Sutton by J.R. Moehringer

Sutton by J.R. Moehringer

When Willie “The Actor” Sutton was pardoned on Christmas Eve 1969 he granted one interview.  This is the fictionalized account of what transpired on Christmas Day between Sutton, the photographer and the reporter.  No one really knows what was said.  This is a story told in flashbacks, memories and wishes.  The way all lives are recalled.

While the broad strokes of Sutton’s life are based on what really happened, Moehringer fills in the details.  Details that make this story a thoroughly engrossing read.  From his childhood on the streets of Brooklyn, to his training, his bank robberies and from one prison cell (and escape) after another, we follow Sutton and his friends, enemies and his great love, through time.

If you’re a fan of character studies you really shouldn’t pass this one by.  This is a story about growing up poor in New York City before, during and after the Depression.  A story of a man who wanted, and got, more out of life, one bank robbery at a time…

White Horse by Alex Adams

White Horse by Alex Adams

White Horse, a genetic disease that mixes up our DNA, is on the loose and there is no cure.  You may end up growing a tail, an extra heart in your throat or regenerative abilities.  Eighty percent of humans die from the disease.  Ten percent never get sick.  Ten percent live, but are no longer what we know as human.

The world as we know it is about to end, and has already ended.  There are two storylines in this book each following the same main character: Now and Then.  Now is about 18 months after things got really bad.  Then is the time, maybe a year or so before Now, leading up to the end.  It’s a neat way to tell the story.

I’m still trying to figure out whether or not I enjoyed this book.  I think enjoy is the wrong word for apocalyptic fiction – it made me think; that is the way these books are appreciated.  And yes, this one did indeed make me think. 

The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen

The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen

Twelve-year old Minou lives on an island with her father, a former circus performer and his dog, and a priest.  It is a small island so when her mother disappears it is assumed that she was taken by the sea.  Minou refuses to believe that her mother is dead.  When the body of a boy washes up on their shore everything changes for Minou.

This is a short fable that debates whether life is better led by one’s creative and imaginative side or philosophical and logical side.  An answer is not clearly given, but both sides argue out well through the narrative.

Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillipp Sendker

Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillipp Sendker

Reviewed by Kay, Librarian at the Bridgewater Library

This novel starts out as a mystery.  A successful lawyer goes missing leaving his wife and adult daughter with no idea what has happened to him.  The daughter decides to go looking for him in Burma after discovering old love letters the father has written.  The story then becomes a romance where we learn about the father’s childhood and teen age years and the love he had for a young crippled girl in Burma.  It is a beautiful and intriguing story or love and sacrifice and duty.  The novel was very well written and I enjoyed listening to this tale unfold.  Great love story but very sad.

Gone Missing by Linda Castillo

Gone Missing by Linda Castillo

Reviewed by Kay, Libarian at the Bridgewater Library

I must admit that this book caught my eye as I was looking for the popular title, Gone Girl.

I found Linda Castillo‘s book well written and the opening pages concerning a suicide drew me into the story.   I enjoyed the background information concerning the Amish and their culture.  The lead investigator is Kate Burkholder who was brought up Amish and is asked to help with the investigation of some missing Amish teens.   It read like a CSI crime story and the crimes and the police work made for a suspense-filled story.  Kate is a strong character dedicated to solving crime, but she also has a sad, disturbing background.  

This was my first Linda Castillo novel and I will read more by her.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Bernadette is Bee’s mom.  Bernadette is a mess.  She is extremely antisocial, to the point where she has outsourced her life to India.  Yes, you did read that right.  In order to avoid social interactions her personal assistant in India sets up her travel arrangements, chooses items to order and ships them to Bernadette’s home and even makes dinner reservations.  Bernadette is not agoraphobic; she just doesn’t like talking to anyone except immediate family.

Bernadette and her family and going along with their lives when disaster strikes.  Bee has gotten perfect marks all through school.  That means she can have whatever she wants.  And she wants a family trip to Antarctica over the Christmas break.  Bernadette doesn’t think she can do it.  And a bunch of things that happen prior to leaving on the trip chip away at the family.  In a climactic scene Bernadette mysteriously disappears.  Bee is determined to find her.

This is just a really fun book.  It’s a quick read, mostly because of the interesting format.  The story is revealed through emails, news articles and regular narrative.  There is a reason for the strange format and it really works in telling this story.  I left so much out in my summary because finding out little by little about Bernadette’s story and why she is the woman she has become is fascinating.  I completely recommend this book for those looking for something fun, but not light and fluffy.  This isn’t angel food cake; it is raspberry chocolate cheesecake, for the mind.

