This was a fun book to read. Simon Rich has written for various television shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons and Pixar. He is the creator and showrunner for the shows Man Seeking Woman and Miracle Workers. The humor is lighthearted and never mean and the best word for this work is joyous. I listened to it and the various accents and narrations added quite a bit. This book is recommended for those looking for a light-hearted break.
Then several events occur. A college student has gone missing, a case that Will would normally be all over but Amanda still keeps him away. Will decides to share more of his past with Sarah and takes her one evening to the ruins of the orphanage house he grew up in between foster families. He is shocked to encounter Amanda there and they both end up in the basement when a staircase collapses. Then the worst news. Will's father, who has been imprisoned for decades after a series of gruesome murders has somehow been paroled. Amanda has known this and hasn't told Will and he is as angry as he has ever been. As the story unfolds, more women go missing and the clues point to the father as the killer. Why was he ever released?
This is the sixth Will Trent novel. He has been beaten down by life so many times that the reader can't help but cheer for him to get resolution and love. The reader gets a lot of Will's backstory in this novel and finds out about Will's past as he does. There is also a great deal of Amanda's backstory and why she picked out Will to mentor when most people would find him an odd choice. There is much history about the early days of women police and how they banded together to form a network and fight the old boys club. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
As the Wheel moves on to the final confrontation that will determine if Earth survives, the major players work towards their destinies. Rand is busy dealing with the Seanchan who are overrunning various countries that he depends on. Perrin is desperately searching for the Shaido renegades that have stolen his wife, Faile. Egwene has been captured and is imprisoned in the White Tower where she has a plan to undermine the false Aes Sedai leader Elaida from within. Elayne is in Caemlyn, pregnant with Rand's twins and fighting to gain the support she needs to win the Crown she was raised to wear.
There are also new alliances. Loial the ogre has run from his mother and the elders long enough and he is found and married to his new wife. He expects regret but is surprised to find that he is excited and proud of his new wife. Mat is still on the run with the Seanchan Empress, Tuon, and before things are done, he also finds himself married. The alliances are set.
This is the eleventh book in the Wheel Of Time series. Things are getting close to the end and the author is setting the characters in their final places and with their final partners and alliances before the ending battle. The Dark One has had centuries to plan his strategies and gather his strength and the human race must depend on young Rand al'Thor, who isn't sure why he has been chosen to lead them and questions if he will have the strength and determination to win. This book is recommended for fantasy readers.
Speeches and letters by world leaders are used to demonstrate this. The leaders include Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt and Gandhi. It discusses the Jewish question and how Germany was not alone in its cruel treatment of the Jewish population although definitely the worst as that nation attempted to perform a genocide that would erase the Jewish people and culture. But other nations refused to provide a haven, allowing the concentration camps to be established and used. The personal opinions of Churchill and Roosevelt were also contemptuous of the Jewish people and considered them less than those of their background.
The antiwar movement is covered as is the roundup by England of their German population into camps. This was one thing I didn't know about and it preceded the American roundup of the Japanese population. Another surprising thing was the evidence that those high in the United States government had many warnings of the Pearl Harbor disaster and chose not to act. Some would call it a sacrifice of those men in order to force the American entry into the war. It also questions the commonly held belief that the Germans were the first to bomb cities. England was already bombing before Germany began the Blitz.
Nicholson Baker is an author who has written both fiction and nonfiction. He is also known as an enemy of the now common practice of libraries moving away from physical books and moving to microfilm and ebooks. In this novel, he enlightens the average person and provides an alternate way of looking at the years leading to the war and the careful grooming of the general population to support it. The format of short paragraphs illustrating a point and quotes from newspapers and speeches allows the reader to gain knowledge without being overwhelmed. This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.
As Richard is about to start work, he is introduced to a young star, Alex. While he knows Alex is probably too young to portray Benjamin, Richard is always thinking ahead to the next movie and the one after that so is interested in getting to know Alex. What he doesn't expect is the immediate bond that the two of them encounter despite Richard being more than a quarter of a century older. He casts Alex as his star and as the two men's friendship deepens, Richard questions if he is in love with Alex.
The book then abruptly moves to his wife's story. Joanna Cottar had always been Richard's producer. Richard dies and Joanna decides to make his film after his death to honor his vision. She develops her own relationship with Alex, leaving the reader to wonder if Alex is a chameleon who becomes whatever the other person needs to see.
I listened to this novel and the narrators were perfect. There was both a male and female narrator and they told Richard's and Joanna's story of their marriage and their relationships with Alex in a slow, perceptive manner. One of the morals of the novel is that we fall in love with a person not so much a gender and we could change the gender of those we are attracted to as our life circumstances change. This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.
Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot caught the call. A man had been found hanging from a tree near a scenic overlook. When she inspects the scene, she is fairly sure that this is a suicide. It's never really clear why an individual kills themselves but it's her job to determine the cause. Her supervisor, DCI Alan Banks is on a well deserved vacation.
