Through the Eyes of a MLIS Graduate...

Impetuosity Rewarded

2013-04-29T23:05:37Z

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

I read and reviewed the first novel in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo many months ago. Initially, I wanted to wait on the second installment until its US film version was released. My patience failed me before the movie even went into production, however. So, be warned. It will be a while before we can see The Girl Who Played with Fire brought to life on the big screen. (And let me tell you, forget about being able to hold off on the third and final novel in the series. This book is just too juicy to inspire restraint when it comes to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.)

It has been a year since Hedestad. Since Harriet Vanger. Wennerström. Since Blomkvist and Salander were lovers, friends, or have even seen each other. She left town and went abroad, and he continued to write, Millennium now a smashing success. Their paths once again collide when Millennium plans to publish an exposé into sex trafficking. After the article and book’s author and his research partner/girlfriend are murdered, Salander is accused of the crime. She fights back the only way she knows how – alone, but that doesn’t prevent Blomkvist from following her into “all the evil” that is her past come back to haunt her in the present.

Just like with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Blomkvist and Salander spend much of the novel together in plot but separate physically. In fact, they only come face to face on the final page of the book. And, just like with its predecessor, Larsson devotes a good portion of The Girl Who Played with Fire to explaining the past. This time, it’s Salander’s history, and this time the summarization works, because, rather than being dumped on readers all at once, the details are constantly forthcoming throughout the novel and interspersed with plenty of action and character interaction. Even without meeting face to face, though, Blomkvist and Salander are still in sync with one another.

Thanks to her hacking skills and because of his insistence, the two eventually start communicating with one another. Together, they start to unravel the twisted story of a corrupt government and a global crime ring, all of which circles back to the very people who and the events that shaped Salander into the woman she is. To do this, Larsson introduces a cast of new characters along with bringing back others from the novel’s prequel.

In his usual omniscient narrative style, Larsson slowly reveals a cover-up far more disgusting and haunting than that in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – a surprising feat. This makes for a compelling read, but it also means that The Girl Who Played with Fire is just the beginning. There’s no resolution this time. Instead, Larsson leaves readers with the ultimate cliffhanger: a life dangling in the balance. Apparently, this is the tradeoff for an even better book. And his villains are said to be the sadistic ones…

Four out of Five Stars

Dead Reckoning = Bored to Death

2013-03-30T23:56:51Z

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

In this eleventh book of the Sookie Stackhouse series, the novel's heroine finds herself embroiled in yet another vampire take-over plot while attempting to decipher and understand her fae heritage. Toss in her concern for her shifter friend/boss Sam's new relationship, her worry for her telepathic second cousin, her wide-assortment of supernatural friends (witches, werewolves, and demons), her preparations for a human friend's baby shower, and the result is a book with enough plot points to make the dead's head spin... and so not in a cool poltergeist kind of way.

While it has been building for several books in this series, Dead Reckoning cemented the fact that Harris simply has too many plates in the air where Sookie is concerned. With so many supernatural entities and storylines, no single aspect can be thoroughly explored, yet, at the same time, everything still feels redundant. This is especially true when it comes to Harris' nasty habit of summarizing past events (and sometimes more than once). Given that this series is so light on the depth and so shallow with its vampire (and other supernatural) origin mythology, there really is no need to constantly reference previous books. If someone is reading Dead Reckoning, it's because they read all ten other Sookie Stackhouse novels, not because they decided to jump in at the tail end of the series. To make matters worse, Harris often gives her heroine a flip and snarky attitude when recalling these former happenings, and the humor just falls flat.

The Sookie Stackhouse series was never the most serious of vampire collections, but it certainly had its appeal. It was a light supernatural read with plenty of charm (mainly in the form of Bon Temps quirky, human characters) and sex. Unfortunately, Dead Reckoning was sorely lacking in both. In fact, it was rather anti-climatic (and pun intended, because the one time Sookie did have sex, it was awkward to read and not entertaining). By the end of the novel, Sookie has answered many of her questions. The problem comes from the fact that, in order to do so, readers had to endure so much tediousness in between. Plus, Sookie might have been curious, but that doesn't mean readers were as well. After such an offering, it's a relief to know that this series is ending soon. Hopefully, between books twelve and thirteen, Harris will find a way to redeem herself and her most famous character.

One out of Five Stars

Eclipsed by Comparison

2013-02-25T02:09:28Z

Roses by Leila Meacham

In a small town in East Texas, three families reign - The Warwicks with their lumber fortune, the DuMonts with their high-end department store, and the cotton planting Tolivers. Their friendship unites them; the rules of their friendship keep their bonds strong. Their businesses are never to mingle, loans between the families are never to be exchanged, and, if any party is ever wronged, a red rose for forgiveness is to be given, a white returned to symbolize that the apology has been accepted. For decades these unwritten laws were followed, but then sixteen year old Mary Toliver is made her father's heir, her mother and brother overlooked in favor of the only surviving Toliver with a passion for the family's plantation. It's because of this passion that Mary loses the only other thing she's ever loved as much in her life – a future with Percy Warwick. Sixty-five years later, she's determined to keep her great-niece from making her same mistakes and to prevent the Toliver curse of infertility and death from striking yet another generation. Unfortunately, Mary's actions might have the exact opposite effect.

Roses' jacket cover likens it to Gone with the Wind, but this is an unjust comparison which sets the novel up for inevitable failure. By likening Meacham's work to Mitchell's classic, lofty expectations are set, ones that Roses by no means delivers. Oh, the promise is certainly there. The book is a multi-generational tale stretching across families and decades. It takes place in a specific environment not often found today except for in the pages of such historical novels. And it contains great emotion, all things that are needed to make an epic, but an epic Roses certainly is not.

An epic doesn't just show its readers a story; it allows them to experience the story with the characters. Epics LIVE. Roses, on the other hand, glosses over what should have been the defining emotional moments. Not one, not two, but three wars feature predominantly in the novel's time frame and context, but not a single scene takes place on a battlefield or from a soldier's perspective. Instead, these great, monumental, life changing events take place outside of the book's pages and are merely mentioned in passing. This failure by Meacham produces a work that prevents readers from truly understanding why her characters do what they do. For example, rather than showing how powerful Percy's feelings for Mary are while he is away fighting during WWI, its mentioned as an afterthought. Books should show, not tell. This regretful trend is featured heavily throughout Roses. In fact, the author uses this same technique at the story's climax, offering little to no payoff to 600 pages of what could have been much more dramatic (and historically significant and honest) of a build-up. Sadly, Roses is a novel with unmet potential, an unworthy vehicle of the story it had the chance to tell.

