Book Review: "Lucky Day" by Chuck Tingle

What an utterly creative, chaotic, gruesome, and thought-provoking book this was! Horror is definitely not my preferred genre but Chuck Tingle writes books that are so complex, even as they gross me out at times.

“There are billions and billions of paths for us on any given day, and we certainly remember the ones that lead to something like a brutal car crash. We think to ourselves, Why me? How did I get so unlucky? The problem is, we have absolutely no idea how many times we’ve missed one of the infinite tragic routes, ducking and dodging butterflies left and right. Every day, we never know the billions and billions and billions of car crashes we’re not in.”

Four years ago, Vera, a statistics and probability professor, was celebrating the publication of her first book. It was a fun occasion which was marred by Vera’s coming out to her mother during the brunch. They fought and her mother ran out of the diner. And then disaster struck.

In what would become known as the Low-Probability Event (LPE), eight million people across the world all were killed on the same day, each death more random and bizarre than the next. People shepherding a giant balloon were strangled by its ropes. Someone was killed when a costumed chimpanzee threw a typewriter at them. While Vera escaped death, everyone she cared about was killed.

Vera retreats into her grief for four years, because nothing matters to her anymore. Then she is visited by Special Agent Layne, part of a government agency investigating the LPE. She reluctantly agrees to help Layne once he reveals they’ll be investigating a mega-casino in Las Vegas, where the odds seem strangely in the gamblers’ favor. What they discover, however, is truly eye-opening, and Vera must decide if she cares enough about the world to save it.

There’s a lot of graphic descriptions of death in here, so if that is triggering, this is probably not the book for you. At the same time, this book was shockingly emotional at times, which really made it so much more than a horror story.

Book Review: "Tilt" by Emma Pattee

Wow. This was such a powerfully written book, one which filled me with anxious tension.

It’s the first day of Annie’s maternity leave, as she’s nine months pregnant and ready to give birth. She decides to go to IKEA to buy a crib for the baby, as she and her husband haven’t gotten around to that task yet. In the middle of shopping, a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon, throwing the city—and Annie—into utter chaos.

“Last I checked, your father and I have $836 in a checking account at Wells Fargo, a Subaru with 160,000 miles on it, and a two-bedroom apartment we can only afford because the landlord feels too guilty to raise our rent or kick us out. And here I am, thirty-seven weeks pregnant at IKEA. On a Monday. With a credit card I’ll probably die before I pay off.”

With no way to reach her husband because phone lines are down, and with the streets either wrecked or clogged with traffic, Annie decides to walk to the cafe where her husband works.

As she walks through the streets and witnesses the destruction first-hand, Annie reflects on her life, her marriage, and her anxieties over the impending birth of her baby. Her emotions spiral through fear, anxiety, grief, and anger, and she grows more uncomfortable physically.

Along the way she encounters examples of human kindness as well as the chaos that occurs during natural disasters like this. She’s not fully sure that she and her husband are ready to be parents (or adults, for that matter), especially as she witnesses the anxieties of parents.

Emma Pattee is a climate journalist, and that expertise is truly evident in the imagery she uses. I felt like I was walking beside Annie, seeing the same destruction and feeling aftershocks along the way. This book really made me think how I’d handle being in this situation.

Book Review: "Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend" by MJ Wassmer

It was going to be the perfect vacation for Dan and his girlfriend Mara: a newly opened resort on a remote island in the Bahamas. For the first few days it really does feel like paradise. And then the sun explodes.

The resort guests panic. They have no phone or internet access to see how their families back home are—and they can’t reach the airlines to try and get out of there, not that they know whether planes would still be able to fly. Plus, there’s the fact that without the sun, the temperatures will start to drop.

When the wealthiest resort guests stage a coup, anger erupts along with the panic and paranoia. The leader of the coup, the head of a fitness pyramid scheme, pretends to be folksy and faith-based, but she’s actually a dangerous threat. Supplies start to be rationed and tensions between classes intensify.

Dan has been content to let life go by, although he always wanted to make a difference. Somehow he is pressed into duty to fight for the non-wealthy guests, and although he’s a bit of a bumbler, as things get crazier, he starts to relish his role as hero. But what will that mean for him and Mara?

I thought this was a terrific concept and parts of the book are hysterically funny. But as things went further and further off the rails, the story went way over the top, and I found myself not caring that much.

Book Review: "Hurricane Girl" by Marcy Dermansky

I literally read this in one sitting. I did not want to put it down!

Allison is tired of living in Los Angeles, tired of her movie producer boyfriend. After selling a script, she decides to take her money and buy a small beach house in North Carolina, where she can swim in the ocean and plan her next moves. But after living there only a week and a half, a Category 3 Hurricane hits the area and destroys her house.

Completely shaken by the sight of her house in pieces, scattered all around, Allison makes one bad decision after another. The next thing she knows, she decides to go home with a television cameraman who filmed an interview with her. He seems nice, and he says he has a cell phone charger, which she needs.

But the next day, things go spectacularly awry, and then she has a hole in her head and glass in her hair from a vase he hit her with. She’s determined to drive home to her mother in New Jersey despite her injury and the fact that she can’t quite think clearly.

This is a powerful, thought-provoking book, a significant portion of which is narrated by a woman with a brain injury. It’s tremendously accurate in the many different ways these injuries affect people physically, cognitively, and emotionally. And what’s so powerful is the fact that she’s desperately trying to regain control of her life at a time where she feels so out of sync.

I really was blown away by this. The narration is very blunt and to the point, and it works so well here.

