Tag: fiction

Angels Fall, by Nora Roberts

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Cover ImageFinished audio 4-17-08, rating3.5/5, fiction, pub. 2006

Reece is a woman haunted by her violent past in Boston who ends up in Wyoming trying to recover.  She finds a small close-knit town that looks at gossip as a badge of honor.  They watch out for their own.   Reece takes a job at the local diner and begins to heal.

As Reece tries to normalize her life she is shaken when she witnesses a cold-hearted murder.  She finds a new friend in Brody, who believes her, but some distrust among others when no body was found.  Having been in a psychiatric hospital not long before Reece begins to think that she may be going crazy.  Brody’s belief in her gives her hope for her sanity, but she is feeling  more and more fragile as the town watches her seemingly fall apart.

I enjoyed this novel even though I thought I knew the killer right away and I was right.  It had a great story about a woman putting her life back together, with romance, surprising friendships, and a murder mystery.  I rarely read Nora Roberts, but I’d recommend this one.

The Fires of Paradise, by Brenda Joyce

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Cover ImageFinished 3-12-08, rating 4/5, romance, pub. 1992

 This is the best historical romance I have read in years.  There is the beautiful woman born into privilege and there is the hardened escaped convict watching his back.   The two are thrown together at random, but stay in each others orbit through circumstance and lust.  Lucy is a proud woman who is used to getting what she wants and Shoz is a proud man used to getting what he wants.  What they both want is each other. 

Shoz goes to work for Lucy’s grandfather until he is shot in the back.  He is then thrown in jail for a crime he didn’t commit and he takes Lucy as a hostage to escape.  They travel from Texas to Death Valley, where Lucy meets his son and is forced to work for a woman who despises her.  Eventually Lucy and Shoz marry, but they are forced apart by her family after they are discovered.  There is more adventure in a Cuba on the brink of rebellion and in New York, where Lucy’s reputation is ruined.

While I’ve always known I like my romantic heroes manly and flawed, the first chapter in the book goes further than even I was comfortable with in introducing us to the hero, Shoz.  I wasn’t sure that he could be redeemed.  This is also not a book for the politically correct.  When reading I was jarred by the use of the word rape and had to keep reminding myself it meant to ravish or plunder.

If you  are a fan of historical romances then this book if for you.  It is also a part of the Bragg saga if you are familiar with Brenda Joyce.  I’m looking forward to reading more from the series.

Fear and Trembling, by Amelie Nothomb

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Cover ImageFinished 3-8-08, rating 4.5/5, fiction, pub. 2002

“How could our business partners have any feelings of trust in the presence of a white girl who understood their language?  From now on you will no longer speak Japanese.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You no longer know how to speak Japanese.  Is this clear?”

“But it was because of my knowledge of your language that I was hired by Yumimoto!”

“That doesn’t matter.  I am ordering you not to understand Japanese anymore.” 

“That’s impossible.  No one could obey an order like that.”

“There is always a means of obeying.  That’s what Western brains need to understand.”

–from pages 11& 12

This is just one of the many hilarious exchanges in this short novel by Belgian author Amelie Nothomb.  The spunky Western narrator is aptly named Amelie as well  and this is a record of her year long experiences working for one of the  largest Japanese companies.  Living in Japan forces Amelie to adopt the Japanese way of life and work and nothing could be more charming than Amelie’s oft misunderstood actions.

In the business hierarchy Amelie is forced from one humiliation to another until she can fall no further.  It is only through her sheer determination not to lose her honor that she withstands her torment.  Her travails will leave you smiling and heartbroken at the same time.

Thanks to my Belgian friend, Virginie, I checked this book out of the library and read it in a few hours time.  Thanks for the recommendation.  I loved it!

The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield

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Cover ImageFinished 3-3-08, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2006

  This is a beautifully written mystery, family study, and ghost story all wrapped up in one.  Margaret, lonely employee of her father’s bookstore and Vida, ailing best-selling author, come together for a wonderful tale that envelopes you completely.   Vida needs someone to tell her life story before she dies and she chooses Margaret, who has never before written a biography about a living person.  The friendship between the two women grows as Vida’s story is told. 

Vida draws us into a world of incest, neglect, insanity, love, murder, and jealousy.  Even as you are drawn in there is uncertainty about the truth which encourages you to keep turning the pages as fast as you can so that you can know what is real.  As Vida tells her story, we also are involved in Margaret’s life of loneliness and secrets.  The stories intertwine perfectly to make this a compelling novel.

At last the truth is revealed and all is right with the world.  My only small (very small) complaint was that the end seemed to wrap up a bit easily.  This book has been compared to Jane Eyre and Rebecca and I don’t disagree.  They feel similar although at its heart this is not a love story.  I recommend this book to anyone who loves books, words, and fans of Jane Eyre and Rebecca.

Invisible Prey, by John Sandford

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Cover ImageFinished 2-23-08, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2007

The Prey series never disappoints.  It is edge of your seat action with a gritty detective at its heart.  This is the 17th installment and Lucas is as entertaining as ever.  You don’t need to read the series in order, but if you are like me you prefer it.  John Sandford’s website, www.johnsandford.org, lists all the books in order.

