Exiles: Aaron Falk Mystery #3
by Jane Harper
Start here (9/7/2022)
This is Jane Harper's third book featuring Aaron Falk and -Good News - you don't need to read the first two to enjoy The Exiles. In fact, with all the things happening in Aaron's life this would be an excellent place to start.
I enjoyed the book. Harper has made the wine region north of Adelaide sound great. I'd like to live there and have her characters as my neighbors.
All the clues to the old hit and run and to Kim's disappearance last year are there. This is a good example of a really good crime novel that doesn't have a lot of violence.
Just one question. How did Jane and her editors come up with that title? I didn't see any Exiles.
The Last Tiara
by M.J. Rose
Good Historical Fiction (1/14/2021)
This is my first book by Ms Rose. I’m impressed. Very good historical fiction tackling numerous subjects and having two strong heroines in it’s dual storylines.
You tell me that part of the book is set in Russia during the revolution and I think “confusion and a boring plot”. Not here. The setting is detailed and well done. The story is fast paced and the characters are interesting. I always wanted to read the next chapter
When the story moves to NYC in the late 40’s, early 50’s it is equally well done. The glass ceiling for women in business, the development of Oak Ridge and the A bomb are going to interest you and probably many book clubs. ,
It’s everything you want in historical fiction, good story, good setting, you learn something.
Good job M.J.
I highly recommend it.
Other People's Houses
by Abbi Waxman
Great neighborhood!! (1/29/2018)
Abbi Waxman is a very good storyteller.
She has interwoven stories and characters from a neighborhood in a way that lets her address universal situations: fidelity/trust, being a teenager/being a teenager's mom, etc.
There are varying viewpoints and without being judgmental. An especially good presentation of viewpoints from both a guy's and woman's perception.
It's a neighborhood you'd like to live in with people you'd like to know.
I think you'll like this book. Just the right mixture of funny and serious.
Good job, Abbi. You wrote a good book.
Trust No One: A Thriller
by Paul Cleave
Trust No One (7/20/2015)
Trust No One
Paul Cleave has a great premise for a scary book.
A famous crime writer develops early Alzheimer's. He confesses to murders but did he really kill them or were they products of his fiction?
Now this is terrifying to those of us who have
put down our books,
got out of our chairs,
gone to the kitchen,
opened the fridge
........and then had no idea what we wanted or why we were there.
Dementia is really scary.
Cleave really does a good job building the suspense but when we start to learn more of what has been happening, the momentum slows and some of the energy disappears. That's what happens when the facts intrude.
Still this is a good, well paced, well written, interesting thriller. I think you will like it.
The Devil in the Marshalsea
by Antonia Hodgson
Should win awards (6/2/2014)
A really good piece of historical fiction.
The setting isn't great. Nobody wants to be in Marshalsea Gaol, a London debtor's prison in 1720's - unless you have enough money to bribe the guards. But Ms Hodgson does a very good job describing the atrocious prison conditions. This setting is as important to the book as any of the characters.
The pace keeps moving as Tom Hawkins must solve a murder or he will probably be the next to die. The book starts a little predictably but after Tom gets to prison the surprises and twists come quickly.
Good characters and a good mystery will peek your interest and make for a pretty quick read.
Last year another historical fiction novel ,Wolf Hall, won the Mann Booker Prize.
I liked The Devil In The Marshalsea more.
Live by Night
by Dennis Lehane
Live by Night never slows down (8/15/2012)
Has Dennis Lehane started his own genre?
This is truly historical fiction as an action, thriller, family saga.
Set in the Prohibition era in Boston, Tampa, and Cuba, there is plenty of gang warfare, betrayals, revenge, graft, and violence.
Lehane's sharp, crisp writing makes all his settings and characters interesting. You feel like you are there – booing the villains and worrying about our gangster hero.
But this book is essentially about the the action.
The story races along and you can't wait to follow.
Lehane has written another winner. You'll love it. I did.
Falling Together: A Novel
by Marisa De Los Santos
Falling Together misses expectations (9/26/2011)
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a big fan of Marissa de los Santos. Loved her first two books. Think she is right up there with Sue Monk Kidd in the use of the English language par excellance. That is why it really pains me to say that I didn't think Falling Together was as good as her first two books.
I guess I could be more positive and say that this book is in de los Santos' top three but I also think there is a big fall off in the quality of Falling Together.
It is a slow starter. I opened the book expecting to find the author's excellent descriptions and prose that I remembered and it wasn't there. In all aspects it was a step below her earlier efforts. The first few chapters seemed superficial, choppy, and disjointed. It took a few chapters and some great dialog before I felt any kind of rapport or empathy with the characters, primarily Pen and Will. I didn't care about any of them at first and thought if they had been apart for 6 years with no contact, they might as well stay that way. But that would have made for a very short story and perseverance paid off. I eventually liked the main characters and their story.
Even with my negativity, I still recommend this book. Most people are going to like it. I liked it. I just had exceedingly high expectations that were not met. And the good news is if this is your first book by this author and you enjoyed reading it, you are really going to like her first two.
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