The Long Walk by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman

 

They call it the Long Walk.  Every year one hundred men, many young boys not out of their teens, start the walk.  The winner gets to ask and get for anything they desire.  The catch?  There are strict rules, the main one being that the walkers cannot stop for anything.  Those who stop or slow down past the minimum speed are warned.  A warning can be walked off if the walker gets up to speed and stays there for an hour.  Three warnings and another offense means that the soldiers who accompany the walkers shot and kill the offender.  At the end, there will be only one walker.

Ray Garraty is the local favorite.  The walk starts and is mostly in Maine and he is a Maine son.  Ray is sixteen and he entered the contest on a whim.  When he was chosen, he had thirty days to decide if he would take up the challenge or take his name out of the competition.  Both his widowed mother and his girlfriend begged him to drop out but something made him continue.  Now he is in it to the end.

The walkers start out full of vim and vigor  But as the hours roll on, they get quieter.  They must eat while moving, drink, if they need to relieve themselves they have to do it in full view of others and as time goes on, even sleep as they walk.  Some make friends and some form enemies.  The first deaths start to occur and the mood changes as it sinks in that this is real and only one of them will survive.  Will it be Ray?

This is an early novel of King's, written under his alter name, Richard Bachman.  King writes an introduction talking about why he used the Bachman name.  Bachman had a darker vision of the future and of humanity than King.  This book is a good illustration.  The reader slowly realizes that yes, all the characters they start to recognize and empathize with, will be killed, one by one.  Hopes and dreams don't matter, whether you are a good person or bad doesn't matter.  All that matters is whether you can outwalk the others.  This book is recommended for suspense and horror fans.

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

 

Atticus O'Sullivan appears to be a twenty-one year old man who owns and runs a New Age bookshop in Tempe, Arizona.  But looks can often be deceiving.  Atticus is actually over two thousand years old and he is the last Iron Druid.  He was involved in the battles of yore and has been on the run for centuries from his enemies.  Tempe has been a refuge but there are signs that his enemies have finally tracked him down.

This time Atticus decides to stay and fight rather than run.  He has some help.  He has an Irish wolfhound who is his closest companion.  He has the help, usually, of The Morrigan, a crow in form who is the Irish Chooser Of The Slain although her support is always questionable as she can change in the blink of an eye.  The first of the Fae is on Atticus' side but only because they share a common enemy.  He has a tentative relationship with a local coven of witches but Atticus doesn't trust them at all.  He does trust his lawyers, a werewolf who does the day work and a vampire who takes the night shift.

But his enemies are powerful.  The Irish God of Love has hated Atticus for centuries and has chased him across the world.  He wants to become the ruler of the Faes and knows he will have a better chance of that if he can eliminate Atticus first.  He also has entry to the demons of hell and can call on them in a fight as well as his own witches.  Can Atticus survive this latest challenge?

Kevin Hearne has created a memorable character in Atticus.  He is a native of Arizona so he gets the locale perfectly.  His writing style is light and humorous and the reader will fall in love with Atticus and his wolfhound.  This is the perfect first novel in a series; it can be read as a stand-alone tale without cliffhangers but it's so delightful that the reader will be interested in reading more of Atticus' adventures.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

Playing For The Ashes by Elizabeth George

 

When Inspector Thomas Lynley and his DS Barbara Havers are called out, they know it will be murder.  What they don't know is that this is a celebrity death with all the extra attention and scrutiny that entails.  Kenneth Fleming was a national hero, playing on England's cricket team.  He was the people's hero, having made the team not after attending fancy schools and colleges but as a grown man plucked from the factory floor after being spotted in an industrial league.

There are plenty of suspects to consider.  Fleming was found in the cottage of his mistress, Gabriella.  Her husband claims to know of the affair and care less.  There is Fleming's wife, who has been separated from him for four years but hopes always for a reconciliation.  His teenage son is full of rage at his father's absence and betrayal.  Kenneth has another strange relationship.  He lives with his mentor, the woman who used to be his teacher and who became his boss at the factory.  No one understands this relationship although there is plenty of gossip about it.  Had Fleming's affair with Gabriella crushed Mrs. Whitelaw's unspoken hopes?  Then there is Olivia Whitelaw.  She left her home and family as a rebellious twenty year old and hasn't spoken with her mother in years.  Mrs. Whitelaw has left her considerable fortune to Fleming, not Olivia.  Is there jealousy there?

Lynley and Havers work the investigation with plenty of pressure from above at the Yard and plenty of lies from every suspect.  Can they see through the lies to the truth of who killed Kenneth Fleming?

This is Elizabeth's George's seventh novel.  Her forte is the characters she creates and the web of lies they tangle around themselves.  Readers welcome another chapter in the story of Lynley and Havers and are familiar with their private lives.  The mystery is intricate and the unraveling is taut and satisfying.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

 

It is the 1950's and Lakshmi has finally made a life to sustain herself.  She was forced into marriage at fifteen to an abusive man who beat her every month when she wasn't pregnant.  At seventeen, she ran away from her village and family to try to make a new life for herself.  She became a henna artist and soon discovered that she had a real talent for it.  A rich man she met encouraged her and helped her move to Jaipur where he lived.  Introduced to some of the upper class including his wife, she eventually found herself the most prized henna artist in the city.  

Lakshmi has even found the money to build a house for herself.  She is about to move in when her world changes forever.  Her husband appears in Jaipur after all these years, demanding money from her.  He has brought someone else.  After Lakshmi ran away, her mother had another daughter that Lakshmi never knew about.  Both their parents are now dead and the sister, Radha, has come to live with Lakshmi.

Lakshmi is determined that Radha will have everything she never did.  She is only thirteen so there is time for her to get an education.  When Lakshmi pleases one of the ruling class, the woman offers to pay for Radha to attend the most prestigious school for girls in the city.  

