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A Cry for Help

posted by: August 29, 2013 - 7:00am

A Conspiracy of Faith cover artA bottle is discovered off of the coast of Scotland. Inside is a message written in blood. Once it's determined that note is written in Icelandic, the case becomes another mystery for Department Q. A Conspiracy of Faith is the third Department Q novel written by Jussi Adler-Olsen and is the winner of the Nordic crime-writing honor The Glass Key Award. He is in excellent company as previous winners have included Stieg Larsson, Jo Nesbo and Henning Mankell. Readers who enjoy these authors won’t want to miss out on this thrilling story.
 

A Conspiracy of Faith follows two primary storylines. Detective Carl Morck and his team work to decipher the damaged and decaying note found in the bottle and determine the identity of the author. Simultaneously, the reader follows a serial killer as he methodically plans to take his next victims. Although the message is determined to be several years old, Department Q works to find its origin, completely unaware that a similar crime is about to occur at the same location.
 

Jussi Adler-Olsen creates a cast of characters that are as real as they are complex. He establishes an authentic police environment as well as interesting interpersonal relationships, which draw the reader into the story. The novel moves along at an exciting pace and builds in intensity towards the dynamic conclusion.


 
 

The Dogs of Yore

posted by: August 28, 2013 - 7:00am

Medieval Dogs cover artBritish historian Kathleen Walker-Meikle collects centuries-old examples of canine representation in her succinct but illuminating work Medieval Dogs, published by the British Library. While there has been considerable research into the earliest beginnings of the human/canine relationship, and countless looks into how dogs and people complement each other today, it is fascinating to look at the ways dogs were portrayed in what is considered to be a less enlightened historical time.
 

Brilliantly illustrated and well captioned manuscripts and paintings from around Europe are featured, along with brief but telling text. The pre-Renaissance art, without linear perspective, speaks to a bygone age. Stories of how dogs were part of abbey life among monks and nuns show a push/pull acceptance of the animals. In some cases, dogs were happily allowed to run free throughout abbeys, while in other cases, they were more grudgingly permitted — aside from sanctuaries and dining areas. As with medical treatment for humans, veterinary skills during the medieval years were basic and often fraught with suggestions that are chilling today. It's surprising to see how many breeds from our era, such as Greyhounds, terriers and spaniels, were already classified as early as the 16th century.
 

Loyalty is shown in many drawings of canines that remained with their fallen masters after a battle. Representations of the dogs in these and other illustrations (such as the many lapdogs depicted in royal settings) show how people of the period valued their animal companions. While rampant superstition during medieval times did not always portray dogs in the best light, their frequent appearances within the art and manuscripts of the period show the evolution of the human/dog relationship to what it now has become.


 
 

Something Wicked

posted by: August 28, 2013 - 7:00am

Night Film book coverNight Film by Marisha Pessl will be one of the most talked about books of the fall. This new thriller is riveting, impossible to put down and hair-raisingly creepy.
 

It's the story of a washed-up journalist ruined by the story that got away. Scott McGrath was once a successful investigative journalist who tracked down the darkest, seediest stories. The one elusive target that cost him his career was film director Michael Cordova. Cordova is the director of dark, transgressive films that are so disturbing they cannot be played in theaters. The films are only rarely shown at secret screenings in tunnels around the world.
 

During his initial investigation of Cordova, McGrath got a lead that the secretive film director may be hurting children. McGrath went public with the accusation and was subsequently sued by Cordova’s team of lawyers. Since he had no definitive proof, his career as a journalist was essentially over.
 

Fast-forward several years later. Cordova’s daughter, Ashley, has just committed suicide under mysterious circumstances, and McGrath again becomes obsessed with the dark, twisted world of the Cordovas. Follow McGrath into the world of Michael Cordova where reality is elusive and dark forces may be at work.
 

Pessl’s unique style will be one of the first things readers notice. She spins her dark labyrinthine tale by interspersing newspaper and website clippings throughout the book. The technique pulls the reader further into the book and adds to the overall authenticity of her story.
 

Readers who like creepy, disturbing stories will relish the dark paths McGrath will take to find the truth.