Book Review: "The Performance" by Claire Thomas

Claire Thomas' The Performance is uniquely told and thought-provoking.

In the old cartoon series The Far Side, one comic depicted a man lying on his bed, saying, “I like her so much. I hope she likes me. I wonder what she’s thinking about right now.” There’s a split screen, and the woman says, “Vanilla. I like vanilla ice cream best.” The caption of the comic reads, “Same planet, different worlds.”

I share this example because I thought about that comic while reading The Performance. In this book, three women are at a theater in Australia watching a play, Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days. Margot is a professor nearing retirement, who is beset by professional and personal crises; Summer is an usher in the theater who is concerned about the wildfires occurring where her girlfriend’s family lives; and Ivy, a wealthy philanthropist who has built up her life after much tragedy.

There are chapters devoted to each of the women. They depict the women’s internal thoughts as the play is going on, as their focus on the actual play drifts in and out. Their thoughts are scattered, drifting between past and present, and then also incorporate their interpretation of the rather odd play, and their fellow theatergoers.

The book then has an interlude of sorts during intermission, in which the plot unfolds like a play, with the three women essentially performing. That portion of the book is written in script form. Then the book shifts back to the second act of the play and the women reacting to what happened during intermission.

This was an interesting story, mostly told through the women’s thoughts and reactions, as well as recollections of things past. It’s well-written and there are interesting things about each character, but as a whole this never quite came together for me. I liked the concept but I guess I’m more of a traditionalist when it comes to fiction.

Book Review: "Olga Dies Dreaming" by Xochitl Gonzalez

Xochitl Gonzalez's debut novel is a powerful, well-written saga of family, heritage, politics, sexuality, secrets, and lies.

In 2017, Olga Acevedo is a sought-after wedding planner for NYC‘s elite, while her older brother Prieto is an affable U.S. congressman representing their Brooklyn neighborhood. But while their lives seem charmed from the outside, in private, things aren’t as perfect. Olga can make magic happen for couples but can’t find her own happiness, and Prieto is haunted by secrets and decisions that he has made.

Their father was a drug addict who died of AIDS, while their mother abandoned the family when the children were young to pursue a radical political agenda in her native Puerto Rico. She barely keeps in touch with them except to have letters delivered to them, letters in which she berates Prieto for his political choices and tries to convince Olga she is wasting her intelligence by not focusing on the cause.

When Hurricane Maria devastates Puerto Rico, their mother resurfaces in a number of ways, trying to convince both of them to do her bidding. They don’t support her methods—nor do they want to get entangled in her mess—but they see the American government’s mistreatment of and horrible neglect toward Puerto Rico and its residents, and they feel compelled to act. But what sacrifices will they have to make in exchange?

Olga Dies Dreaming was one of my Book of the Month picks in December. There was much to love about Gonzalez’s novel, and I found both Olga and Prieto to be fascinating characters. But while I found the book spot-on in its indictment of America’s cruelty toward Puerto Rico, I lost interest in the book when it focused on their mother and her machinations.

If you’re a fan of character-driven books, this is worth a read. There’s definitely a great story and strong characters at its heart.

Book Review: "Ski Weekend" by Rektok Ross

It was supposed to be a fun weekend. No one expected all that occurs in Rektok Ross' Ski Weekend!

Everyone is looking forward to senior ski weekend. Except Sam. She has to look after her younger brother Stu (like always) to make sure he doesn’t get hurt following the lead of his best friend, Gavin. So now Sam, Stu, Gavin, Sam’s best friend (and Stu's girlfriend) Lily, and two others are in Gavin’s fancy new SUV, along with Gavin’s dog, Champion.

Sam once had a thing for Gavin, but when he left for boarding school a year ago, he never returned her emails or texts. So she’s got a bit of a chip on her shoulder where he’s concerned.

Not far into their journey, the cops start turning people around because of an impending snowstorm. One of their friends convinces them to try a shortcut through the mountains (those always work) and before they know it, they’ve crashed into a snowbank and their car is stuck. Of course, temperatures are dropping and cell coverage is non-existent.

When a foray to try and find help winds up with Stu getting hurt and then becoming feverish from his injuries, Sam has to keep him alive. But as their food supplies shrink and people start fighting, it’s becoming more a question of who will survive, not how. And it only gets worse from there.⁣

I never went on a lot of trips with friends when I was growing up, but if I was that age now, I’d never go anywhere!! Fun trips always seem to turn to disaster in books, lol, and I’m not the survivalist type. (To put it mildly.)

This was a very readable YA thriller. It was a little melodramatic, but Ross did a great job with the setting because I felt so cold while reading it! And boy, did I love Champion!!

Book Review: "Wildland" by Rebecca Hodge

This isn’t a page-turner; it’s a page-flipper! I raced through this as fast as my pulse was racing.

Kat is planning a quiet month’s stay at a secluded cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She beat breast cancer a number of years ago, enduring surgeries, chemo, debilitating recovery. But now the cancer has come back again, and she’s not sure she has the strength for another fight, regardless of her daughter’s feelings.

While getting the lay of the land, she meets the occupants of the two nearby cabin, each is a man traveling with his child, but both couldn’t be more different. Malcolm, who has physical and, clearly, emotional scars of his own, is dealing with his adopted son, Nirav, while brash, demanding Scott is struggling with the challenges of his preteen daughter, Lily.

Both children are immediately taken with Kat, not to mention the two dogs she has found herself with. One night while both children are sleeping at her cabin, a lightning strike causes a fire which quickly starts to encroach on them. With no choice, Kat leads the children and the dogs deeper and deeper into the woods, hoping to escape the fire and hoping there’s a way they can be rescued.

