Review of "Only Truth: A Novel of Suspense" by Julie Cameron

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Thirty-something artist Isabel Dryland and her husband Tom have been happily married for four years, living in London and trying to have a child.



Isabel fears her inability to conceive may be linked to an attack when she was fourteen, a horrific incident that left Isabel with brain damage, partial amnesia, and blindness in one eye. Isabel recalls nothing about the actual assault, and has only vague memories of her long and difficult recovery.



It took years for Isabel to attain a semblance of normality, a quest that seemed in sight when she met Tom at one of her gallery shows. Tom appears to be the perfect husband - loving, caring, protective, and solicitous when Isabel suffers one of her frequent headaches or anxiety attacks.



Now Tom wants to move to the country, thinking the quiet atmosphere might be salubrious to Isabel's health, and might even lead to a pregnancy. Tom finds the perfect estate, complete with a coach house Isabel can convert to a painting studio.



Tom takes Isabel to view the house, which she finds vaguely discomforting. Moreover, Isabel doesn't want to leave London. However Tom is SO enthusiastic and insistent that Isabel feels she has to agree to the relocation.

As soon as Isabel and Tom are ensconced in their new home, Isabel starts to get creepy feelings, hang-up phone calls, and a vague sense of being watched....and we soon learn why.



A psychopath is stalking Isabel.



Isabel's chapters are interspersed with the narrative of the psychopath, who has a compulsion to abduct and torture women. The maniac's story starts back in 1994, when he stalked a sweet-faced blond teenager. Now the evildoer is after Isabel. (Warning: the psychopath's chapters are graphic and disturbing, and may contain triggers for sensitive readers.)



Isabel's sense of discomfort is heightened when she discovers a small hidden room in the back of the coach house, with writing scratched into the floor.



Isabel tries to speak to her husband Tom about her apprehensions, but he's dismissive, and even suggests Isabel speak to her psychoanalyst.



As the story unfolds Isabel goes about her business: redecorating the house; fixing up her studio; speaking to the estate's previous owner; meeting the neighbors; hiring a gardener; teaching art classes; inviting her twin sisters for a visit; traveling to London; taking commissions for paintings; and so on.



Through it all, Isabel collects anecdotes and clues that make her suspect serious wrongdoing.



In essence this is a traditional cat and mouse story, which is compelling if a bit slow-moving. It's nice to see Isabel go from doubting herself to taking matters into her own hands, all of which leads to an exciting climax.

The story is set in modern times, but has a gothic feel, and would probably appeal to fans of vintage mysteries and serial killer books.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "The Truth About Melody Browne: A Literary Novel" by Lisa Jewell

 

Londoner Melody Browne experienced a trauma at the age of nine, when a housefire destroyed the Browne family home and left Melody with almost no possessions and no memories of her childhood.



Melody grew up, became a teenage single mother.....



and raised her now 17-year-old son Ed alone.



Melody's best friend is Stacey, a girl she met when they were both pregnant teens.



Stacey went on to become a married mother of three but Melody - who fell out with her parents over having the baby - never felt the urge to expand her tiny family of two.

Melody is now contentedly thrumming along, working as a cafeteria lady in her son's school, when a quirky event changes her life. Melody meets a gentleman named Ben on a bus, accepts an invitation to go out, and attends a hypnotist show.



Melody is randomly selected to participate on stage, and is mesmerized into behaving like a gassy five-year-old child. After giving the audience a good laugh, Melody faints, and wakes up with random recollections of her early years.



Melody feels compelled to fill in the newfound flashbacks, an undertaking that (at least figuratively) takes her across England and beyond. Melody comes to find that her connections extend beyond her estranged parents, and sets out to become re-acquainted with her past.



The story skips back and forth from the present to the past, so we observe Melody's young years, and see how her early experiences affected Melody's life going forward.



As she makes surprising discoveries, Melody confides in her friend Stacey, who urges her BFF to move ahead with her life, maybe even allow a man in. Melody's son Ed - a well-adjusted teenager - is also a wonderful support.

As the story unfolds we meet a group of characters who exhibit a wide array of behaviors: praiseworthy, generous, selfish, uncaring, foolish, troubled, etc. It's more than the average child has to deal with, and helps explain Melody's amnesia. (There's no child sex abuse in the book, in case you need to know.)

The most significant themes of the book are parent-child bonds and the importance of families - be they conventional or off the beaten path.



