In this 3rd book in the 'Dr. Lou Welcome' series, Dr. Welcome is in a race against time to find a cure for a horrific man-made microbe. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
An organization called the "Society of One Hundred Neighbors", which has exactly 100 members, wants to control the U.S government so they can get rid of policies they don't like - especially entitlement programs. The society has secret members across the country including politicians, cops, judges, doctors, scientists, business people, and so on - all of whom are dedicated to achieving their goal.
As the story opens the society has created and unleashed a 'Doomsday Germ' called Janus - an antibiotic-resistant, flesh-eating bacteria that breaks down a victim's body from the inside out.
As the disease spreads through the body, the unfortunate victim has their infected limbs amputated, one at a time, until they succumb to death.
The society is blackmailing the government, saying it will provide a cure for the Janus germ if policies are changed to suit their goals. There's a huge problem however. Janus has mutated and the society's cure no longer works. Desperate to continue to extort the government, the society hatches a plan to kidnap scientists, install them in a secret lab, and force them to find a new antibiotic.
The government, of course, wants to thwart the society. Thus, it has it has its own people working on a cure.
Dr. Lou Welcome, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, is an ER doctor and assistant director of the Physicians Wellness Office. Due to some bad luck Lou's best friend, Cap Duncan, sustains a horrific compound fracture of his leg and - while in the hospital - gets infected with the Janus bacteria. Lou is determined to help his friend and gets pulled into an underground scheme to find a cure.
I had hoped the author would talk more about the actual Janus bacteria but the book is essentially a thriller. The society ruthlessly tortures and kills people to achieve its goal while Lou and an FBI agent try to free the kidnapped scientists and destroy the society.
The story is violent, suspenseful, and fast-moving with an interesting array of repellant bad guys and heroic good guys. I have a reservation that applies to most fictional stories with a 'deadly germ' theme, including this one. The fictional scientists find a cure in a few days that - in real life - would literally take years or decades. I'll accept authors' license however.
I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fans of thrillers.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Charity Penn - an attractive, thirty-something, marketing executive - is a skeptical kind of gal. Her parents, an itinerant fortune teller who briefly hooked up with the young heir to a fortune, abandoned her right after birth. So Charity (who calls herself Penn) was raised by her paternal grandmother Cristobel, who never had a kind word for her. Still, Penn has a hefty trust fund, and always fears people are after her money.
So when Penn, who lives in Wisconsin, gets a letter saying she won a trip to Camellia Beach, South Carolina - complete with cooking lessons at a chocolate shop - she's sure it's some kind of scam. Penn asks her friend, Skinny McGee, to look into the matter and - since he's going south anyway - Skinny stops by Camellia Beach to see what's what. Shortly afterward Skinny calls Penn and excitedly says she MUST come to Camellia Beach to see something for herself! Not long afterward Skinny is found dead in a vat of chocolate.
Consumed with guilt, Penn accepts her 'prize trip.' She packs up her ill-tempered pooch Stella - who never saw a toe she didn't want to bite - and heads for Camellia Beach.
There, Penn stays in a small hotel, meets the local residents, takes cooking lessons at 'The Chocolate Box' confectionary shop, and looks into Skinny's murder.
In less than a week there's another death, things get very complicated, and Penn herself becomes the target of a killer. Not sure who to trust, Penn has to race against time to expose the miscreant before she becomes the next victim.
The book has an intriguing premise and a variety of interesting characters, including: Althea - a woman who runs a crystal shop and has mystical thoughts; Mabel and Bertie - two elderly ladies who run the 'The Chocolate Box' and teach Penn to make heavenly sweets; Harley Dalton - a handsome attorney; Cal Dalton - a surfer who looks like an action hero; Jody - a real estate agent who wants to develop Camellia beach; Troubadour - a hairless cat who looks like a giant rodent; and more.
My biggest problem with the book is Penn, who needs to go to 'detective school' if she's going to be a cozy mystery sleuth.
For example, after arriving in Camellia Beach Penn takes cooking lessons for four full days before she looks into Skinny's death. A real detective (even an amateur) would never do this! And when someone hands Penn an important envelope, she ignores it, thinking she already knows what it contains (she's wrong, of course). How long does it take to look into an envelope? Even in cozies, the gumshoe should be clever and resourceful.
