Author: HCNewton Page 456 of 628

From the Mailbag: How Do I Read So Much?

By

On March 12, 2018

In Books, News/Misc.

I got a very pleasant comment/question/quemment a couple of days ago from a relatively new reader, Vitor. I’ll cut out the stuff that flatters me (not that I didn’t appreciate it), and stick with the heart of his email:

I’m not here just to talk about how much your writing has been pushing me to read more, but I want to know how can it be possible to read as much as you do, even with our daily routine…

Thanks for the quemment, Vitor — I’m going to try to reply more via email, but for now, I’ll write a bit here because I need content for today.

First off — don’t worry about numbers. Seriously. Yeah, I track them for this and that, but unless I get wrapped up in the ego-game (which happens a lot more than I like), it’s not a focus. Worry about the what you’re reading — is it what you want to be reading and is it giving you what you want?

Secondly, I’ve been a fast reader since I was a kid. That helps my numbers considerably. I’m not a speed reader, I tried some of that years ago, and go so wrapped up in the techniques that I never retained anything I “read.” Also most of the people who really get into that don’t seem to have a lot of fun reading, and what’s the point? (I’m not saying speed readers who get a lot of joy out of it don’t exist, just that I’ve never met one).

Can I interrupt here to recommend Alan Jacobs’ excellent book: The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, which I blogged about here. I think if you get into Jacobs’ mindset (or a close equivalent), it’ll help a lot.

But to sort of actually answer your question, let me start with Nero Wolfe — one of the greatest characters created in the last century — reads a great deal, too. I tried to find the quotation describing his reading habits and couldn’t (which will bother me for a week or two), but essentially, he’s not a quick reader, but he reads steadily. That’s the key. As you read more, you’ll get better at it, and eventually, quicker.

Essentially, here’s how my typical weekday breaks down as far as reading: I get to work 30 minutes (or so) early, spend 20 minutes reading; I get two breaks plus lunch — that’s roughly another hour; and then I get another 30-60 minutes in after I get home (I try not to turn the laptop or social media on until I get some good reading done, and usually succeed.). Then if I have to take a kid somewhere, pick them up from something, etc. — there’s a few minutes to read. Basically, any time there’s a few minutes to kill, I grab my book — it’s better than Angry Birds or Facebook. This past weekend, for example, my daughter was in a school play — after we got in our seats, I had about 20 minutes of reading time, plus part of the intermission. So that’s 2-2.5 hours a day, during the week (plus some occasional bonus time). Sometimes on quiet Fridays I’ll get more done — or if I’m almost finished with a book, I’ll negotiate a few extra minutes with my wife before we start Jeopardy!.

Frequently (especially in December/January), in my Saturday Miscellany posts, I’ll post something along the lines of how to read more, here’s a couple of them that you might find helpful.

  • How to read more books in 2018
  • Ask a Literary Lady: I Need a Better New Year’s Resolution Than “Read More”



    • Anyway, the main reason I posted this response here rather than via email is so that commenters can chime in with handy tips, etc. So, please — help him. (Paul, I’m especially looking at you here).

    Nils Cuts His Nails – The Scissors Game by Nurit Zvolon, Rotem Lots-Zaiden

    By

    On March 12, 2018

    In Uncategorized

    Nils Cuts His Nails – The Scissors GameNils Cuts His Nails – The Scissors Game

    by Nurit Zvolon, Rotem Lots-Zaiden (Illustrator)
    Kindle Edition, 32 pg.
    Simple Story, 2018
    Read: March 10, 2018


    The success of this book — like almost all of them for the pre-reading set — comes down to the effort put into it by whoever is reading the book to the child. If someone gets into the rhyme, oohs and ahhs over the art just right, and has a lot of fun with it, I can’t imagine how a kid won’t either.

    Zvolon wrote this to help her granddaughters deal with the trauma of having their nails trimmed — which can be a struggle for some kids, I know. So Zvolon came up with a way to turn the experience into a game into something fantastical. She tells a very simple rhyming story about Nils overcoming his fear of getting his nails trimmed with the help of a game. It’s a neat idea told in an attractive fashion.

