Authors - The Irresponsible Reader

The Revelators

by Ace Atkins
Series: Quinn Colson, #10

Hardcover, 386 pg.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020

Read: August 4-10, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

“Place kinda looks like when you came home ten years back?”

“Nope,” Quinn said, placing the small bottle back in the glove box. “It’s a lot worse.”

What’s The Revelators About?

How is it already book ten?

The Revelators starts with Boom Kimbrough trying to keep his friend alive. Quinn Colson has been responding to a call about a domestic dispute and had been ambushed by The Watchmen—the far-right vigilante militia beating him and then someone shooting him. When a book starts off with your series’ protagonist clinging to life, you know it’s going to be a grim time and it is.

A year passes and Quinn’s rehab has gone pretty well. The governor has appointed someone to fill in as Sherriff, and that man is everything that Quinn isn’t, he make’s Quinn’s crooked uncle look like a fine lawman. He’s not entirely physically ready, but he can’t wait anymore—Quinn’s got to step up and do his job before it’s too late and criminal elements have completely taken over. Quinn, Boom, Lillie Virgil, and the Jon Holliday (plus who knows how many undercover agents he has—he won’t tell anyone) prepare for a significant move that’ll put most, if not all, of the major elements in prison.

Meanwhile, the new Sherriff and ICE raid a local chicken processing plant (to the surprise of almost everyone in the county), arresting everyone, not allowing anyone to provide their immigration papers (of those who have them), merely sending them off somewhere to await deportation. Lillie and her church have their hands full with the children left behind by this move. If anything, this action galvanizes Quinn to step up his work.

Fannie Hathcock is making moves of her own, securing her position not only in Tibbehah County but the entire state (and beyond). And…well, I don’t have the space to keep going. There are so many moving pieces in this book I’m not even going to attempt to summarize.

There’s at least an allusion to the previous books, and many characters/crimes/events from them directly impact what happens here. The Revelators is the culmination of ten novels’ worth of events and nothing’s going to be the same after it. It’s clear from the get-go that Atkins has something major in mind and the atmosphere of the whole book reflects that. At various points in the novel, I have notes like “please don’t do anything to X and Y.” And at times it feels like this could be the series finale, and I spent a little time wondering how there’ll be any way for it to continue.*

* I’ve heard/read enough interviews of Atkins at this point to know he’s not keeping the next novel a secret, so I don’t feel bad about saying that.

Is this Fiction?

From the ICE raid on a chicken processing plant—and the way that parents are kept from their children afterward, to the police corruption and abuse of power, to the militant (and well-armed) right-wing group pushing their way around, and a few other spoilery actions—these “ripped from the headlines” storylines made me wonder time and time again how little fictionalization/sensationalism Atkins was pouring int this. I’m so relieved that it is fiction but at far too many points, it doesn’t feel all that fictional and you get a little sick wondering just how much of this could really be happening in Mississippi (or your own state).

Lights in the Darkness

In the middle of all this corruption, crime, inhumanity, and impending doom, there are moments of hope, joy, and family. Quinn’s nephew, Jason, falls for a girl (who falls right back). Quinn and Maggie are expecting. Maggie’s son Brandon grows closer to his new family—there’s one very sweet scene between Brandon and Quinn. Caddy seems to have found another chance at love.

And an old foe realizes how far down the wrong road they’ve gone and seeks to make it up to Quinn. I had to read a couple of scenes twice to make sure I understood what was going on.

Not only does that kind of thing keep Quinn and his allies going—it’s a reason to keep fighting, even if things are worse in the ten years since he came home. But, it also makes it easier to read. If it was all crime, corruption, racism, impending doom, and the rest, sure, it’d be worth reading, but these brief reminders that even Tibbehah County isn’t as bad as it could possibly be make it so much easier to keep reading.

So, what did I think about The Revelators?

“Johnny Stagg, J. K. Vardaman, the Watchman—all of them come from the same place,” Quinn said. “Me and you been fighting them over since we came home.”

“Been here long before me and you were born,” Boom said. “And they gonna be around long after we die.”

“That’s a hard take,” Quinn said.

“Do I lie?”

That is a hard—and honest—take. But what Quinn leaves unspoken is that it really doesn’t matter how long this kind have been around, people like he and Boom have been around resisting, fighting back the darkness, and trying to make it easier for light to shine. That’s why readers have kept coming back to this series for ten years. And they’ll keep coming back as long as that fight’s being waged.

Atkins has outdone himself this time—there are so many moving parts, so many interweaving plotlines, so much that he has to reveal slowly (or not let us see) so that he can let it all loose at the right time.

While reading it, I kept muttering about how good it all was, how fantastically Atkins was pulling off this very ambitious novel—and he made it look easy while keeping the reader white-knuckling the cover.