Three out of Five Stars

Murder and Romance - Happy Valentine's Day

2013-02-14T15:57:54Z

Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs

It's race week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and thunderheads are threatening when Temperance Brennan is called out to the track. Next to the famed venue, there is a landfill – a landfill that just so happens to have a set of remains recently unearthed from one of its mountains of rubbish. Based upon the body's location, it is presumed that the barrel containing the victim has been buried for at least ten years, but there's nothing cold about this case. It connects back to three missing persons – two of which have also been unseen for more than a decade, a disgraced former cop, the FBI, an extremist militia group, and, of course, racing. Due to the body's proximity to the track and its possible connection to the sport, the case quickly speeds out of control, pulling forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan along for the ride.

In this series' fourteenth novel, Reichs slowly eases her heroine in a new and different direction. Although Andrew Ryan's presence is still felt, it's distant, fleeting. A phone call here, an email there, and a few passing thoughts about the detective are all eclipsed by the introduction of a potential new love interest for Brennan. While neither acts upon their attraction, it is certainly there, along with charisma and an intriguing back story on the part of the rookie character, perhaps setting him up to be the North Carolina sidekick to Ryan's Montreal status.

Apart from this development, however, what is perhaps the most interesting aspect of Flash and Bones is its setting: smack dab in the center of the NASCAR craze. A sport predicated on tradition, it is often associated with a very conservative fanbase, and Reichs harshly (justifiably) exposes and explicates this. For those who are not fans of auto racing (such as myself), the novel's social, political, economic, and psychological commentary on the sport will appeal. However, at the same time, through Brennan, Reichs also shows an appropriate amount of respect for NASCAR, so that followers of the pastime will be entertained as well. The author achieves a healthy balance in her portrayal of racing. What is not so balanced is Reichs' writing style. Very staccato in nature, the book features choppy sentence structures, abbreviated thoughts in the form of short fragments, and far too many melodramatic, chapter-ending cliffhangers. These things are fine – desirable even – in moderation, but, unfortunately, Reichs did not show temperance in Flash and Bones. The work is thoroughly entertaining but certainly not her finest offering.

Three out of Five Stars

Back from the Past!

2013-02-09T14:37:02Z

Lake in the Clouds by Sara Donati

A decade has passed since this series last left off after Dawn on a Distant Shore and much has changed, not so much for the Bonners… though life has certainly continued for the family in that they have loved, lost, and aged… but in how Donati explores the Bonners’ story. Nathaniel and Elizabeth are now supporting characters. Consequently, much of the book’s action is presented from different perspectives – familiar in characterization but strangers in voice.

Primarily, the novel is split into three distinct sections. The first focuses upon a runaway slave and what her presence in Paradise means for the Bonners and the Freemans. Nathaniel and Elizabeth go into the wilderness once more to guide the woman and her unborn child to safety, knowingly bringing danger into their own family’s life. Next, Hannah leaves Paradise for New York City, traveling with an ill Kitty and Ethan, to gain smallpox vaccination training. Finally, these two portions of the novel culminate in the third when both parties return home only to be thrust into a simmering racial battle fraught with revenge, secrets, and new relationships. To coincide with these three distinct portions of Lake in the Clouds, there are three main narrators: Hannah, Lily, and Jemima Southern – a recently blossomed woman, a child looking for her direction in life, and a bitter servant with an ax to grind, respectively.

With this introduction to the novel given, it is rather impossible to present a review without bringing the personal into my remarks. It has been nearly three months since I last posted, not because I wasn’t reading during that time but because I wasn’t reading (and finishing) this novel. Instead, I found myself constantly distracted (sometimes willingly and sometimes almost unwillingly) by other reading options. (Hello Downton Abbey fanfic, I’m looking at you.) And this wasn’t because Lake in the Clouds is a horrible or uninteresting book… persay. While I realize this is certainly NOT a stellar recommendation, the truth of the matter is that, for a series which has been, up to this point, quite stellar, Lake in the Clouds was a disappointment, and, because it did not live up to its predecessors, the novel hurt itself by comparison. A separate entity, and I believe I would have finished the work much sooner, but I was disgruntled by the lack of Nathaniel and Elizabeth in Lake in the Clouds, and that disgruntlement just became a lack of interest in regards to new characters not related back to the Bonners’ story, Hannah’s medical endeavors, Lily’s adolescent insights, and Jemima’s interloping presence. One hopes that, next, when there is Fire Along the Sky, Donati will return to what made her series memorable and enjoyable in the first place – that she’ll take her readers back into the wilderness (figuratively) again.

Three out of Five Stars

Confession is Good for the Book-Loving Soul

2012-11-19T01:48:06Z

Testimony by Anita Shreve

A headmaster of an elite, private school sits down to watch a confiscated tape, one his assistant told him that he needed to see. What he witnesses is almost beyond his comprehension: three, adult, male seniors and an underage freshman girl participating in various sexual acts. It doesn't matter that the girl appears not only willing in the tapes but also eager and encouraging, for she is only fourteen. The why's are immaterial, the actions illegal. So, he steps in. He speaks with the girl. He obtains written confessions from two of the three young men. And he attempts to conceal the scandal, keeping it from the press and the authorities. But, inevitably, the story leaks, and the damage that is inflicted is far worse than even the headmaster could have imagined. College plans are derailed, marriages end, and a life ends, too. What is truly fascinating about the situation, however, is the fact that, behind the scenes of the apparent tragedy, another action, one perpetrated by the headmaster himself, is the true root of the destruction and mayhem.

Within the first pages of her novel, Shreve immediately launches into the powerful, haunting event which inspires, as is her style, such rich and vivid character development throughout Testimony's entirety, and, per her usual approach, nothing is simple or cut and dry about the delicate topics addressed within the novel. The first chapter surgically details the footage found on the confiscated tape, and the story never looks back (figuratively speaking) or apologizes afterwards. The book is unapologetically dark and fascinating in its stark honesty. By the time the work draws to a close, all of the questions the tape posed have been answered, yet no hope has been given to readers in the process of doing so, but this is acceptable as it is the only emotional conclusion which makes any sense. This doesn't make Testimony an easy or even necessarily a pleasant read, though.

Part of the issue is in the way that Shreve tells the story. As the book's title alludes, the novel is set up as many different testimonies working together to tell a complete story. Rather than chapter numbers or titles, the author offers a series of character names as section headings, both jumping back and forth in perspectives and time. The result is a work which lacks any real sense of immediacy, despite the delicate situations at the heart of its story. These life-altering events are shared through recollections and silent musings, any conversations and dialogue between characters retold rather an experienced with the readers. Given such powerful material, the book's emotions should have been on the surface and immediately present for all to experience, but, instead, feelings are muted by time, perspective, and previously attained closure. In a way, Shreve did both her novel and her audience a disservice in how she set up Testimony. While certainly worthy of being read, the book leaves readers with a sour note, because it is obvious that, though engrossing, Testimony could have been even better.

