Donal Ryan is back, this time with a short story collection peopled by Irish men and women often on the bitter, hard side of life, sometimes on the reDonal Ryan is back, this time with a short story collection peopled by Irish men and women often on the bitter, hard side of life, sometimes on the receiving end of injury, sometimes on the doling out. The life is often hardscrabble as these people search for food, or companionship, or work, or money, or, perhaps, love. They most often fail or cause others injury. But Ryan brings their lives truly to life.
There are immigrants and emigrants. There is an Irish priest in Syria bridging a cultural divide while he is able. Men seek justice against a rapist. An old man remembers the war. There is evil and fragments of good. The stories are sometimes difficult but they are also sometimes beautiful.
In the title story, Ryan writes:
There was a silence in Michael, like a space where nothing existed. A hole, kind of, or more than that. A vacuum, isn't it, where an empty space hasn't even air in it? Some would just say it was loneliness, a longing for a sharing of his days with someone besides his older brother.
Leaving off the final phrase of that sentence, "besides his older brother," I think this description could describe the essence of many of Ryan's characters, the good and the bad. They are all searching.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Merged review:
Donal Ryan is back, this time with a short story collection peopled by Irish men and women often on the bitter, hard side of life, sometimes on the receiving end of injury, sometimes on the doling out. The life is often hardscrabble as these people search for food, or companionship, or work, or money, or, perhaps, love. They most often fail or cause others injury. But Ryan brings their lives truly to life.
There are immigrants and emigrants. There is an Irish priest in Syria bridging a cultural divide while he is able. Men seek justice against a rapist. An old man remembers the war. There is evil and fragments of good. The stories are sometimes difficult but they are also sometimes beautiful.
In the title story, Ryan writes:
There was a silence in Michael, like a space where nothing existed. A hole, kind of, or more than that. A vacuum, isn't it, where an empty space hasn't even air in it? Some would just say it was loneliness, a longing for a sharing of his days with someone besides his older brother.
Leaving off the final phrase of that sentence, "besides his older brother," I think this description could describe the essence of many of Ryan's characters, the good and the bad. They are all searching.
This latest in the Stonechild and Rouleau series picks up with the same characters a few months after the action of the last volume. The primary peoplThis latest in the Stonechild and Rouleau series picks up with the same characters a few months after the action of the last volume. The primary people are in the same places except that Rouleau is now acting head of the department. His superior essentially ran off with his mistress for an undetermined length of time so Rouleau is removed from day to day police work and is full time pushing paper.
Meanwhile, a local family has gathered from around the country as the father is nearing death. The family, mother, two sons and one daughter, are fractured and not coping but not due to this impending death. Rather it’s due to old issues that have never cleared, including a murder 14 years ago, blamed on one of the sons but ultimately never proven. The toxic family could win an award in not coping. But there are moments of connection among the siblings.
Then there is another murder in the present day. And the spite, fear and anxiety are flowing.
Once again, I recommend this book and series to mystery readers. The Canadian setting is interesting, here with the terrible winter weather, the distances, etc and differences in law from the U.S. I believe this book could be read on its own, but for full background, it would be better to read some of the earlier books. Another good series!
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review
Merged review:
This latest in the Stonechild and Rouleau series picks up with the same characters a few months after the action of the last volume. The primary people are in the same places except that Rouleau is now acting head of the department. His superior essentially ran off with his mistress for an undetermined length of time so Rouleau is removed from day to day police work and is full time pushing paper.
Meanwhile, a local family has gathered from around the country as the father is nearing death. The family, mother, two sons and one daughter, are fractured and not coping but not due to this impending death. Rather it’s due to old issues that have never cleared, including a murder 14 years ago, blamed on one of the sons but ultimately never proven. The toxic family could win an award in not coping. But there are moments of connection among the siblings.
Then there is another murder in the present day. And the spite, fear and anxiety are flowing.
Once again, I recommend this book and series to mystery readers. The Canadian setting is interesting, here with the terrible winter weather, the distances, etc and differences in law from the U.S. I believe this book could be read on its own, but for full background, it would be better to read some of the earlier books. Another good series!