Book 11 in this series is going to look pretty different than the ten that came before, but it’ll be Quinn facing off with the same type of people—and as long as we get books of this caliber (or near it), that’ll be more than good enough.

5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Heirs of Locksley by Carrie Vaughn: Robin’s Kids Go Looking for Fun and Find Trouble Again

By HCNewton

On August 5, 2020

In Carrie Vaughn, Fantasy, Fiction

The Heirs of Locksley

by Carrie Vaughn
Series: The Locksley Chronicles, #2

Kindle Edition, 128 pg.
Tor.com, 2020

Read: August 4, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

“Well,” Marian said calmly. “Perhaps they found an adventure.”

“Marian, they were supposed to be nothing like me. They were supposed to be sensible and quiet and not at all prone to adventures.”

“Hmm,” she said, refusing to state any opinion about what Robin’s children were meant to be like. If they were wild, she’d blame Sherwood Forest before she blamed Robin. Something about that place got into one’s bones and made one rash.

What’s The Heirs of Locksley About?

It’s about four years after the events of The Ghosts of Sherwood, King John is dead and the Locksley’s are at the coronation of his son, King Henry III.

Robin pushes his son John into taking care of some of the courtly duties as his heir (also, he’s the Locksley without any political baggage). His sisters accompany him to meet the new king, one thing leads to another, and Henry calls for an archery competition to see them at work.

The Locksleys being the Locksleys, trouble follows them—some comes at the competition, some comes later. Basically (like their father), the children go looking for fun, and adventure ensues—maybe it is Sherwood’s fault.

“So what did you think would happen, coming here? Knowing who their father is?”

[Redacted] was trapped. He had the look of a hound who had cornered a boar all by himself and then didn’t know what to do with it. “Those . . . They’re just stories. You aren’t him, not really.”

“No, of course not. That man lived a long time ago,” Robin murmured. “I am much angrier right now than he ever was.”

You can just see the glint in his eye as he said that…(and the way he laughed about that line when recounting this over the fire).

So, what did I think about The Heirs of Locksley?

Like its predecessor, this is a quick read. A fun read—it feels like one more entry in a long-running series, not just the second. We’ve only got to spend roughly 250 pages with these three and they already feel like old friends.

Vaughn tapped into something here and I’m so glad she did. In the afterword, she writes:

What makes a good Robin Hood story?

Adventure. Charm. Good people we like looking out for each other— it’s not enough to have a story about Robin Hood. He needs all his friends around him, and they need to be witty and skilled and admirable. Archery, of course we need archery. Clint Barton and Katniss Everdeen insist that we still need archery even in this modern day. And Robin needs to help people. He needs to denounce corruption and tyranny. He rebels and resists.

From where I sit, that’s exactly what Vaughn delivered. Most modern retellings (on-screen or in print) seem to miss the charm and witty parts in the gritty reboots—but Vaughn kept them.

I know it’s a duology, but I’d buy more—either the further adventures of the heirs or if she wanted to go back and tell some of Robin’s adventures.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Silence by Luca Veste: A Chilling Look at Spiraling Consequences of One Fatal Night

By HCNewton

On August 4, 2020

In Fiction, Luca Veste, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Silence

by Luca Veste

eARC, 400 pg.
Sourcebooks Landmark, 2020

Read: July 17-20, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

This is one of those thrillers where it feels like if you say anything, you’ll ruin something. But, I’ve got to try (if only for the sake of my NetGally Feedback Ratio).

What’s The Silence About?

I’m going to borrow the blurb, because if that says too much, it’s on Sourcebooks, not me.

It was supposed to be our last weekend away as friends, before marriage and respectability beckoned. But what happened that Saturday changed everything.

We killed a stranger and covered it up.

In the middle of the night, someone died.

We didn’t know our victim was a serial killer.

The six of us promised each other we would not tell anyone about the body we buried.

But now the pact has been broken.

We don’t think he was working alone.

And the killing has started again …

The year following the killing of the serial killer was not easy on these six friends, the toll on them all is great. Then when the killing starts again, it’s even worse, the fragile hold that Matt (the narrator) has on his life and mental health is about to shatter. Sone of his friends are doing somewhat better, while others…well, you should read that for yourself.

While we what happens to these six around the one-year anniversary we get some quick glimpses at some of the formative experiences they shared through childhood, adolescence, and university that shaped who they are and how they reacted to the present crisis.

What can I talk about?

That borders on too much about the plot, and I really don’t think I can talk much about the characters for the same reason—almost everything we learn about them is tied to the story.

Let’s focus instead on the feel of the book, the atmosphere. Wow. The opening pages are upbeat, joyful—but you can tell that won’t last for long (and not just because you’ve read the blurb). Then it gets bad, and worse, and worse yet. And you can’t look away—like the proverbial car wreck you see coming. Not only can you not look away, you have to see more, you have to keep turning the pages to see just what kind of damage will be done. How these lives will be further shattered.