Annie soon determines that the man is Mark Hardcastle who is a set designer for the local community theatre. She can't find next of kin but he did have a relationship and she is told Mark basically lived with his partner so she goes to notify him. But when she gets to Laurence Sibert's house, a bigger puzzle awaits. Laurence is lying on the floor of his study, bloody and dead.
Annie calls Alan back from his vacation since this case will be very public. Two men are dead and no one knows that much about them. Laurence is obviously wealthy but it's unclear what his occupation was. It turns out that much of his money came from his mother and her successful business. Did Mark kill Laurence and then himself out of remorse? Was one or the other of the men starting a new relationship? Did someone else kill both of them?
When Alan arrives and he and Annie investigate, several things come to light. Laurence had been a government worker but the office he worked for was M-16. Did that prior life have long shadows that reached his current one? Mark was working on setting up a new theatre group that would pretty much gut the existing one. Did that play a role? Alan starts to believe that this was a very cunning murder where the men's minds were manipulated after Alan and his girlfriend watch a Shakespeare play. Is he right?
This is the eighteenth Alan Banks novel. As always, Alan is the intellectual policeman, interested in classic literature and all kinds of music, especially classic and folk. His partner, Annie, is ambitious and determined to make a name for herself. The two work well together with all the time pressures and directions from above. This novel is recommended for mystery lovers.
After a tragedy, Paris ran away again and started another new life. She put her old life and identity behind her and that's when she became Paris rather than the name she grew up as. She ran to California and started teaching yoga classes. Eventually she owned her own studio and that's where she met Jimmy. Jimmy was much older than she but somehow they clicked. He was a well-known retired comedian who had had a hit series that everyone knew. It took a while but he eventually convinced her to marry him.
Returning from a weekend away, Paris finds Jimmy in the bathtub, covered in blood. She is arrested for his murder although it could have been suicide just as well. Paris isn't that worried about the murder charge because she knows she wasn't even in the area when his death occurs. What she is worried about is her mother who has gotten parole and is threatening to reveal Paris' past unless Paris pays her off. Are some people just meant for tragedy?
Jennifer Hillier is a Canadian author whose crime novels have won many awards. In this, her eighth novel, she creates a character in Paris that the reader can't help but love and cheer for even as it seems life is determined to drag her down no matter what she does. Paris is an example of how some people can overcome terrible life events while others drown in them. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
In Part 1, Peterson defines morality with chapters on words, orientations, definitions and structures. He talks about the definite hierarchies that animals establish when they live with each other or just encounter each other. Part 2 explores the rules that animals have when living together with topics such as authority, violence, sex, possession and communication. Part 3 talks about attachments and has chapters on cooperation and kindness. The last section talks about the future of morality.
This is a fascinating look at animals and how they structure their lives It is perhaps especially relevant as wild animals continue to vanish and as household pets currently have a status almost never seen before with millions of dollars spent annually on them. Peterson is the official biographer of Jane Goodall and her groundbreaking work on animals and has written extensively on animals, computers and other topics. One of his prior books received a New York Times Notable Book Award. This book is recommended for nonfiction readers who are interested in animals and their social organizations.
Wendy Tynes is a TV reporter who has a teenager about to start college, which means she needs to be sure she stays employed. That's not easy in a profession that idolizes youth and has ten applicants for every job. When a local high school girl goes missing, Wendy is all over the story as is the rest of the media. But she also has other irons in the fire.
One of her most popular features is one where she goes undercover online, pretending to be a teenage girl and then trapping on camera the middle-aged men who want to meet a young girl. She is sure she has a good candidate in Dan Mercer. Wendy gets a tip about him and sets up a meet. Dan is the director of a troubled youth center and he thinks he is going to help one of his charges who texts him and asks for help. But when he goes to the address, he is confronted with bright lights and shouting questions about his lust for young girls. Dan insists he has been set up but when the police search his house and find porn, he is done for. He loses his job and is the target of attacks by vigilantes.
Wendy is hesitant about whether she was right about Dan but when he is tied by forensic evidence to the missing teenager, she is sure again that she is right. Is she or is she part of the setup of an innocent man?
Harlan Coben is one of the masters of the mystery world. In this novel the reader will be tossed back and forth in their belief about Dan as the story twists and turns. Their feelings about Wendy will also change as the story progresses. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
The incident is so shocking and it makes the national news. Local police decide to bring in a veterinary forensics expert, Cooper Allen. Cooper is used to coming in to an area, helping the police solve a crime and then moving on. She expects that this time will be the same.
But it is not the same. Soon anyone who was anywhere near the farm starts to get sick and it is determined that there is an outbreak of anthrax. More abuse cases are discovered, each cruel and seeming to be targeted at the police and local residents to cause as much fear and panic as possible. Many are hospitalized and Alec is involved in a wreck, possibly from the effects of the contamination. His teenage son is with him and cannot be found afterwards. Cooper, who has developed feelings for Alec she never expected, stays on to try to solve the case without him. Can the culprits be found before more people are affected?
