Bulwark

Bulwark by Brit Lunden   146 pages

 Something strange is happening in the small Georgia town of Bulwark.  First the sheriff’s daughter is kidnapped. No ransom note.  No trace whatsoever.  Then, residents are reported wolf sightings, but wolves have not been seen in that ara in decades. Third, an “older” couple’s (the author says in their sixties---give me a break) car lands in the middle of a murky green pond/lake/puddle (the author can’t make up her mind) that wasn’t there before the accident.

As Sheriff Clay Finnes begins to investigate, even stranger things begin to happen. The couple was coming from the opposite direction, but the road is closed. The only thing back there is an abandoned paper mill. How could they come from that direction? 

Clay has bigger problems than weird events. An plucky reporter who senses a story thwarts him at every turn.  Given that that same reporter is the reason Clay’s marriage broke up, he’s doubly irritated at what is going on.

Clay has no choice but to find the mysterious road the earlier victims mentioned in their statements. Clay has lived there most of his life and has never heard of Linden Lane.  But that night he manages to find it, along with a dilapidated gingerbread house and a very old woman who lives there.

The story moved along at a quick pace, even though it wasn’t scary or anything new. It irritated me that the author gave two endings. Make up your mind.  But one thing did impress me: This book is a series and each of other seven or eight books are written by a different author using other characters from Bulwark, Georgia.

 “Bulwark” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Simmer and Smoke: A Southern Tale of Grit and Spice

Simmer and Smoke: A Southern Tale of Grit and Spice by Peggy Lampman  380 pages

I hail from the South---Arkansas to be exact, and Southern Arkansas at that—and I’m always to drawn to stories that take place in that part of the U.S. And to make the pot even sweeter, it’s a story that evolves around food.

Lampman’s debut novel is the story of two women: Shelby Preston and Mallory Lakes. The story evolves over the course of one year,from December 20, 2010, to December 30, 2011.

Shelby is a young mother, living with her mother, with dreams of becoming a chef. Not only does she love to cook, but she knows that she can never make a good life in Coryville. Determined to make a better life for herself and her six-year-old daughter, Shelby takes the four-hour bus ride to Atlanta to apply for a job as a cook for in the downtown deli of Grasso’s, a supermarket chain.

Mallory Lake writes for the Life Style Section of one of Atlanta’s papers, The Sun. Like many newspapers in 2010, The Sun is facing declining advertising and readership. Rumor has it that the paper is about to close its print doors and go strictly digital. Not only does Mallory have to worry about losing her job, but she’s still trying to figure out why her lover unceremoniously dumped her without a hint of warning.

I enjoyed Simmer and Smoke. It’s a story of strong women who aren’t strong because it’s the cool thing to do. They are strong because they have no choice. It’s also a story of family---the one we’re stuck with and the one we choose to make. It’s a story of food. I wish the recipes hadn’t been regulated to the back of the book. The story would have been more effective if they had been listed in the text.  The plot was interesting and entertaining. For half the book, it was a page turner. For the other half, it bogged down.

I give Simmer and Smoke: A Southern Tale of Grit and Spice 3 out of 5 stars.