Three out of Five Stars

BOO Bibbidi, BOO bobbidi - Disappointing Witchery

2012-11-04T22:28:41Z

Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Just like in her young adult series, in this book, Melissa de la Cruz presents a supernatural tale aided by mythology. Her witches aren't just magical; they're goddesses who possess a history that spans worlds and time itself. Focusing upon two sisters - Freya the carefree, beautiful bartender who dispenses love potions and Ingrid the staid and straight-laced librarian whose talent rests in talismans and spells - and their mother, Joanna, who boasts powers of restoration, Witches of East End explores North Hampton, a cozy, protected bungalow of a town, and the citizens who live there... including the Beauchamp women. When the ladies start to ignore the rules visited upon them that forbid them their magic, they get pulled into a larger web of sorcery, one which recalls the most fundamental and influential aspects of their long, complicated history.

This is all well and good. In fact, de la Cruz's use of mythological lore is Witches of East End's greatest strength. Unfortunately, however, she saves it until the very end of the novel, instead focusing the majority of her first foray into adult fiction on petty, human frailties. It is not a flaw that the book's characters are both good and bad. Rather, the problem lies in the fact that their less than desirable traits are so predictable, that their personalities and characterizations themselves are trite and unimaginative. In turn, this makes Freya, Ingrid, and Joanna's actions - mistakes and triumphs alike - just as unoriginal as well. Perhaps de la Cruz was aiming to create archetypes given the witches' roots in mythology, but this only would have been possible if she had introduced the women's backgrounds sooner and relied upon them more faithfully to shape her story.

Furthermore, the novel was hampered by de la Cruz including some of her characters from her young adult series. Yes, Freya was introduced in one of the Blue Bloods books, but she was a new character at that point without a pre-established profile. Conversely, Mimi and Oliver who played roles, insignificant though they were, in Witches of East End have established histories, including their own rather complex backstory... which was only hinted at in de la Cruz's first adult piece. Obviously, the author's intention was to intrigue readers who were unfamiliar with her YA series to read it as well, but what she ended up accomplishing was anything but. Instead, not only did she bog down Witches of East End with irrelevant characters and the distraction of a sideplot that had nothing to do with this particular novel, but she also failed to do the Blue Bloods series justice, a series whose development and pacing has been much more successful.

Finally, de la Cruz committed one last grievous writing mistake with Witches of East End: she gave it a deus ex machina ending. Admittedly, these characters ARE gods and goddesses, but what makes mythology so interesting and compelling is its pervading tragedies, not its happily ever afters. And yes, sure, in the book's epilogue, de la Cruz shows how things might not be a rosy and perfect as Freya, Ingrid, and Joanna think at the conclusion of the novel, but it is apparent that this was done to introduce a sequel rather than to give the work a more sophisticated and intriguing ending. For a book which, in its conception, has so much going for it - the Hamptons setting (very in vogue right now thanks to Revenge), the combination of the supernatural with mythology, and strong female leads, its execution is extremely dissatisfying.

Two out of Five Stars

A Stark Contrast

2012-10-27T22:56:29Z

Drive by James Sallis

Take a crime novel, strip it of almost everything that could be considered excess or unnecessary, and what's left is Sallis' Drive. Ebbing and flowing through time, each chapter is a scene. Sometimes, they're grisly; sometimes, they're nothing but a mere memory, but each moment is essential to the story. There are no passages of poetic prose to describe a setting and very few emotions to speak of. Everything is cold. Bleak. It's like living - no, existing in the dark, only for there to be brief, fleeting moments when the curtains are pulled back or, more accurately, a lamp is switched on, temporarily illuminating a precise moment before everything goes dark once again. And there's nothing beautiful in this book either. Drive is unapologetic about its ugliness, and perhaps this is why it is so fascinating. It's not unheard of for a book to feature a sympathetic antihero - either a vigilante seeking justice on someone else's behalf or a bad guy who has good intentions but just can't seem to find his way out of the bottom, but that's not Driver; that's not Drive. This novel is populated with characters who do varying degrees of bad things either because they want to, because they can, or because what else are they supposed to do. To the average person, it makes no sense - these decisions the book's characters make, but that doesn't mean that the story itself is incomprehensible. Rather, it's glaringly competent in its honesty, and, true to form, sometimes the truth can be shocking.

By day, Driver is a stunt driver; at night, he's a getaway driver. That's it, though. He doesn't do anything else on the jobs he takes; just drives. And this works for him. Job after job - whether professional or not-so-professional, he does what needs to be done, and he does so better than anyone else. But then something goes wrong, and it becomes personal for Driver. When things get personal for him, they also get messy, and, when things get messy, he starts to do more than just drive - at first because of necessity, and then because he chooses to do so. Through everything, though, he never loses sight of what he does best.

Likewise, what Sallis does best is create a mood for his novel with very few words. Despite Driver's skills and success, he lives a very simple, basic life that's essentially all about survival. This Sallis depicts through his emphasis upon the overabundance of food in Drive, upon his descriptions of the cars. Just like with his writing style, he doesn't include much beyond the necessities in Driver's life. These two things Sallis also uses to emphasize Driver's ability to adapt, to be a chameleon, taking on the habits of those around him - he eats what they eat; he drinks what they drink - and taking their vehicles as his own. Driver says what everyone wants him to say... which is very little throughout the book, making the silences themselves all the more powerful and important. Staccato and hopeless in nature, Drive's, Driver's, progression... if one can even call it that... is precisely what one would expect from a novel which recalls 1940's noir, but this doesn't make it any less fascinating or haunting, meaning that Sallis' work is one that will stay with readers for far longer than the actual reading experience lasted.

The only complaint against the novel is what also makes it so riveting: it's starkness. For those who relish rich descriptions, this book is enjoyable as a departure, but it could never serve as a benchmark for those readers' taste or preference.

Four out of Five Stars

Greatness Continued - Book Two, Into the Wilderness Series

2012-10-25T00:28:41Z

Dawn on a Distant Shore by Sara Donati

Despite changing the setting not only to a different country but also a different continent and introducing a whole new cast of supporting characters, Donati never loses sight of what made Into the Wilderness so special in her followup novel Dawn on a Distant Shore. After the Bonners learn of their connection to an heirless Scottish Earl, forces seem to conspire against them, taking the family across the Atlantic Ocean to confront their long lost relative. During their adventures, they face jail and charges of espionage; kidnappings, pirates, and naval battles; deception and trickery, but, through it all, Nathaniel and Elizabeth never lose sight of what is most important: each other, their family, and getting home. Together, they face the trials and tribulations thrown at them, never once falling victim to the doubt or misunderstandings that would plague a lesser couple. This doesn't mean, however, that the events which occur in Dawn on a Distant Shore are any less real or powerful, any less devastating.

