These three books have several things in common. They are out of the past and they are set primarily in foreign countries. Beyond that, only the fact that they were all well done books compare them. FIELD GRAY (Putnam, 978-0-399-15741-7) is Phillip Kerr's latest Bernie Gunther novel; BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY (Philomel, 978-0-399-25412-3) is Ruta Sepety's look at WWII; THE SANDALWOOD TREE (Atria, 978-1-4165-9059-0) by Elle Newmark is set in India.
FIELD GRAY RANGES from the Cuba of the early 1950s back through the thirties in Germany through the divided post war Germany with east and west jockeying for supremacy. Bernie is captured off
Cuba in the 50s and sent back to German via the US for the war trials. He is caught between the American and French factions as well as a few others as well. He is forced to recount his actions as a prisoner of war to all parties involved, It is pure Bernie He plays all sides against the middle and lets the reader decide what if anything is the truth. I like Bernie He has gone through life pretty well making sure Bernie survives and getting rid of enemies along the way. He was a good cop who did not like the Nazis in the beginning. He is still a pretty good cop and apparently does not like much of any body now. But is a rather unreliable narrator at times. And he is a survivor, A really noir spy and cold war look back. It helps to have read at least some of the previous Gunther novels. The plot is elaborate and tricky, but well done. And it is really a study in characters. It is puzzling to figure out which is now the real Bernie. I wonder if he really knows. Incidentally, field gray refers to the color of the German field uniform, but can be given other interpretations as well.
Sepetys in the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee in WWII. This novel, BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY is her way of letting the world know what happened to the thousands of people who vanished during the ethnic cleansing of many countries. The story begins in 1941 when 15 year old Lina and her family and forced as prisoners of the Soviets to leave their home for work camps and literally death camps in cold Siberia. The women and children were sent separately from the from the already taken husbands. This particular group has quite a few people from the intellectual community in it. The tale is one of tragedy and horror as they are transported like cattle throughout the countryside to work and provide comfort and labor for their captors. Lina survives and makes it back from Russia to a world forever changed. This is a poignant and beautifully written story of hope, despair, courage, and fear. It is also a story of human tenacity as well as mendacity. Lina learns to love as well as to look at the real person before she judges them. The book has a haunting beauty in its bleak and horrific tale of cruelty and cold blooded murder. Yet kindness appears from the least expected places. A reminder of what has happened and could easily happen again.
THE SANDALWOOD TREE is really two stories in one tale. One is set in the late 1940s when India is getting its freedom from England and when the country is splitting off the area to be called Pakistan and separate the Hindi from the Muslims. Evie and Martin and their son Billy are coming to India on a research fellowship and will live in a small village. Martin is still struggling emotionally with problems from his stint in the service during WWII and the marriage is off kilter a bit. Today we would quickly diagnose post traumatic shock, syndrome,but then it pretty much went untreated unless really bad. Evie finds some letters in the house they are renting that date back nearly 100 years. She becomes engrossed in tracking down the stories of the two women who came to India and their back stories. While her life is in turmoil with the unrest and fighting going on between factions in India she learns of the problems besetting the two women. One was a lesbian sent to India by her family to escape disgrace and the other was a strong willed woman who wanted a different like than the one offered in England.Tthey lived in this cottage for years as their histories and lives became a part of the fabric of the community. One fell in love with an Indian gentleman and had his child. And this when English treated the Indians abominably as less than people almost. Evie meets a descendant of this child while researching at a local church. The stories of the two eras are entwined and Evie is able to learn what happened in the past as well as to learn what is to be done about her personal problems of the present. the depiction 'india is vivid and the people are well delineated in character. Her women are particularly strong. And the young lad is fiercely real. This provides another way to look at the legacy of
Gandhi as well as a different look at history.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
All reading and no writing...
It seems I have spent more time reading than writing lately. Life intrudes. The weather -both good and bad - intrudes. This time of year I really can stop and smell the flowers. Green up time is happening to the yard and garden. But, back to stalking the shelves, not the plant stalks.