Meanwhile, Malcolm and Scott frantically plan a rescue of the kids and Kat but are at the mercy of the fire and the authorities. And even when Malcolm is able to pull strings their efforts are hampered. Will their kids be safe? Will a woman with barely enough strength to fight her own battles be able to muster the courage to protect two children she barely knows? It’s a race against the elements, time, and the human body.

Even though I knew what would happen I couldn’t put this book down. There was a lot more complexity to these characters than you usually get in a thriller. Malcolm and Nirav could have been a book all their own. This is a book that gets your heart racing but also tugs at your heart. It also would be an excellent movie.

I’m grateful to be part of the blog tour for this book. Thanks to Kate Rock Book Tours, Rebecca Hodge, and Crooked Lane Books for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. I appreciate the opportunity!!

Book Review: "The Last Cruise" by Kate Christensen

Some people love cruises with absolute passion. They can think of no greater vacation than sailing the seas, enjoying all of the creature comforts of the ship (including endless parades of food), and exploring the different ports of call. I have many friends and family members who would take a cruise as often as possible if cost and time were not an issue.

I've never been on a cruise, and to be honest, I've stayed away because of all of the horror stories I've seen in the media—the loss of power and water, the fires, the tipping over, the massively contagious viruses that spread among passengers and crew, and pirates. I know these things don't happen often (although some seem to happen more frequently), but I don't know if I like people enough to be stuck with them in the middle of the ocean.

While Kate Christensen's The Last Cruise isn't going to spur crowds of people to immediately book a cruise, it's more than a litany of things that could go wrong at sea.

The Queen Isabella is a vintage ocean liner from the 1950s which is going to make one more voyage, from Long Beach, California to Hawaii, before it is retired from service and sent to the salvage yard. The cruise ship company has decided to make this trip a nostalgic one—passengers will enjoy "old-fashioned" food like Steak Diane and Baked Alaska, as well as classic cocktails and vintage music. Oh, and there won't be wi-fi on the cruise, either.

The cruise couldn't have come at a better time for Christine Thorne. She left her farm home (and her farmer husband) back in Maine to meet her old friend for a vacation. Christine hopes to settle her mind while on the cruise, and determine whether the life that drew her away from New York City and a potential career in journalism years ago is still what she wants, or if she needs to start anew.

Miriam Koslow is an Israeli violinist who, along with her ex-husband, is part of a long-standing quartet which plays on many of the cruises run by the company. The owners of the ship are also the benefactors of the quartet. This last cruise leads Miriam to contemplation of her own mortality and that of her fellow musicians, and leads her to realize she needs to seize what she wants for the rest of her life, no matter the consequences.

Mick Szabo, one of the executive sous-chefs, is only on the cruise because he's filling in at the last minute for someone else. Working for a temperamental, well-known chef puts him on edge, but his skills are top-notch, and he's determined to prove himself worthy of a career beyond cooking on cruise ships. He's unprepared, however, for how tensions among the crew will affect the job he has to do.

Suddenly, everything changes, and the passengers and crew of the Queen Isabella find themselves facing more than where they'll sunbathe that day, what outfit they'll wear to dinner, or how to deal with the insubordination of an employee. They'll have to deal with issues of health and safety, whether there will be enough food and water, and what to do in case a storm comes their way. These crises will test everyone's mettle, bring long-hidden issues to the forefront, and put people in situations they weren't prepared to face.

Much of what occurs in The Last Cruise is unsurprising, and you can see it coming nearly from the beginning of the book. But Christensen still draws you into the story, and creates tremendously evocative images so you can almost smell and taste the food, hear the music, and see the nostalgic glamour around you. Not all of the characters are likable, but you become invested in their stories, and you wonder what will happen to them.

While the events that occur in the book aren't far-fetched if you've seen any news stories about cruise ships, but I felt like there was just too much happening, one thing after another. It almost became too melodramatic—there was a brief moment where I was expecting locusts or frogs to come next. I also thought the villains in the book were too much of a caricature—I would have liked something more than the greedy, insensitive tycoon.

Even with the things I didn't like, I still found The Last Cruise to be a good story. I wouldn't recommend you bring it with you on a cruise ship, however!

NetGalley and Doubleday Books provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "The End We Start From" by Megan Hunter

Sometime in the future, London is submerged beneath floodwaters, and people fear the end of the world is drawing near. As the floods approach a woman gives birth to a baby boy, Z. Within a few days, she and her husband R must flee their home and search for a safer place.

Each day they worry about whether the floods will find them. When they take refuge with R's parents, they discover that the fear is never far away from them. And while the woman is worried about what is happening in the world around her, and how R is reacting to it all, she spends so much of each day simply marveling at her baby and how he is growing, flourishing even as the future is uncertain. She is overwhelmed by her maternal feelings, by the miracle she and R created.

As the trio moves to a camp where other displaced people are living, the claustrophobia, the uncertainty, the panic becomes too much for R to bear. He leaves his wife and baby, ostensibly to see what other options are out there, but both know what this departure could signify.

"He says it will only be for a week or so. To get a break. To look into other options. He says we should stay, that it is safer. The relief is hanging from him, a loose shirt. I look at the car before I lose it. I try to take in all of its details. Before he leaves, I put his full hand over my face, like a mask. I do this even though there is no point. Even though smells can't be held."

