Andrew Shaffer has turned out a good mystery with Hope Never Dies (#774). Its unlikely protagonist is Vice President Joe Biden, now unhappily retired. He's used to doing things, and even though Barack Obama seems to be having the time of his life with A List celebrities all over the world, Joe is stuck in Delaware. That is, until the night he finds out that his favorite conductor on the Amtrak train he commuted to Washington on each day is dead. He's been hit by a train. Strangely enough, it's Barack Obama who appears to tell him about it. But something doesn't seem right...
It's a buddy book, told from Joe Biden's point of view, and very entertaining. It's also a good mystery as Barry and Joe poke their noses into Finn Donnelly's death. And they aren't the only ones looking. If only Joe's knees would cooperate!
A fun read, and could lead to an interesting mystery series.
Actually, my only complaint about this book published by Quirk, is that it was physically tiring to read, because it took so much effort to hold the book open so I could read it. My hands ached after awhile! If you e-read, this obviously won't be a problem for you. Just saying.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Fly Girls; How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
What an interesting book Keith O'Brien has written. Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History (#773) concentrates on the decade between 1927 and 1937 when barn stormers and air races caught the nation's attention, and a small but determined group of women struggled to join the men on equal terms. Only one of the woman profiled here was familiar to me: Amelia Earhart, and even at that, I learned quite a bit I didn't know about her before she literally dropped out of sight over the Pacific.
Equally remarkable are the stories of Louise Thaden, a wife and mother, Ruth Nichols, a wealthy socialite, Ruth Elder, pretty as a movie star, and Florence Klingensmith, a midwestern flier and mechanic who almost beat the boys at their own game. Since the field of female aviators was so small, the women knew and supported each other, even though they were fierce competitors. In fact, they had to be twice as skilled in the air to be deemed half as good in the court of public opinion. Women's place was in the home, not in the cockpit of an airplane, because of the risks involved and their delicate health, physical and emotional. This is the story of how these women managed to raise the ceiling for future female fliers.
The dangers these women encountered were real, and a number of them died doing what they loved, but all contributed their chosen field. Inspiring, and it will make you think twice next time you board an airplane with female pilots and first officers.
Equally remarkable are the stories of Louise Thaden, a wife and mother, Ruth Nichols, a wealthy socialite, Ruth Elder, pretty as a movie star, and Florence Klingensmith, a midwestern flier and mechanic who almost beat the boys at their own game. Since the field of female aviators was so small, the women knew and supported each other, even though they were fierce competitors. In fact, they had to be twice as skilled in the air to be deemed half as good in the court of public opinion. Women's place was in the home, not in the cockpit of an airplane, because of the risks involved and their delicate health, physical and emotional. This is the story of how these women managed to raise the ceiling for future female fliers.
The dangers these women encountered were real, and a number of them died doing what they loved, but all contributed their chosen field. Inspiring, and it will make you think twice next time you board an airplane with female pilots and first officers.
Thursday, September 13, 2018
The Man Who Couldn't Miss
How could I not have known about David Handler's terrific mysteries all these years? I just read The Man Who Couldn't Miss (#772) after reading a review of it in our local newspaper. Apparently Mr. Handler is reviving the Stewart Hoag mystery series which he hasn't written about in twenty years. I'm so glad he decided to give it another shot.
Stewart Hoag is an author with one best-selling book behind him. He hasn't been able to duplicate his success since. He's hoping that a summer spent at his ex-wife Merilee Nash's Connecticut farm will give him the peace, isolation and motivation to get back on that horse again. He's on good terms with Merilee, but she has her own project to keep her busy; a celebrity revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives in a one day gala performance to raise enough money to restore the venerable Sherbourne Playhouse. She, and so many other famous actors and actresses made their professional debuts in this rickety theater.
At least Hoagy has his basset hound Lulu to keep him company. But as it always does, trouble finds Hoagy when a secret from Merilee's past rears its ugly head, and one of the stars of Private Lives doesn't make it to Act II. It's a distraction, but someone has to deal with it all. It might as well be Hoagy.
