The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer

One could not explain the premise of this book better than the jacket flap:

In chapter four of the Bible, Cain kills Abel. It is the world’s most famous murder. But the Bible is silent about one key detail: the weapon Cain used to kill his brother. That weapon is still lost to history.
In 1932 Mitchell Siegel was killed by two gunshots to the chest. While mourning, his son dreamed of a bulletproof man and created the world’s greatest hero: Superman. And like Cain’s murder weapon, the gun used in this unsolved murder has never been found.
Today in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Cal Harper comes face-to-face with his own family tragedy: His long-missing father has been shot with a gun that traces back to Mitchell Siegel’s 1932 murder. But soon after their surprising reunion, Cal and his father are attacked by a ruthless killer tattooed with the ancient marketings of Cain.
So begins the chase for the world’s first murder weapon. It is a race that will pull Cal back into his own past even as it propels him forward through the true story of Cain and Abel, an eighty-year-old unsolvable puzzle, and the deadly organization known for the past century as the Leadership.
What does Cain, history’s greatest villain, have to do with Superman, the world’s greatest hero? And what to two murders, committed thousands of years apart, have in common?

What an intriguing premise from Brad Meltzer who seems to have his hand in so many different enterprises. His TV show, Decoded, was what has piqued my interest in his books. He may become one of those authors whose books I will not want to miss. But The Book of Lies is the first that I have read and it won't be the last. The book is fast-paced and what you would deem a venerable page turner. Meltzer's cast of characters are a bit eccentric and odd to say the least. The mystery that he weaves from the Bible to the comic books seems far-fetched, but in the end quite plausible. As the reader thinks that s/he has put the puzzle pieces together, the action takes an unforeseen turn. 

In addition, The Book of Lies prompts the reader to dig back in history to the Nazis, the Thules, and Himmler's Ahnenerbe. When a book does this to me, I become distracted and want to research. I guess that's the bane of being a librarian. In some ways the novel is reminiscent of Dan Brown's books, especially The DaVinci Code. There is an equal mix of fiction and historical facts, even to the meeting of the real inspiration for Lois Lane. The reader is very much on a roller coaster ride as the action is fast paced and surprising. From Florida to Cleveland to California, it is a ride you won't want to miss.

Mapping the Edge by Sarah Dunant

Sarah Dunant is a masterful storyteller. She knows how to immediately hook the reader and then play with the mind. Her Birth of Venus was spellbinding with its description of Renaissance Italy. In Mapping the Edge she returns to Florence to set part of the novel.

Anna Franklin is a freelance journalist based in London who packs her bags and journeys to Italy. When she doesn't return as scheduled her family becomes alarmed. She leaves behind her daughter Lily and housemate Paul along with Paul's boyfriend, Michael. As the novel begins Estella, Anna's confidante and best friend is alerted to Anna's disappearance. Estella immediately travels to London from Amsterdam to be a support to Lily and Paul as well as to garner any clues as to Anna's whereabouts.

While Estella narrates most of the novel, the reader enters into another narrative of parallel stories. There are two possible explanations for Anna's departure: she has been kidnapped or she has run away to meet a lover. Told with heightening suspense, each narrative moves toward a thrilling end as the reader ponders which story is, in fact, the true one. At the same time, Estella's narrative grounds us in how either prospect weighs on those who have been left in London. 

Dunant is superb in her command of setting and character. She allows us to develop such a mind picture because of her descriptions that there is no doubt as to where are characters are and what constitutes their surroundings. While in Florence a few years a go, we stayed a hotel on the Via Guelfa. Anna walks that street and Dunant's description brought me back to the same place that I had stayed. Likewise, she has created her cast with pasts that weigh in on present actions and allows them to react to situations as the individuals that they are. 

Definitely a page turning read from a novelist that you don't want to miss.

Night Road by Kristin Hannah

A very kind neighbor loaned this book to me a couple of months ago. In some "down time", i.e. time between Book Club books, I treated myself to a free read. Then vacation interrupted and I didn't want to take a friend's book with me. So it has been a long time in reading. It was a decent read, pretty predictable, but one wrought with emotion.