It’s horrible. It’s tragic. It’s compelling.

So, what did I think about The Silence?

I don’t know that I can honestly say that I enjoyed this book—I don’t think anyone can. It’s not that kind of book. It’s a serial killer novel like you’ve never read before. If for no other reason than the focus isn’t on the killer or the hunt for the killer. It’s about the victims, prospective victims, and those that are left behind. It’s about seeing the ripple effects of trauma.

It’s a great experience. An intense read. This will be lurking in my subconscious for a while. Veste tapped into something here, and you’ve gotta try it.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Catch-Up Quick Takes Timeless; Point Blank; Smarter Faster Better; Heartburn; In Plain Sight; Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed; The Bitterroots

By HCNewton

On August 4, 2020

In Audiobook, C. J. Box, Comics, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Joe Pickett, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Non-Fiction, Steampunk, YA/MG/Children's Books

The point of these quick takes post to catch up on my “To Write About” stack—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness. Half of this particular group bothers me to include here, but I’m afraid I’m about to lose track of them. The other half? Well, I might have trouble coming up with enough to talk about even in this format.

Timeless

by Gail Carriger, Emily Gray (Narrator)
Series: The Parasol Protectorate, #5
Unabridged Audiobook, 11 hrs., 25 mins.
Hachette Audio, 2012
Read: May 13-18, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
I won’t deny that there were a couple of moments that had me on the edge of my seat, but overall this concluding novel felt like a letdown. There was just a lot of treading water going on, the plot just wouldn’t move for ages, it seemed.

An audiobook narrated by Emily Gray Unabridged Audiobooks a multitude of shortcomings, however. She’s just so much fun to listen to.

I’m glad I listened to this series, but I’m also glad that I’m done. It started strong, but over the course of the series, it kept getting weaker and weaker. A fun mash-up of Urban Fantasy and Victorian Steampunk, but ultimately unsatisfying.

Point Blank

by Anthony Horowitz, Simon Prebble (Narrator)
Series: Alex Rider, #2
Unabridged Audiobook, 5 hrs., 42 min.
Recorded Books, 2013
Read: May 29, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Alex Rider is back with another dose of escapist spy fiction for the MG set. It’s fun, but disposable. It’s the audiobook equivalent of NCIS, an entertaining way to spend some time, but that’s about it. I liked what Horowitz did with his character and I appreciated the growth in Alex.

This time, Alex is sent to an exclusive private school in the guise of a child of a rich and powerful man. Two similar fathers, from different parts of the world, with sons at this school, had recently been assassinated and M16 wants to get to the bottom of it.

Prebble did a fine job with the narration, I hope he continues.

This was clever and pretty exciting, I hope the series continues in this vein—I can absolutely see why my son tore through them (and re-read them, probably the only things he re-read). I’ll be back for more (just wish I’d made myself do this back when he was reading them).

Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

by Charles Duhigg, Mike Chamberlain (Narrator)
Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs., 23 min.
Random House Audio, 2016
Read: July 2-6, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
My chief complaint about Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habit, was that I expected something the reader could use for themselves. This isn’t as easy to apply as you might want, but it’s clearly written with an eye for the reader not just to understand the principles of efficiency and productivity, but to show some ways to bring the lessons home.

That said, it’s not a how-to book, it’s not self-improvement, it’s largely about the science/study/understanding of productivity. I found it just as fascinating as the last book, and can see where it’d be a useful guidebook for people in some sort of position of authority in an organization.

Duhigg also shows us his process while illustrating his own application of the book’s lessons—which I really enjoyed.

I’m absolutely on board for whatever book Duhigg puts out next, Chamberlain is a great narrator for his material, too.

Heartburn

by Nora Ephron, Meryl Streep (Narrator)
Unabridged Audiobook, 5 hrs., 30 min.
Random House Audio, 2013
Read: July 7, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
A very pregnant cookbook writer/TV host/new mom’s marriage crumbles around her, as she attempts to salvage it, protect her children, and make a way for herself in the world. Really, she’s trying to do it all, and do it well. (that’s a lousy summary, just click the link above, will ya?)

The narrator? This Meryl Streep person? I tell you what, I think she’s going places—there’s something special about her performance. Seriously, she did a great job, no surprise there.

Nor is it a surprise that Ephron can write a clever little book. I’m a long-time fan, I knew I should’ve picked this up when it was released. I don’t know that it’s necessarily deep, or that you walk away with new insight into the human condition, marriage, or love. But it was funny, it felt honest and real, and you get caught up in the life of Rachel Samstat right away. Solidly entertaining.