As circumstances force her to move again, she begins making friends with others in similar situations. But she longs for her husband, reflects on their love, and tries not to stagger under her feelings of love and responsibility for her son. She cannot stop living even though she misses her husband, because she must live for her son. She must show him love, experience his moments of joy and sadness, and watch him grow.

I never would have imagined a book so sparsely written could be so lyrical, but The End We Start From feels almost poetic at times. Megan Hunter chose her words so carefully, it was as if she wanted to be sure no excess words distracted from the beauty of her writing.

"Our city is here, somewhere, but we are not. We are all untied, is the thing. Untethered, floating, drifting, all these things. And the end, the tether, the re-leash, is not in sight."

As much as Hunter's prose is breathtaking, the story itself could use a little more meat. Maybe it was her intent for her readers to fill in the blanks she left in the story, but I would have preferred a bit more narrative. I also found the gimmick of referring to every character with their first initial (the protagonist only interacted with one person per letter, it appeared) to be a little twee. I'm never a fan of books that refer to people or places that way.

This was a moving, thought-provoking read, one that I completed in one sitting. (I took a bit longer for lunch because I had to finish this book.) I liked it a good deal but didn't love it as I'd hoped—it's not perfect, and Hunter's storytelling choices may rub some the wrong way. To me, however, The End We Start From signifies the birth of a new literary talent. Megan Hunter is definitely one to watch, because if this is her first novel, I can only imagine what comes next.

Book Review: "Castle of Water" by Dane Huckelbridge

Dane Huckelbridge, look what you made me do!

Sophie is a French architect. She and her new husband, Etienne, have spent the first few days of their honeymoon in Tahiti, and now plan to spend the second leg on of of the Marquesas Islands, specifically the one where the French entertainer Jacques Brel—who is Sophie's favorite singer ever—spent his last days.

Barry is, or until just recently, was, an investment banker in New York. The life he led in high finance isn't the life he dreamed of—what he wanted more than anything was to become a painter. He was accepted to art school, yet made the safe choices which led him down the less exciting but more stable path. But he's finally decided it is time for all of that to change, and he literally heads from his downtown office to Tahiti with the clothes on his back and some extra pairs of contact lenses. His ultimate journey is the island in the Marquesas where his idol, Paul Gauguin, finally found the inspiration to unleash his genius.

Sophie, Etienne, and Barry are the three passengers on a small plane heading to the island of Hiva Oa. Yet they fall short of their destination when their plane crashes in the middle of the South Pacific. Not everyone survives, yet those who do are faced with an unending number of challenges, starting with the fact that the island they wind up marooned on is virtually unknown by the world, and is nowhere near the flightplan their pilot filed before take-off.

With miles and miles of nothing but water surrounding them, meager food sources, and not much in the way of shelter, the survivors must make their way to do just that—survive. At the same time, they must learn to trust one another, as well as live with the realization that if they can ever find their way home, or at least back to some semblance of civilization, it cannot happen alone.

"What does it take to not only survive such a thing, but then live the rest of your life with that thing inside you?"

You've seen this story before. You may even be able to figure out the plot from the bare-bones summary I've given. But you know what? It doesn't matter. Dane Huckelbridge brings all of the familiar elements to this book but adds a dash of insouciance, some well-placed history and trivia, and some beautiful storytelling. His imagery helps you picture the island in your mind's eye, and visualize the characters' struggles and victories as you're reading about them.

I thought the plot took a little while to build up steam, and I could have done without the characters adhering to well-known stereotypes early on. But beyond that I really enjoyed Castle of Water, even if it had me singing "Candle on the Water" from the Disney movie Pete's Dragon. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't google it unless you're a Helen Reddy fan.) It was a lovely, special book, and proves that Huckelbridge is definitely an author to watch in the future.

As an aside, I'm not to keen to get on a plane in a few days.

Book Review: "Eveningland: Stories" by Michael Knight

I don't know about you, but I have a list (both mental and written) of authors whose work I have enjoyed through the years, and from time to time I check all of the book-related websites to see if any of these people have books coming out in the near future. Some of these authors are more prolific so I don't have to wait a long time between books, but others keep me waiting for years, and in certain cases I wonder whether they're even planning to write another book.

I found Michael Knight's work when his first novel, Divining Rod, and his first story collection, Dogfight and Other Stories, were both released in 1998. The power of his storytelling emanated from his use of language and rich characterization, as well as his ability to create tension and drama without resorting to histrionics or elaborate plot devices. And although Knight's stories appeared periodically in publications following the release of his first two books, I waited five years for his next one, and then seven years for the one after that. (I wasn't aware he had written a holiday-related novella between the two.)

Since 2010 I've been hoping Knight had another story collection or novel in him, so when I saw on NetGalley that his latest collection, Eveningland, was due out in March 2017, you can bet I submitted my request as soon as possible! Six years of elapsed time haven't dulled his talent, and reading these stories felt like visiting with an old friend, a person with whom you can talk for hours on end.

Eveningland is a collection of seven somewhat-connected stories, each of which takes place in Knight's native Alabama. The stories are set between the Deepwater Horizon oil spill into the Gulf in 2010 to the arrival of a destructive hurricane, although not every story is firmly rooted in time as a concept. Each story focuses on relationships—between husband and wife, lovers, family, even strangers. And while each story seems relatively simple, it's surprising how quickly these characters find their way into your mind.

