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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
Elizabeth Vollbach has commented on (33) products
Cadaver King & the Country Dentist A True Story of Injustice in the American South
by
Radley Balko, Tucker Carrington, John Grisham
Elizabeth Vollbach
, July 01, 2024
I've lived in the midwest and west and have always leaned conservative. But after reading THE CADAVER KING AND THE COUNTRY DENTIST, I know I'd be a liberal if I lived in Mississippi. What an eye-opening book this is! The "cadaver king" is Dr. Stephen Hayne, and the "country dentist" is Dr. Michael West. The two of them acted as expert witnesses in the majority of Mississippi's death investigation court cases for nearly 20 years. Hayne performed an impossible number of autopsies and then claimed to see whatever prosecutors suspected. West gave unscientific bite-mark testimony to suit prosecutors' suspicions and also pretended to be an expert in a variety of other unscientific areas. And Mississippi courts accepted it all for many years and sent many, many people to prison as a result. THE CADAVER KING AND THE COUNTRY DENTIST concentrates on two of those cases in particular, both affected by Hayne's and West's testimony. In each case, a three-year-old girl was raped and murdered in Mississippi. Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks were accused of the crimes. They were innocent, but, in large part on the basis of Hayne's and West's testimony, they were convicted and spent many years in jail, Brewer on death row. So much research went into this very interesting book. I highly recommend it.
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Stolen Season An Alex Mcknight Novel
by
Steve Hamilton
Elizabeth Vollbach
, April 24, 2024
A STOLEN SEASON is my first book by Steve Hamilton. Although it comes in the middle of his Alex McKnight series, it is also my first book in the series. So I can say this for Hamilton upfront: it takes skill to write a book in a series as if it is a standalone. That's how it was for me, no confusion. But I wasn't entirely happy with A STOLEN SEASON. First, the two main crimes in this novel seem like too much of a coincidence to each other. Even though I decided to just go with this storyline, I still had some problems with it. Sometimes the story drags. I found myself skipping through some paragraphs, as a result, especially when Hamilton describes McKnight unloading boxes of guns. More than anything, though, McKnight is a terribly frustrating main character. Over and over, he butts in, insists on taking things into his own hands when he should be leaving it to the police. I think Hamilton means for the reader to sympathize with McKnight, and I mostly did. But because he is always looking for trouble, I just wanted to clobber him sometimes. If I were one of his three friends, especially Vinnie, I would steer clear of him. If you enjoy reading about Michigan, that's a good reason to try a Steve Hamilton book. I liked that about A STOLEN SEASON, although I wish Hamilton concentrated more on the Lower Peninsula, which I am more familiar with.
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Drifter
by
Nicholas Petrie
Elizabeth Vollbach
, April 12, 2024
I've had THE DRIFTER in my bookcase for a while. I put off reading it because I hadn't read a Nicholas Petrie book before and thought I wouldn't care for it. But I was pleasantly surprised for more than 100 pages. This is the first book in a series about Peter Ash, a war veteran with PTSD who has been living in the mountains because he can't bear living indoors. But now he has come back to civilization to help the widow and two children of a good friend he served with in the Marines. While clearing debris from under the widow's front porch, Ash finds a suitcase full of money. And there begin, first, the mystery of the money and, then, thrills and suspense as Ash discovers who wants the money, their big plan, and what they'll do to accomplish it. Petrie does a fine job of setting up the story. He made me wonder why I hadn't read this a long time ago. As the story progresses, though, it can be annoying that Ash seems to deliberately goad people while they have him at a disadvantage, e.g., when they have his hands tied behind his back. Also, near the end, I found the story dragging probably because of the way Petrie was portraying panic attacks. I have had panic attacks in the past and know that they cannot be managed; you cannot just power through them and become suddenly stronger as a result. Since THE DRIFTER, Petrie has written other Peter Ash novels. So I wonder, what will Ash do with his life now.
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Small Mercies
by
Dennis Lehane
Elizabeth Vollbach
, December 31, 2023
Here is some of the best character-driven fiction I have ever read. Now at the end of 2023, I may be changing my choice for "best of the year" to Dennis Lehane's SMALL MERCIES. Background: the summer of 1974 in the housing projects of (Lehane's favorite) Boston, Southie to be exact. Everyone's upset about the new busing plan, that many white children will be forced to go to schools in black neighborhoods and that many black children will be forced into schools in their neighborhoods. This background is true. The story: Mary Pat Fennessy's 17-year-old daughter, Jules, goes missing after meeting with friends one evening. So Mary Pat looks for her, and she's not afraid of anyone. As time goes by and we learn along with Mary Pat what has probably become of Jules, we see how tough Mary Pat can be. And she's just beginning. During her search, Mary Pat learns of the death, maybe accidental, maybe not, of her black coworker's 20-year-old son. Little by little, she hears about Jules' possible involvement. Working this case of possible murder is Homicide Detective "Bobby" Coyne. Separately, he and Mary Pat both come to know what really happened. They each are examples of a parent's love for their child. And she is an example of a mother's vengeance. SMALL MERCIES is great character-driven fiction in part because it also has plot. Plus, I've read few authors who can write a character-driven story as well as Dennis Lehane.
