This 2nd book in the 'Brilliance' trilogy picks up right after the events in the first novel. To recap briefly: Starting in the 1980s, a small percentage of humans with unusual abilities began to be born - somewhat like the characters in the TV series 'Heroes.'
These extraordinary people - called brilliants, abnorms, or twists - cause fear in average people, who are concerned that the brilliants will take over the world and force everyone else to serve their needs. As a result, powerful 'regular' people want to contain, subvert, and mark ('chip') the abnorms…..and some abnorm groups fight back with terrorist tactics.
Nick Cooper is a twist who's trying to keep the peace by working against extremists on both sides, but it's a hard job that leads to a lot of violence. At the end of book one, someone's death changes the stakes for everyone.
*****
As 'A Better World' opens, an abnorm organization called 'The Children of Darwin' (DAR) is organizing a siege of Cleveland, Ohio; Fresno, California; and Tulsa, Oklahoma by stopping food supplies and cutting off electricity. As a result the government blocks the roads out of these cities, supposedly to capture the terrorists lurking inside. What this tactic really does, however, is trap the cities' residents inside, and they soon become hungry, cold, and desperate.
In one thread of the story we follow scientist Ethan Park, who lives in Cleveland. When baby food disappears from grocery store shelves Ethan takes his wife and infant on the run - determined to find a way out of the city.
Unfortunately, it's not just the roadblocks the scientist has to worry about. Ethan works at the Advanced Genomics Institute, and he and his boss - Dr. Abraham Couzen - have discovered the genetic basis of brilliance. The fact of the breakthrough, which is top secret, has leaked and both normal and abnorm organizations want 'the formula.' Thus Dr. Couzen has been kidnapped and various people are after Ethan.
Meanwhile twist Nick Cooper - whose talent is reading body language - has been asked to work for the new President of the United States, Lionel Clay. President Clay, a former history professor, isn't savvy about politics and isn't comfortable with the aims of his advisors - who want to completely control the abnorms…..or maybe even wipe them out.
President Clay, however, would like to establish good relations between regular people and brilliants. For this reason the President dispatches twist Cooper to negotiate with two abnorm leaders: John Smith - a militant terrorist; and Erik Epstein - a billionaire who established the New Canaan Holdfast in Wyoming.....a community where abnorms live together in relative safety.
Cooper has a partner, twist Shannon Azzi - who can seemingly 'appear and disappear' - and who's a dead shot with a gun.
This is important, because Cooper is in the sights of the twist assassin Soren Johansen - who sees the world in slow motion.
There's plenty of action in the story as the norms and abnorms try to outwit and outmaneuver each other - and it looks like the United States may be heading for all out civil war. Cooper is doing all he can to ward this off, and decides he needs to speak to Dr. Ethan Park - which pulls the story's plotlines together.
All this leads to a dramatic climax that sets the stage for book three.
I enjoyed the book, which is fast-moving and exciting. Nevertheless, I have a small criticism. Sakey sets his story entirely in the United States, and never even mentions the 'brilliant' situation in other countries. I think the author should have addressed this (at least briefly) since - in a real world scenario - abnorms would be a global phenomenon.
I'd recommend the book to science fiction fans.
Note: 'A Better World' can be read as a standalone since background information is included. However, I'd strongly recommend starting with 'Brilliance' to learn about the characters.
Rating: 3.5 stars
In this 14th book in the 'Chief Inspector Armand Gamache' series, the Canadian cop becomes the executor of a will and investigates a murder. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the series is a bonus.
*****
As the story opens, Chief Superintendent Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec is on suspension for a partially bungled drug operation. While Gamache is under investigation he takes on another task, as executor of the will of Bertha Baumgartner - a woman he's never met. It seems that Baumgartner, who worked as a cleaning lady, named three strangers to execute her will: Gamache; Gamache's neighbor in Three Pines Myrna Lander; and a young Montreal man called Benedict Pouliot.
Baumgartner's notary, Maître Mercier, can't explain why his client chose a cop (Armand); a bookstore owner (Myrna); and a builder (Benedict) to carry out her final wishes, but it's not really his business. Thus Mercier carries out his duties and reads the will, which turns out to be a very odd document.
Ms. Baumgartner - who had no savings and owned nothing but an old crumbling farmhouse - left each of her three adult children five million dollars. She also directed her 'European estates' to be sold, and left 'the title' to her eldest son. This seems ludicrous on the face of it, but becomes more clear when the executors learn that Baumgartner's Austrian ancestors were involved in a family feud that started over one hundred years ago.
