THE GOODE WORD

Mammoth, by Jill Baguchinsky

2018-10-24T19:22:00.001-07:00

Natalie Page is a difference-maker already at the age of 16, but she is about to hit a new high. She accepts a coveted slot in the intern program at an Ice Age paleontological dig near Austin, Texas, believing it is a dream come true. She is already a blogger focusing on dynamite fashion looks in plus size clothing, but adds her enthusiasm for all things paleontological to the mix in her daily blog.

Her family and close friends are supportive and for the most part, encouraging but she does have a
history of humiliating experiences with bullies as a child. She has built up protective armor emotionally to shield herself, but has not forgotten hurtful comments and behaviors that have made her a focus of unwelcome negative attention. She quickly sets herself apart from the other interns as she reveals a depth of knowledge about digging skills and of distinguishing bones long buried from rocks in the muddy river bank. Except for one or two, the interns accept her readily, but the adult staff is guardedly skeptical. She occasionally side steps rules for what she seems to think is the greater good. But to people in charge, rules are rules. She soon finds herself on probation.

The opportunity to work with the scientist she most admires in the field of paleontology sours when he publicly claims credit for her discovery. The only thing worse that can happen does: a cutting comment on his blog referring to her body image in the photo he uses to show "his" discovery.

Natalie is destined to learn more about trust, perseverance, and integrity than she does about paleontology this summer, and the "plus" is that she learns the value of accepting herself as she is rather than trying to be someone else.

Jill Baguchinsky has created a great read for middle school girls and older. I enjoyed the book, but I could wish for a little less of the casual use of the F word. Mammoth has a strong female protagonist and a positive message about girls choosing careers in science, so lots to recommend it.

I am grateful for the opportunity to read and review the book courtesy of LibraryReads and Turner Publishing Company. Expected publication is early November 2018, so start requesting it now!

First Light, by Bill Rancic

2018-10-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

First Light tells the story of survivors of a crash landing in a remote area of Canada in the midst of a bitter winter storm. But it is told from the perspective of two people who survived and were able to re-establish a "normal" life back in Chicago. Ten years later they receive an invitation to a reunion of survivors to be held in a town near the crash site in the Yukon Territory. Now it is time to tell their son, conceived right before the crash, who has until now known nothing of the crash, much less the trauma and heartache his parents and other survivors endured.

Two weeks prior to the crash, a petroleum company had sent their Crisis Management team, plus support personnel, to far north Alaska to repair and contain damage caused by an explosion on an oil rig platform they own. Three employees were killed and 200,000 gallons of oil have spilled into the sea. The clean up has been hampered by the darkness and extreme cold common within the Arctic Circle in December. The egotistical supervisor of the whole team flies in to rush the team to complete the task regardless of personal risk. Immediately after the dangerous underwater task is finally completed, the decision is made to fly back home before the next storm arrives.

The parents decide to tell the story in the car ride to the reunion, unfolding the saga chronologically as all the uncomfortable memories of heart-breaking losses and selfless heroism come flooding back.

I read this book courtesy of NetGalley and recommend it as a sweet romance wrapped in a survival ordeal in the bleakest of circumstances.

An Anonymous Girl, by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

2018-10-05T19:20:00.002-07:00

The premise of An Anonymous Girl is very unusual but just believable enough that one can see how someone could slide right into a dangerous situation, always feeling like she is in control and can pull back when she needs or wants to. Until she can't.

Our protagonist is a young woman, approaching 30, who makes her living as a freelance make up artist. She travels alone in New York City to her appointments, not knowing who will answer the door yet not feeling fear of the unknown.

At a client's apartment one evening she hears a voice message reminding the two roommates of an appointment they had made for that weekend. It involves completing a survey for a psychiatric professor. Compensation is $500.00, the girls say, but also say it will be too early in the morning, given the night out they are planning. Five hundred dollars really gets Jessica Farris' attention. She decides to take a chance and show up to complete the survey that her two customers have decided to skip.

She gives her real name and contact information and is allowed to participate. The message on the screen on the laptop she is using says

   Subject 52: Thank you for your participation in Dr. Shields' morality and ethics
   research project. By entering this study you agree to be bound by confidentiality.
   You must not discuss with anyone.

What could possibly go wrong?

The story unfolds from multiple perspectives as we see first Jessica's point of view, and then Dr. Shields'. Dr. Shields' questions require Jessica to reveal much about herself...family secrets she has never revealed before. The questions are personal and intimate, but after all, she is just the anonymous Subject 52. After a bit, she realizes Dr. Shields is reading her answers in real time because when Jessica tries to evade a completely soul-baring response, the screen immediately displays a text that urges her to dig a little deeper. And she does.

It's only later that it occurs to Jessica that Dr. Shields has not signed anything that binds the doctor to confidentiality on what the survey subjects have revealed. The suspense grows steadily as Jessica continues to meet with Dr. Shields, even as doubt grows as to what the true purpose of the survey is, and what plans the doctor has for Jessica.

I read the book courtesy of NetGalley and highly recommend it.

