The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

Book description:
In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts.  The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain due to double engine failure. The body count? Thirty-nine.   

This offering by the talented Chris Bohjalian was a sore disappointment of a novel. Though others have lauded the opening chapters, I confess I was struggling to read on after the first few pages. As interested as I was in the story of the Linton family, the entire herbalist/witch element was off-putting from the very start. I wish the book had focused on the family and their personal demons without pulling in any outside evil to jazz things up. Too long and too complicatedly specific about minutia, this book was a disappointing read that I cannot in good conscience recommend.

The Truth-Teller's Lie by Sophie Hannah

Book description:

Naomi Jenkins knows all about secrets: three years ago something so terrible happened to her that she's never told anyone about it. Now, Naomi has another secret: her relationship with the unhappily married Robert Haworth. 

When Robert vanishes without explanation, Naomi knows he must have come to harm. But the police are less convinced, particularly when Robert's wife insists he is not missing. In desperation, Naomi decides that if she can't persuade the detectives that Robert is in danger, she'll convince them that he is a danger to others. Naomi knows how to describe the actions of a psychopath; all she needs to do is dig up her own traumatic past.

This novel was a disturbing read, not one to read when you are alone in the house.  Though I initially found Naomi quite irritating, as the story unfolded, some of the more bizarre quirks in her personality were explained.  It is difficult to review this thriller without revealing too much of the plot, so I'll just say that I was truly caught off guard by the big twist in the plot, and was riveted once I sank into the story.  Hannah has a true gift for the unexpected and this books did not disappoint.  A great read if rather disturbing in its depiction of violence again women.

I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits

Book description:

Opening in 1939 Transylvania, five-year-old Josef witnesses the murder of his family by the Romanian Iron Guard and is rescued by a Christian maid to be raised as her own son. Five years later, Josef rescues a young girl, Mila, after her parents are killed while running to meet the Rebbe they hoped would save them. Josef helps Mila reach Zalman Stern, a leader in the Satmar community, in whose home Mila is raised as a sister to Zalman's daughter, Atara. With the rise of communism in central Europe, the family moves to Paris, to the Marais, where Zalman tries to raise his children apart from the city in which they live. Mila's faith intensifies, while her beloved sister Atara discovers a world of books and learning that she cannot ignore.

This book a very powerful read and pulled me in from the very beginning.  This intimate look at the tragedy of the Holocaust from the perspective of two families was moving and engrossing.  I eagerly followed the story of Josef, Mila and Atara as they grew to adulthood, hoping that all would be well for these people who so desperately deserved some happiness.

It is hard to explain my concerns with the novel without giving away too much of the plot, but essentially halfway through the book, one of the main characters disappeared from the narrative not to re-emerge for decades.  Because Atara dropped away form the story, I was left feeling that the story was incomplete.  Josef and Mila's tale is tragic and compelling but I wanted also to learn about how Atara dealt with the choices she made.  I was also dissatisfied with the end of the book which was just too bleak for me.

Well-written and compelling, this story was nonetheless incomplete for me.

Saving Ruth by Zoe Fishman

Book description:

When Ruth returns home to the South for the summer after her freshman year at college, a near tragedy pushes her to uncover family truths and take a good look at the woman she wants to become. 

Growing up in Alabama, all Ruth Wasserman wanted was to be a blond Baptist cheerleader. But as a curly-haired Jew with a rampant sweet tooth and a smart mouth, this was an impossible dream. Not helping the situation was her older brother, David—a soccer star whose good looks, smarts, and popularity reigned at school and at home. College provided an escape route and Ruth took it. 

Now home for the summer, she's back life-guarding and coaching alongside David, and although the job is the same, nothing else is. She's a prisoner of her low self-esteem and unhealthy relationship with food, David is closed off and distant in a way he's never been before, and their parents are struggling with the reality of an empty nest. When a near drowning happens on their watch, a storm of repercussions forces Ruth and David to confront long-ignored truths about their town, their family, and themselves.

