Category: Books

Genre: Book 

Grade: A-

Notable People:  David Baldacci

Title: Redemption

Review: this is the fourth in this very interesting series about Amos Decker, brain inured survivor of his family’s murder-massacre and current oddball FBI consultant. Decker’s Ohio State football brain injury resulted in perfect memory but muted emotional capability……he is quite the character. This book takes him back to his hometown of Burlington, Ohio for the birthday of his late daughter, and winds up in a very convoluted set of murders and potential espionage that Decker cannot walk away from. The characters are very strong in these books and Decker emerging sense of being able to have relationships is well conceived. Baldacci is a very good writer and keeps you captivated throughout. For those who like the genre, this series is a keeper.

Genre: Book 

Grade: B+

Notable People:  David Handler

Title: The Sour Cherry Surprise

Review: Who doesn’t like revisiting an old friend? Accidentally ran into this book, from the Mitry and Berger mystery series that I had last left off about 15 year ago. Surprisingly, Handler has kept putting out this series (since late 90s) about a determined Black female state trooper in remote Connecticut and her dubious partner in crime, a Jewish New York movie critic relocated from the city……. who she calls “doughboy” due to his penchant for all things doughnut and his resulting physique. I always liked these books, even though they are not world class writing………but the characters are really quite well developed and the setting of the remote village of Dorset, along the glitzy Long Island Sound area of Connecticut are quite the draws. There is great Jewish grandmother character in the weeds here, who seems to be the second coming of Bella Abzug. I am excited to rediscover these books, and have taken three out of the library. Quick, entertaining reads for the chilly nights ahead. By the way, Handler is clearly devotee of the great, great John D. McDonald, who wrote all his fantastic Travis McGee novels with colors in the titles.

Genre: Book                     

Grade: A

Notable People:  Louise Penny

Title: Kingdom of the Blind

Review: A magnificent rebound in the Gamache series for Penny after her previous work, “Still Life”, which was the least compelling in this wonderful series. Armand Gamache is on suspension as the head of the Quebec Surete (Provincial Police) and chasing all kinds of ghosts in the mystical village of Three Pines. The regular characters just get better and better and Penny is willing to go out on a limb to tackle real work problems and complex relationships in her fictional accounts. As always, the mind and heart of Gamache are the backbone of these books, and a magical exploration it is. Penny’s acknowledgment sections are surprising personal, frank and moving and make you feel like a valuable part of her writing (never experienced that before)- and in this one she movingly talks about coming back to these books after her husband, Michael (the inspiration for Gamache) died, and she had decided she would not continue the series….but her muse called, and she is back better than ever. These are don’t miss stories regardless of genre.

Genre: Book   

Grade: A

Notable People:  James Lee Burke

Title: Another Kind of Eden

Review: It’s 1962 and a drifter finds his way to Trinidad, Colorado; a troubled Korean War veteran and would- be writer with demons galore. This is the setting for Burke’s 40th novel- a standalone book with all kinds of wisps and thread to his Bayou Robicheaux and Old West Holland series. Although a novel, this is clearly centered on Burke’s origin story, and it’s a potent piece of writing. The Denver Post has called Burke “America’s Best Novelist”, and Michael Connelly says he is “the heavyweight champion of fiction” (from the cover quotes). Though I think there is some room for debate on this, it can’t be far off. Burke is a combination intellectual literati and roughneck American everyman. His prose is not for everyone- you sometimes need a thesaurus to read a sentence (incubus? succubus…. the kind of words that appear regularly), but his wonderful storytelling with deep dark foreboding about evil and the purpose of man, along with a firm sense of America’s historical roots and their lasting effect on us (think slavery and Indian annihilation). This book is loaded with myth, symbolism and spiritual guide-seeking, all wrapped up in a coming of age story of young Aaron Broussard Holland. Check it out and be patient with it…it’s a marvel.