Educated, by Tara Westover

2018-09-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

The story line of Educated, by Tara Westover is bizarre enough to be fiction, but amazingly, it is a memoir of a girl raised by a Mormon survivalist family in Idaho in the late 1990's and early 2000's. The parents opt for home schooling because of distrust of government-run schools, but in reality, opt for using their children as the labor force in the family business which is a junkyard.

Deprived of schooling, Tara's early education comes from listening to her father's and mother's rants/explanations of government intrusion and their resulting paranoia, plus the occasional opportunity to hear the perspectives of other relatives and townspeople. She learns to appreciate music because a benevolent older brother allows here to listen to his CDs. Her mother allows her to sign up for dance but the perceived immodesty of the dance costumes makes that a no-go. Tara then is introduced to community theater. It's a good match for her as her voice turn out to be a real asset. Amazingly, her father is very proud of her stage success, but another brother (a bully with a hair trigger temper) sabotages that outlet for Tara.

As a young teen, Tara yearns for an education and get help on multiple fronts to pass the GED. She applies to Brigham Young University and gets accepted. Key professors recognize her extraordinary abilities and continue to find ways to get her grants to continue her studies. She even is accepted at Cambridge and is able to study abroad.

But with all this exposure to higher education and multiple world views, she is continually drawn back into the charismatic orb of her parents, where each visit tends to end in disaster. Finally she accepts herself as an independent person with freedom to reject her parents' world view...and the rest is history...a very powerful and inspiring memoir!

This book was recently selected by the PageTurners & WorldChangers Book Club, where the discussions are (almost) as good as the experience of reading the book!

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman

2018-09-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

This book is hilarious because Eleanor Oliphant is such an inadvertently witty narrator and observer of humanity. She is blunt and very structured in her own life choices. She does have a job, and wears basically the same outfit every day. She has not made friends with her co-workers but doesn't take offense when she overhears them mocking her.

She becomes a much more sympathetic figure as she describes her weekends. She buys vodka on Friday after work and spends the weekend alone at home drinking. The fact is that she is incredibly lonely but she tells herself she is fine.

Her routine changes when she meets the new guy at work. He is IT and her computer needs a quick fix. She is her usual self as she describes Raymond's style of dress, his walk, his nasty smoking habit, etc. But the truth is, he is a nice guy who continues to be kind and friendly to Eleanor, refusing to judge HER for the judgy and abrupt comments she makes.

What changes the trajectory of Eleanor's life is an event she and Raymond witness when they are leaving work at the same time. An old man across the street is stumbling down the street. Eleanor immediately sees an irresponsible old drunk. Raymond sees an old man in crisis and rushes across the street to help. Eleanor goes too and assists Raymond by following his lead in getting an ambulance there to help the man. Raymond accompanies the man in the ambulance; Eleanor bags up the groceries he dropped and takes them home. Raymond asks her the next day to go with him to the hospital to visit the man. She really doesn't see the need but goes so she can return his groceries.

Sammy and his grown kids are so thankful for the quick attention that Raymond and Eleanor provided which they know saved Sammy's life, that they include them like family as they celebrate Sammy's recovery. Sammy's children recognize that Eleanor is different, but don't ostracize her.

Over the course of the novel, the readers learn details of Eleanor's earlier circumstances which have shaped her into the person she is. Eventually she begins to grow socially and develops a sense of empathy for people. The staggering highs and lows of Eleanor Oliphant's life are alternately heartbreakingly sad and endearingly humorous. She has an inner core of strength that Raymond and others recognize, encouraging her to get the help she needs to blossom.

Funny? Yes, but such a moving story, it should give readers lots to think about long after the last page is read.

An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones

2018-09-14T10:10:00.001-07:00

Tayari Jones has written a compelling novel, An American Marriage, that draws the reader in like the unfortunate parents with the undone child at the airport. You long to look away, but it is impossible to ignore.

The couple, Celestial and Roy use alternating chapters to tell the story of their rocky courtship, married life and the heartbreaking separation that occurs when Roy is wrongly accused and then convicted of rape. The reader sees red flags and miscommunication in virtually every paragraph and longs to point the couple toward marriage counseling!

Celestial is the only child of a well to do college educated middle class black couple settled in Atlanta. Roy is the only child of under-educated poor but loving parents in a small rural community in Louisiana. They meet in college but reconnect after graduation. Ostensibly social equals, Celestial and Roy actually have very different expectations and ways of looking at life.

As the old magazine series asked, "Can this marriage be saved?"

R. Holmes and Co., by John Kendrick Bangs

2018-09-14T09:46:00.001-07:00

Raffles Holmes is the son of Sherlock and grandson of gentleman criminal A.J. Raffles. He seems to have inherited equal parts of his DNA from each camp. In fact, the full title of this book is R. Holmes & Co.: Being the Remarkable Adventures of Raffles Holmes, Esq., Detective and Amateur Cracksman by Birth.
Raffles has decided that what he needs most is an income, and so he decides to sell the stories of his exploits whether as a detective or as a burglar extraordinaire. So each chapter stands more or less as a complete story featuring a variety of his exploits.

