Book Review: "Somewhere Beyond the Sea" by TJ Klune

I never thought there would be a sequel to one of my most favorite books, The House in the Cerulean Sea. Having the opportunity to read the first few chapters thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley, I couldn’t wait for the whole book. And now, with happy tears running down my cheeks, I’m sad that the book is done.

When Arthur Parnassus was growing up, he was punished for being different. Yet instead of wallowing in his pain and sadness, he returned to Marsyas Island to create a new orphanage for magical children, where he once suffered. The six children he and his partner Linus are raising are each unique and have beautiful souls, and he hopes to officially adopt them.

One day, he is summoned by the government to tell the story of his trauma. Yet they aren’t interested in making amends; they want to keep all magical people separate and following “regular” rules, hiding what makes them special. And the government will stop at nothing to take one—or all—of the children away.

As much as Arthur and Linus should be afraid, they also know that they are raising their children to be brave, kind, loving, and more than a bit mischievous. And when a new young man comes to live with them, he teaches them a thing or two as well.

“This was hope; the children, love letters to a future that had yet to be decided. Yes, Arthur thought as Sal grinned shyly, hope was the thing with feathers, but it was also in the hearts and minds of those who believed all was not lost, no matter the odds.”

I felt like this book was particularly relevant at a time when some seek to divide us and tell the LGBTQIA+ community they need to be different than they are. Yet the answer isn’t necessarily violence; it’s meeting obstacles with conviction, courage, and love.

TJ Klune is one of my favorite authors and this book is another powerful example why. It’s a book about love, courage, overcoming trauma, the power of family and friends, and it is populated with some of the most incredible characters. This was a home run all the way.

Book Review: "The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennett

Boy, this novella was utterly charming and delightful!

One day when her dogs are being unruly, Queen Elizabeth leaves the grounds of Buckingham Palace to find that there’s a mobile library just outside. She decides to go inside—much to the shock of the librarian and the one other person in the library—and while she’s there, she might as well pick out a book.

She can’t remember the last time she read something for pleasure, something she didn’t have to. (One doesn’t have hobbies or pastimes as a monarch.) When she returns to the library, she again finds Norman, a young man who works in the palace kitchens. She is taken by his knowledge about books and reading, and she moves him onto her staff.

The Queen’s sudden zeal for reading doesn’t sit well with her private secretary or even the prime minister. Because her reading becomes her singular focus—she doesn’t approach appearances with her usual demeanor, she’s often late, and she always has a book with her. And the truth is, she’s frustrated most of the time because she’d rather be reading.

I thought this was just so enjoyable. The way everyone around the Queen reacts to her sudden love of reading is both funny and a little sad. While I never read this when the book was published in 2007, to read it now, not long after the Queen’s death, gives the book an added poignancy.

How can you not love a book about the love of reading?

Book Review: "Our Missing Hearts" by Celeste Ng

Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng's new novel, is profound, emotional, and tremendously thought-provoking.

It’s a dark time in the U.S. After a hard economic crisis and rioting, the country is swayed to believe this is all the fault of the Chinese. Anyone who looks remotely Asian is the target of suspicion, ostracism, even violence. At the same time, the government has banned books it deems objectionable and now has the right to take children away from parents they view as “unpatriotic.”

Three years ago, just as the Crisis was starting, Bird’s mother Margaret, a Chinese poet, left and did not return. Shortly thereafter, Bird (who now goes by his given name, Noah) and his father left their home and moved to a dorm at Harvard, where his father shelves books in the university library. He is taught not to call attention to himself, not to stand out, to do what is asked, and not invite suspicion. It’s a lonely existence for a 12-year-old boy.

Bird and his father have disavowed his mother and her work, but as angry as he is at her for leaving, he misses her too. But a snippet from one of her poems has become a rallying cry for those against the “patriotic” efforts of the country. As more acts of resistance occur, he keeps hoping he’ll catch a glimpse of her at one of them.

When Bird gets a cryptic letter addressed to him which contains only doodles, he knows it’s from his mother. But what is she trying to tell him? He does everything he can to remember the folk tales she told him in an effort to find where she is.

There’s never been any doubt in my mind that Celeste Ng is a talented writer but this book was exceptional. A meditation on motherhood, what we do for our children, and what they take with them, as well as insightful commentary on the ways our country can be easily swayed to make “others” the enemy. The pacing slows a bit at times, but I still found this excellent.

Book Review: "The Measure" by Nikki Erlick

Profound, emotional, and thought-provoking. This one really blew my mind!!

One March day, small wooden boxes appear on the doorsteps of homes and apartments all across the world. Everyone receives one. Each box is inscribed, “The measure of your life lies within,” and in each box is a string representing the length of the person’s life.

At first, no one is sure where the boxes came from or if the strings are accurate, but after much research, it’s determined they are. People are torn as to whether they should open their boxes—do they want to know how much longer they have to live? And what happens if their string is shorter—or longer—than their loved ones’?

The world has to wrestle with the ramifications of this knowledge. Should those with shorter strings be treated differently? How should this knowledge be used, and by whom?

“Maybe it didn’t matter anymore where the strings had come from. Even if they were sent from heaven, or beamed down from outer space, or traveled back in time from the distant future, it was people who decided what to do with them now.”

Following eight characters whose lives have been touched in one way or another by the strings, the book is a tremendously evocative and timely look at how people, society, and government deal with those who are different. Nikki Erlick is immensely detailed and evokes many different emotions from this story. I was hooked completely, and won’t forget this one anytime soon.

Book Review: "Swimming in the Dark" by Tomasz Jedrowski

Swimming in the Dark is a gorgeous story about love, longing, sacrifice, and secrets.

Ludwik and Janusz first meet at a Polish summer work camp in the early 1980s. Ludwik is mesmerized by Janusz’s carefree manner, his bravado, and his handsomeness, all of which awaken a longing which frightens him. The two connect by chance one night at the river, and they quickly fall into an intense relationship.

When their time in camp is done, they spend a few weeks alone together, camping in the wilderness, living a romantic and dreamy existence that they know is impossible upon their return to the repression of their “real world.” Ludwik, the dreamer, tries to encourage Janusz to leave Poland with him, but Janusz knows that isn’t realistic.

Soon after they return home, the divide between them grows. Janusz gets a job working for the Party, while Ludwik wants to pursue a doctorate. They spend time together in brief, furtive encounters, yet Ludwik isn’t content with living a secret life forever. But what sacrifices is he willing to make, and what will they mean to him and Ludwik?

"...people can't always give us what we want from them; that you can't ask them to love you the way you want."

Lyrical, gorgeously told, and powerfully emotional, this quiet book packs a punch. It’s a tremendous exploration of a time and a culture where getting what you wanted often meant compromising yourself, and not everyone was willing to do this. Tomasz Jedrowski is an exceptionally talented storyteller.