This is a debut novel and if Buchanan writes more this well, he should have a long, successful career. The feeling of the novel is dense, confusing as if a fog were swirling around all the characters. These are not men and women who wear their hearts on their sleeves but rather quiet and purposeful people who wrest a living from an inhospitable land. I listened to this novel and the narrator carried out the feeling of the book successfully. This novel is recommended for mystery readers.
Their first night the two girls go with a friend to an off-campus activity. That is against the rules but what happens is worse. The party is broken up by a odd light that Bree can see but others can't. That is, except for the fighters who rush to take care of the beast from another world.
Bree meets Nick and he introduces her to the society. It is based on Arthurian legend and its mission is to protect humans from the beasts from another dimension. Nick is this generation's Arthur and will eventually rule the society. He is in love with Bree and she falls under his spell. There is also Sel, Nick's protector and a mighty warrior. He is suspicious of Bree and thinks she might be a threat. Bree is not but her native ability plus her connection to root magic through her bloodline make her something different, something the society has never seen. Will she get her answers before the beasts can take over the world?
This is a YA fantasy. The author knows the world of UNC and Chapel Hill where the university is located well and readers from the area will delight in the references to well known landmarks. It is the first in what is planned as a two book series. The twist at the end of the novel will insure that there is plenty of material for a second book and the references to the Arthurian legend will play well with younger readers. This book is recommended for YA and fantasy readers.
Black Swan Green is a small town in Worcestershire. In 1982, thirteen year old Jason Taylor spends a year there which is momentous in his family life. Jason lives there with his parents and older sister Julia. He has the typical concerns of a teenage boy. Will he be popular or at least have a group of guys to hang around with? Will he ever find a girl to kiss? Will the elusive and tantalizing Dawn ever look his way?
Jason has a speech impediment; he is a stammerer. That lets him in for teasing at school but he is going to therapy and working on it. He is a poet although he doesn't tell people since writing poetry is for sissies in the opinion of the guys he lives among. At home, his sister is about to head off to university and Jason wonders what the house will be like when he is there just with his parents. They seem to be having issues as well and there are frequent silences. His mother goes back to work although his father is opposed. She seems to love her job so that is a plus.
Then there are other events going on in the world. The biggest is the war in the Falklands. Of course at first everyone thinks it will be a cakewalk and some of the local guys who are older are involved. That optimistic viewpoint changes as English casualties start to mount and the truth of war is brought home to those left behind.
David Mitchell is a frequent author on the Booker Prize lists. His previous novels include Cloud Atlas, Number9 Dream, Slade House, The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob De Zoet, The Bone Clocks and Utopia Avenue. In this novel, he captures perfectly the angst and joys of being a teenager finding their place in the world and readers will find Jason endearing. I would highly recommend it. This novel is recommended for readers of literary fiction.
When Faith goes to pick up the baby this day, she notices something is wrong right away. There is blood on the carport and the door handle going in and rock music is blaring. Evelyn is missing and the baby is nowhere to be found. Before Faith can call it in, she finds one man lying dead and shoots another who is about to kill a third. Then she ends up killing the third man when he escapes and threatens the neighbors. Once the police arrive, the baby is found but Evelyn is not. There is, however, a fourth dead man stashed in Evelyn's car trunk.
What is going on? Will and his boss Amanda are determined to find the truth and find Evelyn before whoever took her kills her. Faith is put on the sidelines to hold her family together while the investigation progresses. Amanda is Evelyn's oldest friend and will do anything to find the truth although that doesn't seem to include telling Will all their old secrets. Will is also distracted by the growing attraction between him and Dr. Sarah Linton. Can she love a man like Will? Can he break free of the toxic marriage he is involved in?
This is the fifth Will Trent novel. Readers will be glad that he is finally getting something good out of life with his new relationship with Sarah. But the mystery he finds himself entangled in is twisty and secretive and tests his bonds with his partner and his boss, both of whom want the same outcome but still want to protect old secrets. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
Nina Mosley has lived an incredible life. She married young, a man named Randall Moseley, Randy to his friends. Randy traveled for his work but when he was home, the couple was happy. They had a son and Nina thought everything was fine. Then Randy began to change and eventually, she began to suspect him and found evidence that he was a serial killer. His trademark was to remove the eyes of his victims and replace the eyes with various items such as marbles or nuts. Nina went to the police and testified at Randy's trial. Now he sits on Death Row waiting for his execution date.
Nina is left behind to support herself and raise her son alone. She moves across the country from the West Coast to North Carolina and changes her name to Leigh Wren. Leigh finds a job and over the years is promoted until she has a good position. She has friends and even dates a bit. But all that changes one night.