It's a fun read, but not to be taken too seriously.

In the Balance, by Patricia Wentworth

2018-09-14T09:27:00.001-07:00

Miss Maude Silver, the unlikely Private Investigator in 1940's Great Britain, is joined in her train compartment by a very frightened and flustered young woman. Miss Silver elicits her story, which is that she has overheard gossip that claims here husband's first wife died suddenly and maybe not by accident. Lisle is wealthy; so was wife #1. Their husband-in-common is land wealthy and cash poor.

Miss Silver is just able to give the young woman her business card as she exits the train, and by that time Lisle has talked herself out of fearing her dashing husband.

But as we follow Lisle back to her new home we see that there is really no one there she can trust among the staff and family members in residence. She has a few accidents that she survives and still is not convinced that her husband means her any harm.

When Miss Silver reads about another accident at the property in the London newspaper she decides she must go and investigate. Luckily her former student is the local Inspector and they can work together to resolve the mystery.

The Girl From Berlin, by Ronald H. Balson

2018-09-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Historical fiction that tells two stories at once, The Girl From Berlin eventually merges the present and the past. The present crisis comes to the attention of lawyer Catherine Lockhart and her husband Liam in 2017 when their friend, a successful restauranteur persuades them to help his elderly aunt. Elderly Gabrielle Vincenzi is about to have her family home and working vineyard ripped away by a powerful corporation. She has a deed but is told it is worthless by the Italian lawyers she hires to help her. Nephew Tony offers to pay the Lockharts to fly from Boston to Italy to look for ways to help 78 year old Gabriella. For her part, Gabriella sends an old treatise, translated from German...Ada's story, which Gabriella's feels may help the Lockharts find the way to save her home and property.

Ada Baumgarten's memoir is fascinating, telling the story of a gifted young musician born into a musical family in Berlin in the year 1918. Her gifted father is Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Her mother is a charming and competent homemaker who moves with ease through the Berlin social circles. They were Jewish at a time when Jews were not excluded, often holding positions of high esteem, but that time was coming to an end as Adolph Hitler's radical views persuaded more and more people to scorn and disdain the Jews among them.

Ada's father senses her talent at the violin and begins to teach her at a very early age. She becomes a member of the youth orchestra and meets another talented musician, Kurt. Their friendship deepens as they spend time together even as youngsters, but Kurt's father is a follower of the Fuhrer. His background is military and he takes Kurt out of the orchestra so he will devote his time to the Nazi Youth program. It will be years before she sees Kurt again.

Ada's mother flees to Italy, and expects her husband to join her when the orchestra season ends. Travel is becoming more dicey for Jews, but Ada's talent and her father's musical contributions allow them some protection from the brutal treatment many other Jews receive. As a young woman, Ada's talent is so outstanding that she is playing in orchestras with no other females and is allowed to travel in Europe. Because of her relative safety in travels, a friend who is in the Resistance Movement asks Ada to deliver papers to Resistance groups in other European cities. She is known and appreciated by many SS officers who genuinely love music, but there is one officer in particular who blames Ada for his career setback and is out to humiliate her any way he can.

Catherine and Liam are reading the translation of Ada's memoir in between visits they are making in Siena, Italy in 2017 as they try to find the deeds that validate Gabriella's claim. It becomes pretty obvious that the paperwork that would prove her claims have been removed from the old files. They are fascinated with Ada's story and can't imagine how all this will affect Gabriella's present situation. For her part, Gabriella gets so emotional when asked about Ada that she refuses to talk about where
Ada fits in. And the clock keeps ticking toward the mandated day that Gabriella will be evicted. Time is running out...#TheGirlFromBerlin, #NetGalley

The Adventurers Guild, by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos

2018-06-08T13:54:00.001-07:00

This book should have great appeal to Middle School readers who enjoy fantasy packed with action and adventure. The Adventurers Guild is set in one of the few cities left standing after the world has been overrun by monsters and chaos. The City is protected by high walls and rarely opened gates, plus it has a rigid caste system that seems to work pretty well for them. Once a year the various guilds select apprentices from among the younger population, and that pretty well sets the course for the child's entire working life.

Zed and Brock are friends who are both eligible this year. Brock is confident he will be selected by the Merchants Guild, but he wants to help Zed get in to the guild of the Magicians. Zed is half elf; a little bit of an outsider, and has minimal self confidence, unlike the outgoing Brock.

But when the choices are made the boys are both disappointed to be selected by the Adventurers Guild...a perilous assignment, as those folks are the last line of defense against intruders, and worse, they tend to die young.

It turns out that they both have skills that can be useful to their new guild, but they have a lot to learn before they earn the respect of their leaders. And it seems like the leadership team could use some team building training as well. Zed and Brock learn a lot about themselves and develop a serious respect for their guild and its leadership, even as the harrowing adventures call for skills plus courage to save the day.

This book is first of a series, so be watching the shelves for the next adventure!

One Corpse Too Many, by Ellis Peters

2018-06-08T09:19:00.002-07:00

Set in 1138 Shrewsbury England, this mystery falls in Brother Cadfael's lap when he is called to administer rites to a large group of executed prisoners, and there is one too many bodies in the mix. Who is it and how did he die?