God, this book was really beautiful.

Book Review: "American Royals" by Katharine McGee

"From now on, you are two people at once: Beatrice the girl, and Beatrice, heir to the Crown. When they want different things, the Crown must win. Always."

Katharine McGee's American Royals is an entertaining, soapy romp built on a terrific concept: when the Revolutionary War ended, the American people offered George Washington a crown, and he accepted. The House of Washington has remained on the throne for more than two-and-a-half centuries, and America is as obsessed with stories about the royal family as other countries with monarchies are.

Princess Beatrice is next in line for the throne. Thanks to an edict from her grandfather, the crown will now pass to the oldest child regardless of gender. Beatrice will become the country's first queen regnant, a role she has been preparing for her entire life. But while she's always been the dutiful daughter, doing whatever has been expected of her, whatever her parents have asked her to do, the closer she comes to the moment she'll rule, the more she wonders whether the sacrifices she has had to make were truly worth it.

When her parents tell her it's time she choose a suitable husband (read: a member of the nobility) she prepares to be the dutiful daughter as always. But then she realizes her heart wants to go in a different direction, and then she can think of nothing else. Is her choice either to ignore her heart and find someone she someday might fall in love with, or follow her heart and disobey her parents—and risk losing the throne? The choice she must make impacts more than just her, and she knows she's bound to hurt someone in the process.

Her younger twin siblings, Jefferson and Samantha, have it a little easier, since they're considered "the spares" with Beatrice as heir to the throne. Both struggle with their identities—what are they expected to do if they won't rule the country? Why does it really matter what they do?

Even more than that, however, both siblings have their own romantic struggles. Samantha, who has always been the carefree, impulsive one, is in love with the one man she cannot have, and Jeff, despite the intense attention from a beautiful and suitable young woman who is determined to land him, is in love with a young woman who wants nothing to do with the scrutiny that would be aimed at someone dating a prince, no matter how much she loves him back.

I was hooked on American Royals from the first few pages. McGee has created a compelling, fascinating story that reminds me of all the reasons people are so fascinated by stories about William and Kate, Harry and Megan, and Charles and Camilla. Nothing particularly surprising happens in the book but it's just so well-told, with healthy doses of melodrama, that I couldn't put it down.

There is one character in the book I absolutely loathed, and of course, you were supposed to feel that way, but I honestly began skimming the sections where she appeared after a while. But other than that, I really enjoyed this book, despite the fact that the ending didn't quite feel complete, since it was merely setting up McGee's next book, which is due out in the fall of 2020.

If you find yourself unable to turn away when the news media covers the latest news about what Princess Kate is wearing, or a trip that Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan are taking, if you woke up super-early to watch one of the royal weddings, American Royals is definitely for you. Can't wait for the next book!!

Spotlight/Excerpt: "The Magnificent Mrs. Mayhew" by Milly Johnson

THE MAGNIFICENT MRS. MAYHEW
by
MILLY JOHNSON
On Sale: July 29, 2019

Purchase Link:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Magnificent-Mrs-Mayhew/Milly-Johnson/9781982129781

About THE MAGNIFICENT MRS. MAYHEW:
Milly Johnson, the Queen of Feel-Good Fiction and The Sunday Times bestselling author, is back with a "glorious, heartfelt novel" (Rowan Coleman, New York Times bestselling author) about a woman trying to find her own place in the world, who through love, loss, and the kindness of strangers, discovers everything she needs in a village by the sea.

Behind every successful man is a woman.
Behind the fall of every successful man is usually another woman.

Sophie Mayhew seems to have the perfect life. The glamorous wife of a rising political star who is one step away from the highest position in the government, she matches her husband in looks, pedigree, and money. But he has made some stupid mistakes on his way to the top, and some of those mistakes are just now threatening to emerge. Still, this can all be swept under the rug so long as Sophie the Trophy plays her part in front of the cameras. But the words that tumble out of Sophie’s mouth one morning on the doorstep of their country house are not the words the spin doctors drilled into her head.

Bursting out of the restrictive mold that has been tightening around her since birth, Sophie flees to a small village on the coast, a safe haven from her childhood days, where she intends to be alone. But once there, she finds a community that warms her soul and makes her feel as if she is breathing properly for the first time in her life. Sophie knows she won’t be left in peace for long, though, so she must decide: where does her real future lie?

About MILLY JOHNSON
Milly Johnson is The Sunday Times bestselling author of numerous novels about the universal issues of friendship, family, love, betrayal, good food, and the little bit of that magic in life that sometimes visits the unsuspecting. Milly is a columnist for her local newspaper and is also an experienced broadcaster on radio and TV. She can be booked via the Women Speakers Agency for motivational speaking events. Milly is patron of several charities, including Yorkshire Cat Rescue and The Well at the Core. Her publishers call her The Queen of Feel-Good Fiction, and together they are aiming to spread as much joy as possible with every book published. Find out more at MillyJohnson.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @MillyJohnson.

Excerpt from THE MAGNIFICENT MRS. MAYHEW:

Chapter 1

DOORSTEPGATE, 11 A.M.

As Sophie stood in the middle of them all, the moment strangely crystalized for her, as if time had frozen solid and she was able to study everything at leisure, appreciate how odd it was to be surrounded by familiar people in the house she had lived in for eight years and yet still feel as if she had been dropped from a great height into a roomful of strangers.

She saw her mother seated, holding a cup of tea in one hand and the accompanying china saucer in the other, talking to her father, who was standing, one hand slotted stiffly in his jacket pocket; his default pose, as if he were a catalogue model. Mother was talking to him and Father had a polite smile of concentration on his face. Standing next to him, her parents-in-law, Clive and Celeste, looking serious and focused as if they were building up to jumping out of a plane. Sophie’s husband, John, deep in conversation with the top pick of his aides: Parliamentary Assistant (London) Rupert Bartley-Green; Senior Communications Director and Press Officer Len Spinks; Chief of Staff Edward Mayhew, who also happened to be John’s eldest brother; and Executive Office Manager (Cherlgrove) Findlay Norris. Between his two governmental bases and the office that looked after his investment and property portfolio, John had more staff than the POTUS, although there was an opening for a girl Friday (London) now, since his last one was currently enjoying her fifteen minutes of fame. The “people” of breakfast and daytime TV, and every program that attracted those the media chose to concentrate its temporary but brightest lights on, were no doubt already negotiating appearance fees with her “people.” Why is it always someone in that junior assistant/intern/researcher role who topples the boss? thought Sophie. Weren’t there enough cautionary tales of littered corpses to warn any man in a high-profile position—who really should know better—what dark and treacherous waters he elected to dip into when he chose a pretty, young, ambitious swimming companion? A pond with a hundred signs around it, all lit up with massive red neon lettering and strings of exclamation marks: warning. danger. come any closer and you’re a bloody idiot!!!!!