    The art is something else — if it doesn’t make you think fantasy, nothing will. Rotem Lots-Zaiden doesn’t illustrate this like any contemporary children’s book — it feels like something that came out of the 1970’s — maybe early Sesame Street animation. This is not a bad thing, I think it serves the story pretty well, and the strange features and interesting colors should keep the attention of young readers.

    I honestly never thought I’d read a book about trimming nails, or helping someone through the struggle of it. But now that I have, I can’t imagine a better one on the subject. This is good stuff, and I hope it helps some kids.

    Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinions as expressed above.

    —–

    3 Stars

    Greek Mythology: Beyond Mount Olympus by in60learning

    By

    On March 12, 2018

    In History

    Greek Mythology: Beyond Mount OlympusGreek Mythology: Beyond Mount Olympus

    by in60learning
    Series: in60Learning
    </brKindle Edition, 38 pg.
    in60Learning, 2018

    Read: March 10, 2018

    “It’s not by chance what Americans say when in need of a specialized or precise term, that ‘the Greeks have the word for it’.” -Aikaterini Spanakaki-Kapetanopoulos

    Let me start by saying that I still think that the in60Learning project is a great idea and I hope it puts out a lot of material. I just hope that in their rush for quantity, they don’t skimp on quality. From the typographical errors to the way this was written, I think that’s a real danger.

    Still, let’s focus on this volume — they really did go beyond Mount Olympus in their coverage of Greek Mythology, let’s look at the contents of this book:
    An Overview of Greek Mythology
    The Creation
    The Gods of Mount Olympus
    Other Gods, Spirits and the Stars
    The Underworld and Other Beings in Greek Mythology
    The Human Race and the Gods
    Greek Mythology in Today’s World
    That’s a lot for anyone to tackle in a book much longer than this — it’s a Herculean effort to get that much into a book this small (pun fully intended). But they go for more than an overview of Greek Mythology, they try to suggest some deeper meanings, to tie their topic into philosophical discussions and the like. Some of that worked, some of that seemed like a stretch — and some fell flat (that last paragraph, in particular, was a complete mess). You’ve got to admire the effort, though.

    Not only did they cover a wide range of topics, but they worked in a lot of detail — maybe too much in some instances (including the Roman equivalent names at some points felt like they were striving for word count rather than being thorough).

    One of the main theses of the book is the impact that Greek Myth had on Western Culture/the English Language, as is seen in the quotation I borrowed above and they utilized to drive home the point. Not only did they prove this point (in case anyone thought it worthy of debating), but they overdid it. At a certain point, the sections along these lines just became lists:

    From the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos, is derived the word hypnosis.
    From the Greek legend of the King Tantalus, is derived the word tantalize. He was condemned for eternity to stand up to his chin in the middle of a river with a fruit tree above him. Whenever he tried to drink the water, it receded from him, or grab a fruit, it pulled away from him.
    From the Greek god of love, Eros, is derived the word erotic.
    From the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, is derived the word aphrodisiac. . . .
    From the god of fire and blacksmithing, Vulcan (Greek: Hephaestus), is derived the words volcano and vulcanizing.
    From the Roman goddess of grain and farming, Ceres (Greek: Demeter), is derived the word cereal.

    That goes on for pages (depending how you have your text size set). The facts are good, they’re on point, but it’s not good reading.

    The basic overview of the Olympian myths, the origin of the universe, the war with the Titans, etc. was pretty solid. Nothing remarkable, but decently executed. The writing as a whole, however, didn’t impress me — frequently, but particularly as the authors tried to wrap up each chapter, the writing felt like it was lifted from High School term papers. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, but I got the impression that this series was supposed to be better than that.

    This one didn’t work for me, but I bet there are people out there who will be helped by it. These people didn’t check out D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths so many times from 3rd to 6th grade that the library might as well have given me a copy (not counting the other books on the subject I read, reread, bought, etc. at that age) or haven’t had kids during the Riordan-era of publishing. Basically, I should’ve skipped this one, I think. This slim volume took some big swings — amount of material, range of material, a couple of the “Big Ideas” running through the book, and whiffed on them all (to stick with the metaphor, I do think it caught a piece of a couple of the pitches). A strong effort, but not one that worked for me.

    —–

    2 1/2 Stars

    Saturday Miscellany – 3/10/18

    By

    On March 10, 2018

    In Books, News/Misc.

    Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

      A Book-ish Related Podcast Episode you might want to give a listen:

    • The Author Stories Podcast Episode 336 | Brad Parks Interview — Hank Garner talks to Parks about Closer than You Know and many other things. I, for one, cheered when he said he hoped there’d be more Carter Ross books in the future (the people in Cost-co near me when I heard that probably thought I was way too excited about the bakery selection).

      This Week’s New Releases I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:

    • Closer Than You Know by Brad Parks — a thriller to make you lose sleep, make you lose hope, make you distrust almost everyone around you — that you’ll not want to put down. Seriously, thinking about it now gets my blood pressure spiking, and I read it last year. See everything I had to say about it here.
    • Smoke Eaters by Sean Grigsby — a very original futuristic UF about firefighters and dragons. Not that I should have to say more than that, but here’s my initial post
    • Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs — Charles and Anna’s 5th book brings them back to Montana to hunt a threat to their pack. I’ll hopefully get a post up about this mid-week, but fans’ll dig it.
    • Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire — The latest Incryptid novel. After Magic for Nothing you had to expect a title like this. I can’t wait to read what happens next to Annie.
    • Good Guys by Steven Brust — a snarky procedural about magic and bureaucracy
    • Mr. Neutron by Mr. Neutron — a nifty political satire with a title I misspelled every time I typed it this week, here’s my post about it.

    Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Jess T. and steamstefny for following the blog this week.

    The Armored Saint by Myke Cole

    By

    On March 9, 2018

    In Fantasy, Fiction, Myke Cole

    The Armored SaintThe Armored Saint

    by Myke Cole
    Series: The Sacred Throne, #1

    Hardcover, 203 pg.
    Tor Books, 2018

    Read: February 28, 2018

    “My strength is the Emperor and His Holy Writ.”

    “Aren’t you pious for one who is so green at the sight of the Order?”

    “The Emperor is divine. The Order are just men. You don’t fault a whole faith just because some of its agents take to brigandage. My faith kept me through the war, and it hasn’t failed me after.”

    I’ve tossed out a couple of drafts of a paragraph of synopsis, and am tired of trying, so I’m just going to cite the jacket copy:

    In a world where any act of magic could open a portal to hell, the Order insures that no wizard will live to summon devils, and will kill as many innocent people as they must to prevent that greater horror. After witnessing a horrendous slaughter, the village girl Heloise opposes the Order, and risks bringing their wrath down on herself, her family, and her village.

    Lord Acton famously wrote to Bishop Creighton, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This idea drips from almost every page of this book. Not that there was a whole lot of absolute power funning around — one member of The Order was close, and one other liked to act like it. But there’s a lot of people with enough power (of various kinds) that their tendency to corruption is problematic for everyone around them. It’s not the prettiest of worlds, but it’s a good setting for a conflict-filled read.

    In the midst of this is a nation(?) ruled by a religion — including a scripture that may or may not be correctly interpreted by the religious authorities (who have plenty of civic and martial authority), although there’s no doubt that their application could use some work. They rule (and protect, if you use the term generously) this region through fear and intimidation. But you have to admit, what they’re doing works. Which doesn’t excuse the terror they inflict, but it suggests that somewhere there is an orthodoxy at work.

    There are no really likeable characters here, everyone is flawed, but you cannot help but hope for the best for some of them — because they are unlikable, flawed people. Most of them are just trying to make it the best that they can for themselves and their family — and their neighbors, if possible. There are plenty of characters that you never want the best for (aside from repentance), and a couple of characters who jump from “hope for the best” to “hope they die horribly” column. This includes the protagonist — honestly, the more time we spent with her, the less I was that interested in her survival. Really, I liked her about as much as you can like Anakin in Attack of the Clones — thankfully, I like her friends and family.

    Whether the Military Fantasy that we’re used to from him or this traditional Fantasy, Myke Cole knows how to write fight scenes (and other scenes of violence). This is seen particularly in the final climactic battle — it was so exciting that I found myself racing through it and having to pause and go back to make sure I understood what happened and hadn’t missed any details. Visceral is really the only word to use there.

