Book Review: "Graveyard of Memories" by Barry Eisler

"If you knew at the outset what you understood at the end, would you make the same choices, take the same risks, accept the same sacrifices?"

So asks John Rain, the enigmatically magnetic mercenary who is the protagonist of Barry Eisler's fantastic series of books, which include Rain Fall, Hard Rain, and Rain Storm. (I believe that the publisher has changed all of the titles of these books now, but these are the original titles I'm familiar with.) Rain is a deadly, intelligent adversary who has the uncanny ability to separate what he does from whom he does it to.

But how did Rain become a mercenary, a man without a true home and very few real connections? Graveyard of Memories is an excellent prequel that finds 20-year-old Rain in 1972 Tokyo, when he is fresh out of the Vietnam War and still a little shaken by what he had to do in the heat of battle. Working as a bagman for the CIA, he mostly delivers cash to another third party, and doesn't really want to know much about where the money really goes or what it's ultimately used for.

One day following an exchange, Rain's impetuousness inflames his hair-trigger temper and causes him to lash out in violence, at the wrong people, which ultimately leaves him the target of one of Japan's more powerful yakuza families. In an effort to protect himself, and perhaps ingratiate himself with his CIA handler, he takes the only path he can—kill before he is killed—but he also agrees to murder a high-profile member of the Japanese government at his handler's behest. It is through these encounters that the roots of Rain's patience and intelligence begin to take root, although they're often obscured by his impulsiveness and the pride of a brash 20-year-old.

As Rain tries to get himself out of the mess he's created, he instead begins realizing he may have found himself in a Gordian knot of sorts, one from which he may not be able to escape. Meanwhile, alone and adrift, without family or any real friends save a policeman he's reluctant to speak with, he finds himself falling for Sayaka, the intelligent, stubborn night clerk at a love hotel. Confined to a wheelchair, Sayaka doesn't know what to make of John, and as his feelings for her grow deeper, so does his dilemma about his "situation" and how to solve it once and for all.

I have loved all of Eisler's John Rain novels so far, and Graveyard of Memories is a worthy addition to this series. Eisler has a true talent for balancing bloody, movie-worthy violence with strong character development, and he does a fantastic job in laying the foundation of Rain's early life, which clearly makes him into the man he becomes in later books. It's a strong writer who can keep you interested in a character who kills people for a living, even if they "deserve" to be killed, but the ease with which Rain ultimately operates somehow doesn't make him seem unsympathetic or psychotic. This book lays bare a little more of how Rain's mindset came to be, and you find yourself utterly compelled.

When I read some of my favorite series of books, I always feel as if getting another opportunity to spend time with characters I enjoy is like spending time with an old friend, no matter how twisted that friend may be. Reading Graveyard of Memories is a unique opportunity to get to understand what makes a character tick, and you realize just why they fascinate you so.

I really hope it's not long before Eisler gives us another glimpse into the world of John Rain. It's a violent but incredibly fascinating world to visit.

Book Review: "Love Letters to the Dead" by Ava Dellaira

This book made my heart hurt (but in a good way).

At the start of her freshman year of high school, Laurel gets an interesting assignment in English class: write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses to write to Kurt Cobain, who was her older sister May's favorite singer. Laurel knows that Kurt understands deep emotions, pain, and anguish, feelings all too familiar to Laurel over the last year, because of May's tragic death she can't really talk about, as well as her parents' separation and her mother's subsequent move to California from their New Mexico home.

Laurel's letter to Kurt taps a well in her soul which encourages her to write more letters—to Cobain, as well as Amy Winehouse, River Phoenix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Judy Garland, Amelia Earhart, and poets like John Keats and Elizabeth Bishop. She relates the challenges these celebrities faced and the lessons their lives embodied to the challenges she faces trying to put May's death and the circumstances around it behind her, trying to be a different person, trying to find friends who accept her for who she is, even if she is trying to reinvent herself and hide her feelings of guilt and shame.

"I want people to know me, but if anyone could look inside of me, if they saw that everything I feel is not what it's supposed to be, I don't know what would happen."

The letters chronicle Laurel's experiences in high school, as she starts making friends with a group of people who have more than their own share of problems, and falls in love with a boy named Sky, who hides some of himself from Laurel as she's doing the same to him. The letters tell of the sadness Laurel feels at how much her life has changed since May's death and her parents separated. And many of the letters share Laurel's strong love for May, how May tried to protect her and make her feel at ease, even while May was going through struggles of her own.

