The Whistler by John Grisham

Still a week left of my captivity and two weeks (cross fingers) left of my restrictions.  I cannot wait to be free!  I also have no heat right now, so I'm bundled up like I'm living in Alaska or Canada.  Long story short, our pellet stove died and our oil delivery isn't coming until Thursday.  So not only am I bored, I'm cold!

Under a blankie, I read this book in about 5 hours.  It is a definite page turner!  It was on a "best of" list from Amazon (though I can't recall which at the moment) and the Piantino/Allingtown branch of WHPL had it.

On a related note, my son is obsessed with Grisham's Theodore Boone series right now.  I posted a pic on FB of the two books side by side.  Yeah, dorky Mom moment.

Anyway, I found the description really interesting as it related to Indian/Tribal gaming.  Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods (and others planned) did not just magically plop from the sky.  They were the result of years of court cases and political wrangling.  I think most of you know by now I'm part Penobscot and interested in Tribal/government relations past and present.

Lacy is a member of a Florida investigative unit addressing ethics complaints against judges.  The case that falls into her lap (and that of her partner Hugo) will literally blow apart Brunswick County--from the judicial system to the Tappacola casino to the resorts surrounding it to local strip clubs and bars.  A tangled web of local mafia, corrupt judges, and greedy tribal leaders is about to unravel.  Problem is, without the casino, the Tappacola fall back to hard times.  The surrounding area's economy dies.

So the question becomes--turn a blind eye and prosper?  Or do the right thing and face financial ruin?  Is it right to hurt the innocent to incarcerate the guilty?

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Sting by Sandra Brown

Still home.  Still bored.

As you've read before here, romance isn't really my thing, but I am a sucker for Nora Roberts.  A colleague told me if I liked Roberts, I should check out Sandra Brown.  I kinda nodded my head and smiled and forgot about it.  I don't actively seek out romance because I tend to roll my eyes as I'm reading.  BUT, I happen to see Sting on the Amazon best of lists I was checking out and figured why not?  I'm already bored senseless, so how bad can it be?  I put in the request, not expecting it quickly due to the budget cuts I mentioned in the last post.  But it was ready in just a few days.

Okay, so....

I am in love with Sandra Brown's writing.  It was way more suspense and thriller than romance.  The sexual scenes were not overly graphic nor eye roll worthy.  This is more an adult book, so we won't be adding it to the LMC collection, but for my romance or suspense/thriller fans, this is worth requesting at WHPL.

Jordie is the sister of a snitch.  Her brother ratted out a financial criminal to the federal government.  As revenge, Billy Panella puts out a hit on Josh's big sister.  Shaw Kinnard, on his first job with a well known assassin, is ready to kill Jordie as she leaves a bar....

And that's where I'm stopping.  Because there are so many twists and turns (and a few really big HOLY SHI...I mean, GUACAMOLE moments), I do not want to spoil anything or even give away hints!

I am ending my post here and going to fill my 5 request slots with more Sandra Brown books.

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Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

Yep, still stuck at home.  I ventured to Walmart and Stop & Shop today so hubs didn't buy anything that wasn't on the list.  Even that is enough to tire me out.  Really wishing I had my strength back.

I went to Amazon and looked at some of their "best of 2016" lists.  Unfortunately, due to cuts at the state library, patrons can now only reserve 5 books at a time at WHPL.  Also, NEW items from other libraries will not be used for interlibrary loan anymore!  So I have a list in my phone notes and as I get one item off my holds list, I add another to make 5.  One of those requests came in and this, a book on my list, was on display, so I grabbed it too.

I'm a fan of Coben's writing and have reviewed some of his books here before.

Maya is a (forced) retired military helicopter pilot.  She married Joe (and into serious money), and they have a daughter together.  While she is deployed, her sister Claire is murdered in what seems to be a horrific, but random, home invasion.  Not long after Maya returns home, she and her husband are mugged, again seemingly randomly, and Joe is shot dead.

What is not so random is that Joe and Claire were killed with the same gun.

So who is behind the murders?  Joe's rich and snobby mother?  His mentally unstable little sister?  His younger brother, now poised to take over their company? An Assange-like truth crusader?  Someone from Maya or Joe's not-so-innocent pasts?

I am serious in saying this was a page turner.  I intended it to last me through this snow storm.  Nope, I read late into last night because I couldn't put it down.  And I really was surprised at the truth and then an even bigger plot twist.

Definitely a read and at our public library (well, it will be once we dig out of white mess).

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Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu

I'm still at home.  Still not allowed to do anything but walk 30 minutes.  Still bored as all get out.