In Plain Sight

by C. J. Box, David Chandler (Narrator)
Series: Joe Pickett, #6
Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs., 23 min.
Recorded Books, 2008
Read: July 22-24, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
So this is all about chickens coming home to roost—almost everything that happened in this novel ties into one or more of the previous novels. And never the fun stuff from those novels. There’s the marital issues we got a glimpse at since Day 1 (and getting worse all the time—especially in the last book), the dead former Sheriff, the new Sheriff and his issues with Joe, Joe’s new boss—and more that I will just gloss over and let you read.

There’s a truly disturbing secret unearthed that really sheds light on so much of what happened in the book, most authors would’ve spent a lot more time on it than Box did here, he just let it be something that happened on the way to the major showdown. I like that he did it, but also kind of wish he’d given us a little more about it.

I did like the new governor and hope we get to see him again. (I especially like the fact that he’s a fictional politician and governs a neighboring state, not my own, I don’t even think I could enjoy him as a fictional Idaho governor).

There’s a lot left hanging at the close of this novel, I know the series continues (for many, many books to come), but I really have no idea what it’ll look like when I come back for Free Fire. Joe will be different, too, no matter what the circumstances around him are like. I assume Box is going to address it and I’m very curious about it.

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed

by Laurie Halse Anderson, Leila del Duca (Art)
Paperback, 208 pg.
DC Comics, 2020
Read: July 25, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
I really didn’t need this book, Leigh Bardugo’s YA retelling of Wonder Woman’s origin was good enough, and superior to this one. But I’d read some largely positive reviews and decided to give it a shot.

It felt less like a Wonder Woman story, and more like Anderson wanted to find a way to talk about certain issues and shoved Diana into the necessary circumstances and then shaped the character around that, rather than making it feel organic and earned. Also, there was too much left unexplained. There was so much I didn’t understand about what was going on with Diana on the Themyscira and physically that it felt more like Anderson dropped the ball and less like she was being understated.

It wasn’t bad, but it sure wasn’t good.

The Bitterroots

by C. J. Box, Christina Delaine (Narrator)
Series: The Highway Quartet, #5
Unabridged Audiobook, 9 hrs., 49 min.
Macmillan Audio, 2019
Read: July 30-31, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

(the official blurb)
Cassie’s done with law enforcement (but like Harry Bosch, will always think like a cop), and is making a living as a PI. A blast from the past calls in a favor owed and hires her to do some work as an investigator for the defense in a criminal proceeding. Cassie hates the idea in general, and loathes it in particular—the client is clearly guilty. Clearly guilty of raping his teenage niece, no less. He’s also a highly unpleasant person—she wouldn’t want to work for him even before the rape charge. But a debt’s a debt, and she figures she’ll find enough evidence to get him to switch his plea to guilty and work out a deal.

Readers/Listeners know all too well that the clearly guilty part guarantees that Cassie will eat some crow on this point, but that’s for later.

So Cassie travels to the very small town in northern Montana where the crime took place and the client’s estranged family runs everything from their ranch to the school board and all things in between—including the Sheriff’s Office and Courts. Things do not go well for her and her investigation—which just makes her think there’s something for her to find to help the client after all.

I definitely listened to this too soon after In Plain Sight, one of the themes of it is repeated here—not something I’d have noticed (at least not as much) if a few more weeks had passed.

Box ultimately won me over, but I came close to DNFing this a time or two, and I really didn’t enjoy most of the book. It was just a little heavy-handed, and the tie-in to a prior nemesis really didn’t work for me at all (and I’m not sure the introduction of the tie-in works now that I’ve seen where Box was taking it—it’s too complicated to explain, especially for this post, let’s just say I didn’t like it). But by the end, I liked what Cassie got up to and how she handled herself—and I like the way that Box dealt with the climax and denouement—both were really strong (and semi-unexpected).

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from any of them, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

20 Books of Summer 2020: July Check-In

By HCNewton

On July 31, 2020

In Andy Carpenter, Books, Chet and Bernie, Currently Reading, David Rosenfelt, Don Winslow, Fantasy, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Ian Rankin, InCryptid, John Rebus, Kevin Hearne, Luca Veste, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Spencer Quinn, Urban Fantasy

So, I did a lousy job of taking into account new releases, review copies, and life when I made the original list. I only read 4 of the remaining 13 books in July, which doesn’t bode well for August. I think I can still pull this off, but I’m going to have to make a couple of more substitutions, based on how long it took me to read Winslow’s The Cartel and Hearne’s A Plague of Giants, I’m not going to be able to tackle their follow-ups in August (which annoys me greatly, I was counting on this challenge to help force my hand with these). So I’m substituting Hearne’s next book, the launch of a new series, Ink & Sigil (there’s a balance to that) and The Revelators by Ace Atkins (not as epic in scope as Winslow, but … it’s the best I can realistically do).