The secrets that Laurel keeps inside are slowly revealed, but only after they threaten to disintegrate her relationships with those she cares about. And while the revelations aren't really a surprise, to read about the pain and guilt and burden that one young girl feels forced to carry on her shoulders alone is really emotional. You find yourself wanting Laurel to open up to her family and friends, yet you, too, are worried how they might treat her in the end.

This is a beautifully written, bittersweet, and poignant book about finding the strength to carry on, and finding the person you need to be. It's also a book about learning to trust again when those you depend on have betrayed that trust. While not all of the letters work as well as others, Ava Dellaira's writing is so compelling, so nuanced, I found myself moved nearly to tears while reading this book.

It's interesting: I hadn't heard of this book until I received a targeted promotional email about it from Stephen Chbosky, author of one of my favorite books of all time, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This book tapped an emotional reservoir that Chbosky's book did, albeit coming from a different place, and like Wallflower, it's a book that will stay with me.

Book Review: "All I Have in This World" by Michael Parker

Michael Parker's All I Have in This World is a beautifully written, poignant, sometimes meandering novel about two people damaged by their mistakes and the aftermath of them, and an old car that somehow binds them together in a strange way.

Maria fled her home in Pinto Canyon, Texas just at the end of high school, when a life-changing decision she made resulted in a tragedy she couldn't escape. Ten years have gone by, and Maria has stayed away from Texas, and barely kept in touch with her mother. Maria has moved from place to place, job to job, and, at times, from man to man, although the holes in her life have yet to be filled. But she makes the decision to return home for a little while, and is surprised by how much she is still affected by the events that caused her departure.

Marcus dreamed of breeding Venus flytraps, and building a farm and educational center for them on his family's acreage in a small North Carolina town. But Marcus' lack of business and museum acumen, as well as his lack of foresight, has led to the bank foreclosing on and seizing the land, land which partially belongs to his sister. Marcus decides to leave North Carolina and head for Mexico, with the money he was able to salvage, and did not share with his sister what happened. A stop along the way in Pinto Canyon for a hike along the Rio Grande results in his truck getting stolen with nearly everything he owned inside.

Maria and Marcus meet at a used car lot. Both are looking for a car—Maria to avoid having to share with her mother, and Marcus to be able to head to Mexico as he originally planned. The two both set their eyes on the same car, a 1984 sky blue Buick Electra. In a snap decision, the pair agrees to share the car, regardless of the fact that they had never really met (or introduced themselves, for that matter), and both have different plans for the car. But they agree to use the car on alternate days, as both try to gain some footing again in their world.

All I Have in This World tells the story of two people desperately trying to hang on and make some sense of their lives, and find a way forward that doesn't involve giving up. Both need to come to terms with what they've done and move on, but neither can seem to handle either of those monumental steps. As life pushes in around them, they are both unsure of what to do next—face their problems or flee again?

This book also tells the story of the Buick Skylark through the years, from when it was first transported from the factory as a young girl with a heart problem watches the car trailer drive past, to the various people whose lives the car touched through the years, until it wound up on the used car lot where Marcus and Maria found it. For its previous owners, the car was both a point of pride and pain, a talisman and a bittersweet reminder.

Michael Parker is tremendously skilled, and he has created two characters with so much depth and pain in their lives, not all of it their own making. I felt as if the story took a bit to get going, as really the book hit its stride once Maria and Marcus met, but both of their stories are tremendously compelling. At times the book is a little hard to follow, and I felt that the ending was a little more ambiguous than I would have liked, but in the end, this book has stuck with me. I felt for Marcus and Maria and their struggles, and would like to know more about whether they were able to put their pasts behind them and find happiness. A unique, interesting, and emotionally rich book.

Book Review: "You're Not Much Use to Anyone" by David Shapiro

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

The last year of college is often fun, but the level of tension and uncertainty ratchets up for many students. There is often uncertainty—even fear—about what you're going to do with the rest of your life, where the money to support you will come from (if you aren't working while going to school), even what will become of the relationships you have. And unless you have a job lined up after college, you're often suffering from some general insecurity as well.

David Shapiro, in his autobiographical novel You're Not Much Use to Anyone, is suffering from all of those feelings. After graduating early from NYU, he doesn't know what he wants to do with his life (although his parents, who are supporting him financially, expect him to go to law school). He's a little insecure about himself physically, and his self-esteem only seems to blossom when he's in a relationship. But he's not quite willing to give himself entirely to relationships, and whenever one of his girlfriends leaves for a job opportunity or something else, he's ready to end the relationship instead of dealing with worries about her cheating on him with someone better.

