The Middleman

This novel by Olen Steinhauer, author of numerous other political thrillers and the author behind the TV series "Berlin Station," presents us with a protest movement against the wealthy elite and the government (remember the Occupy movement?) called The Massive Brigade. Or are they more than that? FBI Rachel Proulx has been following terrorist groups and alarms go off for her when 400 + young adults just walk out of their lives on the same day, all over the country, leaving behind family, friends, jobs, cell phones, money and identities...and disappear without a word. Rachel has been tracking Martin Bishop, the leader of the group, for years, but can she convince her colleagues that there is a serious threat here before it's too late. Told alternately from her perspective as well as that from Kevin Moore, one of those who walked away. It gets hard to tell the good guys from the bad, probably an accurate depiction of our times. Interesting, but some of his other books have received stronger reviews and I might check them out. I'm already on the lookout for "Berlin Station."
Reviews from The New York Times, the Washington Post, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly.

The Darkest Minds

This YA novel by Alexandra Bracken was intended to be the first of a trilogy although it will possibly extend beyond that. It has been made into a movie, already. The premise is that a plague has wiped out most of America's children; the ones who survived have developed unusual powers--telekinesis, mind-reading, and other psychic abilities that scare the adults, who promptly turn their children over to authorities to be housed in "Rehabilitation Camps." Of course they are no such thing and, years after her incarceration, 16-year-old Ruby escapes with several others, all of whom are looking for a place where Psi children will be safe, the fabled East River. She hooks up with young Zu, whose touch burns, Chubb, a genius, and their leader, Liam. When they eventually find the refuge, it is led by the least likely person imaginable, the son of the President of the U.S. who created the camps. Ruby eventually begins to realize that not all is as it seems at their new home and doesn't know who to trust when everyone wants something from her. Here's the review from Publishers Weekly.

The Dry

Not to be confused with Dry, a YA novel I posted about earlier, this taut mystery--an inaugural outing by author Jane Harper--is set in the Outback of Australia, 5 hours from Melbourne where most people are sheep ranchers or farmers. Except there has been a drought for several years and what was once a deep and life-giving river through the town of Kiewarra has gone dry. Aaron Falk has returned after 20 years for the funeral of his childhood best friend, Luke Hadler, who is believed to have killed his wife and son and then himself. His baby daughter was left alive. But Luke's parents, who were more of a family to Aaron than his widowed father, just can't believe it, and they beg Aaron, a federal financial crimes investigator, to look further into the matter. The problem is, Aaron and his father were basically run out of town when Aaron and Luke's friend, Ellie, was found drowned in the river. A note was found with the word Falk written on it and people assumed either father or son had killed her. Luke provided Aaron an alibi, for which he was grateful until years later when Aaron began to realize that Luke's claim that they were together also provided an alibi for Luke. Now Aaron wonders just what Luke was capable of. He joins forces with the local police chief, who is relatively new on the job, and who doesn't quite buy the murder /suicide theory because some clues just aren't consistent with that scenario. Aaron must fight on two fronts--finding out what really happened to Luke and his family even though people in town just want to be done with it, and dealing with the ugly rumors and harassment which have been reignited by Ellie's drunken father and cousin. Are the deaths connected? And more importantly, will Aaron be able to ever find out what really happened to his friend Ellie and to Luke's family. Apparently the movie rights have already been optioned for this. There are two newer novels, Force of Nature (also featuring Aaron Falk) and The Lost Man, which will be released in the U.S. in February.
Lots of good reviews for this award-winning ( the CWA Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel, the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year, the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year and the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year) book from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and The New York Times.

