Month: August 2019

September New Releases

~ noveltherapy

The Fragments, by Toni Jordan (available September 10)

Thanks to Toni Jordan, Text Publishing Company, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel. The Fragments is a mystery involving the death of a celebrated author in the 1930’s, her much-anticipated novel that was almost entirely destroyed in a fire, and the young woman in 1980’s-era Australia who endeavors to find the missing manuscript.

I was intrigued by the description of this novel, and it did not disappoint! Historical mystery, academic intrigue, a hint of romance, and a love of books — all mix together into a captivating read in The Fragments. I was not ready for it to end – so I found the ending a bit abrupt and that was disappointing, but not so much that it changed my overall impression of the book. I very much enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more from this author in the future! Highly recommend!

29 Seconds, by T.M. Logan (available September 10)

Thanks to T.M. Logan, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel. In 29 Seconds, Sarah is given the opportunity — by a powerful and mysterious man who is suddenly in her debt — to take revenge on someone who is systematically destroying her life. Will she take him up on his offer? And if so, what consequences will she face for her choice?

29 Seconds is an enjoyable thriller about the choices we make and about the consequences that necessarily follow from those choices. It kept my interest throughout, even though I found the premise a bit hard to believe and also found the protagonist’s actions (or lack of action) frustrating at times. Not too deep on substance, but a good vacation read.

Heaven, My Home, by Attica Locke (Highway 59 #2). (Available Sept 12)

Thanks to Attica Locke, Serpent’s Tail/Profile books, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel. This is the second novel featuring African-American Texas Ranger Darren Matthews, following Locke’s Edgar award-winning novel Bluebird, Bluebird. Here, Matthews is sent to a small east Texas town where a young boy has gone missing, to try to find the boy and also to investigate a gang of white supremacists.

Locke is a gifted writer, as evidenced by the first few pages of the novel which are a master class in description and suspense. She does an excellent job creating characters and situations that seem real. I appreciated those aspects of the novel, but I had the same overall feeling that I had reading Bluebird, Bluebird, which was that as much as I wanted to like Ranger Matthews, I didn’t like him much. It’s really hard to root for the hero of the story when you don’t find him likeable. Matthews seems petty, insecure, and most troubling, ethically compromised. These are all problematic character traits for any protagonist, but in particular for a Texas Ranger. I don’t expect a main character to be perfect — indeed, most successful series characters are flawed in some respect — but there must be something about them that makes us like them. Sadly, that is lacking here.

Also, Ranger Matthews does things that as a Houstonian, I find incomprehensible – like reading a case file on his steering wheel while driving up Interstate 59 at eighty miles an hour….. Seriously, what?

Locke is a talented writer with a unique point of view, but this series has not worked for me so far. Your mileage may vary!

The Banker’s Wife

~ noveltherapy

The Banker’s Wife, by Cristina Alger

Annabel is left reeling when her husband, a banker at an elite Swiss bank, is killed in a plane crash in the Alps. As she uncovers secrets about his life and about the bank, her own life may be in danger. Meanwhile, Marina, an American journalist, is investigating the bank and its clients, and also finds herself at risk.

I sought out this novel because I so enjoyed Alger’s most recent novel, Girls Like Us. (The Banker’s Wife was written before Girls Like Us.). I liked this book a lot – it’s a competent thriller with a glittering, international setting, and features smart women as the main characters. I didn’t like it quite as much as Girls Like Us, mainly because Girls Like Us had much more emotional depth and more realistic, complex characters. Still, this is a well-crafted and enjoyable thriller, and I recommend it. I look forward to Alger’s next novel!

The Library Book

~ noveltherapy

The Library Book, by Susan Orlean

In 1986, the Los Angeles Central Public Library caught fire. The fire grew and raged for over seven hours, ultimately destroying four hundred thousand books and damaging hundreds of thousands more. The Library Book tells the story of the fire, the attempt to find the cause of the fire, and the investigation of the man believed to have been the arsonist. Amidst this central story, Orlean weaves in the history of the Los Angeles library system, a history of libraries in general, the future of libraries, and a multitude of fascinating characters and facts.

I was captivated by this book. From the first page, I was utterly hooked — and that’s a rare feat for non-fiction. Granted, I am a huge library nerd (one of my favorite things about studying at Yale Law School was the fact that the library was open 24 hours a day), and a huge book nerd, so this book was right up my alley. I feel like I learned so much, and at the same time, it was a great reminder of just how important libraries always have been and continue to be in our communities.

I’m happy to also point out that I checked this book out from the library! I try to use the library as much as I can, and when I do buy books, at the end of the year I donate the majority of them to the local library to sell for fundraising. (It’s hard for me to let go of any books, but I can’t keep them all, or we’d be in a serious hoarding situation around here.)

This is one of my favorite books so far this year. Highly recommend!

