Card, Orson Scott
Homebody
While best known for his science fiction work, Card here spins a good tale of a loner who lives in houses while he fixes them, then sells for a profit. There seems to be something wrong with the current house that can't be simply explained. There is a woman living in the house who may be trapped there by something in the past she shares with the house, and somehow his strange neighbors are a part of this. Good character novel, and interesting conclusion.
For a good review of the book "Enders Game", which I read too long ago for rendering of a good review, check out this one by
Katydid at Epinions.com.
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Carr, Caleb
- The Alienist
1994
Mystery novel set at the advent of the science of crime. A psychologist assists in apprehension of a murder suspect.
BookPage Online
Interview
with Caleb Carr.
Salon Magazine
Interview with Caleb Carr.
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Castaldo, Meg
The Foreigner
This latest publication from the MTV Books imprint of Pocket Books (See "Dreamworld", "Pieces", and "Brave New Girl"), introduces the work of another fine new author.
Buy the Book at Amazon.com U.S.
Buy the Book at Amazon.co.uk
A lot of popular modern-day mystery novels and thrillers start out with an ordinary person being drawn in to an intrigue and then trying to solve the puzzle. This well-written mystery has its main character only dimly aware of the mystery until nearly the conclusion.
What happened that winter still keeps me up at night.
It was the sort of thing no one should ever have to
go through. Jan turned out to be a bigger foreigner
than I'd ever imagined. My oldest friend, Kyle,
became someone I hardly knew.
...
And me? You'd think this mess I'm about to lay out
would've opened my eyes. I guess it did. But not
in the cathartic way you read about in self-help books
28 year old Alex Orlando from California gets the opportunity to housesit for her Uncle Carmi in New York City for a few weeks in January while he vacations in Puerto Rico. It turns out that her old friend Kyle is also in New York, possibly involved in dealing drugs. His girlfriend Yassi, from Algeria, seems to suit him well, although by the time Alex meets her, they are on the outs.
Uncle Carmi has warned her against a number of things, such as riding on the subway and talking with his neighbor, Christian, a Swedish architect in the apartment next door. Of course, within a matter of days, Alex has violated all the ground rules and finds she actually likes Christian, although he is something of a mystery. He seems to have a lot of cash, and keeps odd hours.
Then Jan, with whom she had an amorous relationship during a trip to Belgium, makes a visit.
Other than the job, which consumes only part of her time, Alex finds she is having fun. Jan wants her to travel back to Europe with him. The mood changes suddenly when one of her new friends turns up dead, and all of a sudden, it seems that the entire cast of characters knows each one of the others, if only tangentially, creating suspicions about who is telling the truth. The police detective on the case introduces a new level of suspicion--Alex originally met him when he was undercover, playing a role.
Alex is well-drawn as an ordinary person dropped into the middle of all this. This is an enjoyable mystery with plenty of suspense and nothing too graphic, although you might not want to spend any time in New York after reading it!
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Ceren, Sandra Levy
Prescription for Terror
This is a book with a mission: exposing the dangers of the involvement of "managed care" in the field of mental health. Despite what one might expect from such a book, it is not a tirade from a soapbox. Instead, the book delivers a suspenseful narrative to drive its point home.
Dr. Cory Cohen, a psychologist, finds herself in the middle of an investigation of a serial rapist/murderer when patients and friends are victimized. Fueled by guilt over the fact that she may have been able to prevent harm using information she had, and frustrated by lack of progress by the police, she conducts her own investigation, possibly risking her own life.
An engaging pace, likable characters, and realistic story propel the reader through this book, which accomplishes well what it sets out to do. The author, a clinical psychologist, has a second book in the works, and I can only hope that in it she will bring back the capable Dr. Cohen and allow us to get to know her better.
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Chandler, Raymond
The Long Goodbye
A Philip Marlowe Mystery.
1953.
The "long goodbye" in the title refers to Marlowe's coming to terms with the troubles of a drunk man, Terry Lennox, abandoned in front of a club by a woman he was with. After making sure he gets sober and home, Marlowe maintains a casual acquaintance with him and ends up paying dearly for it when he does Lennox another favor and helps him get out of town at an opportune moment following the death of his nymphomaniac wife.
Subsequently, some seemingly unrelated business turns out to be linked to Lennox, and Marlowe cannot help digging into the truth about a murder supposedly committed by Lennox, despite warnings from the victim's multi-millionaire father and a crazy gangster.
