“Nothing is more important to democracy than holding the powerful accountable for their transgressions.” ― Chris Pavone, Two Nights in Lisbon My inner detective worked overtime trying to solve the mystery in this riveting thriller. Ariel Pryce is excited to join her new husband on a business trip to Lisbon, Portugal. While he is in meetings, she can explore the beautiful city. But on day 2, she wakes up alone in their hotel room. John is gone, and he’s not answering his phone. Something is wrong. Hotel security, Lisbon police, and the American embassy, has a lot of question, questions she can’t answer. What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? […]
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Deep Water Book Review
Many of us dream of getting away from it all, selling everything, and sailing around the world, so the premise of this book was captivating. Deep Water fell flat given the promising synopsis of the book. When a Royal Malaysian Navy vessel receives a mayday message, the captain orders they rush to a yacht adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. On board the yacht is a British couple: a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, “It’s all my fault. I killed them.” Through flashbacks, Virginie tells a harrowing tale about when […]
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The Sweetness of Water Book Review
“Yet sometimes—just sometimes—hope was enough.” In his debut novel, author Nathan Harris shares the story of brothers Prentiss and Landry who’ve been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. They plan to save money for the journey north to find their mother, who was sold when they were boys. George and Isabella Walker hire them to work at their neighboring farm, hoping to stanch their grief over the loss of their only son to the Civil War. Parallel to their story runs a forbidden romance between two Confederate soldiers. The young men, recently returned from the war to the town of Old Ox, Georgia, hold their trysts deep in the woods. The […]
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Love & Saffron Book Review
Love & Saffron by Kim Fay novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really connects us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine. When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter, as well as a gift of saffron, to fifty-nine-year-old food columnist Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and unexpected tragedies in their own lives. In their letters, Joan and Imogen explore their experiences and their thoughts about love, joy, sadness, and death, and the result is […]
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Small World Book Review
Jonathan Evison’s Small World tells the stories of a train’s passengers in 2019 and their mid-nineteenth-century ancestors after a disastrous crash. There’s Walter Bergen, a veteran train conductor on his last run before retiring, and a descendent of Irish twin orphans. Malik, a young basketball star, is the descendent of a slave. Then there’s Jenny, a corporate consultant whose ancestors were Chinese immigrants, and Laila, a Native American, fleeing her abusive husband. Small World chronicles 170 years of American nation-building from many points of view across place and time. This inventive work explores the immigrant experience, and that of the modern era in the United States. I read and reviewed Jonathan Evison’s last […]
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July 2022 Reads and Reviews
We Norwegian Americans love to say “Uff da.” The phrase is used to express many emotions: exasperation, annoyance, surprise, anger, exhaustion, enthusiasm, dismay, and even joy. It also works as an uber-mild curse. So what does this have to do with my July book reviews? Well, today I am expressing my frustration for posting this in September rather than July. UFF DA! I was on a road trip for much of the month and only eked out seven books, but a few of them were amazing. Here goes. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi “We believe the one who has power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when […]
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What Happened to the Bennetts Book Review
“I knew my life would forever be divided into Before and After.” Lisa Scottoline, What Happened to the Bennetts. The Bennett family is on their way home from 15-year-old Allison’s lacrosse game when a pickup truck tailgates them on a dark stretch of road. They are forced to stop, and two men jump from the pickup and pull guns on Jason, demanding the car. What happens next will change their lives forever. Later that night, Jason and his family receive a visit from the FBI. The agents tell them that the carjackers are members of a dangerous drug-trafficking organization, and Jason and his family are now in their crosshairs. The […]
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The Foundling Book Review
“I trust you’re familiar with the type of girl I’m referring to,” she tells the audience. “You’ve seen her slinking in and out of bawdy houses and illegal drinking establishments… she may seem normal enough—in fact, she’s often quite pretty. Until you see her again, a few years later, ruined and destitute, begging for handouts, surrounded by her own diseased and illegitimate children.”—Ann Leary, The Foundling. So says Dr. Agnes Vogel, the administrator of the Nettleton State Village for Feebleminded Women of Childbearing Age. It’s 1927 and eighteen-year-old Mary Engle is hired to work as Dr. Vogel’s secretary at an institution for mentally disabled women. She’s immediately in awe of […]
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The Compass When I Stray
I read this in the author’s note at the end of a wonderful novel by Erin Bartels. Here’s my review: All That We Carried.
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Path of the Assassin Book Review
People who took themselves too seriously not only were no fun, but could also be very dangerous.—Brad Thor, Path of the Assassin. I read Brad Thor’s debut, The Lions of Lucerne last year (originally published in 2002). I was obviously late to the party, but I was excited to find a new political thriller author. In Path of the Assassin, Navy Seal turned Secret Service agent Scot Harvath is taking on one of the world’s deadliest terrorist organizations. After rescuing the President from kidnappers, Harvath vows to capture or kill those responsible for the plot. A trail of clues points to Hashim Nidal, the planet’s most ruthless terrorist, who has […]
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