Alexa (Lexi) Bail, a foster child due to her mother's drug addiction, is finally placed permanently with her Great Aunt in Pine Island, Washington. Her aunt, a clerk at the local WalMart,  has little money, but a lot of love to give Lexi. It is awkward to move to a new area and make new friends, but Lexi gives it a go on the first day of school when she approaches Mia Farraday, somewhat a social misfit. Mia, though skeptical of Lexi, accepts her offer of friendship and the two develop into the best BFFs that could ever happen. Mia is the twin of Zach and the daughter of Miles and Judith. The family leads a very comfortable life in suburbia. The parents have high expectations for their children. Lexi is treated as a member of the family, while still understanding her  roots and monetary limitations.  Judith has always been the supportive mother who brings treats to school, goes on field trips, and is protective of her children. It has never been difficult to expect that  Mia and Zach will do the right thing. But then Senior year happens and Mia and Zach begin to push the envelope - parties with alcohol and driving. They make a good decision about leaving a party and not driving drunk. Parents are called and the young adults are retrieved. However, a lecture ensues and we as readers as well as Mia and Zach wonder if that really was the best course of action. 

Lexi, Mia, and Zach become inseparable friends and it seems that the inevitable happens - Zach and Lexi fall in love and become a devoted couple. They pledge to spend the rest of their lives together, taking into account how the relationship could hurt Mia. The twins are inherently mindful of each other's feelings and Lexi fits into that profile. Nearing graduation the three attend another  party vowing not to drink and find themselves in a predicament when about to leave. Tragedy strikes and lives are changed forever. 

As the novel progresses, the reader is catapulted into lives that struggle to find meaning and solace in the cards that have been dealt. Blame is passed around freely, guilt is assumed too quickly, and ramifications of an early summer night's love create a horrible dilemma. It seems that life has taken a turn that results in a little girl living in somewhat of a foster home situation again. 

Kristin Hannah's Night Road is a bit reminiscent of a Jodi Picoult novel. It is highly emotional, character centered, and comes to a painful resolution. Marketed as an adult book, this book would definitely have a place in my high school library or the YA section of the public library. It was a very good, not fabulous, and engaging read.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

Finally, with a break available between book club books and lecture books, I was able to indulge in a book that I has been on my shelf since its publication day. I am an over-the-top fan of P.D. James as anyone who knows me can attest. I am also an Anglophile who loves Jane Austen. Put the two together and I am a very happy camper.  Baroness James is also an Austen aficionado who reads and rereads her on an annual basis. In Death Comes to Pemberley the best of both worlds converge.

It is six years after Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett have wed. They have two sons and live comfortably on his estate. The novel opens on the evening before the Lady Anne Ball as all at Pemberley are caught up in the preparations. After a simple dinner Darcy and Elizabeth gather in the music room with a few guests to enjoy Georgiana's music. It is a light-hearted evening until Lydia Wickham arrives unannounced and uninvited in a state of panic and utter disarray. She had been traveling with her husband and a Capt. Denny to Pemberley where she intended to crash the ball. On the course of the journey Wickham and Denny disembarked their chaise and wandered into the Woodland where Lydia heard shots fired. Immediately, she demands the driver to speed on to the manor house. Darcy assembles a search party and they are off to the woods where they find a dead captain and a very drunk George Wickham, who utters what could be a confession. And so the stage is set for the novel's plot. James, out of her 20th century element, does not have a Dalgleish to conduct the investigation and so must rely on the the primitive judgments of the local magistrates to shed light on the murder and discover the murderer.  Selwyn Hardcastle, a magistrate, remarks to Dr. Belcher:

“I take it that your clever scientific colleagues have not yet found a way of distinguishing one man’s blood from another?”

What is remarkable about the book is not its mystery, although it is a good one, is the reverence paid to Jane Austen through the words of P.D. James. You can envision the Derbyshire estate this is Pemberley, feel the animosity of Elizabeth and Darcy toward Lydia, understand the loving relationship of the the Darcys as well the culture and custom of the time period. We are given a window through which we can see more of the Darcy family and the growth of each of the characters. Yet the reader is also treated to the words that we have come to expect from the 20th & 21st century James:

"We have entered the nineteenth century; we do not need to be a disciple of Mrs. Wollstonecraft to feel that women should not be denied a voice in matters that concern them. It is some centuries since we accepted that a woman has a soul. Is it not time that we accepted that she also has a mind?” 

In addition, although set a century later, one can see the legacy of Austen in the manners and actions of another manor estate, Downton Abby. I would suggest that any reader who has not read Pride and Prejudice recently, brush up on the characters and action of that novel. Characters, innuendos and references will elude the reader that has forgotten the relationships of Austen's works. There have been some lukewarm reviews of the book, but I disagree. It is not Austen and it is not James, but it is a wonderful amalgamation of the two. Are you ready to tackle Sense and Sensibility, Mrs. James?