 
 

On Being a Man Amongst Gods

posted by: August 27, 2013 - 7:00am

Hawkeye: Little Hits CoverSuperheroes in general are reaching new heights of popularity and, with an unbroken string of cinematic hits, that is especially true of the heroes of the Marvel Universe. Matt Fraction is one of the hottest comic book writers in the industry today, known for his cool, hip and edgy take on characters like the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Fist, Thor and Iron Man. It is his work on another Avengers team member that is creating the buzz now. In Hawkeye Vol 2: Little Hits, Fraction and artist David Aja prove the quirky, wild fun they began in Hawkeye Vol 1: My Life as a Weapon was no fluke.
 

Hawkeye, or "hawkguy" as many of his neighbors insist on calling him, is a mere mortal on a team of gods, geniuses and super-soldiers. He has been a thief, a carney, a hero, and in the cinematic version, a highly trained government agent and assassin. Fraction clearly aims to tie all these threads together, or as he states in the first issue of the series, “…this is what he does when he is not being an Avenger…” Fraction’s Hawkeye lives in an apartment in Brooklyn, where most of his neighbors seem to know who he is and what he does for a living. When his neighbors face eviction at the hands of a local slum lord backed by an Eastern European mob, Hawkeye comes to the rescue in a way that is both hilarious and has long-term — and ever increasing — repercussions.
 

You almost never see Hawkeye in costume in this series and, while he crosses paths with villains, it tends to be inadvertent. The art and color scheme of these two books tie them together and give an overall “Mod,” almost 1960s feel, while still being completely modern. This series, while reflecting the cinematic Hawkeye more, are definitely written with adults in mind. This is a series for mature readers, as many of the situations and dialogue are not child-friendly. Fraction enjoys dropping the reader — and his hero — into the middle of action at the start of each issue, with Hawkeye uttering the phrase “Okay, this looks bad.” The worse things look for Hawkeye the more fun it is for the reader as Fraction takes us on a wild ride.
 

Hawkeye: Little Hits is just as strong as the first volume and continues the theme that you can be a hero and still be a train wreck at the same time. Fraction’s Hawkeye seems to embody the Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye from the Saturday Night Live sketch, spoofing the climactic battle from The Avengers movie when Renner turns to Captain America and says “I’m all out of arrows, I don’t have any more…so, uh, I guess I’m done, right? All right, I’ll be in the car. Stay safe!”


 
 

Hollywood Heist

posted by: August 27, 2013 - 7:00am

Cover Art for the Bling RingThe group that the L.A. Times dubbed “The Bling Ring” was an unlikely band of seven privileged, fame-obsessed teenage thieves who gained entry into multiple celebrity homes in 2008 and 2009 using information that was widely available online. Perhaps the most astonishing part of their crime spree was how long they were able to get away with it and how easy it really was. Entertainment journalist Nancy Jo Sales brings us the full story in The Bling Ring: How a Gang of Fame-Obsessed Teens Ripped off Hollywood and Shocked the World.
 

Sales first published the story in a 2010 Vanity Fair article titled “The Suspect Wore Louboutins.” It is now expanded in this in-depth exposé. The thieves monitored their victims’ whereabouts using social media posts and websites like TMZ. They found the celebrities’ mansions using Google maps and a website mapping locations of celebrity houses. When they went to the victims’ homes, they found that many of the houses were unlocked or that the alarm systems were disabled, making it simple for them to enter the homes and take whatever they wanted. They stole about $3 million worth of clothing, jewelry and other property over the course of a year. The list of their victims is a who’s who of young Hollywood stars, including Lindsay Lohan, Rachel Bilson, Audrina Patridge and Orlando Bloom. They reportedly broke into Paris Hilton’s house multiple times before they were apprehended.
 

The group’s crimes inspired the film, The Bling Ring, starring Emma Watson and written and directed by Sofia Coppola, available on DVD in September.