Lakshmi should be happy but there are cracks in her life.  She has a second stream of income, giving women who are pregnant and don't want to be herbs and drugs to make them miscarry.  This darker money is made in partnership with the man who brought her to the city.  His wife is influential and Lakshmi is attempting to add more income by arranging a marriage for their son.  But when Lakshmi offends this woman, in a mere manner of weeks her entire world collapses as the woman abruptly takes away her support.  

This is a debut novel and was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club choice.  The author was born in India but immigrated to the United States as a teenager.  Her background is in advertising and marketing.  The novel introduces the reader to the culture and fashions of India and the caste system and lack of opportunities for women that was common in the 1950's.  Lakshmi is a strong woman but her strength make her blind at times to the strength of others as she is determined that she knows what is best for everyone.  Her constant maneuvering and willingness to do anything for money is her eventual downfall.  This book is recommended for readers of women's and historical fiction.

All The Little Hopes by Leah Weiss

 

They are best friends but it's a miracle they ever even met.  Lucy Brown is from the eastern part of North Carolina, growing up on a farm with tobacco and bees with her large family.  Now that the War is on, one of her brothers and her brother-in-law are gone overseas.  Her dad is sought out by the government for his bees.  The Army doesn't want the honey so much but needs all the beeswax he can provide for waterproofing tents.

Allie Burt Tucker is from the mountains of North Carolina.  After her mother's death, her father sends her East to help out his sister who is pregnant and needs help.  But when Burt arrives, her aunt doesn't know who she is or why she's there. The aunt hasn't seen her husband in weeks and thinks Burt is after him. She seems on the verge of a breakdown and one night she throws Burt out in a storm and tells her never to return.  Burt makes her way to Lucy's house and eventually moves in with Lucy's family.

With the war on, Lucy's dad has trouble keeping up the work of the farm plus over a hundred hives.  He trains Burt to work with the bees and also uses the help of the town's gentle giant who is a bit slow but a good worker.  Later he even uses German prisoners of war.  There is some talk about them but the men soon show that they are just like most men, some good, some bad.

Burt and Lucy do all the things thirteen year old girls do.  They tell stories, pretend to be detectives and talk about boys.  They do each other's hair.  Over the next couple of years they grow ever closer as they start to become more adult.  Burt has a close call with an older boy who pretends to like her but has other things in mind.  The girls learn about Ouija boards and use one to solve their most puzzling questions although the answers seem strange and hard to interpret.  But most of all they learn to be a family and form a friendship that will never be broken.

Leah Weiss is a bestselling author who never published until after she retired from her career as an executive assistant at a school.  Her first novel, If The Creek Don't Rise, has sold over a 100,000 copies and is also a novel of the rural South.  Weiss was born in Eastern North Carolina.  I was lucky enough to meet her at an author event when her first novel was published and she is a warm and witty woman.  The characters in this book will bring wry smiles of recognition to women as they look back on their own teenage years and the friends they shared their lives with.  This book is recommended for women's fiction readers.

The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter

 

Will Trent and his partner Faith are called out at night to a horrific scene.  A former policeman has been found dead in a abandoned nightclub and there are women's bodies as well.  Worse for Will, it appears that one of the women is his sometime wife, Angie.

Thus starts another case that is tied to Angie and Will's background.  Along with the abuses they suffered as children, there is a woman married to a basketball player who has connections to Angie and possibly Will.  Angie is back to her old tricks, teasing Will with her presence and then disappearing, refusing to concede him to Sarah, who Will is in love with.  Will wants to be with Sarah but childhood bonds keep him tied to Angie as well.  Before the case is done, there will be revelations of domestic abuse, corrupt policemen, rape and drugs.  

This is the ninth Will Trent novel.  Although I've loved him as a character I'm ready for him to either be with Sarah and drop Angie completely or the reverse.  There was not much about Faith and Amanda, their boss, in this novel, but prior novels have given their backstories.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

All Things That Deserve To Perish by Dana Mack

 

Elisabeth von Schwabacher has just returned to her family home in Berlin from three years of music study in Vienna.  She is an accomplished pianist and along with the fact that her father is extremely wealthy will be considered one of the catches of this year's matrimonial events.  But in 1896, there are several things against her as well.  Elisabeth's family is Jewish and there is open discrimination against them in society.  She is also quite outspoken and has returned home with ideas of what women should be able to have outside of a marriage.

Two nobles court her.  One is an old friend but she isn't interested in him romantically.  The other is from an impoverished family although their standing  in society remains high.  Elisabeth is immediately attracted to him but isn't sure she wants to marry anyone.  She decides that this close to the nineteenth century she should be able to do as she pleases and determines that she will take him as a lover.  The noble is more than willing and she does so.  Her family discovers this and are appalled.  They send her away to relatives.

But love will out and the noble and Elisabeth eventually marry.  She goes to his estate only to be shocked at how different it is from the heights of Berlin society.  His family is open with their distaste for her Jewishness as are the other families in the area.  

Dana Mack is a historian, musician and journalist.   This is her debut novel but her articles on various subjects have appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor and the Washington Post.  Her background has made her the perfect author to write this novel about women's changing roles in society and the fact that the Jewish population were being ostracized long before Hitler came to power.  This book is recommended for historical fiction readers.

Midstream by Lynn Sloan

 

Polly Wainwright has drifted through her twenties and early thirties.  She once dreamed of making movies but has settled for a job as a picture editor. She moved from her life in New York back to Chicago when her mother was injured in a car crash and just stayed there.  Polly has a partner but he is a war correspondent and has been overseas covering the end of the Vietnam War and his letters are becoming more and more impersonal.  She has an apartment she likes and a routine that just a bit too comfortable.

Then Polly's world falls apart.  Her steady job is suddenly in jeopardy.  Her best friend is facing a serious illness.  She realizes that her boyfriend may not come home and resume their relationship.  What will she do with the rest of her life which is, she realizes, her responsibility to carve into what she wants?