Leigh is grocery shopping when she is approached by an older man. He tells her that he knows who she is because Randy killed his daughter and he doesn't believe she never knew what Randy was doing. He has hired private detectives to find her and plans to publicize who she is. He does just that, accusing Leigh of being involved in the murders. Leigh's life is blown up. Everyone knows who she is and her son now knows his father is a serial killer. Worse, a copycat killer is now recreating Randy's crimes and he also knows where the woman who testified against his mentor is. Can Leigh and the police find this new killer before he finds Leigh?
This book was released in 2008 and was the debut novel of the author. I can find no evidence that he wrote any more novels which is a shame as this was a good start. The author got Leigh's personality down pat, how someone could be fooled and then find out an earthshaking secret that required them to completely reinvent themselves. The twist at the end is well done. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
It seems like it would be a marvelous trip but there are undercurrents everywhere. Jack and Allie seem to have tension between them for some reason. Rachel notices that and chalks it up to Jack's recent distance from them all. She knows he is working something out and is giving him space to do so. While Paige is Rachel's best friend, she has known Noah longer and the two of them had been best friends for quite a while. Perhaps because of this, Jack and Noah have never been close and seem at times to be hostile to each other.
Once on the island, things are still strange. Rachel starts to believe that Jack is having an affair with Allie. He had spread a rumor about Allie and another man at work but what if that was just camouflage? Then there is Noah. He has decided now is the time to tell Rachel he still loves her and that he believes Rachel and Jack's son is actually his, an idea that could possibly be true. Paige is ready to go for Allie on any grounds as they are oil and water. Will this marriage ever take place?
Sandie Jones has written a twisty tale that leaves the reader changing their viewpoint over and over again. Each person seems to have secrets and as these are slowly revealed, the relationships change also. Some are lying but how to determine the truth? This book is recommended for psychological thriller readers.
The partners decide that Osgood should travel to London and then to Dicken's home to see if he can find the missing installments. He asks Daniel's sister, Rebecca, to accompany him as she is also an employee of the firm and he will need clerical help. The two set off to London and encounter issues on the trip.
Once in London the issues continue. It is clear that there are other individuals looking for the remainder of the novel. Flashbacks of Dicken's last trip to the United States reveal the enemies he had to fight on a daily basis and it could be that these same people have now redirected their attentions to James. Can he find the missing chapters and return safely to the United States?
Matthew Pearl is known for his novels based on historical fact. Readers will learn not only about Dickens and his last novel but also facts about his lecture trips to the United States as well as the state of American publishing. The opium trade is brought in as is the British rule in India. Facts about Dicken's family and his house and finances are discussed. The state of divorce in the United States in the 1870's is an interesting sideline. This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.
Doctor Sara Linton is headed home for Thanksgiving. She doesn't go home anymore. Instead she moved to Atlanta where she works in a busy emergency room and where she doesn't have as much time to think about how her husband was shot down before her. She knows she won't ever get over his death but it's good to be busy all the time.
But this trip won't be a relaxing one. Sara arrives home to find the town abuzz. A local college girl has been pulled from the lake, weighed down with cinder blocks. There's a suicide note but there's also a stab wound to the neck so it's a murder. When the police go to her apartment, they find a man already there. He has something in his hands and when they try to arrest him, he runs and ends up stabbing one of the police. The policeman is taken to the hospital and the man, a young mentally challenged teenager, is taken to the station. There Lena Adams gets a confession from him. The man begs to see Sara as she had been his pediatrician growing up and he trusts her. But when Sara arrives, it is to find Tommy dead in his cell, his wrists slit with a pen.
With a disaster this large, the state needs to be called in. Sara calls the head of the force and asks that Will Trent and his partner be sent. Will's partner can't come as she is about to give birth so Will heads down alone. He arrives to find a hostile police force but that's common. But it's not common to find the level of lies and deception he is met with. Can he find the truth?
This is the fourth Will Trent novel. In it, his attraction to Sara deepens and hers to him although it's unclear if they will ever act on it. Will is still married, although that's a loose term for a wife who left within a week of their marriage and only rarely returns for a day or so. There is a subplot about the animosity between Sara and Lena since Sara blames Lena for her husband's death. The twists and turns are exciting and the ending comes with a surprise. Will Trent is on of the most fascinating characters I've encountered in a crime series. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
Ivy is excited when she gets a visitor. The woman was impressive and was a headmaster, and most thrillingly, wants to hire Ivy to solve a murder. Ivy only hesitates a minute when she realizes the woman is headmaster of the magic school where Tabitha is now teaching. She has been anxious to do more with her career and a successful murder case will do wonders for it.
