The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers

In The Murderer's Daughters, Randy Susan Meyers outlines how a domestic abuse crime affects not only the participants, but how the event causes ripple effects throughout the entire social structure around them.  Lulu is ten and her baby sister, Merry, is five when their father comes to their apartment, fights with their mother and kills her.  While Lulu runs for help, the father tries to kill both Merry and himself, failing at both.

The girl's father is imprisoned, but the girls are also.  Their lives change immediately and for all time with the thrust of that knife.  There are few relatives; elderly grandmothers on both sides and an aunt and uncle.  The grandmothers are not able to care for the girls, and the aunt convinces her husband that they cannot take the girls in.  Lulu and Merry are sent to an orphanage.  It is a bleak and terrifying place.  After several years, they are fostered out and remain with this family until they are grown.

Lulu has survivor's guilt and stuffs her feelings down, down, down until they cannot be uncovered.  She concentrates on becoming the perfect child, making excellent grades and becoming a doctor.  She feels that she must protect everyone, and attempts to control everything in her environment. 

Merry is left with questions about why her father would do such a horrible thing, and why he tried to kill her also.  Far from stuffing her feelings down, she is consumed by them, and moves from man to man, always afraid to commit to anyone or anything.  She doesn't forgive her father, but cannot break the connection and visits him in prison over the years.

Randy Susan Meyers has done an excellent job of describing the aftermath and fallout in families from violence.  She expertly outlines the different relationships the girls have, and how this one event controls how they handle every other event in their lives.  While each copes in a different manner, both are less than whole, always attempting to determine why this happened and what it means.  This book is recommended especially for readers with family tragedies.  It will help them come to terms with what has happened to their families and how to move on from disaster. 

Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari

A Japanese middle school has taken the entire class on a field trip to Taiwan as they graduate to high schools.  Since Japan's system for high schools is based on achievement tests, the students who have gone to school together for years will be separated in the future.  There are friendships and rivalries, but no one can really imagine how it will be when they don't see each other each day.  Their teacher, Mr. Tanaka, is the chaperone on this trip to Taiwan.

The children visit a famous temple, then break into groups to walk back to the park, which is built around the natural beauty of Taroko Gorge.  Everyone comes back except for three girls.  No one has seen them leave; but they have disappeared and can't be found anywhere.  What could have happened?  As time goes by, the police are called in.  An older detective and his young relative come.  He seems nonchalent about the disappearance, and says nothing can be done until morning when there is light.

There are other visitors to the park that day.  Peter Neils is a journalist who has roamed the world.  He tries to help with the search and to calm the children.  His cameraman, Josh Pickett, is a young man who can't seem to handle the pressure and becomes drunk and useless in the search.

The students quickly form alliances.  Although they have been good friends, it doesn't take long for accusations to be hurled and blame to be attached.  The event brings some students together while forcing others apart.  Regardless, this is an event that will shape the student's lives going forward.

Jacob Ritari uses his knowledge of Buddhism and Japan to set the book in a realistic setting.  Although he grew up in the United States, he studied Japanese language and literature at Japan's Sophia University.  This book is recommended for readers who are interested in how quickly a situation requires a moral choice, and how different individuals make that choice. 

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

In the late 1920's, Czech honeymooners Viktor and Liesel Landauer consider themselves part of the new, vibrant European philosophy of liberal thought focused on the arts and benignly agnostic.  They meet an architect starting his career in Vienna who exemplifies the new thought and hire him to build them a house created from the minimalist school where the heavy designs of the past are out.  Instead, they want a house with open areas, minimal furniture and clear visions both inside and out.  Spare in design, the house has living quarters upstairs and the lower floor is one vast glassed room that overlooks the city.  Young, wealthy and valued patrons of the arts, the Laundauers seem to have it all.