It would have been easy for the other woman to fall in love with her husband, though; if that were what it was. John could sell ice to the Eskimos, coal to Newcastle, toys to Santa, and all the other clichés. Charm personified, absurdly handsome, moneyed, intelligent, refined—oh yes, John F. Mayhew was the full package. Sophie could guess how quickly Rebecca Robinson would have become ensnared in his net, even thrown herself into it willingly, because she had done the same thing fourteen years ago, when she was eighteen.

She’d met him at the Christmas Ball when she was in her first year at Cambridge University, studying French, and he was in his last year studying business and politics. He’d been absolutely wrecked on champagne and told her he was going to marry her, before his friends dragged him off for yet more alcohol. She didn’t think much about it until Valentine’s Day, when their paths collided again at a private party. She spotted him long before he noticed her, which gave her the luxury of studying him unseen. He wasn’t her dream type at all, but he was extremely magnetic, and from the way he held himself, it was more than obvious he knew what his best qualities were. He was long limbed and lean, and she imagined him as a human equivalent of a well-bred racehorse, something pampered and valued. Greek-statue profile, midbrown hair that flopped into his eyes— and what eyes they were: puppy-brown, intense, seductive. Eventually, as if detecting the heat in her gaze, his eyes swept around to hers, locked, and she felt powerless, as if she were a hen and he a fox. He sliced through the banks of students that stood between them, mouth stretching into a killer smile, and when he reached her, said:

“Well, if it isn’t you again. Where have you been hiding yourself?”

And from that moment they were a couple. Sophie forgot all about swooning over the rugby player who was in her class, which was a shame because he would end up captaining England and was a thoroughly nice chap, but John F. Mayhew engulfed her brain and was all she could think about.

John F. was going to be richer than Croesus and prime minister one day, he said, and she didn’t doubt that he would be. She could easily forecast his future: top of the tree in his chosen profession, women would adore him, men would want to be him, magazine reporters would queue up outside his door to take photos of the beautiful home he lived in. His children would be perfect and well behaved. Maybe they’d be her children, too. Maybe this was the man her old headmistress Miss Palmer-Price told her would be the one to carry her along in the grip of his force field. The “F” stood for Fitzroy, he told her postcoitus in bed on the night he took her virginity. His great-great-great-grandfather— Donal F. Mayhew—and his best friend, Patrick, had decided to escape the great Irish famine by emigrating to America in the late 1840s. But an Irish heiress fell hook, line, and sinker for the strong and handsome—if impoverished—gypsy Donal and he changed his mind about going. Donal and his wife eventually moved to London, where his determination both to shake off the label of male “gold digger” and to better himself drove him to build up a fortune in his own right selling property, metal, alcohol, ship parts; anything legal or illegal to trade in order to make a profit. Across the pond, Patrick’s family’s fortunes improved with every generation, too. His great-grandson John F. Kennedy became president of the United States of America. The Kennedys, John said, had stolen the idea of using the “F” from the Mayhews, and in doing so had cursed themselves. As if he couldn’t get any more fascinating, traveler magic was thrown into the mix.

By April Sophie could not imagine living without John F. Mayhew; then in May she found that she’d have to, because he dumped her for the fabulously rich wild child Lady Cresta Thorpe. Sophie was heartbroken. John graduated with honors and spent a year touring the world with Cresta, who had dropped out of university, far preferring to indulge her habits of clubbing, cocktails, and cocaine. His life, so she gleaned from gossip, was shining and golden as hers slipped further into the dark and depressing. Her coursework suffered and she started self-medicating with alcohol to blot out the pain. She also realized that the girls she’d thought of as friends weren’t that hot in a crisis. She had never been good at gathering friends. The beautiful, insubstantial people were attracted to her, but the really nice people found her own good looks intimidating.

It took Sophie a long time to get over losing John F. Mayhew, partly because she didn’t have a group of hard-core pals to help chase him out of her heart. She buried her true feelings deep as she had been taught to at school, threw herself into her studies, never let anyone see how wounded she was. Her heart had just about healed by the time she graduated, give or take the scar he had left.

Months later, Sophie had been working as a temp at the London headquarters of the glossy magazine Mint when she heard that they were to run a feature on a young, successful investment banker, a high-risk taker and up-and-coming politician, at home in his recently acquired, stupidly expensive bachelor penthouse. His name was John F. Mayhew. Sophie’s heart started to race. She wangled it so she accompanied the reporter and the photographer, desperate to show herself off at her best to him: content, happy, preened, and perfect— unattainable and indifferent. Or so she thought.

He was overjoyed to see her, ridiculously so, and she was gracious enough not to dampen his delight with a long-overdue rebuke for dumping her so callously. He asked her out to dinner and she accepted, merely for old times’ sake, sure that if he asked to see her again, she would politely refuse, walk away, having shut the door firmly in his face this time.

He had never forgiven himself for the caddish way he had behaved, he said in Le Gavroche. He’d been glamoured by Cresta’s glitzy veneer, but it was mere infatuation. He hadn’t realized how much he felt for Sophie until he lost her. Sophie was in love with him all over again before the dessert menus had been delivered to them.

Six months after the photos of his bachelor pad had been published, John F. Mayhew had moved out and into Park Court, a beautiful, if run-down, country residence—a wedding present from his parents for himself and his new bride-to-be, the sublime Miss Sophie Calladine. She ignored that little voice inside her that warned her about the speed of all this, the worm burying into her happiness. Is this the real deal, Sophie, or are you just grateful to be loved?

To a woman starved for affection, the full spotlight of his attention was blinding, disorientating—of course she knew this. She had gulped it like air seeping through a hole in a vacuum. For that reason, it would be too easy to let that worm convince her that genuine love was not her primary reason for accepting John’s marriage proposal: but it was, it really was. It had to be said, though, that her heart was whooping considerably that she had also earned parental approval for her choice of husband, and she could even hear the echoes of applause from her old headmistress, nodding consent from the afterlife: I knew you’d be a credit to St. Bathsheba’s in the end, Sophie, like your sisters and your mother before you. But she did love him very much. Enough to have sacrificed her own wants and needs on his altar for the past eight and a half years. Enough to be standing here with her heart ripped open in this roomful of people who were looking at her to mend her marriage. Because by doing that, Sophie Mayhew would mend everything.

Book Review: "Shortest Way Home: One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future" by Pete Buttigieg

Where my reading is concerned, I mainly subsist on a diet of fiction (both mainstream and YA), thrillers, and rom-coms, with the occasional dash of sci-fi/fantasy. But every now and again I choose to sample a little nonfiction, usually in the form of memoirs, when someone that interests or fascinates me writes one.