This is a lovely book.  I felt like Polly was one of my best friends as I could relate so totally with her dreams and struggles.  When I was her age, I knew women who just drifted into a life that fit other people's expectations of what women should do and I knew women who took charge and made their lives what they had always wanted it to be.  The book was set in 1974 and this was the time when the feminist movement was strong and women thought about whether the way things had always been for women was going to be enough for them.  Polly is a character that will remain with readers long after the last page is read.  This book is recommended for readers of women's fiction.

The Prince Of Mournful Thoughts by Caroline Kim

 

These twelve stories by Caroline Kim explore the Korean culture and their immigrant experience through time.  The first story, Mr. Oh, is about a middle-aged man who has come to America.  He has a wife who he loves more than she loves him and two successful grown children.  He has a laundromat and he has unexplained pains and depression that he wants explanations for.  His life hasn't turned out as he imagined and he isn't sure what's next.

My favorite story was Magdelena.  A sixteen year old girl tells about going on a picnic with immigrant families on her birthday and then about going with her mother to check on an older woman from their church.  They find the woman near death, dehydrated and almost starving.  She is obviously on the brink of a psychotic breakdown and the girl's mother calls an ambulance and then accompanies the woman leaving her daughter behind to work out what all of this means.  

Readers who are interested in other cultures will enjoy these stories as will anthology readers.  Kim attempts to convey the entirety of the Korean experience, especially that of those who have been forced to move elsewhere in order to survive.  This book is recommended for anthology readers and those interested in the Asian culture.

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

 

Marion Graves and her twin brother Jamie were only six weeks old when their first brush with notoriety occurred.  They were passengers on the cruise ship their father captained when it ran into trouble and capsized.  Many died including their mother and their father was shamed since he chose to save the babies rather than be the last man on board.  He was imprisoned and the twins were sent to Montana to be raised by his brother.

The uncle had no idea how to raise children and was an alcoholic.  He basically let the children run free and raise themselves.  Marian fell in love with flying when some barnstormers came through town.  She was determined to do whatever it took to learn how to fly, dropping out of school at fourteen so she could earn money.  Marian married young to a bootlegger who wanted to control her.  Marian flew the liquor into the States for him but eventually left him to be free.  She ran to Alaska and took another name, living under the radar and flying visitors and supplies into small Alaskan towns.  

Later she was a pilot in World War II, one of the women who flew transport craft from the factory to where they were needed.  She met Ruth and Eddie, a couple she grew close to.  Ruth was also a pilot and Eddie was a navigator.  After the war, she was at loose ends until she met with a woman of great fortune who offered to sponsor Marian's dream.  That dream was to fly around the world, flying over the North and South poles, a flight that had never been made.  Marian could not be dissuaded and took off with Eddie as her navigator.  They never made it and their bodies were never found although the last sighting of them had been in Antarctica.  

Now, one hundred years later, an actress is hired to portray Marian in a film about her life.  The actress, Haley Baxter, has a fellow feeling for Marian.  Haley's parents had been killed in a plane crash when she was a small child and she was also raised by an uncle.  Haley became a child star in Hollywood and then when a scandal broke, she was hounded off her movie and television career.  She needs a comeback badly and the film about Marian might just provide it.  But as she reads the script, starts to make the film and researches Marian's life, she thinks she has found out some of Marian's biggest secrets.  What should she do with this new information?

Maggie Shipstead has written a novel that is fascinating about a woman who won't be boxed into anyone else's thoughts about what she should do.  The novel has been nominated for both the Man Booker Prize and the Women's Prize For Fiction.  Marion is a mysterious woman, determined to do whatever she chooses rather than following society's strictures.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

Long Gone by Alafair Burke

 

It seems too good to be true.  Alice Montgomery is attending an art exhibit when she is approached by another patron--an attractive, charming man.  They talk and Alice is amazed when the man says that he is helping a friend open an art galley and he is looking for someone to run it.  Alice's last job was in an art galley but since being laid off, she hasn't worked for a year.  She jumps at the chance and agrees to meet the man in the next few days once he has picked out a location.

In New Jersey, a teenage girl runs away.  Was it typical teenage angst or had she run away to escape the bullying she is encountering in high school?  Her mother had never told her about her father but had she run off to try to find him?  The police investigate but don't find much in the way of answers except that her fingerprints are inside the galley that Alice has just opened.

Hank is an FBI agent.  He is obsessed with a man who is a Dirty John figure--he charms women, gets all of their assets in his name then disappears.  The last woman who fell for his schemes is Hank's sister.  The man escaped all charges after her death but Hank is determined to bring him to justice.  He surveils him in his spare time even though he has been warned at work to stop and that unapproved suveillance could cost him his job.

Everything is brought to a head and the disparate threads merge when Alice opens the galley one morning to find it completely stripped of everything; pictures, desks, telephones, office supplies.  The only thing left is a body and it's the body of the man who is Alice's galley contact.  The police question her and her answers don't satisfy them.  It becomes apparent that Alice is the chief suspect and there are questions that the police aren't even investigating.  Can Alice solve the murder?

This is Alafaire Burke's first stand alone novel.  It is fascinating to watch the plot unfold and the various threads weave together into a story that makes sense.  There are hints of relationships that will continue after the case and it is always interesting to think about what happens to people swept up in a police investigation afterwards.  Alice is the archtype of a young woman trying to make it on her own in New York although she has a family that can rescue her when needed.  This book is recommended for mystery fans.

Void Moon by Michael Connelly

 

To the average person, Cassie Black seems like the typical L.A. woman, all business and a bit remote.  She is selling luxury cars but doesn't date the customers who ask her out.  Her boss knows what almost no one else does.  Cassie has just gotten out of prison for manslaughter and is on parole.  Her boss had a similar story at one time and tries to help those in her situation.  The only other person who knows is her parole officer.

