The Nightingale

by Kristin Hannah

 

            An epic novel that spans over 50 years, this is beyond a doubt Hannah’s finest book to date. Hannah is at the height of her ability on this one, and it is impressive.

            Set in France during WWII, the book follows two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, ordinary French women who experience the evil, desperation and desolation of war in occupied France. Vianne, the elder sister, believes that if she keeps her head down and follows the rules the Germans impose, all will be well. Isabelle has seen the evil of the German army and believes that resistance is the only choice.  Each of the sister’s attitudes not only shape their choices and change their lives, but will affect many others, both in the present and in the future.

            The book moves from the present day to the past in the two sisters voices. Vianne and Isabelle in the past, and one of the sisters in the present. It is not until the end that the present tense sister’s identity is revealed.

            It is impossible to read this novel and not loose oneself in it. There is just so much to this book: love, loss, beauty, evil, horror, courage and hope.

            Hannah’s opening line to this novel sums it up best: ‘In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.”

            Buy this book for yourself, your friends, anyone who enjoys an epic read of the first quality.

The Great Zoo of China

by Matthew Reilly

 

Think Jurassic Park with dragons and you have Reilly’s latest book. Just as the dinosaurs run amuck in Jurassic Park, so do Reilly’s dragons. However, Reilly takes this idea and goes far beyond expectations.

The book begins with a media tour of a fantastical zoo, amusement park, vacation destination spot the Chinese government has been building in secret for over 40 years. Of course, the tour goes horribly awry very quickly. That’s when the fun begins!

Led by a female protagonist, CJ Cameron, the cast of characters includes a host of Chinese officials, technicians, a U.S. ambassador, scientists and dragons, dragons, dragons. Lots of dragons of varying sizes, shapes, colors and abilities.

What makes this book work so well, is the author’s ability to make the existence of dragons in the modern world seem so believable. Whatever objection your mind can conjure up, Reilly has an answer to, and that answer is very plausible.

The Great Zoo of China is a thriller, a fantasy and a sci-fi novel all rolled into one really good read. Even for readers who are not fantasy or sci-fi readers (I count myself among them) this is a novel that will be enjoyed by most.

                Buy this book, buckle your seat belt, and let Matthew Reilly take you on one fantastic ride. Oh, and when you dream of dragons, blame the author, not me.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

If I Fall, If I Die

by Michael Christie

                Christie’s debut novel focuses on a woman, Diane with agoraphobia raising her young son Will completely within the bounds of their house. Will can’t remember ever leaving their house to go Outside. His entire world consists of the rooms of his house, the Inside, and his mother Diane. Then one day, Will does the unthinkable and ventures Outside. As Will stands Outside, he waits to stop breathing, for his hair to catch fire, for all manner of calamity to consume him. Nothing happens and Will is emboldened to venture further Outside. What follows is Will’s experience with the Outside world, for which he is wholly unprepared.

                This started off as a terrific novel. Christie does an admirable job of making the novel believable and letting the reader discover the Outside from Will’s perspective.

                Unfortunately, about half way through the novel, Christie does a complete 180, and the story crashes and burns a fiery death. It seemed that Christie took the novel to a certain point, and then had no idea where to go next, so he introduced a mystery and plot points that went far beyond stretching credibility. It’s unfortunate, since If I Fall, If I Die was a wonderful novel until this point.

                I’ll look forward to Christie’s next novel, since he shows promise. But this one needs work.     

   

Borrow this book from your library and read the first half which is very, very good. Then if you have an extreme desire to punish yourself, read the rest of it.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

First Frost

By Sarah Addison Allen

 

                Anyone who has ever read one of Allen’s books knows they are always about family, friendships and our connections to the world around us, with a little magic thrown in. This latest offering is no exception. A sequel to her novel Garden Spells, this follows the Waverley sisters as each struggles with new doubts and challenges.

                Both Claire and Sydney Waverley are now married with daughters of their own, a new generation of Waverley women with gifts. Reading this novel is like spending the weekend with old friends. It’s a comfortable, easy experience that leaves you feeling good for no specific reason.

                Allen’s gift is in her ability to make you feel a part of her character’s lives. First Frost does not disappoint on that score. The only question is: when and if we will see a sequel to this book. This reader hopes so.

                Scheduled for publication on January 20, 2015.

                Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Rain on the Dead  

By Jack Higgins

Let me start out by saying that I have read Jack Higgins for a LONG time. That being said, I fear either his writing skills are deteriorating or I have just simply outgrown him. How sad. I love his Sean Dillion series and the character, but I found myself struggling to get interested in his latest offering. It’s just too formulaic. The good guys always win; the bad guys always die. There’s simply too much ‘in the right place at the right time’ happenstance to really work for me. Perhaps at the age of 85 it’s unreasonable to expect the same quality of writing from Higgins.

            Borrow this one from your library. 

Captured

By Neil Cross

Kenny Drummond is dying and before he dies, he wants to make amends to the people he believes he’s let down in his life. Kenny makes a list of these people, four in total. As he sets off on his personal bucket list, he finds that one of these people is missing; a little girl from his childhood who was always kind to him.  Kenny becomes obsessed with finding this girl and his quest leads to actions with consequences that no one could have foreseen.

This is a hard book to review. While it held my interest through most of the book, there was a lot of it that stretched credibility. Kenny starts out as an average man, no one with any major psychological problems, yet what he does in the course of the book is darkly disturbing. I believe the author was trying to illustrate how an average person can do truly evil things, yet he didn't quite pull it off. The metamorphosis of Kenny from an average man to one capable of evil deeds, is jerky at best. The reader is left wondering how Kenny got from point A to point B.  Kenny IS dying from a brain tumor, so perhaps the author felt this was explanation enough for Kenny’s actions. Yet Kenny’s daily behavior rarely seems to be affected by the tumor.  I just couldn’t connect the dots on this.

Captured isn't a bad book, but it isn't a great book either. It’s okay.

Borrow it from your library.

Scheduled for publication January 27^th.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

The German Agent by J. Sydney Jones

                It is early in 1917. The United States has not yet entered World War I. In fact, President Wilson is very much against the US becoming involved. Enter the Zimmerman telegram, a message from Germany to Mexico proposing an alliance of war in which Mexico would invade and take back Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The British have intercepted this telegram and decoded it.

                Based on a real historical event, the Zimmerman Telegram, this novel presents a ‘what if’ scenario; what if the British sent an ambassador to the US president with the telegram and the Germans sent an assassin to kill that ambassador?

                This is an old fashioned espionage thriller. There are no high tech gadgets, no forensics, no cell phones. It is set in a time when shaving a beard and dying one’s hair is a disguise. A time when cutting the phone lines is all that is needed to sever communication.

                While I very much enjoyed the book, it is not without flaws. Many of the scenarios are implausible, even in 1917. The German agent is just a little TOO lucky at times. However, it did have me brushing up on my WWI history and that’s not a bad thing.

                All in all, this is a quick, easy, enjoyable read if you can suspend reality a bit.

                Borrow it from your local library.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.