But gilded perfect lives rarely stay that way.  There are strains on the marriage as the years pass. Children arrive and their love moves to a settled relationship and each starts to venture outside the marriage for friendship and romance.  As the years pass and move inevitably towards the mid-1940's, all of Europe changes with the advent of the Nazi Party and Hitler's unstoppable drive to rule all that he sees.  Viktor is Jewish.  He is not observant, but that makes no difference.  Viktor clearly sees what is coming.  He manages to convince Liesel that they must leave, and with their children, nanny and her child who has been raised with their children, they move to Switzerland.  They learn what is going on from friends and family that remain behind.  All that they treasured is lost.  Many of their friends are caught up in the Nazi horrors and their glorious house built to celebrate a new age is now a "research station" where people are measured in an attempt to find the markers that separate Jew from non-Jew.

The Glass Room has a 2009 finalist for the Man Booker Prize.  In it, Mawer leads the reader through the horror of what man can do to man without clubbing them over the head with unceasing details.  He also shows how men and women hurt each other while trying to carve out a place of safety and love for themselves.  The book not only covers the years of World War II, but the Communist era that followed in this area.  It is highly recommended for all readers and is a book I'll remember for a long time. 

AUDIO GIVEAWAY!!!! THE ART OF CHOOSING BY SHEENA IYENGAR

In an era of ever-expanding choices, HOW WE CHOOSE addresses the simple-yet-mystifying question : How do we know what we want?
The answers are strange, impressive, and profound. Sheena Iyengar, a Columbia University professor whose work on choice is widely recognized and cited by companies like AOL and Citigroup, looks into the heart of what we desire-- and what we think we desire-- to show how tangential factors enter into (and run roughshod) over our decisions.

GIVEAWAY RULES


YOU MUST, MUST, MUST LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT. COMMENTS WITHOUT EMAIL ADDRESSES WON'T BE ENTERED.

1. The giveaway starts Sunday, July 17th and ends on Friday, July 3oth at midnight.
2. There will be three winners, chosen by random number generation.
3. Winners must have street addresses (no P.O. Boxes) in either the United States or Canada.
4. For one entry, leave a comment (with your email!). You will get an extra entry for any/all of the following; being or becoming a follower, blogging to this giveaway or tweeting about it. If you blog or tweet, please include the link.
5. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.

The Prosecution Rests by Linda Fairstein

The stories in The Prosecution Rests have a common theme; all revolve around courtrooms, trials and justice meted out to criminals, sometimes formally and sometimes informally. Edited by Linda Fairstein, herself a prosecutor for 25 years in Manhattan, the book pulls together some of the most interesting crime novelists in the genre. It is a book by the Mystery Writers of America, an organization for both beginning and established mystery writers. The focus of the organization is promoting both the crime writing genre and those novelists who choose it as their focus. This anthology meets both goals.

The twenty-one stories in the book are varied and interesting. They cover murders, insurance fraud, robbery, adultery and other crimes. The protagonists are prosecutors, defense attorneys, police investigators and judges. Some of the stories are fairly straightforward while others incorporate a twist that surprises the reader. The list of authors reads like a Who's Who of mystery writing. It includes Linda Fairstein, James Grippando, Phyllis Cohen, Jo Dereske, Charlie Drees, Eileen Dunbaugh, Kate Gallison, Joel Goldman, Diana Hansen-Young, Edward Hoch, Paul Levine, Leigh Lundin, Michele Martinez, Anita Page, Barbara Parker, Twist Phelan, John Putre, S.J. Rozan, Morley Swingle, Joseph Wallace and Angela Zeman. The authors chosen include in their ranks Edgar winners, past Presidents of the Mystery Writers association and Sisters In Crime writing awards. They also include writers who are new to the genre.

This book is recommended both to those readers who enjoy crime and mystery writing, and to short story fans. Each will find stories that intrigue, amaze and surprise them. With a variety of writing styles, the reader is assured of finding stories that match their taste. The reader has an opportunity to revisit established authors' work and the chance to discover new authors in the field whose work they may want to follow in the future. The Prosecution Rests gives the reader a chance to sample quality crime writing at its best.