✔ 1. Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why by Alexandra Petri
2. The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold
3. Screamcatcher: Dream Chasers by Christy J. Breedlove
✔ 4. The Finders by Jeffrey B. Burton
✔ 5. Fair Warning by Michael Connelly
✔ 6. One Man by Harry Connolly
✔ 7. The Curator by M. W. Craven
8. The Ninja Daughter by Tori Eldridge
9. The Rome of Fall by Chad Alan Gibbs
✔ 10. American Demon by Kim Harrison

11. Ink & Sigil by Kevin Hearne
12. Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
✔ 13. Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire
14. Curse the Day by Judith O’Reilly
✔ 15. Of Mutts and Men by Spencer Quinn
16. Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin
✔ 17. Muzzled by David Rosenfelt
18. Bad Turn by Zoë Sharp
✔ 19. The Silence by Luca Veste
20. The Revelators by Ace Atkins

20 Books of Summer Chart July

Pub Day Repost: Spells for the Dead by Faith Hunter: Nell and Her Team Face a New Type of Deadly Threat

By HCNewton

On July 28, 2020

In Faith Hunter, Fiction, Jane Yellowrock/Soulwood, Urban Fantasy

Spells for the Dead

by Faith Hunter
Series: Soulwood, #5

eARC, 384 pg.
Ace, 2020

Read: July 13, 2020

What’s Spells for the Dead About?

PsyLED is called to the home of a country music superstar to investigate some mysterious deaths—the and her band had recently returned from a pretty successful tour and now many of them are dead and several of those who aren’t are in desperate need of First Responders to act quickly.

Sadly, no First Responder is equipped to cope with whatever happened to them, much less recognize and understand it. That goes for people later to the scene, including PsyLED. However, under the direction of T. Laine, their witch, they’re able to makes some guesses about treatment. Nell, Occam and Lainie focus on documenting everything they can as well as beginning preliminary interviews.

One of the first things they determine is that a witch was not behind this attack. Sadly, they reach this conclusion too late to prevent a local sheriff, with the aid of a less than ethical senior FBI agent, to lock up the band member who is a witch. Their logic is impeccable—paranatural crime, arrest the nearest paranatural. This anti-paranatural tendency shows up frequently among the humans in this book—particularly when it comes to witches. I appreciated the way that Lainie dealt with it (both in her more honest and then in her more politic approaches). Our trio being joined by their upline boss, Ayatas FireWind, helps in this manner somewhat (both because of his rank, and FireWind’s general demeanor).

On a semi-related note, you would think that people who believe/proclaim very loudly that lycans, witches, vampires, and so one are horrible monsters that want to kill all humans would be a little more circumspect when they’re around. Maybe it’s just me, but if I thought someone wanted to rip my limbs off and snack on them, I would go out of my way to not antagonize them.

Anyway, the team’s focus here is a little split—on the one hand, they need to both identify the type of magic behind the attack and continue to find better ways to treat those fighting off the effects; and on the other, figure out who had the motive and/or means to carry it out. Neither goal was really that easy.

So That’s the Main Story, What Else is Going On?

As with all books in this series, as much as this is about the PsyLED team, it’s really about Nell Ingram, her integration into the world outside the cult she left, even as she continues to deal with it and her family. God’s Glory Church really doesn’t factor heavily in this book, but it’s always in the back of her mind, shaping (either directly or in reaction to it) how she reacts to things.

There is a pretty intense moment related to the Church, but it has more to do with Nell’s family, than the Church itself. Nell doesn’t yet have full custody of Mud, but everyone’s pretty much acting as if she does. Mud’s continuing to settle in and push Nell in ways she wasn’t prepared for. Which is just fun. Both Nell and Mud are having to deal with their very pregnant sister, Esther. Esther’s pregnancy is causing her powers (and flowers) to come forward, and unlike her sisters, she’s not that interested in them. It’s a nice contrast—and it provides Mud with some great opportunities for growth.

On the work side, the team’s recent successes—particularly as the only predominately non-human team in PsyLED—are causing the Agency to make some changes to the way the Agency works—and this is going to spill over onto the team. By and large, the changes look positive and will provide good opportunities for the various members of the team. However, Nell doesn’t like change—doubly so when it applies to those things in her life she holds most dear. And since we read all this from her perspective, it’s hard to look objectively at all this.

If we’re looking at the Venn Diagram of Nell’s families (natural and found), the overlap is Occam. I’ve always loved this relationship, and now that they’re openly seeing each other and professing love? Occam’s so good, saying all the right things, doing all the right things, he’s practically a Gary Stu/Marty Stu. That “practically” there is important—Hunter’s written him in such a way over these few books that he comes across as earnest in all this, he’s not perfect, he’s just really close to perfect for Nell. They’re just fun together.

As for Nell herself? She’s continuing to work on herself, her approach to life. She makes some wise decisions and actions with her relationship with FireWind. She makes some great leaps with the relationship (if you can call it that) with the Vampire Tree. And we get some of the most solid information on just what kind of paranatural creature Nell is (watching her stifle her curiosity on this front to focus on the case was a great moment). Basically, Spells for the Dead contains more of that sure and steady, organic character development that’s been the hallmark of this series.