House of Names

I've never read any books by Colm Tóibín although he has had several well-known ones, including Brooklyn, which was made into a movie. Still I was intrigued by the premise of the book and by the opening line: "I have been acquainted with the smell of death." This spoken by Clytemnestra, the wife of Agammemnon, who is one of the principle narrators of this novel about the ultimate dysfunctional family. Furious that her warring husband has tricked her and their beautiful daughter, Iphigenia, into coming to his camp with a lure of marriage to the hero Achilles, Clytemnestra finds instead that Agammemnon will humiliate and sacrifice his daughter to the gods in exchange for favorable winds for his fleet. Returning home, Clytemnestra takes up with her husband's cousin, Aegisthus, both as a lover and as a co-conspirator in her plan to murder Agammemnon upon his return. Daughter Electra is put into a dungeon while the deed is done and left there to cool her heels for a time to bring her into line. Clytemnestra never tells her about her sister's murder. Orestes is sent away with the sons of many of the local powerful families--kidnapped essentially to keep everyone in line as Clytemnestra and Aegisthus take over the throne. A big chunk of the book focuses on Orestes' escape with two of the other kidnapped boys who hide out in the country far from home for several years. When he returns, vengeful Electra tells Orestes of Agammemnon's murder and convinces him to help kill Clytemnestra and avenge their father...so the cycle continues. The story is rampant with whispers and ghosts.
While Tóibín is a compelling writer, I did not find this a satisfying story; however, it is the quintessential tragedy. Lengthy and laudatory reviews from NPR, The New York Times, The New Yorker, the Washington Post, and Kirkus.

Black Diamond

See the previous post, which is about Bruno, Chief of Police, the first in Martin Walker's Bruno series. This is the 3rd book in the series and some day, I will have to go back and read the 2nd, The Dark Vineyard. Bruno, who is honorifically titled Chief of Police for the French village of St. Denis, even though he is the only policeman in the village, is doing his shopping in the weekly farmers' market when several hoodlums race through on motorcycles and destroy the stall of a local Vietnamese family. Within days, an Asian restaurant in a nearby town is fire bombed. Then Bruno begins to get hints that the local truffle trade--the "black diamonds" that provide a multi-million dollar source of income for the region--is being threatened by substitutions from smuggled and inferior Chinese truffles. When his dear friend and truffle expert is brutally murdered, Bruno up to his ears in mysteries. But, as Bruno learns, his friend was also a former intelligence agent whose work may have made him a target, and there may be more important things being smuggled in from Asia than mushrooms. Once again, painful episodes from France's past, this time its colonial relationship with Vietnam, will surface and spoil the sense of a peaceful pastoral paradise. Bruno would really rather just focus on cooking, drinking wine, hunting truffles with his dog Gigi, playing and coaching rugby, and sorting out his "romances past (Isabelle of the Police Nationale), present (exotically English Pamela), and possibly future (needy single mother and research chemist Florence)."[from Publishers Weekly review]
As always, you'll want to add the Perigord region to your travel itinerary or at least go find the closest French bakery.  Additional reviews from Kirkus, The Independent, and the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Bruno, Chief of Police

I actually read this book by Martin Walker, the first of the Bruno series, some time back, but, having recently read another book in the series, I thought I should go back and fill in. Bruno Courrèges is the Chief of Police in the small town of St. Denis, in the Perigord region of France, known for foie gras and truffles. Bruno loves to cook and feed his friends. He raises animals on his little acreage and grows his own vegetables. He also plays on the local sports teams and coaches the youth soccer team. Most of the time, life is quiet in St. Denis and that's how he likes it, but he can call on a network of contacts when real trouble arises. An elderly ex-soldier who lived in the village has been found brutally tortured and murdered with a swastika carved into his chest. Because this is deemed a hate crime, competing police forces intercede and want to shut Bruno out of the investigation. Bruno however is good at skirting the national authorities and begins to think this crime has its roots in WWII and especially in a group called the Milice. According to Wikipedia, the Milice:
"was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy regime (with German aid) to help fight against the French Resistance during World War II. The Milice's formal head was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, although its Chief of operations and de facto leader was Secretary General Joseph Darnand. It participated in summary executions and assassinations, helping to round up Jews and résistants in France for deportation....The Milice was the Vichy regime's most extreme manifestation of fascism....The Milice frequently used torture to extract information or confessions from those whom they interrogated. The French Resistance considered the Milice more dangerous than the Gestapo and SS because they were native Frenchmen who understood local dialects fluently, had extensive knowledge of the towns and countryside, and knew local people and informants."
Bruno also uses his local knowledge to flush out possible motives for murder. As The New York Times says in its review of Walker's 2nd installment in the series, The Dark Vineyard, Bruno works with "great discretion, circulating so quietly and tactfully among his neighbors that his interviews are more like friendly visits. It’s a wonderful detection method and an even cannier literary strategy, allowing Walker to pursue the plot of his mystery while beguiling the reader with extended scenes of village market days, old-fashioned wine harvests and some exceptionally congenial dinner parties." Of course, uncovering this information exposes some dark aspect of France's history, a marked contrast to the seemingly idyllic presentation of St. Denis. Nevertheless, you'll find yourself wanting to go there or at least enjoy some French cuisine.  Read this article in the NYT for some insights on the village and cuisine which so richly embellish these books.

