book follows Lev for the year he spends in England, and his rebirth and resurgerance of purpose by the time he returns home. Lev starts as a leaflet deliveryman. From there he becomes the dishwasher in an up-and-coming restaurant, and when that goes well, the prep chef. After leaving that job, Lev works as a farmworker for a season, picking asparagus and other crops. He has come to love food, however, and goes back to London and becomes a waiter. As he moves from job to job, he begins to see a plan for the rest of his life, and he returns to his home in Eastern Europe, determined to live his dream.

Along Lev's journey, the reader meets many individuals. There is Rudi, Lev's best friend at home. Rudi is a larger than life figure, always dreaming and scheming and forcing life to bend to his will. Lev has a five year old daughter, Maya, whom he leaves with his mother, Ina. In London, Lev rents a room from an Irishman, Christy Slane, who becomes a fast friend. He helps Lev adjust to England, and in turn, Lev helps Christy get his life back together. Sophie is Lev's English love, and the book follows their love affair. There are Jimmy and Sonny Ming, Chinese immigrants who work with Lev in the fields. G.K. Ashe is the restauranteur who gives Lev his first chance and demands excellence from him. There is also Lydia. Lev meets Lydia on the bus, and although she is also an immigrant, she seems more in tune with various processes, and whenever Lev encounters difficulties, Lydia is the one he turns to for help.

The Road Home won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2008. Rose Tremain has written several other novels that were acclaimed, such as Music And Silence, The Colour, and Restoration. One of her strengths as an author is character development. She writes characters that are instantly believable, and that the reader cares about. Even minor characters are fully developed, written in such depth that the reader feels they would recognize the characters if they passed on the street. There is also an underlying beat of hope in her novels that draws in the reader and makes her books compelling reads.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. I cared about Lev, rejoiced in his triumphs and grieved at his setbacks. The resilience he showed after tragedy made him a sympathetic figure. His kindness and refusal to let life beat him down makes him a memorable character. This book is highly recommended.