Some parts of the story strain credulity, but I enjoyed the novel, which is touching, heart-rending, and inspiring - like the journey through any complicated life might be.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Shadow Sands: A Kate Marshall Novel of Suspense" by Robert Bryndza

 

In this second book in the 'Kate Marshall' series the former police detective looks into a death and a disappearance. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Kate Marshall was a Metropolitan Detective Constable until she discovered that her boss, DCI Peter Conway - with whom she'd been romantically involved - was a serial killer.



The subsequent scandal, plus the fact that Kate was pregnant with Peter's child, got her fired. Since then Kate became an alcoholic, lost custody of her (and Peter's) son Jake to her parents, started going to AA, and became a criminology lecturer at Ashdean College in southern England.



Jake is now 16-years-old, and Kate - who's on the wagon - has partial custody.



In addition to teaching and looking after Jake, Kate puts her cop instincts to good use as an 'unofficial' private detective, in collaboration with her academic assistant Tristan Harper.



Over summer break, Kate and her son Jake are scuba diving in Shadow Lakes Reservoir near Ashdean, when they discover the body of 19-year old Simon Kendal.



The police call it an accidental drowning, but Kate sees signs on the body that suggest otherwise. Thus, when Simon's mother - insisting her son was a champion swimmer - asks Kate to investigate, the former police constable agrees to look into the matter.



While Kate and Tristan make inquiries about Simon, they continue their duties at Ashdean College. There hunky Tristan catches the eye of Professor Magdalena Rossi, an exotic beauty from Italy.



Rossi is writing a paper about mysteries in the Ashdean area, including a giant pawprint and a slate of disappearances.



Magdalena is also curious about bodies found in the Shadow Sands Reservoir, a man-made structure that feeds into a hydroelectric plant. Rossi's been exploring the area on her Vespa, taking photos and interviewing residents, to get information for her study. After Magdalena tells Tristan about her project she asks him out on a date, but then she doesn't show up.....and seems to vanish into thin air.

The police are oddly reluctant to investigate Magdalena's disappearance, suggesting she voluntarily left town. When Kate pressures the cops to search the reservoir, the police make excuses not to, and investigate (what Kate considers) the wrong things.



So Kate and Tristan make it their business to search for Magdalena themselves. This puts the amateur sleuths on the wrong side of the region's dynastic family, the Bakers, who own a large portion of the reservoir and don't want anything to shut down the hydroelectric plant.

In the midst of all this hoopla Kate's son Jake says he wants to meet his serial killer father, Peter Conway, which Jake is allowed to do now that he's sixteen. Peter is incarcerated in Great Barwell Hospital for the criminally insane, and will only agree to see Jake if Kate visits him as well.



So mother and son trek to the hospital and (individually) speak to Peter, who sits behind a window of unbreakable glass. The conservations are surprisingly current and relevant...but you'll have to read the book to see what everyone discussed. 🙂

As the story unfolds Kate and Tristan are caught in dangerous situations, made worse by the fact they have no official standing to probe into criminal activity.



In addition to the investigations, we observe Tristan's sister Sarah plan her wedding; see Kate lamenting her son's increasing independence; watch Kate struggling with sobriety; learn some long-held secrets; and more.

My main quibble with the novel is the use of plot devices I've seen many times before, but this is a solid thriller with engaging characters. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Robert Bryndza), and the publisher (Thomas and Mercer) for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel" by Celeste Ng

In "Little Fires Everywhere" the lives of two very different families - the Richardsons and the Warrens - overlap for a time in the mid-1990s, resulting in dramatic changes in both. 

The six-member Richardson family is comprised of mother Elena - a journalist; 



Father Bill - an attorney; 



And their four teenage children: Trip - the high school athlete and local heartthrob;



Lexie - the pretty fashionista aiming for the Ivy League; 



Moody - the serious thinker who enjoys playing the guitar; 



And Izzy - the rebel who feels like a fish-out-of-water. 



The Richardsons have a large, beautiful home in upscale Shaker Heights, Ohio - a planned liberal-thinking community where everything is orderly and 'no one sees race.' 



In fact Lexie has an African-American boyfriend named Brian, and no one blinks an eye. 



In Elena's eyes she and her family have the perfect life, one that should be emulated by everyone. 

The Warrens could hardly be more different than the Richardsons. Their two-member household consists of Mia - a professional photographer/artist, and her 15-year-old daughter Pearl - a bright, quiet girl. The Warrens are almost itinerants, pulling up stakes whenever Mia feels the need for a fresh artistic inspiration. In fact the Warrens have moved over 45 times since Pearl was born.....so the girl never really had a close friend.



