29 SECONDS (2019)

29 Seconds by T.M. Logan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There seems to be much repetition and hand wringing by our heroine Sarah in the beginning; but once things start to happen, you'll read right through until the end. A perfect summer choice.

FIRST LINE: "The Rules were simple enough."

THE STORY: Sarah has been playing the academic game and waiting patiently for her reward - a permanent seat on the faculty. Her boss is a well-known BBC personality and a terrible womanizer. He is making Sarah's life unbearable.

Then one day she is given a gift. Having stopped a kidnapping, the child's wealthy father offers Sarah the chance to name a person she would like to disappear. She has 72 hours to decide, but things are never that simple.

You may think you know where this story is going, but there are lots of twists and turns. What a surprising ride!

WHAT I THOUGHT: This is my second book by T.M Logan. My first one was Lies, which I actually liked better; but this was still another great read. The sexual harassment Sarah endures will resonate with many readers.

BOTTOM LINE: Recommended. Watch for T.M. Logan's newest title The Holiday, which is currently only available in the United Kingdom.

Disclaimer: A copy of 29 Seconds was provided to me by MacMillan/Net Galley for an honest review.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher:  Macmillan Press/September 10, 2019
ISBN-10: 1785770802
ISBN-13: 978-1785770807

Bestselling author TM Logan was a national newspaper journalist before turning to novel-writing full time. His debut thriller LIES was one of Amazon UK's biggest ebooks of 2017, selling 350,000 copies and gathering more than 1,400 5-star reviews so far. It was published in the USA in September 2018 and has also come out in South Korea, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Romania and the Netherlands.
(From Amazon)

THE STOLEN MARRIAGE: A NOVEL 2017

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first book I have been able to finish in quite a while. Definitely a beach read but it was hard to put down. Something happens in every chapter that makes you want to turn just one more page.

THE FIRST LINE: "It's a terrible feeling, being despised."

THE STORY: Tess and Vincent have loved each other all their lives and plan to marry, but one fateful weekend changes everything. Tess ends up marrying another man and moving to Hickory, North Carolina where she endures a loveless marriage. How she finds herself during the polio epidemic of 1944 is historically fascinating.

WHAT I THOUGHT: This is my second Diane Chamberlain and it appears that her formula is similar. Her chic-lit stories feature young women allowing secrets to complicate their lives. This plot has everything but the kitchen sink, but you'll keep reading until all the secrets are revealed. My lack of enthusiasm is a minority. Other readers adore everything Dian Chamberlain has written.

Historical fiction is not my first choice but this book incorporates an event that actually happened.

"In June 1944, the citizens of Hickory built a hospital in 54 hours to save their children from the worst polio outbreak that had ever hit the United States. Looking back now, even knowing the results – 13 wards erected, doctors and nurses flocking in by the dozens, hundreds of patients treated and released, with only 12 deaths, one of the country’s lowest-ever rates for polio – the enormity of the undertaking still bewilders." (Charles D. Dixon, Hickory NC)

As a matter of fact, I found myself talking about this to my book group mostly because of the historical aspects. I have called Diane Chamberlain's work 'Nancy Drew stories for adults' but that isn't fair. I was drawn into the story because so many of the outrageous things mirrored parts of my own life and many other women. Besides when I was growing up, I read every Nancy Drew I could find. It's good to know that there are tons of other titles waiting for me to pick up!

Title: The Stolen Marriage

Author: Diane Chamberlain

Genre: Women's Fiction

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

No. of Pages: 384

Copyright: October 3, 2017

ISBN-10: 1250087279

ISBN-13: 978-1250087270

Disclaimer: An advanced reading copy (ARC) of this book was provided to me by St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for an honest review.

DIANE CHAMBERLAIN is the international bestselling author of more than 25 novels published in more than twenty languages, including The Broken String and The Silent Sister. She lives in North Carolina with her partner, photographer John Pagliuca, and her shelties, Keeper and Cole.