Ivy goes to the school where she is expected to reside until she is through with her investigation. The murdered woman was Sylvia whose mutilated body had been found in the library. Of course, being a magic school, the books in the section where the body was found spend their time whispering clues just out of range to be understood. Ivy starts interviewing school faculty and staff as well as the students. She uncovers a 'mean girl' clique headed by school queen Alexandria as well as a teenage boy who is convinced he is destined to be a once in a lifetime mage to outperform all mages. On the staff side, there are rivalries and love affairs and Ivy develops an interest in one of the male teachers. More importantly, she and Tabitha slowly start to rebuild their relationship. Will Ivy be able to solve the case?
This was an interesting cross-genre novel. The juxtaposition of science fiction and mystery intersect well and provide more depth. The author has managed to avoid the twin sister cliché of good twin, evil twin and several of the characters are gay or bisexual. The ending is surprising and the reader will have fun following the twists and turns. This book is recommended for fantasy and mystery readers.
The women are all elite lawyers but quite different. There's Sloan who is a driven women determined to make her way up the ladder and who had an affair with Ames years ago. Grace is a new mom with a baby at home and struggling to keep up. Ardie is a bit older and is recently divorced, realizing that she is now the sole support for her new household of her son and herself. Katherine is a new hire, and seems to be Ames' new target.
The women decide to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company for providing an unsafe working environment and against Ames in particular for his acts over the years. The company is determined to fight back. When Ames goes over the railing on the rooftop of the firm to his death, lines are quickly drawn. Was it suicide? Was Ames pushed to his death?
Chandler Baker is an attorney herself and has written this novel from her own experiences and from stories other professional women have told her. Sexual harassment in the workplace is still a very real experience and not every women has the legal knowledge and expertise these women did to deal with a job threatening experience. I listened to this novel and the narrator was great and sounded like a sharp, professional woman would sound. This book is recommended for both mystery and women's fiction readers.
DI Ruth Hunter has had it with London. She is sick of the never-ending violence and crime and has requested a transfer to North Wales, in Snowdonia. Surely the crime rate is lower in a rural jurisdiction. She also has a personal reason. Her lover got on a train three years ago and disappeared. An extensive investigation was done but no clues ever emerged. She had disappeared as if she had never existed.
But as soon as she arrives, a teacher at the local high school is murdered and the case is assigned to Ruth. She has to get to know her new team, who are suspicious of a London transferee as well as get to know the case and the locale. It's a daunting task. The murdered woman was the kind of woman who made enemies in both her business and personal life. Was it a student, a townsperson she argued with or someone from her love life?
Ruth's second in command, Nick, has his own issues. He is an alcoholic and trying to wean himself off without medical help. He is also not sure about an outsider coming in and trying to solve a murder. When another person from the school is also murdered, the tension rackets up. Can this new team solve the murders?
This is the first novel in the Ruth Hunter series. Ruth is a common sense woman whose life has been upended with a personal tragedy. There is a big of heavy handedness about the lesbian life but it doesn't really detract from the story and is necessary to lay the backstory for this character who will be featured in other novels in the series. The setting is interesting as is the Welsh names and phrases throughout the book. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
When she arrives at the hospital, her case is assigned to Sarah Linton. Sarah has fled to Atlanta after the death of her police chief husband three years before. Now she works in the ER room and she hasn't seen this kind of damage often. As she fights to save the patient, police arrive at the crime scene.
Will Trent and his partner, Faith, are assigned to the case. Will finds a cave that has been dug under the ground and set up as a torture chamber. They also realize once there that there was another victim and a search is soon on for the other woman. She is found but did not survive. Soon other women are kidnapped and taken and everyone knows the same horror is in store for them if they can't be found. Can Will and Faith find the killer in time?
This is the third novel in the Will Trent series. In this one, the relationship between Will and Faith grows stronger but interestingly, Will and Sarah are immediately drawn to one another. The case is intricate and horrible and the reader will find themselves turning pages quickly to find the answers. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
After that mistake and with the wealth of the parents, the case is transferred to the state investigators and assigned to Will. He is given a female partner from the city police, Faith. Faith and her family have issues with Will, who recently did an internal affairs investigation of the city police that resulted in jobs lost. Will is a pariah to the city police.
Even worse, the father of the household is someone Will knew in the foster system they both grew up in. The father was one of Will's chief tormentors and gave him the name Trashcan, since Will was found in a trashcan at five months old. There is still animosity between the two that makes it even more difficult to concentrate on the crime.
As Will and Faith investigate, it turns out that many of the people surrounding the daughter of the house are not what they seem. The clock ticks on, with each hour making it more unlikely that the girl can be rescued. Will this case be a failure?
This is the second Will Trent series. Readers get a bit more of his background and the dyslexia issues that he hides to save his job. There are other characters discussed, Will's partner, Angie, who blatantly cheats on him, Will's boss Amanda who knows about his disability and uses it to control him and Faith who will be Will's partner going forward. The crime is intricate and horrific and Will's special talents are needed to try to unwind the tangles. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
Aaron and Allison Decker have a good life. Aaron translates Japanese novels into English and Allison is a reporter. They have a great marriage and are content. That is, until the day Allison walks out to meet a source and walks into a man who has picked this day to kill his parents, his ex-girlfriend and anyone standing near. Allison is one of the victims and her death leaves Aaron reeling.
