The Swimmer, by Joakim Zander (@JoakimZander) – #Review #Bibliotica

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About The Swimmer The Swimmer

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Harper (February 10, 2015)

A deep-cover CIA agent races across Europe to save the daughter he never knew in this electrifying debut thriller— an international sensation billed as “Homeland meets Stieg Larsson”—that heralds the arrival of a new master.

Early 1980s, Damascus. A nameless American spy abandons his newborn child to an uncertain fate. His inability to forgive himself for what he has done leads him on a lifelong quest to escape his past that will take him to Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq—anywhere where the danger and the stress allow him to forget.

Thirty years later, EU aide Klara Walldéen is learning to navigate the world of politics—the lines between friend and enemy, truth and lies. But Klara has just seen something she should not have: a laptop containing information so sensitive that people will kill to keep it hidden. Suddenly she is thrown into a terrifying chase through Europe, with no idea who is hunting her or why.

Their stories converge one stormy Christmas Eve in the Swedish archipelago, where blood is spilled, shocking discoveries are made, and the past inevitably catches up with the present.

Buy, read, and discuss The Swimmer

Amazon  | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Joakim Zander

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Joakim Zander has lived in Syria and Israel and graduated from high school in the United States. He earned a PhD in Law from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and has worked as a lawyer for the European Union in Brussels and Helsinki. The Swimmer is his first novel; rights have been sold in 28 territories. Zander currently lives in southern Sweden with his wife and two children.

Connect with Joakim

Twitter.

My Thoughts

I love a good political thriller, and I was really excited to be given a chance to read The Swimmer. I’m told it’s likely to be popular among fans of Stieg Larsson’s work, but with all the reading I do, I’ve managed to miss reading any of his work, so when I tell you this novel will suck you in gently with it’s opening involving a baby saved from a bombing, and keep you hooked until the very last page, know that I do so without a direct contemporary comparison, but that’s okay, because really, this thriller has more in common with old-school writers like Frederick Forsyth and Robert Ludlum.

Zander’s writing voice is clear and unaffected, sometimes even stark, and yet his characters leap of the pages, and his descriptions of places are as three-dimensional as if you walked into them yourself. What’s more, this is a book originally written in the author’s native Swedish, and translated to English, but it never feels like a translation…that’s how well-crafted it is.

Then there’s the pacing. After setting up the characters, Klara, the young woman who was orphaned as a baby and raised by her grandparents, and the aging spy half a world away from Klara’s home in Brussels, where she works as as political aide, the story ramps up, ever increasing the suspense until it comes to a finish that’s almost explosive.

If you want the feeling of a really gripping old-school thriller, but with contemporary characters and an absolutely modern setting, dive into The Swimmer. You’ll hate it when the book ends and you’re forced to come up for air.

Goes well with A cappuccino and a butter croissant, eaten from behind a newspaper in an outdoor cafe.

Joakim’s Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

This review is part of a blog tour sponsored by TLC Book Tours. For the complete list of tour stops, see below; for more information, click HERE.
Tuesday, February 10th: Bibiotica

Wednesday, February 11th: Man of La Book

Friday, February 13th: Dreams, Etc.

Monday, February 16th: My Bookish Ways

Tuesday, February 17th: Staircase Wit

Wednesday, February 18th: Jorie Loves a Story

Thursday, February 19th: Annabel & Alice

Friday, February 20th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, February 23rd: Stephany Writes

Tuesday, February 24th: A Dream Within a Dream

Wednesday, February 25th: Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks

Thursday, February 26th: Ace and Hoser Blook

Monday, March 2nd: The Discerning Reader

Tuesday, March 3rd: Novel Escapes

Thursday, March 5th: From the TBR Pile

Friday, March 6th: Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Wednesday, March 11th: Many Hats

Hunting Shadows, an #InspectorIanRutledge #Mystery by Charles Todd – #Review #Bibliotica

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About the book Hunting Shadows Hunting Shadows

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition edition (January 21, 2014)

In the latest mystery from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd, Inspector Ian Rutledge is summoned to the quiet, isolated Fen country to solve a series of seemingly unconnected murders before the killer strikes again.

August 1920. A society wedding at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire becomes a crime scene when a guest is shot just as the bride arrives. Two weeks later, after a fruitless search for clues, the local police are forced to call in Scotland Yard. But not before there is another shooting in a village close by. This second murder has a witness; the only problem is that her description of the killer is so horrific it’s unbelievable. Badgered by the police, she quickly recants her story.

Despite his experience, Inspector Ian Rutledge can find no connection between the two deaths. One victim was an Army officer, the other a solicitor standing for Parliament; their paths have never crossed. What links these two murders? Is it something from the past? Or is it only in the mind of a clever killer?

Then the case reminds Rutledge of a legendary assassin whispered about during the war. His own dark memories come back to haunt him as he hunts for the missing connection—and yet, when he finds it, it isn’t as simple as he’d expected. He must put his trust in the devil in order to find the elusive and shocking answer.

Buy, read, and discuss Hunting Shadows

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Charles Todd Charles Todd

Charles Todd is the author of the Bess Crawford mysteries, the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother and son writing team, they live in Delaware and North Carolina, respectively.

Connect with Charles Todd

Website | Facebook.

My Thoughts

I love a good mystery, and this book was exactly what I needed on a cold, drizzly, Texas winter day. The opening, with a man planning a revenge-based murder, was chilling, and the next chapter with the actual murder taking place during a wedding had all the chaos and confusion you’d expect, plus the twist of the (possible) killer walking through the scene without anyone taking real note. (This is not a spoiler for the whodunnit part of the story.)

