Week ending June 12, 2015
Attenberg, Jami. Saint Mazie. Grand Central. Jun. 2015. 336p. ISBN 9781455599899. $25; ebk. ISBN 9781455599882. lib. ebk. ISBN 9781455579501. F
For her latest, Attenberg (The Middlesteins) draws on a real-life figure famed in lower Manhattan during the Great Depression. Mazie Phillips wasn’t really a saint, but she did a great deal of good for the city’s poor and homeless. Brought to New York by older sister Rose, she lived with Rose and Rose’s husband, Louis, who was as kind as his business dealings were shady. When Mazie was old enough to need a job to keep her from running the streets, she took over the box office and business side of the Venice Theater, one of Louis’s holdings. As the reader learns through her diary, high-spirited, independent Mazie protested that her family was locking her in a cage, but before long that cage was a comfort and her window on her neighborhood. She saw people suffering and with a nun named Tee opened the theater up as a shelter and used her family’s funds to help those in need. Like many of literature’s most fascinating characters, Mazie is imperfect and impulsive, but she has a heart of gold.
Verdict A very enjoyable novel with great character, this work will be of particular interest to fans of women’s fiction, fiction set in New York City, and historical fiction set during World War I, Prohibition, and the Great Depression. [See Prepub Alert, 12/8/14.]—Shaunna E. Hunter, Hampden-Sydney Coll. Lib., VA.
Bannalec, Jean-Luc. Death in Brittany. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Jun. 2015. 320p. tr. from German by Sorcha McDonagh. ISBN 9781250061744. $24.99; ebk. ISBN 9781466867741. MYS
[DEBUT] Two years and seven months ago, Commissaire Georges Dupin was reassigned from Paris to Concarneau, Brittany, owing to “certain disputes” with colleagues. Dupin must give up his morning routine of croissant and coffee to travel to the neighboring village of Pont-Aven to investigate the murder of 91-year-old hotelier Pierre-Louis Pennec. It’s the height of the tourist season, which adds to the pressure for Dupin to solve the case as quickly as possible. His methods irritate his superiors and mystify his team. Among his suspects are an area politician, a longtime friend of the victim, and a local art historian. When a second death occurs and a painting disappears from Pennec’s hotel, Dupin must re-create Pennec’s last days in order to uncover the secret long kept by his friends and family. Aiding Dupin in this case is art historian Marie Cassel from the University of Bretagne Occidentale.
Verdict In his debut mystery, which was a German best seller, the pseudonymous author brings the charming Breton towns of Concarneau and Pont-Aven to life with his vivid descriptions of the landscape, architecture, and regional food. Dupin has many loner tendencies that do not make him a good team player, but he is likable nonetheless. An excellent choice for readers who enjoy international mysteries as well as for fans of Donna Leon, Louise Penny, and Georges Simenon.—Jean King, West Hempstead P.L., NY
Carner, Talia. Hotel Moscow. Morrow. Jun. 2015. 448p. ISBN 9780062388599. pap. $14.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062388605. F
It’s 1993, and investment executive Brooke Fielding has learned that a corporate takeover is endangering her job. When an opportunity arises to travel to newly capitalist Moscow to mentor businesswomen, she seizes it, knowing that insider knowledge of Russia’s new economy will raise her stock in the eyes of her employer. But it’s a harsh and dangerous time in Russia, as Brooke discovers when she’s shaken down and manhandled by a customs officer at the airport. The country is collapsing without the rigid controls of communism, and Russian women entering the workforce are viewed as a threat and treated accordingly. Amid mafia conspiracy, pogrom-like raids, and unchecked corruption, Brooke is a target, not only as a female but also owing to her heritage as the daughter of Holocaust survivors.
Verdict This tense thriller, based in part on author Carner’s (Jerusalem Maiden) own experiences in post-Communist Russia, is an eye-opening exposé of life following the collapse of the Iron Curtain. While occasionally ponderous—the narrative too often lapses into business-speak and the dialog is occasionally stilted—Carner’s novel of vividly drawn characters and taut suspense adds up to a real-life dystopian page-turner of the un-put-downable variety.—Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY
Dahl, Julia. Run You Down. Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Jun. 2015. 304p. ISBN 9781250043405. $25.99; ebk. ISBN 9781466841925. MYS
Dahl’s highly anticipated follow-up to her Edgar Award–nominated debut, Invisible Cities, continues the story of journalist Rebekah Roberts’s complicated relationship with the mother who abandoned her as an infant to return to her ultraorthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. Rebekah is brought in to help investigate the mysterious death of a young Hasidic mother in the same community her mother had left decades earlier. Pessie Goldin’s body was found in a bathtub. Was it suicide or an accident, as her family and community believe? Pessie’s husband thinks otherwise. As Rebekah probes the case and examines this cloistered, secretive world, she finds herself getting closer to meeting her mother, Aviva.
