Camp Zero

This is another science fiction book by an author I have not previously encountered, Michelle Min Sterling. Kirkus offers this summary:

"It’s 2049, and 25-year-old Rose accepts a dangerous assignment from Damien, her master-of-the-universe boss, who promises that she and her mother will be set with income and housing for life in a precarious, ever warming world if she succeeds. On her mission, she’ll continue as a sex worker alongside five other women while keeping an eye on Damien’s interests in a new, secretive project. Meanwhile, Grant Grimley just wants to escape the reach of his family’s vast wealth, a legacy created from centuries of extraction. He accepts a teaching job that guarantees to get him off the grid. Rose and Grant, both Americans, arrive at a camp in the Canadian wilderness, a frigid frontier of sorts, where a renowned architect seeks to build a refuge from climate catastrophe. Not too far off, a group of women—American soldiers and scientists—is creating a sanctuary of their own to survive an imperiled planet. It's a smart setup. The author has imagined an array of futuristic ideas stemming from our present, including a next-generation smartphone that’s implanted as a chip behind people's ears at birth and a Floating City off Boston’s shores where the elite live in bliss while the rest of the population deals with worsening hurricanes and wildfires." They are not ringingly positive about the book but do conclude by saying, "the book has a soul that generates momentum. It’s committed to the bonds of family, the ones we are born into and the ones we choose, as a way forward in an increasingly chaotic world. A love letter to what communities of women can accomplish when they work in concert."

There are several plot lines and hidden motives of the characters that are revealed as the narrative moves forward. The Toronto Star concludes their review by praising the author's "powerful storytelling, the vividness of her vision, and her creation of a world which will likely haunt your dreams."

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

This book by Becky Chambers was recommended by my friend Joan Starr Ward and is the first in the "Wayfarer" series which has 3 sequels. Chambers was turned down by every publisher she tried and so self-funded the publication of this book through a Kickstarter campaign. The book became widely popular, winning numerous awards including the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2016. Several of her subsequent books have won writing awards including a Hugo Award for the "Wayfarer" series.

It's set in the future, after humans have made the earth uninhabitable and fled the planet to Mars and beyond. In their desperation, humans appeal to sentient beings from other planets to help and protect them. The interplanetary council agrees but with some loudly dissenting voices noting that humans cannot contribute much to the common good. 

Rosemary Harper is trying to escape the associative scandal attached to her father who was a very wealthy man on Mars. He has been tried and found guilty of selling arms to hostile species and is now in jail. She joins the crew of a somewhat ratty ship called Wayfarer which takes assignments to punch wormhole shortcuts of one area of space to another. The crew is diverse and, welcomes Rosemary--with a couple of exceptions. She is charged with all the business aspects of the ship's activities: lining up orders, keeping track of the accounts, etc. Rosemary is quickly adjusting to life in space until the captain presents them with a new job possibility. It is highly risky but will make then enough money to make the ship able to take more lucrative jobs in the future or they could choose never to work again. The vote is put to the crew and they agree. Rosemary is not so sure as danger is not what she signed up for.

Chambers is noted by reviewers as a great world builder and comprehensive character and species developer. The Guardian says, "A quietly profound, humane tour de force that tackles politics and gender issues with refreshing optimism." Other reviewers have called it "wonderfully imaginative and quirky," "brilliantly realized," "joyously written," and "perfect."

Murder Your Employer: McMasters Guide to Homicide, Vol. 1

The sub-sub-title is "From the Chronicles of Dean Harbinger Harrow, The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, Dean of Admissions and Confessions, Professor Emeritus, Department of Arts and Blackmail Letters, Senior Fellow, International Guild of Murderists."

As you might have guessed from the lengthy title, Rupert Holmes' book is a send up of an elite private academy that seeks to turn out the "well-rounded" as well as successful "deletist."  They only accept people who have a righteous reason for wanting someone dead. I am copying the Library Journal's review because I think it well captures the flavor and plot of the book.