Three mysteries are on the top of the stack to do. Carolyn Hart's DEAD BY MIDNIGHT (Morrow, 987-0-06-191497-3); Hallie Ephron's COME AND FIND ME (Morrow, 978-0-06-185752-2); Diane Mott Davidson's CRUNCH TIME (Morrow, 978-0-06-134815-0.
DEAD BY MIDNIGHT has the intrepid bookstore owner looking in to the very suspicious death of a woman who has just started working for Annie. It is called suicide, but Annie and her husband think it is murder. The unraveling of the story also unravels the unhappiness of a wealthy family on the island and their secrets. Sometimes the wicked stepmother really is. A fun, quick read with a literary bent.
COME AND GET ME is my least favorite of the three. It involves a group of computer hackers who have gone legit and started their own computer security firm. Diana Highsmith has lived a life of seclusion and fear to be outside of her house since she saw her fiancee lost in a mountain climbing accident and she conducts all of her part of the business with an avatar and virtually. But things are not quite what they seem and when her best friend goes missing after a kind of flash mob event, Diana ventures out into the real world and in to a heap of trouble for herself. Lots of twists and turns before the rather non-ending. Still, it held my atttention. Lots of what if moments.
CRUNCH TIME is typical Davidson. This time the caterer Goldie Schulz is facing the effects of the recession on her catering business as well as trying help out a friend, Yolanda Garcia, who seems to have a black cloud hovering over her and her feisty aunt. Murder and arson are following Yolanda and her aunt and Goldie sets out to see why and who is involved. Since Yolanda and her aunt are staying temporarily with Goldie, the action is close to home. A couple of bodies later, it all gets sorted out, but not before it involves the church, the school, and some wealthy additions to the city. As many people as seem to die and have their lives uprooted around whatever event Goldie is catering, I am always surprised that people will still hire her. The Goldie books always include new twists on old plots and keeping us up to date on the lives of all the characters, And the recipes that are included look pretty tasty.
Three mysteries are on the top of the stack to do. Carolyn Hart's DEAD BY MIDNIGHT (Morrow, 987-0-06-191497-3); Hallie Ephron's COME AND FIND ME (Morrow, 978-0-06-185752-2); Diane Mott Davidson's CRUNCH TIME (Morrow, 978-0-06-134815-0.
DEAD BY MIDNIGHT has the intrepid bookstore owner looking in to the very suspicious death of a woman who has just started working for Annie. It is called suicide, but Annie and her husband think it is murder. The unraveling of the story also unravels the unhappiness of a wealthy family on the island and their secrets. Sometimes the wicked stepmother really is. A fun, quick read with a literary bent.
COME AND GET ME is my least favorite of the three. It involves a group of computer hackers who have gone legit and started their own computer security firm. Diana Highsmith has lived a life of seclusion and fear to be outside of her house since she saw her fiancee lost in a mountain climbing accident and she conducts all of her part of the business with an avatar and virtually. But things are not quite what they seem and when her best friend goes missing after a kind of flash mob event, Diana ventures out into the real world and in to a heap of trouble for herself. Lots of twists and turns before the rather non-ending. Still, it held my atttention. Lots of what if moments.