Verdict No sophomore slump here. Dahl’s smart, twisty plot and suspenseful tone will grip mystery and thriller lovers until the final page.—Caitlin Beauregard, MLIS, New York
Frank, Dorothea Benton. All the Single Ladies. Morrow. Jun. 2015. 368p. ISBN 9780062132567. $26.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062132574. F
Braving the South Carolina Low Country summer heat is hard enough, but Lisa, who works at a nursing home, has bigger problems—her failed yoga business all but bankrupted her and her adult daughter isn’t speaking to her. Things start looking up when Lisa makes a couple of new friends, Suzanne and Carrie, who, like her, have had more than a few bumps on the road to true love, are currently single, and are closer in age to AARP members than to sorority girls. Lisa cared for their friend Kathy at the end of her life and then got involved in helping to solve the mystery Kathy left behind. When Lisa encounters one of Kathy’s old flames, the instant attraction is mutual and signals good things to come. Could all this positive energy help her salvage her relationship with her daughter and figure out what Kathy was hiding?
Verdict This story of new friendship and second chances coming in middle age will delight readers, although they may need a sweet tea because the Low Country heat is so palpable. Frank’s latest (after The Hurricane Sisters) is for readers who enjoy women’s fiction by Southern writers like Mary Alice Monroe and Mary Kay Andrews.—Karen Core, Detroit P.L.
Hall, Sarah. The Wolf Border. Harper. Jun. 2015. 448p. ISBN 9780062208477. $25.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062208491. F
Wolves are social animals, living in packs with a strict social structure. Human families are much more complicated, as Rachel Caine knows firsthand. Not exactly “raised by wolves” but rather more interested in drinking and men than in her two children, Rachel stayed at home (and in conflict) with her own mother until age 18, though half-brother Lawrence left home at 14. Inspired by a childhood encounter with wolves confined at a suburban English park, Rachel goes on to become a world-renowned expert in the species. She is working as a project leader for a group of reintroduced wolves in the northwestern United States and hasn’t returned to England, even to see her dying mother, in years when suddenly she gets a call from an extremely wealthy Englishman with a plan to reintroduce wolves to the English countryside. Rachel commits to a visit, nothing more, but the idea of bringing wolves back to her home country is compelling. When she faces a major life change, the idea of reuniting with family suddenly isn’t so unthinkable.
Verdict One of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists, Hall (How To Paint a Dead Man) offers an earthy novel, successfully exploring ideas of family, maternity, personal demons, social class, and wilderness vs. urban development. Interesting and original, it should have wide appeal. [See Prepub Alert, 12/15/14.]—Shaunna E. Hunter, Hampden-Sydney Coll. Lib., VA
Hamilton, Laurell K. Dead Ice: An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Novel. Berkley. Jun. 2015. 576p. ISBN 9780425255711. $27.95; ebk. ISBN 9780698140301. FANTASY
Anita Blake, U.S. Marshall, vampire slayer, and necromancer, recently became engaged to her longtime love, vampire king Jean-Claude, one beloved among many. To say she’s out of her element planning the wedding of the century, picking out wedding rings, and planning her nuptials is an understatement and it’s just adding to her ever-growing preternatural to-do list. Then the FBI comes looking for her help putting a stop to a vicious zombie porn ring that’s very troubling because after viewing evidence she sees a particular evil animator parlor trick the perpetrators use that has the trademark of one of her deadliest but very dead enemies.
Verdict Number 1 New York Times best seller Hamilton (Jason; Affliction; A Shiver of Light) is still thrilling fans with #24 in the Anita Blake series with her amazing multifaceted characters and intricate multilayered world, a mix of erotic romance, crime-drama, and paranormal/fantasy fiction. Her descriptive prose is gritty and raw, with a mosaic of humor and horror to tell this complex, well-detailed story. But it’s her enigmatic stable of stars that continue to shine, managing their improbable interpersonal relationship dynamics.—Debbie Haupt, St. Charles City–Cty. Lib. Dist., St Peters, MO
Hilderbrand, Elin. The Rumor. Little, Brown. Jun. 2015. 416p. ISBN 9780316334525. $28; ebk. ISBN 9780316334501. F
Rumors spread like wildfire on the island of Nantucket, MA, but the locals would never have dreamed that best friends Madeline King and Grace Pancik would be the focus of all the gossip that summer. Madeline, a best-selling author, is facing some serious writer’s block while the bills pile up and the publisher pushes her to turn in a draft. Feeling desperate, she writes a racy novel that could jeopardize her marriage and her friendship. Meanwhile, Grace is enjoying attention from her handsome landscape architect Benton, as her husband becomes increasingly distant, busy with his own problems. Then Grace’s daughter very publicly cheats on Madeline’s son, and the women’s bond reaches a breaking point. With vicious rumors swirling around them, Madeline and Grace will need to decide if family and friendship are more important than fame and fortune.