This has everything I love in a good mystery; quirky characters I cared about, plenty of snarky humor, and plot twists I didn't see coming until I read them, but seemed logical once you know the motivation. One of the cover blurbs is Harlan Coben's, and I can now see why: "One of my all-time favorite series." I have the feeling I'll be agreeing with that opinion.
Stewart Hoag is an author with one best-selling book behind him. He hasn't been able to duplicate his success since. He's hoping that a summer spent at his ex-wife Merilee Nash's Connecticut farm will give him the peace, isolation and motivation to get back on that horse again. He's on good terms with Merilee, but she has her own project to keep her busy; a celebrity revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives in a one day gala performance to raise enough money to restore the venerable Sherbourne Playhouse. She, and so many other famous actors and actresses made their professional debuts in this rickety theater.
At least Hoagy has his basset hound Lulu to keep him company. But as it always does, trouble finds Hoagy when a secret from Merilee's past rears its ugly head, and one of the stars of Private Lives doesn't make it to Act II. It's a distraction, but someone has to deal with it all. It might as well be Hoagy.
This has everything I love in a good mystery; quirky characters I cared about, plenty of snarky humor, and plot twists I didn't see coming until I read them, but seemed logical once you know the motivation. One of the cover blurbs is Harlan Coben's, and I can now see why: "One of my all-time favorite series." I have the feeling I'll be agreeing with that opinion.
Monday, September 10, 2018
The Dictator Pope -The Inside Story of the Francis Papacy
Reading The Dictator Pope (#771) by the possibly British author hiding behind the pen name Marcantonio Colonna reminded me forcibly of the anonymous New York Times Op Ed written about the chaos in Donald Trump's White House. This is an author with an agenda: to destroy Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis I, and restore the Roman Catholic Church to the "good old days" prior to Vatican II.
He takes aim at progressives, liberals and homosexuals as evil, period. He also condemns child sex abusers and those who shield them, financial malfeasants, and the morally corrupt. In those cases, I do agree with this writer.
It is a mystery to me, though, who his intended audience is. It can't be the average reader, because the text is laden with theological text book terms with no explanations, clerical name-dropping without context, and an astonishing mish-mosh of bureaucratic boards, councils, offices, etc. If you were familiar with the internal workings of the Vatican, this might all make sense to you. What the ordinary reader will be able to pick up without a problem is the personal vitriol for the Pope. If what he is alleging about the Pope's behavior concerning financial shenanigans and his own shielding of pedophile priests and those who protect them is true, though, (And many of the cases he cites seem credible, such as the Pope's recent defense of Chilean bishops accused of this, his cool reception in Ireland which has been riven by the sex abuse scandal for decades, and the Pope's non-response to the unfolding scandal in Pennsylvania), it does raise questions about the Pope's moral authority on so many other issues.
It's an unpleasant book, couched in an unpleasant way, but as they say, where there's smoke, there's fire. Maybe someone does need to be raising objections if what they see and hear feels wrong to them, but progress is made going forward, not backwards. Maybe the best question to ask would be: What would Jesus do?
He takes aim at progressives, liberals and homosexuals as evil, period. He also condemns child sex abusers and those who shield them, financial malfeasants, and the morally corrupt. In those cases, I do agree with this writer.
It is a mystery to me, though, who his intended audience is. It can't be the average reader, because the text is laden with theological text book terms with no explanations, clerical name-dropping without context, and an astonishing mish-mosh of bureaucratic boards, councils, offices, etc. If you were familiar with the internal workings of the Vatican, this might all make sense to you. What the ordinary reader will be able to pick up without a problem is the personal vitriol for the Pope. If what he is alleging about the Pope's behavior concerning financial shenanigans and his own shielding of pedophile priests and those who protect them is true, though, (And many of the cases he cites seem credible, such as the Pope's recent defense of Chilean bishops accused of this, his cool reception in Ireland which has been riven by the sex abuse scandal for decades, and the Pope's non-response to the unfolding scandal in Pennsylvania), it does raise questions about the Pope's moral authority on so many other issues.
