The Quiet Boy by Ben H. Winters

 

Jay Shenk is a small time lawyer, running his own firm.  He is generally a happy man, although he is a single parent to his adopted teenage son, Reuben, after the death of his wife.  When he hears about a medical injury to another teenage boy, he approaches the parents.  Wesley Keener, 16, hits his head in an accident at school.  At the hospital, the surgeons decide that he needs an emergency surgery to relieve the pressure of the bleed around his brain.  Although it is an emergency, it is a fairly routine surgery. But something goes wrong and Wesley never returns to himself.  Instead he is left a rambling wreck, a boy who incessantly paces in circles and gives no sign of recognizing anything or anyone.  Shenk sues the hospital and has hopes of a large settlement.  Reuben hears about the trial daily from his dad and goes to watch in the courtroom.  Although the doctors don't know what happened, Shenk finds an expert witness, Dr. Theresa Plieggi, who is sure she knows exactly what happens.

Fast forward ten years.  Shenk is still a lawyer but barely getting by.  He has never recovered financially or emotionally from the trial.  Wayne is the same, still pacing in endless circles.  Reuben is chopping vegetables in a restaurant.  Then Jay gets a call.  Richard Keener, Wayne's father, has been arrested for murder.  His victim was Theresa Plieggi.  Jay asks Reuben to help him find out what happened as the DA's office is trying the case as a death penalty case.  Reuben agrees although he doesn't feel qualified.  What he discovers brings up his greatest childhood fears as well as a reunion with Wayne's sister, Eve, who Reuben had a crush on.  Can Reuben find out what happened?

Winters has written a fascinating mashup of legal thriller, coming of age story and science fiction.   There are mystic underpinnings to what happened to Wayne a decade ago and a mysterious man who has haunted Reuben for years.  Although Jay is a prominent character and loveable, it is Reuben's story and quest.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction as well as science fiction.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

 

Ariadne is born on Crete, the daughter of King Minos and half-sister to the beast, the Minotaur.  Her mother is driven mad by the birth of the Minotaur so Ariadne's childhood is spent mostly with her younger sister, Phaedra.  King Minos delights in the Minotaur although it's existence is proof of his being cucockled.  He is able to extract a terrible revenge from Athens for the murder of one of his sons.  Athens is condemned to send fourteen of their youth to be slain by the Minotaur periodically, seven men and seven maidens.  After several years of this horrific event, the Athens prince, Theseus, volunteers to be one of the victims.  

Ariadne and her sister Phaedra are both fascinated by Theseus.  His beauty and his tales of heroism attract them and when he promises to marry Ariadne she agrees to help him slay the beast.  With her help he is able to do so and then he, his crew and Ariadne sail off.  He marries her on an island but when she awakes, she has been left behind to perish, his love merely a trick.

But life is not done with the daughters of King Minos.  Ariadne has landed on the island owned by the god Dionysus and over time the two fall in love, are married and have a family.  Phaedra is married off to cement a relationship with another kingdom.  The kingdom is Athens and her husband is Theseus who lets her believe that he saw her sister killed during their escape.  After being married to him Phaedra realises that he is a vain man only concerned about his adventures and legends.  When the two sisters are reunited a seed is planted that plays out in tragedy.

This is a debut novel.  Jennifer Saint was a high school English teacher and her love of language and writing leaps from the pages.  The narrator is Barrie Krinik, who is considered one of the best voice actors currently working and her narration is perfect.  Most readers will only have heard the story of the Minotaur and perhaps of Theseus.  Saint brings the women who lived in this story come to life, exposing their weaknesses and strengths and the reality they constantly faced of living in a man's world, prey to men's desires and wishes.  Readers who liked Circe will also like this novel.  It is recommended for readers of literary fiction and those interested in mythology.

Hot Stew by Fiona Mozley

 

Soho is a changing neighborhood in London.  These days it is home to those who don't have anywhere else to go.  There are drug addicts, prostitutes, unemployed and struggling workers.  But neighborhoods are ever changing and there are those who think Soho is due for gentrification and a makeover.

Agatha is one of those who want things to change.  She is the recipient of a huge fortune from a father she never met, her mother having married an elderly man with a fortune who died during her pregnancy.  Agatha owns a building in Soho that with its central location, she believes would be the perfect place for condos.  The sticking point is that the inhabitants of her building don't want to leave.

Precious and Tabitha are two of those inhabitants.  They are sex workers by choice and this has been their home for many years.  They share the building with a group of homeless people and drug addicts in the basement, a restaurant, and other people struggling on the margins of life.  They are determined not to be pushed out and Precious starts a protest and movement to fight Agatha.  There are other characters.  There is a former enforcer for Agatha's father.  There is an actor who isn't sure he wants to be one.  There is a man pining for his ex-girlfriend who has inherited wealth he tires not to use.  There is a struggling magician who makes his living with tawdry tricks in bars and a woman who is so far gone that few notice when she disappears.  Together they struggle to maintain their precarious hold on life in the only place they know.

Fiona Mozeley's first novel, Elmet, was a Booker Prize finalist.  As in that novel, this second one is concerned with the ideas of ownership of property and what becomes of those pushed out by the constant pursuit of profit.  The characters are finely drawn although some are mysterious and remote and the novel raises questions of social justice and the rights of those less blessed with money and power.  It also explores the thoughts of those engaged in sex work and whether such work is sometimes a valid choice.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

Girl A by Abigail Dean

 

She was known as Girl A.  She was the one who set herself and her siblings free from the house of horrors they were confined in.  She was the one who scrapped her flesh raw to escape from the chains, broke a window cutting herself on the glass and jumped from the roof shattering her leg but managing to get to the road and help.  Her real name was Lex Gracie and there were seven siblings in the family, the family where her father went mad and her mother did nothing to help.

The story exploded in the press and everyone knew their story.  The children required extensive medical and dental care, the starvation taking its toll on their bodies.  Having lost both their parents that day as the police took over, once the medical world released them the children were split up and adopted out to separate families.  It was felt that it would be best if the children didn't interact but tried to adjust to a different life and forget the horrors.

Grown now, Lex has finally returned to England.  Her mother has died in prison and someone has to deal with the death and the small estate.  Lex has grown up to be a problem solver, a high flyer in a corporation that arranges company mergers.  She is the best suited to deal with the legal implications left behind.  Other siblings have not dealt with the past as well as she.  One is a lecturer who uses the past as a springboard for fame.  Others have turned to religion or spent their lives in mental care.  Some of the youngest ones don't even know who they are.  As Lex talked with each of her siblings, she finds that their memories don't always jibe and each person remembers events differently or has different pieces of the puzzle.  Can she construct a whole picture from the memories they all have?

