August 2008 Staff Book Reviews

Last Updated on Friday, 30 July 2010 15:06

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It is way too hot this August to be outside.  So the staff is recommending these books they have recently read and enjoyed for you to read out of the sun.  There is some mystery, history, and even space travel.  Grab a nice cool drink, a chair in the shade, one of these books and relax as summer ends.

Charlie "Bird" Parker novels by John Connolly

Genre: Adult Fiction
Staff reviewer: Cindy Stevens: Center for Reader's Services

John Connolly has created a dark, cruel, suspenseful world haunted by evil and it's victims in the Charlie "Bird" Parker series. Charlie "Bird" Parker was a policeman in NYC investigating a serial killer. He and his wife had a spat, he went down to the corner pub to have a few drinks and cool off. On returning to his home, he finds his wife and daughter had become the cruel victims of the killer he was stalking. Charlie Parker becomes a changed man. He loses his job, drowns his pain in alcohol, but eventually finds a path to a redemption of sorts. With the help of two assassins for hire, true friends that watch his back (think Hawk and Spencer in the Spencer for Hire books) he works to rid the world of evil - although some see him as walking an evil path. Charlie Parker is a complex, flawed protagonist. Connolly's books are dark, suspenseful and violent. Within the texture of this tortured fabric, though, there is humanity, love and friendships that give the stories real depth. These books need to be read in order as each new mystery is connected to the old mystery and relationships are established and built upon. Each book is a complete story in itself though. There is an element of the supernatural in these books - not overdone and not unbelievable. If you like Koontz, Saul, and King you will like this series. Mystery and thriller fans will enjoy Connolly too. He has a great website and is generous with his readers. The first title in the series is Every Dead Thing. Give it a try - keep a light burning, though.

The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica by James A. Owen

Genre: Teen Fiction
Staff reviewer: Nancy Chowning, Noble Public Library

This series was recommended to me by my 20 year old daughter. This fantasy series is written for teens, but my daughter thought I would especially like it because of the literary references throughout the books.. I just finished listening to the audio version of the first book in the series, Here, There be Dragons and was absolutely delighted. First of all, the audiobook was read by James Langton who did a wonderful job with the voices and all the different characters. Throughout the book only first names are used, but I had already been given a heads up by my daughter that the main characters were all real famous authors. So throughout the book, I was trying to guess who they might be. At the end of the first book, you find out - so I don't want to spoil the surprise by revealing them at this time. I am on the waiting list for the second book, The Search for the Red Dragon and the third book The Indigo King has a publication date of October 2008.

A Drowned Maidens Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz

Genre: Children/Teen Fiction
Staff Reviewer: Jenny Stenis, Center for Reader's Services

This is the story of Maud Flynn who lives at the Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans. Maud (who is an 11 year old the size of a seven year old) has a mind of her own and is always at odds with the headmistress at Barbary. One day as she is in the outhouse singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic when Judith and Hyacinth show up at the Asylum looking for a girl to adopt. (Maud is locked in the outhouse as not to ruin anyone's chances.) Hyacinth finds Maud in the outhouse and lets her out. Judith and Hyacinth are "mediums" that seance scam to pay for their lifestyle. They adopt Maud, who is small, to assist them. They are particularly interested in scamming a woman who lost a child that looks like Maud. Hyacinth is very moody and uses her moods and affections to manipulate Maud. At first Maud is a willing helper because she wants to belong to a family and be loved. As Maud helps Hyacinth and Judith perpetuate their fraud she learns more about the relationship between the mother and her lost daugher. She soon sees the disparity between that relationship and the one she has with Judith and Hyacinth. Maud realizes she must make a decision about what is right and what is wrong. Will she make the right decision? Will she have to go back to the Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans? Read A Drowned Maidens Hair and find out!

 The Morning Gift and Mistresss of the Art of Death by Diana Norman (aka Ariana Franklin)

Genre: Adult Fiction
Staff reviewer: Valerie Kimble, Center for Reader's Services

Ariana Franklin is a writer of suspenseful mysteries. Ariana Franklin is a pseudonym for Diana Norman, a British journalist who has been writing historical fiction under her own name for years. Regardless of the name she uses, Franklin/Norman has a mastery of the medieval period. Both the novels listed are set in England in the time of Henry II - The Morning Gift before he comes to power, and Mistress of the Art of Death during his reign. Both have unusual and strong heroines, who are threatened because of their gifts.
Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar of Salerno because of her specialized knowledge as a coroner, and Matilda because of her rich and hidden estate in the English fens. Henry has a special use for both of these women, who must put their romantic relationships and their personal happiness second to their missions. Adelia is brought from Sicily to solve the serial murders of serf children, which have been blamed on the Jewish community, and Matilda is caught up in the shifting power struggle of the royal succession. Despite of the difference in genre, these books share fine storytelling, intriguing plots, and unusual and clever characters. Whichever name she uses, this author is a find!

Shanghaied to the Moon by Michael J. Daley

Genre: Teen Fiction
Staff reviewer: Jenny Stenis, Center for Reader's Services

Shanghaied to the Moon is a rollicking space adventure. Stewart Hale wants nothing more than to be a space pilot like his mom. But Stewart's mom was killed in a space accident and Stewart's father refuses to allow him to even try. His father is so against Stewart becoming a space pilot that he has had Stewart's mind tinkered with so that he can not access his natural ability for space navigation. Stewart gets an unexpected chance to sneak off on a mission, when he accompanies an old washed out spacer to the moon. Stewart knows that this is just what he needs to practice the skills necessary to get into the space academy. But when Stewart gets on board the rickety old space tub and the old spacer's intentions turn out to be less than honorable, Stewart realizes he is not going on a mission to the moon - he has been shanghaied. If you like space adventure like Shanghaied to the Moon you might also like Billion Dollar Boy and Higher Education by Charles Sheffield.

They Did It with Love by Kate Morgenroth

Genre: Adult Fiction
Staff reviewer: Brenda Johnson, Moore Public Library

It's her love of reading mysteries that convinces Sofie to move to Connecticut. When Sofie's cruel and domineering father finally dies of cancer, her husband Dean persuades her to use the sizeable inheritance to move from Manhatan to a beartifully spacious home in the Connecticut suburbs. At first, she resists leaving the city where she works in a mysteries-only bookshop, but her desire to please her husband, his suggestion that it will be an opportunity for her to start writing her mystery novel, and his assurance that she will be invited to join the neighborhood book club convinces her to try it for a year.
There is an opening in the book club because one of the members has had a baby, and this exclusive book club is limited to women who do not have children and who only read mysteries. Sofie is perfect for the club and is welcomed by the other members, Priscilla, Susan, Julia, and Ashley. All rich, beautiful women with powerful, successful husbands.
One October morning, as Sofie and Priscilla power-walk the neighborhood, they spot what they think is a Halloween decoration hanging from a tree. Priscilla furiously believes that Julia put the ghost in her yard just to make fun of Priscilla's own carefully crafted Halloween decorations. Unforunately, the corpse is real, Julia herself is hanging from the tree after apparently commiting suicide.
The police detectives arrive and soon determine that a homicide has been committed. Sofie gets to use her love of mysteries to help Julia's husband, Alex, prove his innocence. Husbands are always the prime suspects, especially one whose first wife committed suicide.
With characters much more interesting that any on Real Housewives of New York City, this is a well-plotted mystery that keeps you guessing who-done-it until the end.