Just like with its predecessor, Dawn on a Distant Shore has an epic feel to it. This comes from the sheer scope of Donati's work, the fact that these people who are attempting to live simple lives are thrust into such extraordinary circumstances and situations. It's present in her attention to detail, in the gravity of the emotions felt by her characters, and in the larger historical themes explored. It's found in the delightful cameos Donati includes - first Jamie and Claire Fraser in Into the Wilderness and now Robert Burns in Dawn on a Distant Shore. No small touch is left out; no unnecessary line or passage is included. Donati packs not only an immense amount of action into her books, but her characters are constantly evolving, changing, developing, too, and both of these feats are accomplished together seamlessly. From its very first page until its last, Dawn on a Distant Shore is a pleasure to read - one that begs to be finished but that makes you hate to see its beauty come to a close. Luckily, you don't have to, because the conclusion of Dawn on a Distant Shore sets the stage well for the next novel in this series as the Bonners return to Lake in the Clouds.

Five out of Five Stars

Limbo Love - Appreciating the In-Between

2012-10-15T23:42:39Z

The Town (Previously Published as Prince of Thieves) by Chuck Hogan

There is a disconnect with The Town’s setting. Taking place in Boston during 1996, the story isn’t quite historical fiction. Yet, at the same time, it can’t be considered contemporary anymore either. Because most readers have lived through and remember those not-so-long-ago days, it is challenging to view such a modern decade as historical. Meanwhile, the out-of-date technology and pop culture references are obvious and disruptive, meaning that The Town is almost caught in a state of genre limbo. However, with this said, Hogan’s novel is still riveting. Forget the time setting. Forget the genre. What makes for an exceptional book are interesting, layered characters and an engrossing plot, both of which The Town boasts.

Four Boston natives – sons of Charlestown, the famed Boston community deeply ensconced in criminal activity and the inspiration for the novel’s title – hold up a bank, just one job in a long line of successful heists. At first the group’s partnership seems impervious to outside influence or corruption, but the house of cards quickly starts to crumble when Doug – the mastermind behind the gang’s illegal enterprise – falls for the same bank manager he and his fellow thieves terrorized and held hostage during the holdup. Finally connecting with someone, Doug slips far, far, farther away from his friends and criminal lifestyle, realizing that he wants more, deserves more, can be more, and is more when he leaves his past and Charlestown – including his partners – behind. All of this is made even more complicated by the FBI closing in on Doug’s operation… and his victimized girlfriend. This – the book’s premise – is compelling, but that still doesn’t explain The Town’s true appeal; it doesn’t explain Doug.

Yes, he’s a criminal and a recovering alcoholic. He steals from the rich to line his own coffers. He can be violent, he lies, and he threatens innocent people in order to manipulate and take advantage of them. But he wants to be better; he wants to love and be loved. There is this sense that, if someone could selflessly love Doug, he could be saved. It’s the ultimate fantasy, a fairytale but with sharp realities and ugliness to give The Town an emotional edge. Doug isn’t complicated, nor are his motivations difficult to understand or relate to. In fact, he’s a classic character, but, because of his situation, Hogan places him under extraordinary circumstances and pressures. This sets The Town apart from other crime novels, historical dramas, contemporary works, and any and everything else. Sometimes an author must break the rules to write a memorable book, and The Town is remarkably memorable.

Four out of Five Stars

A Mystery, Yes; Mysterious, Never

2012-09-28T16:36:35Z

Faithful Place by Tana French

Detective Francis Mackey works undercover. He doesn't handle murder cases, but, when a familiar suitcase is found hidden in a derelict house on the street he grew up on and left behind for what he thought was for good more than twenty years before, a suitcase belonging to his first love and girl he believed had run off on him rather than running away with him, he unwillingly goes back home. Soon after, the recovered suitcase leads to a recovered body – that of Frank's former girlfriend, and he finds himself not only caught in the middle of a murder investigation he has no jurisdiction over but once more swept up in the dysfunctionality of both his family and the place he grew up in as well – Faithful Place, a street ever reliable in its failures and its breakdown of society, in its loyalty to the Place and everyone who lives there despite the residents' many flaws.

Mackey and his undercover division are not new territories for French. Though not the focus of her previous novels, Mackey has made substantial appearances in the author's other works, but this is where Faithful Place makes it departure from French's usual modus operandi. While French's mysteries focus more on her characters' development and less on the scientific facts like other books in the genre, this – her third novel – truly is a character study. Whereas Frank is not undercover – neither for the audience nor the other characters he interact with, he does immerse himself in the intricacies of the Place's lifestyle again. After such a long absence, this forces him to play several different roles emotionally – traveling back and forth in time as he investigates off book as Detective Mackey but lives as Francis, just another resident of Faithful Place. He does this in order to unravel the truth behind not only his former girlfriend's murder but also a second death which is a direct result of the investigation.

The beauty of Faithful Place isn't the solving of the mystery but the process taken in order to arrive at the resolution. The journey Frank embarks on during the novel is fascinating. While he left the street he grew up on and his family behind in order to make a decent life for himself, there was always a small piece of him stuck in his past, wondering what if. From the shadows, it dictated his every decision and relationship, so it wasn't until he finally went home again and confronted all the complications he tried to wash his hands of – his alcoholic, abusive father; his enabling mother and siblings; his family's poverty; his guilt; and, of course, the girl he tried to forget but could never quite stop loving – that Frank was finally capable of moving forward, of finding peace... even if, in doing so, he had to tear apart everything and everyone around him before the rebuilding could begin. This is where the honesty of French's characters can be best seen, and the veracity of her writing is only further enhanced by what, to an American reader, is the work's unique Irish speech patterns and vocabulary. Faithful Place immerses readers into not only a different place but also a truly unique culture. It answers the question 'why' more so than it does 'who,' and that sets it apart from other mysteries. Consider this French's calling card.

Four out of Five Stars

2012's Benchmark Book - The Best Read This Year (So Far)

2012-09-03T22:21:09Z

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati

We live in a world of convenience, of global communication, of safety and security. While the wonder and benefits of modern technologies cannot be argued with, they do tend to make everything smaller – the world and the dangers within it, the necessities of life less immediate, and, therefore, life has become less adventurous over the decades, and centuries, and millenniums. Excitement is now manufactured, not natural and certainly not often life and death in nature. However, this is not the case in Donati's novel Into the Wilderness set following the American Revolution in the year 1793. When Elizabeth Middleton – privileged daughter and self-proclaimed spinster – comes to upstate New York to live with her judge father with the ambition of starting her own school, she is thrust into more than just the unknown of a new country and home; she falls in love... which is perhaps the greatest wilderness of all.

Paradise, New York – Elizabeth's new town of residence – is tiny in its population but large in its complexities. Fueled by decades of racial mistrust towards the local Indians – most of whom have been driven off or killed – and still tainted by slavery, Elizabeth arrives only to find herself immediately caught in a battle over that which all in Paradise hold most dear: land. Between the dangers of life in the bush and the dangers of the men who claim and inhabit it, Elizabeth embarks upon an adventure we today can only dream of... and of course live vicariously through by reading books. It is no wonder beloved author Diana Gabaldon endorses Donati's work and allows her own legendary characters – Jamie and Claire Fraser – to make cameos.