This is a debut novel.  Abigail Dean is a lawyer and former bookseller.  The novel explores the meaning of family when family goes awry.  The headlines regularly note cases such as these where a parent goes mad and power hungry and sets up elaborate rules with corresponding punishments for those who live with them.  It is heartbreaking to realize how many people, especially children, are captured in situations where their basic human needs are held against them and their days a long story of horror and deprivation.  The reader will come to know the mechanisms the siblings use to accept their pasts and to put the story together from the shifting memories each child has.  This book is recommended for readers of family relationships.

The Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver

 

The news article catches Colton Shaw's eye.  A nineteen year old girl has gone missing, possibly kidnapped on her way home.  Shaw makes a living finding people for rewards.  Sometimes they are children, sometimes senior citizens with memory issues.  Often they are criminals that law enforcement needs to be found.  He makes contact with the girl's father and is hired to find her.  Although he gets almost no cooperation from the police when he shares his ideas with them, Colton is able to find the girl and bring her home safely.

But things aren't over in Silicon Valley.  Another man is kidnapped and this one isn't as lucky.  Shaw finds him also but he has been killed.  Now the police are willing to listen and Shaw goes into high gear.  It becomes evident that the kidnappings are tied to a video game.  Shaw meets a gamer named Maddie who serves as his entree into the gamer world; a world he isn't a part of at all.  Shaw was homeschooled by a survivalist family on a large forested compound.  Survival he understands; computer gaming not so much.  A female police sergeant becomes Shaw's partner as they rush to find the culprit before more victims are killed.

This is the first in the Colton Shaw series and a New York Times Book Review Top 10 Crime Novel Of The Year.  To this date, there are three books in the series.  Colton is a fascinating character although Deaver makes it clear the reader hasn't been given all of his secrets yet.  His background makes him perfect for finding those who are missing as he knows how to track and survive in any situation.  Readers will find the pace fast and there is a twist that most won't see coming.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.

Madam by Phoebe Wynne

 

Things couldn't be going better for Rose Christie.  Only 26, she has just been hired to head up the classics department at the prestigious Caldonbrae Hall school for young women.  In fact, she is the only new hire for many years and in her interview was told the school looked forward to her innovative views.

The school is supportive.  Rose is given an apartment and even her mother's care, who is confined to a nursing facility, is taken care of.  All she has to do is plan and deliver her lectures.  She finds the girls strangely unprepared and they talk quite a lot about her predecessor who left quickly with no word on her current whereabouts.  The students seem to think that the stories of the Greek and Roman women Rose lectures about, who are strong and can serve as role models, are irrelevant.

Then things slowly start to turn.  Rose is aware of whispers among the staff when she enters a room.  The office staff are, by turns, surly or impudent.  Rose is given tasks that don't seem to match her job description.  There are secrets everywhere.  Girls disappear without warning or notice. Rose starts to get anonymous letters telling her she doesn't belong there but it is soon apparent, she can't leave unless the school wants her to.  There are big secrets being kept and when Rose learns them, she knows she must do her best to change things.

This is a debut novel and has garnered a lot of buzz with accolades such as 'One of the 75 Debuts To Discover In 2021' by Goodreads and 'Best Debuts Of 2021' by Parade.  It has a gothic feel and champions women's rights and challenges the male patriarchy.  Nathalie Buscombe is the narrator for those listening to the novel and she does a perfect job of portraying a naive woman who comes to realize she has made a glaring career mistake and now must fight for her life.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Coffinmaker's Garden by Stuart Macbride

 

Ash Henderson is no longer a Detective Inspector but he's still involved in crime.  These days, he's working with his friend and criminal profiler Alice to review cases and consult with the police.  But he hasn't really changed his focus or methods.  Ever since his own daughter was kidnapped and tortured to death, Ash has been full on set on catching serial killers by any means possible.

Ash discovers the lair of one such man.  Gordon Smith is an inoffensive man, always willing along with his wife to help with the care of children.  But what Ash and Alice find in his basement is a horror show that numbers over twenty victims.  Men, women, children.  Gordon wasn't picky.  The two are only able to retrieve the pictures Gordon had mounted before the entire house is swept off the cliff into the ocean in a storm.  

Of course, that's not the only case going on.  Crime rarely lets an investigator work on only one crime.  There is someone kidnapping and killing small boys, strangling them and leaving their parents to grieve for the rest of their lives.  Ash works with a new partner in the field, a beautiful woman DI who has a chip on her shoulder.  Can these crimes be solved before more killing occurs?

Stuart Macbride is one of my must-read authors.  This is the third book in the Ash Henderson series and readers can't help but cheer for him as he chases criminals while hiding his heart of gold.  The surrounding characters are always interesting and this one also has a dog for those who love their pets.  The action and pace is furious as event after event happens in breathtaking speed.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

 

Sarah Champlin is a painter in 1924 Paris, about to have her first exhibition.  But her plans are put on hold when she receives a telegram that her older sister, Ada, has been found dead in Carmel, California.  Sarah drops everything and travels to the town which is known as a gathering place for artists.

The inquest declared Ada's death a suicide but Sarah doesn't believe that.  Ada was a force and she was about to have her greatest artistic triumph ever.  Ada's personal life was also blooming and Sarah doesn't believe she would leave it all behind.  But if it wasn't suicide then it must be murder.  Who would want to kill Ada?

Unfortunately, there are more than one suspect.  There is her agent, whom Ada had recently fired.  She had also fired her assistant, a young painter who has secrets of her own.  There was a handsome rich suitor who was a sailor as well as an actor who was another suitor.  Sarah encounters secrets and motives everywhere she looks and doesn't know who to trust.  Can she discover the truth and give Ada back her reputation?

Although I have obviously heard of Carmel, I never knew it's history as a place where women artists gathered to make their art.  The reader will learn about many topics in this novel.  There is the history of women artists, the abalone divers of Japanese heritage, the discrimination those Japanese people encountered as well as the effects of Prohibition and the constraints women encountered in everyday life.  The author's own aunt was Ada Belle Champlin who served as the inspiration for this novel.  This novel is recommended for readers of historical and literary fiction.

The Queen Of The Night by Alexander Chee

 

Lilliet Berne is born in the prairies of the United States.  When disease killed off all her family, she gets on a train and starts traveling. She ends up in Paris where she joins a circus as a gymnast on a horse, singing to entertain.  The crowds loved her. Soon, however, she ends up working as a prostitute to make ends meet.  There she meets a patron who becomes besotted with her, the tenor.  When he hears her sing he arranges for her to audition for the finest opera school but she is turned down.

Fleeing the tenor, she leaves again.  She ends up with a former opera singer who runs a school in Austria but soon the tenor shows up again.  Lilliet ends up working for the Empress as her wardrobe mistress and falls in love with a young composer.  But their love is not to be and soon she is back in Paris.  This time she is accepted at the opera school and soon she is the toast of the town.  

But one achievement escapes her.  The best divas have operas written exclusively for her.  When she is offered a script, she realizes that the new opera is the story of her life so far.  Who knows all her secrets?  As she attempts to find out, she ricochets between the man who is obsessed with her and the one she is obsessed with.  Will she find a happy life?