"Holmes ... is a gifted wordsmith whose latest is a top-notch read that both entertains and amuses. Many have fantasized about killing their boss, but few feel adequate to do the job. The sole purpose of the McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts is training students to dispose of odious employers and get away scot-free. The school stresses that the task must only be committed after you have given your intended victim every chance at redemption, This delightfully wicked tale chronicles the adventures of three students: Cliff blames his former boss for the death of a woman he loved; nurse Gemma is being blackmailed by her superior; and film star Doria has been put on the back burner by a vengeful studio executive. The three are schooled in everything from poisons to disguises ... As the story line deliciously unfolds, the three aspiring killers study hard and reenter the world with their "deletion plans" ready. Told in alternating chapters among the three students, as well as narration by the school's charming dean, the book's satisfying conclusion is just as delightful as its premise. VERDICT An amusing and cheeky tale with excellent pacing replete with droll observations." 

Publishers Weekly says of this book, "his farcical plotting, idiosyncratic characters, and witty, stylish prose combine for a fun, frothy read." Booklist characterizes it as  s"somewhat dense thriller [which] is delightfully dark and compelling...Perfect for readers looking for something very different." Kirkus offers a more nuanced review: "There are a lot of genres happening at once in this novel. The debt to British boarding school stories is obvious, although the vibe is very different when the students aren’t adolescents ... but, rather, full-grown adults playing water polo and enjoying sumptuous meals as they learn best practices for taking lives without getting caught. The journeys of Cliff, Dulcie, and Gemma unfold like mysteries in reverse. And, while the story is set in the 1950s, the plot and dialogue are much indebted to the screwball comedies of the 1930s."

Going Zero

Award-winning screenwriter (as in The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Two Popes) Anthony McCarten's novel grabs onto current technology issues to create an engaging thriller. In a potentially unholy alliance, the software company run by the erratic genius Cy Baxter has offered to sell the U.S. government--for a tidy $90 billion-- a surveillance software, Fusion, that can find anyone anywhere in the world. As a beta test, 10 civilians are chosen to become contestants in a cat and mouse game where they must remain at large without capture for 30 days in order to win the $3 million prize. Once the contest begins, they will have 2 hours to disappear. When contestant Zero 10, librarian Kaitlyn Day, is caught on a ATM camera on the first day, Baxter is annoyed that she didn't provide a greater challenge. But the capture team fails to find her and after 3 weeks, she is the only one of the 10 who has not been found. But Kaitlyn, we later learn, has an agenda that has nothing to do with money. She wants  Fusion to find her husband who went missing, supposedly in Iran, over three years ago. In exchange, she won't tell the government any of Fusion's less laudatory plans for for the partnership. The plot is full of surprises and contextualizes the action within current concerns about privacy, surveillance, and artificial intelligence. 

Kirkus praises "This is a curious type of thriller, with sparse violence and no outright villains. The excitement is in the chase, which builds steadily. Is Zero 10 going to screw up their proof-of-concept software? The complications build, and the reader had better pay attention....This well-written yarn proves that you don't have to have a blood bath to have an engaging thriller." Publishers Weekly calls it "... an edgy, compulsively readable thriller."

The Measure

This book by Nikki Erlick was another recommendation from the B & N sales person. It's an indictment of human behavior and very relevant to the present time even though it is based on a fantastical event. One morning in March, "every adult on earth suddenly seemed to be sharing the same surreal experience, the ubiquity of the boxes both a terror and a relief." They woke to find a small box with their name on it and the inscription "The measure of your life lies within." Eventually, it is verified that the piece of string in each box indicates when a person will die and, as data accumulates, the scientists are able to determine exactly which month and in which year the person will die. Some people choose never open their box. Many are traumatized to find their piece of string is much shorter than they would wish. But most fascinating and provocative are the reactions of society to people who have the short strings. Would you open the box? When interviewed on the Today show, Erlick said the book "was inspired by the Greek myth about three old women spinning threads of human destiny." Holding a masters degree in global thought from Columbia University, and after visiting a dozen countries in 3 years, Erlick said in another interview "The emphasis on the interconnectedness of the world is something I took with me and put into this book...I had all these different characters and I knew I wanted to create a sense that even in our loneliest, most isolated moments — like when I was writing in quarantine — we’re still connected as humans. Our lives touch other lives even if we don’t actively see it happening.”