I was also a little put off by Penn's personality. She constantly whines about people being after her money..... and about her cold and distant relatives. These are legitimate issues - and I get it - but I don't need to hear it over and over again.
There are also too many cooking scenes in the story. I enjoyed them - but this is a mystery, not a cookbook. (I do like the recipes at the end of the book.....which sound scrumptious.)
All in all, this isn't a bad book, but it could be better (IMO).
Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Dorothy St. James), and the publisher (Crooked Lane Books) for a copy of the book.
Rating: 2.5 stars
In this 19th book in the 'Roderick Alleyn' series, the British detective investigates the death of a folk dancer. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
In the English village of South Mardian the winter solstice is marked by a complex ritual dance performed solely by men. This year, not long after WW II, the major participants in the dance are the local smithy and his four sons - who have a long ancestry in the area - a village doctor, a parson's son/lawyer, and a former army officer.
The story acted out in the dance is described as resembling 'King Lear' because it involves children (in this case sons) at odds with their old father.
The superstitious ritual includes donning elaborate costumes and dancing, reciting, jingling, chasing girls, and brandishing swords.
Toward the latter part of the ritual one of the sons beheads the father, who sinks out of sight behind a boulder. Then, at the dramatic climax, the father is supposed to come back to life and jump up from behind the rock. This time, however, the father doesn't pop up. It turns out he's actually been beheaded.
The entire village is on hand to watch the ritual dance, including an overbearing dowager and her eccentric niece, a sexy barmaid, a pretty young acting student, etc. Also present is a German visitor - a woman who studies and writes about English folklore/folk dances. The lady is regarded with suspicion by some villagers, both because she's German and a woman.
When Detective Roderick Alleyn shows up to investigate the murder he asks each dance participant and a number of observers to describe - in excruciating detail - all aspects of the dance.
Every witness claims that no one went near the boulder shielding the old man between the time he was 'beheaded' in the dance and the time he was supposed to rise up again.
The questioning of witnesses takes up a large part of the book and is exceedingly repetitive and tedious. Moreover, since I didn't actually see the dance and am not familiar with British folk dancing, the descriptions were difficult to follow. And finally, when the murderer and modus operandi were exposed I couldn't picture it and it didn't make sense.
In the time covered by the story various other things are going on in South Mardian. There's a 'Romeo and Juliet' type romance (the relatives don't approve); the German woman acts peculiar and fears the police; there's pressure on a couple to marry (against their wishes) because they were seen canoodling in the forest (a product of those conservative times); the smithy and his sons have real life arguments; etc. The characters, however, are not well fleshed out and not terribly interesting.
This is not one of Ngaio Marsh's best books. It seems more like a book about British folk dancing than a mystery. I wouldn't recommend it.
Rating: 2 stars
In
this 2nd book in the 'Rosato and DiNunzio' series, attorney Judy
Carrier helps her Aunt Barb look for a killer. The book can be read as a
standalone.
*****
Judy Carrier, an attorney with Philadelphia's Rosato & Associates law firm, is having a rough time.
Her beloved Aunt Barb, diagnosed with breast cancer, is preparing for a double mastectomy.
Judy's
experiencing friction with her mom, who's in town to help Barb. Judy's
boyfriend Frank is behaving like a clueless lout. And Judy's boss,
Bennie Rosato, has saddled her with a stack of work on behalf of
asbestos firms that she's morally opposed to.
To top it off,
Aunt Barb's companion and gardening assistant, Iris - an undocumented
worker from Mexico who also works for a mushroom grower - dies in
suspicious circumstances.
Aunt
Barb wants to find out what really happened to Iris before her surgery,
so she and Judy traipse all over town asking questions of Iris's
priest, friends, and co-workers, but they can't get satisfactory
answers. Then Judy discovers a secret stash of money that Iris
apparently hid at Barb's house and things go from bad to worse.
More
deaths occur, Judy is attacked, Iris's friends disappear or clam up,
and so on. It seems clear that Iris was involved in some nefarious
goings on.