City of Stairs

I recently read another book by Robert Jackson Bennett, Foundryside, and liked it so well that I decided to jump into his "Divine Cities" trilogy. I do love the main characters, Shara Thivani and Sigrud, Shara's so-called secretary, who Shara refers to as “a hammer in a world of nails.” But I felt a little overwhelmed by the rather complex geography and accompanying rash of place names. As in Foundryside, there is a mix of magic and technology that lends the book a somewhat steampunk aura, and once again the protagonist is a small, seemingly unpretentious woman--yay for that. Shara has been sent to the Continental city of Bulikov, presumably as an assistant cultural ambassador from the now ruling country of Saypur, to investigate the murder of Shara's friend and mentor and an eminent historian of the Continent, Dr. Efrem Pangyui. At one time the Continent was ruled by six Divinities and was the dominant power in the world, cruelly treating Saypur as a poor and backward colony. But the tables turned when one of Saypur's own, the Kaj, discovered a way to kill the Divinities; Saypur went to war with the Continent and when the Divinities died or fled, everything collapsed. After the "Blink," everything the gods had helped magically create disintegrated. Architecture, culture, the economy, and life as the population knew it are gone. Now Saypur calls the shots and no one is allowed to discuss any aspect of the Divinities or the Continent's history. But Shara is not  really a cultural ambassador; she is a spy--and one who is 2nd only to Dr. Pangyui in her knowledge of the Divinities and Continental history. And the gods may not all be dead, although perhaps not as all powerful as once imagined. And the population of Bulikov is not necessarily going to take the status quo lying down. Worst of all, Shara may have been betrayed by those she trusted the most. This is an incredibly complex storyline and sometimes it felt like it just went on too long. Nevertheless, it is a remarkable work of world building and once you get into it, you'll want to keep going.
By all means go read this nice summary by a reviewer for NPR. Here's a review from Kirkus, one from The New York Times, and from Publishers Weekly.

Wings of Fire

The second installation of Charles Todd's Inspector Ian Rutledge series finds our still struggling (see A Test of Wills post) still struggling with his shell shock and his ghost of guilt, Hamish MacLeod. Rutledge is sent to Cornwall to investigate the apparent double suicide of a reclusive invalid and her half-brother at their manor home. Although he soon learns that this woman was the famous poet O.A. Manning, whose poetry about the horrors of war--as well as about the desires of love-- helped keep Rutledge sane in the trenches, there doesn't seem anything suspicious about the deaths of the elderly siblings--that is until one of the heirs to the estate suddenly dies. As he investigates, Rutledge finds that there are a series of unsolved deaths and disappearances in the Trevelyan family. Tormented by Hamish's voice in his head, Rutledge decides to listen instead of trying to ignore it and uses these ideas instead to help him solve the crime. He must untangle a complex web of family dynamics and relationships in order to discover who is so desperate to inherit the manor, and in the process he may learn more about the woman who wrote such profoundly powerful poetry. Evocative setting, well-developed characters and a twisty plot will draw you in. Reviews from Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus.

A Test of Wills

This is the first in Charles Todd's (pseudonym of a mother & son writing team) Inspector Ian Rutledge series. Just a year after returning from The Great War, Rutledge has returned to his position at Scotland Yard, but not to his previous life. He is burdened with the guilt and ghost of a soldier he executed for cowardice on the front lines by the name of Hamish MacLeod. Additionally, Rutledge was buried alive in a suicidal last charge and suffers shell shock (now we call it PTSD), which he keeps secret. Persecuted by a cruel and manipulative superior at Scotland Yard, Rutledge is barely holding it together when he is sent off to investigate the death of retired Army colonel, Charles Harris. The villagers want to point the finger at a local trouble maker, Bert Mavers, but what little evidence there is points in another direction entirely--to Capt. Mark Wilton, the fiancé of Col. Harris' ward, Lettice. In a seemingly unrelated situation, the daughter of one of the villagers has suddenly become mute and Rutledge begins to think that whatever the child witnessed is somehow connected to the murder. Rich settings and characterization as well as clever plotting make this an engaging read. I actually decided to start  this series from the beginning after reading the newest installment, No Shred of Evidence.

