vol.2 no.11

Volume 2 # 11

All books reviewed here are recommended. Please, always keep in mind that the only books that appear on this page are ones that I liked enough to write about. For every book reviewed here I have usually read two that I would not want to inflict on anyone.

Happy reading,

Literary Fiction
What Girls Learn
Karin Cook
Pantheon 0679448284

Tilden and Elizabeth her slightly younger sister move North when their mama Frances falls in love with Nick, a stable man with a good work ethic who really wants to take care of the family. Unfortunately as the girls are entering adolescence Frances is starting a fight with breast cancer.

Readers of Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg may enjoy this sad coming of age tale replete with dark foreboding.

Science Fiction/Militaristic
Patriots
David Drake
Tor 0812590848

Fresh out of law school, Mark Lucius-son Maxwell wants adventure on the frontier so he heads out for the farthest reaches of civilization. On a muddy rain drenched way station he runs into trouble and is rescued by the larger than life Yerby Bannock who tells him about the real frontier to be found on Greenwood. Accompanying Yerby and his beautiful sister to their pioneering planet Mark soon falls for both the planet and the girl. Powers on Earth want Greenwood for housing project-like high density residences so Yerby and Mark take up the cause to keep their planet undeveloped.

Good rousing adventure based loosely on Ethan Allen's exploits with the Green Mountain Boys during the American Revolution.

Young Adult/Short Stories/Humorous/Coming of Age
Doing Time: Notes from the Undergrad
Rob Thomas
Simon & Schuster 0689809581

Rob Thomas proves with this newest book, set at the same high school as Slave Day, that he is an established talent. His fabulous debut novel Rats Saw God has been on my short list of favorites since it came out. In Doing Time, the lives of several students are examined as they try to do their required community service time. The tales, all excellent, range from poignant to laugh out loud funny. Thomas realistically captures a variety of teens personalities. Teen reviewer extraodinaire Adam Balutis has consented to have his review added to the Quick Picks page.

Young Adult/Historical Fiction/Holocaust
The Broken Mirror
Kirk Douglas
Simon & Schuster 0689814933

When Moishe is liberated from a concentration camp, he tells the Americans he is a Gypsy, trying to leave behind all the painful memories surrounding the holocaust and the loss of his family. In America he remains unhappy finding that abandoning his faith did not allow him to leave his grief behind.

Surprising well done, this is a different take on this saturated area of history. Moishe/Danny is realistically drawn.

Young Adult/Suspense/Stalkers
Before She Wakes
T.J. Bradstreet
Avon 0380783150

Kate's visit to her older half sister is disturbed by a bizarre neighbor who is obsessed with Molly. Terrifying things happen to Kate including a hit and run accident but the most horrifying thing is that in her dreams she ventures into the psycho's apartment and hears his thoughts.

Fantasy/Magic/Alternate Worlds
The Gift
Patrick O'Leary
Tor 0312864027

In intricately wrought tales within tales within tales, O'Leary vividly depicts the lives of two great wizards. Simon, the prince was struck by the curse of hearing everyone's thoughts when trying to have his deafness cured. As he spirals into madness in the horrendous cacophony he seeks magical knowledge to cure himself and be avenged upon the Usher of the Night who caused his affliction . Tim, a twelve-year old woodcarver's son starts his quest for magical knowledge and the ability to ride the winds when his parents are killed by a horrible sweeping fire started by Tomen, the ominous bird who accompanies The Usher.

This masterpiece of fantasy creates images and situations that will remain with the reader forever. The gorgeous cover by Thomas Canty is evocative of the substance of this multi-faceted tale.

Crime/Police Detective
First Degree Burn
Peter Lance
Berkley 0425156982

In this stunning debut fire marshall Eddie Burke, Jr. has a lot to contend with. He is extremely attracted to Dr. Caroline Drexel an art historian he meets in the course of investigating a fire and murder in the loft of a beautiful young art restorer. The police department is confident that they know the perpetrator and that he is dead while expressing complete disdain for Eddie who has not followed in the blue footsteps of his legendary cop dad. Eddie knows it is the work of a professional torch and tries with all he has to catch him before more people are killed.

After a confusing beginning the tale takes off leaving the reader with no alternative but to keep turning the pages in this scorching hot read. Mr. Lance even has a web site at First Degree Burn
Mac Fontana in Earl Emerson's series set in Washington state features a fire chief if you need to read other sleuthing firemen while waiting for the next Eddie Burke book to come out. Or if you like mysteries set in New York check out all the ones listed in Genreflecting

Crime/Forensic Detection/Serial Killer
Deja Dead
Kathy Reichs
Scribner 0684841177

Transplanted to Montreal, North Carolinian forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan sees similarities between the way two women have been killed, similarities that the police don't think are significant. She steps on some toes as she pursues the idea that a serial killer is running free continuing to murder in the vividly depicted Montreal summer. In addition to the setting the characters are beautifully developed and the forensic details while grisly are fascinating.

Readers of Patricia D. Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series should like this and it adds the dimension of a truly likable protagonist. Aaron Elkins' Gideon Oliver series also features a forensic anthropologist. Kathy Reichs is a terrific storyteller who provides a more than satisfying read.

Fantasy/Magic/Alternate & Parallel Worlds
Mother of Winter
Barbara Hambly
DelRey 034597231

Hambly always spins a fascinating fantasy but this one got off to a slow start for me possibly because I didn't read the Darwath Trilogy a precursor of this title that I assume from the context introduced and developed the characters that appear here. Once I plowed through the beginning going on faith that I would be pulled into this intricately developed world where two individuals from our world live in the society there that is so different from ours I was hopelessly hooked. Gil, a historian from our world is the warrior guard of her lover the Archmage Ingold who is on a search for lost knowledge to help them sustain live in his world that is suffering from a chilling of the climate and the growth of a strange substance called slunch that is almost impossible to destroy and is quickly overrunning the fields destroying the food crops and invading everywhere. Strange creatures are also appearing, one of them biting Gil causing her to suffer dreams that compel her to want to murder Ingold. Rudy a mage who is also from our world is the lover of the young king's mother and is trying to preserve the life of all in the keep but statues of a mysterious new saint have appeared and a strange smell is permeating the distance reaches of the keep. A bizarre ice storm unknown previously in the area destroys all the livestock and crops as well as the beloved young herd children leaving the quest for a new food source of utmost importance.

This is an outstanding tale of a fully realized parallel world faced by deadly peril.