So what did I think about Spells for the Dead?

One of my favorite parts of these books is Nell’s reactions to new-to-her foods. We don’t see her introduced to anything here, but we still get to see her relish a few things she wasn’t exposed to for most of her life—Krispy Kreme donuts and pizza. This is actually kind of a good way to think about most of this book—unlike the previous books (particularly the first two), we’re not seeing Nell experience much that’s new here—mostly she’s living in this new world, rather than figuring things out. Hunter has established her world, has set up the characters, creatures, overarching conflicts, and whatnot. Now she gets to play with that world.

This means (at least for me, and at least for this book), that without the earth-shattering reveals, the Big Moments in Nell’s (or other characters’) life, the book has less of an impact on me. Spells for the Dead is just as good as the rest of the series has been, it just doesn’t hit me the same way. Which leads to a slightly lower rating. Hunter’s plotting, writing, and characters are still top-notch, it just didn’t blow me away. I got to spend some time with some really good friends—and I’m so happy I did—but it was comfortable, not exploratory. I trust that won’t always be the case, and that Hunter will certainly do things in this series that will cause my jaw to drop, but sometimes it’s simply going to be a really good/great novel instead of a fantastic one. Still making it one of the best series I follow.

I really got into this case—it wasn’t as fraught as some of the previous ones were, but it was interesting and unexpected. The side stories did everything they needed to. Spells for the Dead just solidifies the Soulwood books as one of the best UF series going.

4 Stars

My thanks to Let’s Talk! Promotions for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book via NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group) they provided.

Classic Spenser: Looking for Rachel Wallace by Robert B. Parker

By HCNewton

On July 28, 2020

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Robert B. Parker, Spenser

Classic Spenser

Looking for Rachel Wallace

by Robert B. Parker
Series: Spenser, #6

Mass Market Paperback, 217 pg.
Dell, 1980

Read: June 26, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

“What is it you want to know?”

“Why you engage in things that are violent and dangerous.”

I sipped half a glass of beer. I took another bite of veal. “Well,” I said, “the violence is a kind of side-eiffect, I think. I have always wanted to live life on my own terms. And I have always tried to do what I can do. I am good at certain kinds of things; I have tried to go in that direction.”

“The answer doesn’t satisfy me,” Rachel said.

“It doesn’t have to. It satisfies me.”

“What he won’t say,” Susan said, “and what he may not even admit to himself is that he’d like to be Sir Gawain. He was born five hundred years too late. If you understand that, you understand most of what you are asking.”

“Six hundred years,” I said.

What’s Looking for Rachel Wallace About?

Spenser is hired to act as a bodyguard for Rachel Wallace. Wallace is a no-nonsense feminist activist and lesbian author. There have been threats made against her if her book exposing the discriminatory practices of several New England companies is published. The threats make little sense since the galleys have already been released (and therefore the material is out there), but they’re still there.

Despite clashing in their first meeting, Wallace agrees to her publisher’s choice in Spenser and he agrees to try not to annoy her. The two continue to squabble for the first eighty or so pages. Wallace keeps trying to provoke Spenser, questioning his professionalism, wanting to debate her brand of feminism with him. Spenser really doesn’t care about all that—and as much as he’s willing to discuss and think about those issues at other times (he’d read Wallace’s previous work before going to work for her)t—this is about work for him. He doesn’t care who she sleeps with, what she thinks, he’s about keeping her as safe as he can.

There is a moment where Wallace knows she’s going into somewhat hostile territory and tells Spenser to stand down beforehand. When security guards arrive to drag her off, and she goes limp to make it hard for them, Spenser intervenes. Which robs Wallace of the opportunity to make her statement, get the attention she wants, and hopefully a hearing with her target-audience. Wallace takes this as an insult, thinking Spenser’s machismo forced him to protect a (seemingly) helpless woman. And, yes, that’s true. But it’s also true, that if Wallace had been a male academic attracting this kind of response, he’d have done the same thing.

It was the wrong thing for Spenser to do regardless, which he admits later. Wallace fires him—and apparently doesn’t replace him. A couple of months later, she’s kidnapped. Belson* brings Spenser in for his perspective—and of course, that just spurs Spenser into his own investigation. He blames himself for not being a better employee, so he wasn’t around to protect her.

* It’s never explained why a homicide detective is brought in to discuss an abduction, but let that pass.

Spenser has very little to go off of here. He has one name, from a minor incident on his first day with Wallace to look into, and he essentially spends a lot of time trying to find evidence to tie this guy to the kidnapping. There’s also a KKK leader that Spenser arrested back when he was a law enforcement officer and hasn’t lost track of. Working off the assumption that a racist is going to operate in the same circles as a militant misogynist, Spenser harasses him for information. It works out (to a degree), but watching Spenser bully this guy on less than a hunch really bothered me.