I first heard of Pete Buttigieg when he ran for chair of the Democratic National Committee. I didn't know much about him other than that he had made real progress as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and he was openly gay. But the more I paid attention to him, the more impressed I became, and I definitely stood up and took notice when he announced the formation of an exploratory committee to run for President in 2020.

Shortest Way Home is more about Buttigieg's journey, both political and personal, than it is a roadmap for his presidential ambitions. He talks a lot about the progress he has helped bring to South Bend, a town once labeled one of America's dying cities. Elected mayor at the age of 29, he brought audacious plans, unbridled energy and enthusiasm, and a passion for service, but he learned a lot from South Bend's citizens as well.

"Good policy, like good literature, takes personal lived experience as its starting point. At its best, the practice of politics is about taking steps that support people in daily life—or tearing down obstacles that get in their way. Much of the confusion and complication of ideological battles might be washed away if we held our focus on the lives that will be made better, or worse, by political decisions, rather than on the theoretical elegance of the policies or the character of the politicians themselves."

Buttigieg doesn't try to take credit for all of South Bend's success, nor does he claim to have cured all of the city's ills. He juxtaposes his work in the city with the major decisions he has made in his life—leaving his home to attend Harvard University, pursue a career as a management consultant, join the Navy, run for political office (his first attempt, a run for state treasurer, was unsuccessful but it taught him a lot), and come to terms with his sexuality—and how each has enhanced him and, in turn, enhanced his ability to lead.

One of the reasons Buttigieg appeals to me is because he doesn't stoop to the negativity that has infected all of us so much today. He has criticisms about the way the country is being run, the hypocritical way some of our leaders try to inflict their own personal views in their governing, and the inaccurate thought that greatness can be achieved only by hearkening back to an earlier time.

"There is nothing necessarily wrong with greatness, as an aspiration, a theme, or even as the basis of a political program. The problem, politically, is that we keep looking for greatness in all the wrong places. We think we can find it in the past, dredged up for some impossible 'again,' when in reality it is available only to those who fix their vision on the future. Or we think it is to be found in some grand national or international adventure, when the most meaningful expressions of American greatness are found in the richness of everyday life."

Shortest Way Home, like Buttigieg himself, gives me hope. His story, and the sequel to South Bend's story that he has been such a vital part of, are fascinating. While there is a long time until November 2020, if you had told 16-year-old me that in my lifetime not only would there be an openly gay, viable candidate for president, but that he would announce his candidacy with his husband at his side, it would have given me hope during a time where I wondered if I would ever fit in.

This is not a preachy book, nor is it filled with political jargon or swipes at the current administration. It's a positive book, by and large, and it's well-written, too. It certainly proves this is a man who can do anything he sets his mind to, and hopefully becoming president is next on his list of achievements!

Book Review: "Hellbent" by Gregg Hurwitz

When I finished Hellbent, the third book in Gregg Hurwitz's fantastic series featuring rogue government assassin Evan Smoak, I got to thinking. You literally could spend the entire year reading books in different series, between YA, mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, even romance. It certainly would make things easier in terms of figuring out what your next book to read should be!!

There really are some amazing series out there, and this one is no exception.

When Evan Smoak (not his real name) was young, a man rescued him from a troubled life and he trained Evan how to kill. He was part of a fully deniable black program buried deep inside the Department of Defense, becoming Orphan X, "an expendable assassin who went where the U.S. government would not and did what the U.S. government could not."

But eight years ago, Evan went rogue from the program and became the Nowhere Man, the last resort for a person in desperate trouble. No one knows who the Nowhere Man is, but they know if they call him, he will help rescue them from a seemingly helpless situation.

"Evan had simply stepped off the grid, keeping only the operational alias he'd earned in the shadow service, a name spoken in hushed tones in the back rooms of intel agencies the world over."

Jack Johns was the man who brought Evan into the program, and he was the man who helped Evan remain human despite the things he had to do, the things he saw. Essentially, Jack has been the only father Evan has known, and when Jack calls him out of the blue one night, they both know his time is running out. One of Evan's fellow Orphans, Charles Van Sciver, is now in charge of wiping out any traces of the former program, and he's hellbent on finding Evan to enact some deep-seated revenge, so he strikes at Jack in an effort to get to Evan. Jack sends Evan on one last mission, to rescue his last protegé before she falls into Van Sciver's clutches.

What Evan finds is not what he is expecting, and this recruit leaves him with his hands full. He's bound and determined to make those who hurt Jack pay, and he knows he must strike at Van Sciver and his cohorts—some of whom are lethal former Orphans themselves—before he becomes the next target. But he has no idea just how high up the command to wipe out the program—and him—comes from.

In the meantime, Evan must also balance his responsibility as the Nowhere Man, which leaves him with a complex and potentially dangerous mission, and he is forced to both confront the path his life has taken, and wonder if he's destined to spend the rest of his life alone. If so, is that what he deserves?

Hellbent is an excellent combination of kick-ass action, pulse-pounding suspense, and complex character development. The characters aren't one-dimensional, even the villains—you get to understand what has made them the way they are. The one thing I always have trouble keeping in mind when reading this series is that Evan seems so world-weary, so wise beyond his years, but he's only in his late 20s or early 30s at best.

While I would recommend reading this series from the start—and Orphan X is one heck of a start (see my review)—you could start with this book and not feel utterly disoriented. However, you'd definitely miss some of the nuances that make this series such a find.

We could all use a little Evan Smoak in our lives. I'm excited that the fourth book in the series is slated to be released in January—I'm finally back on track! Seriously, if you're a thriller fan and you've not dived into this series yet, take my advice. Do it.

Book Review: "True Fiction" by Lee Goldberg

Hollywood, instead of "rebooting" a franchise for the umpteenth time, adapting another television or Broadway show into a movie, or launching another comic book character, I have your next property right here. Lee Goldberg's newest novel, True Fiction already reads like a movie, combining a little bit of television shows like Castle with movies like the Jack Reacher series. It's a quick read, with appealing characters and a frenetic pace.

Ian Ludlow is an author of a best-selling series of thrillers featuring Clint Straker, a James Bond-esque action hero who always knows how to save the day—and perhaps the world—and, as you might imagine, is quite popular with women all over the globe. But as much as he'd like to think there are lots of similarities with his character, no one would mistake Ludlow for Clint Straker.

"What they saw was a guy on the dark side of thirty with the soft body of someone whose idea of exercise was walking into McDonald's rather than using the drive-through."

When a passenger plane crashes into a busy Waikiki hotel, Ludlow is horrified, because he knows this wasn't just some tragic accident, and he knows who is behind it. He knows because several years ago, he was part of a group of thriller writers tasked by the CIA to dream up the unlikeliest of terror scenarios, ostensibly to help the agency prepare for any potential disaster. During that group meeting, Ludlow was the one who dreamed up how something like this could happen.