Genre: Book 

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People:  Jon Talton

Title: City of Dark Corners

Review: Like Noir? Read Talton. The creator of the Detective/Historian David Mapstone series, once again sets his sights on Phoenix (he is fifth generation Arizonan), but this time in the 1930s at the height of The Depression. Talton lovingly depicts the beginnings of transition of his beloved Old West small dessert town to the lavish retirement oasis that it would soon become. Along with the remarkable development came all sorts of shadiness, graft, mob rule and dirty police work. Talton captures it well while weaving in a hell of a yarn. He also manages to capture the angst of the time and many of the more famous Phoenicians, such as Barry Goldwater, Bugsy Seagal and Del Webb. Dark, but comforting.

Genre: Book    

Grade: A-

Notable People:  James Lee Burke

Title: A Private Cathedral

Review: “I’m talking about those moments when you strip your gears, whether you’re chemically loaded or not, and get lost inside the immensity of creation and see too deeply into our ephemerality and our penchant for greed and war and willingness to destroy the Big Blue Marble, and for brief moment you scare yourself so badly you wonder why you didn’t park your porridge on the ceiling a long time ago.”

Are you kidding me? This sentence is form the first page of Burke’s latest in his iconic Dave Robicheaux series….in the second paragraph! Holy Cow. The Denver Post ha anointed Burke as “America’s best novelist”, and though I’m not ready jump on that with certainty, it’s certainly damn close. That said, Burke is not for everyone. You get lots of: these kinds of sentences that may require a dictionary, meandering searches for the meaning of life, ruminating on good and evil and aimless wandering around the historical subconscious of the Louisiana Bayou and the Deep South, in general. Robicheaux is a wonderful character, though by my count, he must be nearing 80 by now, while managing to maybe crack middle age in the stories. And his sidekick, Clete Purcell……. hard to describe, but one for the ages. These books get more mystical with time, and thus a little less believable, but his death defying stories are quite compelling and drag you into a world you probably have never even thought of. This is like visiting a very old friend for me.

Genre: Book 

Grade: B+

Notable People:  Louise Penny

Title: Glass Houses

Review: My fifteenth Gamache book by Louise Penny is the first that did not garner an undisputed “A” rating. Though still feeling like returning to a dear old friend, and filled with the wonder of life in Quebec through the kind and thoughtful eyes of Chief Inspector Gamache, this one seemed to drift in story line a bit, and in the end, was just too phantasmagoric for me to really dive fully into; hint:  secretive and well veiled effort to ultimately crush the drug cartels once and for all…with one fell swoop. All felt a little much…. but Gamache, with his sandalwood, rosewater scent and his well metered catchphrase: “Tell me what you now”…..remains a literary wonder for the ages.

Genre: Book  

Grade: A

Notable People:  Martin Walker

Title: The Coldest Case

Review: Like extremely well written books? Like France? Like great food? Like wine? Like History?…….I’d say all here in Walker’s most recent (2021) installment of “Bruno, Chief of Police”. Bruno is a character for the ages-you will want to dine with him, drink wine with him, be his friend. Walker crates a kaleidoscope of wonderful characters in the magical French village of St. Dennis in the Perigord region of southern France. Extraordinary grasp of French culture and traditions (he’s a Expat Brit, for Chrissakes) ….and weaves amazing overarching story lines into his already complex mysteries. This one has a cold war spy theme along with a deep dive into the cave dwellers famously discovered in the region. Could not put it down. …. too good for my own words…and really bummed it will be another year for the next one. By the way, the food and wine descriptions will have you want to buy the Bruno cookbooks…and run to your fridge in search of Foie Gras.

Genre: Book 

Grade: A-

Notable People:  David McCullough

Title: The Pioneers

Review: I very rarely read non-fiction, but his book was dropped off to me by friend, and I felt compelled to read it. And, what a surprise…a veritable treasure. McCullough is world renowned historian and has written the definitive text of the settling of the West via the Ohio Territories from just after the American Revolution through the mid-1800s. a captivating and fascinating story focusing on the hardships and endurance of the original New England settlers who found a home along the Ohio River, initially in the quaint river town of Marietta and then later in Cincinnati and into Indiana and westward. What a story! A worthy read even for those of us who prefer fiction. Who knew?