CRUNCH TIME is typical Davidson. This time the caterer Goldie Schulz is facing the effects of the recession on her catering business as well as trying help out a friend, Yolanda Garcia, who seems to have a black cloud hovering over her and her feisty aunt. Murder and arson are following Yolanda and her aunt and Goldie sets out to see why and who is involved. Since Yolanda and her aunt are staying temporarily with Goldie, the action is close to home. A couple of bodies later, it all gets sorted out, but not before it involves the church, the school, and some wealthy additions to the city. As many people as seem to die and have their lives uprooted around whatever event Goldie is catering, I am always surprised that people will still hire her. The Goldie books always include new twists on old plots and keeping us up to date on the lives of all the characters, And the recipes that are included look pretty tasty.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Picoult and the hot button issues
If you are a fan of Jodi Picoult - and I am not - you have treat coming your way in her latest book, SING YOU HOME (Atria 978-1-4391-0272-5). Picoult's novels always have characters who aer involved with problems and with the hot button issues of the day. I think of Picoult's books and Oprah Winfrey's show as being similar. This latest novel was a slow starter, but had a really fast paced and riveting ending. I will begin by saying that originally, the characters did not charm me either. But Picoult added characters to the plot that were strong and had great stories. The book has several social issues to cover and misses very few. The first issue is infertility. Zoe Baxter has been trying to get pregnant for ten years. At great monetary cost and even more psychological wear and tear on her and her husband, Max Neither one are particularly appealing people. Zoe is overly obsessive about being a mother and Max seems not the brightest bulb in the box. Max's brother and his wife are ultra religious and very successful and also childless. Zoe's mother is a new agey sort of person who is currently dabbling at being a life coach of sorts, When the story begins, Zoe is pregnant, nearly about to have her baby and attending a baby shower when she goes into labor and loses the baby. And then the real trouble begins. She wants to try again. Max says no to her and yes to a divorce. She retreats into depression and Max goes back to his alcoholic ways and buries himself in his lawn service and lives with his brother, . Then things turn really dramatic. Zoe finally goes back to work as a music therapist and her friendship with the school counselor, Vanessa Shaw, deepens. Zoe has always felt the lack of feminine friends to talk with and be around and Vanessa is a find.Vanessa is a Lesbian and wants Zoe to be aware of it if she care not to be around her.Although it is unplanned and unexpected, she and Zoe fall in love And as to be expected Max does not understand. Zoe's mother comes to terms with the situation and helps plan a wedding for them. Here is where the characters take over the book and turn it into a compelling read. Max has found religion after he is in a drunken automobile crash and lets himself become a pawn for the publicity seeking fundamentalist style preacher who wants to make an example out the same sex couple who dare to be married. It becomes a legal issue when Zoe wants to claim the fertilized eggs left from the fertility treatments and have Vanessa be the surrogate mother. Max is ready to agree until his brother and his minister talk him into letting a "sin free family" raise the unborn child. Max's brother and the minister bring in a flamboyant and less than ethical lawyer who specializes in abortion and and other procreative cases and he attempts to demonize Zoe and Vanessa. He even gets the minister to make wild and false claims about the relationship of his very troubled and probably abused stepdaughter, Lucy, who is in therapy with Zoe. The trial is a nail biter and provides an exciting, if somewhat, improbable ending, As I said all the current hot button issues are covered. Infertility. Who owns the left over fertilized eggs in case of divorce.Same sex marriage.Gay and Lesbian teachers.Church and state problems. Child abuse. :Persecution. Trying to force tenets of a specific religion on others, Some of the characters were stereotypical and complete caricatures while other were well drawn and really alive. Some readers will actually care about what happens to the character even if the book does not tell it all. Oddly enough,
the book seemed to be set in a vacuum. The back story was incomplete. Where were the indignant parents earlier in the book? What was the town like? I really needed a bit more detail and plausibility.I admit, I am not a fan of Picoult,but I found the last part of the book riveting/ And there is a bonus. A CD of original songs to set the background and mood.
Another caveat - the cover was hard to read from a distance and too shiny by far. I would like to know the reasoning for this cover choice. Just curious. Incidentally, I would like to know more about the troubled Lucy. She could be a stand alone book.
l
the book seemed to be set in a vacuum. The back story was incomplete. Where were the indignant parents earlier in the book? What was the town like? I really needed a bit more detail and plausibility.I admit, I am not a fan of Picoult,but I found the last part of the book riveting/ And there is a bonus. A CD of original songs to set the background and mood.
Another caveat - the cover was hard to read from a distance and too shiny by far. I would like to know the reasoning for this cover choice. Just curious. Incidentally, I would like to know more about the troubled Lucy. She could be a stand alone book.
l
If you liked Steig Larsson...