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New Couple in 5B
by
Lisa Unger
Elizabeth Vollbach
, December 03, 2023
Lisa Unger has written some great novels, so I'm always anxious to read her latest. But THE NEW COUPLE IN 5B is not her best. The first 200 or so pages of this book are repetitious and pretty ho-hum, i.e., boring. Rosie tells us over and over how she resents her upbringing by parents who were superstitious fakes. At the same time, she tells a silly ghost story. Unger's main premise is that Rosie and Chad, a married couple, have inherited an apartment in an old building that seems to be cursed. Throughout the years many of its residents have died there, some murdered, others APPARENT suicides. But the ghosts: the story would have been better off without those. They only made the suspense feel silly. I did enjoy that every character (except Rosie, who tells the story in first person ) is suspect throughout the novel. That's what made me keep reading to the end. I also liked that Unger slips in references to her older books here and there. For example, Chad, an actor, was given the starring role in a TV series about The Hollows. But THE NEW COUPLE IN 5B is a disappointment because I know Unger can do better. That's why I'll still be on the lookout for her next book.
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Veil of Doubt
by
Sharon Virts
Elizabeth Vollbach
, November 25, 2023
VEIL OF DOUBT Is exceptional historical fiction. Plus, it is mostly true. Emily Lloyd was a wife and mother of four children until, one by one, they died. What would you think? The townsfolk think it is obvious: Mrs. Lloyd killed all five of them. She is taken to jail. Powell Harrison is a well-known lawyer in town. He, along with two other lawyers, defends Mrs. Lloyd. At first they want to declare her innocent by reason of insanity. Eventually, though, they defend her as simply innocent; either someone else did it or it was an accident through no one's fault. Throughout the story is the mystery of Lara and Lilith. They are the two women who live in the "twin home" next to Mrs. Lloyd. (I imagine this is what we call a duplex nowadays. Lloyd lived on one side; they lived on the other.) Both before and during the trial, Harrison tries in vain to speak with them. They never seem to be home. An "Authors Note" is at the end of VEIL OF DOUBT. Do not make the same mistake I did and read it first. It spoiled the mystery for me. But do read it. I'm so glad I read this book. I won it through librarything.com.
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Family Remains
by
Lisa Jewell
Elizabeth Vollbach
, November 06, 2023
THE FAMILY REMAINS is Lisa Jewell's sequel to her book THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS. I read THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS long enough ago that I forget much of it. That detracted from my enjoyment of THE FAMILY REMAINS even though it is just as well written as Jewell's other novels. Although I dislike rereading novels, in this case it would have been better if I had reread THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS immediately before I read THE FAMILY REMAINS. So, if you haven't read either novel yet, I would suggest you read THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS first, then read THE FAMILY REMAINS soon after. This would be ideal. The claim on the back of the paperback copy of THE FAMILY REMAINS is that it works as a standalone. But that would not be nearly as suspenseful and might even be confusing. I was confused throughout the book about why the family had to keep their lives secret and why they had to use fake passports. THE FAMILY REMAINS is the only book of Jewell's that rates as low as three stars. That is because she fails to remind the reader what came before. This is something basic, something other thriller authors such as Harlan Coben and Karin Slaughter are so good at. Jewell is a writer in the same caliber as they are, but she fails here.
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We Need To Talk About Kevin
by
Shriver, Lionel
Elizabeth Vollbach
, May 04, 2020
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN is not what I was expecting. I expected a book about a teenager who committed a mass school shooting. But WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN is also about life with an evil child. This is the mother’s tale told from the beginning—the very beginning—of that child. She writes it as a series of letters to her husband. So, throughout the book, the reader is kept guessing about where her husband is now. But the mother’s story isn’t just descriptions of life with Kevin. Each of her letters is long on psychology and philosophy, too. The mother’s big question: whose fault was it? Certainly, the reader has to wonder whether the mother’s own attitude contributed to Kevin’s evil nature. But it seems to me that the father was even more at fault. I think, as a matter of fact, he was a big part of the problem. And then there’s Celia. She doesn’t appear until later in the book, but she serves to emphasize Kevin’s God-awful evil. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN is probably a five-star book. I give it only four stars, though, because the evil is so difficult to read that I had to put the book down often.