There are eight characters, each of whom have their own chapters interspersed throughout. This is a bit hard to track at first, but, as we get to know them and watch how Erlick begins to weave their lives together, we can walk in their shoes for a bit. Several reviewers call the book "life-affirming" and "utterly original." Jenna Bush, the host of the Today Show's book club says about her July pick, "I know it sounds like a book about death but really it’s a book about how we choose to live.”

Spoiler alert: the origin of the boxes is never explained.

Modesty Blaise

This book was recommended by an author who said it had been one of the major influences on her writing. Peter O'Donnell began writing this series in the mid-60's based on a comic strip he scripted from 1963 until 2001. It was at about the same time that Ian Fleming introduced the world to James Bond. Modesty is like a female version of James Bond but comes from a very different background. Orphaned at a young age and scratching out a living in the Middle East doing whatever would put food in her mouth made her tough. As she got older, she began using her intelligence and beauty to manipulate those with power until she became powerful in her own right--as a criminal boss with "employees" all over the world. I bought the 50th anniversary reprint of the first in the series of 13 books featuring Modesty and her loyal lieutenant, Willie Garvin. Modesty has technically retired from the "business" after attaining enough money to live on the rest of her life in the style to which she had become accustomed. But she is pressured into undertaking an assignment for British Intelligence when they tell her that Willie has been caught and is imprisoned by rebels in some unnamed country, where is due to be executed. Complete with gadgets, car chases and glamour, this series has been called "seminal" in British crime novels (Crime Time). Several movies were made based on his books and although O'Donnell never had a website, there is an authorized site, https://www.modestyblaiseltd.com/, which expands on his work. There is a more detailed "biography" of Modesty in Wikipedia. A list of the Modesty Blaise books, in order, is here.

Lessons in Chemistry

Recommended by a clerk at Barnes & Noble some months ago and by a book group member more recently, I finally read this debut novel by Bonnie Garmus. Elizabeth Zott is a talented chemistry student in 1960's southern California who is raped by her professor and drops out because, who would take her word for the event over a professor's. She takes a job as a chemist at a research institute where she endures the disdain and harassment of her male colleagues--all except one, Nobel contender Calvin Evans. He recognizes her brilliance and encourages her and they eventually fall in love and move in together. Elizabeth finds out she is pregnant shortly after she loses Calvin and then is fired from her job because of the stigma of a pregnancy out of wedlock.  The single father of her daughter Madeline's friend learns that his daughter has been eating Madeline's lunches because they are so delicious and persuades the unemployed Elizabeth to host a TV cooking show. Elizabeth agrees but defies every aspect of what the station owner wants in the show. She won't wear the frilly apron; she wears a lab coat. After all, cooking is chemistry and she is tired of women being talked down to. Unexpectedly, Elizabeth's show becomes wildly popular, gets syndicated and money is no longer a problem. In the end, Elizabeth is helped by another behind the scenes woman who helps her get some satisfying revenge. The mood is often lightened by the thoughts of Elizabeth's dog, Six-Thirty.

Publishers Weekly calls the book a "feminist fairy tale" that lacks depth, while Booklist claimed it was a "thoroughly engaging debut novel." The New York Times reviewer raves that it's "irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel. It reminds you that change takes time and always requires heat....How, exactly, she was cheated out of a doctorate and lost the love of her life — Calvin Evans, a kindred scientist, expert rower and the father of her daughter, Madeline — are central elements in the story, but feminism is the catalyst that makes it fizz like hydrochloric acid on limestone." Likewise, Kirkus offers "Two chemists with major chemistry, a dog with a big vocabulary, and a popular cooking show are among the elements of this unusual compound...A more adorable plea for rationalism and gender equality would be hard to find."