The Bed & Bisket Gang by M. Rene De Paulis

In The Bed & Bisket Gang, M. Rene De Paulis illustrates to children ways in which they can make those different from them feel accepted and valued.  Sarah's family has moved to a farm.  She already has two dogs, but as the days go by she expands her family to include another dog, chickens, a donkey, a mouse, a lamb, a cow and a goat.  Each comes with problems, but Sarah and the other animals help them overcome or adjust to their difficulties and learn to lead a happy, fulfilled life.

Each chapter introduces another animal and illustrates a way in which others can be different.  There is abuse, depression, handicaps that one is born with, handicaps that are thrust upon people, and difficulties brought on by one's own actions.  In that case, the chickens were making themself miserable as a result of spying and gossiping on the other animals. 

Children will internalize the message that each of us is different and each has value to contribute.  One of the cutest features in this book are the names.  Who couldn't love cows named Mother Utter and Sir Loin, or chickens named Attila the Hen and Chicken Noodle?  The author is also the illustrator and has created simple drawings that make the characters real.  This book is recommended for young children and readers.  It would also be useful in a church setting as it uses Christian terminology and concepts. 

Commuters by Emily Gray Tedrowe

In Commuters, Emily Gray Tedrowe explores a topic rarely discussed, that of love found by the elderly and the complications a late second marriage entails.

Winnie McClelland is seventy-eight on her wedding day; Jerry Travis a few years older.  Winnie has lived in the same commuter town outside New York City her entire life; Jerry is a successful businessman who is very wealthy.  Neither expected to be lucky enough to find love again at their age.  Nor did they expect the complications and joys that would arise from their union.

As in all second marriages, the children of the first marriage have a major adjustment to make.  Winnie's daughter, Rachel, also lives in town.  Rachel's family has had major life adjustments after her husband is in a horrific accident that leaves him in a coma for several weeks and needing major rehabilitation afterwards.  Now she has to adjust to her diminished role as her mother's confidant and advisor.  Jerry's daughter, Annette, is adamantly against the marriage and regards Winnie as a gold digger, only after Jerry's money.  She ups the ante by suing her father for control of the business he has built and left in her charge.

Annette's son, Avery, has had little contact with his grandfather.  But he is now on his own in New York, and develops a relationship with both Jerry and Winnie.  He is starting out in many ways.  He has just found a new love, Nona, and is feeling his way towards a career as a chef.  For the first time in his life, he is feeling the comfort and reassurance of an accepting family life.

All the characters react in different fashions as Jerry's health deteriorates, and these reactions make up the second half of the book.  Emily Tedrowe explores what it means to get older and what is important to us as we age.  She delves into family relationships and the difficulties that they bring along with the joy.

This book is recommended for all readers.  The characters are vibrant, and the reader will remember them long after the book is put away.  The topic is one that many readers will encounter, either as the participant in an older love relationship, or as the child of someone in the situation.  Commuters gives guidance and hope; an uplifting book that lyrically explores the facets of love and family.

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

In Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay has created a masterpiece of an Oriental culture, that of the land of Kitai. It relates a time of intrigue, political maneuvering, rebellion and change. The book's hero, Shen Tai, is suddenly thrust into this environment and must adapt to survive.

The book opens in a remote location called Kuala Nor. It is the site of an ancient battle where thousands of men were killed, their bleached bones still hungering for honor. Shen Tai spends two years at this site, during his time of mourning for his father who was a famous General. He spends his days far from all he knows and those he loves, burying the bones of the dead soldiers, both Kitan and those of the enemy force. Although he expects nothing from this labor, it does not go unnoticed. At the end of his time, two events happen. First is that an assassin, sent by enemies back at the Kitan royal court, attempts to kill him. Second, a Princess, who is the daughter of the Kitan Emperor but who was sent to a bordering country in a political marriage, makes a life-changing gift to Shen Tai.