War is brewing between the force of rivals for the English throne, King Stephen and Empress Maude. As the unrest continues, the allegiance of the cities and towns seems to be shifting to whoever seems to be prevailing on a given day. But the monks are not taking sides, just moving carefully among the factions.

There is plenty of intrigue and even a little romance as Brother Cadfael uses his wisdom and shrewdness judiciously to resolve more than one mystery in the midst of the conflict.

His Majesty's Dragon: A Novel of Temeraire, by Naomi Novak

2018-06-07T19:52:00.001-07:00

This book reads like historical fiction with a unique perspective on the times of Napoleon Bonaparte, but with the thrilling enhancements of dragons bred for war. The protagonist is Captain Will Laurence of the British Royal Navy, that is until he is picked to be master and caretaker of a newly hatched dragon...and the picking is done by the dragon himself! The navy has intercepted a ship bound for France, which is secretly carrying the dragon's egg, a gift from the Chinese to Bonaparte himself when the dragon inside the egg decides to hatch.

Awkwardly, there are no dragon masters in the navy, so Laurence is reluctantly reassigned to the Aerial Corps, much to the resentment of airmen who had been waiting to become master of the next dragon. Both Laurence and his dragon Temeraire are quick learners and quickly become important assets to the Aerial Corps. The dragons in the novel are also unique personalities and highly intelligent beings.

This book was first published in 2006; won several awards in 2007 and now has nine books in the series. I am eager to continue with the next title, Throne of Jade.

Wings of Fire, by Charles Todd

2018-06-07T19:09:00.001-07:00

Inspector Ian Rutledge, Scotland Yard, has been sent to Cornwall by his superior Commander Boyle, ostensibly to review three deaths already investigated and closed by the local police. Reopening the cases has been requested by the home office as a result of a citizen request, but Boyle's true reason for sending Rutledge is to get him out of London, knowing that if he stays, he will no doubt get credit for solving a crime in London...a serial killer similar to Jack the Ripper is terrorizing post WW I London, and Boyle is tired of Rutledge's uncanny stroke of luck in solving crimes and getting credit which his superiors actually deserve.

Rutledge is not welcome in Cornwall either. The constabulary resent their findings being questioned; the family of the three deceased don't want any skeletons in closets revealed, and even the relative who has requested an inquiry doesn't like the questions Rutledge is asking and definitely is indignant about the doubts he is casting on the integrity of the recently deceased.

But Rutledge plugs on.

Before and Again, by Barbara Delinsky

2018-06-07T18:33:00.002-07:00

A terrible accident causes the death of her child, the dissolution of her family and estrangement from her parents and brother. The burden of guilt and feeling of being judged prove too strong to remain in Boston, so Mackenzie Cooper becomes Maggie Reid...in a new town with a new job, a new career path and new friends.

Just keeping a low profile is her main goal, until her friend's son is arrested and accused of computer hacking, and Maggie is the only one with the experience to navigate the rumors, the press, the courts...but at what price? Her hard won new life and good reputation are on the line. Not to mention the unwelcome attention of her probation officer just as she is coming to the end of her probation sentence.

Bring Me Back, by B.A. Paris

2018-06-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

B.A. Paris has again written a mystery/psychological thriller that keeps the reader turning the pages non-stop until the unexpected ending, which then gives the reader plenty to ponder.

Finn McQuaid has spent 12 years mourning the loss of his girl friend. Layla is reported missing from his car after Finn stopped late at night to use a roadside bathroom in France. When he returns to the car she is not there and the police can find no sign of her. Finn is a suspect at first, but his grief and mourning are real, convincing the detective and his supportive friends that he is innocent of killing her. Eventually he goes back to work but has no real social life until years later when he meets Layla's sister Ellen at a memorial service for Layla.

Slowly, slowly he gets to know Ellen and they find they have several interests in common. Eventually Ellen moves in with him and a few months later, they decide to get married. That is when Finn gets a call from Tony, the detective, alerting Finn that their old neighbor claims to have seen Layla at the cottage in another village which he and Layla had shared. Mistaken identity, surely, but then Finn gets an email from out of the blue from an address he doesn't recognize, but the message seems to be from Layla.

Is someone trying to torment him? Or has Layla really returned? And then Ellen begins to receive items in the mail or left at their gate that seem to indicate that Layla has a message for her sister too.

Finn responds to the email, wanting to set up a meeting with Layla, but she is not ready for a face to face meeting. He rationalizes that he doesn't need to tell Ellen about the emails until he has met Layla and determines what she really wants, if it really is Layla. And he is in turmoil as he compares the love he feels for each of the sisters. This is a choice he doesn't want to make.
#BringMe Back

A Jot of Blood, by Katherine Bayless

2017-11-02T09:46:00.001-07:00

Katherine Bayless has created an alternative world in the modern day USA which is peopled with Normals, as well as all sorts of paranormals with a lot of mistrust within each minority group. Teens from the various groups come together at Coventry Academy, a prestigious private school for the magically inclined. Represented are occultum (invisible), vampires, shifters, sorcerers and clairvoyants, such as our protagonist, Lire Devon.

