2034: A Novel of the Next World War

 As I was reading 2034: A Novel of the Next World War (#996) yesterday, I heard on the news that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austen was going out to the South China Sea to promote the American fleet's Freedom of Navigation cruises in the face of Chinese proliferation of attempts to enlarge their territorial claims in the area.  Ironically, it is one of those very Freedom of Navigation cruises which sets off the entire chain of events leading to an escalating world war in 2034.

The reason this novel by Elliot Ackerman and retired Admiral James Stavridis is so compelling and down right frightening is that it is so plausible. We are experiencing more and greater cyber intrusions in our lives as it is.  What if the retaliation for such acts become physical attacks?  As Americans in the western states are well aware, it doesn't take any more than the smallest spark to ignite a huge conflagration.  With nuclear weapons involved, can a line be drawn before it is too late for everyone?

Thanks, Joyce, for recommending this nail biter of a novel!  If you have trouble sleeping at night, this book probably won't help...

The Road Trip

Beth O'Leary's latest novel The Road Trip (#995) is much in demand at my local library  Why is the very person Addie Gilbert least wants to see the same one who literally runs into her in the predawn hours of an all-day road trip to a friend's wedding in Scotland?  The Mercedes Dylan Abbott is riding in is totalled, but time is running out to make it in time for the wedding over a holiday weekend.  It's sure going to be a rough ride when the only option for all five invited guests is to squeeze into the battered Mini Addie is driving. Throw in Addie's devoted sister Deb, a random wedding guest from Chichester who also needed a ride to Cherry and Krishna's affair, Dylan Abbott, Addie's ex, and his best friend, Marcus, and there are endless possibilities for conflict, most of which the reader will not see coming.

It certainly is emotionally fraught as the plot alternates between Then and Now, the bumpy road trip and the equally bumpy backstory of how Dylan and Addie became exes.  Lots of jealousy, sexual tension and posh surroundings.  And that's not even counting the characters outside the Mini!

A thoroughly enjoyable beach read, although for my money, I have to admit preferring Beth O'Leary's previous novel The Switch (See my post of 3/2/2021.) which I see has been optioned by Amblin Partners and Steven Spielberg.  Perhaps it will be coming to a small or large screen near you.  I hope so!

Surviving Savannah

 Patti Callahan has done a good job in her novel Surviving Savannah (#994) in reviving the story of one of the South's forgotten tragedies - the sinking of the steamship Pulaski off the coast of North Carolina in 1838 .  With its loss of the cream of Savannah and Charleston society onboard the wreck has been likened to "the Titanic of the South".

Ms. Callahan has chosen to tell her story through dual timelines: Everly Winthrop, a modern day Savannah native who teaches history, and through the women of the fictional Longstreet family who board the doomed ship along with many other family members that long ago day.

Everly has suffered her own tragic loss and is stuck emotionally until she is offered a chance to curate an exhibit on the newly-discovered remains of the Pulaski.  It takes some persuading, but soon she is deeply immersed in concentrating the focus of the exhibit on the Longstreet family, making the loss of life personal to museum visitors.  The chapters alternate between Augusta Longstreet, sister of the financial backer of the steamship, Lilly Forsythe, her niece who is aboard with her husband, infant and slave nurse, and Everly herself.

The chapters describing the events which led to the sinking of the Pulaski and the fate of the passengers - who survived; who did not - are harrowing and the best part of the book, as are the extensive resources Patti Callahan has included at the end for those who wish to know more.

With that said, I did not find the fictional romances here convincing, but that's probably just me, because I know others who have raved about this book.  One other nit: I hated the cover of this book.  Why couldn't the illustrator/photographer have found a model with clothing of the proper era?  It isn't that hard to find online these days.  And why use sailing vessels when the whole tragedy occurred because of the boiler explosion of the latest available ship technology - the steamship?  I know it's just me, but it does irritate me.  I can't take the contents as seriously when the cover isn't even minimally researched.  You can decide for yourself.

The Midnight Library

 I resisted reading Matt Haig's novel The Midnight Library (#993) for a long time because it has been on the New York Times Bestseller's List seemingly forever.  I don't often care for books that linger there.  Now I understand why it's been at the top for so long.

What if you want to die but are instead given the chance to pick a different life, one that you regretted not choosing in your present life?  What would you choose instead?  That's the choice facing Nora Seed, whose life has been full of disappointments.  Being fired from her dead-end job in dreary Bedford, England, pushed her in the direction of suicide, but really, having a mere acquaintance ring her bell to tell her that her beloved cat is dead was the final straw...

When she finds herself in The Midnight Library, the librarian guides her through facing her life regrets and choosing how to address them by picking a book from the endless shelves of possibilities that will lead her into a life she could have lived, had she made different decisions.  The array is dazzling, but how to choose a new life is a delicious dilemma.  We follow Nora through many alternate and intriguing lives, but all seem to missing something intangible...  When she finally arrives at the life she was meant to live, it is both inevitable and perfect.

An emotionally gripping and thoroughly satisfying read.  Highly recommended!

The Boys' Club

Want another reason to hate lawyers?  Read The Boys' Club (#992) by Erica Katz, who is, of course, a lawyer who works for one of the Big Money Firms she skewers in this novel.

Alex Vogel has graduated from Harvard and been recruited by one of the top law practices in New York City, despite having worked her last internship for an animal shelter.  No money to be made there!  She's bright, attractive and ambitious; determined to claw her way into the most powerful group in Klasko & Fitch.  Mergers & Acquisitions is where the power rests.  All other groups in the practice are mere supporters of this money-making monolith.  It's all about the money, the prestige, the designer clothes, the expense account restaurants, the free-flowing liquor and drugs, heavy emphasis on the money.  Soon Alex is practically living at the office, breaking up with her live-in boyfriend, slipping into office affairs and disposing of any morals she might have had going in.  It's not a pretty picture, until she realizes she's being dangled as sexual bait for K & F's biggest client.  When she is physically assaulted, she has to take a stand.  (But only for other women in Big Money Firms, mind you!)

An unpleasant book about an unpleasant person with not even a clear moral imperative to uplift the story even the slightest.  Money gets away with everything, with the lawyers there to back the the evildoers and profit from them.  Ugh.  My advice, for which I won't even charge you?  Don't waste your time on The Boys' Club, or enrich Erica Katz further in her side job.

The Hidden Palace

 It's taken Helene Wecker a long time to publish The Hidden Palace (#991), a follow-up novel to her award-winning fantasy novel, The Golem and the Jinni (See my post of 7/4/2013.).  My husband and I both wished that there hadn't been such a time gap between reading the two, since there isn't much backstory provided here and it took a little effort to recall the plot and characters across hundreds of books read in between.

Other than that quibble, though, Ms. Wecker's writing is still just as compelling as she brings the Lower East Side of New York City to life in the early years of the twentieth century.  The golem and the jinni of the title are still together, though not without conflicts.  Into this turbulent mix are introduced two new characters: another golem and another jinni.  How they come to be, and to arrive in America, form a new and connected narratives.  Fire and clay.  That's what it takes to create a fabulous story.

If you are a fan of The Golem and the Jinni, you won't want to miss The Hidden Palace.