Verdict Best-selling Hilderbrand (The Beach Club; The Castaways) has become synonymous with the perfect summer beach read, and The Rumor should find its way into many beach bags this summer. Readers will be hooked as they get a glimpse into the messy lives of the beautiful people who only seem to have it all on this island. [See Prepub Alert, 11/25/14.]—Melissa DeWild, BookOps, NYPL
Roberts, Rachel Florence. The Medea Complex. NAL. Jun. 2015. 368p. ISBN 9780451474148. pap. $15; ebk. ISBN 9780698188242. F
[DEBUT] Roberts spins a cunning tale of madness, secrets, betrayal, and revenge, from the panic-inducing opening pages to the shocking yet strangely satisfying ending. Lady Anne Stanbury wakes one morning in 1885 to find herself confined in a lunatic asylum under the care of Dr. George Savage, as she has been judged insane and not fit for trial for an unforgivable crime. Anne’s husband, Edgar, sinks into an alcoholic haze, grieving and wildly ping-ponging between love and hate for the wife who has destroyed his life. Dr. Savage is certain he can cure Anne, but nothing is certain in this story populated with unreliable narrators. Just who is insane or sane, guilty or innocent?
Verdict Roberts’s debut is an absorbing, dark read, replete with details of the treatment of the mentally ill, the British legal system, and other facets of life in the late Victorian era. It also features some real historical figures as characters. The author has crafted an intricate piece of historical suspense fiction, marred only by some jarring lapses into modern figures of speech. Her novel will definitely attract readers who love the Victorian time period and twisty plotting.—Barbara Clark-Greene, Groton P.L., CT
Snelling, Lauraine. Someday Home. FaithWords. Jul. 2015. 368p. ISBN 9781455586202. pap. $15; ebk. ISBN 9781455586196. F
When Lynn Lundberg’s sons urge their mother to sell her house and move into a smaller place next to one of them, they are surprised at Lynn’s actions. While Lynn is still mourning her husband’s death almost two years earlier, she knows she doesn’t want to leave her beloved family home. Instead, she discovers a new trend that might work for her, shared housing. If she can find two other women close to her age—early 50s—she has the house, and they can contribute money and their talents toward living together. Snelling (Reunion) brings together a widow, a new divorcée, and a woman who tended her parents until they died. Each has her own problems. Lynn is mourning while going through menopause; Angela is still brittle and depressed over the divorce; and Judith had dropped out of college and is angry with her father. All these gals are angry with God.
Verdict The author succeeds in showing the need to forgive in order to move on with life. Her message is that no one knows why God plans life’s changes. Shared housing among three needy women, a situation that leads to a deep friendship, is Snelling’s tool for showing God’s role in a Christian’s life. Recommended for fans of Christian fiction and Snelling’s numerous readers.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
Woodman, Cathy. Follow Me Home. Pegasus. Jul. 2015. 480p. ISBN 9781605988009. pap. $15.95; ebk. ISBN 9781605988139. F
This is Woodman’s (City Girl, Country Vet) eighth novel set in the fictional town of Talyton St. George in East Devonshire, England. Zara is a 31-year-old divorced midwife. After her marriage ends, Zara moves in with her grandmother and begins dating Lewis, her sister and brother-in-law’s handsome, twentysomething hired hand. Soon after, Zara’s life falls apart. Her grandmother’s dementia worsens, and Lewis’s dog attacks Zara’s dog, almost killing him. Zara’s biggest problem is falling in love with Lewis. She hates the idea of marrying him because she’s infertile. Lewis promises he doesn’t want children, but Zara leaves him anyway. Lewis doesn’t give up, insisting they belong together.
Verdict While Woodman develops likable characters, overall this long-winded novel is disappointing. It plods along, and when there is a buildup about whether Zara and Lewis will be together, he simply talks her into changing her mind and the novel ends.
Each of Woodman’s Talyton St. George books can be read as a stand-alone novel, but this one is too uneventful to recommend on its own. Best for readers who have enjoyed other books in the series.—Amy Stenftenagel, Washington Cty. Lib., Woodbury, MN