David gets a job working in the file room of a large company, although it's clear to everyone he's tremendously overqualified for what he does. But it's a good way to make money of his own, and allegedly study for the LSATs. Plus, he can pacify his demanding mother and his conspiracy theory-prone father.

The one thing David is passionate about is the music review site Pitchfork. So many of the reviews he reads on the site infuriate him, and he resents the power this website has to destroy the career of up and coming bands with negative reviews, and build up a less deserving band (in David's mind) with hype and praise. So after ranting about Pitchfork to anyone who will listen, he decides to set up his own Tumblr blog in which he reviews Pitchfork reviews, called Pitchfork Reviews Reviews. Of course, he doesn't have a computer, so he types up the entries surreptitiously on his Blackberry and sends them to his roommate, who posts them on David's behalf. (But no one can no that.)

Before long, David's Tumblr blog has become quite popular, and even the media has taken interest. However, his insecurity hasn't changed, as he takes any negative comments personally. The success of his site doesn't lessen his anxiety that he might lose his job or that his parents might make him stop writing and demand he apply to law school. And it doesn't solve his romantic problems either. What's a guy to do?

You're Not Much Use to Anyone accurately captured the anxieties and insecurities of a recent college graduate, and did so with a lot of humor and emotion. Shapiro doesn't paint himself as a wholly sympathetic character—at times his inability to identify with his girlfriends' moods made it difficult to feel sorry for him when the relationships went awry. But he's definitely an amusing character, and his adventures (such as they were) made for a fun read. And now that I've finished the book, I wonder just how autobiographical this "novel" really is—were only the names changed to protect the innocent, or were some of the situations fictionalized as well? (It doesn't matter, I'm just curious.)

Book Review: "Of Sea and Cloud" by Jon Keller

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

Nicolas Graves has known nothing more than the life of a lobsterman. Day in, day out, year after year, he has focused on hauling in lobsters, setting his traps, and worrying about the price per pound. This single-minded focus was for the benefit of his family, but while he and his son Bill were tremendously close, his relationship with his son Joshua (known as Jonah) was fraught with tension and misunderstanding from an early age.

When Nicolas is lost at sea, Bill and Jonah pick up their father's mantle as lobstermen. Both learned at their father's side, and while Jonah left to go to college, he returned to follow in his father's footsteps. Yet their father's death has left them at odds—the two sons don't share the same opinions on what to do next, and have different priorities, especially as the price of lobster plunges across the world.

Bill wants nothing more than to continue as his father would, while Jonah isn't sure that this way of life is the answer anymore. While Bill finds himself enmeshed in a romantic relationship with a girl he grew up with, Jonah is restless and wonders whether his father's death wasn't some kind of sign. Yet as the brothers struggle with each other, and Jonah must deal with his unresolved feelings about his relationship with his father.

But Bill and Jonah also find themselves at odds with an unexpected enemy—Osmond Raymond, their father's partner in the lobster pound business for years. Osmond is also the town preacher and a deeply vengeful and difficult man. Despite his years of loyalty and friendship with Nicolas, he is determined to take control of the business for the sake of his children and grandchildren—no matter what the cost to Bill and Jonah, and no matter what gets destroyed in the process.

Of Sea and Cloud is a powerful story of loyalty—to family, friends, and a way of life that gets harder and harder. It's a story of relationships, resentments, unspoken fears and hurts and arguments. It's also a story of fighting for what you believe in, no matter what the cost. It's a familiar story, but Jon Keller tells it quite adeptly.

Keller is an excellent writer, and this book has a very strong voice that makes you feel as if you're among the lobstermen, deeply enmeshed in their day-to-day struggles. While these characters may be similar to others you've seen in other books, Keller's storytelling ability still keeps them interesting and fresh, and makes you want to keep reading about them. The feeling of tension and of weariness are palpable in this book, and they really set the mood.

The life of lobstermen is one I can't really imagine, but Of Sea and Cloud gave me enough insight into their challenges that I was able to understand why they do what they do every day, and why they struggle in face of danger and economic challenges. This is an interesting, well-told book that resonates.

Book Review: "Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line" by Michael Gibney

From the moment I realized I loved to cook (and realized I was good at it), I had a dream of becoming a chef someday, of perhaps having my own little restaurant, where I could decide a menu based on what looked good at the market, and cook for people who loved food. Sure, television shows like Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen made being a chef look a little less appealing, but those shows are enhanced for their dramatic value, right?