Because her gift allows her to know the thoughts of anyone she touches, not to mention the memories associated with an inanimate object which another person has handled, she wears gloves and remains pretty much covered up all the time. However many of her fellow students shun her, believing that Lire would love to learn all their secrets so that she could blackmail them. And it doesn't help that one of the most popular girls has it in for her and would like nothing better than to see Lire kicked out of school.

Lire has returned to the campus for her junior year, already sorely missing her friends who have just graduated and anticipating a pretty lonely year. But the first foray into the cafeteria finds her at a table with two new students, who soon become her buddies. Zach is the occultum, a wise-cracking witty guy who nevertheless is totally invisible and Cal is his roommate...a tall handsome guy who just may be a werewolf! A new teacher this year, Professor Trapp, is a sorcerer with the power to control air. He is also on the committee to stop bullying in school, and soon realizes that Lire is a target of the school bullies when he is able to cushion her fall that results from a malicious tripping incident.

This could have been just a fun read about high school angst among the magically gifted kids, but it becomes much more serious, when Zach and Cal reveal why they really have enrolled, and include Lire in the mission of finding out what happened to two of Cal's cousins who disappeared the previous semester from campus. this may become an adventure that risks life and death. At the same time, momentum is building in the Anti-Lire group, and Amanda, Lire's nemesis, enlists her godfather, a powerful sorcerer and Coventry Board member, to assure that Lire will be found guilty of trumped up offenses and be kicked out of school.

It was as I was finishing the book, looking forward to a sequel, when I realized Ms. Bayless has already published 3 or 4 books featuring Lire as a 30-something clairvoyant who helps solve crime with her very unique skills. This book featuring Lire as a student is not the first, it's a prequel! I haven't read the others, but do hope that young Lire will get a chance to mature slowly through a few more books! I would enjoy reading more about her, not to mention Zach and Cal!

I read the book courtesy of NetGalley. It was published in early August 2017, and is available on Amazon as well as other sources, so ask for it at your usual sources!

A Pint of Murder, A Madoc and Janet Rhys Mystery by Charlotte MacLeod

2017-10-31T10:06:00.001-07:00

A delightful Whodunit set in a remote village in Canada, A Pint of Murder was published originally in 1980, but has been recently resurrected by mystery lovers who now offer it digitally through Open Road Media, which is how I came across it.

Janet Wadman has temporarily returned to the family farm in Pitcherville, New Brunswick, Canada to help out while her sister-in-law is recovering from surgery. One sleepless night she sees the doctor's car at the neighboring farm and goes to check on her elderly neighbor, Agatha Treadway. But Agatha is already dead on the floor and the doctor says he is sure it is food poisoning...the deadly botulism, as a matter of fact.

Ms. Treadway had been canning and eating her own food from her own cellar for decades, and Janet does not believe Ms. Treadway, even at age 87, would have made a careless mistake in the canning process. Her visiting niece Marion Emery had eaten supper with Ms. Treadway, but had not shared the green beans. The doctor left with the jar, saying he would send the jar to the lab for processing. The next day Janet was back helping Marion and was down in the cellar where she observes a second jar of green beans which had been cut, not snapped, as Ms. Treadway had always prepared them.

She quickly calls the doctor's home to find out if the jar he was sending to the lab had cut or snapped beans in it, but Janet only gets to make an appointment to visit later that day, as she did not want to leave a message which might be overheard on the party line in their small gossipy town.

But Janet was never going to get to ask the doctor that question. When she enters his office, she discovers his body where he apparently slipped on a rug and hit his head on the edge of the desk.

But is that really what happened? Janet notices that his head has a rounded indention at the site of the mortal wound, not an angular one which the desk would have made. Sleepy little Pitcherville may have a murderer in their midst...is it time to call in the Mounties?

There are several books in this series, so look for them in your bookstore or library, or check out mysteriouspress.com, mysteriousbookshop.com, or openroadmedia.com.

Until Death, by James Thane

2017-10-29T15:14:00.002-07:00

Sean Richardson and his partner Maggie McClinton of the Phoenix Police department have a murder to solve, but no real clues how to solve it. The victim, Neal Ballard, is murdered in his workshop/garage one night just as he has gotten out of his car. Apparently attacked from behind, he has no defensive wounds but is beaten extensively with a crow bar. His wife finds his body and immediately calls the police. No finger prints, no blood other than Mr. Ballard's, and no hints that anyone is angry with him...that is, except a typed letter threatening him if he moves forward with a land development deal that threatens to shrink the size of a nature preserve.

Weeks go by with no real leads; that is until a citizen comes in who has noticed a connection in three recent deaths in the community that she has heard about on the news. They are all clients of hers and Mr. Ballard is one of them.

Suddenly there are several suspects, and more disturbingly, more deaths are piling up. Richardson and McClinton have their hands full, and may get their hands dirty as they face situations which may compromise ethics in order to protect the innocent.

