The Lioness

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian 336 pages 

When I first started hearing about Bohjalian’s 2022 book, I heard it was about Old Hollywood. I adore stories about Old Hollywood. However, the novel’s timeframe, 1964, isn’t Old Hollywood. I was disappointed but dug in anyway. Bohjalian always comes through with a great read, and this one is no different. 

At first, the unique structure was off-putting, but by the end, I thought it was brilliant. Each chapter would start with current time (1964), but then switch to each character’s backstory. As the novel progressed, in each chapter, narrated by one of the ten top characters, the structure shifted, dealing more with what was happening than backstories.  

In 1964, one of the most glamorous and A-list actresses in Hollywood, Katie Barstow, marries gallerist David Hill. Instead of a traditional honeymoon, they take seven others with whom they are close with, along on a photo safari to Tanzania, Africa. They hire a famous guide, Charlie Patton, who puts together a “civilized adventure.” However, it’s hot on the Serengeti, and there is nothing Charlie can do about that. 

Not long after they arrive, the group is attacked by Russian mercenaries. They shoot most of the porters and guides, leaving Katie, David and their entourage defenseless. The Russians round them up, divide them up and shove them into the Land Rovers, “guns to their heads,” and head out into the desert. What follows brims with dread; this reader had her heart in her stomach for the rest of the book. 

All are terrified, but the Russians show no mercy. As thy group travels across the plains, each takes chances they would never take back in Hollywood, chances that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. 

Even given the dismays I pointed out earlier. “The Lioness” still receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. That sense of dread and several shocking events kept this reader up long past her bedtime.  

 

The Caldera

The Caldera by John Flanagan, 414 pages

“The Herons take to the high seas to fend off pirates and rescue the heir to an empire in the newest adventure from John Flanagan, author of the worldwide bestselling Ranger's Apprentice! Includes BONUS content--a brand-new Ranger's Apprentice short story featuring fan-favorites Will and Maddie! In Hallasholm, Stig is contesting the annual Maktig competition to decide Skandia's greatest warrior. But a late-night knock on the door brings someone Stig never expected to see again, along with a request the Herons are hard-pressed to refuse: a rescue mission of epic proportions. Across the ocean, the southern city-state of Byzantos is plagued by a crew of pirates who've kidnapped the son of Empress Justina. Slipping out of Hallasholm under the cover of darkness, the brotherband sets sail to recover the boy from his kidnappers, heading south to the island of Santorillos where a near-impenetrable fortress stands atop a cliff, surrounded by a lagoon--a caldera--formed by the crater of a volcano. In this explosive seventh book in the action-packed Brotherband Chronicles, the Herons battle pirates amid stormy seas as the fate of an empire rests on their shoulders.”  This story is fantastic, as usual.  Anyone who likes adventure stories needs to read these.  Really anyone, especially teens, should read these anyway.  Everything that Flanagan writes is amazing.

Truly Devious

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson, 420 pages

“Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. "A place," he said, "where learning is a game." Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym "Truly, Devious." It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history. True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.” This book was amazing.  I can’t wait for the next books to come out.  Teens who like mysteries, especially if they are creepy, need to read this.

The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine

ThePurloining of Prince Oleomargarine by Mark Twain & Philip Stead, 152 pages

"Based on a set of unfinished Mark Twain notes for a children's story, this is the tale of Johnny, a young boy with a magical ability to speak to animals who sets off to rescue a stolen prince." This is a very simple book that would be easy to read for beginning readers.  It might be a hard sell because the illustrations are muted and some kids might think that it looks dull but it’s a funny story that has enough adventure to be interesting and I think that a lot of kids would like it if they give it a chance.

The Day I Died

The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day, 406 pages

“Anna Winger can know people better than they know themselves with only a glance--at their handwriting. Hired out by companies wanting to land trustworthy employees and by the lovelorn hoping to find happiness, Anna likes to keep the real-life mess of other people at arm's length and on paper. But when she is called to use her expertise on a note left behind at a murder scene in the small town she and her son have recently moved to, the crime gets under Anna's skin and rips open her narrow life for all to see. To save her son--and herself--once and for all, Anna will face her every fear, her every mistake, and the past she thought she'd rewritten.” This was a fascinating, unexpected story.  It definitely fits under psychological thriller but it was a quitter book than that.  The thrill didn’t really come in until the end.  The story was compelling and I would give this to anyone who likes thrillers.

Living Dead Girl

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott, 169 pages

“Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared. Once upon a time, my name was not Alice. Once upon a time, I didn't know how lucky I was. When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends -- her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over. Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her. This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.” This may be one of the saddest books I’ve ever read but it’s a great book for teens who like realistic “issues” books.