A few months later, he finally has the strength to go through the box containing her belongings from work. He is surprised to see a receipt from a hotel in another state and as he thinks back realizes that he was out of town himself on a work assignment. Why did Allison go to a hotel in some little town he had never heard of? Was she having an affair?
Aaron decides to look into it. What he discovers is more life shaking than an affair. Allison was tracking a serial killer, one who had claimed victims all along the Eastern Seaboard and who had remained invisible. Even more shocking, Allison's sister, who she had told Aaron had drowned, was one of the first victims. Did Aaron know Allison at all? Was their whole life based on a lie?
Ronald Malfi has written a novel that besides being a mystery, asks the question can we ever really know anyone, even those we love? Do we really want to know the secrets that our partners choose to keep or will they shatter the relationship? They mystery is solid and the characters that Aaron meets in his search are portrayed well. The impetus for the novel is a random shooting in a newsroom in which Malfi's friend was killed a few years ago and the randomness and grief that such an event leaves behind is well written. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
A common story but this one was about to take an unusual turn. A bomb was sent to the Pye headquarters and only the tardiness of a meeting kept it from being a massacre although a secretary was killed. That happened in Michigan but when a second bomb at the construction site in Minnesota killed a construction supervisor, Minnesota police got involved. Virgil Flowers, a state investigator, was sent to capture the bomber before anyone else got killed.
Virgil started talking to everyone he found but he wasn't in time. The bomber kept on setting off bombs and the death rate kept rising. Can Virgil find the bomber?
This is the fifth Virgil Flowers novel. Virgil is much more laidback than Sandford's other detective, Lucas Davenport, who is Flowers' boss. He moseys around, talking to everyone and narrowing down his suspicions until he finds the killer. This novel has lots of twists and turns and readers will enjoy following along. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
Eight years later, Wayland's life has never recovered. His mother, who had been a stay at home mom, now has to work two jobs to keep them fed. His younger sister has gone off the rails, dating a bum who has managed to get her pregnant already. Wayland is a loner at school, the other kids leaving him alone due to the tragedy. He has one friend, Clay, a jock who Wayland befriended when Clay moved to town.
One day as Wayland is sitting on his bed, a revelation comes to him. The man who shot himself had feet that dangled from the bed rather than reaching the floor. Wayland's dad was tall and that should never had happened. Wayland pulls out the note he never has told anyone he found that day. It still says the same thing, "I am Not Who You Think I Am". He puzzles about what that could mean. Eight year old Wayland had no resources to investigate the death but sixteen year old Wayland is determined to find out all he can about the death. With the help of Clay and a new girl at school, Juliette, Wayland starts to dig into the case and everything he finds deepens the mystery. Can he find the truth after all this time?
Eric Rickstad has written a mystery that grabs the reader on the first page and propels them along. Wayland is sympathetic and the author has captured the thoughts and actions of a teenage boy caught in misery and determined to find the truth. The passages between Wayland and Juliette as they explore their new relationship are particularly well written. This book is recommended for mystery fans.
When the aliens arrive on Earth, it's not like the dire warnings of science fiction. They come with a proposition. Although they consider humans to be woefully simple, they are inviting the race to enter this years intergalactic singing competition, the Metagalactic Grand Prix, sort of a Eurovision grown huge. If they place, the humans will be recognized as valid members of the universe. If they place dead last, total annihilation of the entire race.
The aliens come with a list of singers they consider valid for the competition. Unfortunately, most on the list are dead or too ancient to perform. But there is one group still around. The British pop group, Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeros are still alive and still relatively young. But there's issues. Of the three members, only two are still alive and they haven't spoken in more than a decade. Still, the future of the human race is at stake so they agree to the plan.
Once on the planet where the competition is held, Decibel and his partner, Oort St. Ultraviolet, face other issues. The first is just wrapping their heads around the enormous number of other species and their appearances and actions. The second is coming up with a competition song after years of inactivity. The third is surviving the pre-competition maneuvers where killing your competition is considered a perfectly valid strategy. Can the group make it to the competition and save Earth?
Catherynne Valente has written an over the top, zany space book with interesting characters and a plot that will delight fans of the Eurovision competition. This book is recommended for science fiction readers.
They are the worst hostages ever. There is a retired couple that spends their lives buying apartments, renovating them and reselling them. A gay couple is about to have a baby. There is a rich woman who thinks she is better than all of them. There is an older woman patiently waiting on her husband who is parking the car. There is even a man who is mostly nude with a rabbit head who takes jobs scaring off potential buyers. Each has their individual stories and problems which puts them at odds with the others.