While Gamache is looking into the will, one of the legatees is killed in suspicious circumstances. Even though Gamache is suspended from the Sûreté, he investigates with his son-in-law, Chief Inspector of Homicide Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Other Sûreté' officers help as well, as do Gamache's friends in Three Pines. As a result many secrets are revealed and an ongoing lawsuit in Austria - that has repercussions for the Baumgartners - comes to light. (In one scene Gamache calls an Austrian policeman and speaks pidgin German, which is hilarious. 😊)
As all this is happening Gamache is trying to repair the damage done by the botched drug case, which allowed powerful new opioids to get loose in Montreal. Because Gamache is vulnerable, the powers-that-be are trying to smear him for political reasons, and even want Jean-Guy to help them. To clear his name (and conscience) Gamache is trying to track down the drugs before they cause mass overdoses and deaths. This is difficult, but the Chief Inspector has a 'secret weapon' of sorts.....which just might work.
There's some drama in the book when a blizzard blows through southeastern Canada and knocks out the electricity, but Armand and his neighbors are very capable and resilient, and organize a lovely gathering with food and drinks.
Many of Gamache's friends and relatives make an appearance in the story, including his wife Reine-Marie; the eccentric old poet Ruth and her duck Rosa (whose quacks sound like 'f**k, f**k, f**k); the portrait artist Clara - who painted a peculiar picture of wrinkled old Ruth as the Virgin Mary; the café owners Oliver and Gabri - who make delicious food; Gamache's daughter Annie and his grandbaby Honoré - who learns his first word from Rosa 😲; and Armand's dogs Gracie and Henri. I laughed when Ruth refers to Myrna Lander's bookstore as a lending library - apparently because she walks out with 'free books' under her coat.
The novel's plot is interesting and well-constructed, and I enjoyed visiting with old friends from Three Pines. I think mystery readers would like the book, especially fans of the series.
Rating: 3.5 stars
In this 19th book in the 'Hannah Swensen' series, the baker/amateur sleuth is finally getting married - but she has to solve a murder first! 😲 The book provides enough background to be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a plus.
*****
Hannah Swenson, owner of 'The Cookie Jar' bakery in Lake Eden, Minnesota, has a lot going on in her life. Right after she competes in the Food Channel's 'Dessert Chef Competition', which is scheduled to take place in a couple of weeks, Hannah is marrying her fiancé Ross Barton - a college friend who recently re-entered her life.
This breaks the hearts of Hannah's two longtime beaus, Norman Rhodes (the dentist)....
and Mike Kingston (the cop), but c'est la vie. 😪
While Hannah is baking cookies for her shop and preparing for the contest with her sister Michelle, who will be her assistant......
......Hannah's mother Delores and sister Andrea are planning the hasty nuptials.....including the venue, guests, decorations, refreshments, flowers, dresses, and so on. (Can you imagine a bride being this hands off?)
Hannah is a talented home baker but her competitors are professional chefs, so Hannah badly needs an edge. As it happens a Lake Eden resident is acquainted with the contest's head judge Alain Duquesne (nee Alan Duke), and tells Hannah that - as a schoolboy - Alan loved Jello and butterscotch pudding. So Hannah plans to make a Jello-infused rainbow wedding cake and butterscotch cookies as two of her entries in the competition.
Since this is a cozy mystery there has to be a murder victim, but the body doesn't appear until about halfway into the book - when Michelle finds the corpse in a walk-in refrigerator. By this point in the story, the dessert competition.....
......and wedding plans are well under way.
The deceased is closely associated with the baking contest, so Hannah makes it her mission to uncover the killer. Hannah obtains police reports and coroner's findings, questions people, examines videotapes, etc., until she zeroes in on the murderer - who's not about to go down easily. This leads to a dramatic climax that would give a wedding planner a coronary.
Favorite recurring characters appear in the story, including: Hannah's cat Moishe - who likes to eat shrimp and sleep on Hannah's pillow;
Norman Rhodes' cat Cuddles - who comes over to play; and Hannah's business partner Lisa - who's the 'town crier' about Lake Eden's murder victims....attracting extra customers to 'The Cookie Jar'.
I was especially intrigued by groom-to-be Ross, who seems to be unusually flush with money. Ross routinely 'upgrades' Hannah's travel arrangements for the contest: from van to limousine; from coach to first class; from ordinary hotel room to luxury suite; and so on. I think Ross bears watching. 👀
In the course of the story Hannah and her sister Michelle prepare and eat about a billion calories of cookies.....as well as waffles, pancakes, pizza, burgers, desserts, etc. (Really? And these gals are not only svelte but getting ready for a wedding?) A good part of the book's dialog is chitchat about baking and eating cookies, which feels forced and unrealistic. On the upside recipes are included.
Sadly, the last few mysteries in the series have sacrificed 'plot and characterization' for 'cooking and eating' and this novel follows the trend. I'm hoping for a course correction in future books.
Still, I'd recommend the novel to avid Hannah Swenson fans, who'll be interested in this (presumably) new direction in her life.
Rating: 3 stars