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review...more
Janet Shore, aka Annapurna, the titled Book Fairy, is a quiet, unassuming person with a wonderful ability, wonderful if one is a lover of books. She hJanet Shore, aka Annapurna, the titled Book Fairy, is a quiet, unassuming person with a wonderful ability, wonderful if one is a lover of books. She has been blessed with the ability to travel to or send others into the world of their favorite books. And when she was young she did this with childhood friends in secret, often deciding for them (if they happened to choose a book that didn't seem quite good enough) on one that would be better. Then she grew up. Her life changed and she left this talent behind until, well, one day, it was awakened.
What a delightful tale this is, a long short story, short novella, full of bookish magic. To say much more would be to tell too much I fear. There is love of books and reading here. Love of the eccentric and humanity and a certain wistfulness.
I recommend this as a fun, magical read for book lovers.
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Merged review:
Janet Shore, aka Annapurna, the titled Book Fairy, is a quiet, unassuming person with a wonderful ability, wonderful if one is a lover of books. She has been blessed with the ability to travel to or send others into the world of their favorite books. And when she was young she did this with childhood friends in secret, often deciding for them (if they happened to choose a book that didn't seem quite good enough) on one that would be better. Then she grew up. Her life changed and she left this talent behind until, well, one day, it was awakened.
What a delightful tale this is, a long short story, short novella, full of bookish magic. To say much more would be to tell too much I fear. There is love of books and reading here. Love of the eccentric and humanity and a certain wistfulness.
I recommend this as a fun, magical read for book lovers.
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
So much happens in this episode, from the emergence of doubts and new ideas about the wrap up of the case that made Jejeune’s career and fame with theSo much happens in this episode, from the emergence of doubts and new ideas about the wrap up of the case that made Jejeune’s career and fame with the MET; to the threat posed by the release of a man convicted due to Jejeune’s police work which now poses threats to his and Lindy’s happiness and safety; to the current crime, a person, male, found shot and burned with no other information available. There are so many twists and turns in this novel. Loyalties are seen fraying and tested and relationships...will they recover?
As this is a part of the birder mystery series, there are the requisite references to expected and surprising species in this north of England setting. The descriptions of the natural world are evocative of mood, place. They reflect and sometimes foretold the future. Jejeune is a detective who lives much of his life in his head. He is not an action hero but more cerebral (although the last book involved a lot of physical action in South America).
I continue to recommend this series to mystery readers. While this can be read as a stand-alone, it would likely be better appreciated if you were to read one of the earlier books, perhaps the last.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Merged review:
So much happens in this episode, from the emergence of doubts and new ideas about the wrap up of the case that made Jejeune’s career and fame with the MET; to the threat posed by the release of a man convicted due to Jejeune’s police work which now poses threats to his and Lindy’s happiness and safety; to the current crime, a person, male, found shot and burned with no other information available. There are so many twists and turns in this novel. Loyalties are seen fraying and tested and relationships...will they recover?
As this is a part of the birder mystery series, there are the requisite references to expected and surprising species in this north of England setting. The descriptions of the natural world are evocative of mood, place. They reflect and sometimes foretold the future. Jejeune is a detective who lives much of his life in his head. He is not an action hero but more cerebral (although the last book involved a lot of physical action in South America).
I continue to recommend this series to mystery readers. While this can be read as a stand-alone, it would likely be better appreciated if you were to read one of the earlier books, perhaps the last.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
I have now read three novels written by Anne Emery, each set in a different historical context or place. All three have been good reads and interestinI have now read three novels written by Anne Emery, each set in a different historical context or place. All three have been good reads and interesting novels. In this latest, Counted Among the Dead, Emery returns to her Collins and Burke series in a historical mystery set in Halifax, Nova Scotia of 1917 and 1993.
to be continued…
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an eARC of this book,...more
Death at the Sanatorium introduces a new detective into Ragnar Jónasson’s list of characters, one Helgi Reykdal. He’s a young man who has returned to Death at the Sanatorium introduces a new detective into Ragnar Jónasson’s list of characters, one Helgi Reykdal. He’s a young man who has returned to Reykjavik after studying criminology in England. He only needs to complete his dissertation then make his final job decision, perhaps joining the CID of the city’s police. His dissertation plan: to look into a case from thirty years ago where two people died, one definitely a murder, at a former TB sanatorium in a small town north of Reykjavik. He will use a criminologist viewpoint. That case was concluded but not to everyone’s satisfaction at the time.
