Sandman

Lars Kepler, the pseudonym for husband-and-wife team of Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril, has written 7 novels in the "DS Joona Linna" series of Scandinavian noir, but this 4th installment is the first one I've read. I will refer you to the Washington Post's review for a succinct plot summary. Let it suffice to say that it is indeed very dark, and often grisly. It has to do with a serial killer, Jurek Walter, who, even though he is now in prison, is able to exert his evil influence on people outside, making them disappear or die terrible deaths. The action is precipitated when one of his victims, Mikael Kohler-Frost, makes an appearance after having been given up for dead 13 years ago. However, Mikael's sister, Felicia, is still missing and Joona is convinced that Walter knows where she is. Joona's colleague, Saga Bauer,  is sent onto the maximum security psych ward where Walter is being held to try and ascertain Felicia's whereabouts. Saga's experience on the ward create a sense of dread. There are all kinds of evil.
I think I got hooked on Scandinavian noir with Smilla's Sense of Snow (remember Gabriel Byrne in the film version?!) and I still regularly pick it up (see posts for Holt, Jansson, Jungstedt, and of course, Larsson), although, sometimes after reading one, I feel like I need to read something REALLY light and fluffy. Anyway, if you are a fan of the genre, you won't be disappointed here. Additional reviews from Kirkus, the New York Journal of Books, the Washington Times,  The New York Times and Publishers Weekly.

Child 44

My friend Anne Zald turned me on to Tom Rob Smith, and suggested I read this book first. It was so hard to read in places because I just knew things were going to go badly downhill for the characters, that I did what I seldom do...I read the last chapter to see how it turned out and then went back and finished the book. Some reviewers say the ending is too pat, but it allowed me to finish the book. It is set in post WWII Moscow for the most part; it's 1953 and Stalin has created a terrorist dictatorship masquerading as the Communist idealistic society. Everyone knows things are broken but no dares even think it, much less say it, lest the secret police take you away in the middle of the night and present you with the "evidence" that you are a traitor.   Our protagonist, "Leo Stepanovich Demidov, an M.G.B. officer with relentless ambition and an unquestioning nature" (NYT review) is called away from a major investigation to deal with the death of a fellow policeman's young son, Arkady. He resents not only being pulled into this thankless task, leaving the field of play in the big investigation to his competitor and enemy, but he must betray his colleague, who believes his son was murdered, in order to be loyal to the state. "It is not morally possible for Leo to contemplate such a question [murder]. As a loyal Soviet ideologue, he must believe that violent crime is a function of capitalist decadence. In a worker’s paradise only political-thought crimes matter. So unguarded children have nothing to fear. And Arkady’s story must be forgotten" (NYT review). As if this is not enough to threaten his status as a war hero and his career, he is then asked to investigate his own wife, Raisa. The dynamics between the two of the are truly complex, mainly because nobody is really honest about anything in Soviet Russia. Does he sacrifice her or protect her? You will find out the significance of the title eventually, but you will be filled with dread throughout the book. The Kafkaesque existence of the characters is reminiscent of those portrayed in novels dealing with North Korea (e.g., Inspector O series by James Church or Star of the North by David John). Additional reviews from The Guardian, Kirkus, The Telegraph. It was also made into a movie.

This is How It Always Is

This book by Laurie Frankel has a rather unexciting premise as its foundation, but I read it because my friend Joan Ward recommended it to me. It is the story of how one family copes when their youngest child decides at age 3 years that he would rather be a she. But that fails to convey what a beautifully written, loving, and compelling story this is.  You struggle along with the parents and the siblings as well as Claude/Poppy in trying to find the best path forward in a society that sees only "either/ or" rather than "and."
Rosie and Penn have a magical love for one another that seems to have begun before they even met. When first they get together, Penn is a struggling writer and Rosie is an ER resident. Penn sits in the ER waiting room every time Rosie has a shift--for hours at a time--just so he can talk with her on her breaks. He's working on a novel. When they marry, he becomes the stay-at-home parent. They have one boy, then two, and then four when twins are born, and in one final attempt for a daughter, they get Claude. But Claude really loves girl things--clothes, cooking, girlfriends--and Rosie and Penn are determined that they will support their wonderful child no matter what, so eventually he goes to pre-school in a skirt, wearing a pair of wings, and after some push back from his teacher, settles into being a girl with a penis. The other kids just don't care much at this stage. But of course that can't last. When a transgender college student is brought into the ER beaten and stabbed and dies, Rosie panics and decides Madison is not safe and they move to Seattle. Poppy becomes best friends with Aggie next door, and although Aggie's parents know about Claude/Poppy, they ask Rosie and Penn not to say anything to Aggie. And so the entire family guards this secret until it is no longer a secret. The next step Rosie takes to help her youngest is more dramatic. She volunteers to work at a clinic in rural Thailand and takes Claude/Poppy with her. Penn is the steady anchor at home, telling all his children a never ending Sheherazade-like fairy tale full of lessons for life. Their conversations and struggles as they try to figure out how best to help Claude/Poppy are achingly realistic. You will absolutely love every member of this family. Don't miss this thought provoking story. Reviews from The New York Times, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and the Star-Telegram. Received numerous best book of the year awards. Here is an interview with Laurie Frankel on NPR about being the parent of a transgender child.

Orphan Train

This historical novel by Christina Baker Kline is based on a "little known but historically significant moment in our country's past. Between 1854 and 1929 [i.e., 75 years!], so-called orphan trains transported more than two hundred thousand orphaned, abandoned, and homeless childrenn--many of whom, like the character in this book, were first generation Irish Catholic immigrants--from the coastal cities of the easter United States to the Midwest for 'adoption,' which often turned out to be indentured servitude." (from the Author's notes).
That is the backbone of the story which switches back and forth between a story taking place in 2011, Spruce Harbor, Maine and that taking place in Depression-era Minnesota. A young woman in foster care arranges to help an elderly widow sort through and clean out her attic as part of a community service agreement after she steals a library book. Native American seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer has been shuffled from one miserable situation to another ever since her father was killed in a car accident; her mother is a drug addict incapable of caring for herself, much less a daughter. Vivian Daly is an apparently wealthy white woman who appears to have a priveleged life. But as the two sort through the boxes and trunks of memories and memorabilia, Molly discovers that they have a lot in common. For Vivian, born Niamh, was orphaned by a tenement fire shortly after immigrating from Ireland. She was told her entire family perished in the fire, and she became a ward of the Children's Aid Society and was shipped off to take her chances in finding a new on in the Midwest. Both of these women will give something very valuable to the other. The metaphor of "portage"--carrying your belongings as you move through life--is a both a reality and a thought exercise that the two will share in their time together.
Highlights from her interview with NPR are here. Lots of good reviews, for example Kirkus, Publishers' Weekly, and Huffington Post.