The book is a page turner, with twists aplenty. Mr. Thane has written a police procedural featuring well defined protagonists with issues to deal with in their own private lives, but at the same time, they are professionals who notice the details and keep an eye on the end game. I enjoyed the read and look forward to more.

The Broken Hours: A Novel of H.P. Lovecraft, by Jacqueline Baker

2017-10-28T15:49:00.001-07:00

When I selected this book, The Broken Hours, I assumed it was authored by H.P. Lovecraft, but alas, he is merely a character in this book by Jacqueline Baker, though she uses his style to shade the subtle creepiness that the protagonist Mr. Arthor Crandle is surrounded by once he is in Lovecraft's house. The year is 1936, and many people are down on their luck. In fact Mr. Crandle is desperate enough for a job that he agrees to be a secretary of sorts to a mysterious would-be employer over the phone. When he arrives, he does not meet the man, but receives written instructions that tell him he is to stay in the room at the top of the stairs.

The room is dusty, obviously the long unused room of a child. There is a view of a room with a blinking light across town out the bedroom window which Crandle sees and wonders if it is a code meant to be understood by the occupant of this room.

He gradually learns who his employer is, that he is very seriously ill, and that his mother is in a rest home across town. His employer also tells him that his aunt usually lives with him but is away at present. Crandle finds that the kitchen is also dirty and appears to be unused. He is also caught off guard by the arrival of a pretty young woman who appears at the house with an apparent invitation to stay in the room of another boarder in the house, but who is mysteriously absent when her guest arrives.Though Crandle is married, he and the young woman are drawn to each other. She decides to stay in the apartment and wait for her friend's return. Soon she feels free to change the decor and the color scheme of the apartment. That apartment at least become a more cheerful and welcoming set of rooms than the rest of the gloomy house.

Crandle senses the presence of someone, maybe a ghost, in the house, but never gets a good look at it. When he looks out in the garden, he sees a being out there in a white night gown, but when he goes to check no one is there. While outside he looks back into the window of the apartment and does not see the young girl in the chair where he left her, but thinks nothing of it when he goes back inside and finds her where he had left her. More unsettling is that the light in his employer's room is always shining from under the closed door, but never appears to be on from the outside of the house.

Crandle finally visits the home where Lovecraft's mother supposedly is staying and learns even more unsettling news about this family. The tale is well crafted and leaves the reader with a lot to ponder at it's close. The creepiness may stay with you for awhile. Perhaps a suitable read for Halloween...

Right Handed Lefty, by Ryan Coughlin

2017-10-28T14:22:00.001-07:00

Ryan Coughlin has written a good story about three young boys in 1983 Boscobel, Wisconsin. They are friends, more or less by default because none of the other kids see any reason to spend time with them. The protagonist is a 12 year old Native American, twice adopted, who has anxiety issues and has been known to blackout when stress runs high. His current parents are close to calling it quits and are still mourning the loss of their biological child who drowned before they adopted Ellis.

Coughlin takes time to builds the back story of the Native American Ellis Sayre and the two white couples who adopted him. This is when we first hear the legend of the first Right Handed Lefty, another Native American boy who lived in the area in the 1800's. The author also takes time to tell the back stories of the "bad guys," so that readers will know what shaped them into the people they are when the story begins.

Ellis Sayre's friend George lost his much loved dad a year or so before the narrative begins. He has a lot of anger issues. The second friend is a Laotian kid called Mason whose parents were refugees. His father's business went under and they are struggling to have enough food to eat because all their money must go to pay the bank loan. He is small for his age but loves practicing his judo skills and oddly enough, speaking in a British accent when he has something witty to add to any conversation.

They are bullied at school and don't have many adults they can depend on, so the three plot to steal bread from the local baker when Mason finally admits to them that he took a girl's lunch in the cafeteria because he was so hungry. This is definitely a high risk decision and moves into seriously more risky territory when the boys hear loud noises from within the bakery and then see the baker and his warehouse man carrying what looks like a wrapped body out onto the loading dock.

The boys literally run for their lives, and decide to tell their story to the police. Unfortunately, the police are on the take from the baker, who is also the local crime boss, and so they realize once again that they don't have anyone they can trust. It seems to the boys that their only chance of survival is to run away.

And that's when the excitement level reaches a new high. The boys are running, spot the bad guys' car, manage to steal it and are then seriously on the run! Ellis's parents go out looking for him, the bad guys, including the baker are also looking for the boys, and they get some information from some of their minions about where the boys intend to spend the night. This cannot possibly end well.

Well maybe there is a chance after all....this is a story about believing in yourself and when the situation is at its worst, that is what Ellis decides to do. This is a great story for middle school kids and older, who know that life is not always easy, and hard choices have to be made.

I read an e-copy of the book courtesy of Netgalley and thoroughly enjoyed the tale. It is available as an e-book and as a paperback, so be looking for it.

Artemis, by Andy Wier

2017-10-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

Artemis is the name of a colony established on the moon by way of the entrepreneurial spirit of some business people in Kenya just a few short years into the future. The book is the second from Andy Weir, the author of the incredibly popular The Martian.