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Lost Girls An Unsolved American Mystery
by
Robert Kolker
Elizabeth Vollbach
, April 08, 2019
Don’t expect too much. LOST GIRLS has received so many great reviews, even a NEW YORK TIMES notable book award for 2013, I expected to be mesmerized. Don’t make the same mistake. Then you’ll more readily see what outstanding reporting Robert Kolker does with this book. Not only does Kolker investigate the mysterious deaths of five young prostitutes on Long Island, he also looks at their lives, how they grew up, who loved them, how they chose their “profession.” He provides so many details you might come to understand them. I almost did. My biggest problems with LOST GIRLS were a) too many names and b) too many details. I just couldn’t keep track of all of them. Because LOST GIRLS is nonfiction, all the names are necessary for accurate storytelling. A good reporter is accurate, above all. Fiction can concentrate more on keeping the story readable with fewer names and fewer people who share the same name. But, with LOST GIRLS, at first I was paging back to remind myself who belonged in which girl’s life. Eventually, though, I gave up. Same with all the details. They may be necessary, but I had a hard time remembering which belonged with which story, and I eventually gave up. It would have been an enormous help to have a list of names, with reminders of who is who. Then guess what I found at the end of the book: a list of names, with reminders of who is who. WHAT THE HECK IS THAT DOING AT THE END? So, while I admire Kolker’s investigative reporting, as a book, I can’t give it a high rating. At this length, it is too confusing.
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The Third Hotel
by
Laura Van Den Berg
Elizabeth Vollbach
, October 02, 2018
The book flap on THE THIRD HOTEL calls it “surreal” and “mystifying.” I think that is a nice way of saying “unintelligible” and “confusing.” The story made little sense to me. I read and reread paragraphs, hoping that the problem was my own inattention. Perhaps Laura van den Berg said something that I missed, which was certainly possible; she snuck details into paragraphs that seemed to have nothing to do with anything. I could be wrong when I describe this story. I can only say this is how it seemed. Clare seems to be having a nervous breakdown after her husband died. I doubt my impression about this, though, because she also didn’t seem with-it in some of her flashbacks from before he died. Clare travels to Havana, Cuba, to attend a horror film festival, a trip her husband had planned. Regardless of the number of times I reread paragraphs, I couldn't figure out why. I guess she thinks she will learn something about him. While in Havana, Clare sees her husband. For most of the rest of the book, she follows him around. Remember, he’s dead. Clare does a lot of weird, crazy things, and the people she encounters often seem unreal. Heck, everything seems unreal. This book made me feel stupid. I didn't get it.
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Defectors
by
Joseph Kanon
Elizabeth Vollbach
, June 14, 2017
All of Joseph Kanon's books are intelligent literary thrillers/historical fiction, and every one is great. But his latest book, DEFECTORS, is outstanding. In 1961 a publisher, Simon, travels to the Soviet Union to edit the "memoir" of a former US citizen who defected to Russia in 1949--his brother, Frank. "Memoir" is in quotation marks because the truth of that book is suspect. The truth of anything Frank says is suspect. So, when Frank tells Simon he wants to return to the US but can only do so with his help, Simon is on his guard but cannot refuse. I will spare you further details so you can enjoy discovering them on your own. And you will. Partly, that's because every word counts in this novel. Kanon never goes on and on with unnecessary descriptions, tempting his readers to skim, as so many authors do. Kanon never wastes his readers' time. If I had to pick my favorite of all Kanon's previous books, it would probably be THE GOOD GÈRMAN. DEFECTORS ranks right up there with that book and may even surpass it.
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The Woman in Cabin 10
by
Ruth Ware
Elizabeth Vollbach
, April 20, 2017
Now I’ve read another of these selections, THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10. I’m afraid it’s just so-so, no great shakes. But others disagree with me. Many reviewers say that THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 is better than Ruth Ware’s last book, IN A DARK, DARK WOOD. That is true if you don’t count the first two thirds of CABIN 10. The last third of that book is, indeed, nailbiting. And that is good enough for most reviewer’s, I guess. All in all, though, I would say that CABIN 10 is about average. If the entire book was as good as the last third, I would give it a four out of five. I am disappointed. A journalist is spending the week on a new cruise ship in order to review it for the travel magazine she works for. She believes that the woman next door, in cabin 10, has been murdered and makes lots of trouble for herself when she insists on pursuing what she believes to be true. It’s not a bad premise, so I expected more than this book came up with.