This novel gained great praise with honors like an NPR Best Book, an Indie Next Pick and a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice.  Readers may pick up suggestions of Charles Dickens with an intricate plot and tons of characters with full backstories and will learn about topics such as the opera, the brothels of Paris, the French revolution and the Franco-Prussian war.  Throughout, Lillibet is an enterprising woman who does whatever it takes to make her way in a man's world.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter

 

Delta Dawn is the in crowd's child photographer.  No birthday party is complete without Delta's photographs of it.  She has the knack of catching a child in delight and if not, she is a master at Photoshop and can create a wonderful memory that never really happened.  Delta loves rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous although she knows she is regarded as a servant not a friend.

When she is hired to shoot the eleventh birthday party of Natalie Straub, it is just another job to her.  That is, until she arrives and meets the parents, Amelia and Fritz.  Delta loves everything about the Straubs' lives.  The residence is gorgeous as the Straubs are architects and designers.  Amelia is compelling and beautiful, Fritz a handsome man.  She is also drawn immediately to Natalie.  She would love to get to know the family better.

A lucky occurrence makes this possible.  Amelia and Fritz need a babysitter short term and Delta volunteers.  Soon she is babysitting frequently and finding ways to make herself useful such as running errands.  She listens to Natalie and sympathizes with Amelia and her quest to have another child.  She does whatever it takes to get closer to the family, including starting to date a family friend.  Soon Delta manages to come up with a plan that will make her indispensable forever.  What could go wrong?

This is a debut novel for Mary Dixie Carter and she also serves as the narrator.  Her background is in journalism and her work has appeared in publications such as Time, The Economist and various newspapers.  The novel masterfully introduces suspense as the reader peels back the layers and realizes that anything Delta says is not necessarily true but a statement carefully crafted to serve an end just as she crafts images to reflect desires.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.

The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward

 

Needless Street is a dead end street, the houses older and neglected.  The last house is particularly descript.  Ted lives there, a lonely man with no friends.  His daughter Laura is there off and on.  Outside of that, there is his cat, Olivia.  Ted has lived there his whole life.  His father disappeared somewhere along the line and his mother died years ago.  Ted is a huge man, who often drinks too much.  His size and slovenliness puts off everyone so his life is solitary.  

Ted is suspected by many of being involved in the disappearance of various young girls who have gone missing in the vicinity.  One of those girls was Lulu.  Now Lulu's sister, Dee, has moved in next door and tells Ted they should be friends.  What is her plan?  Is Ted involved in the disappearances?

This is a psychological thriller with horror overtones.  Nothing is quite what it seems.  Why is Lauren sometimes there and sometimes not and where does she go when she is gone?  How has Dee determined that Ted is the one with the answers about Lulu's disappearance?  Why can't Ted remember things like other people can?  

Catriona Ward was born in the United States but lives in England.  Her books have won several British horror awards.  The slow unpeeling of Ted's story will horrify and surprise readers and the final story will be quite different from earlier expectations.  This book is recommended for thriller and horror readers.

The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

 

The apartment is amazing.  Right in the heart of London yet surprisingly affordable.  It's a miracle of efficiency and smart technology, built on a minimalist plan.  But not just anyone can move in.  In order to rent it, tenants must be approved by the firm that built it and the architect, Edward.  

There are rules that must be agreed upon by those who rent.  Rules about keeping things cleaned and put away.  Rules about no pets or children.  Rules about agreeing to answer questions whenever the technology decides it's time to.  Those who are accepted seem to fit a pattern.  The women all have a tragedy in their backgrounds and are looking for a new start.

Emma had been traumatized in a break in at her former apartment.  She reported to the police that she had been terrorized and raped by the criminals.  Jane has also had a recent tragedy.  Her pregnancy had ended not in a baby to bring home and raise but in a stillbirth.  The two women share another characteristic.  They each fall in love with Edward and are soon under his control.  Jane is curious about her predecessor, Emma.  She knows Emma died in the apartment at the bottom of the stone stairs.  Was it the accident the police wrote it off as?

J.P. Delaney has written an intriguing mystery that has already been sold as a series on BBC One and HBO Max.  The novel is told in the alternating voices of Emma and Jane and the truth slowly emerges.  It has touchpoints in the author's own life and history.  He has also written under the name Jonathan Holt.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

 

Susan Orlean has written a fascinating history of the Los Angles Public Library system.  The book uses an incident in 1986 when the biggest library fire in United States history occurred to serve as the focus.  The fire and its damage is extensively described along with the restoration efforts and the costs to restore the central library as a functioning organization.  There was a main suspect and she covers the investigation as well.

But outside of the fire, the LA library is a fascinating organization and Orlean covers those topics.  Readers learn about the origin of the library and the various head librarians that served over the years as the library grew and changed.  The myriad ways that libraries dissimilate information are explored as well as the services that libraries offer now.  The issues that libraries face such as the large homeless population that uses its services are covered.  Working conditions for library staff is a large issue that Orlean covers, along with the male/female ratio of librarians.  Library services in the electronic age are extensively covered.  She grew up with library trips with her mother being their favorite activity and her love of the library and all it offers is clear.

This book has garnered much praise.  It was a New York Times Notable Book in 2018 and a Washington Post Top 10 Book of the Year.  It was a pick of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club.  Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker for many years and her books, which have been highly reviewed, are nonfictions on topics that catch her interest.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers and anyone who has ever enjoyed a trip to their local library.  

The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton

 

Florence Lovelady is a new policewoman in Lancashire, a small village up North from where she grew up. She is low man on the totem pole and rooms with the local undertaker as does another policeman who doesn't have his own home.  She usually does routine tasks like checking out car accidents or cases of shoplifting but today is different.  Today a little girl is missing.

It turns out that this is the third child to go missing in Lancashire and none have been found.  Then the last girl, Patsy, is found by Florence and things are worse.  For Patsy is found in a casket, buried alive in the local graveyard and she died a horrific death.  Has this been the fate of the other two children?

The village is horrified and the press is going nuts.  Flo is brought up in the ranks to work on the case as something this big needs everyone.  Against her better judgement, she shares the techniques and insights she has, something a new recruit is never expected to do.  Is there a sexual sadist on the loose?  There are also rumors of witchcraft in this small village and an active coven.  Are the children sacrifices?

Sharon Bolton is a Mary Higgins Clark Award winner and one of the leading suspense authors in England.  She is a master of the shock the reader doesn't see coming and her books are fast paced.  This book, told from the time of the events and then thirty years later when the murderer has died and Florence returns to Lancashire to attend his funeral is intriguing and a great introduction to this author if the reader isn't familiar with her.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Couple Found Slain by Mikita Brottman

 

In 1992, Brian Bechtold shot and killed both his parents.  He was twenty-two years old and told the police he was taken over by devils.  Brian was found schizophrenic and not guilty by reason of insanity.  Since his trial, he has spent twenty-seven years in a mental hospital in Maryland.

