In the Woods

In Tana French's debut novel In the Woods a team of Dublin murder detectives works to solve the murder of a young girl, a crime that may have connections with the 20-year old disappearance of two children. The strain of the investigation takes a huge toll on both detectives and on their friendship, and shatters the family of the murdered girl -- a family that includes more than one possible suspect. 

This is a supremely well crafted psychological thriller, with imperfect, believable characters who do imperfect, believable things. French's prose is effortless and evocative. Her modern Ireland -- torn between its prosperous present and its downtrodden past -- is a character as fascinating as her protagonists.

I found In the Woods hard to put down and would have read it in one sitting if I had had the time. I do not read many books in this genre, but this is almost certainly the best of its sort I have read in a long while and the best book I have read recently.

Fortunately for me, Tana French has written two more novels with some of the same characters, and they are next on my list. These are The Likeness and Faithful Place.

You may wish to avoid this if you are bothered by graphic crime scene descriptions or explicit language.

-Paul


If you like Tana French, give the following authors a try:

Benjamin Black (beginning with Christine Falls)
Elizabeth George (try Traitor to Memory)

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury is considered a classic. It's one of those books that you think you should have read. So I tried to read it. I really did. I got through the first 100 pages and stopped because I hated the premise. I gave it a break for a few days and decided to read the last 20 pages. I figured if I liked the ending, I'd go back and finish the book. I didn’t like the ending. The book describes a depressing, alternate future in which no one is allowed to own books, and "firemen" burn books and the houses that books are found in. I did not want to contemplate such a bleak future in which no one is allowed to discover new ideas or think original thoughts.

I guess it is considered a classic precisely because it makes you ponder what you take for granted -- an open society with no censorship. Not all books are warm and fuzzy. Some make you think. This one certainly did. My negative emotional response might be a testament to how well written it is: I was drawn into a world that I didn’t like and that felt all felt all too possible.

But try it. You might have a better experience than I did.

-Natalie


If you like Fahrenheit 451 or Ray Bradbury in general, you may also like these authors:

David Almond (for teens)
Peter Crowther (author and editor)
Theodore Sturgeon

Star Island

Star Island is my first Carl Hiaasen novel and I think I am intrigued enough to try his many others. The novel is a satirical treatment of our celebrity-crazed culture and tells the story of a talentless train wreck of a singer. When her double (who fills in when the singer is too inebriated to safely appear in public) is kidnapped by an obsessed paparazzo in a case of mistaken identity, everyone scrambles to avoid a PR disaster but nothing to rescue the double, who is one of the two honorable characters in the novel. Also on hand are the former governor of Florida who left office to become a mangrove-swamp-dwelling hermit, a bodyguard with a weed-wacker in place of one hand (yes, I know), and a very sleazy record producer.

Not high literature for sure, but an entertaining book. Avoid if you are offended to strong language.

-Paul


If you like Carl Hiaasen you may also enjoy:

Laurence Shames
Tim Dorsey

Sizzling Sixteen

I just listened to Sizzling Sixteen,  Janet Evanovich's latest installment in the Stephanie Plum series. As usual it was very fun to listen to!

Bounty huntress, Stephanie Plum is at it again. This time she must rescue her boss Vinnie from the mobsters who have kidnapped him because of a $1.3 million debt. In their attempt to raise the funds, Stephanie, Connie and Lula will keep you laughing with their antics. Wait until you meet Mr. Jingles! There is also a surprise relating to either Ranger or Morelli....can you guess which one it will be?

Lorelia King, who narrates for Janet Evanovich is great: her reading helps your picture the characters and keeps you rolling with laughter!  If you have the time, I highly suggest listening to a few of Evanovich's books.

-Denika


You can view the Stephanie Plum series in order here at Janet Evanovich's website.


If you liked Sizzling Sixteen, you may also wish to read:

Sarah Strohmeyer, especially those books featuring the Bubbles Yablonsky character.

Anthony Bruno, especially those books featuring the Loretta Kovacs character. Start with Devil's Food.

Stone's Fall

Iain Pear's latest novel, Stones' Fall, is a murder mystery and historical novel with a satisfyingly complex plot. Three narrators provide us with the portions of the story that concern them, gradually building to a revelation that I did not see coming.

Set in England, France and Italy, Stone's Fall unfolds over the course of approximately fifty years. It begins in London in 1909 where we are introduced to the widow of the recently deceased John Stone, an industrialist of extraordinary wealth. He fell from a window. Was he pushed, did he trip, or did he perhaps jump? Who and where is the child mentioned in his will? What are we to make of his widow's odd behavior and mysterious past? Each successive narrative jumps back in time and adds a piece to the puzzle.

Fans of fast-paced thrillers may find this story slow to unfold, but Pears' graceful prose, believable characters, and skill at weaving his plot with the geo-politcal intrigue of late 19th and early 20th century Europe are so engaging that I was sad to see it come to an end.

I would recommend this highly to fans of complex mysteries and historical novels.

-Paul


If you like Stone's Fall, you may also enjoy:

An Instance of the Finger Post by Iain Pears
Ex Libris by Ross King
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson

Book Lists

Occasionally, when I cannot decide what work of fiction to read next, I will look at a ranked list of books and let the list decide for me. I find this technique more successful in cases where the list is compiled by a jury rather than by popular vote. For this reason, I tend to ignore best seller lists -- at least most of the time.

Works that stand the test of time tend to be solidly written and revolve around themes that do not ever go out of style. Some of these books will be recognizable classics; others will be highly regarded books you may never have heard of. Some of them will be great; others you will hate.

Here are some good places to start:

The Modern Library's list of the 100 greatest novels of all time. Defining greatness and narrowing the winners down to a field of a mere 100 are equally arbitrary exercises, but this list is worth a look.

The Modern Library also has a non-fiction list. The reader's choice section of this list strikes me as a bit suspect and appears to have been spammed, but there are some interesting titles on the board's list.

Man Booker Prize. An award given to British works of fiction. Frankly, I find that they give preference to "literary" works and think their picks can be boring, but many people would disagree strongly with my opinion.

ALA's Best Books for Young Adults. This is a set of links for various lists of quality young adult titles chosen by the American Library Association.

Also, be sure to see this ALA list for reluctant young readers.

-Paul

The Passage

Justin Cronin's The Passage is this summer's must-read blockbuster. For some reason I never seem to read must-read books, but I read this one. The novel is divided in two sections. The first is set in the very near future and describes the destruction of civilization following the escape of vampire-like creatures that are the result of a military project gone bad. The second half skips ahead 100 years and focuses on an isolated band of survivors as they defend themselves from the now plentiful vampire monsters. A very long-lived girl is present in both narratives and ties them together. And she might just be what saves humanity from extinction. But you will have to wait for the sequel to find out.

I enjoyed the first part, but felt that the second part was too slowly paced (the book is 784 pages long). The characters in the first part were more substantial, while those in the second were flat and indistinguishable from one another. Many of the survivors in the second part get killed -- sorry if I spoiled a surprise, but hey, there are vampire things around after all -- and I found I didn't really care all that much if they lived or died.

While reading, I could not escape the notion that when the author first put pen to paper he was thinking movie deal. I then found out that a movie is already in the works though the ink is barely dry on the first printing! And then I heard the author interviewed and discovered that this is the first book in a trilogy. Marketing! I guess I should not be surprised. But don't let this dissuade you from reading it. Despite some reservations, I enjoyed it and read it to the end.

-Paul

If you like The Passage, you may also enjoy:

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (also the first book of a trilogy)
The Stand by Stephen King
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I am Legend by Richard Matheson