Cassie is trying her best to just live her life and get off parole but her itch is back.  She was one of the best cat burglars around and the manslaughter was from a job where things went south and her partner died.  That partner was also the love of Cassie's life and she hasn't been back to Los Vegas since.  But she contacts someone in the business and asks for a job.  She was given the job of stealing from a high roller. He was on a big roll and winning big.  He had a case he kept handcuffed to him whenever he left the tables and Cassie was to steal that case and whatever was in the safe in his room.  The catch: it would have to be done while he was in the room sleeping.

Cassie doesn't like the job.  It's in the same city and even the same casino where her lover was killed.  But she does want the money and agrees to the job.  Things seem to go well and she gets the case but that's the last thing that goes right.  Now she has the owners of the money and the police and a private eye all on her trail.  Can she get away?

This is a standalone novel by Michael Connelly and not one in the Harry Bosch series.  The author obviously researched techniques for safe cracking and installing surveillance cameras as well as picking door locks.  Cassie is a remote figure throughout most of the book as she has learned to be but by the end the reader will be pulling for her to succeed.  This book is recommended for mystery readers. 

Bob Goes To Jail by Rob Sedgwick

 

Rob Sedgwick was born into a wealthy, talented family.  They lived in houses with sixteen bedrooms in New York City, houses with art from names such as Jackson Pollock on the walls.  Rob had two siblings, Kyra Sedgwick, the actress and Nicco, who is an artist.  Rob was an actor with roles in movies and on soap operas.  But apparently that wasn't enough.  From an early age, Rob and his friends experimented with drugs and soon were heavy users.  In his twenties, Rob agreed with a friend to let his grandparent's house, where he was staying while they toured Europe, serve as a safe house for a large marijuana operation.  Rob was thrilled with the money he got and the swagger he acquired as a drug dealer.  He dated a stripper and delighted in taking his friends to watch her perform.  His fantasy world crashed when the DEA showed up at the door and arrested him and the rest of the crew.

Rob was facing jail, perhaps five years or more.  But his family jumped to his defense.  Rob immediately started cooperating with the DEA, naming his accomplices and detailing the operation.  His family obtained an expensive lawyer who gave Rob a checklist of activities to perform before the trial.  Eventually he had his day in court, where he got a four year sentence which was suspended.

Many readers will find this memoir a fun read.  I was less entranced.  The story of rich kids doing whatever they wanted, running wild in New York City and various vacation homes was not appealing.  The contempt he had towards women, ditching his long time girlfriend when she got pregnant and going to prostitutes left a bad taste for me.  While the book was paced in an entertaining fashion and has gotten good reviews from many readers, others will find themselves more appalled than entertained.  This book is recommended for those interested in the New York rich and famous.  

The Hanged Man's Song by John Sandford

 

Kidd calls Bobby his friend although they have never met in person.  They are both computer hackers and Bobby heads up the group of those who make their living this way.  When Kidd can't get in contact with Bobby, he knows its time to make the journey to Bobby's house.  When he gets there, he finds what he had half expected and dreaded--Bobby has been killed.  Worse, the laptop that may hold all the details of who is in the group and what they have been doing for years has been stolen.

With his sometime girlfriend, LuEllen, Kidd and another friend, start to unravel Bobby's life and determine who has killed Bobby and what they plan to do with the information on the laptop.  It's an involved chase and there are other deaths along the way.  Will Kidd be successful?

This is the fourth and final novel in the Kidd series.  It was published in 2004 and eighteen years is a lifetime in computer terms so the technical side is a bit antiquated.  But the story of murder and retribution is fresh and interesting and the reader will be totally involved in the chase.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Booksie's Shelves, May 1, 2022

 

How can it be May already?  This year is flying by.  March Madness was an exciting time this year with my beloved Tarheels making it to the championship game.  I've been a Tarheel fan before Michael Jordan played for them so this was one of the few things that can tear me away from reading.  Our North Carolina spring is gorgeous with forsythia, daffodils, roses and azaleas blooming everywhere.  My birthday was in April so that means lots of new books.  Here's what's come through the door:

1. A Thousand Moons, Sebastian Barry, literary fiction, purchased
2. The Searcher, Tana French, mystery, purchased
3. A Prayer For The Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers, fantasy, won in contest
4. Sleepwalk, Dan Chaon, literary fiction, sent by publisher
5. Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance, Alison Espach, literary fiction, sent by publisher
6. Winter's Reckoning, Adele Holmes, historical fiction, sent by publisher
7. Birds Of California, Katie Cotugno, literary fiction, won in contest
8. Elsewhere, Alexis Schaitkin, literary fiction, sent by publisher
9. The Kingdoms Of Savannah, George Dawes Green, mystery, sent by publisher
10. Blurred Fates, Anastasia Zadeik, literary fiction, sent by publisher
11. Midstream, Lynn Sloan, literary fiction, sent by publisher
12. The Sharp Edge Of Mercy, Connie Hertzberg Mayo, literary fiction, sent by publisher
13. Every Man A Menace, Patrick Hoffman, mystery, purchased
14. A June Of Ordinary Murders, Conor Brady, mystery, purchased
15. Redhead By The Side Of The Road, Anne Tyler, literary fiction, purchased
16. The House At Sea's End, Elly Griffiths, mystery, purchased
17. The Birdwatcher, William Shaw, mystery, purchased
18. Perfidia, James Ellroy, literary fiction, purchased

Here are the ebooks I've bought:

1. Sixteen Ways To Defend A Walled City, K. J. Parker, historical fiction
2. The Folding Knife, K. J. Parker, fantasy
3. Orlando, Virginia Woolf, literary fiction
4. A Death Most Monumental, J.D. Kirk, mystery
5. L. A. Confidential, James Ellroy, literary fiction
6. The Big Nowhere, James Ellroy, literary fiction
7. The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson, fantasy
8. The Well Of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson, fantasy
9. The Hero Of Ages, Brandon Sanderson, fantasy
10. Hounded, Kevin Hearne, fantasy
11. A Line To Kill, Anthony Horowitz, mystery
12. Utopia Avenue, David Mitchell, literary fiction
13. Or Else, Joe Hart, mystery
14. The Book Of Accidents, Chuck Wendig, science fiction
15. L. A. Requiem, Robert Crais, mystery
16. Dream Girl, Laura Lippman, mystery
17. Engines Of Empire, R. S. Ford, science fiction
18. The Heroes, Joe Abercrombie, fantasy
19. The Harlech Beach Killings, Simon McCleave, mystery
20. True North, Jim Harrison, literary fiction
21. Strip, Thomas Perry, mystery
22. A Small Hotel, Robert Olen Butler, literary fiction
23. Broken Verses, Kamila Shamsie, literary fiction
24. Forty Thieves, Thomas Perry, mystery
25. The Fifth Heart, Dan Simmons, horror
26. The Sentence, Louise Erdrich, literary fiction
27. Indigo Slam, Robert Crais, mystery
28. Slow Horses, Mick Herron, spy fiction
29. The Vanishing Triangle, Claire McGowan, true crime
30. The Hand That First Held Mine, Maggie O'Farrell, literary fiction
31. Never See Them Again, M. William Phelps, true crime
32. Voodoo River, Robert Crais, mystery
33. Kiss Of The She-Devil, M. William Phelps, true crime
34. If Looks Could Kill, M. William Phelps, true crime
35. Dead Certain, Peter James, mystery
36. Sharp Ends, Joe Abercrombie, anthology
37. The Little Friend, Donna Tartt, literary fiction
38. The Hidden Soldier, Eoin Dempsey, historical fiction
39. December Park, Ronald Malfi, horror
40. The Bomb Maker, Thomas Perry, mystery
41. The Tiger And The Wolf, Adrian Tchaikovsky, science fiction
42. Count Zero, William Gibson, science fiction
43. Poison Flower, Thomas Perry, mystery
44. Revelator, Daryl Gregory, science fiction
45. The Tiger's Daughter, K. Arsenault Rivera, fantasy
46. The Phoenix Empress, K. Arsenault Rivera, fantasy
47. The Warrior Moon, K. Arsenault Rivera, fantasy
48. Version Zero, David Yoon, science fiction
49. The WVU Coed Murders, Geoffrey Fuller, true crime
50. The Bread The Devil Knead, Lisa Allen-Agostini, literary fiction
51. Salt Lick, Lulu Allison, literary fiction
52. The Crossing Places, Elly Griffiths, mystery
53. Guards! Guards!, Terry Prachett, fantasy
54. Sandman Slim, Richard Kadrey, fantasy
55. The Girl That Was Taken, Charlie Donlea, mystery
56. Little Eyes, Samantha Schweblin, science fiction
57. What Are You Going Through, Sigrid Nunez, literary fiction
58. The Dark Horse, Craig Johnson, mystery
59. Ship Of Magic, Robin Hobb, fantasy
60. God On The Rocks, Jane Gardam, mystery
61. The Treatment, Mo Hayder, mystery

Here's what I'm reading:

1. Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead, Kindle
2. Gathering Storm, Robert Jordan, hardback
3. Long Gone, Alafair Burke, mystery
4. The Kept Woman, Karin Slaughter, kindle
5. The Prince Of Mournful Thoughts, Carolina Kim, paperback
6. Dodge City, Tom Clavin, paperback
7. Bob Goes To Jail, Rob Sedgewick, audio

Happy Reading!

The City Of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

 

Nahri is a very successful con woman in the bazaars of Cairo in the eighteenth century.  She has always had to survive by her wits; she doesn't remember anything about her family or how she got to Cairo.  But things are about to change.  One day she inadvertently summons Dava, a djinn of mighty powers.  He recognizes Nahri as a healer but they are forced to flee Cairo.  Dava feels responsible for Nahri and decides that they must go to the Brass City, Daevabad.  

The two flee across the desert on a long trip.  Along the way, Nahri finds out some history on Dava.  He was a resident of Daevabad, one of three factions in the city.  A war broke out between the groups and war crimes were committed.  Dava's family was massacred and in return, he killed so many of the other side that he was named The Scrouge.  He was enslaved and lived as a slave for many years.  His body died but he is fourteen hundred years old.   All of Nahri's family and the rest of her group were killed in the war and she is the only surviving healer.  As such, Dava believes she will be honored and protected.  The two encounter horrible beasts along the way but eventually arrive.

The emperor of the city welcomes Nahri and tolerates Dava as her companion.  He has two sons.  The elder will be the next emperor but spends his time drinking and partying.  The younger, Ali, has been trained as a warrior since he was a toddler.  There is instant antipathy between he and Dava and both are drawn to Nahri.  Will war break out again with Dava leading the opposing forces?

This is the first of the Daevabad Trilogy.  It was a finalist for both the British and World Best Fantasy Award.  The world building is superb with magical creatures and intricate histories for the various factions.  The rivalry between Dava and Ali is a major pivot point in this book and will be encountered in the others in the trilogy.  The setting is believable and a location and mythology that is not commonly encountered in fantasy.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers who are looking for something a bit different.

Unseen by Karin Slaughter

 

Things are not going well in Macon, Georgia.  A new drug lord has moved into the city and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations thinks he may have inflitrated the police department.  Will Trent has been sent there to work uncover after a tip from Lena Adams, the woman Will's girlfirend, Sarah Linton, blames for her husband's murder.  After Jeffrey was killed, Lena went to Macon and there she met and married Jeffrey's son, Jared.