The sanatorium was not a working hospital in 1983, but had 2 doctors, 3 nurses and a custodian employed. The specialist tasks involved categorizing and organizing the records left behind from the facility’s many years of operation. The head nurse, Yrsa, was found dead, murdered, in her office early one morning. The lead police officer fixed his attention on the custodian, a man very different from the others who worked there. Then, within a week, the head doctor was discovered dead on the ground outside the building, an apparent suicide. Shortly thereafter the case was closed, with the assumption that this doctor was the killer. Will Helgi, working in 2012, find anything new as he interviews those who remain available? What did happen all those years ago?
If you’re familiar with Jonasson, I believe you’ll enjoy meeting Helgi. Like all of Jonasson’s characters, he’s distinctly human…and a lover of Golden Age mysteries (as is his creator). If you haven’t read Jonasson yet and you enjoy mysteries, you should give him a try.
Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an eARC of this book....more
I found this an unusual reading experience even for the horror genre. Idunn has been experiencing increasing fatigue, painful muscles, vague symptoms I found this an unusual reading experience even for the horror genre. Idunn has been experiencing increasing fatigue, painful muscles, vague symptoms that are slowly tormenting her on a daily basis. She sleeps but wakes as tired as the night before…or more so. Initially, this woman did drive me a little nuts as I read her introspective thoughts that seemed to go nowhere. But then she got a smart watch and tried to monitor what was happening in her body. A friend suggested she try to monitor her exercise activity. One night she forgot to remove the watch when she went to bed and, when she woke, she’d walked thousands of feet while supposedly asleep. Modern technology meets the world of horror.
This is a story of a young woman with family issues and interpersonal relationship problems. Her life is coming apart from the moment we meet her. The momentum builds gradually. The ending was something that both surprised me and didn’t completely at the same time, though it left me with unanswerable questions. I look forward to reading more from Hildur Knutsdottir.
Thank you to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC of this book....more
In We’re Alone: Essays, Edwidge Danticat has written a series of pieces on family, Haiti and the Haitian diaspora, her writing life and the literary wIn We’re Alone: Essays, Edwidge Danticat has written a series of pieces on family, Haiti and the Haitian diaspora, her writing life and the literary world she is a part of, the effects of natural and political disasters on Haiti and much of the Caribbean region, and the constancy of migration throughout human history. So many interesting points touched on here. Her discussion of when to have the talk with her daughters about how the world, or many in the world, may/will look differently at them is sad and eloquent.
Perhaps my favorite essay is “They Are Waiting in the Hills.” She discusses several of her literary touchstones: Lorraine Hansberry, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Paula Marshall, and Toni Morrison. It has been too long since I have read Danticat; this has served to whet my appetite. There is a bibliography provided at the end.
Recommended for all who enjoy well written contemporary, and topical essays.
Thanks to Graywolf Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book....more
The House on Graveyard Lane is the latest in Martin Edwards’ series of Golden Age mysteries featuring the enigmatic Rachel Savernake. Set in the 1930sThe House on Graveyard Lane is the latest in Martin Edwards’ series of Golden Age mysteries featuring the enigmatic Rachel Savernake. Set in the 1930s with Britain and the world enduring a harsh depression, the story begins at a very outre gallery, that of surrealist artist Damaris Gethin. The Hades Gallery is featuring an exhibit “Artists in Crime”. Select members of the public have been personally invited to this showing. Just how select this audience is (and why) will become more apparent as the artiste Damaris performs an unexpected piece of performance art that sets the stage for all that is to come!
I enjoyed this book quite a lot and enjoyed seeing Rachel in action more in this novel than her last, The Puzzle of Blackstone Lodge. For some reason this story felt more open and accessible in spite of the complexity of both the plot and the cast members/suspects. And the plot lines drew me along all the way to the conclusion. I didn’t mind being behind Rachel in solving the crimes. It was fun! Recommended!