 
 

Turning Over a Not-So-New Leaf

posted by: August 26, 2013 - 7:55am

Cover art for Kale: The Complete GuideCover art for Fifty Shades of KaleAfter years of being relegated to uses as a soup green or worse, a plate garnish, kale has made a stunning comeback in the past few years. Darling of the dietary world, it frequently ranks near or at the top of the best foods for optimal nutritional impact and is thus often referred to as a “superfood.” Two new cookbooks focus on ways to use kale to maximum effect. The more no-nonsense of the pair, Kale: The Complete Guide to the World’s Most Powerful Superfood by Stephanie Pedersen, contains over 70 recipes divided into categories such as beverages, ways to incorporate kale into breakfast, lunch, snacks and even desserts that feature this bittersweet green. A helpful introductory section covers the types of the vegetable, techniques for selecting kale and its many nutritional benefits.

 

A more whimsical but no less informative cookbook is Fifty Shades of Kale: 50 Fresh and Satisfying Recipes That Are Bound to Please by Drew Ramsey and Jennifer Iserloh. Beautiful photographs of the many varieties of kale and the mouthwatering recipes themselves add to the allure. Mild winks to the book series the title references are included, but do not get in the way of the text or food. Appealing ideas such as kale and kiwi gazpacho; a warm kale salad with beets and ginger; and even chocolate chip kale cookies incorporate this newly rediscovered gem into contemporary recipes. One of the resources listed at the close of the book, thekaleproject.com, contains more recipes and assorted information to satisfy your “green tooth.”



 
 

Light for All

posted by: August 22, 2013 - 7:55am

Cover art for Second SunsDavid Oliver Relin did not live long enough to witness the publication of his new book, Second Suns: Two Doctors and Their Amazing Quest to Restore Sight and Save Lives. It is a top-notch, inspiring account of two brilliant physicians from opposite ends of the world, one a Harvard-educated adrenaline junkie from America, and the other a disciplined trader's son from a remote Nepalese village. The unlikely duo combine their generous talents for one lofty goal: to cure preventable blindness. In 1995, they founded the Himalayan Cataract Project as a way to treat thousands of impoverished Himalayans in that isolated, mountainous region.

 

For ophthalmologists Geoffrey Tabin and Sanduk Ruit, the means to an end seemed simple yet difficult. In developing countries, cataracts are the leading cause of preventable blindness among the poor, including children. In wealthy countries, it is a common and treatable ailment of the elderly.  "Some conditions of existence are more painful than others," Ruit tells Relin. Ruit would know; growing up, the nearest doctor was a six-day-walk away. He watched as his siblings died of curable illnesses.

 

Relin transports readers to Ruit's temporary eye hospital, formerly a filthy military post in the village of Kalikasthan, where young and old shuffle in from scorching heat to have red-brown dust scrubbed from their faces. The high energy Tabin, who early on abandoned a medical career to pursue athletic passions, was inspired by Ruit. Together, their respective stories led the dynamic pair to their calling. Thousands have been cured with their simple surgery that costs a mere pittance.

 

Relin, who co-authored the now controversial bestseller Three Cups of Tea with Greg Mortenson, committed suicide in November 2012. In telling this compelling and hopeful story of two medical pioneers, the author was not immune to the poignancy of what he was witnessing. When an elegant 56-year-old seamstress, who was forced to sell her sewing machine, finally sees again, Relin thrust into her hands a wad of bills. "For a sewing machine," he said.


 
 

A Game of Papacy

posted by: August 22, 2013 - 7:55am

Cover art for Blood & BeautyAs sumptuous and richly textured as the Renaissance age she resurrects, Blood and Beauty’s descriptive language beguiles the reader from the start, sweeping away the veils of a half a millennium to reveal the all too human nature of some of the papacy’s most notorious players: Rodrigo, Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia. From her first foray into the conclave of cardinals at the book’s opening, author Sarah Dunant hooks the reader, sparing none of the earthy details of Rodrigo’s physical surroundings and fostering no sense of reverence for the chasm of time separating the modern reader from historical figures. Instead, Blood and Beauty reads as though we are joining the author on the scene of a current event, as breathless with anticipation as the citizens waiting outside on that sweltering summer’s day.