Great classic detective novel. Don't miss it!
See also the film made from this book:
- 1973, starring Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, on
VHS
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Chapman, Sally
- Cyber Kiss
Nerdy guy shows up at the office of two computer investigation entrepreneurs to have them find out who is sending threatening e-mail after initial contact thru "ErotikNet". Loads of suspects are from subject's place of employment.
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Charles, Kate
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Chbosky, Stephen (Editor)
Pieces
2000
MTV Books/Pocket Books Paperback
This collection of 15 stories are the best from MTV's "Write Stuff" writing contest. I haven't read very many short stories since high school, except for a few in magazines, and am no expert on the form, but I was impressed with some of these.
This is the second book I've read with the MTV Books imprint. Who would have thought that anything related to MTV would be this good?
Here's a brief bit about some of them.
Scoring
by William Clifford
This tale is about a person trying to wash away the pain of overindulgence by more of the same. He tries to fool an emergency room psychiatrist into dispensing the magic potion.
Good character (or should I say "lack of character") development and good writing.
The White Carousel Horse
by Dennis G. Dillingham, Jr.
A frightened young girl whose world is filled with sounds of bitter exchanges between her parents takes refuge in fantasy while riding a white carousel horse. Her knowledge of the cold, cruel world advances incrementally when the horse is unable to carry her away.
The writing magically recreates the world of a small child. Very well done.
First Snow
by Davy Rothbart
Disturbing tale of the frustrations of some work-camp detainees and what they do for fun. This story had a good start but was a little ambiguous at the ending. The author didn't give a strong enough statement, in my opinion, on how he felt about the actions in the story.
The Carnival
by Clementyne Howard
This is a densely disguised metaphor for something. For what, I do not know, but in a way, that is its strength. The pictures painted by the author stick with you.
Next Time
by Michelle Rick
This is a kind of fairy tale of events which enliven the day of a depressed housewife. Very imaginative and well told.
Pinball
by Jason Rekulak
A young man experiments while he tries to decide whether he wants a monogamous relationship with his girlfriend. Chilling.
Roam
by Kathleen Bedwell Hughes
This is one of the best tales in the book. A young chef keeps body and soul together by working as a private cook for a pregnant woman whose relationship provides a mirror in which she examines her own recently failed one. Very good character development.
Respiration
by Chandra Steele
A social worker visits the home of a woman who has been taking care of a child at home who has been in a coma for many years. Interesting glimpse at a problem with some currency.
A Fortune
by Joy Monica T. Sakaguchi
Can a pickpocket have any redeeming qualities? The author speculates, using the main character's observations of and contact with a young boy.
Forbidden Fate
by Sujata Dechoudhury
A young girl in India is raised by liberal parents. The parents die in a car accident and young Savitri is brought up by her more traditional grandparents. In this story, she is faced with an arranged marriage, and contemplates an old story related to her by her mother about why no one ever swims in the pool at the back of the house.
Conclusion
This is a very good book of short stories from some authors I look forward to seeing more from in the future. A couple of them, especially, seem to have a well developed sense of story, theme and character which would carry over well into novel form. Many of them transcend their contemporary themes and settings, while one or two seem almost more like writing exercises. Most of them are memorable.
If you like short stories, or even if you don't read them much, this book is well worth your time. It's small and light: throw it in your car or bag for waiting in line somewhere!
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Child, Lee
I'm excited to have finally gotten hold of the latest by Lee Child -- Persuader: A Jack Reacher Novel. If you haven't tried these, you are in for a treat. Reacher is an ex-MP and a drifter without a real job description who helps himself and others out of jams he seems to keep walking into. Fast paced, suspenseful. The first one, Killing Floor, got me hooked.
Tripwire
1999
This is the best so far of the Jack Reacher novels, and the other two were excellent. I picked it up at bedtime one night knowing it would keep me up too late on a work night, and it did!
After drifting around a bit following his release from the military, the only life he'd ever known, and unwittingly being dragged into several tough spots, Jack comes to rest in Key West and works, keeping a low profile. When a private detective comes to town looking for him, he denies being himself in an effort to preserve his simple life. Then the guy is killed and Jack finds he must find out who initiated the search, and why. Others are on more or less the same path, different quest, and Jack joins another of those pursued on a tense, concurrent chase to the finish line where an evil, ruthless man waits to cover his tracks with even more blood.
This is a page-turning delight. Readability, plausibility, characters and plot all get my highest marks. Reacher is a given another level of complexity here, and the author has done a fine job with other characters, too.