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A Gentleman in Moscow
by
Amor Towles
Elizabeth Vollbach
, April 05, 2017
What a pleasure to read! The writing in A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW is delightful. Sentenced in 1922 to house arrest for a poem he wrote, the gentleman, Count Alexander Rostov, may never again leave his home, a grand hotel in Moscow. But the hotel certainly is grand--the count befriends various employees there and becomes involved with so many aspects of life there. We see him make a large life for himself. This book is full of elegant language, reflecting, I assume, the language of a gentleman; stories of the count’s past and of the lives of others in the hotel; friendships to last 30 years; and plenty of sarcasm. But don’t expect that this is similar to Amor Towles’ excellent RULES OF CIVILITY. Frankly, I read A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW because I loved RULES OF CIVILITY. They aren’t alike; A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW is better. I received my copy of A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW from luxuryreading.com.
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Ill Will
by
Dan Chaon
Elizabeth Vollbach
, March 15, 2017
ILL WILL does not have one main character. I would say there are five: Rusty spent 25 years in jail after he was unjustly convicted of killing his adoptive parents. He’s now free, thanks to the Innocence Project. Dustin, Rusty’s adoptive brother, had testified against Rusty and even now refuses to speak to him. He is now a psychologist. Aaron, Dustin’s younger son, is a junkie. Dustin doesn’t notice. Dustin doesn’t notice a lot of things. Dennis, Dustin’s older son, is a college student. He is extremely frustrated that his brother is a junkie and his father doesn’t notice his surroundings, acts spacey, and indulges one of his patients by going along with his search for a serial killer. Aqil is that patient, later Dustin’s friend. He is a former policeman, whose quest for a serial killer appears clearly nuts. Perhaps Dustin, of all these characters, is the primary because he ties them together. ILL WILL is a very detailed psychological study of all these characters, in particular, of Dustin. How ironic that the character with the greatest psychological problems treats patients with psychological problems. This is an overly long book.It doesn't get good until around page 300, which is about halfway. That's too many pages of details to call this a good book. Until that point, about page 300, ILL WILL is, essentially, a setup of what will happen after that point. But if you can get past that setup, the book truly does redeem itself. Probably this is why a book that is only half good gets so many high ratings. I won this copy of ILL WILL through librarything.com.
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We Could Be Beautiful
by
Swan Huntley
Elizabeth Vollbach
, February 04, 2017
Here is why I don’t trust blurbs written by authors about other authors’ books. They describe Swan Huntley’s WE COULD BE BEAUTIFUL as a thriller and a page-turning mystery. First, I would not call this book thrilling. As for mystery, sure, a little bit, but not until after about 200 pages describing a woman’s excesses with all her money, more than she knows what to do with. Speaking of “woman,” Catherine is 43 years old but sounds like a teenager for most of the book. When she doesn’t sound like a teenager, she sounds like a 5 year old. Catherine thinks it’s about time she found a husband. So she finds the ideal (at least he looks ideal) man, William, at an art show. About halfway through WE COULD BE BEAUTIFUL William says and does some unsettling things that may raise the reader’s suspicions. And Catherine’s mother (who suffers from Alzheimer’s) acts standoffish at mentions of William or his family. These are mysteries but certainly not engaging much less page turning. This story had potential. It could have been a mystery/thriller. Instead, though, WE COULD BE BEAUTIFUL is tedious and predictable.
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Little Red Chairs
by
Edna OBrien
Elizabeth Vollbach
, January 26, 2017
Because THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS takes place at first in Ireland, I expected it to be about Irish people. And it seems so at first. But this is really about the mysterious foreigner, “Dr. Vlad,” who comes to a small village in Ireland. Who is he really? Why is he able to mesmerize so many of the people who live there? That’s at first. Then this book is more and more about a beautiful woman there, Fidelma, who is married to a much older man and has tried and failed to have a baby. She wants one badly and gets help from “Dr. Vlad.” By this point in the story, it is evident that THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS is not about Ireland but about the Bosnian War and its atrocities. But O’Brien just says this in bits and pieces. There is also no character development in this story, even the two main characters. O'Brien leaves too much unsaid. O'Brien seems to like to make the reader doubt her memory and deduce what she means. Therefore, THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS is difficult to describe. I didn’t enjoy reading this book because, frankly, it made me feel stupid. I still have questions I don’t know the answers to and wonder if I somehow missed them or didn’t make the correct deductions. And I wish someone would at least tell me why the heck Fidelma is referred to twice as “Jenny.”