As the novel opened up, and we met Inspector Ian Rutledge, I felt like I was being plunged into one of those oh-so-atmospheric British novels I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. The action was well paced, taking time to appreciate the heavy mist or a well-earned meat pie without getting too bogged down by extraneous detail. The characters seemed appropriate for the period (the 20s) and the piece, and there were some lovely bits of all-too-human comedy to balance the darkness inherent in a murder mystery.

What took Hunting Shadows to a whole new level for me, though, is Rutledge’s ongoing battle with what, today, would be called PTSD. Burdened with guilt over the death of a war buddy, he still hears his friend’s voice from time to time. That layer of storytelling added a lot to Rutledge’s character, but it also made the whole book have a deeper resonance. We forget, sometimes, what war does to even the brightest, most stable people, and how those experiences shape our whole lives.

If you love a classic mystery-thriller with lush descriptions, believable characters, and a compelling story, you will, as I did, love Hunting Shadows.

Goes well with a pint of stout and a fresh-from-the-oven meat pie.

Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

This review is part of a blog tour organized by TLC Book Tours. For the complete list of tour stops, see below. For more information, click HERE.
Friday, January 2nd: Kritters Ramblings

Tuesday, January 6th: Dwell in Possibility

Wednesday, January 7th: 5 Minutes For Books

Monday, January 19th: Broken Teepee

Thursday, February 5th: Luxury Reading

Friday, February 6th: Bibliotica

Monday, February 9th: Jorie Loves a Story

Wednesday, February 11th: A Bookworm’s World

Wednesday, February 18th: The Discerning Reader

TBD: Fuelled by Fiction

House Broken by Sonja Yoerg (@sonjayoerg) – #Review #Bibliotica

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About the book House Broken House Broken

Pages: 332
Publisher: NAL (January 6, 2015)

Veterinarian Geneva Novak understands the behavior of umpteen species—just not her mother, Helen.

Geneva fled her childhood home—and her mother’s vodka-fueled disasters—without a backward glance. Twenty-five years later, Helen totals her car and her leg, and none of her children will play nurse. Geneva’s husband, whose family lives in each other’s pockets, convinces her that letting Helen move in might repair the mother-daughter relationship.

Geneva’s not holding her breath.

But she recognizes an opportunity. With her mother dependent and hobbled, Geneva may finally get answers to questions that have plagued her for years: why her eldest sister exiled herself to Africa, why her mother won’t discuss Geneva’s long-dead father, and why—there has to be a reason—Helen treats alcohol like a general anesthetic.

Buy, read, and discuss House Broken

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Sonja Yoerg Sonja Yoerg

Sonja Yoerg grew up in Stowe, Vermont, where she financed her college education by waitressing at the Trapp Family Lodge. She earned her Ph.D. in Biological Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, and studied learning in blue jays, kangaroo rats and spotted hyenas, among other species. Her non-fiction book about animal intelligence, Clever as a Fox (Bloomsbury USA) was published in 2001.

While her two daughters were young, Sonja taught in their schools in California. Now that they are in college, she writes full-time.

She currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband. HOUSE BROKEN is her first novel.

Connect with Sonja

Website | Twitter

When Sonja Yoerg contacted me through this blog, asking if I’d read and review her book, I leaped at the chance. After all, I work in rescue, so I’m always up for reading about any character who works with animals. I’m really glad I accepted her offer, because House Broken is a wonderful book.

The main character, Geneva, is a veterinarian who clearly cares about her patients and their human companions, but, like many women who work in ‘caring’ professions, she has a hard time prioritizing her own self-care, and the needs of her family. While much of this novel is centered around Geneva’s relationship with her injured mother, I really liked that we got to see the whole picture of her life with its flaws and imperfections as well as its joys.

The mother-daughter dynamic was captured particularly well. Even those of us who, like me, have really strong relationships with our mothers, have still had to navigate tricky passages of our lives. I’m very fortunate that my own mother is hale and hearty, but having watched my mother deal with my grandmother’s recuperation from a hip replacement, decades ago, I know about the family secrets, bitter truths, and too-candid opinions that tend to surface during challenging times.

Helen, Geneva’s mother in the story, is a character made much more complicated by her love of vodka, because you never know if what she says is meant, or is enhanced by alcohol (or the lack of same). What is especially poignant is the realization that these women love each other, but they don’t really like each other very much.

One thing I really appreciated was that we saw Geneva not just as a daughter, but also as a mother. Her own relationship with her children is both counterpoint and learning opportunity, and seeing the ‘whole picture’ of her life made the whole novel that much more compelling.

With House Broken, Sonja Yoerg has given readers a meaty, interesting family drama, with the perfect balance of conventional relationships, and unconventional twists to them.

Buy this book for the cute dog on the cover, but read it for the amazing story inside.

Goes well with Strong coffee and an ‘everything’ bagel, toasted, with sun-dried tomato cream cheese.

Scent of Butterflies by Dora Levy Mossanen – Review

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About the book Scent of ButterfliesScent of Butterflies

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (January 7, 2014)

Betrayal, forgiveness, identity and obsession churn against the tumultuous landscape of the Islamic revolution and seemingly perfect gardens of southern California in this compelling novel from bestselling author Dora Levy Mossanen.

Amidst a shattering betrayal and a country in turmoil, Soraya flees Iran to make a new life for herself in Los Angeles. The cruel and intimate blow her husband has dealt her awakens an obsessive streak that explodes in the heated world of Southern California, as Soraya plots her revenge against the other woman, her best friend, Butterfly. What she discovers proves far more devastating than anything she had ever imagined, unleashing a whirlwind of events that leave the reader breathless.