Donati's Into the Wilderness – all 876 pages of it – is a novel that can't be put down, yet, at the same time, as it nears its end, the reading pace slows and longer moments of contemplation and appreciation are taken, because to finish the book is to stop living in a way. While only a year's time passes, emotional lifetimes are felt during those twelve months. The experiences endured, the triumphs enjoyed, the lives lost, and the new lives created – all of this combine to allow a type of time travel for the reader, a brief glimpse into a world only available now in the pages of books.

Oftentimes, when authors present works of such length as Into the Wilderness, they tend to get too bogged down in the details, too introspective, and they can lose sight of their characters – the weight of their work eclipsing their voice, but this is not the case with Donati's novel. Just as one would expect life to be in 1793, there is a sense of urgency crackling through the book's many pages. Despite the novel's physical scope – crossing continents (in recollection and retelling) and crossing thousands of acres of land (in actuality), there's still an intimacy to Into the Wilderness, mainly because the author doesn't use the modern contrivances of triangles and misunderstandings to keep her lovers separated until the very end of the book. She shows a true understanding of the fact that finding love shouldn't be the adventure; it's keeping it – together – one hardship, one joy at a time, and, because every relationship is unique, that journey is always into uncharted territory – a wilderness, no less beautiful and dangerous than that of an untamed land. While the novel (too quickly) comes to end, the adventure of Into the Wilderness does not – neither literally or figuratively. Rather, it will Dawn on a Distant Shore... soon.

Five out of Five Stars

A Character Study in August

2012-08-26T00:18:42Z

A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve

It's amazing to contemplate how little actually happens in Shreve's A Wedding in December, yet, at the same time, that which does is so very monumental – changing nothing but impacting everything, though there is a sense that readers just get to experience a moment of what has been building for decades and will continue to build for years. Perhaps this is because of the issue of time and how the author approaches it. Three days – no, actually, it's more like two days and the fleeting morning of a third – pass the characters by in this novel, but through recollections and shared conversations, readers come to feel as if they have known these people, these former friends now reunited at an inn for a wedding, for forever – the turbulent dramas of their lives – infidelity, loneliness, cancer, an unhappy marriage, impending blindness, a life unfulfilled – more guests than the individuals who own the tragedies. Plus, woven into the folds of the book is a story within a story – one of the former friends supplementing her own unhappiness with the decisions of another. The result is a delicious, intense character study which allows readers to feel as though they have been a part of this group since high school – their recent introduction to the various players reminiscent of the gap in time which separated the friends, sometimes rivals, but always connected individuals between their high school graduation and the wedding which reunited them all.

A Wedding in December isn't perfect. There were a couple of continuance issues – for example, while one character noted another's French twist, another referred to the hairstyle as a bun, and parts of the narrative were missing – opinions, insights, secrets left unshared by players whom the author did not give a voice. Yet, these faults will fade in the mind of readers, blending into the background as, years after first finishing the novel, they will remember its rich insight into the human mind and heart rather than a bumbled description or a curiosity as to what Jerry, or Bill, or Rob, or Nora might have been thinking. However, the ending – in its beauty and its maddening abruptness – will be recalled as well, for Shreve's leaves off her book with an unanswered question; will he, or won't he? As a writer, I relish in the ambiguity, savoring its potential for what's to come after the last page is turned, but, as a reader, I loath the unknown – needing, wanting closure but also knowing that such a gift will never be given to me, my opportunity to be a voyeur into these characters' lives now snatched away. Nevertheless... or perhaps because of its ending, A Wedding in December is a work that will not only make you feel but also think, a study of life perpetually in the gray. It is also a joy to read.

Four out of Five Stars

Continuing the Cornwell Trend

2012-08-13T23:39:27Z

Point of Origin by Patricia Cornwell

Benton Wesley has retired, Lucy has switched alphabet agencies – now working for ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) – and is flying helicopters, and Kay is about to go on vacation to Hilton Head with Wesley when a case comes in that she just can't ignore – an arson/homicide at a horse farm belonging to one of Virginia's most influential men, a polarizing media magnet whom Kay has gone up against in the past. Nothing about the fire makes sense, though, and things only get more complicated when Kay discovers a related pattern of past crimes and a similar case surfaces in Lehigh, Pennsylvania. Add to this a deranged and looking for revenge Carrie Grethen, recently escaped from her high security psychiatric prison, and Point of Origin spins out of control with yet another death which touches close to home for Kay and culminates in a fiery helicopter chase. It's a must-read in the Scarpetta series.

Contrary to my pessimistic predictions, Cornwell did revisit past plotlines in Point of Origin. Unfortunately, however, their inclusion seemed rushed and too convenient... as if the author was using her heroine's greatest enemy to write off all unsolved cases. As for why this novel is an essential piece of the Scarpetta series, it's not because it has the most intricate plot or the most chilling villain but because of the feelings it evokes. A major character is murdered, not only changing the future landscape of all subsequent Scarpetta novels but also resonating emotionally for readers. Bottom line, it's a game changer. Not only will the series never be the same again but neither will Kay. For this alone, if you're going to read one of Cornwell's Scarpetta books, Point of Origin should be on your short list.

Three out of Five Stars

A Cornwell Two-fer

2012-08-05T21:36:40Z

Cause of Death by Patricia Cornwell

In Cause of Death, Cornwell immediately dives into her heroine's latest case and mystery. And, yes, that is a pun, because the first victim is found submerged in a river, and Kay joins the diving team in recovering the body. While everyone wants to rule the death a drowning, the tell-tale scent of arsenic informs Kay that the case is anything but an accident; rather, it's a murder. And that's just the start of a mystery which ends up touching close to home for Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner and then spirals out of control into a national terrorist crisis. This is perhaps Kay's most dangerous case yet.

While Kay's niece Lucy, all her technology jargon, and all of her emotional baggage are still front and center in this novel, Cause of Death does not get bogged down too much in its subplots. The personal is present, but it's blended well into a mystery which starts fast and never lets up. Despite the presence of nuclear science, the clues in this book are accessible for the average reader, for they're more about the people and the psychology involved than anything else. What is not relatable is Kay's insistence upon inserting herself into dangerous situations and getting herself into messes she has no business becoming involved in. But perhaps this is why these books work so well, why they're so fun to read: while you and I have no business negotiating with terrorists, through Cornwell's Scarpetta, we can live an adrenaline packed existence... at least for a few hours – vicariously, of course.

Three out of Five Stars

Unnatural Exposure by Patricia Cornwell

This time, Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta isn't fighting against a man with a bomb or a woman with a gun; her opponent isn't motivated by greed or god. Instead, the heroine of Cornwell's Scarpetta series goes head to head with a silent killer in Unnatural Exposure: disease – more specifically, an engineered, deadly virus. To make matters worse, not only is Kay challenged by her latest psychopathic serial killer, but she also comes up against a personal attack, too, when an ambitious colleague targets both her and her beloved niece, Lucy, in a smear campaign on his quest to advance his own career while derailing theirs. Add to the mix a less than entirely welcome marriage proposal and baggage from past relationships rearing its confusing head, and Unnatural Exposure delivers a mysterious and dramatic punch.