When the Warrens' ramblings bring them to Shaker Heights, they lease the upstairs apartment in a rental home owned by Mrs. Richardson. The rent is reasonable, but Mia still has to supplement her photography income with a job at the local Chinese restaurant. To make ends meet, Mia and Pearl eat leftovers from the restaurant, shop in thrift stores, and furnish their home with castoffs found in the street. Pearl's one yearning is to know who her father is, but Mia consistently fobs off the question with redirection and humor.



As it happens Moody Richardson and Pearl are high school classmates, and - after they become friends - Pearl starts to hang out at the Richardson home. She goes over after school to watch 'Jerry Springer' (the Richardson teens' favorite show).



Pearl mingles with the family; helps Lexie with her college application; and develops a crush on Trip. Pearl is thrilled to finally have friends, especially such a bright, stimulating bunch.

Mia gets drawn into the Richardsons orbit as well when Mrs. Richardson - in a burst of altruism - offers the photographer a job in her home to help defray the Warrens' rent. Mia's duties are to clean the house in the morning and prepare dinner in the evening, leaving plenty of time for her artistic endeavors. 



In an ironic exchange, young Izzy becomes enthralled with Mia and her work. The youngest Richardson starts to drop by Mia's apartment after school, to help with the artist's photography and learn the craft. In fact Izzy is rather desperate for a benevolent 'mother figure' in her life.

We come to learn that Izzy was a premature baby who nearly died. The incident so upset Mrs. Richardson that she resents Izzy, whom she criticizes and chastises relentlessly. Izzy, in turn, acts out in outrageous ways. (I was somewhat surprised that Mr. Richardson didn't intervene with his wife here; it quite put me off him.)

All this interaction results in the Richardsons and Warrens becoming closely - but casually - intertwined.

Relations between the two families are unremarkable until Mia happens to overhear that Mrs. Richardson's friends, the McCulloughs, have almost completed their adoption of a one-year-old Chinese baby they call Mirabelle.



It so happens that Mia knows something about the child. The girl's mother, Bebe Chow, is an immigrant who works at the Chinese restaurant with Mia - and she had previously confided her story.



Ten months ago, when Bebe was homeless and penniless, she left her little daughter, May Ling, at a fire station. When Bebe got a job, she tried to get the baby back.....but couldn't find her. 

So Mia tells Bebe where the baby is. Shortly afterward, there's a court case for custody of the tot, and a media circus surrounding the event. 



Mrs. Richardson becomes infuriated by Mia's 'interference' and - already put off by the artist's lifestyle - makes it her business to look into Mia's background. Mrs. Richardson's motives aren't entirely clear, but she seems bent on making trouble. In my opinion Mrs. Richardson is a sneaky, self-righteous bitch, who - in the end - suffers the consequences of her actions. I can't say more than that without spoilers. 

As for the adoption, I was empathetic to both sides. The McCulloughs had suffered numerous miscarriages and were desperate for a child. Moreover, their wealth would provide many benefits for Mirabelle/May Ling. On the other hand, Bebe was distraught at the thought of losing her biological child. 



In the end though, is it right to steal someone's child? The McCulloughs cold, calculating efforts to do this offended me. Not to mention, Mirabelle/May Ling would grow up to read all this on the internet....and then what? The citizens of Shaker Heights and the various Richardsons have different opinions about the custody issue, which sows dissension in the ranks. 

The court case about Mirabelle/May Ling's custody is almost a caricature. When Mrs. McCullough is asked about providing a cultural environment for a Chinese baby, she cites things like: displaying Chinese art in her home; feeding Mirabelle rice; and plans to take Mirabelle to a Chinese restaurant when she's older.

After the testimony, I was on tenterhooks to find out how the judge in the Mirabelle/May Ling case would rule. 

The major characters in the book are well-drawn and - for the most part - believable. However, it struck me as unrealistic that ALL the Richardson kids gathered in the living room every day to watch Jerry Springer - as it's my experience that disparate siblings aren't that chummy.



I also thought Lexie's infatuation with infants was exaggerated. My elderly mom adores babies to distraction.....but a college-bound teenager? I don't think so. Lastly, I wouldn't be as nice as Mia in her circumstances. In general, though, the characters act in ways that reflect their personalities.

I'm a bit at odds with the book's plethora of stellar reviews. I agree that the story is compelling and well-written, but the 'nicey-nicey' Shaker Heights environment seems too good to be true and I don't buy the novel's ending. The book does address interesting social issues - especially 'motherhood' - and would probably appeal to many fans of literary novels. For me though, it doesn't hit a bullseye. 

The book has been adapted into a mini-series on Hulu. 

Rating: 3 stars