A novel singed by the flavors of Tehran, imbued with the Iranian roots of Persepolis and the culture clash of Rooftops of Tehran, this is a striking, nuanced story of a woman caught between two worlds, from the bestselling author of Harem, Courtesan, and The Last Romanov.

Buy, read, and discuss Scent of Butterflies

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Goodreads

About the author, Dora Levy Mossanen Dora Levy Mossanen

Dora Levy Mossanen was born in Israel and moved to Iran when she was nine. At the onset of the Islamic revolution, she and her family moved to the United States. She has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of California-Los Angeles and a master’s in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California.

Dora is the bestselling author of the acclaimed novels Harem, Courtesan, and The Last Romanov. Her fourth and most provocative book, Scent of Butterflies, was released January 7, 2014. She is a frequent contributor to numerous media outlets including the Huffington Post and the Jewish Journal. She has been featured on KCRW, The Politics of Culture, Voice of Russia, Radio Iran and numerous other radio and television programs. She is the recipient of the prestigious San Diego Editors’ choice award and was accepted as contributor to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. Dora Levy Mossanen’s novels have been translated into numerous languages world-wide.

My Thoughts:

While Soraya’s story was both interesting and compelling, I found myself distracted by two things: one: how on earth did she have the funds with which to make her escape from Tehran and set up a whole new lifestyle in California, and why wasn’t she more likeable?

The first question may have been answered in the text, and I simply missed it. The second, I think, is by design. Soraya was betrayed, yes, but she is the perfect embodiment of blind revenge, setting up everything she can in order to get even with the people who have wronged her. Of course, betrayals within marriages cause some of the deepest wounds, and betrayals among long-time friends are just as hurtful, so maybe it’s not surprising that the main character is a little too ‘hard,’ a little too inscrutable, a little too difficult to empathize with.

Aside from my utter inability to like the main character, I thought Mossanen’s novel was truly well-written, the language almost lyrical in places. Even somewhat creepy passages (when Soraya literally squeezes the life from a butterfly for her collection) had a sort of dark beauty about them. Similarly, the descriptions of place, the spare use of language, the recurring themes of butterflies, both in the body of Soraya’s friend Butterfly, and in her vast collection of dead insects, really blended well to give this book a sort of otherworldly feeling. The repeated references to the human Butterfly’s preference for Chanel No. 5 were familiar to me – I have a great aunt who has worn Taboo for so many years that when I smell it, it smells like rice pudding to me, because I associate it with her work in our family’s diner. How sad to have Soraya’s more negative sense memory of her childhood friend’s preferred scent.

Early in Soraya’s time in California she references advice the once received, about only moving somewhere with the same color sky. With her writing, Mossanen makes us see the beauty of the Tehran that was, even in the Los Angeles that is, and I enjoyed that aspect of the novel.

I’ll confess that I had a personal interest in this book: when I was very young (one or two) my mother was dating a young Iranian officer visiting the U.S. on an exchange. He was a member of the Shah’s army, and actually tried to convince my mother to marry him and move to Iran (fortunately for both of us, she refused). While I have no distinct memories of him, I find familiarity in the rhythms of spoken Farsi.

At times, reading Scent of Butterflies, I felt like I was hearing those rhythms, the particular cadences that only those language families have.

I do want to mention that the twist near the end of the novel DID surprise me, and I thought the whole book was well-crafted. I think I’m just not quite cynical enough to resonate with Soraya, even though her story was well told.

Goes well with Falafel and tahini sauce and mint tea.

Dora Levy Mossanen’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS: TLC Book Tours

This review is part of a tour sponsored by TLC Book Tours. For the complete list of stops, see below. For more information, click HERE.
Monday, February 2nd: My Book Self

Wednesday, February 4th: Bibliotica

Friday, February 6th: Back Porchervations

Wednesday, February 11th: Books a la Mode – guest post

Friday, February 13th: Reading and Eating

Monday, February 16th: Chick Lit Central

Monday, February 16th: A Bookish Affair – guest post

Tuesday, February 17th: Savvy Verse and Wit

Wednesday, February 18th: Kahakai Kitchen

Monday, February 23rd: Bibliophiliac

Friday, February 27th: Shelf Pleasure – guest post

Monday, March 2nd: Snowdrop Dreams of Books

Tuesday, March 3rd: Too Fond

Thursday, March 5th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Dreaming Spies, by Laurie R. King – Review

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About the book, Dreaming Spies, by Laurie R. King Dreaming Spies

Series: Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
Publisher: Bantam (17 February 2015)
Hardcover: 352 Pages

Laurie R. King’s New York Times bestselling novels of suspense featuring Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, are critically acclaimed and beloved by readers for the author’s adept interplay of history and adventure. Now the intrepid duo is finally trying to take a little time for themselves—only to be swept up in a baffling case that will lead them from the idyllic panoramas of Japan to the depths of Oxford’s most revered institution.

After a lengthy case that had the couple traipsing all over India, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are on their way to California to deal with some family business that Russell has been neglecting for far too long. Along the way, they plan to break up the long voyage with a sojourn in southern Japan. The cruising steamer Thomas Carlyle is leaving Bombay, bound for Kobe. Though they’re not the vacationing types, Russell is looking forward to a change of focus—not to mention a chance to travel to a location Holmes has not visited before. The idea of the pair being on equal footing is enticing to a woman who often must race to catch up with her older, highly skilled husband.