ACADEMY GIRLS (2015)

Academy Girls by Nora Carroll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A perfect book to read on a crisp autumn day! Filled with poetry, mystery, and the angst of young women, this book will appeal to those who want a lighter version in the vein of Donna Tart's The Secret History or have enjoyed Carol Goodman's Lake of Dead Languages.

THE STORY:  Thirty-five years after leaving, Jane Milton has come back to Grove Academy with her teen-aged son Charlie. Their world has collapsed and she has one last chance to put it back together. Given the opportunity to teach English, for which she is totally unprepared, Jane fights to overcome her memories of dark secrets in the past. When her least favorite student starts submitting stories that seem all too familiar, Jane knows she has to discover the truth before it is too late.

WHAT I THOUGHT: Told in the present and the past, the layers of deception and deceit are slowly pealed away. The reader becomes invested in the characters. And the poetry of Emily Dickinson woven through the story is a wonderful bonus to this truly compelling mystery.

FIRST SENTENCE: "At the Grove Academy, we learned three immutable lessons" literature is a kind of religion, only failures get married, and though we would eventually leave the academy, the spirit of the Grove would always stay with us."

BOTTOM LINE: I have read that you should write the book that you would want to read. Nora Carroll has written that book for me. Gothic, mysterious, and in a beautiful private school setting, this was a book I didn't want to put down until there were no more pages left.

DISCLAIMER: Invited by Net Galley to request and receive this title for an honest review.

Title: Academy Girls

Author: Nora Carroll

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Publisher:  Lake Union Publishing

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

No. of Pages:512 pages

Copyright: September 15, 2015

ISBN-10: 1503947440

ISBN-13: 978-1503947443

"Nora Carroll is a pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Letts. As Nora Carroll, she writes multi-layered novels filled with the things she loves most-- rambling houses, old letters and manuscripts, and most importantly, the mysteries of love, women, and family." (from Amazon)

BROKEN PROMISE (2015)

It took me long enough to get around to reading one of my favorite thriller writers! I won a copy from the Good Reads First Reads Contest back in May. Where did May and June go? It's a long story. I am now working to get back to the business of reading and writing reviews.

Once I actually was able to start reading Linwood Barclay's Broken Promise, I devoured the book in my usual way. Two days tops.

We're back in Promise Falls, New York, where  previous stories have taken place. Those of us who have read Barclay's books will recognize David Harwood and his son from Never Look Away (2010).

THE STORY: With a demanding job at the Boston Globe, single parent David Harwood cannot find enough time to spend with his son. The solution he chooses is to go back home and work for the local paper in Promise Falls. Things start going wrong immediately.

By the end of the story it was obvious that not all the mysteries raised in this book were going to be addressed. When I did a little research, I discovered that this is the first book in what will be a three books series the second and final installments being released at nine month intervals.

WHAT I THOUGHT: Reading one of Barclay's thrillers, there is always the relief that one's own life is safe from the cascade of bad things that are happening to these good people. That seems to be his formula. The author creates impossible scenarios for the protagonist so the reader will wonder how in the world the story threads can possibly be untangled.

With a nod to modern culture and characters enduring the same life problems, it's easy to relate and wonder 'what would I do' in this circumstance.

FIRST SENTENCE: "A couple of hours before all hell broke loose, I was in bed, awake since five, pondering the circumstances that had returned me, at the age of forty-one, to my childhood home."

BOTTOM LINE: If you don't intend to read the other two books, you will find the ending unsatisfactory. Otherwise it's a quick and engrossing read. RECOMMENDED.

DISCLAIMER: I won an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of this book from the Good Reads First Reads project.