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North of Boston
by
Elisabeth Elo
Elizabeth Vollbach
, January 20, 2017
I won NORTH OF BOSTON from MauriceonBooks.com two years before I finally read it. I didn't know what I was missing. The book begins after Pirio is in a boating accident. She, alone, survives after floating for four hours in water temperatures that would have killed most people. She learns that a much larger boat collided with the one she was on and then left the scene – – it was a hit-and-run accident. Even worse, she later realizes that this was a case of murder; someone was trying to get rid of the captain of the boat Pirio was on. Who was responsible, and what were they trying to cover up? Pirio wants to get to the bottom of it. Most of NORTH OF BOSTON is about her endeavor to do that. What a great story, with such creative characterization! If you haven't read this yet, please don't put it off any longer.
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The Trespasser
by
Tana French
Elizabeth Vollbach
, December 13, 2016
No one writes a story like Tana French. Her style is original, not like any I’ve read elsewhere. And her dialog: it’s so good I feel like I’m there—in Ireland—and she even has me feeling at home with all the Irish slang. She also doesn’t waste space or my time with paragraph upon paragraph describing the atmosphere in which her story takes place, as so many authors do. This is true for French’s books in general and for THE TRESPASSER in particular. All French's books, so far, are about different characters, detectives mostly, on the Dublin Murder Squad. In THE TRESPASSER, two of the characters, partners Antoinette Conway and Stephen Moran,are main characters.Conway is the narrator.She and Moran are tired of always getting the domestic murder cases handed to them. When they are given a case involving the murder in her home of a single young woman, they are sure it’s another cut-and-dry Domestic, easy to solve, even too easy. But this turns out to be more. This may even have the rest of the Murder Squad hating them.Conway and Moran also have to deal with Detective Don Breslin, who seems to be trying to steer their case toward the victim’s new boyfriend, even after Conway learns details that point in another direction. French has another winner with THE TRESPASSER. I highly recommend it and only do not give it my highest rating because I gave that to BROKEN HARBOR. I won this book from luxuryreading.com.
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Almost Missed You
by
Jessica Strawser
Elizabeth Vollbach
, November 17, 2016
Just last evening an alarm sounded on my iPhone, signaling another Amber alert of a child abduction, probably a parental kidnapping. That is the main subject of ALMOST MISSED YOU. Violet’s husband, Finn, has left her waiting on the beach while he has taken off with their 3-year-old son. She did not see the problems in their marriage that led to this because of his lies of omission. And Violet realizes that she, too, kept quiet when she should have spoken up. Meanwhile, Violet’s and Finn’s good friends, Caitlin and George, have hidden problems of their own, not to mention Caitlin’s lies of omission that contributed to Violet’s and Finn’s troubles. And, like Violet and Finn, Caitlin and George are each lying to the other by omission. Fans of women’s fiction will love ALMOST MISSED YOU. The novel explores, mostly, the two couple’s friendships, marriages, and lies of omission that threaten to tear it all apart. This subject matter is popular with so many people that the term “women’s fiction” was coined just for them. So ALMOST MISSED YOU contains lots of secrets and lies, and that is essentially it. A story like this doesn’t appeal to me. Yes, lots of people would disagree with me. I would have disagreed, too, when I was a young adult.
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Fifth Gospel
by
Ian Caldwell
Elizabeth Vollbach
, November 02, 2016
Although Ian Caldwell is non-Catholic, THE FIFTH GOSPEL is full of details about the Vatican and the priesthood. This is a literary mystery--who killed a religious scholar and why, is the Diatessaron really the fifth gospel and where is it, and is the Shroud of Turin really what is claimed and who does it belong to? What fine character development in this novel! In particular, two priests, brothers, one Roman Catholic, the other Greek Catholic, are the main focus. Told from the point of view of one of them, Alex, this story is his investigation of these mysteries after Ugo, the religious scholar, is found dead, apparently murdered. Ugo had been studying the Diatessaron and found allusion there to the Shroud of Turin. Is this the reason he was murdered? Catholic readers will appreciate all the research Caldwell did on the Vatican and the priests and bishops there. I'm not sure, however. if a non-Catholic would. I think THE FIFTH GOSPEL might have bored me if I were not a Catholic. Or maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe the reader will appreciate this novel for its character-driven mystery when so many mysteries/thrillers are simply plot driven.