After he puts together some facts about recent occurrences in his life, he realizes his life is in danger. With Margo, the woman hired to escort him to a few local book signings, as his only companion, Ludlow must figure out how to stay one step ahead of the shadowy political conspiracy that needs him to disappear. It's not too long before the pair realizes that to survive, Ludlow needs to think like his famous character—which shouldn't be too hard, since he created him, right? But the enemy they face has more resources at their disposal, and they'll stop at nothing to get rid of these dangerous nuisances.

This is a crazy book—even though so much of the action at first glance seems far-fetched, given what's been going on in our world lately, it's scary to think that at least some of this—especially the use of technology to track Ludlow and Margo's escape attempts—might actually be possible. Sure, you probably know how things will resolve themselves, but Goldberg does a great job getting you hooked on the plot from the get-go, and you can't wait to see where the story will go.

I didn't realize how prolific a writer Goldberg is—he's written more than 30 books, including 15 Monk mysteries. This was a terrific introduction to his storytelling talent, and I practically devoured this book. It was great to read a book that felt like a movie, and didn't let up on the action and suspense until the end. Hope to see this on the big screen someday, and I hope there's another Ludlow book on the horizon!

Book Review: "The Night Trade" by Barry Eisler

"Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster."

After introducing Seattle sex crimes detective Livia Lone in a sizzling, eponymous novel last year, Barry Eisler drops her into another sensational story of revenge and trying to put your demons to rest.

For most of her life, Livia has been haunted by the events of her childhood and teenage years, when she and her younger sister Nason were sold by their parents and forcibly taken to America, and horribly abused both by the men who trafficked them and then others. What they endured was beyond anything imaginable, and those incidents are what led Livia to pursue a career in law enforcement, particularly sex crimes, so she can right some of the wrongs she and Nason experienced.

When she is offered a position on a government task force combating sex trafficking in Thailand, she jumps at the chance to return home and exact revenge on the men who took her and her sister from the only life they had known. The government is trying to hunt down Rithisak Sorm, a notorious criminal kingpin and trafficker, whom Livia has learned was behind her own ordeal as well. It is an opportunity that seems almost too good to be true for her.

Returning to Thailand proves to be emotionally challenging, but she focuses on the overall objective of the mission. One night, when she has tracked Sorm to an exclusive nightclub in a Thai resort town, she discovers she's not the only one hunting Sorm. In the midst of a gunfight that goes spectacularly awry, Livia meets Dox, a former Marine sniper and mercenary-for-hire, who is consulting with U.S. intelligence to take Sorm down.

While the last thing Livia wants is a connection of any kind, she starts to realize that perhaps two hunters are better than one. And as reluctant as she is to open up to anyone, Dox's simple kindness and empathy helps her make him understand just how important meting out her own form of justice for Sorm truly is for her. He doesn't question her motives or her intent—he too understands that sometimes the only resort you have is killing someone.

But the deeper Livia and Dox dig into tracking Sorm down again, the more they realize they are up against forces more nefarious than they could have imagined. It seems that Sorm is a key component of a massive conspiracy which involves branches of U.S. intelligence, and not only do they want to keep Sorm alive, but they're willing to protect him no matter what the cost—and no matter how many people need to be harmed in the process.

The Night Trade is an action-packed yet emotional thrill ride by one of the best crime and thriller writers out there. Eisler's John Rain novels are among some of my absolute favorites, and now with two Livia Lone books under his belt, he proves he can write thrillers with equally kick-ass women as well. It was so terrific to see Dox (a character from the Rain novels) and Livia team up, so I hope a John Rain/Livia Lone pairing won't be far behind!

Livia is an absolutely electrifying protagonist, and while you worry that her demons may lead her too far down a path of retribution, the fine line she walks is so poignant and compelling. She reminds me a bit of Lisbeth Salander, in that they're equally badass and sadly, equally damaged, but still vulnerable.

Eisler's John Rain series is absolutely amazing, and so are his Livia Lone books. But there's a downside to his prolificness: the more he writes, the more impatient I get when I finish his latest book. Don't let these books, or these characters, pass you by!

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

Book Review: "The Cuban Affair" by Nelson DeMille

Why Nelson DeMille, you sly old dog! Where has your sarcastic sense of humor been hiding all these years?

I've read a number of DeMille's books through the years—The Charm School, The Gold Coast, The General's Daughter, Cathedral to name a few—and while I enjoyed all of those, I don't remember them being funny. But in his newest book, The Cuban Affair, he displays a playful side I haven't seen before, and it brought a new dimension to his writing.

"Being captain of your own fate doesn't mean you always make good decisions."

Daniel "Mac" MacCormick is a decorated war veteran with more than a few scars to show from his two tours in Afghanistan. Although his patrician family back in Maine hoped he'd amount to something after recovering from his wounds, Mac has different ideas. He spends his days in Key West as the owner of a 42-foot charter fishing boat, and he specializes in sunset cruises, fishing trips, drinking to excess, and perhaps more than a little womanizing. It doesn't seem like such a bad life for a 35-year-old.

Well, maybe he could use a little more money. And that's why he agrees to meet Carlos, a Miami lawyer with connections to anti-Castro groups of Cuban citizens wishing to someday make it back to their country. Carlos tries to hire Mac and his boat to work a 10-day fishing tournament in Cuba, but Mac turns him down because he doesn't think the job is on the up-and-up. Undeterred, Carlos sweetens the deal, offering Mac two million dollars instead. And although Mac knows if a deal seems too good to be true it usually is, he decides to hear Carlos out.

When Mac meets Carlos' clients, including a beautiful Cuban-American architect named Sara Ortega, the chance to spend time with Sara plus make more money than he has in his lifetime proves enticing. It turns out that years ago, Sara's grandfather hid more than 60 million dollars in a cave in Cuba so it didn't fall into the wrong hands, and Sara and her colleagues want Mac's help to rescue the loot and return it to its rightful owners, Cuban exiles all. It's a mission that could make Mac a wealthy man—not to mention a wanted one, or worse, a dead one.

The Cuban Affair follows Mac and Sara on their mission to Cuba as part of a study group from Yale. They know what they need to do, and have their plans set, but Mac doesn't realize how many loose ends there are to deal with—and of course, he has no idea what he doesn't know, or what he's not being told. All he knows is he wants Sara and he wants his money, and he doesn't know if he'll get either.

This is a meticulously researched book, providing a tremendous amount of information about how the relationship between Cuba and America deteriorated through the years, and how the anticipated "Cuban Thaw" between the two countries could change everything—for both better and worse. It's also an in-depth look at the anti-Castro forces both within and outside Cuba.