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

In this sweeping novel that takes the reader from India to Aden, to Ethiopia, to New York, Boston and back to Ethiopia, Abraham Vergehese fills the pages with love, politics, medical procedures, and relationships. At some times it is tedious and overwhelms, at others, it leaves us wanting more.

Sister Mary Jane Praise, a Carmelite nun, leaves India and on a very rough voyage to Aden, loses a friend and nurses Dr. Thomas Stone through a typhoid epidemic on the ship. One senses the romantic tension between the two and knows that at some point their love will be consummated. They both end their journey at Missing Missionary Hospital outside Addis Ababa. It is there that the story continues with Sister Mary Jane giving birth to conjoined twins, Marion and Shiva, after a pregnancy that had been hidden from all under the folds of her habit. It was a difficult birth that ended in her death. With no parents to raise the boys, Dr. Hemlatha, "Hema" and obstetrician, and Dr. Abhi Ghosh, assume the roles. The boys grow up in the culture of the hospital and the ever-changing political unrest in Ethiopia. They are nurtured by the love of Hema and Ghosh and an entourage of servants. The novel is replete with childhood memories, graphic medical procedures, the blossoming of love and the violence of a revolution.

Both Marion and Shiva enter the medical field with diverse political and philosophical principles guiding their lives. It is, however, love of a woman, Genet, the daughter Dr. Stone's housekeeper, that creates a chasm between them. In another consequence of his association with her, it is one that forces Marion to move to the United States to further his medical practice. He lands in an inner city hospital in the Bronx it is there he begins his real contribution to medicine. In a twist, the past catches up to him and he is confronted by two people who will change his world.

The novel is full of very quotable lines that show the craft of Verghese. His love is medicine, but he is adept at the written word also. Verghese did leave his practice of medicine at one point to study at the Iowa's Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa. The book's title is taken from the Hippocratic oath:

I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.

And:

“The eleventh commandment... never operate on a patient on the last day of their life.”

Marion attends a lecture in Boston and as a result of reading Dr. Thomas Stone's book, is able to answer the question:

 “What treatment is offered by ear in an emergency?”  "Words of comfort. "he answers. 

This statement is at the heart of the book and Verghese's practice of medicine. Throughout the novel his words reverberate with the need for more art and less business in today's health care. 

Dr. Verghese signing a copy of Cuttng for Stone, 19 March 2012

Cutting for Stone  is not an easy book to read, but in the end and upon reflection, it is a completely satisfying one. I finished the book about two weeks ago and have thought about it for  periods of time since then trying to make up my mind if I really liked it or not. There were some situations that I thought were quite contrived and I struggled at times with the change of voice. However, after hearing Dr. Verghese speak, I recognize more fully his purpose in writing the book and can appreciate the message that he was delivering. It WAS a good read.

They Did it with Love by Kate Morgenroth

I admit that among my favorite genres to read, mysteries rank pretty high. They Did it With Love  is a good, old-fashioned murder mystery. It has all the right elements: multiple characters with opportunity and motive, red herrings galore, clever investigators, and the predictable, unpredictable twist.

Dean and Sofie Wright lead a comfortable life in Manhattan. After Sofie's father dies, Dean suggests that they might like a change in residency and move to the suburbs - Greenwich, Connecticut. When she agrees, he moves quickly and finds the couple a home in a neighborhood where everyone lives a very privileged life. The hallmark of acceptance is an invitation to the Mystery Book Club, which is extended to Sofie. Sofie just happens to be mystery buff and channels Agatha Christie and Miss Marple. At the book club meeting she meets Priscilla - married to Gordon, Susan - married to Henry, Ashley - married to Stewart, and Julia - married to Alex. The rules of the book club are indicative of a "Stepford Wife" mentality - no shoes in the house (all members have designer shoes just for book club wear), a book must be read in its entirety, and if a member becomes pregnant she must drop out. Priscilla is the most controlling of all the members and as the book progresses sets her sights on Dean. The reader knows that this isn't the only secret harbored by the members and spouses and, in addition, is acutely aware that they will be instrumental as the book unfolds.

But then, one of the book club members is found dead. Is it a suicide or murder?  The police investigation commences and Sofie, who firmly believes that it is murder, takes it upon herself to help the detectives in unraveling the mystery. Interviews are conducted, Sofie manipulates an ally, and eventually an arrest is made. Throughout this process the reader learns of the deviousness of some of the members and the secrets of others. 