All of the stories in this collection worked for me on some level, but my favorites included: "Smash and Grab," in which a teenage girl turns the tables on a burglar—and keeps him guessing; "Grand Old Party," which tells of a man who suspects his wife's infidelity and decides to confront her and her lover, but doesn't think it through; "Jubilee," about a long-married couple preparing for the husband's 50th birthday party; "Our Lady of the Roses," in which a young art teacher at a Catholic school finds herself at odds with her career, her faith, and her relationship; and "Water and Oil," which tells of a teenage boy worried about the encroaching oil spill yet distracted by a more worldly waitress at his father's marina.

There are flashier short story authors out there, but Knight is a tremendously talented storyteller. Eveningland sneaks up on you quietly, hooks you quickly, and leaves you wanting more from Knight. I hope I don't have to wait six more years!!

NetGalley and Grove Atlantic provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "Learning to Swear in America" by Katie Kennedy

Poor Yuri Strelnikov. The 17-year-old physicist prodigy has traveled from his Moscow home to California to help NASA stop a giant asteroid that is hurtling toward Earth. It won't wipe out the entire planet, but it may destroy the entire state of California, and cause tsunamis which might wipe out the Pacific Rim.

The thing is, Yuri knows how to stop the asteroid. He even has unpublished research that demonstrates this, research he's sure will earn him a Nobel Prize someday, which is something he has dreamed about since he was very young. But because he is so young, he can't convince his NASA colleagues to listen to him. They don't want to take chances on a kid's unpublished research, they want to use the methods they know—even if it means they won't be successful.

Yuri is alone, shuttled between his hotel room and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where the work is being done. He can't reach anyone from home, and when he does, he understands that one of his chief academic rivals is looking to take credit for his research. And then he meets Dovie Collum, a free-spirited, creative teenager who tries to live life in a carefree way, although she struggles with those who want to squelch her creative spirit. Little by little, she shows Yuri what it's like to be a real American teenager, and gives him the opportunity to experience some of the simple joys of life.

But in the end, Yuri has a mission, and he is determined to save the world from the asteroid the way he knows how, so he can go home again. How can he convince his colleagues to listen to him, even if his research hasn't been proven, and even if there are inherent risks? Should he just let them do what they think is best, even if it means putting people in danger?

I really enjoyed Learning to Swear in America. I thought it was sweet and funny, and I enjoyed getting to spend time with the characters. It's a reasonably predictable book but I didn't think that took anything away from its charm. This is a book that didn't take itself too seriously even as it dealt with the potential of a disaster, but the characters didn't seem overly precocious or wise beyond their years, save Yuri, but he was only wise in terms of science and math.

Katie Kennedy definitely knows how to write an enjoyable story. Even her author's note was funny. Consider this: "I did a lot of research to write this book, but if you're trying to stop an asteroid, you probably shouldn't use it as a guide. Finally, if you do notice an incoming asteroid, please give the nearest astrophysicist a heads-up because there really are only about a hundred people in the world looking for them. And it really is a big sky."

If you're looking for something that's light and enjoyable, with a little bit of soul-searching thrown in for good measure, pick up Learning to Swear in America. You may know what's coming, but you'll still enjoy the journey.

Book Review: "The Last One" by Alexandra Oliva

Alexandra Oliva's The Last One is really thought-provoking. A look at the making of and the people involved with a Survivor-type television show, crossed with a bit of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, this wasn't quite what expected, and it moved me more than I thought it would.

In the Dark is going to be the next big thing in television. A wilderness survival show with an enormous budget, the producers are ready to pull out all of the stops—and the truth is, no one knows just how far the show will go, or how it will end. They assembled a cast that the viewers will both love and love to hate—there are those who seem like real threats to win the competition, those who seem like appealing people the audience will root for, and those who will make good television. (Sounds like every reality show out there, doesn't it?)

We get glimpses of the characters, labeled by the nicknames those involved with the show use to refer to them—Tracker, Carpenter Chick, Air Force, Black Doctor, Waitress, Exorcist, Engineer, Banker, Rancher, Asian Chick, and Cheerleader Boy. But it is Zoo, a researcher at a wildlife refuge near her home, whose eyes we see the show, and the entire book through.

As the episodes of the show unfold, it doesn't seem too surprising if you've ever watched Survivor. But the behind-the-scenes stuff is coupled with a more real survival tale—the contestants are sent out on an individual challenge, and during that something catastrophic happens. Zoo keeps moving forward in her pursuit of her next clues, going where she believes the show wants her to, and starts encountering props and situations more disturbing than what they've had to face thus far. Yet even as she grows physically and emotionally weaker, she keeps on, desperate to make it home to her husband and, if possible, to win.

"If I allow myself to doubt, I'll be lost. I can't doubt. I don't. It all makes sense."

This book was a very interesting juxtaposition between the entertainment world and the much bleaker "real" world that Zoo faces. Having watched Survivor in its first few seasons, as well as a few other reality shows here and there, I didn't find that part of the plot as interesting as Zoo's own journey was. And while I felt it took a little too long for Zoo to realize what had happened, and what was around her, that part of the plot was compelling and tremendously moving, as a person so mentally and physically exhausted, fighting her own psychological demons even before joining the show, has to accept a new, well, reality vastly different than anything she was expecting.

Oliva is really talented, and she really balanced the more lighthearted and sensational elements of the plot with the weightier ones. I thought Zoo was a pretty fascinating character, but I almost wish we had gotten to know a few of her fellow competitors a little bit more, although I understand the point of the book. Beyond the items I mentioned above, my only other criticism is that, while the book refers to the show's characters by their nicknames, Zoo refers to them throughout the book by their first names, which we were never privy to, so it was difficult to keep straight in some cases whom she was thinking about. (I'm hoping that might be caught in the last round of edits before publication.)