I really liked Mac's character, and found Sara to be a bit of an enigma (as did Mac). I also enjoyed some of the supporting characters, including Mac's first mate, Jack, a cantankerous and perhaps slightly crazy Vietnam vet with a penchant for slightly twisted t-shirts. DeMille definitely generated some good suspense in the book, because I kept expecting everyone to double-cross everyone multiple times over, and you want to know how everything will be resolved.

At times I felt the book got bogged down with all of the history and factual details, so it seemed more like a nonfiction book than a thriller. And while once the action got going the book really crackled, it took a little too long to get to that point—I felt a little too much time was spent setting up background and painting the scene. But DeMille's storytelling talent, and Mac's dry, slightly ribald sense of humor definitely helped add levity.

I'd love to see another book featuring Mac some day. I believe he's a terrific addition to the cast of memorable characters that DeMille has created through the years. While this book is a little uneven, it's still great to see a master at work, and experience a new side of him.

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

Book Review: "Zero Sum" by Barry Eisler

There are few authors out there today who can get my pulse racing like Barry Eisler, especially when it's one of his John Rain thrillers. These books are the perfect balance of excellent character development, crackling action, and heart-in-your-throat tension, and I honestly cannot get enough of them. Why these books aren't as well-known by the general public as some more-mediocre series is beyond me.

I'm happy to report that Eisler's newest John Rain thriller, Zero Sum, is equally as fantastic as its predecessors. This is another book which recalls Rain's earlier days, tracing the rise of this lethal-yet-complicated mercenary. It's 1982, and Rain has returned to Tokyo after a 10-year absence working in the Philippines. When he meets with an old friend in order to find some murder-for-hire work, he discovers that the assassin business has been monopolized by an upstart—Victor—half-Russian, half-Japanese, all psychotic, with a chip on his shoulder and the belief everyone should fear him.

Victor has cornered the market on all murders for hire, upsetting even the crime families. Rain is determined to find out how he was able to get such a toehold in the system so quickly, and find out where his support was coming from. Despite warnings to the contrary, Rain gets hired by Victor, who presents him with an interesting challenge: kill a government minister or face bloody death at the hands of Victor or one of his henchmen.

Although the job should be easy for someone with Rain's skills, Rain isn't one to take the easy path. He's more interesting in stalling in order to get Victor riled up, which would give Rain an opportunity to take him out. But what Rain doesn't count on is Maria, the government minister's beautiful Italian wife, who awakens passions that Rain has tamped down for far too long. Getting mixed up with the wife of the man he's supposed to murder certainly complicates things, and the more he finds out about the forces that brought Victor into play, and what they really want, the higher the stakes get for Rain—and everyone he cares about.

"When you live a little longer, you see the world as it really is. And yes, even then it can be shiny and bright, but also you know it has sharp edges. And sometimes what's shiny is exactly what's sharp. If you want to get close to it, it means you get cut."

Zero Sum moves at a lightning pace, with lots of fantastic action, although the violence gets a bit graphic and gruesome, so if you're bothered by that, this might not be the book for you. There are political conspiracies, psychotic killers, introspection, and some pretty hot sex thrown in for good measure. Eisler and John Rain are once again truly at the top of their game, and it is always so great to be back in Rain's world. (As much as I love his John Rain books, I'm hoping Eisler will write another book with one of his newest characters, Livia Lone, who featured in her own eponymous book last year.)

While Eisler has had a few bestsellers, interestingly enough, they tend to be his more modern thrillers rather than his John Rain books. But truly, these are fantastic, because there's so much to them beyond suspense and action. These are smart, well-written, and, dare I say, even sensitive. Here's hoping there are more John Rain stories to tell!

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

Book Review: "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles

This really was a special book, one which at times felt almost magical.

Count Alexander Rostov was always a man who enjoyed the finer things in life. He was always nattily dressed, participating in intelligent conversation, enjoying fine food and drink, and the company of erudite and beautiful people. Rostov lived in grand fashion in Moscow's Hotel Metropol, a hotel just across the street from the Kremlin, and he thrived on being a part of the buzz that passed through its doors and around its bustling neighborhood.

In 1922, he was sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest at the Metropol, although the Bolshevik tribunal that issued the sentence wasn't simply content with allowing him to continue living in grandeur—they reduced his living quarters to one small room in the hotel belfry. But while no longer being able to step outside the hotel doors, and having to cram most of one's cherished possessions and family heirlooms into one tiny room might bring a lesser man to his knees, Rostov is (mostly) unbowed. He doesn't allow himself to miss a step of his usual routine, and it isn't long before he realizes how a life lived within one building can be just as full of excitement as one lived all over the world.

"...if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them."

While Russia and the world are experiencing events which cause major upheaval, Rostov doesn't miss out on it all. He can take the country's temperature, of sorts, by studying the behavior of the hotel guests, its managers, and its employees. While many may have written him off as a frivolous dandy, it's not long before many realize the Count's worth is far greater despite his diminished circumstances. He quickly is woven into the fabric of all of the hotel's goings-on, sometimes openly, sometimes secretly, and forms relationships that have ripples in the outside world, even as he realizes that the world he once knew and loved has changed.

"For the times do, in fact, change. They change relentlessly. Inevitably. Inventively. And as they change, they set into bright relief not only outmoded honorifics and hunting horns, but silver summoners and mother-of-pearl opera glasses and all manner of carefully crafted things that have outlived their usefulness."

Spanning several decades, A Gentleman in Moscow is rich with emotion, social commentary, humor, even Russian history. As he did in Rules Of Civility, which also was a fantastic book (see my review), Amor Towles both reveres and satirizes the world in which this book takes place, but the love he has for his characters is a beacon above it all.

While at times the book got a little too detailed with the workings of Russian government, poetry, and Bolshevik history, it always quickly got itself back on track and brought me back into the book's heart. These characters were so special, so fascinating, and Towles' storytelling was so vivid, I almost could see the scenes playing out in front of my eyes as I read them. And honestly, Count Rostov is a character worthy of being put up on a pedestal like other unforgettable ones.

I was a little late to the party on reading this, but I'm so glad I did, and I'm glad it lived up to the praise so many others have bestowed upon it. If you like novels with social commentary, satire, history, and a huge dollop of heart, pick up A Gentleman in Moscow. You'll marvel at it, and even want more.

Book Review: "Unquiet Ghosts" by Glenn Meade

Political intrigue and corruption. Stolen antiquities. The aftereffects of war. Family secrets. Glenn Meade's Unquiet Ghosts hits all of those buttons, and then some. This is a thriller in which very little is what it seems.

