The Infidel Stain by M. J. Carter

It is 1841.  Jeremiah Blake and William Avery, who met and worked together in India, have both returned to England but haven't seen each other in three years.  Avery, now a gentleman with a wife and baby on the way, goes to London when he receives a message from Blake asking him to come.  He finds Blake, much the worst for wear, living in the slums of London and scratching out a small living by being a private investigator.

Blake's newest case has him needing help and he turns to Avery.  A Lord has approached him about investigating a series of murders.  Several men who run printing presses have been killed in grisly fashion.  The newly formed police force doesn't seem that interested in solving the case.  As Blake and Avery investigate, they determine that the printers were not only of the normal sort, but all had a sideline in pornography.  Even more telling, all seem to have known each other twenty years ago in the revolutionary movement now known as the Chartists, who are determined to win the vote for all men.

The bodies continue to mount up.  Informers are bountiful and it is difficult to make any headway.  The pair befriend a young girl who sells on the street and her brother, who has been falsely accused and headed for transportation to Australia.  Can they save this small family along with solving the murders?

This is the second case in the Blake and Avery series.  As with the first, the interest lies not only in the narrative but in the meticulously researched history that brings a Victorian environment alive.  The interplay between Blake and Avery is also interesting, each needing the other but very different in their understanding of the world and how they fit into it.  This book is recommended for mystery readers as well as historical fiction ones.

Missoula by Jon Krakauer

If you are sending a teenage daughter to college this fall, your biggest fear shouldn't be whether she'll make friends or how she'll handle adult responsibilities.  Rape, particularly acquaintance rape, is prevalent on college campuses.  This isn't attacking someone in the dark as they are walking home.  This is someone you've met who won't take your no as an answer and keeps pushing for sex.  This is having too much to drink and waking up to find someone having sex with you that you didn't agree to.  This is someone you thought of as a friend suddenly doing something you never saw coming.

Jon Krakauer examines the issue of college rapes/unwanted sexual attacks through the lens of one college town, Missoula, Montana.  The university is the biggest entity in the town and the football team, the Grizzlies, one of the main social outlets.  He examines three cases in depth.  The first is a woman who goes to a party at the home of a man who she has considered a friend her entire life.  There has never been anything romantic between them.  She wakes up to find him having sex with her.  The second is a woman who gets drunk and then asks a man she just met up to her dorm room.  Although once she gets there she refuses sex, he pushes himself on her anyway.  The final case is that of a woman who gets to know the quarterback of the football team and invites him over to watch a movie.  Instead, he rapes her with people in the next room. 

All of these women struggled with what happened to them, unable to believe it.  None went to the police right away, but all eventually did.  The cases went through college procedures for reported rapes and then moved on to the courts.  One man was found guilty, one was found not guilty.  In all cases, the aftermath was as horrific for the women as the actual event.

This is an issue that looms large in today's society.  Young people, sometimes entitled, who have their first taste of adult independence and maybe their first experiences with alcohol and drugs, don't always have the ability to handle situations that lead to rape.  Add in sports adulation and institutions that don't take the problem seriously and it is a cauldron of seething sexuality out of control.  This is an important book.  It is recommended for anyone who is or has a daughter at college.

Lexicon by Max Barry

Emily is a street kid making money scanning tourists with three card monte when she is plucked out of her life and given an opportunity of a lifetime.  She is picked for training by a shadowy organization that knows how to control people by language.  The best of the school's graduates are known as poets for their mastery of language.  Emily is one of these.

Wil is kidnapped at the end of a flight at the airport by two men.  He has no idea what they want but soon he is caught in the middle of a frantic chase, gunfights and murder.  The remaining kidnapper is called Elliot, and he lets out enough information that Wil realizes that people think he has a secret buried in his brain and they are willing to do anything to get it.

Broken Hill, Australia, is a ghost town, barricaded and off-limits.  A former mining town, three years ago it was the scene of an industrial accident so bad that everyone in town died.  The government maintains a barricade that keeps everyone out as exposure will still kill.  At least that's the official word the poets have put out.  What's the reality?

Australian author Max Barry has written a highly original novel that explores the power of words while plumbing the depths an organization will go to for power and control.  The characters are former poets, Eliot, Wolff, Yeats, Plath and it is jarring to see such names do such horrendous deeds.  The pace is fast and the story is revealed in glimpses and flashbacks the reader must tie together.  It was released in 2013 to acclaim, garnering the Amazon Best Science And Fantasy Pick of 2013, a Kirkus Ten Best Novels For Summer Reading 2013 and a host of other awards.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.

Booksie's Shelves, June 5, 2016

I read a pitiful seven books in May.  I was consumed all month with a myriad of tasks associated with a high school graduation, a last dance recital, college math placement exam, last chorus concert and getting ready for company.  We had a glorious graduation and we're all ready for the next step in June when we go to my daughter's college (University of South Carolina) for orientation.  In the midst of all this, I decided I needed to weed out some books, mainly so the company coming wouldn't see all the out of control stacks.  Here's a picture of some of the books before their journey to Goodwill.

In all, I took 356 books to Goodwill, and another dozen are headed to the gym where we have a leave one, take one bookshelf.  I have more weeding out to do, and then hopefully more time for reading instead of manipulating the teetering piles.

Here's what's come through the door lately:

1.  The Far Empty, J. Todd Scott, mystery, sent by publisher
2.  Blue Nile, Virginia Morell, travel, from gym bookshelf
3.  The Whale, Mark Beauregard, literary fiction, sent by publisher
4.  Did You Ever Have A Family, Bill Clegg, purchased
5.  Someone Must Die, Sharon Potts, mystery, sent by publisher
6.  Brain Storm, Elaine Viets, mystery, sent by publisher
7.  The Mermaid's Secret, Katie Schickel, fantasy, sent by publisher
8.  Under The Harrow, Flynn Berry, mystery, sent by publisher
9.  The God Wave, Patrick Hemstreet, thriller, sent by publisher
10.  The Light Of Paris, Eleanor Brown, literary fiction, sent by publisher
11.  All The Time In The World, Caroline Angell, literary fiction, sent by publisher
12.  The Secrets She Kept, Brenda Novak, mystery, sent by publisher

Here's what I'm currently reading:
1.  The Maid's Version, Daniel Woodrell, Kindle Fire
2.  The Man In The Monster, Martha Elliot, Kindle
3.  The Infidel Stain, M.J. Carter, paperback
4.  The Lore Of The Evermen, James Maxwell, audio
5.  A Drop In The Ocean, Jenni Ogden, paperback
6.  Gone, Mo Hayder, hardcover
7.  The Bird Eater, Ania Ahlborn, audio

Happy Reading!

Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart

Constance Kopp is one of the first lady deputy sheriffs in the United States.  Her two sisters, who pursue more ladylike vocations are not pleased and Constance is not a big hit with the male deputies either.  But Sheriff Heath is a man with vision and he sees the places where a woman deputy can do things more easily than a man could.  He insists on keeping Constance employed, even when his wife gets her nose out of joint because he is spending so much time with her.

But Sheriff Heath's vision is questioned when Constance makes a huge mistake.  She is guarding a prisoner who has been sent to the hospital for observation when he tricks her and escapes.  The prisoner is a doctor who uses his knowledge to trick patients and steal their money rather than heal them.  When he escapes, the world and all its judgement comes pouring down on Constance.