Aboard the ship, intrigue stirs almost immediately. Holmes recognizes the famous clubman the Earl of Darley, whom he suspects of being an occasional blackmailer: not an unlikely career choice for a man richer in social connections than in pounds sterling. And then there’s the lithe, surprisingly fluent young Japanese woman who befriends Russell and quotes haiku. She agrees to tutor the couple in Japanese language and customs, but Russell can’t shake the feeling that Haruki Sato is not who she claims to be.

Once in Japan, Russell’s suspicions are confirmed in a most surprising way. From the glorious city of Tokyo to the cavernous library at Oxford, Russell and Holmes race to solve a mystery involving international extortion, espionage, and the shocking secrets that, if revealed, could spark revolution—and topple an empire.

Buy a copy of Dreaming Spies

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My Thoughts:

I’ve been a fan of the Russell/Holmes series since they first started, so when I realized there was a chance I could review the latest book before it’s release date (thank you NetGalley), I begged for the chance. Okay, I didn’t beg, but I did make the request, and was granted permission. I’m glad I did, because this was a great read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The story takes place in two parts. The first is on the way to, and then in, Japan, and involves the Russell/Holmes version of a road trip as they learn to appreciate Japanese culture, and even to blend in, slightly, though their journey culminates in espionage and an attempt to help protect the Emperor’s honor.

The second place takes place back home – Russell’s home – in Oxford, and is basically the ‘what happens after’ part of the original mission.

I liked the new characters, the explanations of the history of ninjas and the use of traditional (albeit translated) haiku as chapter headers. I also liked the touches that author King puts in that let us peek behind the curtains of Russell’s and Holmes’s relationship – Holmes doesn’t like to play the ‘older husband to a young girl’ role, and yet, he is older, and she is younger, and I think his aging is factoring into things more and more…

King, as always, blends mystery with social commentary and a close look at non-western cultures, and does so in a way that is incredibly satisfying, but not so much so that the reader isn’t immediately looking forward to the next novel in the series.

I didn’t want this book to end.
I can’t wait for the next one.

Goes well with miso soup, sashimi, tempura, and jasmine tea.

One Step Too Far, by Tina Seskis @tinaseskis) – Review

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About the book One Step Too Far One Step Too Far

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (January 27, 2015)

The #1 international bestseller reminiscent of After I’m Gone, Sister, Before I Go to Sleep, and The Silent Wife—an intricately plotted, thoroughly addictive thriller that introduces a major new voice in suspense fiction—a mesmerizing and powerful novel that will keep you guessing to the very end.

No one has ever guessed Emily’s secret.

Will you?

A happy marriage. A beautiful family. A lovely home. So what makes Emily Coleman get up one morning and walk right out of her life—to start again as someone new?

Now, Emily has become Cat, working at a hip advertising agency in London and living on the edge with her inseparable new friend, Angel. Cat’s buried any trace of her old self so well, no one knows how to find her. But she can’t bury the past—or her own memories.

And soon, she’ll have to face the truth of what she’s done—a shocking revelation that may push her one step too far. . . .

Buy, read, and discuss One Step Too Far

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Tina Seskis Tina Seskis

Tina Seskis grew up in Hampshire, England, and after graduating from the University of Bath spent more than twenty years working in marketing and advertising. One Step Too Far is her debut novel, and was first published independently in the UK, where it shot to the #1 spot on the bestseller list. Her second novel is forthcoming. She lives in North London with her husband and son.

Connect with Tina

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

I read this novel in the course of a single weekend afternoon, and literally could not put it down because it was so gripping.

It begins with protagonist Emily (now calling herself Cat) leaving her husband and family, and beginning a new life. We follow Cat as she establishes her new identity, finds a place to live, friends, and a job, experiments with drugs, and basically reclaims her lost single-girl life, but it’s clear that there’s something she’s not sharing with her new friends, or possibly with herself, and that something isn’t revealed until the book is 50% gone.

I don’t do synopses as a rule, so no, I’m not going to tell you what Emily/Cat’s secret is. Instead, I’m going to say that Tina Seskis wrote the hell out of this story, and turned what could have been a fairly standard trope (woman gets fed up with married life, starts new life as own alter-ego) and twists it into a compelling collection of people, places, and events that will have you laughing, crying, and – sometimes – wanting to reach into the pages and shake some sense into the characters.

Supporting characters include new housemate/best friend Angel, a lost waif who has more common sense than one might imagine, Emily’s twin sister Caroline, and Emily’s husband Ben. We don’t really meet Ben until the second half of the book, but once we do, many things from the first half click into place.

Based on my thorough enjoyment of this novel, I think it’s safe to say that Tina Seskis is a force to be reckoned with. Her dialogue is witty, her characters feel very real, and nothing about the story in One Step Too Far was remotely cliche. I can’t wait to read her next book, and I’m excited to see – read? – such a great new voice in contemporary fiction.

Goes well with Tapas and frou-frou cocktails.

TLC Book Tours

This review is sponsored by TLC Book Tours. For the complete list of tour stops, as well as the book trailer, click HERE.

All That Glitters, by Michael Murphy – Review

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About the book All That Glitters All That Glitters

Publisher: Alibi (January 6, 2015)
Pages: 266

In Michael Murphy’s rollicking new Jake & Laura mystery, the hard-boiled writer and the aspiring movie star head for sun-drenched Los Angeles, where a cold-blooded murderer lurks behind the scenes.