This is a thought-provoking, well-written, and emotionally satisfying book. It may not necessarily surprise, but it definitely will make you think, and perhaps look at your favorite reality shows a little differently.

NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group — Ballantine provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "Before the Fall" by Noah Hawley

Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for making it available!

It's an evening in late August, a little foggy but otherwise uneventful. On Martha's Vineyard, the private plane belonging to David Bateman, the power behind one of the country's major cable news networks, is scheduled to take off and head back to New York. David and his wife Maggie, and their two young children, nine-year-old Rachel and four-year-old JJ, are ready to head home, and their friends Sarah and Ben Kipling are joining them on the flight. Maggie has also invited Scott Burroughs, a painter that she has befriended on their many visits to the Vineyard.

Scott arrives late, just as the plane was preparing to take off, so he tries to relax. There's music playing, and David and Ben are watching the Boston Red Sox game. Small talk is exchanged, and the flight attendant offers everyone a beverage. And then, inexplicably, 16 minutes after takeoff, the plane plunges into the ocean.

Scott regains consciousness in the ocean and begins to realize what has happened. As he tries to find other survivors of the crash, he hears the cries of JJ, apparently the only other person left alive. Despite a shoulder injury, Scott, once a championship swimmer inspired by the legendary Jack LaLanne's swim from Alcatraz when Scott was a boy, swims with JJ nearly 10 miles to shore.

As the authorities try to figure out what caused the crash, details are uncovered and theories begin to emerge. Was the plane brought down by someone determined to may David pay for his network's manipulating of popular opinion via the news it broadcasts? Were there other reasons for sabotage, perhaps related to one of the other passengers on board? Were the flight crew trustworthy?

Of course, the person in the most blinding spotlight is Scott. While his heroism is heralded, it's also questioned, suspected. How did he wind up on the plane that night? What was his relationship with Maggie? How is he the only adult survivor from a plane full of important people? The media circles, leaving no stone unturned, questioning everything in his past, even the pictures he has painted. And as Scott reaches out to JJ given the bond they shared, there are some suspecting nefarious elements there, too.

Before the Fall is a book that doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it a meditation on the fragility of life, the simplicity of luck, and the unconscious act of a hero? Is it a look at how quickly one's life can change, and the beauty of a simple bond between a man and a young child? Is it a portrait of our media-obsessed society, where in an effort to be first to break a story, the media broadcasts what it knows and then makes up what it doesn't, crafting facts to fit the theories they want to espouse? Or is it a thriller, as the authorities (of course, not without the usual pissing match between branches of the government) try to figure out what really did happen on the plane that night?

Noah Hawley tries to make this book all of those things, which means it doesn't quite succeed on any of those fronts. It is beautifully written, and Scott is a fascinating character. If the book had concentrated on him and his life following the crash, and how JJ and those around him dealt with the aftermath, I think this would have been stronger and more appealing, at least for me. But the book gets bogged down in looking at the lives of each of the other passengers and crew on board that night, and what brought them to that moment, and then the zealous media coverage of the crash and the suspicions being levied against Scott (particularly by a corrupt anchor on David's network), and it really frustrated me.

Since Hawley is the executive producer, writer, and showrunner for the television series Fargo, this book is getting a lot of attention, and is even being hyped as "the thriller of the year." I'd nominate several other books I've read so far this year for that honor (particularly Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X), but despite the fact I think Before the Fall suffered from a bit of an identity crisis, it's definitely a worthwhile, compelling read.

Book Review: "Shaker" by Scott Frank

Shaker reads like a movie, and that's not a bad thing. You can totally see the film version of this book playing out before your eyes.

This isn't too surprising once you learn that Scott Frank, the author, is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter who also wrote and directed a film adaptation of a classic Lawrence Block crime novel. And while the film version of Shaker might help alleviate some of the confusion caused by a few characters too many, the book is an addictive, suspenseful, and surprisingly sensitive read worth savoring.

Los Angeles has just been hit by a pretty powerful earthquake which has damaged a lot of the major highways, left many buildings in disarray, and knocked out major cell service throughout the city. Aftershocks keep the city's residents on edge, and sometimes cause more damage. A few days after the big quake, Roy Cooper, erstwhile "errand man" for his New York criminal employers, is dispatched to LA to murder a shady accountant named Martin Shine. Roy isn't told what Shine did to incur his employers' wrath (if anything), but knows his job is to follow orders, not to question details.

Roy arrives in the city and does what he needs to. But he encounters a slight problem after the hit is complete: he can't find his rental car. He has apparently gotten himself confused wandering in the few blocks around Shine's apartment. Then his problems get worse, as Roy stumbles upon another crime in progress, as four young gang members are mugging an elderly jogger. Rather than do what he should, that is, get the hell out of there, Roy gets involved, and the next thing he knows, the jogger is dead and Roy is in the hospital.

It turns out the elderly jogger was a leading mayoral candidate, bent on solving the gang problem. The mugging, and subsequent murder/shooting, was captured on a bystander's cell phone video, so the media has branded Roy a hero. This doesn't sit well with a lot of people, including his employers, the gang members who feel Roy disrespected them, and a figure from Roy's past, who has a score to settle. And as the cops, including disgraced police detective Kelly Maguire (who has a bit of an anger management problem), try to figure out exactly who Roy is, he needs to get out of the public eye and finish what he inadvertently started.