Other books:
- The Killing Floor
Ex-MP Jack Reacher is traveling through a small town and is arrested for a murder which occurs at about the same time.
- Die Trying
While walking past a dry cleaners, Jack Reacher is taken along with the kidnappers' intended victim. Great character.
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Cirino, Linda
Eva's Story
1999
(Originally published in the U.K as "The Egg Woman" in 1997)
I really enjoy reading historical novels. History was my least favorite subject until college, when I had some teachers who really made it come alive for me. Still, a novel can teach like no other kind of text, I think, because the proportion of the work to an individual scale brings points home in a way which no other method, in my opinion, is able to approach.
A German farm wife finds a Jewish student, Nathanael, hiding in her chicken coop. Her husband is away, fighting Nazi Germany’s battles, leaving her to tend the farm by herself, without even the help of her teenaged children whose obligations to the Nazi Youth grow more and more time-consuming. She isn’t sure why she does it at first but she tells no one about the presence of the Jewish fugitive. She does not even really understand why he is on the run, only that he seems to be no threat to her.
The matter-of-fact presentation of the main character, and her very appropriate voice, paint a picture of a time which is difficult to comprehend but foretells the difficulties inherent in our current age of information.
In a life of hardship, of caring for a family and a farm which leaves little time and not much inclination for introspection, Eva finds herself thrust into a world where people outside her family circle can saddle her with even more tasks. An organization of "Farm Women" demands her membership, and the State sends representatives to inspect her farm. If she does not participate or demonstrate what is expected of her, she will be monitored more closely and possibly be shunned by members of the community.
As these events unfold, she slowly begins to understand the position of the fugitive, with whom she has come to share a relationship she had never even dreamed could exist. She finds out how difficult life can be when one must make choices.
One could find fault with this book by saying that it is short and limited in scope. I think, though, that in keeping it short, the message it conveys has a lot more power. It's brevity, however, does mean that some elements are not well developed.
I strongly recommend "Eva's Story" to anyone interested in this period of history. While most of us are familiar with events in Germany during the war, this book goes further by shedding light on what seems to be the cusp of agricultural and modern civilization.
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Clancy, Tom.
While Mr. Clancy's books can seem intimidating, and do often take a little perserverance to get into, there are few authors who create so many books that I don't want to end, and Clancy is one of them.
Also, with Steve Pieczenik, Clancy wrote the Op-Center books:
- Op-Center: Games of State
Op Center personnel and others combat efforts to manipulate world order and economy using Nazi-style hate games distributed via the Internet, and
- Op Center: Mirror Image
Russian Old Guard attempts to re-unite Soviet Union in part by Mafia funding and using resources of Russian Op Center in an attempt to bring down elected president.
If you like the Clancy books, try
Vince Flynn.
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James Clavell's historical novels, set in Asia. Great reads!
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Connelly, Michael
- Blood Work,
Retired FBI guy reluctantly investigates the death of a woman's sister--who just happens to be the donor of the heart he now has.
- The Poet
For a good review,
click here.
See also the author's home page.
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Connolly, John
Every Dead Thing
This is a first novel so wonderful I will be keeping a sharp eye out for the author's next book. Former NYPD detective Charlie "Bird" Parker's wife and child are murdered and he ends up baiting a trap for the killer. The killer left his victims in posed scenes with their faces removed. In his efforts to solve this crime, Bird gets caught up in another investigation of the deaths of children by the hand of a serial killer who has been "in business" for decades. The plot twists keep you engaged up to the very last pages. Truly a "can't put it down" selection.
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Conroy, Pat
- Beach Music
Jack McCall reconciles himself to his Southern upbringing, his family, his wife (who killed herself), tells the story of his family and friends as he learns it and comes to understand some things which have been lifelong mysteries.
- The Water is Wide
- Prince of Tides
(Also a movie with Nick Nolte)
- The Lords of Discipline
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Constantine, K.C.
Grievance
Buy from Amazon.com U.S.
Buy from Amazon.co.uk
I was interviewed by a writer for bankrate.com who subsequently checked out this site and recommended this author. What a find! This is the most recent book and I've already ordered three others. The main character is a detective who lives with his mother. Yeah, right. Sounds like something dreams are made of! The author draws him well, though, and in this tome explores the difficulties of dealing with a parent who can no longer be cared for at home while, at the same time, he attempts to deal with his job and a romance.