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Panther's Prey
by
Lachlan Smith
Elizabeth Vollbach
, August 01, 2016
Although some authors can write a novel in a series to also work as a standalone so that the reader can enjoy it, even out of order, PANTHER'S PREY is not one of them. This is the fourth in a series about Leo Maxwell, a lawyer working as a public defender, and too much of this novel depends on your understanding of previous books. Most of PANTHER'S PREY, however, can be understood. Leo has worked alongside a young woman, Jordan, defending a client who confesses to crimes he did not commit. Leo has a week-long affair with Jordan--ONE WEEK. In the majority of the book, then, Leo risks his life numerous times to learn what happened to Jordan. It would be easier to accept Leo's actions if they were on behalf of a wife of 30 years. The story drags, i.e., it is slow. It is not thrilling. I didn't much care about any of the characters, even Leo, even Jordan's father. These two characters, especially, should have more personality. Instead, they bored me. I won PANTHER'S PREY through goodreads.com.
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Virgin Of Small Plains
by
Nancy Pickard
Elizabeth Vollbach
, July 01, 2016
For the most part, THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS is an excellent mystery, the kind readers will be anxious to keep reading. It is a murder mystery, yes, but as the best mysteries are, this book is much more than that. It examines lies and relationships and the possibility of miracles. Plus, the substory of a separate character in need of a miracle is placed in this story to make it even more complex. But it's a 4- out of 5-star book. THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS loses a point because its language is simple, sounding more like a young adult than an adult novel. This is especially true of the first and the last couple chapters. The book begins with silly teenage situations, which don't do much for an adult reader. The last chapters tie everything up neatly, reminding me, again, of a YA novel. Adults will still enjoy this, though, even the hard-to-please readers. It keeps you guessing, then guessing again and again.
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The Mask: A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel
by
Taylor Stevens
Elizabeth Vollbach
, May 20, 2016
THE MASK is not the first in a series about Vanessa Michael Munroe; rather, it is well into the series. But it passes my test: a book in a series should be understood without requiring that the previous books have been read. So that's one good point. Another is its comments about Japanese society and laws, particularly when they are compared with American society and laws. And that's what the story is about: why Munroe's boyfriend was arrested for murder, why it is practically impossible to get him out of prison, and how to investigate what really happened. Unfortunately, the majority of this book describes that investigation, and here is the problem with that: Munroe. She is superwoman and too hard to swallow. If you are familiar with Lee Child's Jack Reacher, I would say that Munroe is a female version of Reacher. Like Reacher, Munroe is successful at most anything she tries to do. And boy does she, like Reacher, kick ass. In other words, she always wins a fight, even against a man, even against three men, even against three men with pipes and guns. Just as unbelievable is Munroe's ability to be either male or female. No explanation is given about how she must have changed her voice. The reader is told only that she gets away with this because she is tall. For these reasons, the book is boring and seems too long. I won THE MASK through librarything.com.
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Most Wanted
by
Lisa Scottoline
Elizabeth Vollbach
, May 12, 2016
If you've read several other Lisa Scottoline novels, you probably like her type of writing style. I don't usually. However, a few years ago I read a couple in a row that were good so have read others since then. I discovered that those first two were the exception; for most of the others, I couldn't get over the style, which I think of as immature. It's a style I used to like when I was a teenager, so my review of MOST WANTED would probably have been different then. If you like her style, for you MOST WANTED deserves a slightly higher rating than I give it. Still, though, it's missing the thrills that Scottoline books normally begin at the beginning or close to it. If you're looking for thrills, you can skip a couple hundred pages that describe the lean and muscular husband, the wonderful best friend, trips to the doctor's office, disagreements between husband and wife, and manipulation by an innocent or guilty man. After a couple hundred pages, although thrills begin during an investigation into that man's innocence or guilt, I was so sick of the stupid main character allowing herself to be manipulated, it was too late for me. Whether it turned out she was right or wrong, she did one stupid thing after another so I didn't even care by then. I won this book through goodreads.com.