Almost randomly, the one piece of evidence that Spenser (and Belson, to be fair) needs to tie everything together is essentially dropped into their lap. As a record blizzard descends on Boston, Spenser decides to walk (almost all roads are closed) fifteen miles to make the best of that piece of information. And well, you can guess the rest.

I Feel Compelled to Share this Quotation that has Nothing to do with the Plot

The Main Entrance to the Boston Public Library used to face Copley Square across Dartmouth Street. There was a broad exterior stairway and inside there was a beautiful marble staircase leading up to the main reading room with carved lions and high-domed ceilings. It was always a pleasure to go there. It felt like a library and looked like a library, and even when I was going in there to look up Duke Snider’s lifetime batting average, I used to feel like a scholar.

Then they grafted an addition on and shifted the main entrance to Boylston Street. Faithful to the spirit, the architect had probably said. But making a contemporary statement, I bet he said. The addition went with the original like Tab goes with pheasant. Now, even if I went into study the literary influence of Eleanor of Aquitaine, I felt like I’d come out with a pound of hamburger and a loaf of Wonder bread.

So, what did I think about Looking for Rachel Wallace?

I guess I’ve made it clear that this isn’t my favorite Spenser. But it’s not that I dislike it. I enjoy spending time with Spenser and Susan. I liked when Wallace and Spenser engaged with each other—seeing Spenser in these settings tells a lot about him, as does the way he reacts to Wallace. At the same time, it’s interesting seeing Spenser through her eyes (as mistaken as I think her estimation of him is, it’s not merit-less). The dialogue is great, Spenser verbally sparring with Wallace’s publisher and a prosecutor looking into her disappearance is just fun to read. I can’t forget there are some pretty good action scenes (even if Spenser does bring a handgun to a pie fight).

It’s just that this is the first one since The Godwulf Manuscript that I have to add provisos to my enjoyment. I have had the impression on many re-reads (including this time), that Parker was more interested in bringing up some of Wallace’s ideas, positions, and practices than he was in telling a good story. At the very least, he was frequently distracted during the telling.

Do I recommend it? Yeah, it’s a good read. It’s a great way to understand the character, and the story is okay. Am I in the same kind of fan-boy mode for it as I was for Mortal Stakes, The Judas Goat or Promised Land? Nope. Still, I’ll take this over almost Spenser novel from the 2000’s.

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman: The Cat’s in the Cradle and all that…

By HCNewton

On July 23, 2020

In Abbi Waxman, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

I Was Told It Would Get Easier

by Abbi Waxman

Paperback, 328 pg.
Berkley, 2020

Read: July 14, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

I sighed. “And I’m leaving day after tomorrow for the college tour.”

She laughed. “There you go, that’ll be a total freaking disaster and therefore for a great distraction from the impending end of your career.”

“Wow, that’s super supportive.”

“I scare because I care.”

“Thanks.”

“In other news this, this morning Sasha told me I make her want jump off a cliff.”

“What prompted that?”

“I said her uniform skirt was too short.”

“And that gave rise to suicidal ideation?”

“Teenagers are all about balance and reason.”

The Mother

The essence of this book is right there—Jessica (a lawyer in a pretty big law firm in L.A.) is taking her daughter, Emily, on a college tour days after leveling an ultimatum at her boss–make some serious changes to the way the firm treats female lawyers, and do it soon, or she walks.* Being jobless might not be the best way to prepare for her daughter’s college years, but you do what you have to. It should be stressed, that there’s no way that Jessica is going to mention this to Emily.

* Jessica’s efforts to change her firm from within, and the two associates she champions, would make a decent novel. I don’t know that it’s a very Waxman-esque novel, but she gives us enough of a flavor of the story that the reader can write that in their mind

The trip isn’t just about colleges—it’s about Jessica and Emily having a chance to reconnect. To bond a little before Emily moves to the next stage of her life. Jessica fears that she wasn’t around enough during Emily’s childhood, and now that she’s on the verge of leaving, the gulf between the two is too large, and she’s regretting many choices she made while Emily was growing up. That’s not precisely true, she’d make just about all of them again, she regrets the unintended consequences of those choices.

The Daughter

Everyone tells you middle school is fun, and then you get there and it sucks. Then high school is going to be fun, but you get there and it both sucks and is really hard. Now, apparently, college is going to be fun, but it really seems like one more hurdle standing between me and actual happiness. Whatever that is.

Emily, on the other hand, is not looking forward to this trip. She’s not sure she wants to go to college (but she knows that’s the expected next step and is planning on taking it), she isn’t looking forward to that much time with her mother—especially in Jessica’s “plan for the future” mode—and there’s something pretty big that happened at school recently. Emily isn’t going to be telling her mother about it, either, but she knows that at any moment, someone from the school will be calling to talk to her mother. What good is planning for college when you’re not even sure you’re going to survive high school? Still, anything’s better than being at school for the next few days, so the trip won’t be a total loss.