Horses are the lifeblood of the armies and of trade. Most valued of all are Sardian horses. One is more than most men can ever hope to attain. The Princess sends Tai two hundred and fifty of these magnificent horses. This is a life-changing gift; a gift that will echo down the ages. Shen Tai must find a way to get to the Emperor's Court and give this gift to him for national prestige and honor. There are many who will try to stop him and gain the horses for their own gain. The Court is full of rival factions, each vying for favor and the possibility of future honors as the Emperor weakens with age. In addition to the political relationships, there is also the effect of love. Men do anything for the women they love, but at the same time the women also are caught up in the intricate games of statesmanship that are the daily fare of Court life. These love relationships are finely honed and the reader must read more to find out what will happen in the rivalries that exist between men over love.

Kay has written a masterpiece. It straddles the genres of historical fiction and fantasy and in doing so, takes the reader on a fascinating and engaging journey. The characters are finely drawn and their intricate relationships are revealed slowly to the reader. The political intrigue and themes of honor, entitlement and military maneuvering is presented in a complex story that leaves the reader with a sigh of contentment as they turn the last page. This book is recommended for all readers.

GIVEAWAY!!!! THE IMPOSTER'S DAUGHTER BY LAURIE SANDELL

Laurie Sandell grew up in awe (and sometimes in terror) of her larger-than-life father, who told jaw-dropping tales of a privileged childhood in Buenos Aires, academic triumphs, heroism during Vietnam, friendships with Kissinger and the Pope. As a young woman, Laurie unconsciously mirrors her dad, trying on several outsized personalities (Tokyo stripper, lesbian seductress, Ambien addict).

 Later, she lucks into the perfect job--interviewing celebrities for a top women's magazine. Growing up with her extraordinary father has given Laurie a knack for relating to the stars. But while researching an article on her dad's life, she makes an astonishing discovery: he's not the man he says he is--not even close. Now, Laurie begins to puzzle together three decades of lies and the splintered person that resulted from them--herself.

GIVEAWAY RULES


YOU MUST, MUST, MUST LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT. COMMENTS WITHOUT EMAIL ADDRESSES WON'T BE ENTERED.


1. The giveaway starts Saturday, July 10th and ends on Friday, July 23nd at midnight.

2. There will be five winners, chosen by random number generation.

3. Winners must have street addresses (no P.O. Boxes) in either the United States or Canada.

4. For one entry, leave a comment (with your email!). You will get an extra entry for any/all of the following; being or becoming a follower, blogging to this giveaway or tweeting about it. If you blog or tweet, please include the link.

5. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.

Good luck!  This is a graphic novel, but not intended for children!

Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson

Women are disappearing.  It's happening all over the country, and it appears that the women are targeted specifically.  The FBI are brought in, and that brings in Detective Alex Cross.  Alex has left the DC Police Department and is being fast-tracked in the FBI for a top position.  He soon discovers that the women are being ordered as if they were on a menu on a secret website for very rich, very depraved men.  The women are kidnapped and sold to these men as sex slaves.

In addition to the perplexing case, Alex has other issues to worry about.  He is separated from his new love, Jamilla, who is on the West Coast while he is on the East.  And a former love, Christine Johnson, has reappeared in a move that bodes trouble.  She is the mother of Alex's youngest child, the baby also named Alex.  Christine walked out of their lives a year ago to go find herself after a brutal crime, and now she is back and wants custody of Alex.

As Cross works the case, he discovers that the mastermind behind the kidnapping ring is a Russian man known only as the Wolf.   The Wolf is never seen, but his intimidation extends to everyone he has any contact with.  Anyone who talks about him at all is brutually murdered with no questions asked.  That makes tracking him down and stopping his spree more difficult than any other search Alex can remember.

Big Bad Wolf is a fast-paced thriller that reminds readers why they love James Patterson.  The action is non-stop and heart-pounding.   The reader is caught up in the action and also becomes involved in Alex's family concerns.  This book is recommended for all mystery readers.

Based Upon Availability by Alix Strauss

In Based Upon Availability, Alix Strauss explores the inner life and longings of women through the lives of several New York City young professionals.  Each has the sense that they just can't get what they really want and need, and most are isolated and lonely, seeking relationships with others in order to feel more connected.

The main character is Morgan, who works at the Four Seasons Hotel.  She has never gotten over the death of her sister as a child, and still views events through that loss.  She has broken up with her longtime boyfriend and now picks up men for quick sex when she feels especially unconnected.