This was a surprisingly, engaging mystery. It was a bit slow to start, especially when all the couples are are being introduced. Initially, it was hard to keep them straight, but soon Morgenroth's characterization gives the book club members and their spouses individual voices. The author paves a path to the solution, but with a few detours and roadblocks along the way, and, finally, completes the revelation in a most unexpected way. It is clear that Dame Christie is right when she asserts, "'Nobody knows anybody - not that well!'

The Confession by John Grisham

It was twenty years ago that I first read a  John Grisham book. When The Firm was published, I felt that I had found a new author to collect. However, after a few books they started to all sound the same and I became very frustrated that he never really grasped the idea of bringing a book to closure. And so I tired of them and stopped reading after The Testament. With this mindset I was not looking forward to reading The Confession when I saw it on the list of books for our community book group.

The Confession is typical Grisham - some suspense, a treatise against capital punishment, didactic, and a very quick read. Donté Drumm has been incarcerated for 9 years in a Slone, Texas prison for killing Nicole Yarber, an effervescent high school cheerleader. He maintains his innocence, his confession was coerced, a body was never found, and now he is awaiting awaiting death by lethal injection. Keith Schroeder is a Lutheran minister at St. Mark's Church in Topeka, Kansas. His wife, Dana, is the church secretary and is visited on a Monday morning by Travis Boyette. Boyette is living at a halfway house on parole, awaiting to be granted his freedom. He insists upon seeing the minister and in their meeting confesses that he is a dying man and that he is the real killer of Nicole Yarber. The admission should be enough to warrant a stay of execution. 

Boyette agrees to be driven to Texas by Schroeder to finally come clean about the murder if it were to help free Drumm. What ensues is a  drive filled with unexpected difficulties and dilemmas. In Texas, Robbie Flak, Drumm's lawyer, files petition upon petition with the courts and governor. The reader senses the urgency, where the government does not. Throughout the ordeal we meet the mothers of both Nicole and Donté. Although they both are or will be in a situation where they face the loss of a child, they elicit totally different reactions by the reader. The drama continues and again, as characteristic of a Grisham novel, the book is wrapped up quickly and neatly 415 pages later. To disclose that drama would result in a major spoiler. There is some suspense, to be sure. But given the author's bent on the death penalty, one just wonders how he will get to the inevitable ending.

Not being a part of the legal community or having any training in law, I do question the authenticity of the inner workings of the courts and means to stay an execution. Grisham portrays those characters with contempt and repugnance. One other point of contention I had with the book was the point Grisham makes early on about Nicole using her cell phone and texting her mother at least 4 times right before she disappeared. In 1998 this wouldn't be the case. I know there are those that enjoy Grisham's books and anxiously await the publication of each new one. one  I will wait for one that is a bit less predictable with an ending that has been crafted and not packaged.

Winter Gardedn by Kristin Hannah

The cover image of Kristin Hannah's Winter Garden mirrors the chill inside the book. It is a chill that permeates the weather, but also relationships. But, yet, there is a butterfly that foretells the coming of a time of warmth.

Anya is the aloof mother of Nina and Meredith, daughters who have taken different paths in life. Nina is the adventurer, the National Geographic photojournalist who has traveled the world and chronicled wars and famines. Although involved with Danny, she has not and does not want to put down roots. Meredith, on the other hand, married young, has two daughters, and has stayed close to home helping to run the family orchard business. They converge at the bedside of their beloved father when he has had a severe stroke and is near death. He is the glue that has held the family together and his last wish is for his daughters to get to know and love their mother, something that has not been possible for the girls despite their trying.  "Make her tell you the story of the peasant girl and the prince," their beloved father had said. "All of it this time."

As they were growing up the girls were treated to fairy tales told by their mother. They took place in Russia, her home before coming to the U.S. Beyond that they knew very little of their mother's life. In fact, it is only at the end of the book that they actually find out when Anya's birthday is. Struggling to hold their lives together after their father's death, Meredith and Nina must make sense of their mother's dementia (or is it just grief), their personal lives, and the emptiness that surrounds them.  It is through the fairy tale of the peasant girl and he prince that the reader and the girls learn the reason that Anya has lived in the cold shell of the Winter Garden. 