Reviews available from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and The New York Times.

The Fifth Petal

This is a compelling read from Brunonia Barry set in current day Salem, MA. Here is the summary from the book jacket:
"When a teenage boy dies suspiciously on Halloween night, Salem's chief of police, John Rafferty wonders if there is a connection between his death and a notorious cold case, a triple homicide dubbed "The Goddess Murders," in which three young women, all descended from accused Salem witches, were slashed on Halloween night in 1989. He finds unexpected help in Callie Cahill, the daughter of one of the victims newly returned to town."
Callie was actually present when her mother and two other women were murdered, but she was hiding in some bushes and didn't see anything. She wasn't found until the next morning when nuns at a nearby convent heard her screams.  The title refers to an older style of crucifix with a 5-petaled rose which was clutched in the child's hand. Callie subsequently alternated between a series of foster homes and a home run by the nuns who told her that the woman who saved her had also died. Rose Whelan was a reknowned historian with expertise in the Salem witch trials; she was also a sort of stand-in grandmother who Callie and her mother had lived with. After the murders, however, she has became the local crazy bag lady, who believes she is harboring (bodily) the spirit of an evil banshee. When the present day murder occurs, Rose is blamed and the press about the event brings Callie back to Salem where she reconnects with Rose, who has been placed into a psychiatric unit at the hospital. Callie needs to solve the murder so that anti-witch hysteria does not take any more victims.
This is a well-researched book--5 years in the writing--skillfully blended with a multi-generational cast of characters and a complex plot. Lots of magic as well as ordinary human drama. I did not read the previous book involving these characters called The Lace Reader, but the story did not suffer as a result. Reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and an interview with The National Book Review.

Spinning Silver

I am so far behind on posting books I have read that I am a bit daunted, but here goes. This is the newest fantasy book by Naomi Novik; I've posted about Her Majesty's Dragon and Uprooted previously. Billed by the New York Times as a "brilliant" retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairly tale,
but so much more. They go on to summarize:
"Here Naomi Novik has gathered countless old tales and turned them into something all kinds of new. The theft of summer, a burning demon who lives inside a prince, a witch’s hut in the woods, the secret power of names, the frozen winter road that winds its way through the depths of the forest — they’re all here." It's a glowing review that includes a note about the value of fairy tales in troubled times.
Our protagonists are all strong female characters, which is a big recommendation from my perspective. Miryem is the daughter of a highly unsuccessful moneylender in a small village where her family is reviled and others all live better than they do, even though it's often on money borrowed from Miryem's father. As the family teeters on destitution's doorstep, she takes matters into her own hands and begins collecting the money owed her father, unfortunately bringing her to the attention of the King of Winter. He challenges her 3 times to turn his silver into gold. Our other heroines are Wanda, neighbor to Miryem's family, who struggles to free herself and her two brothers from an abusive alcoholic father, and Irina, the unloved daughter of a duke who is scheming to get access to the throne. Their efforts will come together as they each endeavor to save themselves as well as the ones they love from not only immediate threats, but from a threat to humanity. Additional reviews from NPR, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly... all of them glowing! Highly recommended read.

What Angels Fear

This is the first in the "Sebastian St. Cyr" mysteries by C.S. Harris (pseudonym for Candice Proctor); I read the 13th installment, Why Kill the Innocent, sometime back and wanted to start at the beginning. This series is set in Regency-era England; according to Wikipedia (and we know they are 100% reliable), this period lasted "from 1795 to 1837, which includes the latter part of the reign of George III and the reigns of his sons George IV and William IV, ... characterised by distinctive trends in British architecture, literature, fashions, politics, and culture." In this first installment, the "Mad King" George III is imminently (1811) to be replaced by a Regent, Prince George, who will eventually become King George IV in 1820. We also meet our protagonist, the 3rd and only surviving son of the head of the Exchequer, Lord Devlin. We learn he had worked for British Army intelligence (England is still at war with Napoleon) and has seen too many horrors to retain any positive views of humanity. Nevertheless, he has his own code of behavior, and when an actress, Rachel York, is brutally murdered, he undertakes to find the killer, not only because he is falsely charged with the crime, but because no one else seems to care.  Politics and behind-the-scenes struggles for power play a role when the King's right hand man, Lord Jarvis, insists that Sebastian (Viscount Devlin) be apprehended and convicted, even though the arresting magistrate has his doubts about Sebastian's guilt. Using his skills gained as an intelligence agent, his unique inherited abilities resulting from Bithil Syndrome*, the resourcefulness  of a resilient street urchin named Tom, and the insider information provided by former lover and current actress Kat Boleyn, Sebastian eventually figures out who the real killer is. But it may be too late to save himself. You can read an excerpt on Harris's web site. Great read for lovers of historical fiction, mysteries and Anglophiles.