The other women can also be defined by what is most missing from their lives.  Trish has started a gallery but feels her best friend slipping away as she prepares for marriage.  Anne also works at the hotel and is obsessive-compulsive as she fights to feel in control of her world.  Sheila is a teacher who longs for a man and marriage.  Robin longs for her sister to love her as she loves, but is constantly thwarted by her coldness.  Ellen is desparate to have a baby.  Franny has moved to the city and builds a life, but doesn't feel she is connected to anyone.  Louise is an aging rock star, staying in the hotel to detox. 

Alix Strauss has done a masterful job in constructing this novel.  The book is laid out in a series of life stories, each chapter following one of these women at a point in time.  There are recurring characters such as several men that more than one of the women interact with over time, not knowing that others also have a relationship with them.  Some of the characters meet each other and develop friendships, while others have a passing acquaintanceship.  The lonliness of each woman is portrayed through their struggles to find what they need, and the reader is compelled to examine their own lives to determine what needs drive them.  This book is recommended for all readers interested in the human condition and the ways we seek to establish connections.

AUDIO GIVEAWAY!!!! WORST CASE BY JAMES PATTERSON

One by one, children of New York's wealthiest are taken hostage. But the criminal doesn't crave money or power--he only wants to ask the elite if they know the price others pay for their luxurious lifestyles. And, if they don't, he corrects their ignorance--by killing them.

To Detective Michael Bennett, it becomes clear that these murders are linked and must be part of a greater, more public demonstration. With the city thrown into chaos, he is forced to team up with FBI agent Emily Parker, and the two set out to capture the killer before he begins his most public lesson yet--a deadly message for the entire city to witness.

From the bestselling author who brought you the Alex Cross novels comes James Patterson's most action-packed series yet. With the heart-pounding suspense that only Patterson delivers, WORST CASE will leave you gasping for breath until the very end.

GIVEAWAY RULES


YOU MUST, MUST, MUST LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT. COMMENTS WITHOUT EMAIL ADDRESSES WON'T BE ENTERED.

1. The giveaway starts Monday, June 28th and ends on Friday, July 9th at midnight.
2. There will be three winners, chosen by random number generation.
3. Winners must have street addresses (no P.O. Boxes) in either the United States or Canada.
4. For one entry, leave a comment (with your email!). You will get an extra entry for any/all of the following; being or becoming a follower, blogging to this giveaway or tweeting about it. If you blog or tweet, please include the link.
5. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.

Good luck!

The Making Of A Duchess by Shana Galen

Sarah Smith is a governess in Lord Northrup's house.  An orphan, she is grateful to have the job although she feels untettered and without a family to anchor her.  Her contentment is cruelly ended when her employer reveals that he works for the Foreign Office to catch spies, and that due to the injury of another operative, he needs Sarah to pretend to be Comtesse Sarafina de Guyenne.  As the comtesse, she will move in with a French noble family that Northrup has suspicions about.

Julien Harcourt, duc de Valere, has built a life in England.  He and his mother escaped from France during the Revolution while his father was caught and eventually guillionted.  His two twin brothers were never heard from again, and Julien has brought himself to the attention of the English government by his secret journeys back to France.  He is looking for evidence that his brothers still live, but the English suspect him of being a traitor.

Sarah moves in and begins the deception..  She is skeptical of her mission's success, as she has no idea how to play the role of a comtesse.  Even worse, as the days go by, she finds herself attracted to Julien.  Can Sarah discover the truth before Lord Northrup becomes too impatient?  Is Julien a hero or a traitor to his adopted land?  Will Sarah's love be returned or is Julien playing her for a fool?

Shana Galen has created a romance sure to find favor with readers of this genre.  The love scenes are steamy and authentic, and the characters are well written.  The fact that the reader learns something of French history is an added bonus.  This book is recommended for romance readers.