However, given the sheer amount of subplots Cornwell packs into this novel, several of the details get dropped, and, unfortunately, the author isn't known for her continuity between books. This results in unresolved cases and characters which are practically forgotten about in Unnatural Exposure. Marino is reduced to a glorified taxi driver and an emotional punching bag for Kay. Furthermore, the novel lacks the sense of immediacy that a more physical crime can bring to a work of fiction. There is some personal growth on the part of both Kay and her heavily featured niece – something that is appreciated, but it isn't enough to make up for the book's other flaws.

Two out of Five Stars

And So the Shapiro Saga Continues...

2012-07-15T17:28:17Z

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

Set thirteen years after Good in Bed, Certain Girls finds Cannie Shapiro-Krushelevansky settled and content – happily married, secretly penning a popular sci-fi book series under a pseudonym, and mothering her perfect girl, her Joy. Having left the flash and notoriety of her un-filmed screenplay and her sensational bestseller behind, to the outside observer, Cannie's life would seem staid and pedestrian, but Cannie has never been more at peace with herself or her body. But that's before her daughter turns thirteen and sullen on the cusp of womanhood and her looming bat mitzvah and before her husband announces that he wants to have another child – via surrogacy, of course. It's nearly impossible for Cannie to wrap her mind around the idea of another child when she still sees Joy as her baby girl.

Conversely, Joy believes herself to be anything but a child, let alone a baby. Not only does she resent her mother's hovering, but then she reads Cannie's novel... Cannie's novel full of illicit sexual escapades and the harsh, cold – what Joy perceives to be the truthful – tale of how she was an unwanted mistake. This spurs Joy into an investigation to discover what really happened in her mother's past, and, along the way, she discovers herself, too.

Unconventionally, Certain Girls is told from two perspectives: both Cannie's and her daughter's. At first, this was disconcerting. It took nearly the entire prequel to this novel for Cannie to grow up, and then Weiner devotes half of this follow-up work to a thirteen year old's thoughts and narration. Through Joy, the focus on the physical, the shallowness returned. Even though this is to be expected from someone so young and impressionable, most readers would head to the Young Adult section if they wanted to read a coming of age story. And Cannie's portion of the novel wasn't faultless either. She kept making the same mistakes with her daughter, mistakes that were obvious to the audience but then apparently oblivious to Cannie, a frustrating pattern of parental ineptness. But then this all shifted in the closing chapters of the book. Joy grew up, and Cannie grew a little wiser – less perfect but wiser nonetheless. The result? As Peter beseeched his wife to do, Weiner wrote something this time with Certain Girls that is real. Oh, Cannie's still a plus-sized heroine, but, just as she now has more depth as a character in this novel, so, too, does Weiner's writing and plotting. Despite the improvements, however, this book is still only for a limited audience: women... and women who enjoy male bashing, male ignorance, and female empowerment, because Certain Girls is an apt title for this work, for it's certainly about girls, and a few boys are sprinkled in for angst and the furtherance of the plot. All in all, though, Certain Girls is a much stronger outing for Weiner.

Four out of Five Stars

Another Book Response AND Introducing Book Talks

2012-07-10T00:15:56Z

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

Cannie Shapiro is a successful woman with friends, a family, and a promising career. Recently single – by choice, her entire world is rocked to its very foundation when her ex publishes an article in a popular ladies' magazine entitled 'Loving a Plus-Sized Woman.' Afterwards, Cannie goes from wanting to be single, to wanting revenge, to wanting her ex, Bruce, back. Eventually, new friends and new experiences, career successes, motherhood, and learning to not only fall in love again but to also love herself change Cannie; she learns to love her plus-sized self.

Before her ex's article was published, Cannie lived her life trying to hide from and deny her size, but, afterwards – once she sees the labels in print, her weight comes to define her. While I appreciate Weiner creating a cheeky, beautiful plus-sized character, in Good in Bed, the focus was too heavily centered upon Cannie's weight. Readers weren't allowed to see the rest of her personality or her appearance, and this tunnel characterization eclipsed some of the novel's better aspects – its humor, its witty, snappy dialogue, it's unique voice. Cannie should have been an inspirational character to many readers. Instead, you just end up wanting to shake her and say 'get over it already.' Further hampered by the novel's predictability, Good in Bed is not Weiner's best work.

Three out of Five Stars

Introducing Miss_SBook's Book Talks:

To correspond with all the book responses that I post here (and on the archive and my Goodreads account as well), I'll be uploading quick book talks to my youtube channel, too, now. So, there will be the option to either still read my thoughts and remarks about the books I read or listen to them. Although I am embedding the first book talk below, I won't in the future. You will be able to access my channel via the sidebar, or you can just subscribe to my feed on youtube. I hope everyone enjoys this new feature. Thanks!

Starting Shepard's Series Deux

2012-06-25T04:16:58Z

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

Seventeen year old Emma is a foster kid – abandoned by her mother when she was five and about to get kicked out of yet another foster home – when she watches a video of her long-lost identical twin sister being strangled by a locket necklace – bound, gagged, and blindfolded. Despite the less than ideal circumstances revolving around her discovery, Emma is ecstatic. To know that she's not alone in the world, to find a sister and the hope of finally having a family, Emma ignores her doubts and common sense, jumping on a bus to meet with her twin. Only... Emma's twin, Sutton, never shows up for their meeting, and Sutton's friends mistake Emma for her twin. Unsure of what to do... especially after she discovers that her sister has been murdered... and afraid, Emma goes along with the ruse voluntarily. And then her sister's killer starts to threaten her life as well: be Sutton or else.

Like with her first series – Pretty Little Liars, Shepard is not afraid to cloak The Lying Game in darkness; she's not afraid of creating truly deplorable characters – mean girls in the truest sense of the term. And this darkness makes for a seductive read. It's amazing how, while Sutton is an utterly unsympathetic character, the mystery surrounding her murder is still compelling – partly because her personality demanded hatred – ensuring a wide, far-reaching suspect pool – and partly because Emma is her twin's complete and polar opposite. Everybody has secrets, yet Emma is no more aware of them than the readers, allowing for a truly intimate reading experience. The novel is further complimented by its setting – the desert landscape and the lush, privileged lifestyle a believable background for a grisly murder. Perhaps the only thing which detracts from this book is its similarities to The Pretty Little Liars series, begging the question just what kind of adolescence did Shepard have?