This coming of age story is a wonderful read, one that will resonate with anyone who survived the tumultuous transition from teenager to adult.  Both Ruth and her brother struggle with parental expectations and the desire for control over their lives.  They, and their parents, are shaken out of their complacency by a near-tragedy that could have had much worse implications than it did.  Ruth is a well-developed and vulnerable character, one battling with an eating disorder and trying desperately to reconnect with the brother who has always eclipsed her.

Once I started reading, I didn't put this book down until I was finished.  Well-written and well-imagined, this story and the voice rang true from start to finish.  I was genuinely engaged with Ruth as she attempted to navigate the treacherous waters of her first summer home from college- balancing friends, family, and food in desperate attempt to keep it all together.  There are no big revelations here, no life changing message- just a well-crafted coming of age tale that I would recommend to any reader.

5 stars.

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

Book description:
When she’s not digging up bones or other ancient objects, quirky, tart-tongued archaeologist Ruth Galloway lives happily alone in a remote area called Saltmarsh near Norfolk, land that was sacred to its Iron Age inhabitants - not quite earth, not quite sea. 

When a child’s bones are found on a desolate beach nearby, Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls Galloway for help. Nelson thinks he has found the remains of Lucy Downey, a little girl who went missing ten years ago. Since her disappearance he has been receiving bizarre letters about her, letters with references to ritual and sacrifice. 

The bones actually turn out to be two thousand years old, but Ruth is soon drawn into the Lucy Downey case and into the mind of the letter writer, who seems to have both archaeological knowledge and eerie psychic powers. Then another child goes missing and the hunt is on to find her. As the letter writer moves closer and the windswept Norfolk landscape exerts its power, Ruth finds herself in completely new territory – and in serious danger.

This excellent mystery is the beginning of a new series featuring Ruth Galloway, an incredibly complicated yet ultimately engaging character.  Though elements of the story, especially Ruth's actions in the final scenes on the saltmarsh, are frustratingly absurd, overall this thriller kept me on the edge of my seat.  The writing is strong and the characters appropriately flawed- I always enjoy protagonists who display human foibles.

Like the Shetland Island series by Ann Cleeves, this book features a strong stark setting that acts as a character in its own right.  The saltmarsh here is central to the story, as is its dark history.  Griffiths does an exceptional job setting her scene which helps anchor this story.  The pacing is strong and the plot complicated but not absurdly so- in all, this was an excellent read.  I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment...

White Nights by Ann Cleeves

Book Description:
In this second thriller of the Shetland Island series featuring Inspector Jimmy Perez, the launch of an exhibition at The Herring House art gallery is disturbed by a stranger who bursts into tears, then claims not to remember who he is or where he comes from. The next day he’s found dead. Set in midsummer, the book captures the unsettling nature of a landscape where the sun never quite sets and where people are not as they first seem.

I read Raven Black last year though I don't think I ever reviewed it.  I love mysteries, especially ones set in the UK, and so I was delighted to find this series.  The mystery here was intriguing and I admit I was guessing until the end- a sure sign of a successful thriller in my opinion.  It is hard to share too many details of the story without spoiling it, but the writing and characters are excellent and truly make the novel.

What I like best about Cleeves' work is that the Shetland Islands play such a crucial role as a character, and also help to create the feeling of a locked room mystery because the list of characters and settings is so short and outsiders are so unlikely to wander into the story.  Jimmy Perez is a truly interesting character, one with the kind of backstory that pulls the reader into his viewpoint.  His relationship with the islands and their residents, as well as with the crime scene experts who come in from outside, is deftly drawn and highlights the insular nature of the entire community.

I highly recommend this series; I'm about to read the third and hope there are more to come!

Gold: A Novel by Chris Cleave

Book Description:
What would you sacrifice for the people you love? 
KATE AND ZOE met at nineteen when they both made the cut for the national training program in track cycling—a sport that demands intense focus, blinding exertion, and unwavering commitment. They are built to exploit the barest physical and psychological edge over equally skilled rivals, all of whom are fighting for the last one tenth of a second that separates triumph from despair. Now at thirty-two, the women are facing their last and biggest race: the 2012 Olympics. Each wants desperately to win gold, and each has more than a medal to lose. 

Kate is the more naturally gifted, but the demands of her life have a tendency to slow her down. Her eight-year-old daughter Sophie dreams of the Death Star and of battling alongside the Rebels as evil white blood cells ravage her personal galaxy—she is fighting a recurrence of the leukemia that nearly killed her three years ago. Sophie doesn’t want to stand in the way of her mum’s Olympic dreams, but each day the dark forces of the universe seem to be massing against her. Devoted and self-sacrificing Kate knows her daughter is fragile, but at the height of her last frenzied months of training, might she be blind to the most terrible prognosis? 

Intense, aloof Zoe has always hovered on the periphery of real human companionship, and her compulsive need to win at any cost has more than once threatened her friendship with Kate—and her own sanity. Will she allow her obsession, and the advantage she has over a harried, anguished mother, to sever the bond they have shared for more than a decade?

I read this book back in July, with the 2012 Summer Olympics about to start. This book offers an incredible glance into the world of competitive cycling. Kate and Zoe, both coached by Tom and both tied to fellow cyclist Jack, have been battling it out since age 19 when they were picked to be the future of British cycling. Through three Olympics, countless championships, and years of riding against each other they have somehow maintained a relationship both on and off the track. In the run-up to the London games, Kate and Zoe are battling for a spot on the podium while Kate and Jack are battling for the life of their daughter Sophie, fighting through her second bout of leukemia.

I don't want to spoil the plot (though as a reader, the big twist was no real surprise at all) but I have to say it was too complicated and unbelieveable. Tom seemed to serve no real function other than to generate sympathy for Zoe, a strangely unsympathetic character. Reading this, it is difficult to see how anyone could maintain a relationship with someone so mentally troubled.

That said, the writing was so good that I was swept along despite the mediocre plot and implausible relationships. Once I started reading, I wasn't able to put this book down even though part of me was rolling my eyes when reading. I was genuinely interested in the lives of these characters though the only one I felt an emotional connection to was poor Jedi Sophie, trying to battle her cancer with the Force.

A good read, but not a great one- 5 star writing undermined by a 3 star plot.

The New Republic by Lionel Shriver

Book description:
Ostracized as a kid, Edgar Kellogg has always yearned to be popular. A disgruntled New York corporate lawyer, he's more than ready to leave his lucrative career for the excitement and uncertainty of journalism. When he's offered the post of foreign correspondent in a Portuguese backwater that has sprouted a homegrown terrorist movement, Edgar recognizes the disappeared larger-than-life reporter he's been sent to replace, Barrington Saddler, as exactly the outsize character he longs to emulate. Infuriatingly, all his fellow journalists cannot stop talking about their beloved "Bear," who is no longer lighting up their work lives.


Yet all is not as it appears. Os Soldados Ousados de Barba—"The Daring Soldiers of Barba"—have been blowing up the rest of the world for years in order to win independence for a province so dismal, backward, and windblown that you couldn't give the rat hole away. So why, with Barrington vanished, do terrorist incidents claimed by the "SOB" suddenly dry up?

I wanted to love this newly published offering by the gifted Lionel Shriver but the painfully slow start to this novel made reading it a chore.  Edgar Kellogg is a completely unsympathetic and often annoying character; he tries so hard to be arch adn superior that he often made me cringe.  The entire situation in Barba, a Portuguese province now the home of a breakaway rebel movement, is absurd- too absurd unfortunately to make for an enjoyable read.  Though the book does raise some interesting questions about journalism and sensationalism, the story itself never pulled me in as a reader.  The big twist was something I saw coming once Edgar arrived in Barba and I found his inability to follow the breadcrumbs irritating and unbelieveable.