Undeterred and desperate to make things right, Constance starts her own investigation.  Her discoveries take her to New York City and Albany where she finds other doctors who are involved.  She also realises the man's family members are helping him hide so she keeps them under surveillance.  Can Constance find the fugitive before Sheriff Heath loses his job?

This is the second story in the Kopp sisters series.  The novels are based on true characters and Stewart faithfully portrays the history and characteristics of law enforcement in the early 1900's when women were just starting to make their mark.  This book is recommended for mystery and historical fiction readers.  

The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie

In Palo Alto, a young couple has met, fallen in love and is preparing to marry.   Paul is a brilliant neurologist who has research grants and has invented a device that has the potential to save lives in the military field, or at any accident scene.  His career looks bright.  Veblen is not as career oriented.  In fact, she is adrift.  She works as a temp while pursuing her interests.  One of these is translating Norwegian, which is not actually a high demand language.  Another is her semi-famous forbear, Thorstein Veblen, an economist who eschewed material goods and coined the term 'conspicuous consumption'.  Love of animals, especially squirrels is yet another Veblen obsession.

Each came from a problematic family.  Veblen's mother is narcissistic and demands all the family's attention for her myriad imagined illnesses.  The main thing she taught Veblen was that Veblen's needs and desires were always to be second to those of her mother.  Paul's family was consumed with the care of a child with special needs and Paul felt adrift and neglected.  His family were hippies, full of peace and love and lots of drugs, and Paul is organized and straight-laced in opposition.

As Veblen and Paul start to plan their wedding, their opposing viewpoints of the world emerge.  Soon they start to wonder if the other is too different and too strange to ever have a successful relationship.  It takes a crisis before their questions are answered and they resolve the differences that can tear them apart.

Elizabeth McKenzie has written a charming picture of modern mores and relationships.  Veblen is a free spirit who has broken free of a suffocating family, while Paul has attained the success and prestige he never got as a child.  Together they illustrate what it means to be in love as a millennial.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and those interested in relationships.

The Mother by Yvvette Edwards

We meet Marcia on one of the worst days of her life.  It is the opening trial day for the boy who murdered her only son, Ryan.  Ryan was sixteen years old when this boy ran up to him at a football training field in London and stabbed him repeatedly.  Now he is on trial and Marcia is determined to be their every day.  She wants to find out why anyone would do such a thing.

Marcia's life has been hell for the last eight months since the murder.  She is by turns angry, depressed and barely gets through the days.  Nights go by on a mixture of vodka and sleeping pills.  Her marriage is at a breaking point; her husband muted by the tragedy.   Her friends and remaining family try to be supportive but no one can really relate to what she is going through.

As the trial goes on, Marcia sees that the young man on trial has no remorse.  He doesn't seem to feel anything for anyone and she wonders what his life would have to have been like to turn him into this unfeeling automaton.  A young girl is his alibi and it is the same girl that Ryan brought home once.  Marcia had disapproved as the girl was street-wise and not the kind of girl she always thought Ryan would eventually be interested in.  Now it appears that Ryan's death may have been caused by his interest in her since the other boy has also been with her.

Unfortunately, most of us know someone in Marcia's shoes as we get older.  These are parents who have lost their children, whether to accidents, sickness or violence.  It is unimaginable pain and the fact that it is unimaginable makes it difficult to be the friend they need at this time.  Edwards has ripped aside the barrier and shown us what is going on in the minds and hearts of our friends who are dealing with this horror.  She also takes the time to emphasize with the killer and his circumstances, raising questions about what we owe to those less fortunate and how we can change things to possibly avoid further tragedies.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers and for anyone with a friend in this circumstance.

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

Novelist Owen Quine has gone missing.  His wife comes to detective Comoran Strike.  She wants Comoran to find him and bring him home.  Quine goes away periodically, but always returns and this time he hasn't.  They have a daughter with special needs and Quine knows only he can produce the money needed to keep the family afloat.

Strike takes the case and expects it to be an easy one.  But as he investigates, it becomes more complicated.  Quine has written a new novel, one in which he skewers many of the literary circle of England.  He has a mistress who is sure he is leaving his wife and child to be with her, an agent who seems to despise him and a publishing house that would be more than glad to drop him.  Every individual thinly disguised in the book would be glad to see him disappear for good.  When Strike discovers Quine's body and realizes that he has been killed in a parody of the novel, the race is on to discover the murderer.

The reader also learns more about the personal lives of Strike and his assistant, Robin Ellacott.  Strike is a former soldier who has been left with an artificial leg and investigative skills from his time in the military.  Huge and focused, he is considered without social skills yet has friends in every circle who would do anything for him.  Robin, his assistant, is about to get married and starting to wonder if that is the right course for her, or if it would be more fulfilling to become an investigator herself.  Together the two work through the lengthy suspect list to discover who killed Quine.

This is the second Comoran Strike book and it is equally as delightful as the first.  In the worst-kept secret in the literary world, Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym of J.K. Rowling, and she delivers the plotting and characterization that made her famous as an author.  The reader finishes the book eager to read the next installment in the series.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Girls On Fire by Robin Wasserman

You remember teenage friendships.  That fierce cleaving to another person, the two of you against the world, united against anyone or anything that would dampen your dreams or try to make the two of you ordinary.  That's how it was when Lacey and Dex found each other.

Dex, who everyone else knew as Hannah Dexter, was the ignored girl.  Her parents were on the fringes of the social life in their small town, but somehow Hannah was the one always left out, always made fun of when someone actually noticed her.  She drifted through school trying to be invisible.  She was the good girl at home although her parents wanted her to be popular.

Lacey was the rebel.  Raised by a single mom who was always working or out with various boyfriends, she grew up doing whatever she wanted.  She hung out with undesirable boys, drank and did drugs, and learned about sex way too early.  When her mom finds and marries a born-again Christian with a mean streak and has a baby with him, Lacey is uprooted and moved to small town Battle Creek, Michigan.

Dex can't believe it when Lacey talks to her in the bathroom one day after a brutal encounter with the queen bee of their high school.  It's even more unbelievable when she takes her out in her car and they start to learn about each other.  Soon, it is them against the world and Dex learns about life and what is real.  There is nothing but Lacey and the united front the two of them present to the world.  But fairy tales aren't real and soon hidden secrets start to crack the foundation of their friendship.  How far will one go to continue to live in the exclusive world of the other?

Robin Wasserman has written a fierce, raw novel that will strike an instant chord in all those who grew up on the fringes.  The fringes of high school popularity, of boys and parties and being desired.  Who wake up with white-hot anger growling right beneath the surface as they go through the halls of their school, who pretend it doesn't matter and pretend they are normal for their parents and teachers.  Who if they are lucky emerge on the other side and go out into life and wrest from it what they want.  Who if they are unlucky fall deeper into dependence on the other person in their world and let that dependence take them down into actions they would never have done alone.  This book is recommended for young adult readers and for mothers raising daughters.

