Fire Touched

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is reading the "Mercy Thompson" series from Patricia Briggs, and this is the 9th and most recent (2016) installment. I have blogged about the previous eight if you want to know who characters are.
The Columbia Basin pack is called out to help when a monstrous troll begins taking apart one of the bridges across the Columbia River near the Tri-Cities and smashing up cars and their passengers. Newest pack member, Joel, a fiery Tibicena, joins the werewolves in finally containing the monster. This seems certain to be a challenge from the exiled Fae, and Mercy brazenly responds , making the pack a highly visible--and vulnerable-- target. This focuses  previous mutterings of dissatisfaction within the pack against Mercy and brings Adam's leadership into question. When Zee and Tad mysteriously reappear a day later after several weeks' unexplained absence, with an apparently young boy in tow, the tension really ramps up, for the boy, Aiden, who has been kept as a prisoner/ playmate in a fae nether world for decades, has come to the pack seeking sanctuary from the Grey Lords of the Fae. As always, there is non-stop action, cohesive and well-developed characters, and a well-thought-out alternative world presented here. There is also a bit of humor in a pissing match between the juvenile appearing asylum seeker and Adam's daughter, Jesse.

The Billion Dollar Spy

Former Pulitzer Prize winner, David E. Hoffman, here undertakes to reveal the challenges and inner workings of the CIA in the Russian theatre during the Cold War. One of the their major successes, after numerous failed attempts to recruit and run spies, was Adolf Tolkachev, a Russian engineer, who, over more than a decade, brought out thousands of pages of research and development work being done by the Russians, saving the U. S. literally billions of dollars. Knowing from the outset that Tolkachev was eventually betrayed by a disgruntled CIA trainee does nothing to diminish the suspense of this historical narrative based on de-classified CIA materials. We are offered insights not only into the mind of Tolkachev, but also of several key players in Moscow station (CIA facilities housed in the U.S. Embassy) and in Washington, DC. The CIA operatives' worst enemy was ostensibly the ever-vigilant KGB, but sometimes was their own leadership. Fascinating reading for those interested in this era. Even though I missed the meeting because I was in Maine, I read this because it was the most recent selection of my other book group.There is a lengthy and favorable review of this book in the NYTimes.

Tea Shop Mysteries

When I am in the mood for light reading, I often look for another book in Laura Child's Tea Shop Mysteries, which are set in Charleston, SC. Not only do I enjoy the mysteries themselves, but I love the descriptions of the architecture in Charleston, the atmospheric descriptions of the South, the characters, the elaborate descriptions of teas, and the recipes that are included at the end. For my recent trip to Maine, I downloaded Devonshire Scream and Shades of Earl Grey.
In Devonshire Scream (17th in the series, which includes, of course, a recipe for Devonshire cream), a trunk show of high-end estate jewelry is brutally interrupted when a large truck smashes through the front of the store, Heart's Desire, and several masked individuals jump out and smash the glass cases, taking everything in sight. In the process, the niece of the store owner is impaled by a piece of glass and dies. Theodosia agrees to help shop owner and good friend Brooke Crockett find the people who destroyed her business and killed her niece. The FBI is brought in because the thieves are suspected of several  robberies in other states, and Detective Tidwell is on the case locally. But Theodosia has resources none of them have with her inquisitive mind, deep knowledge of Charleston and its people, and her intrepid tea master and fellow sleuth, Drayton. Theodosia's plan to lay a trap at the upcoming Heritage Society event, which will feature a real Faberge egg, almost backfires when tea shop chef Haley is kidnapped, but all comes right in the end.

Theodosia's adopted rescue dog is named Earl Grey, and he is her companion and running partner. Theo and Earl Grey jog around Charleston at night, where she is sure to find possible suspects for the crimes in which she becomes embroiled. This time around, in the 3rd installment of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Shades of Earl Grey, what initially appears to be an accidental death of the groom at an engagement party for Theo's friend Delaine's niece, quickly becomes something more sinister--at least in Theodosia's mind--when the pricey family heirloom engagement ring goes missing. Then a sapphire necklace is stolen from the Heritage Society and Theodosia is hot on the trail of the thief/ murderer.