Readers who fancied Steig Larsson's books and need another jolt of Nordic noir can find their fix in the three books covered here. THREE SECONDS (Silver Oak 978-1-4027-8592-4)by Roslund & Hellstrom; LUCIFER'S TEARS (Putnam 978-0-399-15799-4) by James Thompson; THE ICE PRINCESS (Simon and Schuster 987-1-4516-2174-7). THREE SECONDS is a dark and intense tale of a Swedish ex-con, Piet Hoffman, a police informant who is trying to get his life in order and live normally, but he is trapped into working for the government to break up a drug ring that operates internationally and plans to take over the drug trade in
Swedish prisons.Police corruption and police indifference allows Hoffman to be trapped in prison where he is a target for death by both the government and the crime syndicate. The writing is this is taut and spell binding, The whole book is permeated with evil and an attitude of fatigue. The authors have created a memorable atmosphere and people who seem full of despair and ennui. A fascinating look at the psyches of the participants.
James Thompson, author of LUCIFER'S TEARS was born and raised in Kentucky, but has lived in
Finland for the past 12 years and seems able to look into the minds and hearts of the people and particular;y into the mind of his protagonist, Inspector Kari Vaari. This is the second Vaari book and action from the first has left our hero with scars, physical and mental. Now an insomniac he is back in Helsinki and is working two seemingly unrelated cases. He is called to investigate a famed national hero who is suspected of having committed war crimes during their occupation and also is on the investigation of a torture murder case involving a wife of a Russian businessman. Vaari 's' wife is also pregnant and her brother and sister are visiting from the United States. They create other problems. The brother is an alcoholic failed academic who manages to cause trouble with the law and the sister has become involved with a joyless and punitive religion and causes dissent, All this plus Vaari can not sleep and finally seeks out his doctor brother. It does not help when it appears that the cases are going to become interconnected and some of the people at the cop shop will be tangentially involved. Some of his own family members will also be tied in.The book is reflective of a society that appears to rely heavily on popping pills and drinking copiously. The people seem driven and secretive. The book is dark, intense and yet seductive in its cold beauty. For a transplanted Kentuckian, Thompson certainly writes with perception about the gloom and winter atmosphere. I await the third Vaari adventure. I want to know how the diagnosis made by his doctor brother about Vaari's headaches plays out. How's that for for a cliff, (or should that be fjord?) hanger?
Lackberg's ICE PRINCESS is set in a small seaside town in remote Sweden. Erica Falck has returned home to take care of affairs after the death of her parents. She finds the dead body of her childhood friend,Alex,frozen in ice in a bathtub in her unheated house and her wrists are slit. The first declaration of suicide has to be changed to murder and then the investigation gets ugly. Erica joins another childhood friend, Patrick Hedstrom, now with the local police in looking into events that led up to the crime, and what she finds is not pretty. Old secrets are uncovered. New secrets are found. Lies. Coverups. Deceits. Erica's own sister adds to the problems because of her domineering and abusive husband and his desire for the money from the estate of the dead parents. Since Erica is a well now author, she is asked by Alex's family to write a commemorative piece about her and her art. She is able to use this cover to talk to many people about the case. She uncovers too much, however and she is also in danger. The past catches up with the future and not all of it has a happy ending. Some families will kill to keep secrets from coming out. Psychological suspense and intricate plotting at its best is featured in this tale.
So for all of readers who like your noir Nordic, enjoy. For those who like fine writing, excellent plotting, and complicated characters, have a good read.
Swedish prisons.Police corruption and police indifference allows Hoffman to be trapped in prison where he is a target for death by both the government and the crime syndicate. The writing is this is taut and spell binding, The whole book is permeated with evil and an attitude of fatigue. The authors have created a memorable atmosphere and people who seem full of despair and ennui. A fascinating look at the psyches of the participants.