Booksie's Shelves, May 20, 2016

It's a week of lasts in our house.  Last prom, last chorus concert, last awards ceremony, last day of high school and last dance recital!  I unplugged and threw away my alarm clock yesterday as I no longer have to get up on someone else's schedule.  My favorite time to read is in the morning in bed but I only got to do it on the weekends.  Now I can do it anytime.  The sadness of my daughter graduating and moving on to college is setting in, but I'm excited as she moves on to the next stage in her life.  She got the AP English award this year, so she's on the right track with reading!  Here's the books that I got recently:

1.  Auntie Poldi And The Sicilian Lions, Mario Giordano, mystery, sent by publisher
2.  The View From The Cheap Seats, Neil Gaiman, nonfiction, sent by publisher
3.  Orchard, Jack Bailey, historical fiction, sent by publisher
4.  I Do It With The Lights On, Whitney Thore, nonfiction, sent by publisher
5.  Behind Closed Doors, B.A. Paris, thriller, won in contest
6.  Red Platoon, Clinton Romesha, nonfiction, sent by publisher
7.  The Mother, Yvvette Edwards, literary fiction, sent for book tour
8.  Monsters:  A Love Story, Liz Kay, contempory fiction, sent by publisher

Here's what I'm reading:

1.  The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith, Kindle Fire
2.  Lady Cop Makes Trouble, Amy Stewart, Kindle
3.  The Lore Of The Evermen, James Maxwell, audio
4.  The Portable Veblen, Elizabeth Mckensie, paperback
5.  Murder At Breakfast, Beth Gutcheon, paperback
6.  Lexicon, Max Barry, hardcover
7.  A Dance With Dragons, George R. R. Martin, hardcover

Happy Reading!

The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg

Aurore Dupin is a typical French woman of the nobility in the early to mid 1880's.  She was raised by her grandmother after her father died when she was young and her mother went to Paris to live her life.  She was educated in the arts and sciences by a tutor who lived on the estate and learned to ride, make conversation and all the social graces.  Yet Aurore was not a happy child.  She felt deserted by her mother who had agreed to leave Aurore behind with her grandmother in exchange for the money to live as she chose.

When Aurore grew up, she was faced with marriage and all the disadvantages that imposed on a woman of the time.  She married a man and had high hopes, but the marriage soon evolved into a prison with him controlling all of her fortune and her estate.  He was brutish and lived only to hunt and have other women.  Her only joy was in her children, Maurice and Solange.

Finally, the marriage became more than she could bear and she went to Paris after agreeing to a separation with her husband.  There she started to write and explore other relationships.  She found a community of like people, artists and writers and musicians.  One of her first jobs was a theatre critic and she began to wear men's clothing in order to obtain the cheap seats they were allowed to buy.  Soon she was also using a man's name, the none under which she lived for the rest of her life.  That name was George Sand.

Over the years, Sand became famous for her writing and for her passionate love affairs.  She loved men who depended on her to support them both and inevitably, the affairs ended badly.  She desperately loved a famous actress of the time, but the other woman was not interested in that kind of relationship.  Her most famous and long-lasting love affair was with Frederick Chopin.  That relationship lasted almost a decade.  She was friends with Flaubert, Balzac, Liszt, Eugene Delacroix and a host of other individuals in the arts.  Yet she always searched and was disappointed in love.

Elizabeth Berg has written a novel about George Sand that will introduce this great writer to the reader who has always been interested in learning more about this influential writer who forged the path for women's independence to pursue what gave them joy.  She uses some of Sand's letters and those she received to illustrate the tempestuous personality that moved Sand onward, constantly pursuing the right to live life as she wanted.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.

Death At Breakfast by Beth Gutcheon

Now that they are retired, two old friends decide they would make good traveling companions.  Maggie Detweiler was the head of a prestigious private school while her old friend, Hope Babbin is a wealthy socialite.  Eager to test their compatibility, they sign up for a cooking school at a quaint Maine inn and head off.  The surroundings are wonderful and the cooking school is marvelous.  Everything is proceeding satisfactorily when trouble arrives in the form of obnoxious guests.

Alexander and Lisa Antippas are loud and obnoxious, using their wealth to bully others and make demands of everyone around while constantly fighting.  Lisa's sister, Gloria, an actress, accompanies them.  They are the kind of guest whom everyone notices and clears out of the room for, murmuring to each other about how unpleasant they are.  After a family tragedy strikes, the other guests try to make allowances but it is difficult to find empathy for such obnoxious people.

The tension mounts when Alexander's body is discovered.  The deputy sheriff arrives, and to everyone's surprise, turns out to be Hope's long estranged son.  Buster Babbin has floundered a bit in life, but has to his own surprise, found his standing in this small town where a sheriff is more of a community representative than a hardcore law and order person.  He starts to investigate, but Alexander's wealth and power insure that the state investigators turn up and try to take over.  Can Buster, with the help of Maggie and Hope, solve the mystery?

Beth Gutcheon has written a charming first entry in a new detective series.  The two women bring years of experience with observing human nature mixed with wry humor while Buster reveals hidden depths.  The reader will be interested in how events play out and close the back cover with a feeling of satisfaction.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Body In The Wardrobe by Katherine Hall Page

This should be an ecstatic time in attorney Sophie Maxwell's life.  She has just moved to Savannah after marrying the love of her life, Will.  She quickly finds a job and the couple start house hunting.  Sophie starts to get comfortable in Savannah with its love of parties, wonderful weather, friendly people and lots of preserved history.  But all is not perfect.  There's an ex-girlfriend on the scene who hints that maybe Sophie doesn't know all she thinks she does about Will.  Will does seem to have secrets, as do many of his wealthy, well-connected family.  His job takes him out of town, leaving Sophie on her own.  The worst is when she opens the wardrobe in her bedroom one night and a man's body falls out.  By the time she summons help, the body is gone.  Did she imagine it as everyone wants her to think?

Her best friend, Faith Fairchild, a minister's wife and caterer in New England, has her own problems.  A neighbor seems to have a problem that is straining her health, but won't share her burden.  Faith's husband is thinking about a career change which would mean a family move.  Worst, her teenage daughter is having issues at school that are changing her sunny personality.  The two friends commiserate over the phone, but the problems keep them from getting together in person.  Can everything be resolved?

This is the twenty-third mystery in the Faith Fairchild series.  Fans of the series will enjoy another visit with Faith, while becoming acquainted with her new heroine, Sophie.  There is lots of history, food  and city tidbits about Savannah and of course, recipes from Faith's catering business.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Devil's Harbor by Alex Gilly

Nick Finn isn't sure exactly when his life went off the rails.  Was it the night he and his brother-in-law, working their shift as Marine Interdiction Agents for Customs and Border Protection, intercept a suspicious boat with tragic consequences?  Was it the day they found a teenage boy floating in the channel, his legs gone in a shark attack?  Or was it the day Finn decides to take another drink after months on the wagon?

Whichever was the decision point, Finn is now faced with issues.  His wife, Mona, has left him.  His job is in jeopardy as he faces an investigation into what happened on the water that night.  Worse, as he tries to find out what is really happening, he stumbles into a plot that is sickening and far beyond anything he ever expected having to deal with.