Gould's Book Of Fish by Richard Flanagan

Gould's Book Of Fish tells the story of nineteenth century convict, William Bulow Gould.  A petty criminal, Gould is sentenced to life imprisonment on the most feared penal colony in existence, Sarah Island in Tasmania.  Once there, in the midst of brutal guards and routine torture of convincts, Gould finds a way to exist--he uses his talent as a forger to become an artist and paint pictures for the top authorities of the prison.

The reader meets a multitude of characters.  There is Gould, saintly one minute, crass and crude as the most villinous character the next.  There is Tobias Achilles Lempriere, the prison surgeon, who wants Gould to paint fish so that he can rival Audobon's study of birds and become a member of the Royal Society of Scientists back in England.    The Commandant has clawed his way to the top and has a vision of creating a model society based on what he understands of European society in Tasmania.  Jorgen Jorgensen is a pompous Danish clerk who writes the history of the island, and makes much of it up to hide the truth of what happens there.  Twopenny Sal is a native women who is the Commandant's mistress, and also Gould's.  Matt Brady is an escaped convict who is fabled by those still imprisoned to have made his escape and is only waiting for the right time to come back and free them all.

Above all, there is the cruelty of the island.  The prisoners are treated horribly, tortured for the smallest infractions, starved and beaten.  The authorities were often mad, and had the ultimate power of no oversight so that their smallest wishes became law.  The native people were considered less than human, and massacred offhandly, as a matter of convenience or to take what they had. 

Yet, throughout the ordeal of life on Sarah Island, Gould finds life was never sweeter.  He chronicles the true history of the prison and what was done there.  His unquenchable optimism helps him survive and even thrive at different stages. 

Richard Flanagan has created a masterpiece.  The writing is reminiscent of Charles Dickens, with many characters who are finely detailed and a plot that twists and turns, where a character mentioned offhandly in one chapter will return in a later one to play a major part.  Flanagan shows the indomitable strength of the human life and hope for a better tomorrow, while detailing the horrible things that man is capable of.  The intricate plot and writing leads the reader on a journey they will not soon forget.  The book was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year as well as the winner of the Commonwealth Prize.  While not an easy read, it is one that leaves the reader challenged and satisfied.

Farm Fatale by Wendy Holden

Rosie and Mark want to move to the country.  Rosie, a freelance illustrator, can work anywhere and is tired of the city noise, traffic, smells, people, hustle and bustle.  Mark, a rising journalist, first refuses to consider relocating, but when his editor approves a weekly column on the trend of moving from the city to the country, he is on board.

Samantha also wants to move to the country.  A frustrated actress who married super-rich Guy, she wants to get in on the trend, and she wants to move Guy further away from his first wife and daughter.  Guy is not enthusiastic, but when he has a heart attack, Samantha sells their city place and buys a country one while he is out of commission.

Both couples end up in the small village of Eight Mile Bottom, although in vastly different circumstances. Rosie and Mark are in "a restricted financial condition" as their realtor puts it, and move into a small cottage in need of renovations.  Samantha picks out the local manor house, a seventeenth century house she then proceeds to renovate until it loses its authenticity.  Rosie is entranced with the local folk, livestock, local produce and small town relationships and ways.  Samantha, who expects the local landed gentry to beat a path to her door, is less entranced.  She regards the locals as buffoons and the animals as nuisances.

Can these two couples adjust to life in the country?  Wendy Holden, author of Beautiful People and Bad Heir Day, will entertain the reader as they find out which couple, if either, makes a successful adjustment to this new way of life.  Holden is in fine form.  Her prose is witty and has an off-beat, self-deprecating humour that many authors try to accomplish but few can pull off.  Her depiction of Lady Avon coming to visit Samantha (she turns out to be the Avon Lady!) is priceless and had me laughing out loud.  This book is recommended for readers looking for a fun entertainment. 

Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon

Four art students meet in college and soon form a group.  Suz, Winnie, Tess and Henry are consumed by their art and by Suz's belief that to understand something, you must tear it down.  Their group is named the Compassionate Dismantlers. They start out small, then graduate to "missions" such as shooting out transformers, burning art, and even kidnapping.  They move into a cabin together.  As a summer comes to an end, they start to fall apart with intra-group betrayals, secrets and alliances.  The summer ends with a tragedy and the group breaks up.