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My Name Is Mahtob: The Story That Began the Global Phenomenon Not Without My Daughter Continues
by
Mahtob Mahmoody
Elizabeth Vollbach
, February 19, 2016
Mahtob Mahmoody is the daughter in NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER, a book written in the late 1980s by her mother, Betty Mahmoody, about their escape from her Iranian father, his family, and his country. If you haven't already read that book, do it now, before you read MY NAME IS MAHTOB. Otherwise, the latter book will be dull. If you have read NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER, you will appreciate Mahtob's view of those circumstances. Betty's account of their supposed "two-week vacation" to Iran took place when Mahtob was 4 to 6 years old. And Mahtob does remember that time in flashes, as most of us do, although her flashes were, perhaps, more memorable. As an aside, I hope Mahtob somehow sees this review of her book so she can read my apology. Recently (February 2016) I went to her book event at a bookstore in Okemos, Michigan. I asked her how she could remember that far back. She explained (as she does in the book, although I had not gotten that far yet). All is believable, and I'm afraid I sounded like a skeptic when I asked that question. MY NAME IS MAHTOB continues to her adulthood because their story of terror does not end with their escape to freedom. As long as her father was alive, she and her mother had to be cautious of their every step because he never went away and neither did his threats to kill Betty and to kidnap Mahtob.
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Burial Rites
by
Hannah Kent
Elizabeth Vollbach
, January 14, 2016
Agnes Magnusdottir was the last person to be publicly beheaded in Iceland. She had been convicted, along with two other people, of murder. BURIAL RITES is based on years of research into Agnes's life both before and after the conviction. While the book is a novel, even what Hannah Kent imagined is based on likelihood. Much is true. While this book has received many five-out-of-five-star ratings, I found the entire book to be depressing so can only give it four. Every bit of this story is sad, but the writing is excellent.
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Farm
by
Tom Rob Smith
Elizabeth Vollbach
, January 08, 2016
Daniel's father tells him that his mother has had a psychotic breakdown. Then Daniel's mother tells him that his father is dangerous. What follows is a four- out of five-star book. And that's generous; I considered three stars. Most of THE FARM, that is, more than 3/4 of it, is Daniel's mother's story since she and his father retired in Sweden, as she perceives it. Page after page Daniel patiently listens to her paranoia. She is so obviously paranoid, even to the point of believing she knew what people were thinking, that I didn't believe a word of it. Daniel does, though. The last bit of this book is the part I liked best, no more paranoid story. Something really happens. The story is such a surprise that I gave it four rather than three stars. Don't think that THE FARM is the book that finally measures up to Tom Rob Smith's first one, CHILD 44. Not that THE FARM is bad. Maybe it's that CHILD 44 is so excellent that we expect too much.
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Time in Between
by
Maria Duenas
Elizabeth Vollbach
, July 15, 2014
This is a nice story of nice girl, Sira, who grows up poor in Spain before World War II. She’s a seamstress there with her mother until, years later, she is swept off her feet by a man who takes her to Morocco only to leave her there high and dry. Now she’s alone and in debt, but all is well when she opens business there as a seamstress. But that’s not all she is. And so on. As historical fiction, Spain before and up to World War II, this book excels. But THE TIME IN BETWEEN disappointed me because it was so predictable. I could predict everything that happened. And I don’t mean just the historical facts. Everything that happened to Sira, every mess she got into, I could predict. At least, that’s the way it seemed to me. I know people who disagree.
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Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter
by
Melissa Francis
Elizabeth Vollbach
, June 09, 2014
This is an interesting book, enough that I kept reading it. While it's easy to put down, it is good enough that I also was anxious to pick it up again. The reader sees Melissa grow up with a mother who saw to Melissa’s career as an actress from the time she was an infant. Melissa also went to school, unlike other child actors. Often they are "home schooled" (Melissa's quotation marks) so they are available for auditions. One "home-schooled" third grader, Melissa observed, couldn't even sound out a three-syllable word. We read other books about poor families having their children work. Melissa did this, too. Sometimes we forget that acting is real work. As Melissa got older, competition became fiercer, and she got fewer and fewer roles. When she wasn't working, her mother got more unreasonable and lazy. So Melissa went to Harvard, far from her home in California and her mother. Other reviewers of this book say that they like it less after this point. But I think the opposite. While Melissa's life as a child actor is interesting, that part of her story isn't riveting. But it is while she is in college and after she gets married and moves to San Francisco that the reader really sees her mother’s insanity. She was descending for years and this is the finality. This explains how Melissa could write what she did, say what she said. I now respect Melissa Francis.
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Long Way Home A Memoir
by
Saroo Brierley
Elizabeth Vollbach
, May 28, 2014
This is a nice story. You could call it heartwarming. "60 Minutes Australia" even did a segment on it, and it was written up in newspapers first in Australia, later all over. Little 5-year-old Saroo lived with his family in a poor neighborhood in India. One day he accompanied his big brother to a job at a railroad station, became separated and lost, and ended up living for weeks on the streets. He survived to be adopted by Australians but never forgot his other mother in India. This is Saroo's account of his search for her and the rest of his family in India. If not for the Internet (Google Earth and Facebook), it couldn't have happened. Yes, I like this story. Who wouldn't? Many paragraphs, though, go on and on about Saroo's search in unnecessary and boring detail. Skip those. Probably, the segment on "60 Minutes Australia" was long enough. I won an ARC of this book from librarything.com.