Alex Gilly's debut novel is a fast-paced thriller that will keep readers going until the last page.  Full of surprises and twists and turns, the reader will not only be surprised but educated about the work of Customs on the seas surrounding us and the drug cartels they battle.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.

Booksie's Shelves, May 7, 2016

We're well into May and what a busy month it's turning out to be.  Lots of events happening for the last time with a daughter graduating high school and leaving her dance studio after fourteen years.  Two weeks till her last dance recital and three weeks till graduation!  I'm trying to be supportive and get things done around the house.  I finished The Fireman by Joe Hill which I absolutely loved, and Free Men by Katy Simpson Smith, a great historical from the late 1700's in rural Alabama.  Here's the books that have come into the house since my last post:

1.  Discovering You, Brenda Novak, romance, sent by publisher
2.  Pretty Girls, Karin Slaughter, mystery, sent by publisher
3.  A World Between, Robert Herzog, science fiction, sent by publisher
4.  A Brief History Of Seven Killings, Marlon James, historical/literary, purchased
5.  Lost And Gone Forever, Alex Grecian, mystery, sent by publisher
6.  Night Life, David C. Taylor, thriller, sent by publisher
7.  Night Work, David C. Taylor, thriller, sent by publisher
8.  Finding Fontainebleau, Thad Carhart, memoir, sent by publisher
9.  Sunborn Rising, Aaron Safronoff, fantasy, sent by publisher
10.  Death At Breakfast, Beth Gutcheon, mystery, sent for book tour
11.  Girls On Fire, Robin Wasserman, literary fiction, sent for book tour
12.  Lillian On Life, Alison Lester, historical fiction, sent by publisher
13.  Aunt Dimity And The Buried Treasure, sent by publisher

Here's what I'm reading:

1.  The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith, Kindle Fire
2.  Lady Cop Makes Trouble, Amy Stewart, Kindle
3.  The Lore Of The Evermen, James Maxwell, audio
4.  The Dream Lover, Elizabeth Berg, hardcover
5.  Devil's Harbour, Alex Gilly, hardcover
6.  Lexicon, Max Barry, hardcover
7.  A Dance With Dragons, George R. R. Martin, hardcover

Happy Reading!

Free Men by Katy Simpson Smith

Three men come together in 1788 in the rural country of what would become the state of Alabama.  Bob is a slave who has decided in his thirties that there must be something more and has decided to run away and make another life out in the Western territories.  Istillicha, a Creek Indian, has been ousted from his tribe and what everyone expected would be his place of leadership.  His woman and his silver have both been stolen from him.  Cat is a young white man who seems lost most days.  He has spent his life trying to fit in and find someone to love him to little avail.

Brought together by chance, the three men travel together to help each other.  Everything changes when they encounter a group of men on the roadway.  The three are worried that the men might take back tales of seeing them; each of them wanted elsewhere for various reasons.  Even more damning, the men have sacks full of silver coins that clatter and clang and give their location away.  That night, the three men creep into the camping place of the group and start to steal the money.  When the men awake and give fight, things escalate until all are dead and the three men are now wanted for murder.

Le Clere is a tracker.  He has come to America from France to learn about what makes men do the things they do.  He is hired by the Creek chief of Istillicha's tribe to find him.  He quickly picks up the men's trail and finds himself following them rather than capturing them.  He is fascinated by the makeshift friendships and commonality that seems to bind the three men, unknown to each other a week ago, together in common purpose.

Katy Simpson Smith has a PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Her devotion to research and to portraying the average individuals that settled America is on full display in this novel as she explores the nature of freedom, friendship and hope in desperate situations.  This book is recommended for readers of historical and literary fiction.

The Wages Of Sin by Nancy Allen

The murder is a brutal one.  Jesse Dent is eight months pregnant.  Her live-in boyfriend and the father of the baby is arrested for the crime.  The main witness is Jesse's six year old daughter Ivy.  The police in McDown County, Missouri,  know the Dent household well; they have been called to it multiple times for domestic abuse.  Now the worst has happened.

The county prosecutor, a frosty woman named Madeline Thompson, has promised to not only convict the boyfriend, but get a death penalty as the sentence.  Thompson's main assistant cannot help as he witnessed some of Jesse's abuse; her next choice won't work on a death penalty case.  That means the Elsie Arnold is next up as Thompson's co-counsel.

Elsie isn't sure that she supports the death sentence either, but when she thinks about the abuse Dent underwent, she is swayed in favor of it.  Elsie dates the local police homicide chief and she knows how bad the abuse they saw was.  She is put in charge of shepherding little Ivy Dent's testimony, and as the trial gets closer, she starts to realise that Ivy may be in danger.  Can Elsie help win the case while protecting Ivy?

Nancy Allen served as a trial lawyer in Missouri as well as the Assistant Attorney General there.  She now teaches law at Missouri State University.  She knows the inside track of how a murder trial is conducted, and the ethical hesitations attorneys may face.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Fireman by Joe Hill

At first, no one knew what was happening.  People started to get a tracery of images on their skin, black and gold, almost like lace. At first, people called it dragonscale and were not that concerned.  But when the lacework started to smolder and then erupt into full flames that killed the host, reality set in.  Draco Incendia Trychophyton was a virus like none ever seen.  Thousands, then millions were infected.  Entire states were burned.  Society broke down as the power grids failed and food was hard to find.  Those not infected did anything they could to avoid those who were.

Harper Grayson is one of the unlucky ones.  Her work as a nurse put her in daily contact with those infected and soon she was also.  Her husband, Jakob, showed his true colors by revealing his hate of her for having the disease and his anger that she could have exposed him.  He leaves her, after failing to convince her that a mutual suicide would be the best choice.  But Harper has a reason to try to live; she has just found out she is pregnant.

Reeling, she leaves her house and all she knows.  She wanders until she finds a refuge, a camp of those with dragonscale who have found a way to keep the virus from erupting and burning those infected with it.  The camp is run by a kindly man known as the Father and protected by a mythical figure called The Fireman.  He has learned to control dragonscale and bend it to his will.  He fights against those who would do anything to destroy those infected.  Can this camp of individuals find a way to survive in a world determined to stamp them out?  Can they manage to live in peace or will power struggles cleave them into factions and cliques fighting for control?

Joe Hill has created a novel that touches readers' lives.  With the reality of the Ebola and Zika viruses and constant scares about bird flu and swine flu, most people are convinced of the inevitability of a virus that will sweep the world and wipe out millions of people.  The Fireman is a remote, scary figure that is not soon forgotten.  In Harper, he has created a heroine who is so full of common sense and practicality that she is instantly likable.  One can't help but continue to read to find out who, if anyone, survives.  This book is recommended for readers of dystopian novels and thriller fans.

Strange Bodies by Marcel Theroux

This novel opens with a prologue by a woman who has just had an encounter with a long-ago boyfriend.  She is glad to see him until she remembers that she read of his death in a motor accident several months before.  Yet he is definitely the man she remembers.  He knows the little ancedotes of their relationship, what they were eating when an event occurred, the weather when they were on an outing, conversations they had when alone.  His name is Nicolas Slopen and he gives no explanation for the fact that he is considered dead.  He leaves her with a flash drive and when it is opened, a strange story unravels.