Title: Broken Promise

Author: Linwood Barclay

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: NAL

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

No. of Pages: 512

Copyright: July 28, 2015

ISBN-10:  0451472675

ISBN-13: 978-0451472670

"Linwood Barclay is an American-born Canadian author, noted as a novelist, humourist, and columnist. His popular detective novels are bestsellers in Canada and internationally, beginning with No Time for Goodbye in 2007." Wikipedia
 

SHIRLEY: A NOVEL (2014)

Shirley by Susan Merrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you've ever read a Shirley Jackson story (The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, etc.), you are unlikely to forget it.

Against my better judgment, I accepted the invitation from Net Galley to read an early edition of Susan Scarf Merrell's second novel due out June 12, 2014, which is described as imagining a young fictional couple moving in with the real author and her family. The description of the book as a 'psychological thriller' sounded interesting.

Original in its concept, Shirley: A Novel is about obsession. I would not describe it as a psychological thriller. The young wife, Rose, wants to be and have what Shirley Jackson has no matter the consequences. Her academic husband, Fred, is enthralled with his mentor Stanley Hyman, Shirley's husband. During their time with the author in Bennington, Vermont around 1964, their daughter Natalie is born, and our unreliable narrator tells her tale.

First let me say, that I have avoided reading what is called 'fan fiction' although Susan Scarf Merrell's book seemed special in several ways.

The majority of reviews beginning to appear are enraptured with the book, but one person wrote about some of the things that bothered me. Check out The Fictionalization of Shirley Jackson by Hope Leman.

Whose story is this to tell? How would you feel is someone decided to write a story about your parents, your family, making things up that may or may not be fact and adding fictional elements that the wide readership will have no way of knowing to be true or not. The family had four children, whom I believe are all living . Stanley Hyman, who was a well known figure, is portrayed as a drunken leech. Our heroine Rose is suspicious that Shirley Jackson was involved in some way with the (true) disappearance of a young woman who may or may not have been one of Stanley's students.

Because I 'read' this book on my Kindle, it was interesting to see how many passages I highlighted and how many times I bookmarked a page and put the book down. Susan Scarf Merrell's writing is highly descriptive. I am usually proud of the fact that I am able to intuit a wider vocabulary that I actually possess but I was constantly looking up the meanings to words in this very literate work.

Bottom Line: RECOMMENDED with reservations. This book will not appeal to everyone although I think it will generate favorable reviews and possibly spark a renewed interest in the works of Shirley Jackson.

Title: Shirley
Author: Susan Scarf Merrell
Genre: Literate fiction
Publisher: Blue Rider Press
ISBN: 0399166459
No. of Pages: 288 pages
Copyright: June 12, 201
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: NetGalley

DISCLOSURE: Invited by NetGalley to request and receive this title for an honest review.

Susan Scarf Merrell is an American author specializing in the novel, short story, and essay. A graduate of Cornell University's College of Arts & Sciences, Susan Scarf Merrell received her MFA from The Bennington Writing Seminars at Bennington College and currently teaches in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton. (Source: Wikipedia)

MURDER ON THE HOOF: A MYSTERY (2014)

Murder on the Hoof: A Mystery by Kathryn O'Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of my favorite things is to have a new book in my hands (or on my Kindle). Considering how terribly cold and snowy it has been, I was more than excited when I received an advanced reading copy (ARC) of Kathryn O'Sullivan's sequel to FOAL PLAY. After all, the setting is once again a picturesque North Carolina beach village and it's August!

Using the Wild Horses of Corolla as a center piece, both stories feature Colleen McCabe, the Fire Chief and her budding relationship with Sheriff Bill Dorman. Throw in a host of eccentric locals (this time involved with putting on a community theater production to raise money for the horses), a famous actress in town to film a movie, a couple of unexpected deaths, and you have a delightful beach read. (The book goes on sale May 6, 2014.)

Much like the popular television program MURDER SHE WROTE, O'Sullivan's storytelling is on solving the puzzle. But while Cabot's Cove doesn't actually exist, Corolla and its horses are real. Road trip anyone?