Men break into Lena and Jared's house to kill them.  Lena manages to kill the men but not before Jared is shot with a shotgun.  Now he is in the ICU and Jared's mother has called Sarah to come to the hospital.  Lena is hiding a secret from the police with the help of a superior officer and that secret is bringing down more death and destruction.  The mayhem and the fact that Will has to be discreet about his undercover role causes issues between Will and Sarah.  Can Will bring down the drug dealing ring before it breaks up his relationship?

This is the seventh book in the Will Trent series.  The conflicts between Sarah and Will are getting a bit old as this book states that they have been together now for two years.  All of the uncertainty and secrets should have been resolved by now.  But the plot is tense and intricate and the resolution is satisfying.  Lena has been painted as a problem individual since she was first introduced and this book gives her back some of her humanity and a way for her to go forward into the future.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Notes From The Burning Age by Claire North

 

Ven has lived through the Burning.  He lived in the monastery, not as a priest but as an archivist who preserved the knowledge of previous ages.  He had the ability to translate these texts that had been largely lost in the populace.  The monastery was very protective of this knowledge, holding it secret so that those who brought about the Burning can't do so again.

But knowledge has a charisma and serves as a lure to those who want power.  In Ven's case, that is The Brotherhood who is determined that Ven will translate every document and give them the tools that will allow them to rule over all.  Ven gives them snippets and becomes a spy against them.  Over the years, he will be held in respect, imprisoned and threatened with torture and degraded daily as the personal slave of a cruel ruler.  With help from his network he manages to escape and raise resistance to The Brotherhood.  Which side will win?

This novel feels like it is set in medieval times.  It is an intricate retelling of how the world almost ended and how it may yet if those who are power hungry gain the secrets of the world before. I listened to this novel and the narrator has the perfect voice to bring Ven to life.   Ven is a fascinating character as are those he encounters both those who are horrific and those who provide care and love.  The author has written many novels and uses several pen names.  Readers will remember her 2014 novel, The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August, which made the Washington Post Books Of The Year list.  This book is recommended for science fiction fans who enjoy dystopian novels.  

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King

 

Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, have been working a case in India for many weeks.  Their next stop will be California but they decide to break the trip with a stay in Japan where neither of them have ever been.  They board a cruise ship for a trip that will take many weeks.  That makes those riding with them very important.  They are thrilled to meet Haruki Sato, a young Japanese woman returning home who agrees to teach them the language and customs of Japan while on the trip.  They are less pleased to see another group of travelers.  Lord Darcy is a figure from Holmes' past and a blackmailer working in the upper reaches of society.  Holmes despises blackmailers and is determined to keep an eye on Darcy, his new wife and his grown son while on the trip.

The couple is shocked when an evening stroll on the ship reveals Haruki balancing far above on a line and more shocked when she confides in them that she is a ninja, the class of warrior below samurai.  She serves the Emperor and more commonly, his son who is Emperor in all but name as the presiding Emperor is in quite bad health.  

When Holmes and Russell reach Japan, Haruki travels with them, introducing them to Japanese baths, food, architecture and inns.  In one of these, they meet the young soon to be Emperor and he requests their help.  Several years before he gave a book to the English king to show appreciation for his hosting.  He learns later that it is a priceless treasure that should never have left Japan and contains a secret document that is critically important.  He is now being blackmailed by Lord Darcy to get the book back.  Russell and Holmes agree to help but the book is lost along with Lord Darcy's life in the blackmail attempt.

Two years later, Russell returns home one night to find Haruki in her kitchen bleeding profusely.  She is in England to try again to retrieve the book and now the blackmail amount is four times as much.  Can she and the Holmes/Russell couple succeed where they failed before?

This is the thirteenth novel in this series and it won the Agatha Award for Best Historical Fiction.  Readers will enjoy reading more about the relationship between the couple as well as their working lives and will learn much about Japan in the 1920's.  This has been a successful series for King and she plans to continue writing novels in it.  This book is recommended for Holmes fans and readers who enjoy historical mysteries. 

The Death Of Santini by Pat Conroy

 

In this autobiographical novel, Pat Conroy details his adult life.  Readers will remember his childhood from his great novel, The Great Santini and his life in high school from the novel based on it, The Prince Of Tides.  Conroy grew up in a Marine family with a fighter pilot for a father.  His father was abusive to Conroy's wife and the seven children, beating them all for little or no reason, making their lives full of anxiety and brutality.

In this book, Conroy details how as an adult, he was reconciled with his father and mother after their divorce.  Conroy himself had three marriages with another long time relationship and three daughters.  But his first two marriages ended in adultery and fighting.  He also reconciled with most of his siblings although the sister who was closest in age to him holds him in contempt and hatred.  The youngest son grew up and lived the life of a schizophrenic and ended up killing himself.  Pat details all of these tragedies and the stories of his extended family on both sides.

In addition, he talks about each book he wrote and what the reaction was to each.  His first book was The Water Is Wide and the people of Beaufort, SC, which was the place he most considered home, were not pleased to be shown as racists who were denying a decent education to the black children descended from the Gullah people.  His novels created outrage and disharmony within his family and his detailing of the brutal education he got at the military college, the Citadel, also was a revelation to many.  But Conroy continued to write his truth and was a very successful novelist.

His third marriage, to Cassandra King, lasted twenty-eight years, ending only with Conroy's death.  Conroy had good relationships with many authors and never forgot a kindness shown to him or to his family.  In my mind, Conroy is one of the great American authors who details the South and the live Southern people live.  This book is recommended for those who enjoy biographies or those who love  the Conroy books.  

Mythic World by Kerby Rosanes

 

Mythic World is a glorious coloring book for adults.  The illustrations are from legends and mythical creatures from around the world.  There are eighty-six pages of incredibly detailed panels to color.  At the back of the book, there are explanations of each legend with the country of origin.  Rosanes is a Phillipines-based illustrator who started his intricate illustrations as a hobby and now works full-time as his fame has grown.  This book is recommended for adults who enjoy coloring.