Dr. Nicolas Slopen is an academic; his specialty the life of Samuel Johnson as documented by his cohort, Boswell.  Slopen is intrigued when he is approached by a rich musician who has taken up the hobby of acquiring first editions and literary trophies.  The man has a packet of letters he wants Slopen to authenticate as the work of Johnson.  At first glance, the letters seem authentic but are totally unknown in the history of Johnson's life and work.  Excited about perhaps finding a new trove of work, Slopen asks to see the originals.  When he does, he falls into a rabbit hole of intrigue and hubris the like of which can hardly be imagined.

Slopen's explorations in the matter take him from London to Russia to a madhouse.  He is befriended by a mysterious Russian woman named Vera and her bodyguard.  They live in London in a house where they care for Vera's brother, who is the passkey into a mystery that can hardly be believed.  Nicholas is drawn further and further into the mystery until he is totally changed.

Theroux has written a highly original novel that questions what makes us human.  His novel Far North was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction.  This book with its questions about personality and the foundation of human experience will remain with the reader as each person answers the questions of what it means to be a person.  This book is recommended for science fiction and philosophical readers.

The House Of Rumour by Jake Arnott

Jake Arnott is one of Britain's best novelists.  His books have a huge fan following and several have been made into major TV dramas.  In The House Of Rumour, he takes the reader on an intriguing journey through the twentieth century as he attempts to reconcile the nature of the world with the glimpses of other worlds each of us instinctively feels.

The reader is taken through the early stages of rocket propulsion, the rise of the hippie cults and philosophies in the sixties and seventies, the spy games that went on below the surface in World War II, the rise of science fiction, Jonestown, the heyday of B-movies about alien abductions, the Cuban revolution and the later raft migration of those revolutionaries to Florida, the long mysterious story of Rudolph Hess and the study of the occult.  These worlds are seen through the unifying thread of the story of Larry Zagorski, a young boy fascinated by the emerging science fiction scene, who went on to fight in World War II as a fighter pilot, and returned to make a living writing fiction and working for movies.  Larry was at the fringes of many of these stories and spent his life trying to work out what was reality and what was just the appearance.  Is this world merely a hologram or a figment of someone's imagination?

Arnott has created a fascinating look at the nature of the world through the myriad stories that he weaves together in this novel.  He is reminiscent of David Mitchell, Don Delillo, and John Barth as he creates a world that the reader will be mesmerized by.  The book could have used some editing as some threads seem to go on too long or not entirely mesh with others, but this is a masterpiece of literature that the reader will not soon forget.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and those interested in the nature of the world.

The Innocent by Harlan Coben

Matt Hunter expected his life to be successful but routine.  That plan changed forever the night he tried to break up a bar fight and another boy died.  Matt was sent to prison and his life changed from his early hopes and dreams.

Now Matt has been out for a while and things are looking up.  He has a job as a paralegal, a step down from his plan to be a lawyer but one for which he is grateful.  His brother arranged it at his law firm.  Most importantly, Matt has Olivia.  She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and he could hardly believe it when she fell in love with him and agreed to marriage.  Now Olivia is expecting and they are closing on a house in the suburbs.

But Matt's life has taught him one thing.  That is the fact that the best laid plans can go astray in a moment.  Matt's next moment occurs when he gets a strange image and video on his camera from Olivia.  He is faced with the realization that his marriage may be based on secrets and lies.  Can he find his way through a maze of untruth and find reality before his life explodes again?

Harlan Coben cannot write a bad mystery.  The reader emphasizes with Matt and wishes him the best.  As the plot unfolds, the tension mounts and it is hard to believe that things will ever have a happy ending.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Booksie's Shelves, April 22, 2016

April is coming to a close, although I surely don't know how.  The days are getting longer and warmer and hopefully I'm through with traveling for a while.  We went to the University of South Carolina in Columbia last weekend for Admitted Students events for our daughter who will be attending this fall.  It is such a warm, student-centered environment that I hope will launch her into a successful adulthood.  We even found a California Dreaming restaurant, one of my favorites, a block off campus.  I've been buying a lot of books lately, filling in my list of Booker and Bailey's Prize nominees.  Here's what's come through the door:

1.  Dinner With Edward, Isabel Vincent, memoir, sent by publisher
2.  City Of Secrets, Stewart O'Nan, historical fiction, sent by publisher
3.  Narcopolis, Jeet Thayil, literary fiction, purchased
4.  Reckoning And Ruin, Tina Whittle, mystery, sent by publisher
5.  Eleven Days, Lea Carpenter, literary fiction, purchased
6.  Almost English, Charlotte Mendelson, literary fiction, purchased
7.  To Rise Again At A Decent Hour, Joshua Ferris, literary fiction, purchased
8.  Sugarland, Martha Conway, mystery, sent by publisher
9.  The Body In The Wardrobe, Katherine Hall Page, mystery, sent for book tour
10.  The Spinning Heart, Donal Ryan, literary fiction, purchased
11.  Reader, I Married Him, Tracy Chevalier, anthology, sent by publisher

Here's what I'm reading:
1.  Lexicon, Max Barry, hardback
2.  The House Of Rumor, Jake Arnott, audio
3.  Lady Cop Makes Trouble, Amy Stewart, Kindle
4.  Strange Bodies, Marcel Theroux, hardback
5.  The Innocent, Harlen Coben, hardback
6.  The Fireman, Joe Hill, Kindle Fire
7.  The Lore Of The Evermen, James Maxwell, audio
8.  A Dance With Dragons, George R. R. Martin, hardback

Happy Reading!

The Small Backs Of Children by Lidia Yuknavitch

It was an award-winning photo, one that was instantly recognizable and that defined a war.  It was shot in Eastern Europe in one of the wars that was fought so long that people forgot there was even a war going on.  It caught a young girl in mid-flight as she was flung out of her house which was exploding after a direct mortar hit.  Her blonde hair haloed her head and she seemed to emerge from the picture, asking for help and recognition.  She disappeared as she had emerged, into the war torn country.  No one knew who she was, where she went or if she was dead or alive.

In America, the photographer won prizes and launched her successful career.  She sent a copy to her first love, a writer.  The writer had been married to a famous painter, but was now married to a filmmaker.  Her brother was a successful playwright.   Another friend was known far and wide for her poetry.  Each of them was affected by the photograph, but none as viscerally as the writer.  She had just had a stillborn daughter and was having a difficult time adjusting to the world without her child.

These artistic individuals came up with a plan to help the writer recover.  They decided that they would find the girl in the picture and bring her to America.  They hoped that giving the girl a second chance at life would help the writer to also find her way back to life.  Undeterred by the difficulties, they came up with a plan that would allow them to find the child and smuggle her into the country.

This book was is gripping.  It bursts into the reader's mind and refuses to let go until the last page.  It turns thoughts of bodies and love, violence, relationships, war and art on their heads and shows them in differing ways.  The sex and violence are raw and this book is probably not for everyone.  But it is one of the most important books I've read and it will stay with me for quite a while.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and those who want to know how the world works and how people fit into it.

Booksie's Shelves, April 13, 2016

I've been traveling and not through yet!  My daughter is a huge Elvis fan (not sure how the daughter of hard rockers is so retro) so we went to Memphis for spring break and toured Graceland.  Then a few days later, DH and I headed to Georgia to see all the grandkids.  We took the boys to Legoland and then our four year old granddaughter to the movies and babysat all four.  Home this week then off to Columbia for a college weekend with our daughter.