James Thompson, author of LUCIFER'S TEARS was born and raised in Kentucky, but has lived in
Finland for the past 12 years and seems able to look into the minds and hearts of the people and particular;y into the mind of his protagonist, Inspector Kari Vaari. This is the second Vaari book and action from the first has left our hero with scars, physical and mental. Now an insomniac he is back in Helsinki and is working two seemingly unrelated cases. He is called to investigate a famed national hero who is suspected of having committed war crimes during their occupation and also is on the investigation of a torture murder case involving a wife of a Russian businessman. Vaari 's' wife is also pregnant and her brother and sister are visiting from the United States. They create other problems. The brother is an alcoholic failed academic who manages to cause trouble with the law and the sister has become involved with a joyless and punitive religion and causes dissent, All this plus Vaari can not sleep and finally seeks out his doctor brother. It does not help when it appears that the cases are going to become interconnected and some of the people at the cop shop will be tangentially involved. Some of his own family members will also be tied in.The book is reflective of a society that appears to rely heavily on popping pills and drinking copiously. The people seem driven and secretive. The book is dark, intense and yet seductive in its cold beauty. For a transplanted Kentuckian, Thompson certainly writes with perception about the gloom and winter atmosphere. I await the third Vaari adventure. I want to know how the diagnosis made by his doctor brother about Vaari's headaches plays out. How's that for for a cliff, (or should that be fjord?) hanger?
Lackberg's ICE PRINCESS is set in a small seaside town in remote Sweden. Erica Falck has returned home to take care of affairs after the death of her parents. She finds the dead body of her childhood friend,Alex,frozen in ice in a bathtub in her unheated house and her wrists are slit. The first declaration of suicide has to be changed to murder and then the investigation gets ugly. Erica joins another childhood friend, Patrick Hedstrom, now with the local police in looking into events that led up to the crime, and what she finds is not pretty. Old secrets are uncovered. New secrets are found. Lies. Coverups. Deceits. Erica's own sister adds to the problems because of her domineering and abusive husband and his desire for the money from the estate of the dead parents. Since Erica is a well now author, she is asked by Alex's family to write a commemorative piece about her and her art. She is able to use this cover to talk to many people about the case. She uncovers too much, however and she is also in danger. The past catches up with the future and not all of it has a happy ending. Some families will kill to keep secrets from coming out. Psychological suspense and intricate plotting at its best is featured in this tale.
So for all of readers who like your noir Nordic, enjoy. For those who like fine writing, excellent plotting, and complicated characters, have a good read.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
It's a mystery
Spring weather keeps me away from the computer. Being outside enjoying the lovely flowers and shrubs is more compelling than writing it seems. 4 newer book of mystery and suspense that have crossed my desk recently are THE BONE YARD (Morrow 978-0-06-180678-0) by Jefferson Bass, A LESSON IN SECRETS (Harper 978-0-06-172767) by Jacqueline Winspear, WHEN THE THRILL IS GONE (Riverhead Press978-1-59448-781-1) by Walter Mosley, and COLD WIND (Putnam 978-0-399-15735-6) by C.J .Box. A very disparate group.
The Box is another Joe Pickett book and involves many characters we have met before. This time Joe' mother-in-law is accused of murder.The case also involves Nate Romanowski, revenge that goes awry, family problems and lots of buried secrets. I enjoy the way Box matures his characters and lets them get on with their lives instead of freezing them in time. His characters are well drawn and the sense of place in his books is awesome. There are some surprising twists to this and a rather high body count, but it is vintage Box.
Leonid McGill is back in the Mosley book and as world weary as ever and the current economy has him in need of a case to solve. His family life is still complicated by the fact that he and his wife live seemingly separate lives and she has a new lover. His children are a source of joy and trepidation plus one of his good friends is dying of cancer and McGill has taken him in to his home to care for him.And his associates are still dangerous and deadly as are his clients. This caper involves two sisters, an enigmatic husband who is extremely reclusive and terribly rich and some strange deceptions. McGill enlists some of his past shady connections to get to the bottom of this case. Mosley really makes his characters come alive.
Why I have not read any Winspear before is a mystery in its own right, This charming and fast paced novel is one of the Maisie Dobbs series set in England in 1932 - the year I was born. Maisie is a thoroughly modern and independent type who is clever, intelligent and on her first assignment for the British Secret Service. Maisie goes undercover in Cambridge as a professor to check out rumors of Nazi party activity. Well, there are murders, attempted murders,suspicious characters, red herrings galore, and sprightly dialogue. Maisie uncovers a lot of intrigue and proves herself to be a resourceful person. The look at the era is well handled. I will definitely be reading more by this author. There are seven previous novels for starters.