    I don’t understand how in the middle of this pretty generic Middle-Ages Europe-y fantasy we get war machines. They’re like what Tony Stark would’ve come up with a couple hundred years ago. They absolutely don’t belong to the setting — but neither does magic, so if the reader can buy one, you might as well buy both. Especially when the exosuits are so cool.

    Still, at the end of the day, I was underwhelmed. It’s a rich world with characters that a reader can really sink their teeth into. But you just don’t get enough. Two hundred pages isn’t enough — The Armored Saint almost seems more like a 200 page set-up and/or advertisement for the sequel. Am I planning on reading The Queen of Crows and (most likely) The Killing Light? Yeah, I think I’ve even ordered the second one. But I’m not as excited for them as I should’ve been.

    I expect my opinion to be in the minority here, so fill up that comment section with all the ways I’m wrong about Cole’s latest (or at least some of the ways).

    —–

    3 Stars

    Pub Day Post: Mr. Neutron by Joe Ponepinto

    By

    On March 7, 2018

    In 2018 First Reads Challenge, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

    Mr. NeutronMr. Neutron

    by Joe Ponepinto

    eARC, 300 pg.
    7.13 Books, 2018

    Read: March 1 – 3, 2018

    It couldn’t be real. Just couldn’t. Besides, if someone brought a cadaver to life today, it would be under controlled circumstances—in a lab at some university, with the media and religious protesters in attendance. It would go viral on the web. He would have heard about it.

    Still, Gray couldn’t dismiss the possibility. His timid psyche often cleaved to the supernatural, if only to explain the failures in his life. And dead men had been elected before, although they typically stayed in their graves and didn’t campaign.

    Before I get into this — yes, this is a political satire. But it’s pretty apolitical. There are almost no political points made, few actual policies advanced or discussed, and certainly no mainstream parties are either pilloried or lauded. The satire is of this strange thing called American politics — the campaigns, the process, the press, the people involved. Conservatives, liberals, statists, libertarians, and everyone in between can read this safely without worrying about getting much tweaked by the book.

    In the opening paragraphs we meet Gray (Davenport, we’re later told) and Reason Wilder. Gray is running a mayoral campaign and one of his candidate’s opponents is Reason. Right away, you can tell this book isn’t going for subtlety. We later meet Patsy Flatley (the advisor to Gray’s candidate), The Reverend Inchoate Hand, Breeze Wellington, and Randy (of various last names) — all of these names tell you a good deal about these characters (and I could’ve listed other examples). Ponepinto lays his cards on the table right away when it comes to his characters and the type of people they are.

    Reason isn’t the best funded, most articulate, or most polished candidate — but there’s some impossibly strong magnetism about him and his simple promise that “Together we will do great things for this city,” without ever giving a specific idea how they’ll do that, or what a great thing might be. Virtually everyone who encounters Reason falls under his spell but Gray. Not only does Gray maintain some sort of skepticism about Reason, he notices a disturbing odor about him, the way his body doesn’t seem to work together organically, and frankly, doesn’t seem to belong together. It’s almost as if someone stitched him together from spare parts.

    Once Gray starts speculating down that path, he becomes convinced that’s the case — and sets out to prove it. Along the way, this effort causes problems in his marriage (well, it brings problems in his marriage to a head); brings some powerful people into his life; and puts him in league with the strangest journalists you’ve probably encountered. This kicks off some overdue self-examination to go along with his hunt for information about Reason.

    All the while, the campaign goes on: Gray’s duller than dull candidate tries to build a voter base, the well-funded front-runner has to work to remain relevant, and Reason’s cult grows in a way no one can believe (or deny). We see a debate, a fundraiser or two, press conferences, polls, and money — and the ways all of those can alter a campaign, especially the money.

    One difficulty I had while reading this book was remembering it was a satire — Ponepinto’s writing frequently comes across as highly-crafted and nuanced, and then he’ll have someone named Randy do something filled with innuendo or something equally obvious or ridiculous and I’d have to remind myself I was reading a book about a Frankenstein’s Monster-like being running for mayor, and perhaps I shouldn’t take it too seriously. I do think that’s a strength of the book — I’d forget I was reading nonsense about impossible tings because the narration was just so serious. It is a funny book, at times, but not told in a way that underscores it, which somehow works.