Shadow Man by Alan Drew

 

Rancho Santa Elena is a bedroom community in California.  Residents come there for the low crime and the excellent public schools, fleeing the dirt and crime of the cities.  The constant construction of new houses is changing the landscape, destroying the ranches and horse trails that had given the city its name.

Detective Ben Wade grew up there.  He left and worked in a city police force but as his daughter, Emma, grew older, he and his wife decided to move back home.  Unspoken was the thought that a move might save his marriage but that didn't work out and his wife, Rachel, is now an ex-wife and Ben lives alone up on the ranch he grew up on.

Now evil has come to the town.  A serial killer is riding the interstates, emerging at night to find victims.  He breaks into houses, often through unlocked doors, and strangles the women he finds there.  The police force is on high alert trying to catch him.  Ben is involved in the case although he is also working the death of a teenage boy found in a strawberry field, the child of immigrants.  Ben worries about his wife and daughter, now alone in a condo and he worries about his town.

Ben was a swimmer at the high school growing up and the teenage boy was also.  Santa Elena has a famous swimming program that produces scholarship level swimmers who win state records and some of whom even make the Olympic team.  But Ben knows there is a dark secret that is the other side of the success and glory that swimming brings the boys.  Somehow it all seems intertwined, the killer, the secrets kept by the city and the boys sacrificed to keep the secret going.  Can Ben save his city?

This is an interesting exploration of several themes.  The erosion of unsettled places as people flee crime, the dark secrets that everyone is suspicious about but not willing to deal with, the effect that teenage trauma can have on adults throughout their lives and the ability to finally confront the evil that has haunted one are all found here.  Readers will be interested in the main character, Ben, and hope that he finds a way forward through the memories that haunt him.  The next book in this series is going to be released later this year and readers will get a chance to see what Ben is like after the events in this book.  This book is recommended for readers of psychological suspense.  

The Water's Lovely by Ruth Rendell

 

Ismay and Heather are sisters and they share a flat.  Their mother and aunt live upstairs as the mother has mental issues.  The sisters are close, perhaps too close, Ismay thinks.  Their mother's troubles started after the death of her husband, the sister's stepfather.  Ismay has always had suspicions that Heather had something to do with that death as the stepfather drowned in the bath and Heather was the only other person home. Ismay wonders if Heather drowned him to protect Ismay from him as he seemed to have more than a stepfather's interest in her.   But nothing was said at the time and now she can't ask Heather about it.

Both of the women have recently found relationships.  Heather has Edmund and she is the first woman Edmund has fallen for.  The two move in together and later marry.  Ismay is madly in love with Andrew but he seems less committed to her. He also desperately despises Heather and Edmund and threatens to leave Ismay unless she gets rid of them.  Then he leaves her anyway for another woman.  When the new woman is found dead, Ismay wonders if Heather is protecting her again.  

Then there is Marion.  Entering her forties, Marion has always had to live by her wits, taking low-paying jobs helping elderly people who she hoodwinks and steals from.  Marion finds out about the earlier death and starts to blackmail Ismay.  How will this play out?

Ruth Rendell specialized in books of psychological suspense.  This book falls into that category.  The reader is drawn into the sisters' lives and the conflicts they are going through.  There are multiple threads, all of which end up being intertwined and satisfactorily resolved.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Innocents by Francesca Segal

 

Adam Newman is twenty-eight, a soon to be partner in an investment firm in London and about to be married.  He has known Rachel all his life and they have been dating since high school.  He works for Rachel's father's firm and their social life includes many family functions and gatherings where he knows everyone since their part of London is full of the people he has known all his life.  Adam is excited and feels that he is about to make the final move towards his adult life.  He thinks Rachel will be the perfect wife and the fact that he knows and loves all her family as she does his makes the prospect even more appealing.

Then it happens.  Rachel's cousin, Ellie, comes back to London from New York.  Ellie's mother was killed in a terrorist attack in Israel when she was a young girl and she grew up in Rachel's house.  She is a model and there are rumors that her life has gone off the track.  Her college has asked her to leave.  She has been in an adult film.  She may have been involved with a scandalous older man whose affairs are now being publicized during his messy divorce. 

Regardless, when Adam sees Ellie, he feels an instant connection.  He feels guilty but feels compelled to find situations where he can see her.  He starts to look at Rachel differently, seeing her as provincial rather than his dream partner.  When his attraction is returned by Ellie, Adam must make a decision.  Which woman will he make his life with?

This is Francesca Segal's debut novel and it has been quite successful.  It was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and won the Costa First Novel award as well as the National Jewish Book Award For Fiction.  She was the person behind the Observer's Debut Fiction column.  The characters in this novel are finely drawn and caught up in a dilemma that many young people face; should they strike out for a life totally new or settle into a life very similar to that of their family?  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

Akin by Emma Donoghue

 

Noah Selvaggio is about to turn eighty.  He is a retired chemistry professor and widower and as he ages his thoughts return to his childhood.  Noah was born in France.  As World War II approached, his father immigrated to the United States while he and his mother stayed behind to attend to his grandfather, a renowned photographer.  When Noah was around four, his mother sent him to join his father, making the long sea voyage by himself.  She stayed in Nice throughout the war, rejoining Noah and his father after the war and having Noah's little sister.

Now Noah is about to return to Nice for the first time and he is quite excited about it.  But right before he is to leave, he is contacted by New York social services.  He has a great nephew he has never met who is eleven and named Michael.  Michael has no one to stay with.  His father died of a drug overdose and his mother is in prison.  He had been staying with his grandmother but she has just died also.  Noah is the only relative who can be located.  Reluctantly, Noah agrees to take Michael with him while social services continues to look for a younger relative who will give Michael a home.