It's an unpleasant book, couched in an unpleasant way, but as they say, where there's smoke, there's fire. Maybe someone does need to be raising objections if what they see and hear feels wrong to them, but progress is made going forward, not backwards. Maybe the best question to ask would be: What would Jesus do?
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Rescued - An Andy Carpenter Mystery
In David Rosenfelt's Rescued (#770), Andy Carpenter is enjoying life; no legal cases in sight, time to spend with his wife Laurie, and their son, Ricky and their two dogs, and to check in on the Tara Foundation, named for his beloved golden retriever. The only fly in the ointment is that his friends keep running up his tab at Charlies, even when Andy isn't there downing burgers and beer with them.
That is, until he gets a panicked phone call from the local Humane Society Director asking him to come to a rest stop off the New Jersey Turnpike. It's a crime scene, with the driver of an eighteen wheeler shot to death in the back of the truck, but that's not why Ralph called Andy. The truck's cargo is a load of rescue dogs. After a long day of getting the dogs settled in at the Tara Foundation, Andy returns home to a double whammy. Waiting for him at the house is Laurie's ex-boyfriend, Dave Kramer and he wants Andy to represent him for killing the truck driver at the rest stop in self-defense. Andy is, to put it mildly, not thrilled, but it's important to Laurie, so...
As usual in an Andy Carpenter book, things are not as simple as they appear on the surface, and Andy is not convinced that Kramer's case is winnable, even if he is being represented by the top defense lawyer available. In pursuit of even the tiniest shred of evidence to plant reasonable doubt in the jury's minds, Andy begins to get a glimmer that something big is behind an apparently open-and-shut case of revenge.
Always an enjoyable read with enough twists to keep the reader turning pages until the very end, I love the Andy Carpenter mysteries because of the snarky dialog and the unusual cast of characters. After meeting David Rosenfelt at this year's BookMania!, it's very easy to see that Andy and David share many characteristics. If you are new to the series, you can enjoy each book on its own, but they are even better when read in sequence.
That is, until he gets a panicked phone call from the local Humane Society Director asking him to come to a rest stop off the New Jersey Turnpike. It's a crime scene, with the driver of an eighteen wheeler shot to death in the back of the truck, but that's not why Ralph called Andy. The truck's cargo is a load of rescue dogs. After a long day of getting the dogs settled in at the Tara Foundation, Andy returns home to a double whammy. Waiting for him at the house is Laurie's ex-boyfriend, Dave Kramer and he wants Andy to represent him for killing the truck driver at the rest stop in self-defense. Andy is, to put it mildly, not thrilled, but it's important to Laurie, so...
As usual in an Andy Carpenter book, things are not as simple as they appear on the surface, and Andy is not convinced that Kramer's case is winnable, even if he is being represented by the top defense lawyer available. In pursuit of even the tiniest shred of evidence to plant reasonable doubt in the jury's minds, Andy begins to get a glimmer that something big is behind an apparently open-and-shut case of revenge.
Always an enjoyable read with enough twists to keep the reader turning pages until the very end, I love the Andy Carpenter mysteries because of the snarky dialog and the unusual cast of characters. After meeting David Rosenfelt at this year's BookMania!, it's very easy to see that Andy and David share many characteristics. If you are new to the series, you can enjoy each book on its own, but they are even better when read in sequence.
Monday, September 3, 2018
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah takes the title for her novel The Great Alone (#769) from a Robert Service poem about Alaska. It certainly is a character in this story, beautiful, harrowing and deadly in turn, although the real danger to young Leni Allbright here comes from within her own family.
Ernt Allbright has returned from Vietnam a changed man. Leni only has vague memories of the time before, when she and her mother and father would have adventures moving place to place. Now he's angry and paranoid, and their moves are becoming more frequent, when a letter catches up with him; one of his POW buddies has left land and a cabin to Ernt in the remote Alaskan settlement of Kaneq. Her father buys a battered old VW bus, packs up everything the Allbrights own (which isn't much) and heads for Alaska with his family in tow.