Michael Gibney's terrific book, Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line, has made me realize that the reality is more like the latter than the former. Gibney has cooked in some of the nation's finest restaurants, and clearly knows his stuff. If someone with his skills and experience can still have nights from hell, what chance do some of us mere mortals have?

Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line follows Gibney on a day working at a New York City restaurant. He's one of two sous chefs working with a talented chef, who gives both Gibney and his compatriot a great deal of responsibility and latitude in the kitchen, but expects a great deal, too. You see just how much work it is to produce the food you get to enjoy in a restaurant, how many people are involved, how many crises may occur in the preparation, plating, and serving of the food. You get to understand why your food sometimes comes out under- or over-cooked, or perhaps missing a crucial component listed on the menu. These responsibilities, coupled with the breakneck pace of a day in the fishbowl-like atmosphere of a restaurant kitchen, when many sous chefs and others have been out late drinking the night before, can be overwhelming.

"The sous chef (from the French meaning "under chef") is the lieutenant, the executor of Chef's wishes. He is at Chef's side seventy hours a week or more, for good or bad, a perpetual Mark Antony to Chef's Julius Caesar."

This book makes you feel like you are there on the line with Gibney. You get to experience his highs and his lows, work through the challenges thrown at him, and weather the emotional issues he battles. Gibney writes in a conversational style peppered with bravado and lots of culinary terms (luckily there's a comprehensive glossary at the back of the book)—there's even a good deal of Spanish dialogue thrown in as he chronicles his conversations with dishwashers, salad chefs, and other kitchen staff.

If you're a foodie, fancy yourself a chef without a restaurant, or have ever thought about a culinary career, this is a book for you. It doesn't glamorize the sous chef's role; it presents a fairly realistic picture of a day in a fairly busy, fine dining restaurant, without stooping to clichés or creating stereotypical characters. I really enjoyed this a great deal, although it did reinforce that I was wise not to pursue a career as a chef after I went to culinary school. (I like having some balance in my life. Call me crazy.)

"Without a kitchen there is no restaurant; without a strong line there is no kitchen." I know the next time I go out to eat at a restaurant, I'll think a little bit harder about the blood, sweat, and tears (hopefully not too much of the first two) that went into the preparation of the food, and how much I have the sous chef to thank. And I thank Michael Gibney and his great book for that reinforced awareness.

Book Review: "The Heaven of Animals" by David James Poissant

Do yourself a favor: pick up this story collection. Now. You'll be moved, overwhelmed, touched, and blown away by these stories. Do it.

After finishing David James Poissant's debut collection, The Heaven of Animals, last night, first I marveled at just how powerful these stories were, and how much I enjoyed them. And then I remembered, no matter how challenging my life might feel from time to time, I am tremendously fortunate to have fewer problems than the characters in these stories. Man, in many cases, their lives are tough.

The stories in this collection are about relationships—between parent and child, spouses or significant others, siblings, friends, strangers, even between a man and his wife's dog. (No, not that kind of relationship.) In many cases these are people facing challenges—physical, emotional, financial—and they're struggling to right their own ships, so to speak. But while story after story about people in some sort of crisis could be harrowing to read, in Poissant's hands the stories are certainly moving, but they're told so beautifully and skillfully that you feel empathy, and somehow transformed by the paths these characters follow.

Whether its the father and son that bookend the collection in "Lizard Man" and the title story; the girl willing to sacrifice anything for her mentally ill boyfriend in "The End of Aaron"; the couple struggling after the death of their infant daughter in the two-part "The Geometry of Despair"; the two young friends dealing with more than they bargained for in "The Disappearing Boy"; or the brothers struggling with things unsaid in "Nudity", Poissant's characters are richly drawn, complex, and tremendously memorable.

The collection contains a few very short stories ("Knockout" and "The Baby Glows," among them) which I wish Poissant could have fleshed out a bit more, because I found their premise intriguing. But the other stories in this collection are tremendously satisfying. My favorites in the collection are the title story, which finds a man desperately driving from Louisiana to California to see his estranged son before he dies; the aforementioned "Nudists," "The Geometry of Despair," "The Disappearing Boy," and "The End of Aaron," and the somewhat self-explanatorily-titled "How to Help Your Husband Die." (Get your tissues for that one.)

Poissant is a writer whose talent was evident from the first few lines of the first story. Here's just one example I marveled at: "So where does she fit in? What is she to him? She is cuff links. She's a pocket watch. A thing slipped on for special occasions."

I can't say enough about this collection without going into a treatise on why I loved it so much. So read it. And let me know what you think. I can't wait to see what's next for David James Poissant.