My problem with the book is that the investigation
concerning Iris seems to take a back seat to what's going on in Judy's
personal life. The story is more like Judy's personal drama than a
mystery/thriller. Judy is constantly fretting about Aunt Barb, which -
though understandable - isn't as compelling as the criminal
investigation.
Moreover Judy repeatedly hassles with her
boyfriend Frank, who's depicted as an almost cartoonish character. Frank
is so dismissive, self-absorbed, and childish that it seems
unbelievable that Judy could ever have fallen for him in the first
place, much less lived with him for years. It seems like Scottoline -
wanting to move forward with Judy's personal story - doesn't want the
reader to like Frank.
There
are a lot of characters in the book, some better developed than others.
Thus it's a little hard to follow who did what. Judy eventually figures
out what's going on and the book has an exciting, dramatic climax.
For
me, Scottoline's earlier books - which concentrate more on Rosato's law
firm - were more enjoyable. Still, fans who want to know more about
Judy's personal life will probably like this book.
Rating: 2.5 stars
This is the third book in the 'The 5th Wave' series. If you haven't read the first two books, this review will contain spoilers.
*****
SPOILER ALERT
This is the third book in a science fiction trilogy aimed at YA readers. The first book is in the series is The 5th Wave and the second is The Infinite Sea.
The general premise of the series is that an alien craft dubbed 'the mother ship' harboring 'the others' is hovering over Earth. Its purpose is to destroy the human population.
Thus the aliens unleash one catastrophe after another, killing over 7 billion people. The final strategy of 'the others' is to insert their consciousness (sort of download themselves) into remaining humans so that - not knowing who's human and who's not - people will kill each other.
A brave group of youngsters led by teenagers Cassie and Ben (aka Zombie) are desperately fighting 'the others.' Cassie's main goal seems to be keeping her five-year-old brother Sam (aka Nugget) alive.
As it turns out a human - Colonel Vosch - has been co-opted by the aliens and is leading the charge to destroy the human race. Conversely, an alien-human hybrid, Evan Walker, has turned on his own kind and is assisting Cassie and her friends.
In books one and two it's not too clear why the aliens want to wipe out humanity and exactly what they plan to do with planet Earth. In book three, after a lot of action - shooting, knifing, gouging, fighting, killing, double-dealing, burying, bombing, hiding among dead bodies, helicopter hijacking, high-tech shenanigans, and so on - the 'truth' is revealed.
For me the big reveal was a big disappointment. The aliens' goal doesn't fit with things that happened throughout the series and felt anti-climactic and not credible. After spending a good deal of time reading three books I was expecting a denouement that was much more dramatic and interesting.
SPOILER ALERT
Moreover, the premise that the mother ship was ultimately destroyed because the aliens don't understand 'love' is cliché and not believable to me.
END SPOILER ALERT
Still, the books are action-packed and have brave likable good guys. There's even a drop of romance. I think a lot of YA readers would enjoy the series.
Rating: 3 stars
Harry Windsor, former strongman for dapper criminal kingpin Henry Solomon, has been going straight since his stint in prison. Having inherited a large house from his beloved foster mother, Lillian, Harry is converting it into rental flats.....and keeping a low profile.
That changes, though, when three young thugs start to harass an elderly couple in a pub. Harry - a combination of Bruce Lee, Superman, and Don Quixote - dispatches the hooligans pretty quickly.
Assigned to write a story for the North London Gazette, Isobelle Harker (Izzy) tracks Harry down and - to his dismay - publishes an article about the 'heroic' incident.
Irish property developer Patrick Dolan, seeing the newspaper story, offers Harry five thousand dollars to find his missing daughter Mollie. The search draws Harry into the orbit of Russian mobsters whose 'gentlemen's club' employs pretty young 'hostesses' who've been forced into prostitution.
Harry's foray into the criminal underworld also puts him back into contact with Mr. Solomon, who wants Harry to resume his old job as an enforcer. Mr. Solomon's current debt collector, Cutter, is a violent wild card that needs replacing.