Jazz Bashara is the female protagonist of this fast paced roller coaster of a tale. She is very intelligent, yet almost guaranteed to make the wrong choice every time there is a choice. Consequently, Jazz is at the bottom of the economic pyramid in the Artemis community. Most of the people who live there are wealthy. Some are the working poor, including Jazz's dad, an Arabic welder with an excellent reputation. He and his daughter are estranged for reasons the readers don't completely learn in the beginning. (Remember "poor choices...")

Jazz supplements her porter salary with a little smuggling action on the side and is doing just barely okay until one of her clients, a satisfied recipient of smuggled contraband, offers her an unbelievable amount of money to sabotage the business which produces a unique by-product in their smelting plant, the oxygen that everyone is breathing.

Jazz is predisposed to reject such a risky job until she hears what she will be paid, assuming she can pull this off. She accepts immediately and starts planning how she might succeed. Her first inclination is to do this job without help, but she soon realizes she will have to have some assistance to have any hope of success. She really has a clever and ingenious technical mind and almost pulls it off. That is until she realizes that she is actually working against a Mafia-type cartel based in South America, but trying to muscle into Artemis industry.

But what gives me pause...stretches my credibility quotient, as it were, is her absolutely crude and coarse way of talking and thinking. She is the narrator so we hear it all, and it sounds like a teenage boy who uses shock language to hold the center of attention with his verbal garbage mouth.

But Jazz, after causing a near disaster, is able to recruit an unlikely team of folks who can help her save Artemis, the colonists, their jobs and their way of life. She is ultimately likeable, even with her quirky and pragmatic moral code, and it is always entertaining to watch the nerds figure out how to work their way out of lost causes. Jazz definitely inspires confidence when the chips are down...
the book comes out in November 2017 and my guess is the movie will soon follow. If Sci-Fi mixed with the pulling off (almost) of incredibly unlikely heists is your thing, you will really enjoy this.

The Girl In the Tower, by Katherine Arden

2017-09-19T12:36:00.002-07:00

Katherine Arden is one very gifted writer in my humble opinion. She has turned her interest in Medieval Russian folk tales into two (eventually three) remarkable novels. The second book, The Girl in the Tower, is set to be published in January 2018. This is your "Heads Up!" to get Arden's first novel, The Bear and the Nightingale, so you will know how the charming and complex blending of Medieval Russian history, the waning of pagan religious beliefs slowly being supplanted by Christian faith, becomes a detailed retelling of the ancient Russian fairy tales. These are tales replete with household protective spirits, woodland sprites that not everyone can see, occasional ghosts, and powerful spirit forces in nature that still hold sway in the snowy forests of northern Rus.

The Girl in the Tower picks up the story of Vasya, the young daughter of an official in a remote village far away from Moscow. Vasya does not conform to the expectations for girls...she is curious, obstinate, and not one to follow orders without question. Her mother had died at her birth and she is often cross ways with her stepmother. The stepmother is under the influence of the village priest who sees Vasya's independence and headstrong ways as proof that she is a witch. When her father and stepmother die, her only options seem to be the convent or an arranged marriage, so she opts to run away.

Travelling alone with her extraordinary horse, she poses as a boy and depends only occasionally on the assistance of a snow-demon, who seems to have a soft spot in his heart for this headstrong girl. After she has crossed through the huge forest in the winter, she eventually comes across a village in crisis. A group of Tatar bandits have invaded their village and taken some children...only girls...and have disappeared without a trace. Villagers who try to stop them are cut down in their tracks. Vasya, always with a heart for the helpless and unjustly treated, promises to look for the girls and bring them back if she can.

She does discover the bandit camp and their prisoners that night. She and her horse devise a plan that gets the bandits to follow the horse out of the camp, allowing Vasya to sneak in and cut the girls loose. She also frees the horses of the bandits to make following her more difficult. She and the girls rejoin her horse and ride hard through the night, knowing the bandits are following close on their heels.

The next morning Vasya and her young charges come across a monastery and beg for help there. The men there assume Vasya is a boy, but all of a sudden she is recognized by none other than her own brother, Sasha, who had left home to follow God eight years before and is now a monk. Sasha protects her secret to save her from the dangers that come to women traveling alone, but his plan is to send his "brother" away as soon as he can and then introduce his sister to the court in Moscow. But Vasya's obvious skills and her confidence in her own abilities make it difficult for her to want less attention than the boy Vasya is receiving.

Because of her "harmless" lie, Vasya may be bringing disaster to her brother, her sister who is married to a Muscovite prince, and to their cousin Dmitrii, who is the prince of Moscow.

The Devil in Velvet, by John Dickson Carr

2017-09-16T14:09:00.001-07:00

The Devil in Velvet is a historical novel/mystery with a touch of the paranormal thrown in to keep it interesting. Oh, and did I mention time travel?

Author John Dickson Carr first published it in 1951 and it was published again in 2014 as an eBook by Open Road Integrated Media. Carr made a career of writing crime and detective novels and won prestigious awards in both Great Britain and the USA. I came upon this novel courtesy of Early Bird Books, which is a great way to see the good stuff that's new again or to reintroduce favorites from yesteryear.