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The Orchardist
by
Coplin, Amanda
Elizabeth Vollbach
, March 24, 2013
THE ORCHARDIST is a lovely book, and many people rave about it. So you might not want to pay attention to my criticism. Maybe they're right and I'm wrong. But I have two problems with this book. First, the author, Amanda Coplin, never lets her readers know any character. She glosses over everything. Second, Coplin uses too many sentence fragments, and she doesn't use quotation marks. This is a device, I'm sure, but for what, I'm not sure. I only know that the result for the reader is choppy sentences that are difficult to read. Over and over, I had to reread paragraphs because I had to figure out when someone was talking and when they quit talking. There was a good reason things like punctuation and quotation marks, capitalization, and even spaces between words were invented. If a writer cares about her readers, she uses them. If she says the heck with you and doesn't that's inconsiderate I won THE ORCHARDIST through http://www.ManOfLaBook.com blog.
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Across Many Mountains A Tibetan Familys Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom
by
Yangzom Brauen
Elizabeth Vollbach
, February 26, 2012
ACROSS MANY MOUNTAINS: A TIBETAN FAMILY’S EPIC JOURNEY FROM OPPRESSION TO FREEDOM by Yangzom Brauen is made up of descriptions of one Tibetan family’s progression through different cultures, beginning in Tibet before the Chinese invasion and ending in Sweden until they do a complete circle and return to Tibet many years later after the Chinese allow them back in. Each culture the family moves to is more technologically advanced than the last. This book is about their ability to cope in each new culture and how they view Tibet on their return. At least, that’s what I thought Brauen intended. Actually, only two members of the family, the mother and daughter, make it all the way. The daughter’s daughter, Brauen, did not make the journey as the title and cover picture imply. She was born and raised in Switzerland but likes to call both Switzerland and Tibet her countries. Although she did go to Tibet with her mother, brother, grandmother, and Swiss father many years later, their return wasn’t permanent. But the book doesn’t end there. Maybe it ought to. Instead, it continues. Notice, I say the book continues, not the story. That is because my impression was that the continuation was another story, that of Brauen’s protests against oppression of Tibet and her hope that Tibet not be forgotten. I have a problem with books that have no dialog, with unemotional, impersonal descriptions of people and things. That’s how this book is, especially in its first half. It contains so many details it drags. Details should enhance a story. But here they mostly don’t because the author tries to cover too much. This is the risk I find in most nonfiction. Although I prefer nonfiction over fiction, most nonfiction fails for me because most authors don’t know how to write it other than to state the facts. Although the second half of this book is better than the first, it, too, is made up of many impersonal descriptions. I was never made angry, sad, touched, or happy for anyone. This book has received many favorable reviews on amazon.com and goodreads.com. Maybe you should believe them and not me. Maybe you will be able to manage to keep your mind from wandering. But I think that will be a trick. I won a finished, hard cover copy of this book through luxuryreading.com. So I actually feel guilty for disagreeing with their two reviews of ACROSS MANY MOUNTAINS. But there it is.
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Winter Palace
by
Eva Stachniak
Elizabeth Vollbach
, January 12, 2012
THE WINTER PALACE: A NOVEL OF CATHERINE THE GREAT by Eva Stachniak is historical fiction. The historical part is about Catherine, so I guess that’s why Stachniak put her in the subtitle. But the story is told by one of her fictional maids, Barbara, and is very much about her. Barbara was like a Dickens character in that she began as the lowliest of lows and eventually became a great friend and confidant of Catherine. The two were together from the time Catherine was Sophie, a poor princess trying her best to marry the next Russian emperor. Barbara saw Catherine accomplish her objective but then become nothing more than a vessel to produce the next heir to the throne. And then when she did, the baby was immediately taken away from her. Barbara’s is probably a good example of a palace employee and of all the spying and deceit that went on there. But this (spying and deceit) were the subjects more than Catherine. Eventually, as we know, Catherine takes the throne. But, as with all historical fiction, it’s difficult to know what is fiction and what is fact about how that came to be. This book is a good example of historical fiction, but, honestly, it bored me for the most part. Yet, I couldn’t make myself skip paragraphs or chapters. I wanted to know what would happen next, so that’s a good sign, right?
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