    I didn’t love the ending, honestly. But I absolutely get why Ponepinto did it — and good satires rarely have satisfactory endings anyway. This was better than a lot of them — for example, I’ve read almost all of Christopher Buckley’s novels and there’s only one of them that had an ending I can tolerate. So, “didn’t love” is pretty good. I thought the last couple of paragraphs were far too preachy, and could’ve been cut without really harming the novel and/or its message.

    But before all that, we’ve got a very strange ride. You’re not going to see a lot like this — a little supernatural/monster, some pointed commentary on politics, a dash of romance, a nice friendship, and an odd collection of characters bringing all this to you. You should give it a shot. I have no idea what kind of follow-up Ponepinto might have in store, but I’m very curious.

    Disclaimer: I received this eARC in exchange for this post and my honest opinions.

    —–

    4 Stars

    PubDay Repost: Smoke Eaters by Sean Grigsby

    By

    On March 6, 2018

    In 2018 First Reads Challenge, Fiction

    yeah, yeah I told you that I’d get this up last week, but writing while hacking isn’t that easy. Yes, I’m a hack writer, but that means something totally different.
    —

    Smoke EatersSmoke Eaters

    by Sean Grigsby

    eARC, 384 pg.
    Angry Robot, 2018

    Read: February 2 – 3, 2018

    Really, the case for you (or anyone) reading this book is simply and convincingly made in 13 words:

    Firefighters vs. Dragons in an Urban Fantasy novel set in a futuristic dystopia.

    I’ll just wait here while you open another tab to put in your order. There’s really nothing more that I need to say, is there? What if I throw in robot dogs?

    Since you’re here anyway, I’ll talk a little more about the book. In the early 22nd century, dragons show up (technically, come back) and everything changes over night — cities burn, non-urban areas burn, geography changes, societies change, political/governmental realities change. And so on. Where there are dragons, there’s fire; and where there’s fire, there are firefighters. A special division of firefighters soon develops — Smoke Eaters — who specialize in dragon fighting, while the rest take care of fires, saving lives and property, etc. You know, the basic everyday hero stuff.

    One such hero is Captain Cole Brannigan. After decades of fighting fires, he’s a week away from retirement when disaster strikes and he finds himself without his air supply in a dragon smoke-filled room, which it turns out that he can breathe. Which means he’s one of a select few people naturally immune to the stuff and is basically pressed into service as a Smoke Eater. Instead of commanding a squad and their respect, he’s a trainee — worse, a trainee who used to be a fire fighter. I’m not really sure I get the level of antagonism that exists between the two groups, but it’s pretty intense. No one respects his expertise, his experience, his perspective. He’s tolerated at best — and that’s really only because of the whole smoke immunity thing.

    I cannot stress how much I enjoyed this dynamic — stories about someone learning their way through a new reality, or new abilities, etc. are a staple of the genre. But a fully-realized adult, in a long-term, stable marriage (as stable as they can realistically come), successful already and sure of his place in the world being thrown into a new situation like this is unique. Cole spends as much time fighting his instincts about assuming leadership roles (and assuming people will follow) as he does trying to understand his new teammates and duties. Naturally, his perspective and experience will prove important to understanding a new challenge facing the Smoke Eaters.

    I’m not going to get into everyone else, because this is Cole’s story, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the most interesting character (he probably is, though, your mileage may vary). The rest of the characters aren’t quite as well drawn — mostly because we see everyone through Cole’s eyes — but most are close enough that you don’t notice.

    I should probably mention that when he’s not writing about fire-breathing lizards, Grigsby’s an actual firefighter. So he knows his stuff — when he says fire behaves a certain way, it’s not because he’s read a lot about that or watched Backdraft a few dozen times (well, both of those may be true, but neither is the primary reason he can say that fire behaves a certain way). The authenticity about this kind of thing shines forth and adds a layer of reality to this novel. He knows guys just like Cole — and probably most of the other firefighters and Smoke Eaters — he knows the devastation that fire leaves behind (both to structures and people), and what it takes to keep pressing on in the face of that.