Neither Leni nor her mother Cora are prepared to live off the grid in a place with no electricity or running water, and where their survival will depend on what they can hunt, catch, fish or grow for themselves. Mistakes can be deadly here, and the Allbrights must learn fast. Members of the community help, but Mad Earl Harlan's family are survivalists. Ernt feels a special bond for them, since it was Bo Harlan's land he inherited. The old man feeds Ernt's hatred for the government, the Man, and anyone who doesn't agree with him. The problem is that in the depths of the bleak Alaskan winter dark, Ernt takes out his rage with life on Cora.
This is first and foremost a tale of survival, both physical and emotional. The strength of the bonds of love and community are a counterbalance to the horrors happening in the Allbright compound. It doesn't seem possible that Leni will endure, but she does, at incredible cost to herself and those she loves. This is a powerful read, not to be missed.
Ernt Allbright has returned from Vietnam a changed man. Leni only has vague memories of the time before, when she and her mother and father would have adventures moving place to place. Now he's angry and paranoid, and their moves are becoming more frequent, when a letter catches up with him; one of his POW buddies has left land and a cabin to Ernt in the remote Alaskan settlement of Kaneq. Her father buys a battered old VW bus, packs up everything the Allbrights own (which isn't much) and heads for Alaska with his family in tow.
Neither Leni nor her mother Cora are prepared to live off the grid in a place with no electricity or running water, and where their survival will depend on what they can hunt, catch, fish or grow for themselves. Mistakes can be deadly here, and the Allbrights must learn fast. Members of the community help, but Mad Earl Harlan's family are survivalists. Ernt feels a special bond for them, since it was Bo Harlan's land he inherited. The old man feeds Ernt's hatred for the government, the Man, and anyone who doesn't agree with him. The problem is that in the depths of the bleak Alaskan winter dark, Ernt takes out his rage with life on Cora.
This is first and foremost a tale of survival, both physical and emotional. The strength of the bonds of love and community are a counterbalance to the horrors happening in the Allbright compound. It doesn't seem possible that Leni will endure, but she does, at incredible cost to herself and those she loves. This is a powerful read, not to be missed.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
America For Beginners
Mrs. Pival Sengupta is newly widowed, and finally free to do as she pleases. For her, that means a trip to America on her own to see what captivated her late son Rahi about this place, if in fact, he really is dead. Not being used to moving about on her own, she books herself on a tour of America with a guide and a companion. It's a voyage of discovery for all three travelers, and an entertaining and moving read. Leah Franqui's debut novel is America For Beginners (#768).
Satya Roy, the Bangladeshi guide who has never left New York City since he smuggled himself into the country is searching for his friend whom he betrayed by taking the guide job. Rebecca Elliot, an out-of-work actress hired sight unseen as a companion is stuck in a treadmill life of failed auditions and meaningless one-night stands. For her, civilization ends at the New York City border, but money is tight. Ronnie Munshi runs the tour company for wealthy Indians, promising luxury accommodations, authentic Indian cuisine and visits to all the top attractions, but under no circumstances should guides/companions admit they do not know the answers to their clients' questions, or that they are Bangladeshi. What could possibly go wrong?
It's a life-changing experience for them all, and for the reader as well. Recommended.
Satya Roy, the Bangladeshi guide who has never left New York City since he smuggled himself into the country is searching for his friend whom he betrayed by taking the guide job. Rebecca Elliot, an out-of-work actress hired sight unseen as a companion is stuck in a treadmill life of failed auditions and meaningless one-night stands. For her, civilization ends at the New York City border, but money is tight. Ronnie Munshi runs the tour company for wealthy Indians, promising luxury accommodations, authentic Indian cuisine and visits to all the top attractions, but under no circumstances should guides/companions admit they do not know the answers to their clients' questions, or that they are Bangladeshi. What could possibly go wrong?
It's a life-changing experience for them all, and for the reader as well. Recommended.
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