Frank juggles a lot of different narrative threads in the book, and all but one ultimately are relevant to the plot. (There's even some flashbacks to explain what brought Roy to this point in his life, and they're pretty fascinating on their own.) There's some great action, some creepy violence, and some pertinent social commentary on what drives gang members to live lives of unrelenting violence, lives they know may ultimately lead to their own demise. While I found Roy and Kelly's characters really fascinating (and would have loved it if the book focused more on both of them), Shaker drifts from time to time, juggling too many different narratives, and I just looked forward to the plot returning to the story at the book's heart.

As you'd expect from a talented screenwriter, Frank is a pretty strong storyteller, and while the book may meander occasionally, it's tremendously captivating. A great addition to the thriller/crime genre, and hopefully Frank will continue writing books in addition to films.

Book Review: "All the Birds in the Sky" by Charlie Jane Anders

There were a number of times while reading Charlie Jane Anders' All the Birds in the Sky that I thought, "How am I going to review this?"

What I realized, however, is that while the book was utterly different than I expected it to be from the blurbs I read, and there's much about the plot that defies description, I found it to be an ambitious, poignant, slightly meandering, somewhat imperfect book, which packs a resonant, emotional punch.

Laurence and Patricia meet in middle school. Both are outcasts—Laurence is obsessed with computers and technology, so much so that he builds his own two-second time machine (mostly to help him avoid being bullied), while Patricia discovers she has an unusual ability to communicate with other creatures. And while these abilities make them less than popular among their peers, and cause a multitude of problems within their families, when Patricia reveals the full extent of her skills to Laurence, that—along with the machinations of a teacher—strains their relationship nearly to the breaking point.

Years later, they are both living in San Francisco when they run into each other again. Patricia, having graduated from an exclusive school for those with magical talents (but far more mercenary than Hogwarts), works with a band of magicians to right wrongs, and sometimes destroy the people perpetrating these wrongs. Laurence works for an eccentric genius he met when he was younger, and he and his teammates are building a device to save the world in the event of total catastrophe, which seems imminent. Laurence and Patricia are, once again, drawn to, and repelled by, one another, but there is no denying the two share a powerful bond. Until the interests she and her fellow magicians are working to protect interfere with Laurence's work, which sets a chain of events in motion that rocks the world.

All the Birds in the Sky is a book about friendship, love, magic, and trying to avoid the end of the world. It's about the struggle between listening to your heart and following your head, and how hard it is to stay true to yourself in the face of cruelty and doubt. And it's also about the power of one person (or two) to make a difference, although the difference that Laurence and Patricia are seeking to make is a little more dramatic than everyday change.

About a quarter of the way into the book, I wasn't sure I wanted to stick with it. I felt as if Anders spent a lot of time dwelling on how bullied Laurence and Patricia were, and how horribly misunderstood they were by their families. It got a little relentless, and it wasn't what I was expecting or wanted to read. But I soldiered on, and I am glad I did, for while the book is confusing and a little overblown, it's still utterly fascinating, and Laurence and Patricia are such fascinating characters that I couldn't tear myself away.

Charlie Jane Anders is very talented—she really worked hard to create an entire world in this book. While I wished at times she would have followed the core of her story a little more, I still was quite interested in what she was going to do with the characters and their story. This is certainly not a book for everyone, but if you give it a chance, I think you'll agree about Anders' storytelling ability.

Book Review: "Written in Fire" by Marcus Sakey

Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for making it available.

Boy, do I hate it when a book series ends...

I devoured the first two books in Marcus Sakey's fantastic Brilliance trilogy, so I both eagerly anticipated and dreaded the arrival of the last book in the series, Written in Fire. I've finally caught my breath, as the action and the tension intensified as the book drew to a close!

One percent of the country's population is composed of brilliants, those with extraordinary physical, cognitive, emotional, and/or perceptive gifts. But despite these talents and abilities, these so-called "abnorms" have been feared, reviled, mistreated, and targeted for all kinds of abuse in the 30 years since their discovery became public knowledge. This mistreatment has brought the country to the brink of civil war, norm vs. abnorm, in a battle for the very heart and soul of society.

Written in Fire begins with the country reeling from a devastating attack by the abnorm community. This has led to laws which require that all abnorms be microchipped for easy tracking, but even worse, lynch mobs across the country are targeting and killing them simply for being different. But the country still wants more, still wants retribution. While secret plans are being hatched within the U.S. government, a citizen-led militia of thousands of people is planning to attack the settlement where many of the abnorms live. And in the settlement itself, the most notable abnorm—a brilliant terrorist unwilling to stop until the world realizes the absolute power of brilliants—plots ultimate chaos and destruction.

Nick Cooper, a former detective who used to hide his own abilities as a brilliant to help the government track others like him who wished to do evil, understands why his fellow brilliants are angry. But at the same time, he cannot allow the world he knows, the world in which his family lives, to be destroyed by civil war. He'll do everything he can to fight his old nemeses to bring an end to the forces which want to harm the country—no matter what the cost.

While this book is tremendously imaginative, much of its plot rings eerily familiar to current circumstances, with so many people fearful of all Muslims, demanding they be tracked, barred from entering the country, even killed. But this book explores both sides of the argument: Should years of mistreatment and abuse justify violence and destruction? Is it right to categorically fear what we don't know or understand? Is self-defense really a valid argument for attack?

What I've loved so much about these books is that Sakey balances thought-provoking plot, pulse-pounding action, and truly complex, memorable characters, even the villains. By the third book I found myself truly attached to these characters I feel I've gotten to "know." Much like some other series, this book is definitely a bit darker than its predecessors, but that didn't dull my enjoyment in any way. And while I often feel books in a series can be read out of sequence, I'd definitely recommend picking up Brilliance, the first book, first, and then reading them in order to feel the full power of Sakey's storytelling.