Just arrived from New York, Broadway actress Laura Wilson is slated to star in Hollywood’s newest screwball comedy. At her side, of course, is Jake Donovan, under pressure to write his next mystery novel. But peace and quiet are not to be had when an all-too-real murder plot intrudes: After a glitzy party, the son of a studio honcho is discovered dead from a gunshot wound. And since Jake exchanged words with the hothead just hours before his death, the bestselling author becomes the LAPD’s prime suspect.

In 1930s Tinseltown, anything goes. Proving his innocence won’t be easy in a town where sex, seduction, and naked power run rampant. With gossip columnist Louella Parsons dead-set on publicizing the charges against him, Jake has no choice but to do what everyone else does in the City of Angels: act like someone else. Blackie Doyle, the tough-talking, fist-swinging, womanizing hero from Jake’s novels wouldn’t pull any punches until he exposed the real killer—nor will Jake, to keep the role of a lifetime from being his last.

Buy, read, and discuss All That Glitters

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Goodreads

About the author, Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy is a full-time writer and part-time urban chicken rancher. He lives in Arizona with his wife of more than forty years and the four children they adopted this past year. He’s active in several local writers’ groups and conducts novel-writing workshops at bookstores and libraries.

My Thoughts:

I loved Michael Murphy’s first Jake & Laura mystery, The Yankee Club, so when I was offered the chance to review the sequel, All That Glitters, I didn’t have to think about it before I said yes.

I had so much fun reading this book. First, Jake Donovan and Laura Wilson are fantastic characters, and feel so real and alive that every word they utter feels like it’s crackling with energy. I especially love that Laura slips in and out of different characters when the situation calls for it – I do that myself, and it’s always nice to know I’m not the only one.

As well, the ages-old friendship between the two lead characters has matured into a grown-up kind of love, and seeing them navigate their deepening relationship at the same time that Jake is attempting to balance writing his novel, polishing someone else’s screenplay, and helping to solve a case he’s sort of a suspect in, while Laura is learning how to transition from stage actress to screen star is both funny and poignant.

The setting of 1930’s Hollywood is the perfect backdrop for such bigger-than-life characters (seriously, why isn’t someone making a series, or series of films out of these books?) and the supporting cast feels like it came right out of a David O. Selznick production. Annabelle, the female LAPD chief who is competent at work and incompetent at relationships is one of my favorite noir women, ever, but everyone else has their moment in the spotlight as well, and no one feels cheated.

Of course, Murphy’s got the mystery part of the novel perfect as well, and kept me guessing ‘whodunnit’ nearly to the end of the book, but while his plots are always well-crafted what I really love is that he acknowledges the pop culture of the day. (Part of the reason Jake is asked to polish that script is because Dashiel Hammett recommended him, after all, and Jack Benny teases him about buying dinner for Louella Parsons whom he ‘just met.’)

It’s this richness of setting and character that makes Murphy’s novels really work for me, and I’m eagerly awaiting book three, because hanging out with Jake and Laura for a few hundred pages is always vastly entertaining, though I must not forget to add that I love the way he continues to address contemporary issues (the economy, racism) in his historical pieces.

Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore (or it’s website) and buy All That Glitters today, because while all that glitters may not, actually, be gold, Michael Murphy’s novels absolutely are.

Goes well with Authentic Mexican food and a cold bottle of Negro Modelo beer.

Michael Murphy’s TLC Book Tours Tour Stops:TLC Book Tours

This review is part of a blog tour organized by TLC Book Tours. For the complete list of tour stops, see below. For more information, click HERE.

Saturday, December 27th: Vic’s Media Room – Review of Book 1, The Yankee Club

Monday, January 5th: Omnimystery News – author guest post

Tuesday, January 6th: Reading Reality

Wednesday, January 7th: The Book Binder’s Daughter

Thursday, January 8th: Joyfully Retired

Friday, January 9th: The Reader’s Hollow

Monday, January 12th: Mystery Playground

Tuesday, January 13th: A Book Geek

Tuesday, January 13th: Vic’s Media Room

Thursday, January 15th: Dwell in Possibility

Friday, January 16th: Fiction Zeal

Monday, January 19th: Open Book Society

Monday, January 19th: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, January 21st: Lilac Reviews

Monday, January 26th: From the TBR Pile

Monday, January 26th: Psychotic State Book Reviews

Tuesday, January 27th: Bibliotica

Wednesday, January 28th: The Discerning Reader

Thursday, January 29th: Mom in Love with Fiction

Friday, January 30th: Laura’s Booklist

Date TBD: Read a Latte

Island Fog by John Vanderslice – Review

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About Island FogIsland Fog

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Lavender Ink (April 28, 2014)

Island Fog is a thematic, novel-length collection of stories, all set on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Nantucket as we know it began as an English settlement relatively early in the colonial period of the United States. In the heyday of its nineteenth century success as a whaling center, the island, for being as small as it is, was quite the cosmopolitan center. Sailors from across the globe mingled with a mixed local population of descendents of the original English settlers, black Americans, and Native Americans. Today too Nantucket is known as being especially open to visitors from around the world. When one travels there, one feels that one is no longer in the United States but in a culturally indistinct, in-between land, somehow equidistant from North America, the Caribbean, and Northern Europe.

Island Fog captures the physical, social, and political atmosphere of the island from both historical and contemporary perspectives. It is divided into two halves, with the first half containing five historical fictions and the latter half containing six contemporary ones. The first historical fiction is set in 1795, only a decade removed from the young America’s formalized independence from Britain, and the last historical fiction is set in 1920, one year after America’s passage of the infamous Volstead Act (prohibition). The middle three historical stories are set, respectively, in 1823, 1837, and 1846, the period when the whaling industry enjoyed its greatest profitability and the island its greatest wealth. The set of contemporary fictions begin in the late twentieth century and continue into the middle of the first decade of this century. Thus the stories of Island Fog bridge four centuries of Nantucket history.