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press, Martin Edwards and NetGalley for an eARC of this book which is now available....more
This latest episode in the Vera Stanhope series introduces a new team member to replace the lost Holly and a seemingly more introspective Vera, adjustThis latest episode in the Vera Stanhope series introduces a new team member to replace the lost Holly and a seemingly more introspective Vera, adjusting to that loss, her role as Holly’s boss, and thoughts about her own vulnerabilities. It’s impossible not to see and hear Brenda Blethyn throughout my reading.
The case is sad and topical: Josh, a young college student, working part time at a home for troubled teens, is murdered. One of the teens, 14 year old Chloe Spence, also goes missing the same night. Is she a witness, a victim, an innocent, an at risk runaway?
Vera, Joe Ashworth, and Rosie Bell, new team member, begin the hard task of interviewing everyone who knew Josh and Chloe, learning about the privately run care home that appears so run down and sad to the police as outsiders, and learning more about the community into which Chloe seems to have disappeared.
I found this an excellent outing in a loved series. Cleeves introduced a more thoughtful Vera who recognizes her affect on the officers who she leads—though she doesn’t necessarily change her methods. Her self awareness is more obvious as is her knowledge that she will someday no longer be part of the police family after she retires. As always, I do recommend reading Cleeves books. It might be nice to read one or two others in this series before The Dark Wives to enjoy the subtleties of the team relationships.
Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book....more
Once again, William Kent Krueger has won my heart and mind with his latest book, Spirit Crossing. This latest in the Cork O’Connor series has several Once again, William Kent Krueger has won my heart and mind with his latest book, Spirit Crossing. This latest in the Cork O’Connor series has several story lines but the core involve missing young Indian women, who have disappeared over weeks, months, even years with little attention from law enforcement. Now the daughter of a rich white politician is missing and all levels of national, local and reservation enforcement are engaged. Then Cork’s grandson discovers a body.
Another pressure on the reserve is the pipeline about to pass through one of their sacred springs. Demonstrations are held to try to slow what seems inevitable. Meanwhile there is the undercurrent of more crime behind the one discovered dead mystery woman.
Throughout the novel, Krueger weaves in Ojibwa beliefs and culture and its clashes and melding with 21st century America. I enjoyed the use of native words and phrases and application of some ideas to life. Krueger writes meaningfully about some of his inspiration in an afterword.
I highly recommend this book and series to all. I have only recently begun reading the series along with some of Krueger’s standalone novels. All have been excellent.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an eArc of this book....more
This is an interesting short work on the nature of writing or, perhaps, the person of the writer, for here we have a woman who arrives at the setting This is an interesting short work on the nature of writing or, perhaps, the person of the writer, for here we have a woman who arrives at the setting for her six week residency and promptly proceeds to lose the ability to write. She even seems to fracture a bit as a person. Is that because her identity is caught up in her writing? We don't know her well except in this setting which is as foreign to her as it is to us. Is a retreat good for a writer...to be taken out of time and place, into someone else's time and place?
I am not a writer so I have no answers for these questions. I do find, however, that as I write this review, I come to appreciate the story more and more and will read it again with new eyes. And will increase my initial rating to 4* as it has made me think...and isn't that what writing is really about.
An e-copy of this novella was received from the publisher through NetGalley without promise of favorable review.
Merged review:
This is an interesting short work on the nature of writing or, perhaps, the person of the writer, for here we have a woman who arrives at the setting for her six week residency and promptly proceeds to lose the ability to write. She even seems to fracture a bit as a person. Is that because her identity is caught up in her writing? We don't know her well except in this setting which is as foreign to her as it is to us. Is a retreat good for a writer...to be taken out of time and place, into someone else's time and place?
I am not a writer so I have no answers for these questions. I do find, however, that as I write this review, I come to appreciate the story more and more and will read it again with new eyes. And will increase my initial rating to 4* as it has made me think...and isn't that what writing is really about.