I typically stay away from books where it's clear children are going to be hurt.  I am a parent and an educator, so I simply can't stomach it.  It's why I always gave the page numbers and said it was OK to skip the rape scene in The Bluest Eye.  But when this came in from Follett on our fiction subscription, I was interested in the bond that forms between characters as a result of trauma.

It is often weird how people are drawn together.  JonBenet Ramsey's father and Natalie Holloway's mother had a brief romance.  My now husband gave me a ride home after some fool went down Noble Street and smashed every car window, including mine and the rest is history.

In this story, two boys are kidnapped four years apart.  The older boy and sister of the younger boy form a friendship that helps them heal.  The description on the inside cover was enough to get me to try reading this.

Let's not sugar coat things.  Ethan and Dylan are sexually molested, but it is never described in any detail.  We can infer from Ethan's regressive memory sessions what happened.  I'd still say to be cautious in reading this book if anything I've typed so far might be a trigger for you.

Ethan and Caroline, Dylan's older sister, form a bond as she tried to figure out what happened to her brother.  Dylan is non-verbal autistic.  He was gone for several days, while Ethan had been gone 4 years.  Ethan is Caroline's only hope to help Dylan recover.

The book is also a commentary on our healthcare system.  Ethan's parents are wealthy.  His father is a dentist.  They can afford not one but two therapists.  Caroline and Dylan live near poverty.  Their father is a cheating loser who refuses to help with his son.  Their mother seems absent mentally as well.  They cannot afford proper care for Dylan, whether for his autism or therapy after he is returned.  Caroline feels it is her responsibility to help Dylan.

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Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

Hello loves!  Perhaps you've noticed I haven't been in the WHHS LMC this week.  I had urgent surgery Monday morning and will be out until 1/23.  Ms. Boyke will be filling in for me.

I saw the preview for the movie version of this book when we went to see Inferno.  As you know, it's my rule to read the book first.  I thought, based on the movie preview, it was a true story, however it is fiction.  It is written in such a way that makes it feel like it really happened.

A group of soldiers in Iraq have their actions filmed by a TV crew.  These young men go from nobodies to national heroes, simply because what they were doing was captured on film and broadcast.  Billy and his comrades are coming home to parties and accolades he doesn't feel they deserve, including recognition at a Dallas Cowboys game.

This book is about what many of soldiers face upon returning home from war.  Billy has no choice but to keep his emotions inside because he has been thrust upon a national stage for doing his sworn duty, one he might not agree with in totality.  While some soldiers get interviews, bridges or parks named after them, school assemblies, or some such publicity, many return home to find their homes in foreclosure, medical care out of reach (look at recent articles about our own VA hospital right here in West Haven), friends and family who have moved on without them, nightmares that never go away....

We will be putting this novel on our wish list for next autumn.

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Happy Holidays!  See you all very soon!

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

I could NOT get into this!

I picked this up on a whim at WHPL when picking up Without Mercy.  It was on display and the jacket I read while waiting in line sounded intriguing.

I've tried to read this since writing the review for the Jefferson Bass novel.  I pick it up and put it down.  Finally, I am giving it up about 1/3 of the way in.  It pains me to do so, but as I tell all of my students, sometimes it just isn't doing it for you, no matter how your thing you think the book was going to be!

Paraphrased from the jacket: an opera singer in Paris is given the chance of a lifetime--the leading role in a new production, claimed to be written just for her voice.  But Lilliet knows the truth--this opera is based on her real life and there are very few people who know the truth to divulge it to this writer/composer.

I really wanted to like this, but I found Lilliet tiresome and her supporting characters boring.

A no from me.

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Without Mercy by Jefferson Bass

I've reviewed another Body Farm novel by the writing team of Jefferson Bass here before (Breaking Point).  I've really liked all the Body Farm novels except one.

Now, having finished this last night, I'm of the opinion this will be the final book in the series.  The villain of the very first book in the sequence (not the series, as it was a prequel) returns to exact revenge on Dr. Bill Bass.  Bass is aging, showing signs of forgetfulness, and out of touch with the latest technologies, even those in his own field.  Miranda, his graduate assistant, has completed her dissertation, earned her PhD, and been offered a job with the FBI.  The acknowledgements also allude to the finality of the series after 10 years and multiple novels.

Without Mercy is a frightening look at racial and religious relations right now in our country.  Obviously written before the election campaigns took off in earnest, I don't think the authors knew just how bad it was going to get.  Just this morning, the New Haven Register posted a story about a hate letter sent to our local Muslim organization.

This was a very quick read that kept me engaged for 3 hours straight.  I couldn't put it down.  That being said, it's really necessary to read the others first to understand the relationships between all the characters in this (final) novel.

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