Brian grew up in a dysfunctional family.  His parents had a loveless marriage and there were five children.  His father ignored the children and his mother was overwhelmed.  Both were physically and mentally abusive to the children.  

This book was written about Brian's time in the hospital.  Although he feels that he has not been ill for many years, he is caught in a cycle of misdiagnosis where if he talks about his feelings, he is considered paranoid and if he doesn't talk about them he is considered secretive.  Both options can lead to more restrictive medicine regimens and even being moved to more restrictive wards.  But Brian has not done himself any favors either.  Over the years, he has escaped in an attempt to be either shot and killed or transferred to prison.  He has attacked a staff member with a knife he constructed.  He has refused treatment for serious illnesses including cancer.  It leaves the reader sad for his life but able to understand the thoughts of the doctors who have kept him in the hospital all these years.

This book is written by Mikita Brottman.  She is a British American author who specializes in true crime fiction.  This book is different from many in the genre as it focuses not on the crime but its' aftermath.  The horrors of Brian's life in a mental hospital are portrayed although it feels like not enough weight is given to the views of the doctors.  I listened to this book and the narrators were good.  This book is recommended for true crime readers interested in causes of crime and what happens afterward.

Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman

 

Tess Monaghan is at a crossroads.  Having lost her job as a newspaper journalist, she has been drifting for two years now, working temporary and part-time jobs to make ends meet while she decides what she wants to do with her life.  She has some constants and rowing is one of them.  Tess starts her mornings with a long rowing trip that carries over her skill as a college rower.  Her best friend in that world is Rock Paxton.  He is even more serious about rowing than Tess and works only to be able to afford to be on the racing circuit.  

One morning Rock has something he wants to discuss with Tess.  He has gotten engaged to Ava, a shallow woman Tess can't stand but who Rock adores.  But he has been worried about her movements lately and he wants to hire Tess to follow Ava and see if someone is bothering her.  Tess is taken aback.  She has no background in following people and she isn't really interested in doing so with Ava.  But she does think Ava is the wrong woman for Rock and she reluctantly agrees.  Once on the job, Tess quickly finds that Rock's suspicions are valid.  Ava appears to be having a relationship on the side with a lawyer in her firm, Michael Abramowitz, an older partner.  When Tess confronts Ava about it, Ava runs to Rock and the next thing Tess knows, Abramowitz is dead and Rock is in jail charged with the murder.

Now Tess has a reason to be an investigator.  She is sure that Rock isn't a murderer but the case against him couldn't be much stronger.  Can Tess find what really happened that night and who else might have wanted to kill Abramowitz?

This is the first novel in the Tess Monaghan story.  It is full of local Baltimore flavor which is the background of the author.  Tess is a strong and independent woman who won't be stopped once she decides to follow a path and there are lots of quirky and interesting secondary characters such as Tess's bookstore owning aunt and the men who are in her life.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donohue

 

Louisa never thought she'd find herself attending somewhere like Temple House School.  It is a boarding school for the daughters of rich and famous families and her family is neither rich nor famous.  What her family can be defined as is broken; her mother leaving to live with a new man and her father left behind unbelieving and depressed.  Louisa is a brilliant girl and she receives a scholarship to attend the school.

The Catholic school is foreign to Louisa.  She doesn't fit in with the other girls who look down on her.  She doesn't understand the nun's love of God and their dedication to a life of service.  But like calls to like and soon Louisa is best friends with Victoria, a longtime student who is a rebel.  Then there is Mr. Lavelle, the art teacher.

All the girls have a crush on Mr. Lavelle.  Young and good-looking, he thrives on the girls' attention and devotion.  He challenges the teachings of the school, asking the girls to think unconventionally and follow their dreams.  Victoria has a crush on him as does Helen, the head girl.  Both believe that he returns their love.  Louisa doubts that and her love is reserved for Victoria.  But it is Louisa and Mr. Lavelle that disappear the same night and are never found.  

The years pass and it is now twenty-five years since Louisa and Mr. Lavelle disappeared.  What happened that night?  Did the two run away together, the result of a secret affair?  Did Mr. Lavelle kill Louisa and hide her body?  The nation was obsessed with the case when it happened and now a young journalist is called on to review the case on the twenty-fifth anniversary.  Will she finally find out the secrets of Temple House?

Rachel Donohue is an Irish writer who is at the beginning of her career.  This novel is her first and it gained much attention, being nominated for awards such as the Best Newcomer Award in the Post Book Awards and she won the "New Irish Writer Of The Year" award.  The novel is gothic in feel.  It switches between the viewpoints of Louisa and the journalist, the old and the new versions of the story and leaves the reader to decide which story is the real one.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 

Could there be a more obnoxious student and what did Jake Bonner do to be punished teaching him?  That was Jake's thought at the writing workshop he is teaching.  Jake had a great first novel and was seen as an up and coming writer.  His second novel was a disappointment and since then he has been stalled.  To make ends meet, he teaches at a college that runs workshops for aspiring writers.

When he has an individual coaching session with the student, Jake is struck again by his confidence and his inability to see why he made those around him uncomfortable.  The man is sure that he has a bestseller in him but that everyone else at the workshop is determined to steal his idea.  He shares a little of the plot with Jake and Jake immediately sees that the idea is a potential bestseller.  Jake is jealous that such an unlikeable person does indeed have a can't fail idea.  But that's life and after the workshop the man recedes into the distance, overshadowed by the next class of aspiring writers and the next and the next.

But somewhere deep in Jake's mind, the thought of that student and his story remains.  He keeps waiting to see the book published but it never is.  His own writing is going even more poorly.  Finally one night he looks up the student only to see that the man died soon after the workshop, his great idea for a novel having died with him.  But has that idea died?  Jake struggles with his conscience but then forges ahead writing the novel that the student never did.

Two years later, Jake's life is completely different.  The novel he wrote is an immediate and tremendous success, vaulting Jake to the top of the publishing world.  He is now married to Anna whom he met on a book tour at the radio studio where she was a producer.  The couple is happy and wealthy or at least until the day Jake opens an email.  When he reads it, his blood runs cold.  Someone is writing him accusing him of plagiarism and of stealing the idea of his bestseller.  There are hints of exposure but no demands to start.  Will Jake lose everything his novel has brought him?

This novel has received a ton of buzz. It has blurbs from authors such as Stephen King and Meg Abbott and was an Amazon 2021 Book of the Month pick.  The pace is brisk and the reader is swept along in Jake's story, interested in his success and then wondering who is threatening him and how that will play out.  The exploration of plagiarism and how an author can turn from a success to a pariah overnight is explored.  This book is recommended for readers of psychological thrillers.

The Abstainer by Ian McGuire

 

The year is 1867 and the place is Manchester, England.  Tensions are high as three men from the Fenian organization of rebels are being hung at dawn for the death of a policeman.  The police are on high alert, especially Head Constable James O'Connor.  There are expectations of trouble and although the hangings go off as planned, there are plans being made in the rebel group for revenge.  