You can read either book as a stand alone, but I suggest starting with FOAL PLAY, which was published as a result of winning the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition last year. These are quick reads and we're all going to be waiting to see what the author comes up with next!

Bottom Line:  Recommended for cozy mystery readers!

Title: Murder on the Hoof: A Mystery
Author: Kathryn O'Sullivan
Genre: Cozy mystery
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: 1250049466
No. of Pages: 272 pages
Copyright: May 6, 2014
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: ARC from author

DISCLOSURE: Disclaimer: The author and I share an alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University's theatre department.

Kathryn O'Sullivan is a playwright, co-executive producer/creator/writer of the multi-award-winning Western web series THURSTON (www.thurston-series.com) and a theatre professor at Northern Virginia Community College. She lives in Virginia with her husband, a director and cinematographer, and their rascally rescue cat, Oscar.  Her play MOVING DAY will be published in "The Best Ten-Minute Plays 2014" by Smith & Kraus, Inc. (Source: Good Reads)

Where Monsters Dwell (2014)

Where Monsters Dwell by Jørgen Brekke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For those who love Steig Larson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I give you  Jørgen Brekke's Where Monsters Dwell. Perhaps the book would receive a better rating from me if I were one of you.

There were lots of aspects of the story that were of interest to me initially. The  three main story lines involve a monk in the 16th Century who possesses a unique human-skin covered book connected to early dissection of the human body and two horrific modern day killings, one in Richmond, Virginia and the other in Trondheim, Norway.

Establishing all the exposition takes a while but eventually the story draws the reader in as connections between the two murders become more obvious.

Richmond homicide detective Felicia Stone travels to Norway to work with Police Inspector Odd Singsaker. I found myself caring for the flawed but compelling characters.

One expects unpleasantness in a thriller, but this story contains too much specific detail for my personal taste. You can expect to find multiple murders, scenes of torture, sexual abuse, gratuitous sex, drug overdoses, and much more. Many characters have back stories that don't seem to move the action forward although when you realize that this is #1 of what has become a popular series in Norway, it makes more sense. Brekke has written two more entries.

Reluctantly I have to say that this is a strong debut. Some of the writing seems awkward so I decided to check out the translator. Steven T. Murray, has great credentials. Under the pseudonym, Reg Keeland, he is credited for all the Steig Larsson books. I still can't decide if the passages of uneven writing are the results of the author's or translator's work or a combination of both.

Bottom Line: RECOMMENDED with reservations about horrific violence. For those who enjoy authors Steig Larsson or Thomas Harris' The Silence of the Lambs.

Title: Where Monsters Dwell

Author:  Jørgen Brekke

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Minotaur Books

No. of Pages: 368 pages

Copyright: February 11, 2014

ISBN:  1250016800

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Source: NetGalley

Disclaimer: An advance copy of Where Monsters Dwell was provided to me by Minotaur/Net Galley for review purposes.

Jørgen Brekke was born in Horten, Norway. After completing his studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, he settled in Trondheim, where he currently lives with his wife and three children. Brekke taught school for some years, but recently has worked as a freelance journalist. Where Monsters Dwell, was on the Norwegian bestseller lists for four months and has been sold in twelve countries.

Death Angel (2013)

Death Angel by Linda Fairstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been awhile since I have read one of Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper stories. What I enjoy is how she weaves secrets of New York City into her procedurals. This time the crime occurs in Central Park and becomes connected to the Dakota allowing her to share wonderful historical and present day information about those locations.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy through Net Galley. This title will go on sale July 30, 2013.


View all my reviews

 

My Top Ten Summer Reads 2013

Everyone seems to be making lists these days; and since I feel I have been lucky in my reading choices so far this year, I have made my own. Being an enthusiastic reader, I might have made a longer list but here are reads I consider 'sure things' in no particular order.

