The Devil - Ken Bruen

Title: The Devil
Author: Ken Bruen
Publisher: Minotaur
ISBN: 978-0312646967
Copyright: 2010
Pages: 288

Quick Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

Why I Read It: My library system rarely gets Ken Bruen books so when one turned up I immediately snatched it up.

Where I Obtained the Book: My local library.

Synopsis: America-the land of opportunity, a place where economic prosperity beckons: but not for PI Jack Taylor, who's just been refused entry. Disappointed and bitter, he thinks that an encounter with an overly friendly stranger in an airport bar is the least of his problems. Except that this stranger seems to know much more than he should about Jack. Jack thinks no more of their meeting and resumes his old life in Galway. But when he's called to investigate a student murder-connected to an elusive Mr. K-he remembers the man from the airport. Is the stranger really who he says he is? With the help of the Jameson, Jack struggles to make sense of it all. After several more murders and too many coincidental encounters, Jack believes he may have met his nemesis. But why has he been chosen? And could he really have taken on the devil himself? Suspenseful, haunting, and totally unique, The Devil is Bruen at his very best.

Review: Typically I try to avoid reading a book from a series out of order, especially if the series is new to me. I made an exception in this case because Ken Bruen is an exceptional author rarely seen in my library. The reason I will read Ken Bruen every chance I get is simple; he is simply one of the best dialogue writers I have ever read. The conversational tome of his books are phenomenal, the pages just fly by. I feel pretentious praising his writing style, but the whole plot is driven completely by the spoken word. I am always amazed at his skill.

The down side unfortunately is my complete unfamiliarity with the character(s). That meant I was quite lost with the motivations of the protagonist because the plot was a but different. Private Investigator battles the devil is a bit of a stretch when I was expecting a straight up mystery. I feel that would have been more acceptable if I had the opportunity to read the first books in the series. Read it for the writing, but start in the beginning to understand the characters.

Author Biography: Ken Bruen was a finalist for the Edgar, Barry, and Macavity Awards, and the Private Eye Writers of America presented him with the Shamus Award for the Best Novel of 2003 for The Guards, the book that introduced Jack Taylor. He lives in Galway, Ireland.

Other Reviews:
Spinetingler Magazine

Mystery Scene Magazine

FYI:

Interview with Ken in Shots Magazine

Room - Emma Donoghue

Title: Room
Author: Emma Donoghue
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
ISBN: 978-0316098335
Copyright: 2010
Pages: 321

Quick Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Why I Read It: One of the most popular books on Goodreads.

Where I Obtained the Book: I got it through inter-library loan.

Synopsis: To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work. Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

Review: Every now and again a book so compelling comes along that you literally cannot put it down until you’re done. Young Jack has just turned five years old and has spent his entire life locked in a 11 by 11 room with his Mom. The whole story is told from Jack’s point of view wherein we learn his mother was kidnapped and has spent a lot of years as a prisoner. Jack’s birthday has finally served as a catalyst for escape and freedom.

Small Spoiler

Unlike most books, this story doesn’t end with the great escape; that is only the halfway point. My favorite part of the book is the second half, the aftermath of dealing with freedom and PTSD. Especially with the recent spate of escapees in the news, I find Donoghue’s interpretation of the transition fascinating. You do not walk away from that sort of ordeal without a price to your mental health. The Mom in the story summed it up best (paraphrase): All those years I wanted to be around people and now I can I want to be alone.

This book will grab you immediately and show you the spirit of human triumph and all the personal costs that involves.

Author Biography: Born in Dublin, Ireland, in October 1969, I am the youngest of eight children of Frances and Denis Donoghue (the literary critic, Henry James Professor at New York University). I attended Catholic convent schools in Dublin, apart from one eye-opening year in New York at the age of ten. In 1990 I earned a first-class honours BA in English and French from University College Dublin (unfortunately, without learning to actually speak French). I moved to England, and in 1997 received my PhD (on the concept of friendship between men and women in eighteenth-century English fiction) from the University of Cambridge. From the age of 23, I have earned my living as a writer, and have been lucky enough to never have an ‘honest job’ since I was sacked after a month as a chambermaid. After years of commuting between England, Ireland, and Canada, in 1998 I settled in London, Ontario, where I live with my lover Chris Roulston and our son Finn (6) and daughter Una (3).

Other Reviews:

New York Times

The Telegraph

FYI:

ROOM, by Emma Donoghue from era404 creative on Vimeo.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley

Title: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Author: Alan Bradley
Publisher: Delacorte Press
ISBN: 978-0385342308
Copyright: 2009
Pages: 373

Quick Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Why I Read It: A friend had read it on Goodreads and I started noticing a lot of other people had as well. I was just jumping on the bandwagon

Where I Obtained the Book: I got it through inter-library loan.

