Category: Stu’s Reviews

Genre: Novel

Grade: A

Notable People: Rebecca Cantrell
Title: A City of Broken Glass

Review -Wow- what a book. If this is not already in someone’s hands to make film noir out of – a huge mistake. She is a really good writer and this book is one of a series- the Hannah Vogel” books. Hannah is a behind the scenes femme fatale living in pre WW Two Europe. This books takes place in 1938 as the Nazi stronghold is developing and the Jews are beginning to become the central victims. Full of suspense, finesse, love and mystery,- Hannah is a heroine for the ages. And an amazing portrayal of Berlin as it geared up to become what it would become. Don’t miss this one this summer.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-

Notable People: Ben Winters
Title: The Last Policeman

Review –This is my first ever review on demand. My friend, Nate, asked me to read this book- written by his high school friend, and review it. It is Winters’ first novel and a good one if you like a murder mystery set against the backdrop of the world waiting to possibly end due to a collision with a giant meteor. It takes pace in New England in the near future in a world living in a state of perpetual doom based on where exactly this meteor will hit…the countdown is on. The mystery part is a bit obtuse- but easy to read. Interesting protagonist and a sobering description of a world gone slightly crazy- everyone is living out their bucket list in one way or another. If you like mysteries and you like sci-fi- this one is the combination for you. I usually don’t like sci-fi but I liked this. Winters writes well and it’s a quick read.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A-

Notable People: Geraldine Brooks
Title: A Year of Wonders

Review This is a boo I almost quit on in first fifty pages; it’s about a year of the Plaque in Devonshire, England in the 1660s. Beautifully told by the heroine feminist before her time in a world that did not bless such woman. The book is haunting, elegiac, and enormously hopeful. With some really good twists at the end. You’ve got to be ready to deal with a lot of death and hardship to read this one- but I found it somehow uplifting. I believe it is Brooks first novel and she’s’ a good one; a war correspondent in all the Middle East hot spots, she was on break in rural England when she came to be in the town of Eyma- which had the true story of being the center of the Plaque and a place that through their spiritual leader cut themselves off from everywhere else for one year to avoid passing on the disease. An amazing story and once you find out it is basically true, in the afterward…even more amazing.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A+

Notable People: Pete Hamill
Title: Snow in August

Review Best read I’ve had in last year. I think this may be Hamill’s “Great American novel”. A truly moving story in post war Brooklyn (Hamill’s principle muse)about an immigrant Irish boy coming to terms with his father’s death at the Battle of the Bulge, his growing sense of prejudice in America, his struggle to believe in something bigger than himself, his passion for the Brooklyn Dodgers AND the coming of Jackie Robinson- and his amazing friendship with a newly immigrant Rabbi. This may be the best book ever written about that time and place. Vivid writing, luminous characters and chills to be found as this novel / fable unfolds. A brilliant book.

Genre: Novel

Grade: A

Notable People: Walter Mosley
Title: Cinnamon Kiss

Review If you’ve never read any of Mosley’s Easy Rawlins books- you are missing an amazing piece of American culture. Easy is a part-time private dick and part-time criminal in post war LA. Mosley started writing these books in the immediate post war period in which LA was beginning to evolve (think Chinatown) and has continued , bringing it and Easy into the 60s. This book takes place as the 60s are exploding in both LA and San Francisco. It’s a hard boiled page turner but also a wonderful snapshot of the American Black experience. Easy is an incredibly complex character and his friend Mouse might be the most dangerous yet lovable character in the history of fiction. Mosley is a master and this is one of his really good efforts. When I get in big trouble- I want Easy and Mouse in my corner.