O'Connor is a newcomer to Manchester and an odd choice for Head Constable being an Irishman in a town that fears the Irish.  He was serving in Ireland when he lost his wife and child to illness and lost himself in drink.  He should have been fired but instead the powers that be had him transferred to Manchester to pull himself together and move on with his life.  He is alone in his new life.  The other policeman he works with don't trust him as their enemy are the Fenians.  He has an extensive network of Fenian informers so is a necessary evil to the police but the Irish don't accept him either as their enemy is the police.  He inhabits a no man's land between the two factions, while trying to also defeat the alcoholism that has forced him to this location.

Stephen Doyle is a hired assassin.  He has come from America to Manchester, hired by the Fenians, in order to assassinate someone in the power structure in retaliation for the three hangings.  Doyle is a veteran of the Civil War where he learned to kill without mercy.  He is there only to kill and his nemesis becomes O'Connor.  The two are set against each other and their rivalry will last until one of them is dead.

Ian McGuire is best known for his novel, The North Water, which was a Booker longlist nominee and one of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the year.  Like that title, The Abstainer tells the harsh struggle of men pitted against each other while trying to maintain the code that they believe is the honorable way of life.  This is a powerful book that demands a lot of its reader and there are no fairytale endings in McGuire's bleak worlds, but the essential questions he asks about good and evil are worth the effort.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction,.

The Impudent Ones by Marguerite Duras

 

This is the story of the Taneran family, a French family from the upper class who have fallen on hard times.  In addition to their residence in the city, they own a vineyard in the French countryside.  The matriarch of the family struggles to maintain the family's standard of living and to keep her children moving forward.  She greatly favors the son, Jacque, who by most objective standards is a horrid person only interested in himself and his comforts.  Her daughter, Maud is often ignored or put in a secondary situation.

As the novel opens, the family has come down to the country.  The mother is attempting to sell the vineyard to a local family and is willing to sacrifice Maud to be their son's wife in order to seal the deal.  Maud, on the other hand, is uninterested in the suitor picked for her and is fascinated by a man named George who is a friend of her brother.  

This was Duras' debut novel but has only now been translated and available in English.  It foreshadows many of the themes that are familiar to readers of Duras' later works such as The Lover.  It portrays family dynamics and the second class status of women.  Women's sexuality is explored but also seen as a source of shame in the social environment unless all rules are followed.

I listened to this novel.  The narrator had a calm voice that accurately portrayed the slow moving action of being in the country and falling into relationships.  After the book was over, there was about an hour of supplementary material, discussing Duras' work in general and the path that this book took to get to market.  It took several years and reworking before it was published.  Readers will be intrigued by the intricate familial relationships and the dawning of women demanding to be valued as much as men.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian

 

Lianna Ahlberg is twenty-one and in college, her little sister Paige twelve when their mother disappeared.  Annalee Ahlberg is an accomplished architect with a satisfying life except for one thing.  She is a sleepwalker.  Her husband is out of town at a conference and Annalee goes out in the middle of the night and doesn't return.  Despite searches, nothing is found to give a clue to her whereabouts.  

Lianna leaves college and comes home to wait for the resolution.  She suspects the worst.  One other time she had rescued her mother in the middle of the night.  Annalee had been perched on a bridge about to jump or fall when Lianna finds her and gets her home.  This time no one was there to find her.

Months later the family is still in limbo.  Lianna is running the house, taking Paige to her swimming and skiing practices and overseeing her homework.  She has started seeing a detective on the case, Gavin Rikert.  She is drawn to Gavin but put off by the fact that Gavin knew Annalee, in fact was a friend of hers.  Gavin is also a sleepwalker and he and Annalee met and formed a support group or at least that's what Gavin says.  Was there more there?  Did Annalee fall into the river or did she meet a murderer while out wandering?

This book is a slow moving story that quietly builds tension and ends with a surprising climax.  The reader will learn much about the phenomenon of sleepwalking and its various forms.  The love story is interesting and gives more clues about the unwinding of the mystery of Annalee's disappearance.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

A Caller's Game by J.D. Barker

 

Jordan Briggs is at the top of her game.  She has a call in talk radio show on SiriusFM and is a female shock jock, quick with a quip.  Her listeners never know what she will do or say and that's the hook that keeps them listening and Jordan a star.  But her fame and fortune comes with a price.  She's rich but has no time to enjoy her fortune. Her marriage is over and her relationship with her daughter, Charlotte, lacks time and depth.  She is considered cold and demanding by her staff and friends are another luxury she has put aside.

When the softspoken caller comes on the air, Jordan is about to cut him off quickly.  He doesn't sound like someone who can provide an exciting show.  But the caller asks her a question; taxis or Ubers?  Jordan isn't sure what he is asking but it quickly becomes clear. The man is planning to kill the driver of either a taxi or an Uber.  Detective Cole, on the street on traffic duty after irritating his superior, is the unlucky policeman who witnesses the first murder. 

It is soon clear that the first murder is just an opening salvo.  The caller seems to have plotted a plan that gives him access to Jordan's building as well as landmarks around New York City.  The murders start to add up, most by bombs that have been planted.  Jordan starts to realize that the man is focused on her.  Charlotte is on site as she has been dropped off by Jordan's ex.  Jordan must keep the man talking while hoping the police can find and disarm him.  But it is soon clear that Jordan will have to use all her wits and savvy to keep the man engaged and that the entire plot is a payback for a sordid episode in her past.  Can the police and Jordan find the caller before he manages to kill more people?

This novel is a rollercoaster ride.  The tension starts early and continues to racket up chapter after chapter.  J.D. Barker is a rising star in the thriller genre and this book will enhance that reputation even more.  There is character development of the main characters and a full slate of secondary characters each of whom plays a part.  The narrators were effective in portraying the rising tension and the split second decisions that have to be made.  This novel is recommended for thriller readers.

The Kingdom by Jo Nesbo

 

The Opgard brothers grow up in rural Norway on the family farm their father calls The Kingdom.  Roy is the older brother, Carl the youngest.  Their father is hard and brutal, constantly pushing the boys.  Roy does what he can to protect Carl.  Carl is more like their mother, good-looking and full of charm.  Roy is slower, the victim of dyslexia which is misdiagnosed as mental issues.  Roy gets a job with their uncle in his garage; Carl shines at school.  But there are dark secrets up on the mountain that is the farm.  At night, the father abuses Carl with Roy in the bunk above, unable to help and listening to his brother's cries.   It leaves Roy determined to do whatever it takes to save Carl.

When the brothers grow up Roy stays on the farm, working at the service station which the garage has become.  Carl got out at seventeen, moving to the United States on a college scholarship.  Now he has come home, driving a shiny Cadillac and bringing a beautiful wife with him.  Carl is successful and has come home to build his vision; a luxury hotel on the farmland.  He has the gift of gab and soon the entire village has bought into the scheme.  But things go badly and soon there are tensions on the job site and with those the Opgard brothers grew up around.  There are secrets on the mountain and unexplained deaths.  There are rumors that the brothers have had something to do with the deaths.  But now, Roy has fallen in love with Carl's wife and there is an added layer of betrayal between the two brothers.  