So the two take off, eighty and eleven.  There is a huge gap in knowledge between the two.  Noah knows what an adult knows and is surprised how little of his knowledge Michael has studied.  Michael is appalled at how technology illiterate Noah is and how little he knows of current culture and phrases.  Somehow the two find enough of a common ground to get by.  Once in Nice, Noah revisits scenes from his childhood and he believes that he has discovered a shameful secret about his mother.  Michael helps him with his research into his mother's life and provides a different viewpoint from Noah's.  The two start to gel together but of course this relationship is only temporary.

Emma Donoghue has written a heartwarming novel with memorable characters.  Michael has had about as much bad luck thrown at him as a child can and remains a charming individual overlaid with teenage angst.  Noah is a fairly fussy elderly man whose viewpoint may be changed being around this young boy.  The story of their discoveries both about history and their own natures will charm the reader.  This book is recommended for readers of family relationships and literary fiction.

Lucky Alan by Jonathan Lethem

 

In this anthology, the reader gets a look into the mind of Jonathan Lethem.  There are nine stories.  The first is the title story and is about a theatre director living in Manhattan and a financial investor.  The two meet on the street as they live in the same neighborhood and strike up a friendship.  The director is older but the other man is young and seems wealthy.   After a visit abroad, he returns with an Asian wife who then becomes pregnant.  The man dies soon after his child is born and the director comes to question their friendship.

Some of the stories are obscure and others are very relatable.  My personal favorite was the last story which is titled Pending Vegan.  It is about a family man taking his wife and two daughters to Sea World, unfortunately after deciding to take himself off an antidepressant.  

Jonathan Lethem is considered one of our better novelists.  He was a MacArthur Fellow and has won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.  Some of his better known novels include Dissident Gardens, Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress Of Solitude, The Feral Detective and A Gambler's Anatomy.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

Chaos by Patricia Cornwell

 

Dr. Kay Scarpetta should be feeling fine.  It's a hot summer evening in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and she's walking to a fine restaurant to have supper with her husband.  Along the way, she encounters a young English woman on a bicycle several times and they stop and chat a bit.  Her husband is waiting and they order a wonderful meal.  That's about as good as it gets.

As they sit Kay and her husband both get calls which can only mean a suspicious death has occurred. Kay is the chief medical examiner while her husband is an FBI profiler.  Kay's investigative partner, Pete, comes by and picks her up. They drive to a park and there they find the body of the young woman Kay had met on her stroll, now dead with no apparent cause.

There are other things happening to Kay.  Someone is posting items about her on social media claiming that she is erratic and shouldn't be trusted with such a sensitive job.  Her husband and partner have both been getting false emergency calls, close to the situation implying knowledge but claiming to come from official sources which isn't true.  Kay has been getting threatening emails.  She suspects this could be the psychopath who has been tracking her niece for some time and who is back on the loose after escaping the secured psychiatric hospital where she had been imprisoned.

This is the 24th Kay Scarpetta novel.  Those who have been following the series will be interested in the further events in the lives of the continuing characters.  Those who are reading this as a stand alone will get enough of the background to make it an enjoyable read.  As always, Kay finds a way to solve the intriguing death and the events happening in the background that are the true cause.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

New Teeth by Simon Rich

 

In this anthology, Simon Rich demonstrates what makes him such an up and coming comedy writer.  From pirates who adopt a little girl who makes them mend their wild ways to a giant ape who saved a city but now has no job and feels out of things to a two year old detective on the case of his sister's missing unicorn to the true story of Babe Ruth and how he became the famous ballplayer reimagined, the humor and inventiveness of the author is apparent.  Readers will go from fondly smiling to laugh out loud chortles as they read these delightful stories.

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.

Criminal by Karin Slaughter

 

Will Trent has never been this confused.  He is in love, he thinks, with Sara Linton, the doctor that has come into his life, but he is still married to Angie.  That marriage is a joke with her disappearing for months at a time but he has known her for most of his life and its hard to break away.  He seems to be in trouble at work since his supervisor, Amanda Wagner, has sent him to the dreaded airport bathroom scene to work instead of using him on criminal cases.

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.

Knife Of Chaos by Robert Jordan

 

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.

Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker

 This book discusses the events between World War I and World War II.  It is written in short vignettes that demonstrate how the feeling about the war was cultivated and how opinions of the general populace changed as time went by.  It covers the years between the early 1920s and when the United States declared war after Pearl Harbor.

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.

Day For Night by Jean McNeil

 

Richard Cottar is a movie director.  His films have brought him critical acclaim.  He is about to start a new movie, a biography of the German Jewish philosopher, Walter Benjamin.  Benjamin fled Germany with the rise of the Nazi's, living in several locations such as Ibiza, Nice and Paris.  He fled France as the Nazi's conquered it, crossing the French-Spanish border with a visa to the United States.  But although the town they entered was supposed to be neutral, Benjamin's group was told upon arrival that they would be turned over to the Germans the next day.  Benjamin committed suicide.

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.

All The Colors Of Darkness by Peter Robinson

 

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.

Things We Do In The Dark by Jennifer Hillier

 

Paris has lived a hard life.  As a child, she was the victim of vicious child abuse.  Her mother, it turned out, was a cold-blooded killer known as The Ice Queen after killing her lover.  Paris had testified at the trial and her testimony sent her mother to prison for life with parole possibility after twenty-five years.  Paris was sent to live with relatives who resented her presence.  As soon as she turned eighteen, she ran off and made her way the best she could, a way that included stripping in a men's club.

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.

The Moral Lives Of Animals by Dale Peterson

 In this book, author Dale Peterson questions the commonly heard thought that humans are the only creatures with morality.  He suggests that many animals exhibit the same behaviors and cites interesting and pertinent facts that illustrate his theories.  

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.