Then there are the police. The pair that are handling the situation are father and son. The son is full of modern ideas and thinks his father is holding him back. The father loves his son and isn't sure what to do at work with him. As the situation develops, it may provide an avenue for the two to find some peace.
This novel got lots of buzz. It was a Book Of The Month Selection and chosen by various media outlets such as the Washington Post, CNN, the New York Post and others. The characters are well developed and the plot which at the beginning seems to be a lot of tangled threads ends up well-knit into a satisfying conclusion. This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.
During a routine DNA check in a case, Vicky was identified as a sibling of the person being investigated. It appears that he is a brother that she never knew she had. But the FBI sees it as her falsifying her job application and puts her on leave.
Vicky goes to her parents' house immediately but her mother denies that they had another child that they put out for adoption. Are her parents lying to her? Have they always been? Things continue to get worse when it appears that this supposed sibling may be tied to the serial killer investigation Vicky and her partner had been working on. Can she get the truth?
A. B. Whelan has written a fast paced thriller that will engage the reader. There are lots of twists and turns in the book, some foreseen and some that are a total surprise. Vicky learns what is important to her when it all is about to be taken away. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
Mid-February and it's going to be 72 today in North Carolina. My daffodils are about to burst into bloom and I have high hopes for the new forsythia bush we planted. Those cheery yellow blooms scream renewal and better weather ahead. I've been busy reading and buying more books! Here's what's come through the door:
Ford moves Lindsay into one of the villas and starts to investigate. Some years before, Lindsay was in the military and her job was as a drone operator. Along with two others, they targeted and dropped bombs on terrorist targets in the Middle East. Lindsay has checked with her teammates and both of them have also received the same threatening letters. She asks Ford for help and he reluctantly agrees.
But Ford knows his limits. He knows he needs more help and contacts Joan Taucher, an FBI agent he knows who is focused on stopping the next terrorist attack before it happens. She has never forgotten that some of the 9/11 terrorists learned to fly in Santa Barbara. Together they start to investigate and learn that the drone team had made a mistake that cost the lives of nine doctors and nurses. Could this be a relative of one of those innocent victims? Then one of the drone team is found beheaded which ups the stakes considerably. Can they find the killer before he finds Lindsay?
This is the second novel in the Roland Ford series. Parker has created an investigator who is a sympathetic character. There are interesting side characters in the friends and relatives who live on Ford's spread and the investigation is fast and furious. This book is recommended for thriller readers.
When military investigator Paul Renner gets the call, he knows it will be trouble. He's investigated plenty of murders in his time, but this victim is the general's daughter, Anne Campbell. She has been found, nude, spreadeagled and staked out, strangled. It's the kind of case that can't help but be sensational and sensational always means trouble.
Renner had been on the base undercover with another case. The other outside investigator there to investigate a rape, is Cynthia, a woman Paul had an affair with overseas about a year ago. He is not happy to be paired with her again nor to find himself on the outside where he can't trust or use the normal resources since everyone on base is a suspect until proven otherwise.
Anne Campbell was the Army's dream girl. She had been through West Point at the top of her class, then pursued higher education and was a psychologist specializing in mental warfare. Anne is gorgeous and is on the Army's recruiting posters as an icon. Who would want to kill her?
As Paul and Cynthia investigate, they discover that almost everyone who knew her had a motive. Anne was a femme fatale, sleeping her way through the general's staff, seducing and throwing away men with abandon. Far from embracing her father, she hated him and did everything she could to embarrass him. What lies behind her actions?
This is the first in the Paul Renner series. It was written a little over twenty years ago, and some of the attitudes and statements about women are outdated. But the mystery is sharp and interesting and as the truth is revealed bit by bit, the reader will remain entranced. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
But there are secrets in the family and friends. As the children get older they discover that both their mother and father have various illicit relationships and the children are not all full siblings. Some are, while some have Olive as a mother but someone else as a father and others have Humphrey as a father with a different mother. This causes some consternation but the family continues as the children grow. Other women are seduced outside of marriage in a time that still regarded children born out of wedlock with suspicion but each seems to find peace within this artistic community. The children grow and start to decide what will be their lifework. Some of these decisions are approved by their parents and others are not.
This book was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2009 and it is a marvelous novel. The stories are interesting and entwined and the reader will delight in watching the children grow up and make their own lives. There is the rise of art noveau and the Paris Exhibition that highlights this trend, there is the rise of socialism which appeals to some of the younger characters and there is the foreboding of war. All in all, this is one of the most satisfying reads I've had lately. This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.
The two entered graduate programs in Texas. Alex decided to write his thesis on lucha libra, the wrestling industry that so enchanted the population. The wrestlers are idolized and are like rock stars. Alex didn't expect to fall in love with Mateo and Elena has no idea that Alex has drifted from her and their relationship.