The first story, “Guilty Look,” fictionalizes the real life Nantucket bank robbery of 1795, an event that famously divided the heretofore peaceful “paradise” into warring factions of Quakers and Congregationalists, Jeffersonians and Federalists. The other historical fictions—through first, second, and third person narration—depict a fraught and potentially violent friendship between a self-assured white adolescent and the half-breed son of the last full-blooded Wampanoag on the island (“King Philip’s War”); the trapped existence of a whaling widow, who while she waits for her disappeared and likely deceased husband has begun to waken to her latent lesbian nature (“On Cherry Street”); the tortured inner life of an ex-captain who has never gotten over having to become a cannibal to survive during one particularly harrowing whaling expedition twenty-eight years earlier (“Taste”); and the exasperation of a lonely African-American school teacher who despite being born and raised on the island still does not feel, and is not allowed to feel, like a native (“How Long Will You Tarry?”).

The six contemporary stories examine a variety of island lives, some of them Nantucket natives but others visitors for whom the island is either a last refuge or an existential prison. Along the way, we meet a carpenter whose wife deliberately jumped off the Nantucket to Hyannis ferry, drowning herself and her infant child (“Morning Meal”); a couple in their thirties who has not recovered, and will not recover, from a series of tragic miscarriages (“Beaten”); a retired businessman who feels thoroughly caught by his marriage to a dominating, materialistic woman (“Newfoundland”); a fortyish leader of ghost walks who is haunted by both a literal ghost and a communication from his former lover (“Haunted”); a Jamaican family trying to establish quasi-American lives for themselves on the island, an effort that a new tragedy at the mother’s workplace threatens to unhinge (“Managing Business”); and, finally, an American student who has given up on college and goes to Nantucket for a prearranged summer job only to find a different job there, one that forces him to reconsider everything he thought he understood about himself, his life, and the island (“Island Fog”).

The focus of every one of the eleven stories in the collection is on the characters populating them: their latent desires and disappointing pasts, their future hopes and drastic, misguided decisions.  These are stories, not treatises on American cultural history. Yet by gathering together in one place all these pieces, a provocative and even cutting picture of Nantucket—its physical beauty, its social tensions, its preening hypocrisies—inevitably arise, making Island Fog far greater than the sum of its gorgeous, sorrowful parts.

Buy, read, and discuss Island Fog

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About John Vanderslice John Vanderslice

John Vanderslice teaches in the MFA program at the University of Central Arkansas, where he also serves as associate editor of Toad Suck Review magazine. His fiction, poetry, essays, and one-act plays have appeared in Seattle Review, Laurel Review, Sou’wester, Crazyhorse, Southern Humanities Review, 1966, Exquisite Corpse, and dozens of other journals. He has also published short stories in several fiction anthologies, including Appalachian Voice, Redacted Story, Chick for a Day, The Best of the First Line: Editors Picks 2002-2006, and Tartts: Incisive Fiction from Emerging Writers.  His new book of short stories, Island Fog, published by Lavender Ink, is a linked collection, with every story set on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.

My Thoughts:

From the opening chapters of the first story in this collection (“Guilty Look”) to the last words of the last story, I was hooked on John Vanderslice’s writing voice, and on his description of Nantucket as it developed from a small village to a thriving community. Admittedly, my own bias made it difficult for me to see a Quaker as a ‘bad guy’ (although all of Vanderslice’s characters are more complex than such a label would imply), and that made the first story a bit difficult for me, but the storytelling won out in the end, and I remained engaged.

The rest of the stories in this collection, linked by their setting and their populations of imperfect, all-too-human characters, were also fascinating, compelling reads. “Beaten,” which involved a couple who had suffered multiple miscarriages, struck particularly close to home for me (I’ve had two.)

If you’re one of those readers whose only knowledge of Nantucket comes from Elin Hilderbrand’s admittedly-addictive beachy novels with their interchangeable pastel-clad husbands and fantastic restaurants, this book will be a wake-up call to a much grittier, more realistic, and more diverse version of the island.

There’s room for both types of story, of course, and one doesn’t compete with the other at all, but given the choice, I’d pick Vanderslice because every single character felt three-dimensional, flawed, interesting, and really real to me, and because the glimpse at the long history of this community – from settlement to whaling mecca to tourist destination – was also a fascinating glimpse into a distinctly American culture.

This was my first introduction to Vanderslice’s work. I hope it won’t be my last.

Goes well with a steaming bowl of New England clam chowder, and a local micro-brew beer.

John’s Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

This review is part of a blog tour organized by TLC Book Tours. For the complete list of tour stops, see below. For more information, click HERE.

Monday, January 5th: The Year in Books

Tuesday, January 6th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Wednesday, January 7th: Books on the Table

Thursday, January 8th: Savvy Verse & Wit

Friday, January 9th: The Book Binder’s Daughter

Monday, January 12th: The Discerning Reader

Tuesday, January 13th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, January 14th: Lit and Life

Friday, January 16th: Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, January 20th: Bibliotica

Thursday, January 22nd: A Book Geek

Spotlight: Daughter of the Fallen by Madeleine Wynn – Enter to Win $50 Amazon Gift Card

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About the book Daughter of the Fallen Daughter of the Fallen

Title: Daughter of the Fallen
Author: Madeline Wynn
Publisher: Book Baby
Pages: 250
Genre: YA paranormal
Format: Paperback

Most sixteen-year olds aren’t worried about the fate of their immortal souls. May Krieg should be.