Fast forward ten years.  Henry and Tess have married and have a daughter, Emma, who was conceived that summer.  They are separated although still living in the same house and getting more and more distant from each other.  Emma, desparate to find a way to get her parents back together, searches their studios and finds evidence of The Dismantlers.  She sends a postcard to each member whose address she can find, writing only their motto:  "DISMANTLEMENT = FREEDOM.  To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart."

As the postcards are delivered, strange things start happening.  Some of the members come back to town, and perhaps others have also secretly returned.  Is the tragedy, hidden for a decade,  about to be discovered?  Have some members return to get revenge?  McMahon rachets up the tension from page to page until the reader can't determine reality from fantasy.

Wow, this book is amazing.  The suspense level is intense with multiple plot twists and turns.  The reader is sure they know what is happening and then a page turns and everything is different from what was perceived.  The characters are realistic, and the group leader, Suz, is so vivid that the reader expects to look up and see her striding into their room.  This book is recommended for mystery/suspense fans.

AUDIO GIVEAWAY!!!!! BLACK HILLS BY DAN SIMMONS

Anyone who reads fantasy/sci-fi/horror knows Dan Simmon's name.  He is the author of some of the scariest books around, and a real rival to Stephen King and Clive Barker.  You can see my review of his last book, Drood, on this site, and I rarely miss one of Simmon's books.  They are riveting although not always for the faint-hearted.  Thanks to Hachette, I'm able to do a giveaway for an audio copy of his latest, Black Hills.

A blurb from Amazon's site:

Simmons's previous novels The Terror (2007) and Drood (2009) meld historical figures and events to occult phenomena, and Black Hills follows a similar pattern. Here, Simmons fuses the triumph of American Western expansion and the marvels of early 20th-century science and engineering with Native American spirituality and mysticism. Simmons is a gifted storyteller whose meticulous research and evocative prose deftly transport readers to another time and place. However, the Christian Science Monitor found the frequent barrage of historical minutiae tedious and criticized the novel's interpretation of Manifest Destiny and the harsh treatment of native populations, which it considered obnoxious and disrespectful. However, most critics praised Black Hills as a highly imaginative, interesting novel and a worthy addition to Simmons's oeuvre.

GIVEAWAY RULES

YOU MUST, MUST, MUST LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR COMMENT. COMMENTS WITHOUT EMAIL ADDRESSES WON'T BE ENTERED.


1. The giveaway starts Monday, June 14th and ends on Friday, June 25th at midnight.
2. There will be three winners, chosen by random number generation.

3. Winners must have street addresses (no P.O. Boxes) in either the United States or Canada.

4. For one entry, leave a comment (with your email!). You will get an extra entry for any/all of the following; being or becoming a follower, blogging to this giveaway or tweeting about it. If you blog or tweet, please include the link.

5. Winners will be emailed and must respond within three days in order to claim their prize. After three days, another winner will be chosen and notified.
Good luck!

A Partisan's Daughter by Louis De Bernieres

Chris is like millions of middle-aged men. Stuck in a loveless marriage, he is frustrated at the thought that this might be all there is to his life. One night, while on the way home, he sees a streetwalker and impulsively, stops and tries to hire her. He is instantly filled with regret when the woman is insulted that he thought she was a prostitute. She then tells him that he can take her home to make up for it, and he does. As she leaves his car, she tells him that he seems a nice man and that he should come by sometime for coffee. Then she off-handedly mentions, "When I was bad girl I never took less than five hundred. I don't do cheap."

Thus starts the relationship between Chris and Roza. Roza is a young Yugoslavian woman who is in England illegally. Chris does stop by her apartment and she becomes a modern-day Scheherazade, full of exotic stories that have made up her life. Each story reveals more and more of her character and needs. Chris is entranced, both by Roza personally and by the stories she tells. He is shown a side of life he'd never seen as he realizes that while he wants more adventure in his life, he is actually unlikely to pursue it if it means leaving his comfortable, boring life. "I wouldn't want to be a partisan unless I got weekends off and missions were optional."