When Elena goes home for a week for a family issue, Alex takes the opportunity to spend the week in Mexico with Mateo. But Mateo has his own issues. He is caught up in a struggle within the industry and the drug cartel wants to move in and take the contracts of the top wrestlers. Mateo and Alex are kidnapped and taken to the home of the cartel head.
When Elena returns, she begins to search for Alex. She quickly learns how little of his life she knew and she thinks of all the secrets she had been hiding from him. Did they know each other at all? Was their marriage ever anymore than a convenience to propel them out of West Virginia? As she travels through Mexico looking for him, Elena meets many people who help in their own ways but she has no success.
Mesha Maren has written one other novel, Sugar Run. In this novel, she explores the loneliness we all carry and the difficulty in breaking down the barriers and letting others know our secrets. The reader will feel the desperation and despair that Elena feels as she searches and Alex's terror as he contemplates where his secrets have brought him. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.
In September 1998, Poughkeepsie police made a startling discovery. They had been aware of Kendell Francois, a huge man who associated with prostitutes and sometimes harmed them. Women had reported him for trying to strangle them or beating them. He had been brought in several times but not charged. But on this day, when another prostitute made a complaint, Kendell had apparently had enough. He confessed to the police that he had killed some of the women and that their bodies could be found in his house where he lived with his parents and younger sister.
It was a grisly scene. Some of the bodies had been there for two years. The house was filthy with rotting food, piled up trash and an odor beyond description. How had this family lived like this? Kendell was arrested and the removal began. At his trial, Kendell was sentenced to life in prison.
Claudia Rowe was also living in Poughkeepsie. She had been a staff reporter for a newspaper and after moving to upstate New York with her boyfriend, a stringer for the city papers. She was fascinated with the story and wanted to understand what went on in the mind of someone like Kendell. She started a correspondence with him that lasted for the next four years, eventually going to see him in prison a few times.
Rowe was in a bad stage of her own life. Her boyfriend was dominating, something she had not really realized. She was drawn to the dark side of things perhaps because she suspected that she had unresolved issues. Although many asked her to stop her association with Francois warning that it was dangerous, she continued although he routinely frightened her. But underneath she could see a different man he could have been if things had gone differently and that drew her to him.
This book was written by Rowe and details her journey of self-exploration as she learns more about the murderer. Her association with him eventually gave her the ability to break away, not only from Francois' story but from her doomed relationship and start a new, happier life elsewhere. While this book is marketed as true crime, it is more a journal of resolving past experiences and finding the courage to live in a different way. This book is recommended for true crime readers.
Along with Una, their retired police friend, the sisters decide it's time once and for all to find some answers. There is renewed police interest in Vanessa's case because a local woman, Robin, has been recently found murdered and both women had the same tattoo. Robin lived at and was a member of a women's commune called Two Cross Farm. The commune shelters women who have had hard lives but has very strict rules, allowing no possessions and requiring total obedience and work. The commune has determined that thirty-three women is the right number of women for the membership to have.
Celine and Una believe that the commune is involved somehow as are the police. One of the commune's basic rules is that no men are allowed so the two are grudgingly accepted instead as the police representatives. They find a few tantalizing clues about Robin's fate and it turns out that their sister had lived there as well. Can the three women find the answers they have looked for all these years?
Isabel Ashdown has written a page-turning mystery with lots of twists and turns. There is a thick layer of secrecy at the commune and it takes various methods to break through to the truth after all these years. There are some extra threads that could have been omitted such as Pip's marriage and its breakdown but overall the story is engaging. I listened to this novel and the narrator did a great job. This book is recommended for mystery readers.
Travis had a huge confession to make. Nine years ago, he had kidnapped, raped and killed Nicole Yarber, a seventeen year old cheerleader in Sloan, Texas. Now he had an inoperable brain tumor and didn't have long to live so he wanted to set things straight. Keith wasn't sure he believed him but was willing to listen. The police had arrested a black teenager named Donte Drumm. After hours in a police interrogation room, Donte had confessed and that confession put him on death row even though he renounced it the next day. Now he was to be executed in a few days time.
Keith asked for proof. Travis said he could take law enforcement to the grave and showed Keith what he said was Nicole's class ring that he wore around his neck. Keith started to make phone calls. Donte's lawyer, Robbie Flask, was working hard that week to try to stay the execution. He didn't believe Keith's story at first but when Keith said he would bring Travis to Sloan, Robbie thought it might be the key to stopping Donte's death. Along with that, the only witness at the trial was about to recant as well. Could a minister and a lawyer find a way to stop a terrible miscarriage of justice?
John Grisham has written a heart-stopping novel about a race against time to stop an injustice. Grisham was a lawyer for over a decade, writing before and after work until his books started selling. Now he is a bestselling author and this book is one of the reasons. It explores all the facets of a death penalty trial and the appeal work afterwards as well as the effects an execution has on all who know the victim and the accused. This book is recommended for legal thriller readers.
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