    There is a lot more that I want to try and cover, but this is one if those books that if I said everything I wanted to, it’d take a week to write and an hour to read – so let me wrap this up (man, I didn’t even talk about Grigsby’s Canada…the book is worth a look just for that). This is full of action, and some of the ways a gentleman of Cole’s age keeps up with the action are pretty smartly conceived, but there’s some thinking involved, too. Still, you’ll be kept leaning forward in your seat. It’s a good story; with great, developed characters; a wonderful concept; all executed like a seasoned pro was behind it all. There are some little details that will make you chuckle as you read them (the misunderstandings of barely remembered 20th century culture, for example). Smoke Eaters is going to be one of the best UF reads you find this year.

    Disclaimer: I received this eARC from the good folks over at Angry Robot via NetGalley in exchange for this post and my honest take on the book — thanks to both for their generosity and this rockin’ read.

    —–

    4 1/2 Stars

    Pub Day Repost: Closer Than You Know by Brad Parks

    By

    On March 6, 2018

    In Brad Parks, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

    I’m afraid this comes across as a collection of backhanded compliments — I hope I’m wrong about that. If so, I didn’t mean it.
    —

    Closer Than You KnowCloser Than You Know

    by Brad Parks
    eARC, 416 pg.
    Dutton Books, 2017
    Read: December 6 – 8, 2017

    When you read a book about a dog — from Marley & Me to Where the Red Fern Grows — you’ve got a pretty good idea what’s going to happen near the end. Same goes for a Nora Ephron movie. Or a Horror flick. But you still read or watch them, and you cry, or laugh and “awww”, or jump in your seat when you’re supposed to. Even on repeat reads/viewings. But when done right, those things just work. Similarly, think of a roller coaster — you may stand outside the fence watching the thing go around the track while standing in line (some lines give you plenty of opportunity to study), and armed with that study, as well as the your own eyes, you know that track is going to drop from in front of you in a couple of seconds — or the coaster is about to hit the loop — that doesn’t stop your stomach from lurching when it does.

    Why do I bother with that? It’s a thought that kept running through the back of my mind while reading Closer Than You Know. By the time I hit the 10% mark, if you’d made me write down what I expected to happen — the reveals, the twists, the story beats, etc. — I’d have gotten an A. I’m not saying I’m smarter than the average bear or anything, anyone who’s read/watched a handful of thrillers would’ve been able to, too. And it worked. It absolutely worked. How Parks pulls it off, I do not know, but he does. He’s just that good.

    And all the stuff that I didn’t guess? Oh, man, it was just so sweet when Parks delivered it, there were a couple of scenes that just left me stunned. And, I should rush to note, the way Parks made a couple of reveals that I’d seen coming from the start were so well done, it was like I hadn’t called the shot.

    In his previous stand-alone, Parks said that he wanted to write about the thing that scares him the most — his children being kidnapped. Closer Than You Know taps into a very similar fear — Child Protective Services taking your child from you, leaving you to the mercies of the machine where you’re presumed guilty. This time instead of “the bad guys,” faceless criminals, taking someone’s kids, this time it’s the forces of justice, of law and order, taking the child — they’re celebrated for it, they’re doing it “for the best interests of the child.”

    What’s worse is that no one will tell Melanie Barrick why her infant son had been taken from his daycare. Melanie spent most of her childhood in the Foster Child system, and most of that time in the worse situations that system has to offer. This isn’t the stuff of nightmares for Melanie, mostly because I don’t think she has enough imagination for her subconscious to cook this up. And then she’s arrested for possession of cocaine and paraphernalia suggesting distribution — a felony that will guarantee she’s about to lose her little Alex for good.

    Melanie is a “good person” — she’s one of the success stories that we don’t see as often as we’d like from the Foster Child system. She worked to put herself through college; has a great, supportive husband; a lousy job (but with benefits) — but one that will help her family get somewhere; and is a devoted, doting, loving mother. The kind of person we all want to think we’re surrounded by, but fear we probably aren’t.

    From this point on, it’s a cyclone for despair as every part of her life — her job, her husband, her brother, her friends, her finances, her sense of privacy and security — is affected, is under siege during this ordeal. Can Melanie maintain her hope, maintain her innocence, maintain her conviction that she’ll hold her baby boy again?