The last third of the book was certainly an improvement both in terms of pacing and dialogue, but it was to little too late to save this book.  2.5 stars.

Rather Outspoken by Dan Rather

Book description:
This memoir by Dan Rather -- one of the most pre-eminent journalists of our time -- is told in a straightforward and conversational manner so that you hear his distinctive voice on every page. Rather, -- who has won every prestigious journalism award in his distinguished career -- discusses all the big stories from his decades of reporting. This very personal accounting includes (but is certainly not limited to) his dismissal from CBS, the Abu Ghraib story, the George W. Bush Air National Guard controversy, his coverage of the JFK assassination, the origin of "Hurricane Dan" as well as inside stories about all the top personalities Rather has either interviewed or worked with over his remarkable career. 


The book also includes Rather's thoughts and reflections on the state of journalism today and what he sees for its future, as well as never-before-revealed personal observations and commentary.

This book by one of the elder statesmen of American journalism is part memoir, part reflection, part ringing condemnation, and all Rather.  Opening with the events that led to his ouster from CBS News, Rather then reverts back to his childhood and his early interest in reporting the news, following that love of journalism from elementary school into college and beyond.  As Rather recounts the work of his early years at CBS (the civil rights movement, the Kennedy assassination, his time in Washington with LBJ and Nixon), it is clear this book is more a highlights reel than an in-depth professional memoir.  Regardless, the tidbits he shares are fascinating and simply whet the reader's appetite for more.  Eventually Rather returns to the topic of his departure from CBS, outlining his eventual decision to file suit against CBS to try to clear his reputation, and his subsequent work on HDNet.

I found the book a bit uneven as a reader.  The details of Rather's personal life were extremely interesting and I wish there had been more of them, especially about his family life once he was married and a father of two; it seemed from the book that his career always took precedence over his family but that may just be the result of trying to keep his private life private.  Either way, it is clear that his wife Jean was the solid base that made his career possible- it would have been wonderful to hear more of her voice and story carry through the narrative.  Rather's voice does ring through loud and clear, which is both a strength and the weakness in my opinion as that voice is sometimes strident and veers a bit toward self-congratulatory.  Rather is uncompromising in his belief that CBS sold out the Evening News, and he is happy to name names and apportion blame which may be understandable but also reeks a bit of bitterness- a bitterness that rather undermines his legitimate grievances with the organization.

Throughout this book one thing that is always front and center is Rather's deep and abiding passion for journalism and his clear belief that the press has a duty to ask the tough questions and to reveal the hidden truths.  His disdain for the corporate conglomerates that control the news today in the U.S. is well-founded as are his fears that we are in danger of losing the free press that our Founding Fathers viewed as so essential to safeguard our democracy.  After his many decades reporting the news, and his brief stint as the story itself, Rather is perfectly placed to assess the state of modern journalism; it is to his credit that he faces so unflinchingly the shortcomings of his own profession.

All in all, an engaging read by one of the most recognizable faces (and voices) of the era.

Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts

Book description:
Little else in life is as dangerous as fire jumping. But there’s also little else as thrilling—at least to Rowan Tripp. Being a Missoula smoke jumper is in Rowan’s blood: her father is a legend in the field. At this point, returning to the wilds of Montana for the season feels like coming home—even with reminders of the partner she lost last season still lingering in the air. One of the best of this year’s rookie crop, Gulliver Curry is a walking contradiction, a hotshot firefighter with a big vocabulary and a winter job at a kids’ arcade. And though Rowan, as a rule, doesn’t hook up with other smoke jumpers, Gull is convinced he can change her mind… But everything is thrown off balance, when a dark presence lashes out against Rowan, looking to blame someone for last year’s tragedy. Rowan knows she can’t complicate things with Gull—any distractions in the air or on the ground could be lethal. But if she doesn’t find someone she can lean on when the heat gets intense, her life may go down in flames.