An e-copy of this novella was received from the publisher through NetGalley without promise of favorable review....more
I first learned of the main events documented in Mississippi Swindle while watching the Rachel Maddow show several years ago when she mentioned a scanI first learned of the main events documented in Mississippi Swindle while watching the Rachel Maddow show several years ago when she mentioned a scandal involving welfare fraud, Brett Favre and a volleyball school. I never did learn much more and was happy to see this book available to read, written by the state auditor of Mississippi.
Shad White was the auditor when the events began to become visible, not to the public, but to those who were trained to look. White was young and motivated, the youngest state auditor in the country, when he was advised by the governor of a whistleblower report that TANF funds (temporary assistance for needy families, often called welfare) were being misused by the state DHS. What follows is a true crime report of the creation of a team, gathering of evidence, the counter attacks of suspects and response of the public as well as outcomes to date. True crime reports tend to be messier than fiction in my experience, with less neat outcomes. But White found some excellent people to work with in this lengthy battle.
I recommend this to those interested in true crime stories that don’t involve blood and gore. This deals in corruption and quests for money and power…a situation well known to the human race. In this case stealing from the poorest people in the poorest state in the country. High motivation for White to seek justice.
Thanks to Steerforth, Shad White and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book....more
In this latest from Caro Ramsay, we return to the life and work of DCI Christine Caplan with the third book of the series. This is an intense police pIn this latest from Caro Ramsay, we return to the life and work of DCI Christine Caplan with the third book of the series. This is an intense police procedural involving multiple layers of police personnel, in a missing person case with ever increasing ramifications. What begins with the dying wish of a former police academy classmate to come to her hospice bedside leads to a confusing hunt for potential victims of a sadistic killer or group. And then another person goes missing.
This is a complex procedural which portrays police as individuals with personalities and characteristics that make them part of this successful, though eccentric, team. Caplan herself has an interesting backstory which continues to develop in each book.
I recommend this series and Caro Ramsay’s books in general as all I have read have been well written and engaging. This book could be read as a standalone but I would recommend starting with the first two in the series, The Devil Stone and In Her Blood, in order to follow the development of the personal and professional relationships.
Thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for an eARC of this book....more
I was very pleased to receive an ARC of Angel of Vengeance after reading The Cabinet of Doctor Leng last year. That book ended abruptly, leaving the PI was very pleased to receive an ARC of Angel of Vengeance after reading The Cabinet of Doctor Leng last year. That book ended abruptly, leaving the Pendergast series characters stranded in New York City of 1881 as Constance Green continues her very personal battle against Dr. Leng with Pendergast and D’Agosta joining her fight.
In the Angel of Vengeance, there is intricate planning, vicious fighting, some nifty trickery, and so much evil, more than I’ve seen in these books for a while. But that would be true if Dr. Leng were present, wouldn’t it, as he seems a personification of evil in the series.
Definitely recommended for those who have followed the Pendergast series all these years, with the eerie stories of Constance Green, Dr. Leng’s cabinet of curiosities and his wish to extend life. Everything comes to its boiling point here.
Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC of this book....more
Blue Hawk is an historical fiction set in 17th century Gloucestershire, England amid the cottage industry of textile workers into which Joan was born Blue Hawk is an historical fiction set in 17th century Gloucestershire, England amid the cottage industry of textile workers into which Joan was born along with her older sister, Alice. Their mother had died some time before the beginning of this novel leaving their father less and less able to cope with work tasks and increasingly taking to drink. Joan and Alice assisted with the weaving at home while their father did the procuring of goods and selling of end products. Only Joan seemed totally invested and capable in all of these tasks— and she also had a dream to increase her knowledge and skills to dye their cloth making it even more salable.
But women in that time did not direct the course of any trades, even cottage industries run in their homes. So her ideas had to run through the man, or men, in her life. Blue Hawk is Joan, it is the story of her life, the highs and lows, the joys and sorrows. I felt as if I was reading of people who lived in that time which I believe reflects the author’s research into those few women of Gloucestershire who did manage to work in the textile industry in those days. I also enjoyed using the dictionary function on my kindle to investigate the names of various plants used in making dyes, names that were new to me but old in English!
I recommend this novel for all who enjoy historical fiction, and stories on the lives of women at various times in history.
Thank you to Deixis Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book....more
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