The Technologists

Fourth historical novel by Matthew Pearl  (all his previous books have been NYT bestsellers) is set in 1868 Boston, the year that the first group of students will graduate from fledgling institute that will become MIT. Many people want to see MIT fail, not least of all the students and faculty of Harvard who view them as upstart imposters, and the trade unionists who fear that the science and technology studied there will cost workers their jobs. Marcus Mansfield, a poor working class student admitted on scholarship, two of his fellow classmates from significantly wealthier family backgrounds, and the sole woman student--who must be educated separate from the men--Ellen Swallow (an actual historic personage), team up when a series of mysterious catastrophes beset Boston shipping and commerce, and appear to be the work of those who will misuse science to their own evil ends. Working in secret, against the specific resolution of the MIT faculty, but with the secret encouragement of MIT's president, it is a race against time before the next disaster strikes. Several reviews from the major library media are here, an old interview with him from The Guardian is here, and a review from the NY Sunday Times is here (not very favorable).

Ready Player One

If you are a fan of video games or the 80's culture in ANY form, this book will have great appeal. Written by Ernest Cline, this inaugural effort is set in a not-too-distant dystopic future, starting in the outskirts of Oklahoma City--of all places; that's where I grew up. Massive numbers of people are poor, jobless, prospect-less, and living in "stacks" which are these huge metal grid structures with every manner of RV and trailer slotted into often 20+ story high-rises. Many people escape the ugly reality by spending time in The Oasis, an elaborate online virtual world freely available to anyone with internet access. Seventeen-year old Wade Watts also attends school there, and when he is not in "school" he is playing games, hanging out in best friend Aech's chat room, or monitoring the blog of his fantasy girl, Artemis. But the creator of the Oasis has died and left his fortune to whoever can solve a series of puzzles which involve finding keys and then opening gates. Knowledge and skill are required and Wade is one among millions who intend to get to the prize first. A mega-corporation that wants to commercialize The Oasis has also hired hundreds of people to try and solve the puzzle and they have enormous advantages, both technology and money wise. Years have passed without anyone finding the first key, and then Wade does. The lengths to which the corporation will go to win include murdering the leading competitors, and as Wade (aka Parzival), Aech and Artemis learn, they may have to abandon their lone wolf approaches to survive. Read this book for my SF-Fantasy book group and thoroughly enjoyed it. The good guys (and gals) win in the end. There are more detailed plot descriptions in  reviews from the New York Times and Booklist and Powell's.

City of Thieves

This novel by David Benioff (co-creator of HBO's Game of Thrones series) commences with a conversation between author and grandfather as Benioff beseeches his grandfather for recollections of living through the Nazi siege of Leningrad. There seems to be some debate about whether his grandfather was actually there (see review from NYT). Following that prologue, however, we jump into the life of 17 year-old Lev Beniov, who is yet too young to join the army but helps man a fire brigade from the roof of his old apartment building. One night, he and his pals see a parachute coming down and when it lands in the street, they find a dead German pilot, whose corpse they promptly strip for weapons and clothes. Keep in mind that, at this point, they are lucky to get one piece of paper-filled bread or an eighth of an onion to eat on any given day. But when the cops show up, Lev nobly helps a fallen friend, a girl he secretly longs for, to escape and is caught in the process. Awaiting execution overnight, he is joined in his cell by his exact opposite. Whereas Lev is dark and slight and inexperienced with women, Kolya is a descendant of Cossacks with blonde-haired, blue-eyed good looks and charm that women of all ages find irresistible. Kolya swears he did not desert his unit but just missed his ride; nevertheless, they will both be hanged or shot. But fate intervenes and they are taken before a secret police general who wants them to find a dozen eggs for his daughter's upcoming wedding cake. If they succeed--against all odds--they get their lives back. They start by following every rumor and searching all the black market sources in the city and nearly get killed by cannibals. Eventually they go behind enemy lines into the countryside seeking chickens. What they find instead are girls held hostage for pleasuring Nazi officers and a band of partisan fighters. They are captured, but then Kolya hatches a plan to get the eggs from their captors by wagering Lev's chess playing skills against those of the 

Sturmbannführer. Benioff provides well-researched and compelling descriptions of the hardships and violence faced by the Russian common folk during the siege. An additional review from Kirkus.