Jo Nesbo is known for his Harry Hole series, a detective series with a brooding hero.  This novel is a standalone and it is also bleak and suspenseful.  Roy is a man torn by conflicting loyalties and secrets that he must keep in order to protect his younger brother.  The reader will emphasize with Roy even as he descends further and further into actions that are unforgivable.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Stung by William Deverell

 

Multinational corporation Chemican has released a new pesticide.  The issue is that it tends to kill the honeybees that are necessary to pollinate plants on which we all depend.  The corporation denies that it's product is the culprit for the massive bee deaths and science can not definitively tie it to the deaths.  But environmentalist groups are sure that the pesticide is the culprit and one Canadian group makes plans to counter the release of more.

Seven young people, known as the Sarnia Seven, take matters into their own hands.  A young woman, who flirts with and seduces a man who has all the passwords to the factory entrances.  With the information she is able to get the group breaks into the factory and creates havoc.  All seven are arrested and put on trial.

This brings in lawyer Arthur Beauchamp.  Beauchamp has practiced law for many years although he has been out of the courtroom for several years.  He has been spending time on his remote island on the Canadian coast where he farms and enjoys the company of his loyal dog.  Beauchamp is drafted for the defense but what can he do?  There's no doubt the group did the deed and that what they did was against the law.  How can he defend them?  He hires an investigator and hopes for ammunition to fight against the prosecution.  His defense is that there are times when breaking the law is forgivable when the overall good is served.  Will that be enough?

I listened to this book.  There were three narrators; Rebecca Auerbach, Steve Camyn and Chris Humphreys.  Of the three, my favorite was the narrator giving Arthur's story.  I found the female narrator's voice a bit grating and not necessarily a good match for the free spirit of the female lead she was representing.

This is the latest novel in the Arthur Beauchamp series.  Legal thriller fans will find much to like in the courtroom scenes and exposure to Canadian law and how it differs from that found in American courts.  Some fans will be turned off by the constant references to older men and their sexual hijinks and the assumption that women decades younger are eager to fulfill the men's desires.  The narrative brings up the issues of the environmental crisis and the question of what is permissible when trying to save the world as we know it.  This book is recommended for legal thriller readers.

Cruel Intent by J.A. Jance

 

Ali Reynolds is in the middle of an extensive home renovation.  She has just bought an old mansion in Sedona, Arizona and since she is a former television reporter, her agent got one of the television home renovation shows interested.  Ali is living off-site with her son while the mansion is being brought back to life.  Her days are filled with infrastructure and decor decisions but she has the help of the former butler of the estate and of course, her contractor who is making sure everything happens correctly and on a schedule.

When the contractor's wife is found murdered, everything comes to a stop.  Bryan swears he had nothing to do with the murder but there is a hole in his schedule that could just allow the timing to work out.  Add that to the fact that his wife was active on a swinging married online site and there was plenty of motive.  Ali is sure that Bryan is innocent but she's about the only one.  The fact that she has been dating the man in charge of the police investigation adds to the complications.  As Ali learns more on her own, she puts herself firmly into the killer's sights.  Can she solve the mystery before the killer gets to her?

This is the fourth Ali Reynolds novel in the series.  Ali has had a complicated life and now is no different.  Her son is about to get married and there are issues with his fiancée.  Her mother is more interested in Ali's life than Ali is comfortable with and there is the matter of her romantic life which Ali wants to put on hold but seems unable to.  The action at the end is inevitable but horrifying and readers will rush to the finish to find all the answers.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Wizards edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois

 

In this 2007 anthology, many of the biggest names in fantasy have come together with stories of magic and wizards.  All stories are original to this work.  The authors include Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, Mary Rosenblum, Kage Baker, Eoin Colfer, Jane Yolen, Tad Williams, Patricia McKillip, Elizabeth Hand, Andy Duncan, Peter Beagle, Nancy Kress, Jeffrey Ford, Tanith Lee, Terry Bisson, Terry Dowling, Gene Wolfe and Orson Scott Card. 

The stories vary in length and focus although all share the criteria of magic and wizards being the main theme.  The book ends with a novella by Orson Scott Card called Stonefather about a boy who learns he is a stone wizard after he runs away and ends up in a city that abhors stone magic.  Of the other stories, my personal favorite was Jane Yolen's Slipping Sideways Through Eternity which is about a young girl and the time traveler magician Elijah.  Each reader will find their own personal favorite as they sample the best in fantasy.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

 

Neil Narayan is a typical Indian teenager, caught up in his parents' expectations of high achievements and future successes.  His older sister, Prachi, is the golden girl with early acceptance to Duke and a finalist for the Miss Teenage Georgia.  He lives in an Atlanta suburb full of doctors, lawyers, accountants and other CEO's all of whom expect the same from their children while maintaining the Indian culture many of these parents brought over when they arrived to go to college in the United States.  

But Neil has a problem.  He just isn't feeling it.  He doesn't make bad grades but he isn't a high flyer.  He doesn't already know what he wants to do and isn't on the merry-go-round of constant activities to pad his upcoming college applications.  He wonders how all his peers are so motivated and know exactly what they want.  His next door neighbor, Anita Dayal, is another example of someone fated to fly high.  They have been friends forever growing up together although that friendship has taken a hit in the social standards of high school.  But he is still in and out of the house she shares with her mother, Anjali, to help with things that her husband can't do since he is out in California with the software company he created.  Neil comes across the secret of Anita's motivation and persistence one day by mistake.  Her mother is lifting small pieces of gold jewelry from the families she caters to.  That jewelry, imbued with their motivation and success, is melted down and put into a drink that Anita takes religiously.  Neil wants that same help and soon he is taking the drink also and his grades and activities improve dramatically.  Everything is going well until a disaster crashes all that Neil knows.

Sanjena Sathian has written a novel exploring a culture most readers don't know much about.  A common stereotype is that Indians are extremely smart but most who throw off such a statement don't know about the parental focus that goes into the academic success and career trajectories they envy.  This debut novel from an Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate refocuses the coming of age story into a viewpoint of the immigrant experience as well.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction. 

Aviary by Deidre McNamer

 

Things aren't going well at the Pleasant Run facility.  A building of lower rent apartments for seniors, it is showing signs of age and maintenance suddenly seems to be neglected.  The elevator has been out for several weeks which is a major issue for many of the seniors who are still mobile but not up to tackling several flights of stairs multiple times a day.  Instead they are basically trapped in their apartments.  Trash collection has been lagging since the new manager, Herbie, has appeared.  Herbie is a skulker, always around trying to find violations of policies but impossible to locate when something goes wrong that he is responsible for fixing.  Worst of all, there are rumors that the building is about to be sold so that high end condominiums can be built and sold.