Izzy, who's become intrigued with Harry (and has a bit of a crush) inserts herself into the search for Mollie Dolan. During her quest for information Izzy barges in on Detective Constable Steve Marshall, and asks him to make 'unofficial inquiries' for her. Before long Izzy and Steve are informally working with Harry to find and rescue the missing girl.
Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Carson, who put Harry in prison originally, is determined to get the (former) gangster off the streets again. Carson is a bullying, sketchy cop who'd do anything to get his man.....so Harry is squeezed between criminals and cops.
As the story unfolds people get beat up, stabbed, tortured, and killed in vivid scenes that are very graphic (in case you need to know.)
The writer has a deft hand with description, and I found it easy to picture the book's people and places - especially the kitchens. One character - Detective Steve Marshall - prepares some delicious sounding recipes, and I suspect the author has an interest in cooking. (LOL)
This is a hard-hitting, action packed thriller with well-rounded, interesting characters. Harry is an especially engaging protagonist, with a dark history that still haunts him.....and a good heart.
I have a couple of quibbles with the book: though well-written, it could use another pass by a copy editor; and I was a little put off by Mr. Solomon's nickname 'The Jew' (though I suspect this is a realistic 'mob' sobriquet).
Though I cringed at some of the violent scenes, I enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to fans of thrillers.
Thank you to Andy Wiseman for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Jenny Lawson - born and raised in Texas - is a journalist, blogger, author, and humorist who suffers from mental illness. Lawson describes herself as having clinical depression, severe anxiety disorder, impulse control disorder, avoidance personality disorder, and depersonalization disorder (which makes her feel detached from reality). She also has rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune problems, self-harm issues, trichotillomania (she pulls out her hair), mild obsessive compulsive disorder, and panic attacks. This makes Lawson's life challenging but - in spite of it all - she's a very funny lady!
Jenny Lawson
This is Lawson's second book and, like the first, it provides encouragement to people with mental health issues.....and to everyone else whose life isn't perfect. Lawson's motivational observations are scattered among many amusing anecdotes that make gentle fun of everything and everyone, including herself.
Lawson describes one of her troubling behaviors as follows: She was in the bathroom, blood flowing from the scratches on her head that she'd made with her nails. Lawson describes how this made her feel: "The pressure in my head was gone. The pain in me was floating away. Panic was fading slowly." In short, the physical pain distracted from the mental pain.
For Lawson, these kinds of self-destructive actions led to behavioral therapy, various medications, learning to redirect her thoughts, snapping rubber bands on her wrist, and squeezing ice until her hands burned. Lawson's basic philosophy - reiterated in different ways throughout the book - is: "Without the dark there isn't light, without pain there isn't relief."
In spite of these low periods Lawson has the gift of seeing (and creating) the funny all around her. For instance:
Lawson is picking up her meds at a Texas pharmacy and sees a box of Milk Bone dog biscuits beside the cash register. She thinks maybe someone returned them until - while ringing her up - the pharmacist casually reaches into the box and scarfs down some broken biscuits. Lawson is aghast, wondering if she's high....or if Milk Bones are actually delicious and the pharmacist is a genius who discovered really cheap cookies.
Lawson loves her stuffed raccoon, Rory. Rory is posed standing up on his hind legs with his arms stretched wide and a huge smile on his face (see book cover). Late one night Lawson decides Rory should ride, rodeo style, on her cats - Ferris Mewler, Hunter S. Tomcat, and Rolly - for a photo montage. So Lawson tries to mount Rory on the kitties, who flop over before she can get the shot, "like a bunch of ingrates that don't understand art." At one point, Lawson's husband Victor, woken by the racket at 2 A.M., peeks out of the bedroom just as Ferris Mewler is streaking across the room with Rory on board. "What the hell is that?" cries Victor. (Can you imagine? LOL)
Speaking of cats, Lawson thinks an awesome name for a cat would be "The President" because you'd find yourself saying things like: The President will not stop sitting on my keyboard; The President just threw up on the new rug; I love sleeping with The President. When Lawson mentioned this to Victor, he yelled "You can't have any more cats. I have to clean up after them. And I'll be damned if I have to scoop The President's shit too." (ha ha ha).
