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Book of the Week

Review

Under the Storm

by Brian Kenney

It’s winter when a fire destroys a farmhouse in rural Sweden, burning it to the ground. With the parents out for the night, the only victim was the twenty-something daughter of the house. But she wasn’t killed by the fire; her autopsy reveals that she was murdered by blows to the head. Who would have wanted to kill Lovisa, who was loved by everyone? While the murderer is quickly identified, tried, and jailed, this story continues to expand in multiple directions, exploring the impact of a murder on a community, the families, even Edvard, the perpetrator. It’s also a coming-of-age novel as we follow Edvard’s nephew, who grows up in the shadow of his uncle’s acts, worrying that he too has a propensity for violence. But at its heart, this is the tale of Vidar Jörgensson, a young police officer who was one of the first officers at the fire and helped to solve it, but then spent years ruminating over the case. This is no less than a brilliant crime novel. Carlsson combines his deep knowledge of criminal motivations and trauma—he has a doctorate in criminology—with rich, compelling storytelling. Fans of the TV series Broadchurch and the works of Ann Cleeves will enjoy the deep community focus. Sure to be one of the big books of early 2024.

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Review

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead

by Brian Kenney

This book just picks you up and catapults you into five or so hours of unrelenting suspense and anxiety. British-born Charlie came to New York City to attend a prestigious journalism school—much like Columbia’s—and just months into the program, she witnessed a horrific mass murder, quickly dubbed “Scarlet Christmas.” Since then, Charlie has built a life that largely leaves those nightmarish events behind her. Today, she’s engaged to a super-rich scion of a publishing house and is herself editor in chief of a leading magazine. But she still struggles in wanting to know her past, although even intensive work with a therapist won’t unlock the events of that fateful Christmas eve and what her role in them may have been. Then Charlie learns that a documentary film is in development—it’s the tenth anniversary of the murders—that promises to tell the whole truth. But what is the truth? Whatever it might be, Charlie is terrified of the revelations that might come tumbling out and fears that her oh-so-perfect Manhattan life will collapse on itself like a house of cards. How far will Charlie go to keep the lid on the pressure cooker? A brilliant debut that isn’t promising—it completely delivers.—

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Review

Listen for the Lie

by Brian Kenney

One of the darkest, but funniest, novels I’ve read in a long time—largely thanks to the wonderful narrator, Lucy Chase. Lucy is taking a break from Los Angeles and heading back to her hometown of Plumpton, Texas. It’s been five years since she’s been in Plumpton, where nearly everyone, including her parents, is convinced she murdered Savvy, her best friend. After all, she was found leaving the scene of the crime, covered in Savvy’s blood, Savvy’s DNA under her nails, and suffering from amnesia. Kind of a downer, right? The one exception is her Grandma, who believes Lucy’s innocence and uses her 80th birthday party to lure Lucy home. It also seems like Ben Owens, the editor of the hugely popular true crime podcast “Listen for the Lie” is in town, with Lucy in his cross-hairs. Grandma is convinced that the handsome Ben will end up exonerating Lucy—and Lucy ends up sort of working with, and sleeping with, Ben, while also fooling around with a few other potential witnesses, like her ex-husband. The prose snaps and the plot speeds along in Tintera’s portrayal of small town, alcohol-addled, smiling-to-your-face-while-trashing-you-behind-your-back Texas. This would make a perfect series—and what fun to cast! For those who enjoyed Jennifer Hillier’s Things We Do in the Dark and Bella Mackie’s How to Kill Your Family.

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Review

The Sight

by Henrietta Thornton

Faith Harrington’s mother is dying. It’s no surprise to Faith, who can see others’ deaths when she looks in their eyes, though she can only guess at the timing of the demise. This ability revealed itself when Faith was a child and she saw her brother’s drowning ahead of time, an event that left the members of her family’s circus thinking that the girl, like her grandmother who had even more such powers, was cursed. Since then, Faith’s been pushed to the periphery of her family’s traveling and performances. But when she enters the big tent and accidentally sees a performer collapse, and reassures his daughter that she’s seen his death and it’s when he looks much older, it’s the beginning of chaos and danger surrounding the strange talent. The question of whether fate can be changed will linger with readers after this thoughtful, atmospheric book that features a startling twist at the end. Remember Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus? This is for fans of that who are ready for something darker, as well as readers who like to learn about intriguing subcultures.

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Review

The Hike

by Brian Kenney

A near-perfect novel of utopia-gone-wrong. Liz and her three female friends take a vacation together every year, typically somewhere with plenty of sun and a good bartender. But this year it’s Liz’s turn to pick, and needing a radical reset, she decides they’ll go mountain climbing in the gorgeous wilds of Norway. Gorgeous, but deadly. And—as the locals point out, not a climb for the inexperienced—which is all of them. Here’s a bit of what could go wrong: creepy, predatory males spying on them; killer storms; mud slides; loss of all provisions; no cell phone reception; and interference from a drug cartel. In addition, each woman manages to screw things up in her own way, like losing the trail or spraining an ankle, regularly setting them at one another’s throats. The novel builds slowly, we get plenty of insight into each woman’s personal life and the baggage she hopes to leave on the mountain, while the suspense blossoms beautifully. Richly atmospheric, well-plotted, with plenty of insight into female friendship, this should appeal to fans of Lisa Unger and Claire Douglas.