I won't soon forget this series, and I'll be interested to see what Sakey comes up with next. But in the meantime, I'll miss Nick, Natalie, Shannon, Bobby, Ethan, John Smith, the Epsteins, and so much more. Don't pass these books up.

Book Review: "Sparrow Migrations" by Cari Noga

Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

One of the more harrowing and spectacular moments in recent history was on January 15, 2009, when a US Airways flight piloted by Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger struck a flock of geese shortly after takeoff, and Captain Sullenberger made an emergency landing in the Hudson River. All passengers and crew on the plane were saved. The images of the plane floating in the river, with the passengers standing on the wings waiting to be rescued, remain indelible memories.

Cari Noga's excellent novel, Sparrow Migrations, uses that event as a catalyst in the lives of three families. Twelve-year-old Robby Palmer, who has autism, is on a ferry on the Hudson River with his parents when he becomes fascinated with geese flying nearby, and then he becomes amazed to see a plane in the water. When he learns that a bird strike is believed to be the cause of the plane's malfunction, he becomes obsessed with learning as much as he can about Canada geese and other birds, and this quest for knowledge despite his intellectual and emotional struggles provides both stress and joy for his parents.

Deborah and Christopher are emotionally exhausted after two unsuccessful attempts at in vitro fertilization, and Christopher is reluctant to support a third try. But being on the plane that landed in the river has intensified Deborah's need to be a mother, and her belief that this is a sign that life is too precious. Yet when Deborah gets news that could impact her future, she has to decide whether to press on with her plans or share this information with Christopher and run the risk that her dream of having a baby may not come true.

Brett is a preacher's wife in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who has kept her true self and her true desires locked inside of her for years, for the sake of her marriage and her teenage daughter, Amanda. But a chance meeting at a food bank conference reopens old feelings, and when a news camera catches her on one of the ferries that rescued the passengers from the plane, she believes this is a sign that she should tell the truth about how she really feels and what she really wants out of life, despite the consequences this decision might cause.

The lives of these people intersect in different ways throughout the book. Each faces challenges that seem insurmountable, but they find unique ways of dealing with them, and trying to move beyond what is holding them back. I found this to be a compelling, well written book, and I really like how Noga unfurled the plot. Nothing that happens is particularly surprising, but it is still very satisfying, and even a little emotional at times. (Or maybe that was just me.)

It has always amazed me how your life can change in an instant. That truth was certainly the case for the characters in this book, and their journeys from that moment were interesting and fulfilling. This is a quiet gem of a book.

Book Review: "The Kizuna Coast" by Sujata Massey

I've been a big fan of Sujata Massey's series of mysteries featuring danger-prone antiques dealer Rei Shimura for quite some time now. In 2008, when I read the 10th book in the series, Shimura Trouble, it certainly sounded as if Massey was finished spinning stories about her heroine, and I was rather upset, so when I found out that Rei had returned to the literary world, I was very excited to spend time with her and her compatriots once again.

When The Kizuna Coast opens, Rei and her new husband, Michael Hendricks, are settling into their lives in Hawaii. But newlywed bliss is short-lived once the couple learns that a powerful earthquake has rocked the northeast coast of Japan, followed by a devastating tsunami that left enormous death and destruction in its wake. Although Rei is relieved to find out that her family members living in Japan are all safe, when she receives a distressed phone call from her mentor and former boss, antiques dealer Mr. Ishida, who has been injured and displaced by the storm, she promises to go to Japan to help him.

Getting to Japan shortly after such a disaster proves challenging (not to mention upsetting to her husband), and once she arrives, in order to get to the city where Mr. Ishida is, she must offer her services as a disaster relief volunteer. But before she arrives in Tohoku, she visits Mr. Ishida's shop, only to discover it may have been burglarized. And when she finally is reunited with him, she finds that while he is concerned about his shop, he is most concerned about the whereabouts of his employee, Mayumi, who unexpectedly met him in Tohoku on the day of the tsunami, but seems to have disappeared.

At first, Rei doubts just how devoted of an employee Mayumi is, but then she starts to uncover more information about the tumultuous life this young girl led. And as she finds herself trying to help find out what happened to Mayumi, and get Mr. Ishida back to his shop, she is also overwhelmed by the destruction, both physical and emotional, that the tsunami caused. To top it off, her worries begin to grow about her husband as well, whose job sends him near the Fukushima nuclear reactor, which was damaged during the storm.

Reading The Kizuna Coast is like being reunited with old friends. Rei's character hasn't changed, although she has gotten a bit more mature at times, but her doggedness and her compassion remain the same. While this book dealt more with her experiences in the tsunami-stricken area, it was still good to see the return Mr. Ishida, as well as her close friend and former roommate, Richard; her aunt, Norie; and her doctor cousin, Tom. The plot is a little predictable but it doesn't matter, because Rei is a warm, fascinating character and Massey does such a great job making you care about her and those with whom Rei is dealing. And as always, there's even some fascinating information about Japanese antiques thrown in for good measure.

If you're a mystery fan, I'd definitely encourage you to pick up a book in Massey's Rei Shimura series. They're fun and compelling, and they've really taught me a great deal about Japanese culture I probably wouldn't have learned otherwise. Plus, you now have 11 books to read in the series, so hopefully if you get hooked, by the time you're done, Massey may write another!