A rich widow and her maid are bludgeoned to death in one of the most impressive mansions in Minneapolis and a politician is caught with his pants down with a 16 year old girl.  Lucas started as a detective and now he works for the state on special  cases such as these.  There is an art heist, fraud, murder, a dog named Screw, and a curious threesome thrown in to keep you turning pages long into the night. 

Lucas is now a family man.  His wife Weather, his son Sam, and ward Letty, all make a limited appearance.  I also enjoyed seeing old friend Sloan living his retirement dream.  Sandford never replaces action with relationships no matter how intriguing  they are.  It is for this reason that I rarely put a Prey novel down before I’ve finished.

Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn

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Cover ImageFinished on  audio 2-20-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction, pub. 2006

This is a mystery wrapped in a disturbing family drama.  Camille must go back to her small hometown, Wind Gap, to cover a series of child murders for her Chicago newspaper.  There she is forced to confront her own troubled childhood and try to deal with her mother and half-sister.  Further complicating matters is that Camille is only six months out of rehab for cutting herself. 

Camille was a cutter from 13 until she was 30.  She carved so many words into her skin that she has to wear pants and long sleeves to cover them all.  Visions of Camille’s naked body with words cut into her flesh by her own hand is difficult to stomach.  It is through her relationship with her mother that you come to understand the psyche behind her obsession.

This was a haunting book.  Camille is difficult to relate to not only because of her cutting, but also because at every turn she was doing such stupid things.  This got great reviews, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it.  I think it might be a perfect fit for a book group because of the multitude of issues that are dealt with in this debut novel by Gillian Flynn.

A Patchwork Planet, by Anne Tyler

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Cover ImageFinished 2-19-08, rating 4.5/5, fiction, pub. 1998

“Oh, what makes some people more virtuous than others?  Is it something they know from birth?  Don’t they ever feel that zingy, thrilling urge to smash the world to bits?”      Chapter 1

Who knew that one day I’d have a crush on a man named Barnaby?  Barnaby is the black sheep of a well-to-do family and his mother never lets him forget it.  His family has the charming belief that for generations each member has been contacted by a personal angel.  This angel is to help them find their way in the world.  Barnaby is a 30 year old divorced father and he is still waiting for his angel.

Barnaby has a dead end, but fulfilling job at Rent-A-Back where he spends most of his days doing the bidding of senior citizens who in turn love him and drive him crazy.  He is renting the basement of a house and his car is always in the shop.  One Saturday morning when the car was in said shop, he hops on the train from Baltimore to Philadelphia for his monthly visit with his daughter.  He becomes intrigued by an exchange he witnesses and convinces himself that he has found his angel.

Barnaby is a complicated man who doesn’t fully realize his own worth.  That is the powerful and moving journey of this book.  I loved it.

Los Alamos, by Joseph Kanon

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Cover ImageFinished 2-2-08, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1998

 It’s 1945 and Los Alamos is the the heart of scientific discovery.  The Manhattan Project has been working on the atomic bomb that will end the war when the murder of a security officer worries those in charge of the project’s secrecy.  Michael o is called in to find out what happened and make sure there are no leaks at Los Alamos.  His investigation takes him to neighboring Santa Fe and the lonely areas surrounding it. 

This book is a murder mystery, but because of it’s setting it is much more.  Kanon delves into the ethics of making the bomb, paranoia, homophobia in the military, and communism, while still keeping the story a mystery at heart.  There is also a surprising love affair and I enjoyed the realistic grit of it. 

Some of the characters, Robert Oppenheimer, General Leslie Groves and others, are based on the actual people working on the project.  This is a wonderful blending of reality and fiction.  This is Kanon’s first novel and I was impressed.  This is a great read for mystery lovers or those interested in the Manhattan Project.

Plum Lucky, by Janet Evanovich

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Cover ImageFinished 1-19-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction, pub. 2008

I’m not sure why I continue to read the Stephanie Plum novels, especially these missives she calls “Between-the Numbers.”  This one is a mere 166 pages.  I fell in love with bounty hunter Stephanie in her first novel, One For the Money, and followed her through many zany adventures.  Somewhere around the sixth book the novels became a cartoon of their earlier versions.

Okay, Plum Lucky.  Stephanie receives a visit from her Between-the Novels pal, Diesel, and her Grandmother finds over a million dollars that she claims as her own.  There is also a leprechaun, a horse, ex-hooker Lula, and a shootout with a rocket launcher.  This book is almost all dialogue and very little little heart. 

So, why did I bother if I am no longer enjoying the Plum novels?  Because yesterday when I stopped by the library they gave it to me.  And I read it because it was too short not to.

Mad River Road, by Joy Fielding

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Cover ImageFinished audio 1-17-08, rating 2.5/5, fiction. pub. 2006

“Brad” was released from prison on a technicality and wasted no time in planning revenge against those who wronged him.  His first step was finding a woman with a car to warm his bed.  Enter Jamie, who had just found out her boyfriend was married, and you have a scary combination of recklessness and danger.  They begin their trek from Florida to Ohio to find his ex-wife and his son. 

The book had potential, but never really pulled me in.  There was only one sympathetic character of the bunch.  And I kept waiting for something to happen, but had to wait until the last part of the book.

A good reader can make a good book better or a bad one worse.  The reader used different voices for the many characters, but a few of the characters sounded so silly.  So, I’ll allow for the possibility that it may have been better if I’d read it, but I still wouldn’t recommend this book.