Beautiful Ruins - Jess Walter
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Banks of Certain Rivers - Jon Harrison (e-book only)
The Dinner - Herman Koch
Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
Rage Against the Dying - Becky Masterman
Reconstructing Amelia - Kimberly McCreight
Someday, Someday Maybe - Lauren Graham
Foal Play - Kathryn O'Sullivan

Some are thrillers, some are mysteries, and some are love stories.

Bob and Ray, Keener Than Most Persons (2013)

Bob and Ray, Keener Than Most Persons by David Pollock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I haven't laughed so much in a long time. David Pollock's story of Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding, seminal comedians for five decades, is funny and  fascinating. He has included reminders throughout the book of the wonderful routines and pranks these two pulled off. One of my favorite recurring characters was Charles the Poet, who read flowery poems until he dissolved in giggles. I loved that as a child.

Bottom Line: If you remember Bob and Ray, you will find this investigation of them and the long list of other performers they inspired a most worthy read.

This was my first request on Net Galley. I remembered Bob and Ray from growing up listening to radio with my mother, and I thought I would be more likely to get accepted for a pre-publication copy with a specialty book rather than popular fiction everyone else was requesting. I thought I was doing the publisher a favor when in fact they were doing one for me.

David Pollock did a ton of research and parts of the book can be confusing and a bit repetitive. The reader has the same problem of differentiating the two men who were Bob and Ray in the book as apparently people did in real life, but eventually that gets sorted out. I have a much better sense of them as individuals and what each brought to the comedy team.

What struck me was so much of my humor was centered around words. We listened to the radio. We listened to comedy albums. As the world embraced television, the visual aspect of comedy took over until today humor is 'funny home videos' of people hurting themselves and/or doing stupid physical things.

Pollock has provided not just the story of Bob and Ray but a history of the shift in radio to television. For someone my age, recognizing so many names of the people Bob and Ray inspired and performed with is a wonderful journey down memory lane.

Disclaimer: A copy of Bob and Ray, Keener Than Most Persons was provided to me by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books/Net Galley for review purposes.

Title: Bob and Ray, Keener Than Most Persons

Author: David Pollock

Genre: Entertainment/Non-Fiction/Biography

Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books

No. of Pages: 320 pages

Copyright: May 14, 2013

ISBN: 1557838305

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Source: NetGalley

David Pollock, with writing partner Elias Davis, has written for The Steve Allen Show, The Don Rickles Show, The Carol Burnett Show, All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Cheers, and Frasier, and wrote nightclub material for Jack Benny. Their play, Points in Time, was produced by the South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, Calif. They have won an Emmy, a Peabody, a Writers Guild and two Humanitas awards. Pollock lives in Los Angeles and is available for interview.

View all my reviews

The Burgess Boys (2013)

 The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although it took me a few pages to identify and relax into the slower pace of Strout's story, after a steady diet of thrillers and lighter weight reads, I found myself ultimately absorbed in this exploration of human relationships.

Back in 2008 I attempted to read the top ten fiction books according to Entertainment Weekly. Elizabeth Strout's collection of short stories featuring Olive Kitteridge was on the list and I loved the book. Then it won a Pulitzer. So The Burgess Boys was of great interest.

Bottom Line: A worthy read but make sure you are prepared for lots of introspection and sadness with just a flicker of hope.

The original tragedy of the story has occurred years earlier when children are left in a car and one releases the brake causing their father's death. Now grown-ups, oldest son Jim is a well-known celebrity lawyer while his sad sack brother Bob, is also a lawyer but for Legal Aid. They live very different lives in New York City.

There is another sibling, Susan, the youngest, and Bob's twin. She has continued to live a divorced life in small town Maine with her inscrutable son Zack.

Zack commits what many consider a 'hate crime' directed at Somali refugees living in Shirley Falls. The family comes together in response to this crisis but things spin out of control.

Without being judgmental, Strout sketches the contrast between life in a small town with that of the big city. She creates a world  where we can examine our own family relationships. We also learn something about what it must be like to be a refugee in a foreign country and Strout handles all the characters with grace and compassion.