Reading, I've been to the swampland around the Dismal Swamp with Lincoln Rhyme, the quadriplegic detective, spent time with the Beatles in an alternative world and I'm on a wild ride in The House of Rumors that has me with British spies, sci-fi writers, Nazi traitors, Cuban revolutionaries, and in cults that believe in aliens.  There's always a new world to explore in books.  Here's what's come through the door:

1.  The Girls, Emma Cline, literary fiction, sent by publisher
2.  The Moor's Account, Laila Lalami, literary fiction, purchased
3.  A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara, literary fiction, purchased
4.  Forest Park, Valerie Davisson, mystery, sent by publisher
5.  Where We Fall, Rochelle Weinstein, literary fiction, sent by publisher
6.  The Whole World, Emily Winslow, mystery, purchased
7.  The Weekenders, Mary Kay Andrews, sent by publisher
8.  Kill Me Again, Rachel Abbott, mystery, sent by author
9.  History Of The Rain, Niall Williams, literary fiction, purchased
10.  The Lives Of Others, Neel Mukherjee, literary fiction, purchased
11.  A Shadow All Of Light, Fred Chappell, fantasy, sent by publisher
12.  The Luckiest Girl Alive, Jessica Knoll, memoir, sent by publisher
13.  One Flew Over The Banyan Tree, Alan Jansen, literary fiction, sent by publisher
14.  Drafter, Kim Harrison, thriller, sent by publisher

Here's what I'm reading:

1.  Lexicon, Max Barry, hardback
2.  The House Of Rumor, Jake Arnott, audio
3.  Lady Cop Makes Trouble, Amy Stewart, Kindle
4.  The Small Backs Of Children, Lidia Yuknavich, hardback
5.  The Innocent, Harlen Coben, hardback
6.  The Lore Of The Evermen, James Maxwell, audio
7.  A Dance With Dragons, George R. R. Martin, hardback

Happy Reading!

The Death And Life Of Mal Evans by Peter Lee

In this alternate reality novel, Mal Evans, assistant to the Beatles for many years, lies dying in an LA apartment.  He has been shot by a police officer who mistook Evans air pistol for a gun.  As he lies on the floor, his life fading away, his last sight is of that police officer.

When he awakes, it is in England, and the time has regressed to five years ago.  He heads to the recording studio, and it is all as it has been back then.  Mal realises that he has the opportunity to get the band to never break up and for them to release more great music and avoid the downward spiral each encountered after the Beatles disbanded.

Beatle fans will be interested in this insider look at what it was like day after day living and working with the Beatles.  Mal Evans is a real person, although few know his name.  He did die in LA in an encounter with the police.  He was there day after day with the Fab Four and knew them and their secrets better than almost anyone.  Peter Lee has taken that insider knowledge to imagine a different story, one that works better for Beatles fans.  This book is recommended for music lovers and readers who enjoy alternate reality novels.

The Empty Chair by Jeffrey Deaver

Lincoln Rhyme, renowned forensic criminalist and a quadriplegic, has come from New York City where he knows the environment to North Carolina, a massive culture and environmental shift.  He has come to a notable medical center where promising surgery has been done on others in his condition with some improvements in their quality of life.  Of course, with his condition, he never travels alone.  He is accompanied by his partner and lover, Amelia Sachs and his constant medical assistant, Thomas.

While he is waiting through the pre-surgical tests and scheduling, the local sheriff turns up.  He has heard that the famous Lincoln Rhyme is in town and he needs help.  Two women have been kidnapped and a man has been killed.  The whole town is sure they know who the culprit is.  Garrett Hanlon is a sixteen year old boy, known as Insect Boy, for his fascination with insects.  He is an orphan, his family having been killed in a car accident.  His time in foster care has not been pleasant and he is suspected of many crimes in the area.  Now he has disappeared with both a young college student who was on a historical dig and a nurse who was also in the area.  Local law enforcement feels they need more expertise to solve a crime this complicated and they prevail on Lincoln.  Restless as he waits for treatment, he agrees to give the local police force his assistance.

Rhyme is at a disadvantage.  He has left behind his lab, where he has every forensic instrument he could ever need.  His expertise in in items found in a city, not a rural North Carolina town with bogs and swamps and flora and fauna he has never encountered.  Amelia heads up a search team and as she and the deputies go in pursuit, things get more complicated than either Rhyme or Sachs could ever have imagined.

This is the third novel in the Lincoln Rhyme series.  Rhyme is one of the most fascinating detectives currently being written about and the reader is easily drawn back into the world of forensic science and its role in solving impossible cases.  There are plenty of the twists and turns Deaver fans have come to expect and a surprising ending.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Murderer's Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

Grace Blades has not had an easy life.  She started out as the only child of violent drug addicts who either ignored her or beat her.  When she was five, she witnessed their grisly murder-suicide, leaving her orphaned and an immediate candidate for the foster care system.  She bounced around from house to house, interacting as little as possible and being ignored at most of them since she was quiet and no trouble.  Grace's saving characteristic was her intelligence.  She scored in the genius ranks and attracted the attention of mentors as she got older.  Grace ended up being a psychologist and her specialty is working with those impacted by violence.

One day she gets a huge shock.  She has a new patient and when he walks in, she realizes that she has met him before.  They were both at a foster home together.  He hints about his reasons for seeking treatment and they fall into Grace's specialty but neither of them are comfortable and he leaves without committing to continuing.  Grace learns the next day that he was killed after he left her office.

Soon it is obvious that Grace is being followed and someone seems to have her in their sights.  She believes the only way to save herself is to find out what happened to her patient and if it related to the time they spent together as children.  As she races against time to discover his secrets, she starts to uncover a vicious killer's trail.

This novel is a departure from Kellerman's usual mystery novels that focus on Dr. Alex Delaware and his police friend Milo.  Grace is a less sympathetic character than Delaware but the reader feels that they can get further into Grace's mind and motivations, increasing the interest in her mystery.  It will be interesting to see if this is just a standalone for Kellerman or if he plans to develop Grace as character in other novels.  This book is recommended for readers of mystery novels.

Two Years Eight Months And Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie

What if we have never understood the basic underpinnings of our world and what causes events to happen?  What if we're really descendents of the jinn, or as the Western world calls them, genies?  This is the premise of Two Years Eight Months And Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie.

The title is not just a whim of the author.  It is the time it takes to reach a thousand and one nights, which is one of the most enduring legends of all time, how a woman outsmarted a cruel despot and saved herself by telling him stories for all those nights yet leaving him each night with a cliffhanger so that he always wanted to hear more.

Long ago, the jinn moved freely between Earth and their own land, having little interaction with humans and caring little for them. Occasionally one was entrapped and if rescued by a human, granted him wishes but overall there was separation between the two races.  Everything changed when Dunia, a female jinn and daughter of the mighty emperor, came to Earth and fell in love with a philosopher and married him.  Their descendants populated the world over the thousands of years after this event.  Dunia went back to the jinn land and the portal between the worlds closed.

