Category: Stu’s Reviews

Genre: Book

Grade: B/B+

Notable People: Carl Hiassen

Title: Double Whammy

Review: This is one whacked out book- featuring the author’s favorite muse: the former and missing governor of Florida- now calling himself Skink and living in the depths of the Everglades on fresh roadkill. which gives you the ides of the whole book. Hiassen is a South Florid legend and his sense of the area is quite remarkable. Being in the Keys myself, at the moment, it is an excellent place to read one of his farfetched and over the top stories. He seems to walk a straight line between the eccentricity of Tom Robbins and the hard boiled romantic prose of his hero, John D. McDonald (the Travis McGee creator). This is one in a long line of whirlwind books he has produced and a decent thrill ride, though the deeply entrenched sense of irony gets to be a bit much for 500 pages. Best to read in the South Florida sun!

Genre: Book

Grade: B

Notable People: Jessica Keener

Title: Strangers in Budapest

Review: This was a shot in the dark choice for me…found it on the rack with the local “librarian’s choice recommendations” and liked the name of the book. It is an interesting first novel- set in Budapest in recent times. The story is chronicled from the eyes of two characters: Edward a sickly 76 year old man in Hungary to avenge what he believes was the murder of his daughter before he dies himself. And, Annie- a thirty something wife of an intent entrepreneur who has randomly gone to Hungary with her young child – to support her husband’s thirst to make his own success in the ever expanding world of internet communications. The story is compelling and the flashbacks are pretty informative, but it does not hold together all that well, and seems overly dramatic and poorly written in spots. Still, I got pretty engaged in it and finished it in a number of days. The setting of the story, which was well executed, contributed a lot to that.

Genre: Book

Grade: A

Notable People: Paul Kix

Title: The Saboteur

Review: I very rarely read non-fiction, but saw a review of this in the NY times book review and since I had just finished several WWII era novels- was intrigued. It is the story of Robert de La Rochefoucauld (pro. Roke- Foo- Coo)- a French resistance fighter (resistante) during the war who was known as the aristocrat who became France’s “most daring anti-Nazi commando”. Absolutely fascinating story of the French underground and its impact on the war. I was riveted by it. Gave it an “A” even though a bit slow at times and maybe not the best ever written book….but such a story! This man was a true hero of the 20th century. Relatively short read.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-

Notable People: Martha Hall Kelly

Title: The Lilac Girls

Review: Completely engrossing true story of three women living lives dramatically altered by the world war two experience. The most main character, Caroline Ferriday, was an extraordinarily courageous woman who organized help for Nazi- displaced French children through the French embassy in New York and later became involved with the “Rabbits”- the group of mostly Posh women who were tortured and endured deforming and often fatal medical experiments at the Ravensbrauck concentration camp. The book follows Caroline and two other woman: Kasia- a Polish woman hauled off to the camp by the Nazis at the outset of the war, and, Herga, a young German doctor who became the only woman doctor involved in these horrible Himmler-driven medical experiments at the camps. The book follows the three in alternate chapters from the pre-war fright of ate late 30s through the cold war peak in the late fifties. Maybe not brilliantly written, but an incredibly well researched and thought out story..…I did not want this one (a Christmas gift from my daughter ) to end. mandatory reading in these times- in my book.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A

Notable People: Archer Mayor

Title: Trace

Review: the 26th or 27th in Mayor’s long running Joe Gunther series- and one of the best yet. Archer has taken a dramatic turn in style, with three coinciding and gripping mysteries- each involving one of Joe s fictional VBI squad. The book alternates between the chapters on the three of them, which I found quite different and captivating. In the meantime our fearless leader, Joe, is off in the West tending to his elderly and ill mother for much of the book (though providing his usual soulful guidance and tidbits of wisdom)…..which may be Archers foreshadowing of less Joe and more of the others (more Willie, yes!) in the future installments. this makes some sense, as by our calculations, Joe, who is a Korean war veteran , must be approaching ninety at this point. An awfully good read- these books never disappoint….and Archer seems to be getting better in his advancing age.