The Cozies: The Legend of Operation Moonlight

The Cozies: The Legend of Operation Moonlight by T. L. Fisher  196 pages

This delightful little story is narrated by quite a mixture of a creature with the head of an English lop rabbit. At five inches tall, Thursby, is elegantly dressed in “a green cutaway coat, a blue waistcoat, a white shirt and neckcloth, and charcoal-gray trousers.”

As the tale opens, Thursby welcomes an unseen audience in a lecture hall. He is there to tell about a Cozies grand adventure that happened a long time ago. Cozies are figments of the imagination, specifically nursery figments.

The Cozies in the nursery watch over the baby Bingo. Thursby is joined by quite an intersting cast: Musetta, the actress; Gubbins, who ‘resembles what might happen if two pocket watches collide and the bits and pieces came down in the shape of” a person about as tall as Thursby, Rumple, who looks like a giant squishable toy with a translucent baby-blue body, and the Twins, “round-faced girls no bigger than a man’s thumb each with pretty but ineffectual little wings.”

Life goes along as normal until one day a new nanny arrives. She’s not nearly as affable as the previous nanny, and the Cozies start to worry when she starts to whisper with a big lout, one who comes in through the second-story window.

Then the nanny and the lout kidnap Bingo and it’s up to the Cozies to find him and get him back home, safe and sound. Their journey is whimsical and imaginative, a fun adventure for reader of all ages.

Its story-within-a story is charming and delightful. I hope T. L. writes more adventures with these characters. The Cozies: The Legend of Operation Moonlight receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Rust & Stardust

Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood   352 pages  read a galley-book due out 8/7/18

In Camden, NJ in 1948, a little girl named Sally Horner just wants some friends. That's why she agrees to accompany some other girls to the Woolworth's and agree to shoplift something. However, Sally has no idea that she's being observed by 52 year-old Frank Horner, a very dangerous man. She also has no idea that Frank will confront her outside the store, telling her that he's an FBI agent who can have her arrested if she doesn't do as she says. From there, Sally's life becomes a nightmare as she lies to her mother, who initially believes Sally is going on a vacation with a friend's family, and goes with Frank to first Atlantic City and then west to San Jose. Frank, you see, is a truly unpleasant person who is just out of prison, where he's been serving time for crimes against young girls.

This novel, based on the experiences of real-life kidnapping victim Sally Horner and her captor, follows the next two years of Sally's life. Over that time, Sally's sister is determined to find her, even as Sally's mother slowly falls apart. Sally, meanwhile, is slowly understanding that Frank is not who he says he is. As he eventually mentally and physically assaults Sally, she tries to reach out for help from the people she encounters as Frank moves the two of them from place to place.

This book is quite well-written and from the start establishes both a steady and unrelenting pace, along with an underlying sense of deep dread. Fans of true crime may enjoy it more than fans of historical fiction.

I will admit, I found this book very difficult to read at times. Without spoiling the ending, I will say that it's a pretty awful story. There are so many times that someone near to Sally thinks she is in danger, and then is unable to help her (or just doesn't see that she is truly in danger). Those close calls, each time ending up with a disappointment, break your heart each time they happen. This book is both heart-pounding and heart-wrenching. I frequently found parts of it awful, although I found it increasingly difficult to put this book down because I could not look away from the story, and could not stop feeling like I needed to be a witness (of sorts) to what Sally had endured.

This story is based on the real story of Sally Horner an 11-year-old kidnapping victim whose abduction in 1948 inspired Nabokov's book Lolita. I am not a fan of Lolita and after reading this find it disturbing that Nabokov found Sally's story an inspiration for what he wrote. At least in this book, Greenwood gives a voice to Sally. The author notes that a lot of research went into this book, although "Of course, no one but Sally and Frank knows what occurred as they traveled from Camden to Atlantic City..."  However, the author is able to so honestly and vividly imagine what occurred that you feel connected not only to Sally but to some of the people she encountered, including the person who ultimately was able to finally help her.

Missing

Missing by Kelley Armstrong, 375 pages

“The only thing Winter Crane likes about Reeve's End is that soon she'll leave it. Like her best friend did. Like her sister did. Like most of the teens born in town have done. There's nothing for them there but abandoned mines and empty futures. They're better off taking a chance elsewhere. What Winter will miss is the woods. Her only refuge. At least it was. Until the day she found Lennon left for dead, bleeding in a tree. But now Lennon is gone too. And he has Winter questioning what she once thought was true. What if nobody left at all? What if they're all missing?”  This was a fascinating read that didn’t give away all of secrets until the very end.  I would definitely give it to teens who like thrillers.