Then the time of strangeness occurred.  The portal opened and the jinn were free to come to Earth.  Four jinn who hated the humans and were Dunia's enemies came through and in a war with her, created mayhem on the land.  They used humans to spread their hate and cruelty and from this terrorism was born.  Dunia's descendants fought against the evil jinn for dominance of the land.

Salman Rushdie is my favorite novelist and this novel did not disappoint.  It is a lyrical, bawdy, wide-ranging story that explores themes such as the endurance of love, the underpinnings of evil, the positive side of being different and the power of story and language.  It ranges across centuries and exposes readers to a new way of experiencing the world.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Path Of The Storm by James Maxwell

Two years after the end of the war against the Houses, the Empire is at peace but hardly thriving.  Essence, the substance that fueled all magic and on which the economy and everyday life was built, has been destroyed in the war.  Ervin Everstone, the wizard, is working on rebuilding the machines that create essence but it is a slow job.

Personally though, things are going well for the brother and sister responsible for saving the world during the war.  Ella is a respected enchantress while her brother Miro is the commander of the army.  Miro is about to wed his long-time love, Amber, who is also Ella's best friend.  But tragedy strikes on the day of the wedding and soon the trio are separated again as they leave home to try to right the imbalances that are tearing their world apart.  As the days go by, they start to realise that things are worse than anyone could ever have imagined.  For an Everman, those creatures who once strode the Earth and ruled it before they were sent to another world so that humans could live, has found a way through the seal.  He is determined to bring over all the other Evermen so that they can once again rule the world.

This is the third book in the Everman series.  Maxwell remains a fantasy novelist well worth reading and the reader will want to find out what is next for these characters and this world.  In many ways, it lays the foundation for the fourth and final book in the series, but many exciting things happen in this one also.  More of the backstory of the world is told, along with expanding the stories of the individual characters.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Dr. Faraday, who is a doctor practicing in Britain in the 1940's, has done well for himself.  He was born into a working class family; his mother a maid at the local gentry's house.  That house, known as The Hundreds, was the epitome of luxury and mystery to a young boy.  When he was taken inside by his mother one day, he marveled at the glorious items he saw there and never forgot it.

But in post-war Britain, The Hundreds and the Ayres family, owners and residents for more than two hundred years, are not doing well.  The father has died and much of his fortune was taken by death duties.  Roderick, the son, was a pilot in the war where he was injured and significantly scarred.  Mrs. Ayres was determined to nurse him within the family and calls the daughter, Caroline, home to help.  With little money and no resources, the house begins to deteriorate and the upkeep and maintenance of the family heritage is obviously beyond Roderick.  He gets more exhausted and paler day by day as the large load of responsibility that has fallen on him grinds him down.

Dr. Faraday is called in as a doctor and soon becomes one of the few outsiders who visits the mansion.  He is dismayed to see the house falling apart and the family suffering from the lack of money.  He is even more dismayed as the family starts to fall apart physically from the strain of trying to maintain all they own.  Even worse, each one starts to believe that there is an evil within the house itself that is determined to drive them out.  That kind of talk is nonsense, or is it?

Sarah Waters is a master of the foreboding that illustrates when things are going horribly well.  Each small incident can be explained by itself, but as one follows on another, it is obvious that things are not right.  She has won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award, and several of her novels have been nominated for the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize (now Bailey's).  This book is recommended for readers of suspense and literary fiction.

Booksie's Bookshelves, March 20, 2016

It's the first day of spring!  NC has been in the 70's last week, although our weekend is cooler than that.  My Kindle Fire died last week and I bought a new one which came this week.  It's improved, I think, and they fixed the design flaw on my old one that drove me nuts.  It's not been that long since I posted a Booksie's Bookshelves but enough books have arrived that I need to do another one.  I'm in the middle of several interesting books but things keep taking time away from reading.  Between helping a senior fill out all the forms for college, an older dog who had a tooth get infected, March madness basketball and planning for several upcoming trips, I've been doing more busywork and less time reading.  Here is what's come through the door:

1.  The Prelapsarians, John Gaiserich, fantasy, sent by publisher
2.  The Wander Society, Keri Smith, nonfiction, sent by publisher
3.  Battlestorm, Susan Krinard, fantasy, sent by publisher
4.  The Last Girl, Joe Hart, fantasy, sent by publisher
5.  Floodgate, Johnny Shaw, mystery, sent by publisher
6.  Hard Red Spring, Kelly Kerney, historical fiction, sent by publisher
7.  Lily And The Octopus, Steven Rowley, literary fiction, sent by publisher
8.  A Necessary Evil, Holly Brown, suspense, sent by publisher
9.  No Cure For Love, Peter Robinson, mystery, sent by publisher
10.  The Genius Of Birds, Jennifer Ackerman, nonfiction, won in contest
11.  The Girl From Home, Adam Mitzner, suspense, sent by publisher
12.  The Marlowe Papers, Ros Barber, poetry, purchased
13.  The Bear, Claire Cameron, literary fiction, purchased
14.  The Conjurers, David Waid, fantasy, sent by author
15.  Mateship With Birds, Carrie Tiffany, literary fiction, purchased
16.  From A Broken Land, William R. Herr, fantasy, sent by publisher
17.  Saladin, John Man, nonfiction, sent by review site
18.  We Love You, Charlie Freeman, Kaitlyn Greenidge, literary fiction, sent by review site
19.  The Doll-Master, Joyce Carol Oates, anthology, sent by review site
20.  God Help The Child, Toni Morrison, literary fiction, sent by review site
21.  Queen Of The Night, Alexander Chee, historical fiction, sent by review site
22.  Breakdown, Jonathan Kellerman, mystery, sent by review site
23.  The Ex, Alafair Burke, mystery, sent by review site

Here's what I'm reading:

1.  The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters, hardback
2.  The Murderer's Daughter, Jonathan Kellerman, hardback
3.  Lexicon, Max Barry, hardback
4.  The Empty Chair, Jeffrey Deaver, Kindle
5.  The Path Of The Storm, James Maxwell, Kindle Fire
6.  The Maid's Version, Daniel Woodrell, Kindle Fire
7.  The House Of Rumor, Jake Arnott, audio
8.  Two Years Eight Months And Twenty-Eight Nights, Salman Rushdie, hardback

Happy Reading!

The Dead Student by John Katzenbach

Timothy Warner wakes up on his ninety-ninth day of sobriety, unsure if he will make it to one hundred.  Moth, his nickname, calls his uncle Ed.  Ed is a psychiatrist who acts as Moth's father figure and more importantly, he is a recovering alcoholic with years of sobriety.  Moth knows if anyone can help him through the day, it's Ed.  They make a plan to meet at their usual AA meeting at suppertime after Ed's workday is done and Moth's classes are over.  But Ed is not there.  After the meeting, Moth rides over to Ed's office to see what held him up.  He finds Ed seated at his desk, his head in a pool of blood.

The police say its suicide, but Moth knows that can't be true.  Unsure who to turn to or who he can trust, he turns to a girlfriend from years ago, his high school sweetheart, Andrea, or Andy, as he calls her.  Andy is home from college, caught up in her own life drama, but she listens to Moth and as he attempts to find out what happened, helps him.