The convoluted plot begins with our protagonist, a professor and student of history who is a 58 year old bachelor in the year 1925. He confesses to a young lady friend that he has made a deal with the devil and is pretty sure he got the best of him. His desire is to be taken back to a specific date in the 17th century in order that he may prevent a murder. Professor Fenton is very specific with the devil that he must be sent back to inhabit the body of Sir Nicholas Fenton, ironically not a relative of our modern professor, who is a young man and an expert swordsman. He is also the husband of the woman who is poisoned, though history does not reveal who did it.

Amazingly, the devil agrees to his conditions, taking the trouble to explain to him that if Professor Fenton gets angry, this will give the mind of Sir Nick the opening to take over the shared mind, and the professor will not regain control until Sir Nick's rage is spent. The Prof considers that yes, lots can happen during a 10 minute rage, but he knows himself and he just doesn't get angry...and before long he wakes up in 1675 in the body of young Sir Nick, a brash and bold individual given to drink and bawdy behavior.

Fenton is shocked to find out that "bawdy" also includes providing a bedroom to his mistress, not just in his home, but across the hall from his wife's bedroom. Fenton may find out he can get angry too...

This is an interesting and enjoyable read, with a lot of historically accurate information on the manners, customs, dress, even swordplay, of the era of Charles II. The mystery of whether Professor Fenton can prevent the murder or failing that, discover who killed Lydia, and finally, does the Prof win or lose his wager with the devil...I'm guessing your interest won't flag til the last page is turned.

The Bird in the Tree, by Elizabeth Goudge

2017-09-15T14:10:00.001-07:00

The Bird in the Tree is a wonderful selection for the book club I'm in, so thanks Pam C. for choosing it for us. It's author, Elizabeth Goudge is a prolific British writer, numbered among the British Christian apologists which includes such notables as C.S. Lewis. The book was copyrighted in 1940 and is certainly traditionally Christian in its point of view. I read the eBook version, which first was published in 2013.

The author's prose flows with beautiful descriptions of the family home in Hampshire and the surrounding countryside. The characters are nuanced individuals and described in great detail, whether it be their clothing, their expressions or their thought processes. Her descriptions are even-handed to the point that even the family members who are making choices that may see the family ripped apart are not treated as villains. Rather, they are, seen from the older generation's perspective, weak in their faith and self-centered; but as judged by themselves, they are making the higher, most noble choice: Truth over Tradition.

This is the story of the Eliot family, the first in a trilogy of novels that tells their story. But in this first book, we also learn the history of the grandmother Lucilla's home place, an estate called Damerosehay. She bought it as a widow and her dream is to have this place be the sanctuary for whichever of her family may need it at any given time. The place had been unoccupied for years when she and her young grandson first came upon it. As the book progresses we learn more about the previous owners and their stories meld into the Eliot family story in surprising ways.

Lucilla's oldest grandson David was orphaned at 5 and grew up there; now 3 younger grandchildren are growing up there because their parents have divorced. The three children are growing up with three women, their grandmother, her middle-aged spinster daughter Margaret, and Lucilla's 'lady's maid' Ellen, who has been in the family over 60 years, since Lucilla returned from her honeymoon.

The story is slowly revealed in the charming prose that introduces all the family members and the backstory that precedes the opening event in the saga: The now grown-up David is returning from London for a visit to Damerosehay. He loves the home and his family as much as his grandmother does, and he is a favorite of his young cousins, not to mention the family dogs. But this is more than a story of family relationships; it is a study of moral dilemmas and hard choices that must be made.

Vendetta, by Jack McSporren

2017-09-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

Maggie Black is a special agent in The Unit, a British undercover group of highly skilled secret agents who are trained to fight, to kill, and above all, to follow orders. They are exceedingly well trained in disguises and all sorts of espionage. Maggie is a young woman raised in the streets and alleys, as it were, and escapes sure punishment in prison by accepting the deal offered to her: train long enough and hard enough to be excellent in whatever her assignments require, and don't hesitate to bend the law if that is required to achieve completion.

The kind of work required of her mandates mobility and secrecy, so social life can be only surface deep, that is, unless two agents fall for each other. Leon Frost had been one of the group she had trained with years ago. Maggie has a special place in her heart for him, but realizes a relationship between people like them is destined for failure. But then her boss assigns them to the same mission in none other than Venice, Italy. Maggie and Leon must squash a drug war between rival Italian families before their product ever gets to Great Britain.

The Italian government is providing undercover support but Maggie and Leon assume false identities as an American drug lord (Maggie) and her personal body guard (Leon), and are pretty much on their own dealing with the crime families. It doesn't take long for things to go terribly wrong.In fact, there is a real question as to whether either Maggie or Leon will even live to see Great Britain again.

Lots of fast paced action, some surprising double crossing, and an ending that leaves you wondering what is next for Maggie.

I read an eBook that was given to me on Instafreebie. The recently published book is available as an eBook and a paperback, so check it out to see what James Bond would be like if he were an agent today and if he were a 28 year old woman!