One True Sentence

Not surprising, given the title, the book is about writers--famous ones for the most part--but a very fictionalized account upon which to build a mystery. The setting is 1920's Paris, when aspiring writers and artists of all sorts flooded to the post-war City of Light to live cheaply and find inspiration. Hector Lassiter, best friend of Ernest Hemmingway and writer of pulp short stories that are readily published and consumed in American magazines. Ernest is there with wife Hadley and new baby, Gertrude Stein, Alice Toklas, Sylvia Beach and more all play character roles as the plot evolves around a series of murders. The victims are all editors of small, struggling literary magazines of which there are several. Hector is being pursued by Molly, a young poet from Elgin, Illinoise, even though she has a boyfriend, struggling painter, Philippe. Besides, she seems a little too wholesome and innocent for Hector's tastes. Enter Brinke Devlin, a sexy black-haired beauty with a reputation for being the "professional muse" around town; Sylvia reveals to Hector that she is secretly a mystery writer who works under a man's pseudonym. Add in a 3rd English cozy writer and Gertrude decides they must undertake to find the killer or killers, since she has no faith in the police. As part of the storyline, we learn about a group of people who have embraced nothing as their icon--not dada-ists, but nada-ists, and it quickly becomes apparent that they are involved in the murders. But all is not as it seems. Although Hector and Devlin fall in lust and then love, he begins to wonder about her role; is she really helping him investigate or leading him a merry chase in the wrong direction. This is not one you will figure out ahead of time as it provides lots of twists and turns.There is a lot of explicit sex, cold December weather, and literary allusions. Good but not stellar, although they may get better as this is the first in a series of 10 books featuring Hector Lassiter, and Craig McDonnald's Head Games, was nominated for the Edgar and the Anthony awards. Kirkus review here.

Killer Reunion

This 21st installment in the "Savannah Reid" mystery series by G.A. McKevett (a pseudonym of author Sonja Massie) finds Savannah and relatively new husband Det. Lt. Dirk Coulter on a visit to Savannah's home town of McGill, Georgia, for a 25th high school reunion. Savannah grew up dirt poor, the oldest of 9 siblings, taken from her abusive parents at a young age and raised by loving grandparents. There were a lot of cruel kids at school who made fun of her poverty, but Jeannette Parker was the mean queen of them all. Savannah is hoping for a triumphant return on the arm of her handsome and loving husband, as well as getting to celebrate Granny Reid's 80th birthday. Her ex-beau, one of Jeannette's many conquests, is now the county sheriff, as hunky and good-looking as ever and maybe still in love with Savannah. When Savannah gets into a cat fight with Jeannette at the reunion and then Jeannette turns up dead, guess who becomes the prime suspect and gets thrown in jail--into the same cell as her drunk and disorderly mother.?! But family and friends mortgage it all to get Savannah out on bail so she can figure out who the real killer is. She is well equipped to do this as she runs the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency back in Santa Carmelita, California, and her trusty sidekick Tammy, and Savannah's youngest brother fly in to help her. Well portrayed characters, complete with southern drawls, evocative sense of place, and realistic dynamics of a small town are all in favor of this book. Light fare reading and there is lots of it if you want to start at the beginning. Savannah, BTW is a big woman, making her a somewhat unusual protagonist, which is also refreshing. Brief review from Kirkus.

The Insides

This is Jeremy Bushnell's 2nd novel; I blogged about the first, The Weirdness, a few weeks back. I liked the first book but I like this one even more. The characters are fully realized and some are truly likeable, whereas others are empathy-worthy or detestable. In other words, they engage you. As Bushnell says on his web page, this is "about knives, meat, weird portals, witches, monsters, and racists."
Ollie is a highly accomplished butcher, in the most ordinary sense of the word, working for a high-end NYC restaurant called Carnage that stakes claim to unusual preparations of a wide variety of meats. All day long, she wields her knives taking apart carcasses in elegant fashion and finds the work satisfying. She is in an informal competition with Guychardson, who helps out on weekends, and while she is clearly the more accomplished butcher, he always seems to finish before she does. She thinks it might be because his knife is magical.  She would know because she used to be a street magician before she married, moved to an organic farm and had a kid. But that is all in the past and she has distanced herself from magic. However, a racist thug who delights in wearing a wooden pig mask, desperately wants Guychardson's knife--which may not be a knife at all but a piece of a legendary World Sword--and is happy to kill people to get it. Pig's partner in seeking the knife has engaged the services of a psychic, Maja, who can find anything. So now, wherever the knife goes, Maja and Pig are not far behind. This is an intriguing plot line, lots of fanciful magic elements and an alternate world thrown in for good measure. Absolutely enjoyable read. A review from Publishers Weekly and from The Washington Post.