Wednesday, October 3, 2012

September Books



*Tigers in Red Weather by Lisa Klaussmann is “an unforgettable debut novel from a writer of extraordinary insight and accomplishment." Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up summering on Martha's Vineyard in a family estate known as Tiger House. After WWII, the two women are on the cusp of their 'real lives' and the gilt begins to crack. Then, in the 1960s, Nick and Helena--with their children, Daisy and Ed--try to recapture that sense of possibility but the intrusion of violence causes everything to unravel and their prescribed lives change forever. Told from five points of view, the novel has excellent character and class development with suspenseful longing for something even better.

 

It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism  by Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, one a democrat and the other arepublican expert on Congress, outline recommendations for ending obstructionist tactics and artificial barriers to compromise, suggesting specific institutional restructuring measures while calling on the public and media to work with government to correct problems rather than perpetuating acerbic campaign cycles.   

The Absolutist by John Boyne Will is set in the fall of 1919 when World War I veteran Tristan Sadler travels from London to Norwich to deliver a package of letters to the sister of Will Bancroft, a soldier Tristan met while training for the war in 1916. Tristan bears the scars of war on his body, but the real scars come from the horrors of war—especially WWI superimposed on his love for Will, who becomes an absolutist after having to face the immorality of war.

 

Criminal by Karin Slaughter is “an epic tale of love, loyalty, and murder that encompasses forty years, two chillingly similar murder cases, and a good man’s deepest secrets.” Slaughter uses parallel stories, separated by 40 years, to chronicle the challenges of Atlanta’s emergence as a major metropolitan area while coping with racism, sexism and too many murders.

Stay Close by Coben Harlan tracks three people living lives they never wanted, hiding secrets that even those closest to them would never suspect. As the consequences of long-ago events come together and threaten to ruin lives, a suburban housewife, a failing photographer and a grieving father each confronts the dark side of the American Dream.  An engaging book, but not Harlan’s best. 

 

The Innocent by David Baldacci is an engaging story of a government hit man with a heart.
After aborting an assignment rather than kill a child, he crosses paths with a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. She is smart, streetwise and in danger because her parents were murdered, and her own life is on the line. Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away-- until the culprits are captured/killed and a nefarious plot revealed.