The Gifted School

~ noveltherapy

The Gifted School, by Bruce Holsinger, follows four female friends as they endeavor to get their children admitted to a new school for gifted children. The process strains their relationships and reveals shocking personal secrets. Since this book came out on the heels of the college admissions scandal, I picked it as our book club selection for the month and looked forward to a lively discussion.

Sadly, this book did not live up to the hype. Everyone was disappointed with it — some found it enjoyable but too “soap opera” like, others hated all the characters and couldn’t relate to any of it.

I didn’t hate it but I didn’t like it much, either. I think it was a story with a lot of promise — privileged parents vying/conspiring to get their kids into a good school — but the characters were so unlikable that there was no one to root for. I was hoping for ALL of them to be rejected. The female friendships, that really should’ve been the heart of the novel, were not believable. I also didn’t like the way that the truly highly gifted children were described in the novel — it seemed stereotypical and gimmicky.

Ultimately, even though I know a lot of parents who could be motivated to act like this (I was a ballet parent and now I’m a musical theatre parent, for goodness sakes!), almost nothing in this novel rang true to me.

I think this novel was a missed opportunity to discuss difficult, sensitive topics with nuance and depth. Instead, it’s a frothy, sensationalized soap opera. Can’t recommend it.

This Side of Night

~ noveltherapy

This Side of Night is the third novel by J. Todd Scott featuring Big Bend County Sheriff Chris Cherry. I’m a big fan of these novels not only because Scott is a great writer (who spent decades in the DEA before he became a writer, so he knows his stuff) but also because I’m partial to the far west Texas setting. All three novels are set in Murfee, Texas, which is basically a fictionalized Marfa, and involve Sheriff Cherry and his young family.

I enjoyed this installment of the series, which focused on drug/cartel violence along the border, but not quite as much as I hoped. The first book in this series, The Far Empty, is still my favorite by a long shot. This third novel held my interest largely because I’ve become invested in the characters. I wasn’t quite so taken with the cartel-related plot because I’ve grown a bit weary of that. (Don Winslow’s The Border — the final installment of his border triology — has been sitting on my bedside table for months now, but I haven’t had the heart to dive into it yet.). Scott is a gifted writer and I look forward to seeing what he does next, either with this series or with something new.

If you are interested in trying a new crime/mystery series, give this one a shot but start with the first book. Be aware that these are gritty crime novels, and have some graphic violence, so they may not be for everyone.

The New Girl, by Daniel Silva

~ noveltherapy

The New Girl is the nineteenth book in Daniel Silva’s excellent spy/thriller series featuring Israeli spy Gabriel Allon. Over the years, Gabriel has progressed from aspiring artist, to recruited assassin, to head of the Mossad. In this latest installment, the daughter of a Saudi prince (loosely based on MBS) has been kidnapped, and Allon agrees to help find her.

As I have often observed, it is very hard to keep a long-running series interesting. Readers want stories about the characters they’ve come to love, but reading about those same characters over and over often makes new novels in a series stale and repetitive. Silva is a very good writer and even he sometimes falls into this trap. This time, however, I thought he did a good job of mixing things up and keeping the story interesting.

This novel involves a lot of Russian intrigue, which is particularly timely. The only note here that didn’t ring true for me was the idea that Allon — now head of the Mossad! — would be jumping on trains, etc. around Europe without a protective detail. But that’s a small quibble. Overall, this is a very good installment in the Allon series.

If you enjoy smart, timely, well-researched and well-written spy novels, give this series a shot. As always, I recommend starting with the first book in the series, though The New Girl can be read as a stand-alone. (The earlier books, where Allon worked undercover in Italy as an art restorer are still my favorites.)

The Chain, by Adrian McKinty

~ noveltherapy

Two and a half stars rounded up.

Rachel’s daughter Kylie is kidnapped and in order to get her back, Rachel must pay the ransom and kidnap another child. This is how she becomes a part of “the chain.”

This book has an intriguing premise and had a TON of pre-publication buzz. It’s been on my to-read list for months, and I was so excited to read it that I downloaded it the day it became available. Unfortunately, for me, it just did not live up to expectations.

I found the writing style incredibly choppy. I know that style choice is purposeful, in an attempt to move the “thriller” type of story along quickly, but it kept me distant from the characters and made it hard to suspend disbelief because things were just moving along so fast with so little description/explanation. Also, while I could believe that a mother would comply with the demands of the chain in order to get her daughter back, I had a hard time believing that Rachel — in a matter of a few hours — would go from mild-mannered mom to foul-mouthed, pistol-whipping bad guy. Finally, I found the ending third of the novel to be weak.

All of that said, this is a quick read that would be perfect for vacation, but in my view it is not “the book of the summer.” Set your expectations accordingly, and you may enjoy this one more than I did.