Typically, honor student May’s biggest problems have revolved around her super-hot arch-rival, Jack. But when a school project takes them ghost-hunting in a local cemetery, she discovers that an ominous force roams in the darkness around her.

And it follows her home.

It claws its way into her life, burning messages into her wall and imprinting them onto her body. Even worse, she can’t tell if it’s trying to possess her… or protect her.

May’s thoughts soon become actions, causing the target of her anger severe physical pain and giving her a rush the likes of which she has never experienced. She quickly realizes that she needs to find a way to reign in this power before she kills someone. May hates the pleasure it gives her, hates herself for hurting others, but she can’t stop.

As her entire world shatters around her, she is forced to ask what her soul is worth– and who would she risk losing her soul to save?

Buy, read, and discuss Daughter of the Fallen

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Read an excerpt from Daughter of the Fallen

This is New England. And in New England, a town without a good witch hanging or ghost story just, well, isn’t considered to be a real town. So when I walk past the iron gate of the cemetery and feel the urge to bolt riding up my legs like a herd of football players bum-rushing the food counter on taco day, I set my shoulders and do my best to cowboy up.

Set between imposing stone walls and punctured by large granite fists, Hillside Cemetery definitely looks like it deserves its sinister reputation, making my attempt at bravery rather brief. “This place sucks. Maybe we should just go.”

“Here, watch your step,” Cay says and holds out his hand to help me over the uneven cobbles just on the other side of the entry. Once we make it over the stones, he drops my hand and pulls the recording equipment out of the duffle.

We’ve been friends ever since kindergarten, when some boy taunted me for living in a “little troll house.” Cay, the kickball king, told him that it was actually a gingerbread house, and everybody knows that only fairy princesses live in gingerbread houses.

He was wrong, of course; it was witches who lived in the gingerbread houses, a fact I pointed out to him later, but I gave him props for the effort. We’ve been “Cay and May” ever since, but the whole dating thing still feels… awkward.

“Is this all from school or is Jack bringing some of his dad’s?” I swipe an errant curl of hair out of my face and cringe at my surroundings as I reach for the big video camera. Why does it have to be so dark? Why can’t people ghost hunt in the daylight? You can still supposed get sound bites and whatever in the daytime, right? It’s not like ghosts go anywhere or sleep or, you know, whatever.

“Well, the big stuff is the professional gear with night vision from school. And then we have my stuff.” Cay stops in front of a wide tomb, laying his multiple cameras and his mini video recorder along the top like they are the most precious things in the world. “Weird that Mr. Dowd put both you and Jack on my team.”

“Yeah, weird.” And a nightmare. If it wasn’t for Jack, I’d be ranked first in our year, and, unlike Jack, if I don’t earn a ton of scholarship money for college, then I can’t go.

Cay fumbles with the equipment, his breath rising in great grey puffs of frost, lingering in his dark bob of curls. I shiver.

A BMW pulls up in front of the entry gate, looking sleek and new and out of place.

I run an unsteady hand through my untamable hair…right…Jack.

He gets out of the car and strides towards us, stepping out into the camera’s lights: short blond hair, high cheekbones, and a long neck leading to strong shoulders. Everyone at school, except for me, that is, adores him because he’s rich, intelligent and supposedly lost his virginity to a Victoria’s Secret model.

Watching the god-like way he strides across the cemetery, you can almost believe the hype. He lifts his eyes to meet mine as he nods a greeting. My heart flips.

Of course, it would be easier to dislike him if he wasn’t so damn… hot. I shake my head. I hate that about him, too.

“You’re late.” I grab the sound gear from Cay and hand it to him, eyeing the orange-clad harpy of a girl trailing after him.

“I had to pick up Alicia.” He indicates the thing as he straps on the professional sound gear. “And respond to your post on the AP History board about gun control.”

I huff. “You think we should arm everyone with a credit card?”

“What I think is irrelevant, Mason.” Jack’s the only one in the universe who calls me by my full name. “It’s what the Founding Fathers wanted that matters.” He holds out his hand to help me navigate my way over a broken tomb. I ignore it. He smirks, “Or do you not support the Bill Of Rights?”

God, please keep me from throttling him tonight. Cay clears his throat.

“WTF, losers? A graveyard?” Alicia Impestio. Wearing her designer hoodie unzipped so that she reveals way more skin than she has to, her straight brown hair is bleached at the tips and held off of her over-tanned face by some rhinestone-studded catastrophe. I grit my teeth.

“Hey Alicia, glad you could make it.” Cay holds the minicam out towards her and helps her onto the cobbled path of the graveyard.

“Whatever.” Alicia grabs the mini and swats at Cay’s hand as she struggles to gain a foothold. A challenging endeavor, I’m sure, for someone wearing flip-flops in November.

She gives me the once-over, lips curling.

“You really wore that?” She asks, mouth open with disdain.

“Alicia…” Jack’s voice is low, menacing.

“I mean” –she gives me the once-over and sneers- “Aren’t the Kardashians some of you people? They at least know how to dress. But, then again, they also know who their daddy is.”

That’s Alicia: hitting where it hurts. I blink through the stinging at my eyes as my mind races to find something snarky to say…something to…

“Alicia,” Jack snaps. “Stop.”

“Fine, but tell Clay Aiken over there to hurry it. I’m cold.”

Jack makes a motion with his head to indicate that Cay should ignore her as he adjusts the weight of the portable boom on his back.