    In charge of prosecuting “Coke Mom” (the press is always so quick with these nicknames), is Amy Kaye. Amy Kaye could easily be the protagonist in any legal thriller, she’s just the kind of character you want to read in that kind of thing. She’s smart, dedicated and driven — at the moment, she’s primarily concerned with a serial rape investigation that she’s doing pretty much on her own. Amy starts to make progress for the first time in years when she’s put on this prosecution (largely for political reasons) — which she’s more than willing to do, but she hates to take away time and attention from the rape investigation. What really makes this difficult for Kaye is that Melanie is one of the most recent victims in this investigation.

    So basically, things are not going well for these two women. There are occasional moments where there is hope, where there is a hint of humor, or life for them and it’s just enough to get you to let your guard down before the gears turn again and life gets bad. Melanie seems to be a living embodiment of Murphy’s Law — things just never go her way in this book. As she notes herself, addicts talk about hitting rock bottom — she isn’t like them, she keeps finding new bottoms. It’s during this part of the book, where the gears keep grinding away, where the Justice System seems most like a machine, and least like a method for determining (not presupposing) guilt, that things will really get to you. That stomach lurching I mentioned earlier? That image came from somewhere. It feels so real, it feels like this is something that actually happened to someone that Parks spent hours interviewing. I don’t know how you read these parts of the book and not get demoralized — but unable to put the book down, because you just have to, have to know what happens next.

    As I’ve said before, I’ve been a Brad Parks fan since the first time I read his debut novel — and I miss Carter Ross, the star of his series. The bad thing for me reading Say Nothing and Closer Than You Know is that these are so good, he’s going to spend years doing books like this and I don’t know if he’ll be able to get back to Carter. On the other hand, I can’t complain really if he’s putting out reading that’s this compelling. Yeah, I said the book was largely predictable — and you’ll likely find it the same. But you will be wrong about some things and you won’t know how he’ll show you that you’re right. Think of a NASCAR race — we all know that it’s basically a series of guys going fast and turning left — but it’s how they go fast and turn left that makes all the difference. Parks delivers the goods — the word riveting doesn’t do this book justice. It’s compelling, riveting, gripping, exciting, and will make you rethink so much of what you may believe of the Criminal Justice and Child Protective systems. You will laugh, you will be stunned (in good and bad ways), you will give up hope for this poor mother.

    And you will hate when the book ends — as much as you breathe a sigh of relief as you know you have some degree of closure.
    Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Dutton Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post — thanks to both for this.

    —–

    4 1/2 Stars

    Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin

    By

    On March 5, 2018

    In 2018 Library Love Challenge, Ian Rankin, John Rebus, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

    Resurrection MenResurrection Men

    by Ian Rankin
    Series: John Rebus, #13

    Hardcover, 436 pg.
    Little Brown and Company, 2002

    Read: Rebruary 26 – 27, 2018

    Another ghost in need of justice. Rebus had confessed to her once, after too many late-night drinks in the Oxford Bar, that he saw ghosts. Or didn’t see them so much as sense them. All the cases, the innocent — and not so innocent — victims . . . all those lives turned into CID files . . . They were always more than that to him. He’d seemed to see it as a failing, but Siobhan hadn’t agreed.

    We wouldn’t be human if they didn’t get to us, she’d told him. His look had stilled her with its cynicism, as if he were saying that “human” was the one thing they weren’t supposed to be.

    Thanks to sickness, a little bit of travel, and general increased busy-ness in my non-blog life, I almost missed my monthly check-in with John Rebus. Thankfully, for my Bookish-OCD, I made it just in time. Even better? This was one of the best in the series.

    Rebus’ drinking and displeasure at Gill Templar’s handling of a murder investigation results in him being sent back to school. Literally. There’s a “retraining” course at the Police College for long-serving officers with discipline problems — sort of a last chance before the end of the road. These detectives are pretty similar, they’ve (mostly) been at this for years and aren’t going to change, no matter what happens in the course. Most of them know each other by reputation, Rebus is well-known, apparently — and he knows another classmate by reputation, he’s “the Glasgow Rebus.” After some counseling sessions, and some class lectures, the detectives are given a cold case to work to help learn something about teamwork. A couple of the detectives were associated with the original investigation in Glasgow, and even Rebus brushed up against it in Edinburgh. It’s not so clear how much teamwork is being learned, it’s clear that there are people who know things about the case that aren’t in the files — and they’re not sharing.

