Simon the Fiddler, by Paulette Jiles

Paulette Jiles is the author of one of my all-time favorite books, News of the World, so  I have been counting the days until her next novel became available.  In Simon the Fiddler, Jiles returns to post-Civil War Texas, as a young musician joins with other war-weary veterans to eek out survival, all while he tries to reunite with the young woman he loves.

The set-up for the novel is intriguing, and I personally enjoyed the glimpses of Galveston, Houston and San Antonio in the late 1800s, which is rendered in gorgeous detail by Jiles.  Still, this novel just was not as good as News of the World — really not even close — so I found it disappointing.  The story of Simon and his friends’ struggles to come together as a band and to make enough money to survive drags on to a degree that I started to lose interest.  The love story that drives the novel is sweet, but also very, very hard to believe.  For some reason, I did not connect emotionally with any of the characters, so it was hard to stay invested in the story.

Jiles’ writing is as luminous as ever, so this novel is probably worth your time just for that reason.  There were parts of it that I loved (Captain Kidd makes an appearance!) and overall I’m glad that I read it.  Just know going in — especially if you loved News of the World — that you need to set your expectations lower.

The End of October, by Lawrence Wright

As a pandemic sweeps the globe, CDC scientist Dr. Henry Parsons races to identify the virus and find a cure.  Lawrence Wright, writer of acclaimed non-fiction like The Looming Tower and Going Clear, takes on dystopian fiction in this incredibly prescient novel.  This was already on my “to-read” list before we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of our own pandemic; given Wright’s meticulous research  and attention to detail, I was anxious to read this and see how it differed from or was similar to our current situation.

Sadly, this novel is a mess.   A hot mess.  It starts well enough, as Parsons identifies the virus outbreak in a camp in Indonesia, and then travels to Saudi Arabia to try to contain the outbreak during the pilgrimage to Mecca.  Even though I had a few quibbles with the story at this point (as one of the world’s most preeminent virologists, Parsons makes some astonishing errors in judgment when he visits the Indonesian camp), I flew through the first third of the novel.

Then the wheels fell off.

I don’t want to be too specific so as to not spoil this novel for other readers, but suffice it to say: I think Wright needs to stick to non-fiction.  This novel was full of holes, lacked characterization, included entire chapters that had no bearing on the plot (Idaho?) and skipped around in maddening ways.  Marooning the main character in Saudi Arabia and then in a submarine — while the pandemic raged world-wide — was an incredibly odd choice.  

I could go on and on about the problems here, but I won’t.  This novel needed an editor and a substantial re-write.  Wright is incredibly talented, and much of this novel was eerily prescient, but ultimately this was a disappointment.  This would’ve been an acceptable first novel from an unknown author but I expect more from Wright.  Skip it.

Valentine, by Elizabeth Wetmore

Valentine is an astonishing novel — even more so given that it is a debut.  Set in 1976 Odessa, Texas, the novel depicts the aftermath of the rape and beating of a young Mexican girl.  The story is told from the perspective of several different female characters, providing five distinct female voices.

I found the writing vivid and emotional, and I was drawn into the story immediately.   Wetmore grew up in West Texas and it shows — the setting was as spot-on as any I’ve ever read about that region. Just like the setting, the stories told in the novel are harsh and unrelenting.

The voices of the different female characters were diverse and interesting, with each being individual and valuable in its own way.  At first, I found the jumping around to different characters to be a bit distracting, but by the end it didn’t bother me anymore. I was completely captivated by each of the women in this story and anxious to see how their stories would end.

Something small that did bother me throughout the novel — no quotation marks.  What gives, people? Quotation marks serve a useful, important purpose.  When you fail to use them, you force the reader to slow down in order to figure out who the heck is speaking (or, if they are actually even speaking out loud at all). If this is a trend, I don’t like it.  It’s not cute or inventive.  It’s just annoying.

Valentine is an amazing debut novel — emotionally resonant and deeply satisfying.  Highly recommend.    

Writers & Lovers, by Lily King

I loved Lily King’s previous novel, Euphoria, so I was excited to read Writers & Lovers. Sadly, it didn’t live up to my (admittedly sky high) expectations.

The novel centers around Casey, a young woman who’s dealing with the sudden death of her mother and crushing financial problems, all while trying to finish her first novel (that she’s been working on for six years).

While I was interested enough in this novel to finish it, I didn’t love it, and at times I was annoyed by it. I think the main problem for me was that I didn’t much like the main character. Although Casey was grieving the loss of her mother, and did have other stressors in her life, she seemed incredibly self-involved. Her random panic attacks just did not make sense to me. I also did not understand why every man she came in contact with IMMEDIATELY wanted to date her. Honestly, the “lovers” part of the novel smacked of YA to me (Insta-love!).

Also, some of the descriptions in this novel were so weird (“he tasted like Europe” and “my heart felt like a mealy apple” as just two examples) that I would pause while reading and think, not, “Wow, what an interesting way to describe that,” but instead, “Wait, what now?” This happened multiple times, and became a recurring distraction. I don’t know if King was trying too hard to be “literary,” or what, but it fell flat for me.

So, all in all, I give this one a “meh.” It was fine, I just expected it to be exceptional.

Harlan Coben is a master at crafting well-written, gripping thrillers. I have not read all of his books, but have read the last few, and have found them enjoyable and hard to put down (exactly what you want in a thriller). So, I was looking forward to The Boy from the Woods — so much so that I bought it in hardcover.

In The Boy from the Woods, a man with a mysterious past races to find a kidnapped girl. Sounds promising, right?

Well, maybe not. Surprisingly, this was a Did Not Finish for me. I gave it 100 pages, and then gave up. I just didn’t care about the characters enough to keep reading. Maybe it’s my current mood (I am, admittedly, very easily distracted these days), or maybe this is a rare miss for Coben. Either way, I moved on.

Hour of the Assassin, by Matthew Quirk

When I was younger, the Cold War was at its peak and Robert Ludlum was all the rage. I was in love with spy thrillers. I think I read everything Ludlum wrote in the 1980’s, and then happily moved on to Tom Clancy’s ten pound doorstop novels. Red October, anyone? Over time, however, I’ve moved away from this genre, with only a few exceptions (I Am Pilgrim, as one example, or Daniel Silva’s amazing Gabriel Allon series, as another).

But our troubled times had me longing for escapist novels, so I picked Hour of the Assassin as one of my Book of the Month Club selections for March. In this novel, former Secret Service Agent Nick Averose is framed for a horrific murder, and must navigate through many layers of government corruption and intrigue in order to clear his name.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this novel. I found it choppy and superficial. I wanted to root for the main characters, but I never really felt emotionally engaged in the story. Having said that, I feel like I need to add this caveat: I’m not really familiar with the current state of this genre of novel. So, if you like spy novels/thrillers that are long on action and short on character development, you might really like this one. It just wasn’t for me.