While it's good as a detective novel, there are parts which brought tears to my eyes!
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Cook, Robin
Guest Review
by Jack Stem, CRNA, from Cincinnati, Ohio
COMA
We had to change OR 8 to OR 7A.
I was in anesthesia training when this book and then the movie became popular. We actually had people cancel their surgery if they thought they were scheduled in OR #8. Cook keeps you on the edge of your seat with his graphic descriptions of the OR and the sense of confusion in the doctors involved with the patients who don't wake up.
Also by Robin Cook:
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Cornwell, Patricia
Black Notice
1999
Putnam Pub Group Hardcover
Little, Brown & Co. Hardcover
If you like stories including details about forensic medical investigation, and complex characters and relationships, you'll like these books about Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta and her co-workers. If you haven't already read them, she is Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner. (Caveat: Some people find the descriptions of the details of crime scenes and autopsies too graphic.)
In this one, a mysterious killer crosses the ocean from France to claim more victims. He leaves generous but puzzling clues to be deciphered by Scarpetta and her team. Meanwhile, local police attempt to usurp oversight of the medical examiner's office and the Detective Division. While the case progresses, Scarpetta and her favorite detective fear losing their jobs. Reviewed 1-9-00.
The book contains what I'm assuming is a more or less accurate description of how the agency "Interpol" works. This and other details about forensic examination seem to have been well researched in all Cornwell's books based on my own studies. If you enjoy these, you will probably also like Jeffery Deaver's "The Bone Collector" and "The Coffin Dancer."
- Point of Origin
1998
U.S. Edition: Berkeley Pub Group Paperback
U.K. Edition: Warner Paperback
Last issue's review of Cornwell's most recent book, "Black Notice," mentioned that I felt like I had missed a book. This was the one. In it, Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta tries to determine the identity of a woman who died in a fire which started in an unusual way and destroyed the house and killed most of the owner's horses. In addition, she deals with threats from a killer from a previous book who is confined to an institution for the criminally insane, Carrie Grethen, Temple Gault's accomplice.
What I had most missed was some of the development of Kay's niece Lucy's life, and her relationship with Benton Wesley. Details were filled in for me and, again, I think these books would be best read in order with regard to the personal lives of the characters. This was not the best of her books. The writing seemed forced. Still, it was readable and interesting.
(Reviewed 2-1-00)
- All That Remains
Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is baffled at first by a serial killer's clueless visits on his pairs of victims, who he leaves for the elements to skeletonize until discovery.
- Body of Evidence
A woman finds that someone follows her but nobody takes her seriously. She's a person who keeps to herself so, when she's murdered, there are few clues.
- The Body Farm
- Cruel and Unusual
- Postmortem
See also:
The Official Patricia Cornwell Site
here.
Bookpage.com's brief "interview"
here.
Excerpts from an interview with the author
here.
More biographical and other material
here.
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Coupland, Douglas
- Girlfriend in a Coma
What happens to some high school students when one of their number falls into a coma for twenty years, and the others fall into step on the treadmill of life.
For more information on the author,
When she's called in to investigate the death of a squad member thought to have been the victim of a serial bomber who targets bomb technicians, her supervisors and coworkers are wary of her every move. As she hunts the bomber, Carol gets the opportunity to re-examine the blast that changed her life and to show off the abilities that made her a target of the serial bomber. She also meets someone with whom she may get the opportunity to try her hand at love again.
Overall, the tone of the book is kind of bleak. This is partly because of the main character's "attitude", but it seems also to capture aspects of Los Angeles often characterized in books going back to the advent of noir fiction. All I can say is that I continue to wonder why anyone would want to live there!
The details of the investigation are fascinating. The pace is even, maintaining suspense throughout. The writer's artful direction and misdirection of the reader's attention make for a page-turning read.
Elvis Cole & Robert Pike have a detective agency and agree to oversee police handling of the investigation into the disappearance of a client's daughter. Later, eyewitness testimony implicates Pike in the death of a suspect. The suspect keeps on with his deadly program with Pike in jail, and he seems to have inside information regarding the investigation. This is a must-read for detective novel lovers, a fast-paced, well-crafted book, with great characters. Thanks to Linda at the Ingleside Branch of the San Francisco Public Library for recommending this book!
As of 8/27/99, the paperback edition, linked to in the title, is showing unavailable at Amazon.com, but you can check out what other editions (hardcover, audiocassette, etc.) are available by
clicking on the button below (which will also show other books by this author):