The Target

The Target by Catherine Coulter 387 pages

This is book 3 in the FBI thriller series by Coulter. A federal judge named Ramsey was trying to get away from it all when he finds a little girl, named Emma, who has been abused. The story really takes off when her mother, Molly, shows up to save her. Now the three of them are on the run from a madman who is obsessed with Emma. Thrown in a couple of crime boss and the FBI's own Dillon Savich and Sherlock from the previous books and you've got a quite a story.

I enjoyed this book, I can definitely say the story pulled me in. The characters were fine, nothing extraordinary, just fine. The author is very to the point in this series and that is something that I as a reader appreciate. I'm ready to read the next one. I'd recommend what I've read in the series so far to anyone who likes thriller fiction.

Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine

Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine by Stephanie Tromly, 337 pages

Zoe is new in town.  When Digby shows up at her door, she thinks he’s weird and rude and wants to avoid him but Digby keeps showing up in her life and eventually drags her into hilariously dangerous situations while trying to find a teen that has been presumed kidnapped.  Digby thinks it may be related to his sister’s disappearance many years ago.  Despite Zoe’s initial dislike and reluctance to get involved she eventually finds herself inexplicably drawn to Digby and the trouble that surrounds him.  This book was funny and the story was awesome.  I didn’t have any problems with suspension of disbelief in the story, despite the improbability of some of it.  I would highly recommend this for many teens.

Two Girls Down

Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna 320 pages (read an e-galley; book is due out January, 2018)

When two sisters disappear from a strip mall parking lot in a small town, their devastated mother hires bounty hunter Alice Vega to find them. Vega has a good track record in finding missing children, although her methods are a little unconventional. Immediately turned aside by the local police department, Vega enlists the help of former cop Max Caplan. Caplan's trying to put his past behind him and move on, but Vega convinces him that she needs him, especially considering his past with the local police department.

Compelling characters combined with a taut pace make this a page-turning read. There are complex relationships between several characters and some false leads, so you find you're not sure if you can predict the ending (or if there will even be a happy ending for the missing girls). I liked that the story had a realistic feel to it and that while both Vega and Caplan had flaws, they were believable. Maybe it's those flaws that make them compelling (because if Vega were too kick-butt and perfect, you'd feel she couldn't fail).  Definitely a good first book from this author that makes me want to read her next story.

The Masked Truth

The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong, 340 pages

“Tricked by a former friend into canceling a date and filling in as a babysitter, teenage Riley could never imagine the fear that now haunts her. A witness to the double murder of the parents of her young charge, Riley can't shake her memories of that evening, especially since she was little help to the police investigators. She agrees to attend a therapy weekend, only for terror to intrude again when kidnappers break into the building and murder both counselors and teen attendees.”  This was a crazily convoluted mystery and I loved it.  It was terrifying pretty much from beginning to end, because the end game was hidden well enough that it was hard to figure out much before the characters do.  This is definitely a good choice for teens that like thrillers

Handful of Dust

A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh, 308 pages

A Handful of Dust is an emotionally devastating, wickedly funny novel of shameless self-interest.  Tony and Brenda Last have found a measure of peace and comfort in Tony's spacious but unfashionable ancestral home, seemingly insulated from both the ordinary vicissitudes of life and the treacherous jungle of London society.  All that crumbles with stunning speed, however, sending Tony fleeing into the relatively safer confines of the Amazon.

The title is an allusion to The Waste Land, and the book shares the same moral universe as Eliot's early poetry - a heap of broken images inhabited by genteel savages.  The writing is executed with Waugh's renowned wit and light touch, all in service to a tale of moral despair, resulting in a novel that masterfully manages to be both dreadful and amusing.

Skeleton Man

Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac, 114 pages

Molly’s parents have always told her stories from their heritage.  One of Molly’s favorites is the story of Lazy Uncle, who, after burning his finger, decides it tastes so good he cooks and eats his entire body and then all of his relatives, one by one.  His young niece finally saves the day.  Now, Molly’s parents have gone missing and Molly’s uncle, who she’s never met, has come to take care of her.  Molly is scared of him.  He looks just like she imagines the Skeleton Man from the story to look, he never lets her see his face, and locks her in her room at night.  Molly needs to figure out how to get away and hopefully find her parents.  This is typical of Bruchac’s scary stories.  I really liked it and would recommend it for elementary age kids.

The Lake House

The Lake House by Kate Morton    512 pages

Better clear your calendar before you start bestselling author Kate Morton’s fifth, and latest, novel; yes it’s that good.

The prologue is one of the best that I have ever read. A heavy rain is falling over Cornwall, England in August 1933. A woman is burying something…or someone. It doesn’t give away the ending as most prologues do, and it set the reader up to keep guessing what…or who…is being buried until almost the end…exactly where Morton wants the reader to figure it out.