I love Nora Roberts and am always thrilled to see a new paperback appear for sale. That said, this book (much like The Search) just doesn't reach the level of her earlier books. Despite being longer than many previous offerings, the story here seems to take a backseat to the technical details of firefighting- interesting in small doses, it became a bit overwhelming as presented. I love Roberts for her characters and the relationships she crafts for them, not for their careers or how well researched her books undoubtedly are, so this book for me was a bit of a bust. Truthfully, even a bad Nora Roberts is better than the best some romance writers have to offer but I hold Roberts to a higher standard based on the quality of the body of work. If you do have an interest in firefighting, I suspect this book will be a 4 or even 5 star read, but if you are looking for a deeply satisfying relationship story, then this book sadly isn't it.

Sugarhouse: Turning the Neighborhood Crack House into Our Home Sweet Home by Matthew Batt

Book description:
When a season of ludicrous loss tests the mettle of their marriage, Matthew Batt and his wife decide not to call it quits. They set their sights instead on the purchase of a dilapidated house in the Sugarhouse section of Salt Lake City. With no homesteading experience and a full-blown quarter-life crisis on their hands, these perpetual grad students/waiters/nonprofiteers decide to seek salvation through renovation, and do all they can to turn a former crack house into a home. Dizzy with despair, doubt, and the side effects of using the rough equivalent of napalm to detoxify their house, they enter into full-fledged adulthood with power tools in hand.

I picked up this book because of the promise of a story about rehabbing a house and a relationship one project at a time. Unfortunately, the book just isn't really that focused on house projects which was disappointing for me. There is a lot of backstory, and a lot of details about Matt's dysfunctional family, which though interesting, didn't seem to relate at all to the story I thought I would be reading. Most of the house projects are glossed right over (apart from Matt's attempts to self-justify at Home Depot) which I found disappointing. The book is funny but the narrative uneven, and ultimately this isn't a story about a house which is why I wanted to read it. It also isn't a story about a relationship because there is a lot more here about Matt's grandfather than his wife. The book was a quick read but ultimately unsatisfying read.

Beach Colors by Shelley Noble

Book description:
While renowned designer Margaux Sullivan was presenting her highly praised collection during New York City's Fashion Week, her husband was cleaning out their bank account. A week after he disappeared, the bank foreclosed on Margaux's apartment and business. Suddenly broke, betrayed, and humiliated, Margaux has nowhere else to turn to but home: the small coastal town of Crescent Cove, Connecticut, where she once knew love, joy, and family before she put them behind her on the climb to fame. When she's stopped for speeding by local interim police chief Nick Prescott, Margaux barely remembers the "townie" boy who worshipped her from afar every summer. But Nick is all grown up now, a college professor who gave up his career to care for his orphaned nephew, Connor. Though still vulnerable, Margaux is soon rediscovering the beauty of the shore through young Connor's eyes . . . and, thanks to Nick, finding a forgotten place in her heart that wants to love again. But as she continues to work on a bold new line that will get her back into the game, Margaux realizes that soon she will have to make the most important, most difficult decision of her life...

This story of a woman struggling to rebuild a life after her husband runs out on her with all of their money made for an enjoyable read for the most part.  Margaux and Nick were both interesting characters for most of the book, though at the end I didn't find either of them particularly sympathetic.  The book is well-written and the setting delightful.  The minor players- Margaux's mom, Nick's landlady- are engaging though I felt more of their story could have been told throughout the narrative.  I won't spoil the ending, but I did find the last few chapters frustrating and it altered my view of the book, costing 1/2 a star in the rating.    A fairly enjoyable summer read, this book ultimately failed to live up to its early promise.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

Book description:
When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be…until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago, to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion.