The residents are a mixed bunch.  Rydell is a former professor who is hoping to land one more job at his former college.  Viola has tons of stories about an exciting past that most of her friends discount.  Cassie is Viola's friend but caught in a sea of depression.  Her husband and only child have both died and she wonders what is worth continuing on for.  Leo is a quiet man who spends his time painting landscapes.  Clayton is a teenager who seems to be hanging around for no discernible reason.  

Then there is a fire which starts in manager Herbie's apartment.  After it is put out, it becomes apparent that both Herbie and Viola have disappeared.  Lander Maki is the fire investigator who must decide if this was a fire caused by carelessness or if it was arson.  Is the fire related to the disappearances?

Deidre McNamer is a university creative writing professor.  She has written several other highly regarded novels such as My Russian which was a New York Times Notable Book.  In this novel, she outlines the issues that those of us lucky enough to become elderly will face.  Often lonely and neglected, it is unclear how best to alleviate the issues that beset this age group but it is clear that warehousing is not the answer.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Arcadia by Lauren Groff

 

The 1970's were the Decade of Love.  All over the world, young people flocked to rallies and communes, sure that they were creating a brave new world based on love and naturalness.  Handy was one such man.  He was a singer and somehow managed to acquire the title to a deserted mansion and land in upper New York.  On it, he and his band of insiders create Arcadia.

Arcadia is to be the place where all can live and be free.  There is a dairy, a bakery, a laundry and greenhouses.  There is a nursery for the youngest children and a barracks for the older kids.  Handy's wife is Astrid who is a midwife.  The other founding couple is Abe and Hannah.  Abe is a master carpenter and renovates the mansion to be the main house for all.  The couple has one son, a boy called Bit.

But paradise is hard to sustain.  There is little money coming in and food is sometimes hard to come by.  Politics start to arise with cliques forming and soon there are those who come to live with no expectation that they will work and give back.  Eventually the commune falls apart, the inhabitants disappearing into the nights.

Twenty years later, Bit is a photography instructor.  He has married Helle, who is Handy and Astrid's daughter and their friends are the kids they grew up with on the commune.  No matter how far away they are living they all keep up with each other and are there for each other.  Bit and Helle have a daughter, Grete, and Bit feels that his life is complete.  But life isn't like that.  Several life disasters send him back to Arcadia to oversee his parents' aging needs.  

This is a beautiful book.  Groff is an amazing writer and I'd read anything she wrote.  She understands the desperation that lives all seem to encounter and the basic truth that our lives are enriched by love and kindness.  Horrible things happen to her characters just as horrible things happen to many of us but she gives hope that things will follow a natural path and that the good outweighs the bad.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Show No Fear by Perri O'Shaughnessy

 

Nina Reilly is barely holding her head above water.  She is a single mother and trying desperately to improve life for her son Bob and herself.  Nina is working as a paralegal by day and going to law school at night.  Her life is a constant round of working, studying and finding time to play and work with Bob.  

Nina's personal life is not trouble free either. Her parents are divorced. Her mother has been diagnosed with an ongoing condition which affects her health and balance.  After going to a doctor for some alternative medicine, she is left much worse off and is contemplating a lawsuit.  Nina's younger brother is drifting through life, out of college and dabbling in drugs.  Her father has just informed her that he is having a new baby with his much younger wife.  Then there is Richard.  Richard is Bob's father but Nina didn't tell him about the baby when she got pregnant and he has never been a part of Bob's life.  Although Richard is a successful attorney, his narcissistic personality and controlling nature made him someone to avoid not someone to parent a child with.  Now suddenly, Richard has shown up and is making noises about wanting a relationship with his son. 

Things take a much worse turn when Richard's body is discovered.  Nina is an instant suspect as are her brother, father and mother.  Richard had a partner who needed and feared him.  He had other women in his past who regard their time with him as a mistake.  He had debts at every gambling establishment nearby.  Who killed Richard?

Nina had met an interesting man named Paul but it turns out that he is the investigating officer of Richard's murder.  Although Paul is interested in Nina, she realizes that it would be a mistake to get involved with him.  As he investigates the murder, things keep coming back to Nina and her family.  Who is responsible?

This novel is part of the Nina Reilly series.  Although it isn't the first in the series, it gives readers a look back to the time before Nina becomes an attorney and gives her story.  Readers will find themselves cheering for Nina who balances all her responsibilities while forging a future for her son and herself against long odds.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Booksie's Shelves, June 8, 2021

 

Summer has arrived in North Carolina.  It has been hot and steamy and all the trees have bloomed.  We have been cautiously getting back to normal.  We have eaten out in restaurants several times and one of my book clubs met in person last month although outside.  It is wonderful to start getting back to normal and picking up plans that have been put on the back burner.  I worried that my reading would take a back seat once that happened but last month I read seventeen books so it's been fine so far.  Here's what's come through the door:

1.  The Photographer, Mary Dixie Carter, thriller, sent by publisher
2. A People's History Of The Supreme Court, Peter Irons, nonfiction, purchased
3. Savage Tongues, Azareen Oloomi, literary fiction, sent by publisher
4. How To Find Your Way In The Dark, Derek Miller, mystery, sent by publisher
5. In The Aftermath, Jane Ward, mystery, sent by publisher
6. The Artist Colony, Joanna Fitzpatrick, historical fiction, sent by publisher
7. The Magician, Colm Toibin, literary fiction, sent by publisher

Here's the ebooks I've purchased:

1. A Children's Bible, Lydia Millet, literary fiction
2. The Watcher Girl, Minka Kent, thriller
3. In Her Tracks, Robert Dugoni, thriller
4. Stoned, Aja Raden, nonfiction
5. The First To Lie, Hank Phillippi Ryan, mystery
6. Beneath Devil's Bridge, Loreth Anne White, thriller
7. Long Bright River, Liz Moore, mystery
8. The Grave Tattoo, Val McDermid, mystery
9. The Pale Faced Lie, David Crow, memoir
10. Red Bones, Ann Cleeves, mystery
11. Blue Monday, Nicci French, mystery
12. Weather, Jenny Offill, literary fiction
13. The Old Devils, Kingsley Amis, literary fiction
14. Blue Lightning, Ann Cleeves, mystery
15. Beneath Black Sails, Clare Sager, pirate fiction
16. Neither Here Nor There, Bill Bryson, nonfiction
17. Those Girls, Chevy Stevens, thriller
18. Soulsmith, Will Wight, fantasy
19. Blackflame, Will Wight, fantasy
20. Skysworn, Will Wight, fantasy
21. Ghostwater, Will Wight, fantasy
22. Underlord, Will Wight, fantasy
23. Uncrowned, Will Wight, fantasy
24. Wintersteel, Will Wight, fantasy
25. Bloodline, Will Wight, fantasy
26. Lethal Guardian, M. William Phelps, true crime
27. Choose Me, Tess Gerritsen, mystery
28. The Seven Day Switch, Kelly Harms, woman's fiction
29. The Rib King, Ladee Hubbard, literary fiction
30. Blind Your Ponies, Stanley Gordon West, literary fiction

Here's what I'm reading:

1. Blue Monday, Nicci French, mystery
2. Arcadia, Lauren Groff, literary fiction
3. The Kingdom, Jo Nesbo, thriller
4. Wizards, anthology
5. The Queen Of The Night, Alexander Chee

Happy Reading!