    There is something about the case that could involve Big Ger, so guess who gets volunteered to talk to him? Rebus is not the only one talking to Cafferty, Siobhan Clarke (now a DS) has a couple of conversations with him. Watching Cafferty try to treat the two of the similarly, with different results, was quite entertaining — Clarke reacts to him differently than Rebus, but she doesn’t take the same angle with him that I think most would. I look forward to seeing the two of them lock horns in the future.

    Speaking of Siobhan — never call her Shiv, by the way — once again, she threatened to take over the book for the first half or so. Rebus’ drinking with the other problem police and their cold case just didn’t grab my attention at first. But Siobhan’s dealing with the investigation — without her mentor to bounce ideas off of — and the various and sundry male detectives around her. Some of which work with her just fine, others . . . not so much — at the end of the day, DS Clarke is the one who puts the case together, and in a pretty compelling way. Did I enjoy things a little bit more when Rebus came along to interact with a bit? Yeah, but it wasn’t necessary. I also like the way that Rebus and Templar were the ones (along with Siobhan herself) noticing her doing things like Rebus this time, not just other police. He’s clearly left his stamp on her — for good or ill, the trick is watching her approach things the way he would, but remaining her own person. Which she has so far — and, I bet, will continue to do so.

    But this is a Rebus novel, at the end of the day, and he does get the better material — as I mentioned, he interacts with Siobhan some because he and the others come to Edinburgh to follow a pretty shaky lead (mostly, it’s an excuse to get away from the college and drink somewhere else). Around this point, that storyline became more intriguing — and it did end up being the better part of the novel.

    No one will ever say that the Rebus novels are a fun romp, but there was something about Rankin’s writing in Resurrection Men that seemed darker than usual — not a darkness because of violence or anything, just in the telling. Everything seemed worse, everything seemed sinister — it’s hard to put my finger on it exactly, but there was something grim going on. Yeah, I laughed a couple of times, smiled more often than that, but overall, the noir in this book was blacker. We see areas of Rebus’ psyche we haven’t seen much of before — ditto for Clarke — we also get some good Rebus/Cafferty backstory.

    The structure of this novel is the real star — it was just perfect — we get a couple of mysteries to watch our detectives solve, plus a couple of other things go on. It even seems like Rankin doles out the information in an unusual way, only telling us what we need to know when we need to know it — there are times when we’re more in the dark than Rebus because he’s hiding the information from his fellow Last-Chancers and us (what does that say about Rankin’s readers?), but it works — this isn’t a case of a mystery writer cheating, it’s a deliberate attempt to build suspense. Complex without being complicated, brilliantly plotted but not in a way that feels totally organic. At a certain point, the way that all the storylines end up seem inevitable (even when you’re still not sure who the various killers are going to be), yet you’re surprised when the inevitable happens. But along the way, each step in the stories, each reveal, each development catches you off guard. Just fantastic structure to the book.

    I thought it was strange that Rankin started this one off (I’m guessing for the American edition only) with a little description of the Scottish Police’s organization and rankings, which was nice (but most readers can figure it out on their own). Also included was a list of the cast of characters — organized by storyline. That was helpful, too. Unnecessary, but very nice. I’m not sure why these were used, but I’ll take them.

    This one checked almost every one of my boxes — at least once, and never didn’t hold my interest. Rankin clearly knows what he’s doing and you should read this one — and the twelve before it.

    —–

    5 Stars
    2018 Library Love Challenge

    Saturday Miscellany – 3/3/18

    By

    On March 3, 2018

    In Books, News/Misc.

    Bonus shift at work today, so I’m a little late bringing you the odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

      This Week Brought only One New Release that I’m Excited About, but it’s a good one!:

    • Like a Champion by Victor Chu — A great collection of short stories — I read it a month ago and could still give a 5 minute monologue on half the stories without needing to grab the book (okay, maybe 3 minute rant…), and the rest I’d probably be good to go with if I could glance at the title and first paragraph. Here’s my original post about it

    Lastly, I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to Tim Miller, KL (even if your blog name is a reference to an act of barbarism), [there was going to be another name here, but I’m pretty sure it’s merely an attempt to get us all to buy iffy tourist packages to the UK] and ankandas for following the blog this week.

    Page 456 of 628

    Previous

    Next

    Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén