After just finishing two HORROR novels by Karin Slaughter, it was a relief to follow the family friendly historical fiction of Harry Clifton growing up to become a soldier in WW II.
England and America.
Archer is a great story teller.
It’s one of a 7 part series but I’m not intrigued enough to read the entire thing.
I did finish this book. … But can’t recommend it.
It’s too dark. Too sad. It’s a hard read. And it’s long.
Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn’s happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father — Pikeville’s notorious defense attorney — devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.
Twenty-eight years later, Charlie has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a lawyer herself — the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again—and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized—Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it’s a case that unleashes the terrible memories she’s spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won’t stay buried forever . . .
Sadly I’m running out of Michael Connelly novels. This one from the early days when Harry was darker was excellent, as usual.
A Darkness More Than Night (2001) is the tenth novel by American crime author Michael Connelly; it is the seventh featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch, and the second featuring FBI profiler Terry McCaleb, with reporter Jack McEvoy (The Poet) also making an appearance in a supporting role. …
Harry is being framed for murder by a movie director.
The story seems so familiar that I’m sure the plot was used in the TV series.
I spend a lot of time in libraries. They are good. But could be much better.
Eric Klinenberg spent a year researching libraries for his book Palaces for the People.
How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life
Social infrastructure is the glue that binds communities together, and it is just as real as the infrastructure for water, power, or communications, although it’s often harder to see.
But Eric Klinenberg says that when we invest in social infrastructures such as libraries, parks, or schools, we reap all kinds of benefits. We become more likely to interact with people around us, and connected to the broader public. If we neglect social infrastructure, we tend to grow more isolated, which can have serious consequences.
I heard Klinenberg interviewed on the 99% Invisible podcast. His argument was compelling.
I’d love to see libraries expand their programs. Increase the hours they are open.
Libraries are unofficial sanctuaries for street people, at least during daylight. That should be formalized.
Libraries could be much, much better.
Loved it. Especially the ending.
It was nice to see a female protagonist. I found Mercer Mann to be quite believable.
I’ve put library holds on more Grisham books for the future.
Camino Island (2017) is a departure from Grisham’s main subject of legal thrillers and focuses on stolen rare books. Grisham made his first extensive book tour in 25 years ….
The book begins with the theft of five rare F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts from the Firestone Library at Princeton University and then embarks on a journey to a resort town on a Florida island in search of clues about the heist …
The Whistler (2016) is a legal thriller with a female protagonist, investigator Lacy Stoltz.
The plot centers on the legal and moral problems involved in Native American gaming. …
Lacy’s a lawyer working for the 7 person Florida Board on Judicial Conduct. They investigate complaints about judges.
The story is interesting.
Grisham is always good. But this book I found slightly too complicated. And a little slow.
NY Times review: “… Without exactly being repetitious, he makes this story longer than it has to be …”
John Grisham is an activist and board member for the Innocence Project, an organization that fights to exonerate prisoners it deems wrongfully convicted.
This 2010 book looks at the issues of the death penalty through the wrongful conviction of 17-year-old Donté Drumm. He is a star on the high school football team and loved by the girls.
Donté’s is accused of murdering Nicole Yarber, a cheerleader.
It’s set in football mad Slone, Texas.
It’s a very good book. Well told. Some might find it a bit preachy. Repetitive in places.
Travis Boyette is the real killer. The most memorable of the characters, for me. Seems Grisham is skilled at writing complex, weird and evil bad guys.
I agree with Grisham on the death penalty. I’m against it. And still recall the day I made that decision. It was in a High School class in the 1970s where we were discussing the topic.
I’ll consider the USA a backwards nation until they ban it.
The USA will be backwards until the Republican Party finally starts to evolve their platform in the area of human rights.
United States, Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Belarus, Oman, and Taiwan are some of the most prosperous nations that still have it.
Much of the fictional case presented in the novel is taken from some real-life cases involving defendants on death row.
I don’t read many of these political memoirs. But this one I enjoyed. And learned a lot.
I like Obama better. And appreciate more the difficult decisions he had to make over the 8 years.
His legacy is bigger than I gave him credit for.
As they point out frequently on his team, progress is rarely a straight line. Some of the things Obama pushed COULD yet be achieved by future American governments. Once that idiot Trump is gone, of course.
“Ben Rhodes, who served Barack Obama as a foreign policy adviser and speechwriter from beginning to end, has written a book that reflects the president he served—intelligent, amiable, compelling and principled.
And there is something more: The World as It Is is a classic coming-of-age story, about the journey from idealism to realism, told with candor and immediacy.
It is not a heavy policy book. There are anecdotes galore, but they illuminate rather than scandalize.
Even Donald Trump—a politician who seems the omega to Obama’s alpha—is treated with horrified amazement rather than vitriol. . . . Ben Rhodes is a charming and humble guide through an unprecedented presidency. . . . He never quite loses his idealism; in a crass political era, he impressively avoids becoming a cynic. . . . His achievement is rare for a political memoir: He has written a humane and honorable book.”
—Joe Klein, The New York Times Book Review
By David Lagercrantz.
This is the 5th novel in Steig Larsson’s Millennium series. Lagercrantz took over at book 4 after Larsson’s death.
Lagercrantz is a better writer than Larsson, who was an amateur. And the new books are superior.
However … book 5 didn’t work for me nearly as well as did book 4.
I’m sure the complicated plot outline about twins separated at birth for scientific research looked good in outline. But I didn’t buy the story.
What people love about this series is Lisbeth Salander. And there’s not enough Salander in it for me. I did enjoy how she handled 2 months in prison, however.
I did read Gone Girl. And saw the movie.
Both quite good.
Her earlier (2009) novel is even better.
It centres around a farm family massacred in Kinnakee, Kansas.
The 15-year-old son is locked up as the killer. Only the youngest girl — Libby Day — survives.
Twenty-five years after the massacre, Libby, in need of money, meets with a group of amateur investigators who believe that her brother is innocent. She starts to believe her brother might actually be innocent.
They made a film of Dark Places (2015) too but from the trailer it looks to me they’ve changed the story quite a bit. It tanked. And has only 24% approval on Rotten Tomatoes.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
So skip the movie. Read the book.
The author was born in Kansas City, Missouri. And this book is set just outside of Kansas City, Missouri.
Rick McCharles 