“Okay, I’m filming.” I say and catch the low-hanging harvest moon before panning down to Cay. “In three, two, one…”

“This is Cayden Robison of Chase Hills High Broadcasting reporting on site at Hillside Cemetery. In 1734, three witches were reportedly hung just up the road, on the town green and buried, here, in this cemetery, in unmarked graves.”

“Then, in 1864, three men were arrested for grave digging, and ever since, people have reported strange things not only here, but especially out behind the burial grounds, in the woods.” Cay runs his hand along the top of a worn tombstone.

“Reports of paranormal activity really began to pick up in the past thirty years.” He pauses, and I pan the camera over to the creepy oak and the broken bench beneath it, hands a little unsteady. “Some people claim to hear voices, others see full-body apparitions, but most convincingly, in the 1980s, some kids back here partying say that they found satanists performing rituals in the woods. They watched as the group made a make-shift temple of one of the half-buried barite mines in the woods, and claim that the men actually raised a demon.”

He stops, looking intently into the lens of my camera. I flex my fingers, my breath rushed, like I’ve been running.

“Tonight, we’re going to dig for the truth and see if Hillside Cemetery is actually haunted.” Cays smiles.

Deep breath, May. It’s just a story. Fairytales. There’s no such thing as demons, or ghosts.

About the author, Madeleine Wynn Madeline Wynn

Madeline Wynn holds a master’s degree in procrastination. When she’s not writing, she can be found ghost hunting, gardening and parading around her home state of Connecticut with her husband, dog and two kids.

Her latest book is the YA paranormal, Daughter of the Fallen.

Connect with Madeline

Website | Facebook | Twitter.

GIVEAWAY

Madeline Wynn is giving away a $50 Amazon Gift Card!

Terms & Conditions:

• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter.
• This giveaway begins November 3 and ends January 31.
• Winner will be contacted via email on Monday, February 2.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!
ENTER TO WIN!

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Blog Tour

This spotlight is part of a blog tour sponsored by Pump Up Your Book. For more information, click HERE.

After the War is Over, by Jennifer Robson

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About the book, After the War is Over After the War is Over

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (January 6, 2015)

The International bestselling author of Somewhere in France returns with her sweeping second novel—a tale of class, love, and freedom—in which a young woman must find her place in a world forever changed.

After four years as a military nurse, Charlotte Brown is ready to leave behind the devastation of the Great War. The daughter of a vicar, she has always been determined to dedicate her life to helping others. Moving to busy Liverpool, she throws herself into her work with those most in need, only tearing herself away for the lively dinners she enjoys with the women at her boarding house.

Just as Charlotte begins to settle into her new circumstances, two messages arrive that will change her life. One, from a radical young newspaper editor, offers her a chance to speak out for those who cannot. The other pulls her back to her past, and to a man she has tried, and failed, to forget.

Edward Neville-Ashford, her former employer and the brother of Charlotte’s dearest friend, is now the new Earl of Cumberland—and a shadow of the man he once was. Yet under his battle wounds and haunted eyes Charlotte sees glimpses of the charming boy who long ago claimed her foolish heart. She wants to help him, but dare she risk her future for a man who can never be hers?

As Britain seethes with unrest and post-war euphoria flattens into bitter disappointment, Charlotte must confront long-held insecurities to find her true voice . . . and the courage to decide if the life she has created is the one she truly wants.

Buy, read, and discuss After the War is Over

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About Jennifer Robson Jennifer Robson

Jennifer Robson first learned about the Great War from her father, acclaimed historian Stuart Robson, and later served as an official guide at the Canadian National War Memorial at Vimy Ridge, France. A former copy editor, she holds a doctorate in British economic and social history from the University of Oxford. She lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and young children.

Connect with Jennifer

Facebook.

My Thoughts

I spent December immersed in another post-war story, having binge-watched three seasons of Call the Midwife with my parents and husband. Of course, that story was post WWII, and this one was post WWI, but if you like that show, chances are that you will love – or at least appreciate – this novel.

Author Jennifer Robson is amazing at putting in the tiny details that make scenes seem so realistic – the sound of footsteps, the look in an eye, the scent of tea – whatever, but she’s equally amazing at making us feel as though her characters are fully formed, dimensional people, from their very first appearances. In my case, I was hooked on this story the second Charlotte used five pounds of her own money to help someone, and not just because it’s something I would have done, in her position.

While this novel deals with some very deep subjects – how do we find ourselves after a national tragedy? How do we define ourselves in a world that is constantly in flux? Dare we turn away from people who are in need of help? – it is also full of hope and joy. The hope that life will be better, that new relationships will thrive, and the joy of breaking bread and sharing stories with friends, and of opening ourselves to new loves, and new possibilities.

If you think historical romances have to be bodice-rippers or require bare-chested men in kilts, or the clank of armor (not that any of those things are bad) then your definition of the genre is severely limited, and this book will open your eyes to what history and romance can really be.

If you already know this, then trust me, you need to read After the War is Over because Jennifer Robson is destined to be an important voice in fiction.

Goes well with Fish & chips, wrapped in newspaper and served with a dash of vinegar.

Jennifer’s Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

This review is part of a blog tour organized by TLC Book Tours. For the complete list of tour stops, see below. For more information, click HERE.

Tuesday, January 6th: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, January 7th: Unshelfish

Thursday, January 8th: Drey’s Library

Friday, January 9th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, January 12th: Reading Reality

Tuesday, January 13th: Biltiotica

Wednesday, January 14th: Diary of an Eccentric

Thursday, January 15th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views

Monday, January 19th: Ms. Nose in a Book

Wednesday, January 21st: The Book Binder’s Daughter