Jefferson Bass ( the writing team of Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson) has added another exciting and rather gruesome forensic foray into murders and mayhem. This time Dr.Brockton joins a colleague in Florida who is trying to prove that her sister did not commit suicide, but was in fact murdered by her husband.,
Well, a few more bodies and bones turn up and their investigation takes on another case as well.. This one is about a lot of bones that a dog has dug up that may belong to youth who died at a state corrective juvenile facility. This investigation crosses state lines as well as crossing some people who with not to be crossed and the investigation becomes dangerous as well as productive. Past actions and crimes are uncovered that pertain to their investigation. And they are able to solve the killing of the sister.
Suspense. Action .It is all here . Incidentally, this book mirrors a real life investigation of alleged murders and beatings that supposedly occurred at an actual Florida youth institution. Suspense at its best.
Incidentally, the Laura Lippman book, I'D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE, is now available in trade paper.(Morrow 978-0-06-207075-3). This is the one where a man on death row manages to insinuate himself back in to the life of a girl he kidnapped when she was a teenage. Psychological terror and guilt and courage come alive here. If you missed it first time round, here is your opportunity to catch up.
The Box is another Joe Pickett book and involves many characters we have met before. This time Joe' mother-in-law is accused of murder.The case also involves Nate Romanowski, revenge that goes awry, family problems and lots of buried secrets. I enjoy the way Box matures his characters and lets them get on with their lives instead of freezing them in time. His characters are well drawn and the sense of place in his books is awesome. There are some surprising twists to this and a rather high body count, but it is vintage Box.
Leonid McGill is back in the Mosley book and as world weary as ever and the current economy has him in need of a case to solve. His family life is still complicated by the fact that he and his wife live seemingly separate lives and she has a new lover. His children are a source of joy and trepidation plus one of his good friends is dying of cancer and McGill has taken him in to his home to care for him.And his associates are still dangerous and deadly as are his clients. This caper involves two sisters, an enigmatic husband who is extremely reclusive and terribly rich and some strange deceptions. McGill enlists some of his past shady connections to get to the bottom of this case. Mosley really makes his characters come alive.
Why I have not read any Winspear before is a mystery in its own right, This charming and fast paced novel is one of the Maisie Dobbs series set in England in 1932 - the year I was born. Maisie is a thoroughly modern and independent type who is clever, intelligent and on her first assignment for the British Secret Service. Maisie goes undercover in Cambridge as a professor to check out rumors of Nazi party activity. Well, there are murders, attempted murders,suspicious characters, red herrings galore, and sprightly dialogue. Maisie uncovers a lot of intrigue and proves herself to be a resourceful person. The look at the era is well handled. I will definitely be reading more by this author. There are seven previous novels for starters.
Jefferson Bass ( the writing team of Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson) has added another exciting and rather gruesome forensic foray into murders and mayhem. This time Dr.Brockton joins a colleague in Florida who is trying to prove that her sister did not commit suicide, but was in fact murdered by her husband.,
Well, a few more bodies and bones turn up and their investigation takes on another case as well.. This one is about a lot of bones that a dog has dug up that may belong to youth who died at a state corrective juvenile facility. This investigation crosses state lines as well as crossing some people who with not to be crossed and the investigation becomes dangerous as well as productive. Past actions and crimes are uncovered that pertain to their investigation. And they are able to solve the killing of the sister.
Suspense. Action .It is all here . Incidentally, this book mirrors a real life investigation of alleged murders and beatings that supposedly occurred at an actual Florida youth institution. Suspense at its best.
Incidentally, the Laura Lippman book, I'D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE, is now available in trade paper.(Morrow 978-0-06-207075-3). This is the one where a man on death row manages to insinuate himself back in to the life of a girl he kidnapped when she was a teenage. Psychological terror and guilt and courage come alive here. If you missed it first time round, here is your opportunity to catch up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)