Synopsis: Great literary crime detectives aren’t always born; they’re sometimes discovered, blindfolded and tied up in a dark closet by their nasty older sisters. Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce’s bitter home life and vicious sibling war inspires her solitary diversions and “strange talents” tinkering with the chemistry set in the laboratory of their inherited Victorian house, plotting sleuth-like vengeance on Ophelia (17) and Daphne (13), and delving into the forbidden past of her taciturn, widowed father, Colonel de Luce. It comes as no surprise, then, that the material for her next scientific investigation will be the mysterious corpse that she uncovers in the cucumber patch.

Review: After a slow start this book turns into a classic mystery, slowly building to a satisfying conclusion. The real charm of this book is the lead character, Flavia de Luce. A highly intelligent eleven year old with a unrelenting passion for justice and a keen mind for chemistry. Her years of dealing with her older sisters has trained her well to handle life’s problems. Consequently no villain is competition for her deductive skills.

The heart of this mystery is the foolishness of youth, and the consequences of not owning your mistakes. It is that cowardness that allows the truly wicked to work their plans. In this story it’s Flavia’s determination that brings those hidden truths out. A great character who I look forward to keeping up with as she grows.

Author Biography: Alan Bradley received the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, as well as the first Saskatchewan Writers Guild Award for Children's Literature. He is the author of many short stories, children's stories, newspaper columns, and the memoir The Shoebox Bible. Bradley lives in Malta with his wife and two calculating cats, and is currently working on the next Flavia de Luce mystery, A Red Herring Without Mustard.

Other Reviews:

Entertainment Weekly

Mysterious Reviews

FYI:

Beatrice and Virgil - Yann Martel

Title: Beatrice and Virgil

Author: Yann Martell

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau c2010

ISBN: 9781400069262

Copyright: 2010
Pages: 213
Quick Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

Why I Read It: David brought it home so I read it.

Where I Obtained the Book: David got it at our local library

Synopsis: Fate takes many forms.

When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulled further into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey – named Beatrice and Virgil – and the epic journey they undertake together.

Review: I read this book and even when I was finished I still did not have a clue what it was really about. I went on-line and read other reviews to see what I had missed. I did grasp that it had something to do with the holocaust, but it was vague for me.

The story was interesting, but finding meaning was not something I did with this book.

Author Biography: Martel was born in Salamanca, Spain. As an adolescent he attended high school at Trinity College School, a boarding school in Port Hope, Ontario. He grew up in Costa Rica, France, Mexico, and Canada. As an adult, Martel has spent time in I Iran,Turkey and India. After studying philosophy at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Martel spent 13 months in India visiting temples, churches, mosques and zoos, and spent two years reading religious texts and castaway stories. His first published fictional work, Seven Stories, appeared in 1993.

Other Reviews:
The Washington Post
The New York Times

First Grave on the Right - Darynda Jones

Title: First Grave on the Right

Author: Darynda Jones

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press c2011
ISBN: 9780312662752
Copyright: 2011
Pages: 320

Quick Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Why I Read It: I won an advanced reader copy from Goodreads, when I received the book I read it right away, so I could give it a review on Goodreads and hopefully win other advanced copies. We use the library, so its always nice to actually own a book.

Where I Obtained the Book: I won a copy from Goodreads, it was sent from St. Martin’s Press.

Synopsis: Charley Davidson is a private investigator from a family of cops. She also has an unusual part-time job as a grim reaper. Those who die and have unfinished business on Earth seek her out for assistance. When the issue is resolved, she helps them go to the light. But lately she is having a different kind of heavenly experience: very naughty dreams of a powerful, dark, totally hot, supernatural guy. How is he getting into her head? While investigating a triple homicide at the request of those killed, she discovers that her soul mate and nocturnal lover is the son of Satan—which, as he points out, is equivalent to Charley’s being the stepdaughter of Denise, who is entirely human but evil.

Review: I enjoyed this book, it was sarcastic and funny. I think the way she writes and thank heaven I don’t always say what I think or I could get into loads of trouble. There is sex so beware. The paranormal part was good and the way the people passed from this earth to heaven was sweet. I loved the description of their crossing. It was a great mystery and I enjoyed the other characters and her relationship with them. Her step mother is a piece of work and the cop she spars with is adorable. Look out for Big Bad. This is a fun book if you like suspense romance.

Author Biography: For reasons known only to the Big Guy upstairs, Darynda Jones won the 2009 Golden Heart® for Best Paranormal Romance with her manuscript FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT. But even before that, she couldn’t remember a time she wasn’t putting pen to paper. Thank heaven practice makes perfect and now she has a three book deal with St. Martin’s press.

She lives with her husband and two sons in New Mexico.

Other Reviews:
Goodreads
Literati's Literary Reviews