This book was slow to engage me. At the beginning I was very impatient with the direction the story was taking as well as the prolonged narration of the story within the story. As it became more clear as to the purpose of Anya's tale, I was taken in. The siege of Leningrad and the plight of the Russian people is heartbreaking. Man's inhumanity has played out in so many venues and time periods, but the conditions in Russia during this time were more than appalling. (Very reminiscent although from a different perspective of Bohjalian's Skeletons at the Feast.) As the sisters begin to understand their mother they know what they must do to crack the ice that stands in the way of unconditional love and acceptance. A trip to Alaska, a visit to a professor who has written a treatise on the Siege, and a chance meeting in a coffee shop, and a powerful resolution give explanation for Anya's actions.

I cannot understand ( I don't have that perspective) of how a woman can be so affected that she is not able to love her children with all her heart and soul, even with the horrific experience that is her life. That part of the novel just doesn't ring true to me. The strength of the novel is in Kristin Hannah's description. The settings as diverse as an orchard in Washington, a homestead filled with memories, a Russian city under siege, the beauty of Alaska are masterfully penned. Again, this is a book I would probably not have read if it had not been a book discussion selection.

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

I have been a fan of Maureen Johnson's books for a while. She is a great writer for the YA (and adult) reader. Her characters are quirky, but have heart. Her books are humorous, but have depth and substance. And, of course, everyone knows that I am an Anglophile. Imagine my incredible glee when I learned that Johnson's newest book was one that was set in London and had at its center the Jack the Ripper murders. The Name of the Star is the first in the Shades.

Rory Deveaux is an American teen from New Orleans who is spending her senior year at a London boarding school, Wexford, because her lawyer parents have taken jobs at Bristol University. As she arrives, she hears on the radio the startling report that a Jack the Ripper copycat has surfaced and is committing murders. Wexford is located in the Whitechapel section of London, the scene of the Ripper murders. Although the school is acutely aware of the situation and does all that it can do to protect the students, Rory and her roommate, Jazza, circumvent the rules and find themselves on the school green after a murder. Rory proves to be the only witness to The Ripper despite the fact that her roommate was by her side. Something is definitely strange about the encounter as Rory learns from The Shades of London, a secret ghost police. She becomes a credible witness and meets those whom she hopes will help her. Will she be also pursued by the copycat now that she has seen his face. To whom can she turn for help?

The story is incredibly suspenseful and downright creepy. In spite of the gore of the story,  Johnson does not lose her gift of embracing the humorous side of a situation. We read of Rory's often wacky extended family, her commentary on adjusting to life in London, and her take on boarding school. What do you mean flip-flops are not an option? The reader is treated to a tour of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, the Ten Bells, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, and the ghostly underground Tube stations. And of course there is teen romance, too. Add Jerome to the mix and you have all the makings of what should be a popular book and series.  I couldn't believe the last line of the book was really the last. There had to be more, but there wasn't. The wait is on.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard

Nancy Pickard is a well-respected and competent writer of mysteries. The Scent of Rain and Lightning is an entertaining and suspenseful tome that is engaging and exciting. The novel opens as Jody Linder, a high school English teacher,  sees her three uncles, Chase, Billy, and Meryl Tapper drive in to her house. She knows that something is amiss, but was not prepared for the news they were about to deliver. Billy Crosby, the convicted killer of her father and perhaps her mother, was being released from prison as a result of a judge commuting his sentence because of new evidence produced by his lawyer son, Collin.

The story then flashes back to the events that happened 23 years before and Pickard reconstructs the lives and times of the Linder family. Jody's grandparents, Annabelle and Hugh, are one of Rose, Kansas' largest landowners and wealthiest families. Their sons, Chase, Bobby, and Hugh-Jay, were to contribute to the ranch's operations.  In the flashback, the reader also discovers that the Linders often gave opportunities to less fortunate and even delinquent boys in Rose to right their lives and become productive members of society. Billy Crosby was one of those boys. However, he just could not seem to throw away those habits that kept him and his family in a state of debt, namely his alcoholism and lack of anger management. 

Pickard skillfully weaves the story around these characters to the extent that each does have his or her own voice. The description of Rose, Kansas is painted so that the reader knows exactly how the bar, the grocery store, the ranch and Jody's house look. The reader sees what influence wealth and prestige have even in the justice system. Would Billy really have been convicted if the victims were not Linders? And although some red herrings are tossed to the reader, the ending is surprising as we are witness to the actual crime that left Jody without her parents. 

I love a mystery that I can't solve before the end of the book. I certainly was caught off guard by the resolution in The Scent of Rain and Lightning. However, I feel that the package was wrapped up almost too conveniently with some questions as to how could that really have happened. All in all, tho, the characters were believable, dynamic, and elicited the reader's empathy or hatred. It was a good read and at the end a real page-turner.