The Bookish Life Of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

 

Nina Hill has a life that suits her just fine.  She has a job in a bookstore and since reading is her favorite activity, she loves it.  She has her cat to keep her company.  She has her trivia team for a social activity plus she runs a couple of book groups at the store.  She grew up with a mother who was rarely home and no father in sight.  Her mother was a freelance photographer who wouldn't say anything about Nina's dad.

But changes are on the way.  Nina is informed that she does have a dad and he has died.  Furthermore, he left a huge family as he was married multiple times with children with each wife.  Now Nina has tons of relatives, some of whom are not happy with a new person being in the will.  

Things are changing elsewhere as well.  The bookstore is struggling financially and may not be able to survive.  There is a man on another trivia team who Nina might be interested in and who might be interested back.  All of a sudden there are so many things up in the air that Nina doesn't know what to do next.  

Abbi Waxman has written a novel that will resonate with many readers.  It is a coming of age story that readers in their twenties who are still figuring out their lives will appreciate.  Nina is interesting and the reader will cheer for her to get exactly what she wants once she figures it out.  This book is recommended for readers of young adult books.

Irreparable Harm by Melissa Miller

 

The news is dire.  A plane has plowed into a mountainside, killing all aboard.  What could cause such a tragedy?  Mechanical failure?  Pilot error?  Whatever it is, there will be legal implications for the airline, Hemisphere Air.  Sasha McCandless works as a lawyer at the firm representing the airline.  The first lawsuits for the survivors are ready to file the day after the crash.  The airline requests that Sasha head up the team of lawyers who will defend against the suits.  It's a huge career boost for Sasha who is on the cusp of making partner.  That is, a huge boost if she is successful and a career killer if she fails.

As Sasha starts to look into the case, she begins to doubt that Hemisphere is at fault at all.  Instead she believes that the airline has been the victim of terrorists; not terrorists for a cause but terrorists who want to make millions.  They have created software that will incapacitate the manual controls and can send a plane to its doom.  They can sell this software to the airlines for millions if not billions of dollars.  Now those same people have Sasha in their sights.  

Sasha soon finds that the other side is ready to play rough. People involved in the case are killed and Sasha herself is attacked several times.  Luckily, she has help in the form of Leo Connelly, a federal air marshall.  She also has her Krav Maga training which makes her a bad person to attack.  Can Sasha and Leo find the terrorists before they find and put an end to them?

I listened to this novel.  The narrator, Suzanne Fortin, read competently but I would not search out another narration by her.  Her tone was close to a monotone and didn't appreciably change regardless of the action occurring.  In a thriller, the narration should indicate when something major is happening.

Melissa Miller is a former attorney herself.  That gives her legal thrillers the necessary expertise and knowledge of legal procedures that makes them believeable. She has written more than two dozen legal thrillers and this title is the introductory one in the Sasha McCandless series.  This book is recommended for legal thriller readers.

I Hear The Sirens In The Street by Adrian McKinty

 

The time is 1982 and the place is Belfast, Ireland in the midst of 'The Troubles'.  Detective Inspector Sean Duffy is an usual detective in this time and place.  He is a college graduate in psychology rather than coming to the police straight out of secondary education.  He is also a Catholic which makes him mistrusted both by the other police who are overwhelmingly Protestant and who regard Catholics as those who make their daily lives dangerous and by the Catholics around him who regard him as a traitor.

Life is never boring for a policeman.  The latest case is a man found stuffed in a suitcase.  After investigating, the man turns out to be an American tourist who is an ex-military man judging by a tattoo.  He has been poisoned by a rare poison. Who is he and what in the world was he doing in Northern Ireland to get himself killed?  The investigation uncovers links to American industries relocating to Ireland, notably the automotive factory owned by John DeLoren, aristocratic Irish landowners down on their luck, land rich but money poor and ready to make money however, and enticing women who seem to take an interest in Duffy.

Along with the investigation there is plenty of other things going on.  The Troubles make every day tense with the need to check under one's car every time before turning the ignition.  A riot on Duffy's street flares up when a young African-American woman moves in to the dismay of those already living there.  There are tensions at work as Duffy tries to do what needs to be done regardless of rules and while training his subordinates.  Then there is a changing list of women who he is interested in.

I listened to this novel and it was a glorious experience.  The narrator is Gerald Doyle who has narrated scores of novels.  He was an out of work actor who more or less fell into reading audiobooks and his warm, lilting Irish voice is perfect as a reflection of Duffy.  The book is the second in the Sean Duffy series and readers will find a multilayered book that portrays the era as well as providing a twisting mystery.  This book is recommended for readers of mystery.

Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan

 

This is novel nine in Robert Jordan's epic fantasy The Wheel Of Time.  In this story, Elayne has returned home and is working to consolidate her claim to the throne.  Rand has come to the realization that some of the men he has trained to work alongside him are treacherous and trying to kill him.  Perrin discovers that his wife Faile has been kidnapped by a band of Aiel and he leaves to rescue her.  Mat has been recuperating from injuries and is ready to leave the kingdom where he has been the lover of the queen and somehow agrees to break free several Aes Sedai imprisoned by the Seanchan.  

As the story progresses, several important events happen.  Rand resolves his conflict about loving three women, Elayne, Min and Aviendha.  The book moves toward a climatic end where Rand attempts to accomplish the impossible; take the taint out of accessing the Power.  Without the taint, he stands a chance of not going mad as all men before him had done.

This was one of the more eventful novels in the series.  Much more happens than outlined before and the books remain an incredibly detailed story that intertwines many threads of diverse events.  There are scores of characters to keep track of and plots and subplots, betrayals and victories.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

Paper Chains by Nicola Moriarty

 

In London, two women meet and become friends.  They couldn't be more different.  Hannah is an Australian who has been in London for three months.  She is working a mediocre job she dislikes and has made no friends.  She punishes herself physically by running for hours and denying herself pleasures.  She is running from a secret in her past; a secret she cannot forgive herself for.

India is running also although she would refer to it as traveling.  She is also Australian and has been moving around the world for months, staying nowhere more than a few weeks, making new friends everywhere she goes.  She is impulsive and bold, changing her appearance often.  When she meets Hannah, she is determined to solve her mystery and help her be happier.  Can the two women help each other?

Nicola Moriarty has written an intriguing story of two women who meet by chance and who are immediately drawn into each other's lives.  There is a bit more coincidence in the book's resolution than I prefer but overall it is a charming story with lessons for every reader.  This book is recommended for readers of women's fiction.