* According to an author's note, Bithil Syndrome is a "little-known but very real genetic mutation found in certain families of Welsh descent [which]...is marked by astonishingly acute eyesight and hearing, and an abnormal sensitivity to light that allows those with this genetic variation to see clearly in the dark. Other characteristics of the syndrome include extraordinarily quick reflexes, a mis-shapen vertebra in the lower back, and yellow eyes..."

Foundryside

Robert Jackson Bennett has created a world, Tevanne, with elements of steampunk, dominated by several large and powerful commercial houses that control everything through mechanized magic. Using a process called "scriving,"  they make objects think they are something other than they are, i.e., it can alter the reality of things. Heavy things think they are light, stationary things think they are falling from great heights. But what if you scrived a human being. Could you make them think they are fearless, invincible, brilliant? Of course such a thing would be strictly forbidden if there were actually any laws, but such efforts have been secretly ongoing for decades in laboratories on remote colonies. Slaves are used up as experimental subjects and so far no one has succeeded. Or have they? Our protagonist, Sancia Grado, is a scrawny, underfed but extraordinarily accomplished young thief living in the slums that surround the great commercial houses. She has been hired by her fence to steal something that will give her enough money to get the metal plate out of her head that causes her searing pain in response to touch, light, sound--in fact, almost any sensation. But it also allows her to hear scrived devices murmuring and to understand everything about them when she touches them. Hence her success as a thief. She can find every nook, cranny, or hole through which to slip, and can hear the presence of anyone coming through touching a floor, a wall...
But things go awry and she accidentally starts a huge fire at the docks in the process of the theft. And when she opens the small box she stole--strictly against orders--she finds it contains an elaborate key that can talk to her. She names him Clef. But Clef was probably made by an ancient race of magicians who had achieved nearly god-like powers, and people are willing to kill to own him. So Sancia is on the run not only from the head of Tevanne's new security force but also from someone who wants to up-end the balance of power in Foundryside. This is an elaborate and well-crafted world with empathy-worthy characters and an elaborate and compelling plot. This is supposedly the opener for a new series. Bennett has also written the "Divine Cities" trilogy and several stand alone novels, I just started the first book in his previous trilogy, City of Stairs.

Murder Past Due

Doesn't get any better than this for a light cozy read: a cool Maine Coon cat, libraries, authors! First time I have read any of this "Cat in the Stacks" series by Miranda James (one of Dean James' pseudonyms), but I will definitely read more any time I want a little reprieve from the heavy stuff. This is the first in the series and we meet part-time university archivist, Charlie Harris and his rescued Maine Coon cat, Diesel. Charlie's wife as well as his dearest aunt both died a couple of years ago and so Diesel is his primary companion; he takes him everywhere, including walking him on a leash to work at the small university in Athena, Mississippi. When Aunt Dottie died, Charlie inherited her beautifully maintained old house and her house-keeper, Azalea, whose daughter, Kanesha Berry, is the Sheriff in charge of the investigation when a best-selling author and former classmate of Charlie's, Godfrey Priest, is murdered. Godfrey grew up in Athena and was always a jerk. He's still arrogant and rude but has just found out that he has a son by a woman he had a short affair with 19 years ago. That son, Justin Wardlow, turns out to be boarding with Charlie during his frehsman year at college. Between Justin's mom, Julia, and Azalea, who asks Charlie to help her daughter, Charlie gets involved with the investigation. And as Charlie learns more about Godfrey's life, the pool of suspects continues to grow; it seems that just about everybody in town has a reason to hate Godfrey Priest. Credible plotting, interesting characters, and authentic setting all add up to an enjoyable read.