Kathy Kelly's life was turned upside down when her husband Jack, a veteran of the Iraq war, was killed in a plane crash, along with the couple's two young children, Amy and Sean. Not a day has gone by when she hasn't felt the pain of losing all of them, and although she has tried valiantly to rebuild her life, she can never seem to get the pieces to fit back together the way they used to when her family was alive.

While their deaths were an absolute shock, they are something she has come to accept every day for the last eight years. Needless to say, she is utterly unprepared for a freak discovery, when a plane crash in the middle of a storm leads authorities to locate the wreckage of Jack's plane, deep in the middle of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, nowhere near where the plane should have been. And while they've been able to find the pilot's remains, there's no sign of Jack's or the children's.

Could they be alive, after all this time? And if so, why have they been hiding from Kathy and making her believe her life had ended with theirs?

The investigation into what happened that night eight years ago uncovers more questions than there are answers, especially based on some mysterious discoveries, and Kathy's growing understanding that there were things her husband, as well as her soldier father and brother, who fought alongside Jack, kept hidden. And the secrets keep on popping up, as Kathy begins to see that other events that marked her life, such as her mother's death years before, may be connected.

Kathy wants the truth. But the truth might kill her, and if it doesn't, it certainly will endanger her and her loved ones, not to mention cause her to question everything and everyone she has held dear. Because there are people who wanted Jack dead, and they'll do anything to make sure this time he gets that way.

Meade throws lots of twists and turns and mystery into this book. There are a lot of parallel plot threads which eventually come together, and they really make you wonder whether there is some truth to some of the fiction that he has created. You may figure out what happened and who was responsible before everyone else does, but this is far from a boring ride—there is some great suspense and some strong action scenes. Meade definitely knows how to tell a story.

Even with all of the above, the book's pacing didn't move as quickly as I wanted it to, and a few times my attention flagged. But overall, this is a good thriller, and I could totally see it being adapted into a movie sometime soon.

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

Book Review: "Poisonfeather" by Matthew FitzSimmons

Last year, Matthew FitzSimmons took the literary thriller world by storm with his debut novel, The Short Drop. The story of Gibson Vaughn, convicted of hacking into a powerful congressman's files when he was a teenager, and his search for redemption (as well as his entanglement in a political mystery), that book was utterly fantastic and made my list of the best books I read in 2015.

Gibson Vaughn returns in Poisonfeather, FitzSimmons' newest thriller, and although this book is a little overly ambitious for its own good, FitzSimmons makes it clear he knows how to create memorable characters, ratchet up suspense, and write some pretty crackling action scenes.

Charles Merrick was a billionaire famous for bilking average citizens out of their fortunes in a scam similar to that of Bernie Madoff. (Merrick had nothing but disdain for Madoff, however, and felt his operations were much smoother and more sophisticated than Madoff's "Ponzi scheme.") For reasons no one following Merrick's case can understand, he was only sentenced to eight years in a minimum security prison, leaving countless people's lives destroyed by his greed.

As Merrick's release from prison draws closer, an interview he gives to a financial magazine draws quite a bit of attention, as it appears that he is hinting that he didn't actually lose all of the money he stole from his investors. This draws the ire of an unsavory cast of characters from all over the globe, and little by little, many of them converge on the small West Virginia town where Merrick's prison is located.

Vaughn is trying to rebuild his life after the events which occurred in The Short Drop, but with little success. He is summoned to meet with Hammond Birk, the judge who gave him the chance to join the Marines instead of sentencing him to prison for his crimes when he was younger. Judge Birk was among the victims Merrick swindled, and he convinced family members and those who worked for him to invest as well, with disastrous results. And although Birk does not want Vaughn to risk turning his life upside down to try and recover his money, Vaughn feels he owes the judge for the path he was able to take with his life, and begins building a plan to outsmart Merrick.

What Vaughn isn't expecting, however, is how many other people have similar ideas, and how dangerous they are. Not only does he have to contend with those he suspects have been helping Merrick from the inside and outside, he has to deal with the trigger-happy friend of Judge Birk's nephew, who got him involved in this whole scheme in the first place. And then there's a mysterious bartender, a Chinese government official with a passion for fly fishing, a band of dangerous thugs, a gang of criminals with a shoot-first-ask-questions-later philosophy, and the CIA. It's a little more than he bargained for, but all in the name of repaying a debt, right?

I love Vaughn's character, and thought there were a number of characters in this book that FitzSimmons drew quite well, and I hope that some of them might resurface in future books. Where Poisonfeather differed from The Short Drop is that the first book was really about Vaughn and his fight to clear his name, understand his past, and solve a mystery, while in this book, he often takes a back seat to other characters, some more interesting than others. I really felt at times there were just too many characters and too many side stories going on, and even though most of them were tied up by the end of the book, it made the plot more confusing and a little less solid.

FitzSimmons knows how to tell a story, there's no doubt about it. I just wish he trusted in his protagonist more and didn't try to overburden the plot with a gigantic cast of characters. And while it's fun to watch a greedy billionaire get his just desserts, the financial bent of this story took a little more time to explain. But at the end of the day, this is another strong thriller, full of tension, action, and a little emotion, all anchored by a pretty fantastic, complex, and flawed character. I'm looking forward to more from FitzSimmons and Gibson Vaughn in the future.

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

Movie Review: "The Big Short"

I would have liked to have been part of the pitch meeting for this movie:

"There's this book about the housing crisis of 2005 and how it decimated the world economy, and how a few people in the financial world saw it coming and made it big, despite everyone thinking they were crazy. We should make a movie about that. Oh, and let's make it a comedy."

However it did happen, the end result was that Adam McKay's The Big Short is a tremendously thought-provoking, occasionally hysterically funny, slightly confusing yet utterly well-done film, part character study and part meditation on the greed-is-good mentality that kept the U.S. economy afloat for far too long.

Dr. Michael Burry (a shaggy-haired, shorts-wearing Christian Bale) is an eccentric hedge fund manager who spends hours if not days sequestered in his office, walking around barefoot, air drumming and pondering the financial world. While doing some analysis, he comes to the conclusion that the U.S. housing market is a sandcastle waiting the arrival of a big wave. Given the autonomy he has within his company, he proceeds to go to several major banks and bet against the housing market, investing millions of dollars for when it fails. The banks think he's utterly crazy, and are more than happy to agree to his proposal. Everyone, even his own investors, think Burry is crazy, especially since the crash (if it happens) is a few years down the road, and the fund must pay out millions waiting for that to happen.

Meanwhile, cocky banker Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) of Deutschebank gets wind of Burry's scheme and wants in on it. He connects with Mark Baum (Steve Carell), an angry, idealistic fund manager who runs an independent fund under the auspices of one of the larger banks. Mark is struggling with his own emotional issues but is tremendously interested in exposing the corruption inherent in the financial industry. Although he and his colleagues don't necessarily trust Vennett, they go into business with him, particularly after discovering how bond agencies are overrating a majority of mortgages.