In the background is Student#5, a cunning, cold man who has held a grudge for decades against Ed and the rest of a group of men who knew each other.  He believes the group has done him a terrible wrong and has spent his life training and planning to kill them each.  His plan is almost complete; his crimes over the years never detected by police since he makes them look like accidents or suicides.  But he hasn't planned on Moth and Andy, or Susan, the prosecutor from Moth and Ed's AA group who helps them.  Can this group of amateurs track down the killer before he kills again?  Before he kills them?

John Katzenbach has been a master of the psychological thriller for years and is at the top of his game.  His characters are believable, their plans full of holes and mistakes a person unused to crime would make.  The reader is drawn into Moth's world and can't help but hope that he and Andy can survive and come to a resolution.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Booksie's Bookshelves, March 9, 2016

March already and things are looking up!  After a month on Restatsis, my dry eyes are finally improving and I can read a bit more.  I have entire days now where my eyes don't hurt and don't go blurry with all text 'grayed out'.  This has been a really frustrating time for me as reading is one of my priorities.

It's almost time for March Madness!  My UNC Tarheels won the ACC title this year, and finished with a win over Duke, so while I'd love them to go deep in the tournament, it's been a very successful year already.

We've made a college decision and my daughter will be attending University of South Carolina in the fall.  They are a laid-back, welcoming campus where everyone we met really seemed to understand and be supportive of students so we feel good about this.  I love Columbia and look forward to seeing more of it as she lives there the next couple of years.

But on to the books!  Here's what's come through the door lately:

1.  Lacy Eye, Jessica Treadway, mystery, sent by publisher
2.  Jane Steele, Lyndsay Faye, mystery, sent by publisher
3.  Stand Your Ground, Raeder Lomax, thriller, sent by publisher
4.  Private Citizens, Tony Tulathimutte, literary fiction, sent by publisher
5.  Noah's Wife, Lindsay Starck, literary fiction, won in contest
6.  Two If By Sea, Jacquelyn Mitchard, literary fiction, sent by publisher
7.  The Clockwork Dagger, Beth Cato, fantasy, sent by publisher
8.  The Clockwork Crown, Beth Cato, fantasy, sent by publisher
9.  The Children, Ann Leary, literary fiction, won in contest
10.  Twisted River, Siobhan MacDonald, mystery, sent by publisher
11.  The Dark Room, Minette Walters, mystery, purchased

Here's what I'm reading:

1.  The Dead Student, Jon Katzenbach, paperback
2. The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters, hardback
3.  Lexicon, Max Barry, hardback
4.  The Empty Chair, Jeffrey Deaver, Kindle
5.  The Path Of The Storm, James Maxwell, Kindle Fire
6.  The Maid's Version, Daniel Woodrell, Kindle Fire
7.  The House Of Rumor, Jake Arnott, audio

Happy reading!

A Crucible Of Souls by Mitchell Hogan

Caldan is raised on an island monastery after his entire family is brutally murdered.  He doesn't remember much about it and has accepted the monastery as his home.  He is shocked when the monks tell him his time there is finished after he gets into a fight with one of the wealthy students whose families money keeps the school going.  Before he leaves, they tell Caldan what they know of his family and give him two trinkets that came to the island with him.  Trinkets are incredibly rare, often magical and worth a fortune.

Caldan makes his way to the city of Anasoma.  He searches about for a way to make a living and is finally accepted as an apprentice at the Sorcerers Guild.  There his innate talent at crafting and magical spells moves him forward quickly.  He also has a friend from his trip to the city, Miranda, who he sees when he can.  He hopes to find out from the Sorcerers more about his family and the trinkets they passed down to him.

Those hopes are cut short when invaders take over Anasoma.  The Indryalla practice a different sort of sorcery.  Instead of working for good, their magic is coercive and used to conquer while pushing aside every obstacle they face.  Their main goal in the city is the Sorcerers Guild as it contains the only people capable of mounting any kind of resistance.  Can Caldan and his friends escape and can he find others who will band together to fight this evil?

Hogan has written a strong beginning novel in this fantasy tale.  The world he has constructed depends on magic and the ever present battle between good and evil rages on.  The reader is interested in learning the truth about Caldan and what will happen to him and his land.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

Mystery Walk by Robert McCammon

Billy Creedmore lives in a small rural Southern town with his parents.  He is shunned by the other children and his family is shunned by the town.  His mother is called a witch for her ability to help the dead.  Townspeople call on her when she is needed but stay far away from her otherwise.  When the family of Billy's best friend is murdered, he feels a strange calling to enter their house.  Their spirits are shocked and can't cross over.  There Billy discovers his life calling.  He also has the ability to help those who can't cross over do so.

Wayne Falconer leads a very different life.  His family is wealthy where Billy's is dirt poor.  He is the son of a famous evangelist and spends his summers traveling with the crusade.  One night his father discovers Wayne's talent; he can heal the sick.  Or at least it seems that way.  Wayne becomes famous as the sick and dying flock to him to be healed.  Everyone believes in him, except for Ramona Creedmore and her son.  When they come to the crusade, they see through Wayne and see that he can heal no one.

Thus begins a rivalry between the two boys that continues as they grow up.  Each has a talent.  Each is learning how to use and shape it and wondering how their lives should revolve around it.  Each fears the other and the Shape Changer, a beast that comes to them in dreams and tells them how it will kill them and eat their souls.  When they are grown, they meet again and must discover family secrets and what is the truth about their powers.  They must unite to fight the Shape Changer and hopefully defeat him once and for all.

Robert McCammon has a talent for writing books that are compelling and keep the reader turning the pages to discover what happens next.  This book is considered a mystery/horror classic and readers will be interested to see which boy can rise to defeat the forces aligned against them both.   It is recommended for mystery and horror readers.

The Incarnations by Susan Barker

Driver Wang is a taxi driver in Beijing.  He lives a typical working man's life.  His wife works in a massage parlor.  They live in a small apartment with their one child, a daughter.  Money is tight but there is enough.  He is contented with his life, or at least he is until the letters start coming.

The first letter is left in his taxi.  It claims that he and the letter writer are both individuals who reincarnate and that their lives have been entwined for hundreds of years.  Soon the letters start to tell the tales of past lives that the two have shared, sometimes as lovers, sometimes as friends, sometimes as enemies.  There is sharing but betrayal, rejection and acceptance.  Past lives include a slave of Genghis Khan, a concubine of the Imperial Emperor, a fisherman during the Opium Wars, a spirit guide marriage and teenage girls during the Red Guard days of the Cultural Revolution.  In each life, the two die together, usually through some sort of betrayal.

The letters unsettle Wang.  He is even more disoriented when he runs into an old friend, one who brought him nothing but misery in their friendship.  Is this old friend the letter writer?  What is his intent?  Is it the destruction of Wang's marriage or something else?

Susan Barker is an English writer with a Malaysian mother.  She lived in Beijing for several years after graduation for research while writing this novel.  It spans the centuries and tells the stories of China's history through the lives of those in each time period.  Along with the historical sweep and epic tales is the mystery Wang must solve and its effect on him.  This book received a lot of recognition.  It was a New York Times Notable Book of 2015 as well as a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2015.  The reader will be entranced and swept along.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.