Roza's stories revolve around men in her life, starting with her father. He fought for various factions in Yugoslavia as a partisan, and lived his life afterwards extolling the strength and honor of men like him who were willing to sacrifice everything for the land and lives they loved. Then there is her first love, met when she attended college. After that, she met a man who brought her to England and she lived with him for a while, then slowly drifted away when she got bored. She drifted into hostess work. Roza is fatalistic about her life, and is quick to say she has disappointed the idea of being a partisan's daughter.

Louis De Bernieres has created two characters that the reader quickly learns to care about. The slow emergence of Roza's history and of Chris' reaction to its revelations creates a tension that leaves the reader anxious and intrigued. The reader wants to read more of the emerging relationship between these two people who are so diametrically opposed in outlook and life experiences. This book is recommended for readers of current fiction, and is one that will remain in the reader's mind for quite a while after it is completed.

The Art Of Devotion by Samantha Bruce Benjamin

On a sun-kissed island, two beautiful children play in the waves.  Sebastian and Adora are not twins, although many mistake these children with their golden curls and piercing blue eyes for twins.  Brother and sister who are two years apart, they are fiercely devoted to each other and need no one else.  Even their mother Sophie feels excluded, although she knows she should not be jealous of their closeness.

The book then moves to thirty years in the future and follows the relationships of this family, and another that they are intertwined with.  Adora has married Oliver.  They have no children of their own, but she has emotionally stolen Genevieve, the daughter of her husband's best friends, James and Miranda.  Genevieve spends every summer with Adora and is now entering adulthood.  She meets Jack, and her love for Adora is changed as she finds first love with him.

Samantha Bruce Benjamin explores the many facets of devotion.  There is devotion between siblings, between mother and daughter, between lovers, between friends and between adults and the children they foster.  Not all devotion is positive, and Benjamin explores the dark side of this emotion also.  The book is told through the voices of the women involved, moving back and forth from one to the other.  As each speaks of the summer that exists, and the years leading up to the events of that summer, the reader is taken on a road of discovery, as each event is told from multiple views and secrets and betrayals are revealed. 

This book is recommended for all readers.  It is compelling.  The writing is lyrical and what seems a gentle book constantly surprises as the plot twists are revealed.  The author has created one of the most memorable villians I've found, or have the motives of the villian been misinterpreted?  Readers of The Art Of Devotion will be thinking about what happened long after they close the covers of this book.

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Addie Downs couldn't be more surprised when she answers her door one evening.  There stands her best friend from high school, Valerie Adler.  Her best friend, who turned on her in their senior year.  Her best friend, who stood by while Addie was teased and taunted and made miserable.  Her best friend, who she hadn't seen in years, but who now has come to her for help.

The local high school had had their fifteenth high school reunion.  While Addie hadn't gone, Val had and had taken the chance to wreak some revenge on Dan, the guy who had date raped her in high school, and who had lead the torment of Addie when she turned him in.  Val has left Dan naked and bleeding in the country club parking lot, after hitting him with her car as she leaves.  She runs to Addie, not sure if the man is alive or dead, and if alive, how hurt he is.  The friends go back to the parking lot, but all they find is Dan's belt and some of his blood.

In the years since high school, both Addie and Val have made lives for themselves.  Val is now a TV weatherperson who has just made it to the big-time; a TV station in Chicago.  She is determined to move from that spot to an anchor chair.  Addie has stayed in the same house all these years.  She helps her brother, who was injured in an accident years before, and paints greeting card illustrations.  She has what many would consider a "small" life, but she is content.

Now these friends must determine if there is any friendship left between them, and if they can pull together to get through this crisis.  Can they rebuild the relationship that sustained them both throughout their childhood, or is it all too late?  This book is recommended for readers that enjoy books about women's lives and the problems that define them.  Jennifer Weiner is the queen of this genre, and this is another strong effort by her.