Four out of Five Stars

Summer Lovin'

2012-06-23T16:33:40Z

The Blood of Roses by Masha Canham

Picking up where its predecessor, The Pride of Lions, left off, The Blood of Roses finds Catherine on her way back to her family estate in Derby, while her husband, Alex, joins Charles Stuart in the second Scottish Rebellion. The war doesn't last long - less than a year in fact, but, during that time, the newlyweds encounter their fair share of angst: attempted rape, a secret past, murder, imprisonment, and loss... and that's not even counting the havoc wrecked by the war. Because of the historical setting, Canham couldn't change the course Alex and Catherine were set on. Prestonpans, Falkirk, and Culloden: these are all real places where real battles were fought, and, shockingly, The Blood of Roses featured real, harsh consequences from these conflicts. Death was not a specter who haunted only periphery, inconsequential characters in this novel. Given the book's genre, it wouldn't have been surprising for Canham to use some form of deus ex machina to keep Alex, Catherine, and those they loved and care for safe. Thankfully, this was not the case. Oh, the hero and the heroine are still larger than life Mary Sue and Gary Stu characters, and they both survive the Rebellion, but they felt the war's devastating consequences. This is what sets The Blood of Roses apart from some of its more frivolous counterparts, and its other flaws (for example: the presence of too many perspectives and the cartoonish villainy of Alex and Catherine's enemies) were tempered by Canham's attention to historic detail and the slight whisper of the unexplainable - premonitions, Druids, and charmed claymores. In fact, because of Canham's strengths, it would be interesting to see her pen JUST a historical novel, the romance taken away from the end of her genre of choice.

3 out of 5 Stars

A Big Bad Written In a Small Way

2012-06-02T20:57:11Z

From Potter's Field by Patricia Cornwell

From Potter's Field is the penultimate showdown between the series' heroine Doctor Kay Scarpetta and her most hated nemesis, the psychopathic serial killer Temple Gault. Instead of a new sweater for Christmas or a set of DVD's, Kay travels to New York City where Gault has displayed yet another one of his victims for her – naked, anonymous, and shot through the head. This is only the beginning of the Gault's latest string of murders, though, and, this time, things have become personal between him and his victims and him and Dr. Scarpetta. Unfortunately, however, this emotional elevation does not translate to the page, making From Potter's Field the least satisfying of Cornwell's books... so far.

Usually, a series is only improved by the inclusion of a big bad – a villain which carries through from one book to another, always plaguing the lead characters, eluding them for several novels, and then finally being captured and/or taken out during a nail-biting showdown. This only works, however, when the big bad is in the background, constantly lurking but not always present. Mystery novels containing an uber-villain need to contain shorter story arcs as well, ones that can be wrapped up neatly at the end of every book. After all, it's unrealistic to present a plot where the Chief Medical Examiner for the entire state of Virginia would be occupied for weeks on end by a single case. From Potter's Field did not follow this rule, instead focusing entirely on its big bad, Gault.

Now, this would have perhaps worked had the novel followed through with its introduction – a short excerpt from Gault's perspective. Had Cornwell alternated between her heroine's point of view and her psychopathic nemesis', this would have provided readers with an intriguing and enlightening juxtaposition. Instead, the novel's pace lagged behind at times, and it was further bogged down by the inclusion of too much Lucy, an unlikeable character. (Side note: just because Scarpetta loves her niece, that does not mean that readers will as well.) Additionally, after several novels explored the character of Temple Gault, including From Potter's Field which focused entirely on this singular villain, Cornwell devoted a few measly pages to the aforementioned epic showdown between Scarpetta and Gault. It was an entirely anticlimactic ending to a rather bland book.

Two out of Five Stars

A Not So LITTLE Disappointment

2012-05-16T22:41:23Z

Pretty Little Secrets: A Pretty Little Liars Collection by Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Secrets was more than just a little disappointment. Taking place during the winter break between the end of Mona's reign of terror and the beginning of Alison's, the book shows Hanna battling her body image issues yet again, Emily is desperate to replace Ali's friendship in her life, Aria puts herself in a vulnerable and dangerous position in her quest to feel needed and loved, and Spencer, true to form, competes with Melissa for the affections of a guy in order to mask the pain of not having the affection of her family. The Liars' motivations are true to form, the trouble they find themselves in because of their emotional pitfalls on par with everything else seen in the series, but there are two differences, and these differences are exactly what separates Pretty Little Secrets from the rest of the series... and not in a good way.

Whereas all the previous books had the girls interacting together, Pretty Little Secrets consisted of four contained storylines. Without picking favorites, this blending seen in previous works is necessary to balance out the characters' flaws and make the Liars less frustrating. It also lends the series a sense of camaraderie, especially because the readers can feel as though they are a part of this close knit group of friends. Without it, this book seemed more shallow. Secondly, there were no consequences to their secrets, their lies. The issues were resolved, and, though Alison was aware of them, it's far-fetched to believe that she would never have exploited those secrets, only the personality traits which caused them. This lent the book a lack of credibility. Plus, it did not feel as though it was written during the time frame in which it was set. What would have improved this was if the novel had been told from Alison as A's point of view. Not only would this have provided insight into a very influential character's motivations, but it also could have explained Alison's non-action, perhaps even humanizing her somewhat. After all, it's not like her identity needed to be protected in this work; her duplicity had long since been revealed in previous books.

Two out of Five Stars

RUTHLESS Opportunism

2012-04-30T03:08:03Z

Ruthless: A Pretty Little Liars Novel by Sara Shepard

The Pretty Little Liars series has been divided into three sets of novels, each featuring a different A. What makes this third set of books stand out from the others is how... uninvolved and hands off the final A is (so far). Rather than attacking Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna – making them do things and doing things to them, this A simply sits back, occasionally taunts, and allows the liars to do all his or her A work on their own. Because of their checkered pasts (to put it mildly), the four girls are paranoid and ripe for harassment, but what does this say about the third A? Perhaps it says that the girls' latest and last enemy is smarter than the others, but this style of attack also isn't as exciting or nerve wracking. In addition, readers surely become frustrated with Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna. Not only have they not learned their lessons from A's past assaults, but their impetuosity is frustrating. If the girls would take a moment to think about their actions, to question their feelings and instincts, if they would simply use caution and common sense, then they wouldn't open themselves up to A's mischief nearly so easily. Restraint is certainly not their strong suit.

Take for example the relationship woes featured in Ruthless. Despite fearing the repercussions from their actions in Jamaica and having a new A to look out for, all four girls embark on new relationships in this tenth book of the series... or, in Aria's case, revisit an old flame. As Aria's former English teacher reenters her life, Spencer embraces her inner thespian... and her fellow thespian... in an attempt to solidify her Princeton acceptance. Meanwhile, Hanna impulsively begins a new romance with the son of her father's political rival, and Emily embraces her inner bad-girl, eventually crushing on the very same person Spencer suspects of being new A. And these dalliances aren't just passing fancies... or, at least, in the girls' eyes they aren't; they're the star-crossed, soulmate kind of love... for all the 2.5 seconds that they last. One of these instant relationships, however, was more frustrating than the others.