Alice Edevane is sixteen when the events above occur. She lives there with her parents, an oder and younger sister, and a baby brother.  Previously on that day, the lakeside estate is bustling with servants and hired help in preparation of the annual Midsummer’s Eve party. It’s to be another grand affair. The next morning, eleven-month-old Theo has vanished without a trace.

Fast forward seventy years. Detective Constable Sadie Sparrow is on a forced leave of absence. She is visiting her grandfather who has recently moved to the area. While out jogging, Sadie stumbles across a decaying mansion. Peeking in the windows, the house is fully furnished. It seems that whoever lived there also vanished.

Sadie’s grandfather knows about the property and the supposed kidnapping of Theo. The lake house was once part of a much grander estate. The house is called Loeanneth, which in Gaelic means the lake house.

Sadie becomes obsessed with the cold case. Much to her surprise, Alice is still living in London. She is the famous mystery writer, A. C. Edevane.

The story weaves between past and present. I felt as if I’d known the Edevane’s all my life by the end of the novel. Be prepared to be drawn into their happiness and sorrow with many twists and surprise that will keep you guessing until the end.

In Julie’s world, The Lake House, gets 6 out of 5 stars.

Catharsis

Catharsis by Noorilhuda    270 pages

I almost hate to admit it, but I read this entire book. Not because it was a great read, but because I was infatuated with one of the main characters. And it has great bones.

Basically this book is about a Daniel, a ten-year-old boy who is kidnapped. He’s quickly found by police with minimal effort. The story starts off at a frantic pace. That’s Fiction Writing 101: Drop your readers in the middle of the action. But this time it didn’t pay off.  Police officer Aurora Fox is brutal. Immediately she’s unlikeable, and one of the major flaws in the story is that the main protagonist has to have one redeeming quality, one thing that the readers can latch onto.

Aurora is aided by a local puppeteer who came to the police station to offer his help. He knew where Daniel was being held and who was behind it. He’s right, but that doesn’t make Aurora trust him. I found the puppeteer to be the character I was fascinated with. I had hoped to learn about this craft or see how he was able to empathize with Aurora and Daniel, but that never came to be. Instead, he turned into a creepy Norman Bates-esque character.

Part of the problem with this story is that English in not the author’s language and it shows in the choppy sentence structure and the badly placed backstories.

Another irritant is that smackdab in the middle of the book, the reader learns who kidnapped Daniel. 

After that revelation, the book is a mishmash irrelevant happenstances.

I give Catharsis 1 out of 5 stars.

The Detour

The Detour by S.A. Bodeen, 215 pages

Livvy is a teen who seems to have it all.  She has great parents who have great careers and plenty of money.  Livvy herself is a published author of a best-selling book and is currently working on the third book in the trilogy.  She’s on her way to a workshop where she is going to be a featured speaker when she has a car accident.  When she wakes up she finds herself locked in a woman’s basement.  The woman demands that Livvy remember something that she did to the woman but Livvy doesn’t remember ever meeting the woman, much less doing anything wrong.  This was a thrilling suspense novel for teens.  I didn’t want to put it down, even though I figured out what was going on before Livvy did.

The Lake House

The Lake House by Kate Morton
495 Pages

 " Living on her family's idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented sixteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure... One midsummer's eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, eleven-month-old Theo, has vanished without a trace. What follows is a tragedy that tears the family apart in ways they never imagined. Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as an author. Theo's case has never been solved, though Alice still harbors a suspicion as to the culprit. Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather's house in Cornwall. While out walking one day, she stumbles upon the old estate--now crumbling and covered with vines, clearly abandoned long ago. Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone...yet more present than ever."

Kate Morton doesn't disappoint in her latest book.  The reader is transported between the past and present and it kept guessing at an ages old mystery.  Of course if you read a lot of Morton's book you would be led to believe that England is chock full of old, abandoned manor  houses (with all their furnishings of course).

Reality Check

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams, 330 pages

Cody’s life is pretty great.  He’s passing all of his classes, is quarterback of the football team with a good chance of a college scholarship, and a great girlfriend, Clea.  Then Clea’s dad decides to send her to a boarding school across the country and then Cody tears his ACL in the first game of the season.  The only reason to keep his grades up was to play football and this is the year scouts will be watching so, not seeing the point anymore, Cody drops out of school and starts work.  Until he finds out that Clea has gone missing from her school.  Even though they broke up before she left, Cody still loves her.  He sets out to help in the search and finds out that there may be a lot more going on than simply a missing girl.  This was a captivating suspense story.  I’m not sure why I liked it so much because it wasn’t really in depth but the characters were relatable and the story really kept moving and made me want to keep reading.  Teens that like suspense and thrillers will almost certainly want to read this book.