 

Thoroughly researched, Dunant’s narration often lends the flavor of the objective journalist, parsing through the rumors and mystique of the Borgia legacy to hint at another layer of truth behind the real people and events as they bloomed to life. The scope of Durant’s task is ambitious. Contemporary and historical accounts of the Borgias suggest so intricate a web of deceit, power lust and manipulation that a sensationalist approach might all too easily have suggested itself to a writer.

 

Instead, Dunant refrains from judgment in her analysis, casting a more sympathetic portrayal of Lucrezia, and skillfully demonstrating the transformation of a teenage Cesare from a youth to the hardened, brutal character who would later inspire Machiavelli. The resulting multi-layered personalities prompt an altogether more subtle, nuanced interpretation of the infamous Borgia clan, rendering their story that much more compelling.

 

Recommended for those readers who favor a certain historicity in their narratives. Fans of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and any number of Sharon Kay Penman’s works will be drawn to Blood and Beauty.
 


 
 

Booker Long List Announcement

posted by: August 21, 2013 - 7:55am

Cover art for The Testament of MaryCover art for A Tale for the Time BeingCover art for We Need New NamesAlways eagerly anticipated, Great Britain’s Man Booker Prize for Fiction committee announced its 2013 Long List on July 23. The Man Booker is widely considered Britain’s most prestigious literary award and has such a devoted following that one can lay odds with a bookie on the winner. The Long List will be whittled down to six selections in September with the winner declared on October 10, 2013.

 

The books and authors on the Long List are often an eclectic bunch and this year is no exception. Ireland’s Colm Toibin is named for his The Testament of Mary, a very short novel written in the first person from the perspective of the grieving and bitter mother of the crucified Jesus Christ. Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki, who divides her time between British Columbia and New York City, made the list for A Tale for the Time Being, in which a Canadian woman finds the diary of a bullied Japanese teen washed up on the Pacific shore. The story unfolds as the diary entries are read.

 

We Need New Names: A Novel is Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo’s contribution to the list. Preteen Darling, her home destroyed and father gone, lives with her mother in the shantytown of Paradise. She and her friends play games inspired by the violence of the post-colonial Mugabe regime until Darling is shipped to America to live in “Destroyed”, Michigan with her aunt’s family. Bulawayo writes “there is no journey without a price”, and Darling’s journey from comfortable home to Paradise, then from Paradise to America all comes at a cost.


 
 

Opening Pandora's Box

posted by: August 21, 2013 - 7:55am

Cover art for The Husband's SecretIn her captivating new novel The Husband’s Secret, Australian author Liane Moriarty examines the nature of secrets through the lives of three women connected by an elementary school. Everyone thinks Cecelia has the perfect life. She has a profitable Tupperware sales business, a loving husband and three beautiful daughters. She is the president of her daughters’ school’s Parents and Friends Association. One day, she finds a letter hidden in a box of old tax papers. It is from her husband John-Paul, and it says that she should open it upon his death. When she asks him about the letter, John-Paul says that it’s nothing, but Cecelia can’t stop thinking about it. She eventually opens the letter, and nothing in her world can ever be the same.

 

Tess’s life is turned upside-down when her husband and cousin Felicity reveal that they have fallen in love. Betrayed by the two people who she trusts most, Tess immediately leaves to stay with her mother in Sydney, enrolling her young son at St. Angela's Primary School. That’s where she reconnects with her ex-boyfriend Connor, who is now a teacher there.

 

Rachel’s life was destroyed when her teenage daughter Janie was murdered in 1984. She has always believed that Connor, the last person to see Janie alive, was the murderer. Now, she is the school secretary at St. Angela’s, and it kills her to see Connor going on with his life as if nothing has happened.

 

The Husband’s Secret is charming, witty and unforgettable. Author Emily Giffin calls it “a story reading groups will devour. A knockout!" Secrets swirl throughout the novel, and the reader soon understands that the stories of these three women are irrevocably intertwined. Each of the characters learns that once you know the truth, you can never go back to not knowing it. This novel is a page-turner, and it will  stay in your mind long after you finish reading the last page.


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