One of my favorite quotes : "And it was too late. No one wants to believe something is too late, but it is always becoming too late, and then it is."

Disclaimer: I got my copy of The Burgess Boys in electronic format from NetGalley after seeing a number of mentions and reviews.

Author: Elizabeth Strout

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Random House (March 26, 2013)

No. of Pages: 336 pages

Copyright:

ISBN: 1400067685

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Source: pre pub from NetGalley

A Pulitzer Prize winner for Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout is also a New York Times bestselling author who has won a number of awards. Interested in writing, she earned an undergraduate degree in English and later a law degree. She lives in Maine and New York City.

NORTH OF HOLLYWOOD (2012)

North of Hollywood by Rick Lenz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Getting to know Rick Lenz through his memoir North of Hollywood was great fun especially since I live in his hometown of Jackson, Michigan.

Those of us who are consumers of entertainment forget that only a chosen few rise to the top supported by an army of talented performers who, perhaps through no fault of their own, just didn't quite become the famous star they were shooting for.

Lenz gives us an insider's view of what it means to have a career that never quite soars. He is willing to let us see a bit of the craziness and frustration involved. But he remains kind, never naming the well-known person responsible for introducing his daughter to hard drugs.

Make no mistake. This book is not literature. It is episodic, loosely connected, and random. Some readers/reviewers seemed to have trouble following. If you just go along for the ride, you will have a great time remembering all the famous people, movies, and plays mentioned.

Anyone who has attempted to become a performer will recognize the struggle. If you ever had a dream in your life of becoming famous but gave up and decided to do something else, read this book. It may put things in perspective for you!

View all my reviews

FOAL PLAY (2013)

Foal Play: A Mystery by Kathryn O'Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 “Fire Chief Colleen McCabe enjoys working with her men at the firehouse and sharing a home with her border collie Sparky. But when a dead body washes up on shore, she knows trouble has arrived in Corolla.”

Bottom Line: Recommended for cozy readers everywhere!

As a young girl I loved the seashore, horses, and mysteries, so Foal Play was a natural choice for my reading list for a month in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I was lucky to receive an advanced reading copy (ARC) from the author.

Kathryn O'Sullivan's mystery is being published as a result of  winning the Malice Domestic/St. Martin’s Minotaur competition for Best First Traditional Mystery novel, and that's where I first heard about it.

All the expected elements are present to make this a very readable cozy: a great location, a slue of amusing characters, a handful of possible villains, a winning amateur sleuth, and the horses. There are, however, a couple of shocks I didn't expect in a cozy.

Did you know about the threatened herd of Spanish mustangs on the coast of North Carolina? I didn't. And there really is a Corolla, North Carolina as well as a Whalehead Club and the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. If you're like me, you'll be looking for pictures and more information. Road trip, anyone?

If this doesn't turn into a series for author Kathryn O'Sullivan, I will be very surprised. By the time I got to the hilarious funeral service scene in the church, I knew this would make a  great caper movie too. It's great fun.

Having a woman as the Fire Chief of a small town in a tourist area, opens up all kinds of possibilities. Did I mention she and the Sheriff seem attracted to each other?

Make sure you get your copy when the book lays down in May so you can take it to the beach this summer. You won't be sorry.

Disclaimer: The author and I share an alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University's theatre department.

Title: Foal Play

Author: Kathryn O’Sullivan

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Minotaur (May 7, 2013)

No. of Pages: 272

Copyright: 2013

ISBN: 1250026598

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Source: Advance Reading Copy

"Kathryn O'Sullivan is also an award-winning playwright and creator of the Western Web series Thurston, and a theatre professor at Northern Virginia Community College. She lives in Virginia with her husband, an award-winning director and cinematographer, and their rascally rescue cat, Oscar."