Immobility by Brian Evenson

Immobility by Brian Evenson

Josef Horkai awakens remembering none of the details of his life.  He can only recall the sweeping circumstances about everyday existence prior to the Kollaps.  He can remember what that decaying building over there once was, but he can’t remember what he did for a living once upon a time.  Horkai only knows what he’s told.  He has awakened after thirty years in cryogenic storage to learn he has the amazing ability to survive outside in the irradiated world.  He is completely hairless and can regenerate.  He was once human but now he is not.  He’s paraplegic and if his spinal cord isn’t re-severed every few days the disease that allows him to survive in this world will slowly paralyze him and kill him.

This is all an awful lot to take in but time is of the essence.  His awakeners want to send him on a quest to retrieve the seeds the human colony needs to rebuild.  Since Horkai looks like the keepers in the mountain he is the only one who can retrieve them.

While this is bleak and dark SciFi it is also a psychological thriller.  In fact, it is a GREAT psychological thriller.  If you like second and third guessing the motives of people in novels do not pass this one by.  A slight, yet jam-packed novel, that makes you think long after you turn the last page.

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison

Ben was a stay at home dad until a tragic accident claimed the lives of his two children and ended his marriage.  He is understandably depressed.  When he has almost depleted his meager savings he enrolls in a night class called The Fundamentals of Caregiving.  There he learns how to care for extremely ill clients and keep himself emotionally removed.  Enter Trevor, a typical 19-year-old trapped in a horribly uncooperative body.  Trevor is slowly dying from his condition and Ben can’t help but become emotionally involved.  After various misunderstandings and misadventures Ben and Trevor hit the road to visit Trevor’s father.    

In a word: bittersweet.  There is so much tragedy overhanging the novel but the humor makes you laugh, and then you feel sort of guilty about laughing.  I enjoyed the book, but I didn’t enjoy the jerky emotional roller coaster.  Yes, what happened to Ben was unbelievably horrible, but stretching out the reveal in alternate chapters throughout the entire novel really made your head spin.

The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

The Cutting Season by Attica Locke

Caren Gray returned to Belle Vie, the Louisiana plantation on the Mississippi River, years ago when Hurricane Katrina ruined the life she had made for herself and her daughter in New Orleans.  She is now the General Manager of the historic site and popular venue for weddings and other catered events.  As a young girl she spent a lot of time at the former sugar cane plantation since her mother was the cook for the family who lived there.  Prior to that, for a number of generations, her family worked the land, first as slaves then as freedmen.  Now she, and her daughter Morgan, live at Belle Vie and all seems perfect. 

Nothing ever stays perfect.  The body of a migrant worker, a woman who worked the fields bordering Belle Vie, is found murdered near the reconstructed slave cabins.  Why would someone kill this woman?  Caren finds herself swept into the investigation as trespassers and stalkers begin dogging her trail.  Caren is also carrying out an investigation of her own.  She’s trying to discover what happened to Jason, her ancestor who worked at the plantation after the Civil War, after he was freed and could have chosen to go anywhere and do anything, but instead choose to stay.

A well-crafted mystery, the clues are presented as Caren discovers them and you’ll be puzzling out the mystery as she does.  A good pick on audio, but I would have liked more southern dialect in my reading.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

If you love books, the smell of the printed page and the mysteries uncovered within those typeset leaves, and you also consider yourself a bit of a geek, either of the Dungeons & Dragons or computer nerd variety, this book was made with you in mind.  I know it was written with me in mind.  I devoured it.  It’s fanciful, fun and funny. 

Clay Jannon leaps at the opportunity to work the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore.  Since there are hardly ever any customers he can work on some marketing strategies for the store and in the process make himself more marketable for another job.  But as the weeks go by Clay becomes interested in the purpose of the store.  There are the books you expect to see, fantasy books with dragons on their covers and Danielle Steel, but then there are the books that the regulars borrow.  Borrow, not buy.  What is going on?  Clay is determined to find out.

Warning: This book glows in the dark.  So don’t become concerned about that strange glow coming from your nightstand as this reader was…

King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry

King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry

Masterminds of the criminal world unite to unleash chaos on the world!  The Seven Kings is an organization which prides itself on benefiting from the world’s calamities.  (The recent economic crises the world over have brought in billions for the organization.)  But a few members aren’t content with raking in billions.  They want true chaos.  One member is the King of Plagues; he is intent on re-creating the ten plagues of Egypt.  Joe Ledger and his team are barely able to contain the outbreaks and it looks like things are going from bad to worse…

If you’re a fan of James Rollins, Steve Berry or Andy McDermott you should really try Joe Ledger.  This is the third Joe Ledger book and I eagerly await cracking the spine on the fourth entry in the series.

Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand

Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand

When talking about the first book in this series the author described her main character Cassandra Neary as a “prototypical amoral speedfreak crankhead kleptomaniac murderous rage-filled alcoholic bisexual heavily tattooed American female photographer."  I couldn’t have described her any better myself.  Often compared to Lisbeth Salander in reviews, Cass Neary is about as prickly a personality and even harder to like.