The Trip

This is a group tour—put together by some college prep group—ten students and their parents are flying from L.A. to Washington D. C. to begin a whirlwind tour of some of the bigger-named colleges on the East Coast (including one “Ivy”). The kids are all from top-tier private schools, and (most of) the parents have a decent amount of money. Waxman is able to take this situation and make it seem not all that different from a family stuffing themselves into a car to go check out a state college or two. Turns out that caring parents want the best for their kids and want a decent relationship with them, no matter the family’s social stratus. Who knew, right?

In addition to the schools they’re breezing through, there are a few excursions to take in some local culture and even have some free time. Emily’s prompted Jessica to reach out to some of her old college friends while they’re out there, so their free time features such diversions as: an old boyfriend (who is not subtle not even a little bit about wanting to rekindle that old flame—at least temporarily); an old friend who is now a professor of philosophy, and pushes both mother and daughter to look at things in a new light; Jessica’s father who drove her to be the best (read: most successful) she could be, and doesn’t quite get Emily’s way of thinking.

Then there are the people on the tour—the reader doesn’t really get to know all the students/parents, but we focus on a few—there’s the geology/math geek (and his equally geeky mother), the cute and thoughtful boy (and his cute and thoughtful single father), and then there’s Alice and Dani.

I think if either Jessica or Emily had known they were going to be along, they’d have rescheduled the trip. “Alice is [in Emily’s words] the kind of girl we’re all supposed to be, but I don’t want to want to be her, if you get me.” She’s super popular, super ambitious, “she arrived on the first day of ninth grade and assumed control ten days later.” The two were friends for a few weeks before Alice moved into a higher social group. Meanwhile, Jessica describes Alice’s mother, “Daniella—Call me Dani—is not the kind of mother I want to be, but I think she’s the kind of mother I’m supposed to want to be.” The wife of a studio exec, she spends her time mothering and volunteering. The presence of these two they know, but don’t want to; have to be nice to, but don’t want to; gives the pair a common cause (and shows the reader how similar they are, even if neither can see it).

I could probably say a lot about this part of the book, but all I’m going to say about the tour and the tour group is that I could’ve easily enjoyed another week of them hitting various educational institutions and discussing them internally. I enjoyed every second of the tour/tour group we got to see. Naturally, we got a little bit of the College Admissions Scandal of recent history mixed in—and I appreciated the way Waxman worked that in.

The Heart of the Matter

I swear…I’ll be graduating college and Mom will be on a call. I watched her nervously through the window at first, but it was clearly the office; she looked base-level stressed and didn’t throw any accusing glances my way. She’d missed pretty much everything I did in elementary school because of work, and though I totally support her, girl power and all that, it’s irritating. She complains about a work all the time, too, so I can’t help noticing I’m coming second to something she doesn’t even like.

(In her defense, Jessica notes (about having her phone on her and access to her email), “This is the problem with being able to work from anywhere… you end up working from everywhere.”)

The core of the book is the mother-daughter story. Imagine Gilmore Girls, if Lorelai and Rory didn’t know how to talk to each other without it quickly turning into an argument (yes, I know, they had their moments, but there was a friendship under-girding it). Their relationship was so frustrating, just a little bit of openness and/or bravery on the part of either one of them would enable them to talk—it made me sad. At the same time, I thoroughly enjoyed the book—and had a lot of fun with it.

I loved both characters—and was heavily invested in both of their stories and loved their voices. Seeing both events—and their fights—from both perspectives was a great way for Waxman to approach this. On those occasions when the two were on the same page? It was golden. Just a delight to read and spend time with them when they were that way.

So, What Did I Think About I Was Told It Would Get Easier?

Waxman’s writing is smart, funny, and full of heart. Her characters (even the less pleasant ones) leap off the page and you can hear them as clearly as I can hear my pug snoring at my feet. Between this book and The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, I think you can consider me a Waxman fan—and I’ll be getting to her backlist as soon as I can.

The word that comes closest to encapsulating my experience with this book is pleasant. I simply liked everything about reading the novel—it took me out of my circumstances and served as a pleasant oasis for a few hours. Sometimes—frequently—that’s the best gift an author can give, and Waxman delivered as surely as Old Saint Nick ever did.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase; from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Silence by Luca Veste: A Chilling Look at Spiraling Consequences of One Fatal Night

By HCNewton

On July 21, 2020

In Fiction, Luca Veste, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Silence

by Luca Veste

eARC, 400 pg.
Sourcebooks Landmark, 2020

Read: July 17-20, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

This is one of those thrillers where it feels like if you say anything, you’ll ruin something. But, I’ve got to try (if only for the sake of my NetGally Feedback Ratio).