For Lawson, one of the difficulties of being a successful author is the inevitable promotional tour and attendant parties. Lawson gets so anxious at events like these that she sometimes hides behind the podium, cowers under a table, or takes shelter in the bathroom.....and occasionally she can't leave her hotel room at all. At one stop, in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, the crowded streets forced Lawson to stay in her room and - lacking room service - eat peanut butter crackers (that she'd brought along) for days.
For her last book tour Lawson had to fly constantly. According to the author, "it really fucked with my anxiety disorder to the point where I had a mild nervous breakdown." Lawson's shrink advised her to get a service animal, which provides support to people with these difficulties. Lawson thought of training Ferris Mewler, but his explosive diarrhea during trips put him out of the running. So Lawson looked into other animals, including a pony. She notes, "Pony Danza would make a great support animal on a plane.....but Victor got all shitty about having an indoor pony pet." (Lawson's a genius at naming animals! )
Lawson counsels the reader that, "Even when everything's going your way you can still be sad, or anxious, or numb.....because you can't always control your brain or your emotions. It's terrifying but you learn that it's okay to prefer your idea of heaven - like live tweeting zombie movies from under a blanket of kittens - rather than someone else's idea, like fame, fortune, or parties." She advises, "Appreciate the unique moments that recharge you. I want banana popsicles dipped in Malibu rum." (Sounds good to me!)
In one entry, Lawson lists things she may have accidently blurted out during uncomfortable silences at her psychiatrist's office:
"I need to find a skilled arsonist, not necessarily to burn anything down. I just want to have the option. I need an arsonist on retainer. I'm pretty sure that's legal as long as I don't use it."
"My primary thoughts during holidays are stab stab stab, run away."
"I hate it when it's too hot for a blanket because I have this phobia that I'll float up to the ceiling without it and then I'll get chopped up by the ceiling fan."
"On the way here I saw a cloud that looked like a skull and my first thought, Death Eaters."
Of course the psychiatrist just responds, " How does that make you feel? Tell me more."
In one funny anecdote Lawson talks about a visit to her beauty salon. The beautician suggests, "We should get you a Brazilian blowout. It's not bad. You just have to be extra careful for the first day or two. You can't put your hair in a ponytail or anything, or it could compromise the treatment." To which Lawson responds, "What the shit. Who puts their pubic hair in a ponytail?" And the beautician explains that this is a blow drying treatment for the hair on your head - that straightens it out and makes it less frizzy. "Ohhhh...Yeahhhhh" responds a sheepish Lawson. :)
In another wry entry Lawson talks about moving into a new house, chosen in part, because of the safe area. "The house seemed perfect..... the gated community seemed perfect." However, in short order: Lawson got attacked by swans at the local pond; a man in the neighborhood had a full on shoot out with the police in his driveway (and got arrested); and a flyer was circulated saying that a cougar had come down from the mountain nearby and eaten a lady's dog WHILE SHE WAS WALKING IT! Lawson notes, "I just assume the sewers are filled with panthers because this seems to be the direction things are taking."
Lawson also describes a trip to Japan with Victor, where a small gang broke into their hotel room (a misunderstanding); and a journey to Australia with a friend - where she wanted to hug a koala while she was dressed as a koala, and tried to see a kangaroo's three vaginas (these is a real thing, but not visible on the outside).
The writer also describes more of her mental health battles, in an effort to give hope to people who struggle along with her. Lawson's message comes across loud and clear: 'you can go on; you can make it; medication helps; twitter (where lots of 'nuts' hang out) helps; the bad times will pass'..... and so on. 'Just hang in there and appreciate the good times.' The author expresses deep appreciation to her fans, and is profoundly touched by messages from troubled souls who have been brought back from the brink by her writing.
On the downside, the book's humor is a little uneven, and some stories fall flat or feel forced, as if Lawson engaged in an activity just to have something to write about (and it didn't turn out to be that hilarious).
I'd recommend the book to anyone who wants a laugh or needs a boost on occasion (which, I suspect, is everyone). I listened to the audio version, narrated by the author, and was treated to a 'bonus chapter.' So consider getting that version if you can.
Rating: 3.5 stars