Unlike on Pretty Little Liars, the show, the Aria-Ezra romance was a passing storyline in the books. It was short lived and quickly dismissed in favor of more appropriate and more compelling entanglements for Aria. Unfortunately, Ruthless saw a return for the disgraced teacher. Initially, it was aggravating to see Aria so blinded by Ezra again, to see her making the same mistakes again, but Ruthless did something interesting: it showed Aria realizing just how wrong she and Ezra were together, perhaps even serving as Shepard's commentary upon the television series' portrayal of the relationship as well. Either way, the character of Ezra is gone and hopefully for good as Aria and her friends continue to fall further and further under the third and final A's wicked spell in the upcoming eleventh novel: Stunning.

Four out of Five Stars

Pretty Little... Murderers?

2012-04-29T02:45:06Z

Twisted: A Pretty Little Liars Novel by Sara Shepard

It has been a year since the house fire at the DiLaurentis' cabin in the Poconos – the house fire that the real Alison set in order to kill Spencer, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Melissa, but the friends still don't feel safe. In fact, the girls aren't even friends at this point. They're older, though – seniors and applying for college, but the four Liars are certainly not wiser. They're still making those same mistakes which got them in so much trouble in the past. Spencer did something underhanded to get into Princeton; Aria's jealous streak is rearing its ugly head again; Emily is keeping an important part of herself not only from her family but from the whole world; and Hanna's sticky fingers are blackmailed into emerging once more. Oh, and then there's also the event which triggered their separation: Jamaica. But with A back to haunting and terrorizing the girls, what happened in Jamaica won't stay Jamaica for long.

Twisted really felt like the series reinvented itself, like Shepard hit the reset button. It also felt like it was setting the groundwork for the books to come. After all, A – whether a miraculously still alive Alison or some new all-knowing presence in the girls' lives – has yet to really do anything to them. Twisted featured no blackmail, no spilled secrets on A's behalf, and, in fact, the novel was quite coy about what exactly some of the liars' biggest secrets are. Whereas readers had gotten used to knowing all about the less than savory deeds committed by Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna, Twisted, on many fronts, keeps its audience well in the dark, changing the series' entire dynamic. Instead of feeling like a conspirator with the girls, readers are now somewhat on the outside looking in. This certainly sets up well for the next book, inspiring intrigue and curiosity. Twisted also felt darker than previous novels in the series – the lies, secrets, and scandals racier and more dangerous. Yet, despite the horrible deeds committed by the four girls, Shepard still managed to engender sympathy for them. While this ninth installment might be twisted all right, readers should savor unraveling all the complicated turns and knots.

Four out of Five Stars

Duality: The Tale of Two Novels in One

2012-04-27T16:39:23Z

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Buzz books: sometimes they live up to their hype; oftentimes, they do not. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's case, Larsson presents a work which is clearly divided into two distinct sections. The first half of the novel is background information. It sets up the mystery and the main characters, but little actual action takes place. The audience doesn't see the events occur. Rather, they're related to readers in a very dry, uneventful manner. Then, the second half of the novel begins when the two main characters finally meet and team up together. From this point on, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo becomes fast paced. Answers to the investigation begin to emerge, and, perhaps more importantly, character development occurs. However, the intrigue of the second half of the novel cannot make up for the dullness of the first half. Whereas I read the final 300 pages in a single day, it took me seven months to read what came before that. Larsson would have been better served to begin the novel mid-way into the mystery and then slowly reveal the backstory as the two leads investigated together, combining the action with the information.

With this said, what is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo about? First, there's Mikael Blomkvist – a disgraced journalist who has just been convicted of libel. He is approached by a wealthy ex-CEO of one of Sweden’s largest conglomerates to, as a front, write his memoirs while in all actuality Blomkvist would be investigating the disappearance/death of his employer's favorite great-niece, Harriet. Eventually, he is joined by social recluse and hacker, Lisbeth Salander, and together they uncover the shockingly sick and demented web of a sociopathic serial killer... or two. To make matters even more complicated, both Blomkvist and Salander's presents are shaped by their complicated pasts, and they must wade the treacherous waters of an extremely wealthy yet dysfunctional family while investigating Harriet Vanger's case. Then things really get interesting when Mikael and Salander sleep together.

This – their relationship – is by far the most compelling aspect of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which makes the fact that the characters do not meet face-to-face until the second half of the novel even more egregious of a mistake on Larssen's part. Complete opposites who are also separated by age and circumstances, Blomkvist and Salander, on paper, make no sense as a couple, yet they work. He helps her grow, proves to her that there are people in the world worthy of her trust, and she gives him back his edge – allowing Mikael to once again learn to trust himself. Perhaps this makes me a cliché – favoring a mystery novel's romance over its actual mystery, but consider this: whereas the dynamics forged between Blomkvist and Salander will be present in both the author's subsequent novels, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo resolves Harriet Vanger's case.

Speaking of the rest of the series, if someone would have asked me two days ago if I would read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's two follow up novels – The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest, my response would have been no. Now, one day and 300 pages of excellent writing which regrettably was not found throughout the entire novel later, and my answer has changed.

Three out of Five Stars

Taking a Break from our Regularly Scheduled Alien Programming...

2012-03-12T02:23:55Z

The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell

Familiar with what a body farm is due to reading Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan novels, I expected the title location to play a larger role in Cornwell's book. For example, perhaps the killer was using a body farm to murder and then hide his or her victims' remains. Instead, though, the farm was used to merely simulate the days following eleven year old Emily Steiner's death, a young girl who was shot in the head, sexually molested, and had pieces of her skin excised to remove bite marks, recalling one of the most haunting suspects Kay Scarpetta had ever crossed paths with during her career. Believing Temple Gault to have struck again, she, Benton Wesley, and Detective Marino head south into the mountains of North Carolina only to face an even more chilling nightmare and personal danger from a very unlikely source.

Just like the title of the book is somewhat of a misnomer, readers who approach The Body Farm looking for the traditional Cornwell procedural mystery will be surprised by the actual contents of the book – surprised yet probably not disappointed. During previous cases, Kay has often become quite personally involved with both the victims and the suspects, and this is certainly the case in Cornwell's fifth offering in this series. However, there is also a far greater focus on Kay's personal life as well: on her contentious relationship with her sister, on her unraveling partnership with Marino, on the maternal role she plays in her niece, Lucy's, life, and, perhaps most unexpectedly of all, the novel sees Doctor Scarpetta enter into a new romantic relationship as well. All this personal development means two things: one, the series' heroine becomes even more complicated, more real for readers, and, two, she also becomes more flawed, and, for a writer, character flaws are gold mines of possibilities. Perhaps The Body Farm wasn't Cornwell's most intriguing mystery to date, but it did more to further the series than any of the previous novels combined.

Four out of Five Stars