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Review

Shadow Drive

by Henrietta Thornton

Think you’ve made mistakes in your life? Meet Gabe Angueira, who had a rocky time growing up as one of the few Puerto Ricans in Louisville, Kentucky, but has found success as a landlord of multiple properties around the city. He’s divorced—alcohol played a big role with both spouses—but now is living with his ex-wife, Anya, maintaining a kind of truce as they care for their daughter, who’s in a minimally conscious state since she crashed her car, drunk. Gabe’s just trying to get by when he meets a mom who seems to be in the same boat. She’s close to tears when she shows up to see Anya’s for-rent house; she just wants to help her daughter, who’s pregnant and desperate. But Gabe doesn’t have a rental agreement with him when he shows her the property, and on her part, she doesn’t have a check for the deposit. Never mind, thinks Gabe, he’ll pick it up later. Readers can feel a disaster looming, but will in no way be ready for the catastrophe that unfolds…and unfolds..and explodes. This is a gripping, emotional, and adrenaline-filled ride all the way through. I can’t wait for more from this debut author.

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Review

Death in Fine Condition

by Henrietta Thornton

Set in the same quirky, whatever-can-go-wrong-will world as his Vinyl Detective books, Cartmel’s new series dives deep into the world of vintage-crime-fiction-paperback collectors through the, ahem, creative endeavors of Londoner Cordelia Stanmer to find the best of the best. She’s starting to make her mark in the cutthroat field and knows what she’s looking for as she mines “charity shops, antique shops, jumble sales, book sales, estate sales, house clearances, auctions…” The list goes on, as does the effort to find prime goodies without her rivals in the trade getting there first. Then she finds a shortcut: a local house has a collection—dare she hope it’s complete?—of the Sleuth Hound paperbacks, “the finest horde of these rarities she’d ever encountered.” The hunt is on, with Cordelia tossing aside pesky details such as current ownership while also juggling local gangsters, her slimy brother, a crush on a glamorous but unattainable woman, curious demand for a bad self-published title that’s not even vintage, her weird landlod…again, the list goes on, but Cordelia is ready for it all. Her antics, which will remind readers of Elle Cosimano’s madcap sleuth, Finlay Donovan, create a fun and fast-moving romp; the cherry on top is the wealth of real detail on crime-fiction collectables

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Review

The Puzzle Master

by Henrietta Thornton

I’ll be 51 this Sunday and I read two books a week. It adds up, and this is the best I’ve ever read. As it’s very far from an ordinary read , I can’t write a review as I normally would. The plot and characters are fantastic, compelling, memorable, surprising…but the book is more than anything a magic box. Trussoni also has an unsettling ability to mention everything of interest and everything that has come up lately. I thought about making a website that would emulate the ability of a pile of transparency sheets to create a composite image, and that process is mentioned. I learned about the idea of the singularity this week–the possible future time when technological growth becomes uncontrollable–and it’s there. A central theme is a kind of mythical creature I had mentioned to me recently. And the characters, and of course the author, see into the reader in other ways, with the bizarre turns in the tale perfectly allowing every nuance of the strange folks within to emerge, but also startling the consumer of this sorcery on every page. What’s the book about? Everything, but there’s a framework. A puzzle maker, who, through a brain injury, gains the remarkable ability to see “that particular kind of order that [distinguishes] a puzzle from everything else on the planet,” meets a prisoner who hands him a drawing, a puzzle he can’t even begin to unlock. It leads him to letters and a diary that describe a dangerous quest to “lift the veil between the human and the Divine and [stare] directly into the eyes of God.” There’s homework before you read this so that you can be in the right frame of mind to take in its wonder. Read Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, Aimee Pokwatka’s Self Portrait with Nothing, and Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity is Near. And then clear a weekend.

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Review

Perfectly Nice Neighbors

by Brian Kenney

It’s the rare writer who can create an intense, well-paced thriller while taking on one of the greatest social issues of our time. And Kia Abdullah is one of those few writers. Salma Khatun, her husband Bil, and their teenage son, Zain, have just arrived at a new development in the London suburb of Blenheim. They’ve left behind the far more diverse and comfortable community of Seven Kings for fear that Zain may be getting in with the wrong crowd. Will it be a fresh start or a crash landing? Here’s the first clue: the next-door neighbor rips Zain’s Black Lives Matter poster out of the front garden, and when Salma puts it in the window, they paint over the window! Things escalate from there, but in a manner that is free of cliché and grows from the characters, who represent a range of opinions and emotions. In a nice aside, Zain and the boy next door, both budding programmers, manage to strike up a friendship that leads to the development of a software for use by those with hearing impairments. But the story doesn’t end there, and where it does lead us is shocking, tragic, and damning. One of the best books I’ve read this year; I can’t wait to discuss this with a book group

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Review

A Shimmer of Red

by Henrietta Thornton

I eagerly await the books in the Odessa Jones series, and the latest offering is better than ever. Odessa (Dessa) is a realtor/caterer in suburban New Jersey. Life is going well—housing sales are way up—until one of her realtor colleagues, Anna Lee, is killed in a hit and run while out jogging. Could it have been murder? Dessa can’t help but become involved. She goes deep into her colleague’s life, uncovering a surprising past and a present in which Anna was being stalked. But why would anyone threaten this young woman? In a brilliant move on the author’s part, Dessa ends up discovering her connection to Anna, one that extends back decades to Dessa’s first fiancé, when she was barely in her twenties. Part of the delight of this series, which is set in a diverse community, is the recurring characters, from Dessa’s family-like colleagues to restaurateur Lennox Royal—a possible love interest?—to Aunt Phoenix. Dessa’s second sight—she sometimes has the ability to see aura-like glimmers over people, among other paranormal skills—is a gift she has along with her aunts. It’s introduced deftly in the book, and even skeptics will find the protagonist’s gift wholly credible–at least while they’re wrapped up in the plot. This is billed as a cozy—there is a cat and plenty of tea—but Wesley pushes a bit beyond the genre’s traditions. Dive in with this volume, but if you have the time, start with volume one, A Glimmer of Death. You won’t be disappointed.

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