The Light in the Ruins

Fire. Readers who enjoy the variety of a smorgasbord are those most likely to enjoy reading The Light in the Ruins, a historical novel by Chris Bohjalian. I found that the novel contained a morsel of this, that, and the other, which never unified enough to satisfy me. The setting is Tuscany from the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s. There’s a story of the Nazi occupation of a villa with an Etruscan tomb on the property where partisans have hidden. Two female protagonists are scarred by war: one by the fire that burned her; another by her love for a Nazi occupier. At the end of the time frame there is a serial killing spree that Bohjalian lays out in pieces using changes in time sequence to explain the backstory. As expected, everything makes sense by the end. Rating: Three-star (It’ok) Click here to purchase The Light in the Ruins from amazon.com.

Unseen

Character. The crime fiction that I like best tends to come from those novels in which the characters are well-developed, and their responses to violence and crime come across as authentic and familiar. Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series features a very complicated protagonist who may not be an everyman, but whose behavior rings true in every grisly or romantic situation. The latest novel, Unseen, has such an abundance of graphic violence, that I found myself choosing to read it only in daylight hours. Slaughter released some of the tension in the novel by alternating time sequences between the current action and the days leading up to it. This device also allows a reader to take a break to reduce one’s heart rate. Readers who like character-based crime novels and can tolerate a ton of violence should consider reading this novel and the whole series. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Unseen from amazon.com.

The English Girl

Restoration. After I’ve finished a difficult or challenging book, I like to pick up a novel that I am sure will entertain me. I’ve found Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series to provide reliable and thrilling reading. In The English Girl, art restorer and Israeli spy Allon, is specifically requested to search for and find a missing English woman. Silva teases out the reasons Allon was chosen, and he constructs a plot that’s full of entertaining twists, worthy adversaries for Allon, and enough suspense that led me to read this novel quicker than I expected. Readers who like thrillers with strong protagonists, complicated plots and fast-paced action should consider reading this novel and the other books in this series. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The English Girl from amazon.com.

A Treacherous Paradise

Journey. We readers demand much from the fiction we select to read: we want to be entertained by an interesting story that engages us (plot); we want to recognize authentic human behavior from characters that are as deep and as complicated as ourselves; we expect dialogue to ring true to the language we speak and hear; and we want the descriptive language to make us believe we can see the setting where the action occurs. Henning Mankell did all those things for me in his novel, A Treacherous Paradise. The rags to riches story of protagonist Hanna Lundmark on her journey from Sweeden to Portuguese East Africa in the early twentieth century maintained my interest. Her ownership of a brothel with a monkey as her closest friend may pique your interest. Mankell used the issues of poverty, wealth, racism, gender equality, and colonialism as a backdrop to action that revealed how difficult it is for us live in community with respect and understanding of our differences. Readers who like strong female protagonists and unusual settings are those most likely to enjoy this novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase A Treacherous Paradise from amazon.com.

Return to Oakpine

Band. Ron Carlson avoids all the perils that a lesser writer might have experienced when writing a novel that involves a small town and high school. Return to Oakpine is set in a small Wyoming town and features four central characters. As high school boys they formed a band that began and ended in 1969. Two of them left town after high school, and two stayed. Thirty years later, Jimmy has come home from life as a novelist in New York City to his parents who care for him as he dies of AIDS. Mason came home to sell his parents’ house, where he finds a better life than the one he’s been living as a successful lawyer in Denver. Frank stayed in town and owns the local bar. Craig owns the hardware store. Oakpine has changed in three decades, but the small town values remain pretty consistent. Through Craig’s high school son, Larry, we see both continuity and change. Jimmy helps Larry learn to play the guitar, and the other band members try to revive the group. Carlson develops each character with depth and intensity, revealing the broad scope of human behavior. This novel is one of those rare gifts: a finely written story, brief enough to read quickly, and deep enough to think about for a long time. Most readers will finish the novel feeling pretty good about human nature. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase Return to Oakpine from amazon.com.

Always Watching

Cult. The protagonist of Chevy Stevens’ novel, Always Watching, is the quintessential wounded healer: a psychiatrist with unresolved issues of her own. Dr. Nadine Lavoie begins to treat a patient who came under the influence of the same cult leader who hurt Nadine. The novel’s plot moves rapidly through Nadine’s desire to help Nadine and ensure justice is done. Stevens crossed the line into melodrama too much for my taste. While I enjoyed the fast-paced action, my willing suspension of disbelief was strained by Nadine’s lack of professional boundaries and the plot action that bordered on the absurd. The characters were incompletely developed, and by midway through the novel, I found myself not caring much about what happened to any of them. Read a sample before you get involved in this novel and the cult. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase Always Watching from amazon.com.

Harvard Square

Assimilation. Scores of novels present stories of the experience of immigrants in America. Andre Aciman’s contribution, Harvard Square, contrasts the assimilation of the narrator with that of his friend, Kalaj. The narrator is visiting colleges with his son, and that leads him to reflect on his own college days and the friendship he and Kalaj developed as fellow immigrants from North Africa. Aciman captures the longing to fit in as well as the desire to be at home, whatever and wherever that is. Aciman’s fine writing and focused dialogue kept me interested and engaged from beginning to end. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Harvard Square from amazon.com.