This book, about one daughter's quest to find her father, is a truly engrossing read. During the first few pages, I felt Julia's confusion and feelings of dislocation; after that, I (like Julia) was too caught up in the story to question it from a logical perspective. The writing is fluid and the feeling of Burma, especially Burma in the 1950s, shines through. This is an odd book in some ways, a tale of the past that has only a nominal connection to the present, but surprisingly it works. As the true story of Tin Win and Mi Mi unfolds, the reasons for Julia's father's abrupt departure from his life in NY become clear and even understandable. Though the book does not answer how he could have so easily abandoned his daughter, Julia is really ony a peripheral character so her pain and her story are never as compelling as that of Tin Win and Mi Mi. Well written and engaging, this book was impossible to put down once I started reading.

The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen

Book description:
Four friends, recent college graduates, caught in a terrible job market, joke about turning to kidnapping to survive. And then, suddenly, it's no joke. For two years, the strategy they devise-quick, efficient, low risk-works like a charm. Until they kidnap the wrong man.

Now two groups they've very much wanted to avoid are after them-the law, in the form of veteran state investigator Kirk Stevens and hotshot young FBI agent Carla Windermere, and an organized-crime outfit looking for payback. As they all crisscross the country in deadly pursuit and a series of increasingly explosive confrontations, each of them is ultimately forced to recognize the truth: The true professionals, cop or criminal, are those who are willing to sacrifice . . . everything.

The premise of this book was creative and compelling- four college buddies turn to intelligent kidnapping when their liberal arts degrees prove useless in today's job market. Unfortunately, that interesting hook is quickly lost in the shuffle of idiotic decisions, inexplicable violence, and the complete collapse of the structure of their long-term plans. I couldn't root for the criminals because their actions seemed wildly out of character for the way they were initially presented. The police and FBI also failed to capture my support because their odd sexual tension seemed unnecessary and undermined their appeal. By the last third of the book, I felt like I was just slogging through to make it to the end; turning the page was a chore not a thrill. Ultimately, I found this book a disappointing read with shallow characters that I have no desire to meet again.

The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri

Book description:
Married to the youngest attorney general in Massachusetts state history, Nora Cunningham is a picture-perfect political wife and a doting mother. But her carefully constructed life falls to pieces when she, along with the rest of the world, learns of the infidelity of her husband, Malcolm.

Humiliated and hounded by the press, Nora packs up her daughters—Annie, seven; and Ella, twelve—and takes refuge on Burke's Island, a craggy spit of land off the coast of Maine. Settled by Irish immigrants, the island is a place where superstition and magic are carried on the ocean winds, and wishes and dreams wash ashore with the changing tides.

Nora spent her first five years on the island but has not been back to the remote community for decades—not since that long ago summer when her mother disappeared at sea. One night while sitting alone on Glass Beach below the cottage where she spent her childhood, Nora succumbs to grief, her tears flowing into the ocean. Days later she finds an enigmatic fisherman named Owen Kavanagh shipwrecked on the rocks nearby. Is he, as her aunt's friend Polly suggests, a selkie—a mythical being of island legend—summoned by her heartbreak, or simply someone who, like Nora, is trying to find his way in the wake of his own personal struggles?

Just as she begins to regain her balance, her daughters embark on a reckless odyssey of their own—a journey that will force Nora to find the courage to chart her own course and finally face the truth about her marriage, her mother, and her long-buried past.

When Nora needed a place to escape the spotlight shining on her husband's infidelity, she retreated with her daughters to the island where she was born, the island she and her father left when she was just five years old after her mother disappeared. There Nora finds an aunt who loves her, a cottage that was once a home, and the still unanswered questions about her mother's disappearance. Woven through the story is Irish mythology and a deep and abiding love of the sea.

This was a book that once I started, I couldn't put down. The writing style is wonderful, as is the way the author weaves in old fairy stories with ease. Maire and Nora are great characters, and the Annie and Ella are precocious and intelligent children trying to deal with a crumbling family and a new-found love of the sea. I would have given it five stars if more of the questions about Maeve's disappearance has been answered- at the end I still had too many questions about that to be fully satisfied with the narrative. That said, this was a truly enjoyable read; I will certainly pick up other books by the author.