Tip the Wink

Desolation Mountain by William Kent Krueger – mystery. A new Krueger book is always cause for celebration here, as he’s one of my favorite authors. This was, no surprise, a good one, with all of the characters, setting and strong plotting we’re used to in a Krueger novel.

When a liberal Senator’s plane crashes into a swampy area not far from Aurora, home of Cork O’Conner and his family, Cork is called out to help with the search for the plane, any survivors, and possibly the plane’s black box. But before much searching can get underway, the FBI shows up and pushes everyone else away. The plane wreckage is found, no survivors. The black box is missing. Everyone who started the early search is questioned in an extremely accusatory way, and then people begin getting injured and some just disappear. The tension mounts as the locals try to find out what is really going on, why there seem to be government black ops agents in the area, and why everyone is being threatened. Good one.

The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne – mystery. This was short-listed for one of the major awards, so I thought I’d try it. A woman and her husband and child are living a peaceful life on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula when word comes of a prison break that changes their lives. Turns out the woman is the daughter of a kidnapped girl decades before who grew up in the marshes, off the grid. The escapee is her father, who killed two guards in his escape. She is determined to find him and bring him to justice, but her emotions are torn as she moves into the area she’s so familiar with from her youth, knowing all the while she doesn’t know what she will do when she finds her father.

Parts of this are atmospheric, the setting, as far as I could tell, well-drawn, the character interesting, but the novel as a whole didn’t click with me. Other readers will probably like it better.

So how about you?
What have you been reading?

By the way, we got a new cat today. Post coming.

Valley of Genius, the Uncensored History of Silicon Valley by Adam Fisher – non-fiction. I’m always interested in books about the early days of the computer industry and of silicon valley, so this was a natural selection for me. The format is unusual: the book consists entirely of quotes from the various persons involved, arranged to tell the story as it develops. This took a good deal of getting used to, as there was no read-it-through narrative, as such. But what is said is interesting and I found myself reading right through it. Some parts were a little repetitive, which is to be expected in this format. For those interested in the hardware and software developments of this place and time.

The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz – mystery (1977). I guess I’d call this a semi-golden age-like mystery, with many of the elements we’d see in a classic novel of detection. However the characters differ from what me might find in Sayers or Christie. That’s fine with me.

Firstly, we have a novel inside a novel. At the beginning is an editor for a publishing house telling us the book she has just settled down to read in manuscript changed her life. Before we can go further with that plot line, we are presented with the book itself.

It’s has Poirot-like character attempting to solve a murder, and it’s quite well done. I liked it. But before that book concludes, we are pulled out of it when the editor tell us the last chapters are missing. The rest of the novel then follows the editor and she tries to find the missing chapters, presenting another mystery to be solved.

An intriguing format, and yes, we do get the final chapters, finally. Worth reading.

So how about you?
What have you been reading?

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming – mystery, first in series.

Clare Fergusson is the new priest at St. Alban’s Episcopal church in Miller’s Kill, New York (“kill” is a term for a body of water, most commonly a creek, but can also be a tidal inlet, river or strait). Clare isn’t your typical priest, not only for her gender but also for her background as a tough Army chopper pilot.

A newborn infant is left at the church rectory door which brings her together with the town’s police chief, Russ Van Alstyne, who’s also ex-Army and a cynical good shepherd for the stray sheep of his hometown. Their search for the baby’s mother – and intense pressure from potential adoptive parents – quickly leads them into the secrets that shadow the town.

Clare is characterized as intelligent though pushy at times, and she often goes beyond the expected for a non-authorized police snoop. She also occasionally does thoughtless things like going off by herself in a dangerous situation. Nevertheless, she’s a likable character and the story here is well told. The author keeps readers guessing until the mystery is solved, or at least most readers. I guessed with about twenty pages to go, but enjoyed the book to the end. The relationship between the priest and the (married) Sheriff will no doubt develop in future books in the series

I have so many books stacked up right now I don’t know when I’ll get to the next in the series, but look forward to it. These have very well drawn setting and interesting characters. Good for an afternoon or two.

Irontown Blues by John Varley – science fiction. The last Varley I read before this was back in 1979-1984, when I read his Gaea trilogy, consisting of Titan, Wizard and Demon. Honestly I didn’t like the second and third of those books very much, and only finished them to finish the trilogy.

I read a review of this one that got me interested, so I tried it and I really liked it a lot.

This is labeled an “Eight Worlds Novel” and there are three previous ones, The  Ophiuchi Hotline, (1977), Steel Beach (1992) and The Golden Globe (1998), neither of which I’ve read, and I didn’t feel at a loss in not having done so when reading this book.

The book’s protagonist, Christopher Bach, was a policeman in one of the largest Lunar cities when the A.I. Lunar Central Computer had a breakdown later called The Big Glitch. The problem turned into all-out urban war. When order was restored, Chris’s life was changed by his role in the conflict. He went private, assisted by his genetically altered dog Sherlock – a wonderful character! – and emulates the tough guys in the noir books and movies that he loves.

When Bach takes the case of a woman involuntarily infected with an engineered virus, he is on the hunt to track down the biohackers in the infamous district of Irontown. He’s in for much more than he bargained for. This is a noir mystery/SF novel set on the moon with great characters and sense of place. Recommended.

I plan on getting and reading the other Eight Worlds novels.

So how about you?
What have you been reading?

Library books keep pouring in. It seems everything is on hold and not showing up, then wham! Three, four or more come in all at once. Oh, the pressure!

Good Blood by Aaron Elkins – mystery. It’s been a while since I read one by Elkins, who I met at my first mystery convention, Left Coast Crime in Anaheim, CA. in 1994. He’s a nice man, and his mysteries are cozies featuring the “skeleton detective”, Gideon Oliver. This is the first book I’ve read in a while that’s not from the library; I just picked it out of a box I’d been going through. I consider these light reading, but enjoy one occasionally.

A Girl’s Guide to Missles, Growing Up in America’s Secret Desert by Karen Lynnea Piper – autobiography. An uninteresting person makes for an uninteresting autobiography. I finished it by scanning through the later chapters. Meh.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman – fantasy. Hartman is a fairly hot YA author, this is her first book of three. I liked this story of a young girl who discovers she is not wholly human in a world shared with humans and dragons. Good, but I probably won’t go on to the second book unless I have nothing else to read.

Capital Gaines by Chip Gaines – autobiography. We have enjoyed the HGTV program Fixer Upper from time to time, both for the personalities of Gaines and his wife Joanna and the finished remodeled homes they create. However, they should stick to TV, which they are not as the show is now done. Don’t waste a second on this.

next up, better books: In the Bleak Midwinter and Irontown Blues.

How about you?
What have you been reading lately?