IN THE WIND (2008)

In the Wind by Barbara Fister
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Barbara Fister was recommended to me by a friend whose judgement I trust. We often separately choose to read the same authors. And when she mentioned that the author was also a librarian, I had to see what I could find. Unfortunately, my library didn't own either of her two mysteries. But Interlibrary loan found me both titles at the Delta Township District Library!

I quickly read In The Wind (2008) and enjoyed it. I probably won't be able to read the second title Through the Cracks before it is due back to the library. Reading time is going to be at a premium now that the holiday season is underway.

The book's cover carries a quote that Barbara Fister is "the heir apparent to Sara Paretsky" and having read Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series, I concur. Actually in some ways they seem almost too similar in concept. But on reflection, Barbara Fister has actually created something a little more than unique.

The following quote took me so by surprise that I felt the need to copy it:

"By the way, December twenty-sixth isn't just the day after Christmas. It's the anniversary of the largest mass execution in the nation's history. In 1862, officials in Minnesota hanged thirty-eight Dakota Indians for alleged involvement in the Sioux Uprising. Following the mass hanging, the entire Dakota Nation was deported from the state, the men shipped off to prison, the women, children, and elders put on boxcars and sent to a godforsaken part of South Dakota with nothing but burlap sacks to keep themselves warm. I'll bet you don't remember this from history class."

Anni Koskinen, an ex-Chicago cop, now trying to earn a living as a P.I., struggles with her strong conscience concerning right and wrong. It is fascinating to see how today's counterintelligence practices aren't much different than what was going on during the Vietnam War era, and Anni gets caught in the middle when she is asked to help a good woman accused of crimes in the past. Complications escalate when the F.B.I. becomes involved targeting everyone including Anni's older brother Martin, who is autistic.

This definitely is a 'literate mystery'. Barbara Fister writes beautifully and creates a world we want to explore.

View all my reviews

 

Saskatoon Library Recommendations Just for ME!

I like to hang out on Twitter and see what's going on and this past week some excitement was generated by the Saskatoon Public Library offering to make recommendations based on the last three books you'd read.

Goodreads informs me that I have 79 titles in my 'to read' list and that's BEFORE I add these!

The three books I sent them were: Louise Penny's The Beautiful Mystery; Lisa Scottoline's Look Again; and Linwood Barclay's Trust Your Eyes. That's two for Canada and one for the U.S.

Here're the impressive suggestions that were made.

Like Scottoline's strong female protagonist: 

• Guilt by Degrees by Marcia Clark
• Night Watch by Linda Fairstein

Like Barclay's suspense:

• Until the Night by Giles Blunt
• Love You More by Lisa Gardner

For Canadian settings with interesting characters:

• Kaleidoscope by Gail Bowen
• Follow Me Down by Marc Strange

I've read Gardner and Fairstein and heard of Blunt. Otherwise these are new new names to me. I give the Saskatoon Public Library staff an A+ and that's before I even start reading!

DISCLAIMER: I live in the U.S. and have never been to the Saskatoon Public Library. I LOVE libraries!

LOOK AGAIN (2012)

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's a mystery how it happens; but no matter what is next on my reading list, other titles sneak in. Right now there are a ton of books awaiting my serious attention, but I mindlessly picked up Lisa Scottoline's LOOK AGAIN (2009) at the library recently. When I went to pick up my planned read, there it was. So once again I indulged my randomness.

Scanning the list of other titles, I realized I have read most, if not all, of Scottoline's work since I first discovered EVERYWHERE THAT MARY WENT, the start of her Benny Rosato series.

LOOK AGAIN is a free-standing novel about a newspaper reporter who has adopted a young boy after writing a series of articles on seriously ill children. Everything is fine until a mass mailed postcard arrives saying 'Have you seen this child?' Unable to ignore her doubts, she begins on a journey that may lead to every Mother's worst nightmare.

Scottoline is a good storyteller and this book is an absolute roller coaster for the reader. DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED.

View all my reviews