Unless you're a financial whiz, or were fully immersed in the news when the crisis did occur, some or all of the plot of The Big Short may fly over your head. But while there's a lot of financial terminology bandied about, McKay tries to give it a humorous treatment, with explanations from Margot Robbie while drinking champagne in a bathtub and Selena Gomez gambling in Las Vegas, among others. But while the facts behind the plot may be difficult to decipher or follow, what works so well about the movie is the growing sense of doom and tension that pervades it, its humor, and the fantastic performances McKay shepherds.

Bale's performance is full of quirks, but underneath the cocky bravado and eccentric behavior lies the heart of a man who wonders if he really made the most colossal mistake based on a hunch. As his colleagues, employees, and investors pull away from him, you see a man struggling between doing what he's fairly certain is right and what is better for his clients. He so fully occupies this part you forget that this is the same guy who played Batman.

While Carell's performance is a little closer to the characters he has played in other films, he still brings a great deal of complexity to the part. Mixing anger, bravado, and righteous indignation with emotional fragility, I found his performance stronger than nearly any other dramatic role he has had, particularly his Oscar-nominated turn last year in Foxcatcher. Gosling is at his smarmy, cocky best, sometimes speaking directly to the audience, sometimes snarling, sometimes pondering the enormity of the situation he's found himself in.

What sticks in my mind most about The Big Short beyond the things I've already mentioned are the quietly powerful moments when the characters realize that in order for them to succeed and achieve what they're aiming for, a multitude of lives will be ruined, and our economy might not recover. No one in the movie takes that lightly, even as they're making millions of dollars.

Many are considering The Big Short one of, if not the, leading contender for Best Picture at this year's Oscars, both for its filmmaking and the timeliness of its message. While I don't think it was the best movie of the year, it's certainly one that merits some recognition, and perhaps a second viewing to cut directly to its heart without getting lost in the jargon.

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.

Movie Review: "Bridge of Spies"

I'm not exactly sure when my Tom Hanks fatigue started. For a while it seemed like he played a similar role in so many movies—the steadfast, unflappable hero, no matter what the situation—and he was involved in producing television shows, plays, etc. Every time I turned around, there he was. And while I enjoyed him in Saving Mr. Banks, I thought his accent in Captain Phillips was a little too reminiscent of the old Pepperidge Farm commercials of my youth.

All of this is prelude to say that I didn't have enormously high expectations for Bridge of Spies, but given the awards buzz the film has been getting, particularly around Mark Rylance's performance, I figured we'd give it a try. And I was very pleasantly surprised, both by the film itself, and the performances, anchored by Hanks.

It's the height of the Cold War and Americans fear the Russians and the threat they may detonate an atomic bomb. A purported Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel (Rylance), is caught, and Americans clamor for his execution. For reasons he (and I, to be honest) doesn't understand, insurance attorney James Donovan (Hanks) is handpicked by his law firm to defend Abel. But while Donovan is expected to simply give Abel a proforma defense, he is committed to ensuring his client gets the due process he deserves under the law, even if those in the legal system, his firm, his family, and his community disagree.

Donovan's doggedness catches the eye of the CIA, and following the Soviet Union's capture of U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) while on a covert mission, the CIA enlists Donovan's help to negotiate for a trade of prisoners, Abel for Powers. This is a mission unrecognized by the U.S. government, and Donovan is essentially on his own.

He travels to East Germany, which is caught between German and Russian politics, just as the Berlin Wall is being put up. Despite his instructions to the contrary, Donovan pushes Russian and German officials for the prisoner exchange on the U.S.' terms. This sets up a potentially dangerous cat-and-mouse game for all involved.

While I'll admit I rolled my eyes at the unlikelihood an insurance attorney would suddenly be employed by the CIA for delicate negotiations with foreign entities, Bridge of Spies is based on true events. The movie definitely kept me guessing, because I really didn't know how the plot would resolve itself.

I thought Hanks did a terrific job in this movie—he conveyed his fear for his family and his future as he struggled with his need to see justice served. Rylance's performance is funny and understated, and while I don't think it's Oscar-worthy, I do think it deserves recognition. Steven Spielberg's direction is tremendously assured and not showy, and while this film certainly had a message (one that resonates particularly in this time when so many fear ISIS and Muslims in our society), it wasn't too ham-handed in its delivery.

This was an entertaining and compelling film, a reminder that there are still good stories out there to be told.

Book Review: "The Means" by Douglas Brunt

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

Having lived in the Washington, DC area for more than 25 years, I'm still simultaneously fascinated and reviled by politics. While I've had more than my share of politicians and their rhetoric and mudslinging, I have always been a sucker for the drama of presidential campaigns, watching a herd of candidates enter and only the luckiest one survives. That certainly explains part of the appeal of Douglas Brunt's tremendously compelling new novel, The Means.

The Means follows three characters over a four-year period. Mitchell Mason, former governor of New York, was raised as the scion of a political dynasty, and has been training to be president since he was young. He has finally ascended to the highest office in the land, and although his know-it-all, sometimes-condescending style is difficult for some of his staff to handle, his ideas for governing the country often demonstrate that he is worthy of the job.

Tom Pauley is a defense attorney in North Carolina, whose pro bono work on a controversial trial thrusts him into the spotlight. His folksy, congenial style, coupled with his good looks, catches the attention of state GOP leaders, who quickly tap him to run for governor, and then set their sights even higher.

Samantha Davis is a beautiful, intelligent, driven child actress-turned-lawyer, who leaves the law to pursue a journalism career. Her beauty and smarts, as well as her on-camera skills, quickly set her star on the rise. She gets her hands on an old, unreported story that has the potential to be a gigantic bombshell in the political world, and does everything she can to pursue it, regardless of the consequences.

I found this book utterly fascinating. While those quite familiar with the political process and life on the campaign trail may find that some of the plot isn't 100 percent accurate, for someone who watches these things from a far, I felt as if I had a behind-the-scenes look at campaigning, governing, the life of an incumbent president fighting to be re-elected, the art of damage control, and the toll campaigning takes on a candidate's family. It's also a commentary on just how pervasive the media can be, and its power to shake up the political landscape.

Brunt is an excellent storyteller, and I was hooked on this book from start to finish. His three main characters were tremendously complex—your impressions of them change throughout the book, and I thought it was interesting that he demonstrated that no one person is completely good or bad. There are even a few twists that surprised me, and that doesn't happen.

If you're as fascinated by the political process, the media, and political campaigns as much as I am, definitely read The Means. And even if you're utterly disinterested in the political system, you may still find this tremendously interesting. It's a great book and I think it could make an even better movie—perhaps a less somber Ides of March.