Genre: Book          

Grade: B+

Notable People: Robert Galbraith

Title: The Running Grave

Review: Number six in the wildly popular Cormoran Strike mystery series by noted Harry Potter author, JK Rowland, writing under the Galbreath pseudonym (what is that about, anyway?). This is her/his/their long awaited (by fanatics) book surrounding the mystery of cults-and it’s a whopper of a cult- dating back to 40 years and including murder, fields of dead bodies, pedophilia, child slavery, brainwashing and extreme punishment/deprivation-all in the guise of a gigantic humanitarian church with a brilliantly charismatic founder. Strike and his partner Robin (like Batman) are a brilliantly conceived pair with never ending sexual tension, reminiscent of Willis and Sheppard in Moonlighting. Galbraith/Rowland is a magnificent writer and the books are charming and inviting-but the length, oy, the length. This one became almost tedious at almost 1000 pages. So if you don’t mind a very long winter read and power lifting if you read in ol’ fashioned book form, it is well worth it.

Genre: Book                                             

Grade: A-

Notable People: Philip Roth

Title: Nemesis

Review: This was the giant of American letters’ last novel in 2010 (died 2018) and is consistent with much of his work; representing elements of his own life as a pathway for his themes of how choice can fatally affect our lived outcomes and how subject we are to the whims of circumstance. All of this wrapped up in the story of the summer of 1944 in Newark, NJ-where the war is raging in Europe and the Pacific and polio is raging in the hot city. For people of a certain age and cultural background (East coast Jewish) Roth nabs many of our cultural anomalies dead on; which may be a bit abstract for some, but pretty recognizable for most. The characters are wonderfully explored, the story one you wish to go on and have nicer endings, but Roth was never much for panaceas, and his truths are often pretty difficult (though often quite humorous). A fine sendoff for a master.

Genre: Book   

Grade: A-

Notable People: Archer Mayor

Title: Fall Guy

Review: Mayors’ 33^rd novel featuring Vermont Bureau of Investigation stalwart, Joe Gunther, is a beaut. If you are a fan of: Archers’ works, police procedurals, great character development, serial stories or New England settings-this is for you. Gunther and his band of pranksters cross the big river to the land of Live Free or Die in this elaborate story of intrigue and mystery. Mayor would be a very good writer regardless of the genre, but he owns this genre sand is generally regarded as being at the top of his class by all the major reviewers. Just gets better and better.

Genre: Book      

Grade: A-

Notable People: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Title: The Water Dancer

Reviews: Suggested to me by my old friend, Budley, the first novel from the acclaimed journalist and later the winner of the National Book Award, tells the story of Th Underground Railroad, through its protagonist, Hiram Walker, a slave born of the union of” The Quality” (owners) and “The Tasked “(slaves). Rich in imagery and filled with magic and mysticism, it’s an utterly compelling portrait of a part of our shared history full of eternal shame. Walker is an inheritor of the powers of “Conduction”, allowing him to transport people out of their bondage, but with great risk and costs, the book, centered in slave ridden Virginia and free Philadelphia, is utterly compelling and brilliantly conceived, but very complicated and, at times, hard for me to read, which I did in short bursts. Took a long time, but extremely revealing. The abundance of horrors is unfathomable.

Genre: Book  

Grade: A-

Notable People: James Lee Burke

Title: Flags on the Bayou

Review: This 2023 standalone novel from the legendary and aged American icon is a wonderfully told story about the damages of war. Focused on the waning days of the War Between the States and told thru the eyes of five compelling characters, the book is classic Burke, one of the most eloquent and evocative voices of his (or any ) generation. Very fortunate to still have him around.