I didn’t read the first book in the series, but circumstances which happened in Maine that resulted in the murder of at least one person, are making Cass uneasy and wanting to leave New York City.  When she receives an offer of a lot of money to authenticate some murderabilia (photographs and other mementos from dead, murdered or murdering individuals) she hops on a plane to Helsinki.  The pictures are at once gruesome and gorgeous and horrifically real.  Who are the dead people in the photographs?  Who killed them?  Who is killing anyone who knows about these photos?  Will Cassandra be next?

From the frigid streets of Helsinki to the barren landscape of Iceland, Cassandra pops pills, snorts crank and drinks Brennivin trying to keep awake, alert and away from withdrawal to face the dangers all around her.

Flashback by Dan Simmons

Flashback by Dan Simmons

It is the near future.  The United States is a mere shadow of her former self.  Political correctness has backfired (in the minds of many) altering the landscape in a number of ways.  Government programs which seemed ideal have bankrupted the government.  The economy is in the toilet and it’s no longer safe for individuals to cross state lines.  Millions of Americans dream of a better day and re-live the good old days through Flashback: a cheap, highly addictive drug which allows users to re-live the experiences they want to the most.

Former Detective and current Flashback addict Nick Bottom just wants to spend his time re-living his past so he can spend time with his dead wife.  Her death, and the availability of Flashback, has made him a shell of his former self.  He lost his job with the Denver P.D. and shipped his son off to Los Angeles to live with his father-in-law.  Now Nick is hired to solve the six year old murder of a Japanese diplomat’s son. A case he couldn’t solve when he was a cop – but he needs money to feed his addiction so he’s willing to go through the motions.  Who killed the young Nakamura?  And how did America get so darn messed up?

The audiobook uses three voices to tell the story.  The primary narrator is Nick Bottom, but his son and father-in-law also take turns narrating.  This is probably one of the bleakest views of the future I’ve read and that is compared to end of the world zombie novels.  I think what’s so scary is how you could see a turn like this possibly happening in the not so distant future if everything suddenly goes wrong.  While it is dark and depressing there are moments of funny banter and the voice narration is really well done.  The voice of Sato, the bodyguard of the elder Nakamura who accompanies Nick on his investigations, is quite over the top and I kept picturing Oddjob from Goldfinger in my head.  At one point he and Nick are chatting and Sato claims that the reference reminds him of the “skiffy” movies and novels that Americans enjoy.  Nick has Sato spell the word:  S-C-I-F-I.  Nick never corrects him and many things are “skiffy” throughout the book. 

12-21 by Dustin Thomason

12-21 by Dustin Thomason

According to the Mayan long count calendar (that is if you believe the calculations which are now in doubt) their calendar ends on December 21, 2012.  On December 22, 2012 the calendar is just supposed to start over, just like ours does every year, but this is a “what if” story.  What if the Mayans knew something and ended their calendar so far in the future because they predicted the end of the fourth man (that would be us) and the arrival of the fifth?  Or is the world simply going to end?

In this novel an ancient Mayan codex from the classical era is smuggled into Los Angeles.  At the same time a Guatemalan man lies dying of a rare disease in a local hospital.  Days later an expert in Mayan linguistics and the world’s foremost expert on prion disease team up to hopefully prevent the end of life as we know it.

If you are concerned about germs – don’t read this book.  I was familiar with the disease this one is patterned after and it’s a terrible way to go; it’s worse than Ebola in my opinion.  (Get you intrigued enough to check it out yet?)  To make this rare illness the center of the book is terrifying, and of course perfect.  I couldn’t put it down!  A perfect blend of science, fiction, adventure and the end of the world.

John Saturnall’s Feast by Lawrence Norfolk

John Saturnall’s Feast by Lawrence Norfolk

John Saturnall, after many hardships and trials, is sent away to the local Lord’s castle to apprentice in the kitchens his mother had worked in long ago.  John has an aptitude for the fast paced realm of cookery and has a nose for spices that is without match.  Yet as all seems to finally be good in his life his past catches up with him.

Don’t read this book if you’re feeling even a little hungry.  The medieval banquets are over-the-top but described in sumptuous detail.  Each section starts with a description of part of a grand feast that is enough to make your mouth water.  (Unless you’re a vegetarian, there is a lot of roasting meat in this book.)  You learn a lot about the kitchens of a castle needing to serve large numbers of people and get to see all aspects of kitchen work from the scullery all the way to the role of the head of the kitchens.  Most interesting is seeing the role of food in a medieval castle during feast and famine and how the kitchens, household and other staff interact.

If you want medieval history from the working man’s point of view, this is a comfortable and engaging read to enjoy with a steaming hot beverage of spiced wine, tea or apple cider.