Angel with Two Faces

Angel with Two Faces by Nicola Upson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this , but I felt like it dragged a bit in some parts. I didn't particularly like the lesbian themes because I felt they were outside the plot and didn't add anything to it. I realize that it is part of who Josephine Tey was and, as such, should be included, but not as a side plot. It distracts from the mystery and interrupts the flow.

The mystery itself is very compelling. The plot twists and turns, leaving the reader having to incorporate new information that renders previous conclusions invalid. Loveday is one of the most interesting characters in the book and one I would like to see in future books. At first the reader sees her as simple minded and childlike, but as the plot develops, she reveals her native intelligence and perception. In a book that is, at times, very dark, she is a breath of fresh air.

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Missing, A Short Mystery

Missing, A Short Mystery by Sylvia A. Nash
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is actually a short story and it is a bit light weight, but nice for an easy read. The story centers on a young man,, David Chandler, who is missing after writing a book, Murder by Accident, which is uncannily like the story of Andrew Martin who was Andrew's biological father, although he didn't know it. The story has it roots in the generation before Andrew's and the complicated relationships of the 5 young people who all grew up together.

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Sleeper

Sleeper by Barry Friedman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book got a little thin in the middle. The story starts out well with the child present a mysterious illness and the seemingly uncaring mother staying by her side, but talking to no one. Then comes the overbearing father and an aunt and uncle more to create some tension and to give more suspects when it becomes apparent that someone is doing her harm.

Then there is a side plot which involves the child that I find terribly thin. The surgeon is unrealistic to me...at least I hope so. I find it hard to believe this goes on with malpractice hovering over all hospitals.

The ending also is weak. We need some hints throughout the novel in order to make this work and there are some issues which are unresolved.

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Momma Don't Hit Me

Momma Don't Hit Me by shannon bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book and it's sequel, Momma, Stop! I'll be Good! is so sad. A young woman, due to very thin apartment walls, is able to hear the abuse of a young boy called "Kevin." At first, she is not certain if it abuse and she is reluctant to get involved, but as the nights progress, she becomes more and more upset over what she hears. While there is physical abuse, it is the emotional abuse that is worse. She is forced to listen to a character destroying barrage which would emotionally cripple even an adult. The young woman struggles to determine what is the right course to take in view of the fact that she can't see what is going on and doesn't always know what led up to the incidents she hears.

Even when she decides to get involved, the laws of New Hampshire, and its overburdened system leave Kevin suffering for over a year.

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Momma, Stop! I'll Be Good!

Momma, Stop! I'll Be Good! by shannon bowen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In this book, Kevin's situation is still dire and the young neighbor who reports is isn't sure if she has helped Kevin or made the problem worse. It is certain that he is being abused, but the overburdened New Hampshire Social Services is limited by the law, not enough funds and, I think worse, very few options that are good for Kevin. It is obvious that they are all between a rock and a hard place.

The book doesn't have a lot of answers, but it does make the plight of children like Kevin, and also the role of a concerned stranger, much clearer. In a perfect world, Kevin would be sent to loving relatives while his mother received the help and care she needed, but that isn't always possible, and when it is not, children like Kevin suffer.

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Cruel Deception

Cruel Deception by Gregg Olsen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fascinating book about Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. It is also the story some people who showed incredible tenacity in hunting down the proof that Tanya Reed had smothered her infant daughter, Morgan and was attempting to do the same to her son, Michael. It is hard to believe that a person, usually a mother, would risk her child's life in order to draw attention to herself and to become a "partner" with the doctors and nurses who try to protect the lives of her children.

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Run, Mummy, Run

Run, Mummy, Run by Cathy Glass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is different from most of Cathy Glass' books. Usually, she writes about foster children which they have had, but this is about an abused woman who thinks she has married the perfect man, but after the marriage, he begins to dictate more and more to her and to isolate her. It doesn't take long before he starts physical abuse.

The author made it easy to get inside the mind of a person who is being abused and understand why they find themselves powerless to fight back. I think that is the hardest thing to understand. Sitting her reading the book, I know exactly what she should do, but the insidious nature of the soul destroying intimidation places a person into a completely different world.

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The Corpse Reader

The Corpse Reader by Antonio Garrido
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It was so refreshingly new. It is set in the thirteenth-century Tsong Dynasty. It is based on the work of a real person, Cí Song, who is considered to be the founding father of forensic science.

The book starts out with Ci Song as a scholar who is supported by his grandfather who is a noted scholar. Unfortunately, the grandfather dies and Song is forced to return home and become subject to his crass and dissipated older brother. When a crime is committed, he is forced to flee and he returns to the city where his talent for "reading corpses" eventually leads him to the Emperor himself.

Even though one misfortune after another dogs his footsteps, his talent is recognized by his mentor at the school he once attended and he is able to continue to study. There is a serial killer who is killing and mutilating within the circle of even the Emperor himself and Song finds himself in a race to find the killer or be executed.

The author is Spanish and I look forward to more of his books.

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Two for Sorrow (Josephine Tey, #3)

Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a little hard to rate. It isn't as much a mystery as a "true crime" story with a more current mystery added on. In 1903, two women were hanged as "baby farmers." That is, women who cared for mothers during the birth of their children, mainly illegitimate children and were supposed to be finding them good homes. In reality, they often killed the babies while they maintained the delusion that the children were in happy homes. This was all mixed up in the extremely contradictory practices and laws of the Victorian era. In so many cases, the women had very little choice and what was done to many of the was criminal.

Josephine Tey, the main character, and also a real person was writing a book about the life of the two women hanged and the author has her involved in a number of coincidences which at times stretch the imagination. The point of the book isn't who committed these crimes, but why.

There is also a section of the book devoted to a lesbian relationship which I found very distracting as it had virtually nothing to do with the book. While somewhat grounded in truth in that Tey was almost certainly a lesbian, this relationship is fictitious and does nothing to contribute.

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Brooklyn Bones

Brooklyn Bones by Triss Stein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I listened to this on a 600 mile trip and it held my attention. The story is about single mother and her 15 year old daughter who live in an area of Brooklyn which is being renovated. In the process, a skeleton is found in a bricked up fireplace. Both the mother and daughter are intrigued by the bones, especially because it was a young teen who was buried with a teddy bear and some other personal effects. Looking into the history of the house, the two find that there is information that someone does not want to get out.

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James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing (James Potter, #1)

James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing by G. Norman Lippert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was wonderful! I was afraid that any fan literature would be a disappointment, but this wasn't. We meet James as he is catching the train for Hogwarts for his first year. He makes friends with boys who are not in his house and one is even from Slytherin. The plot centers on a prophesy which says that Merlin will return when ever certain conditions are met. In this book, we see visitors from the American branch of magical people and they are woven seamlessly into the scenes in Hogwarts.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the Rowling books.

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The Screwtape Letters

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read this so many times it's hard to even remember when I first read it. I think about 1974. Every time I read it, I get something new from it. This last time, I was listening to an audio book on a day long trip which meant that I read the whole thing in one setting which helped me focus more.

Essentially, the story is written as letters between a newly graduated devil, Wormwood, and his Uncle Screwtape who is in a position of power in the underworld. As a young tempter, he makes many he mistakes in his attempt to corrupt the soul of an middle aged man living in London during WWII. In correcting and advising Wormwood, Screwtape points out the many wiles that devils use to corrupt mankind. In the process, Screwtape discusses what type temptations worked in earlier times and why they are no longer effective today.

This edition also has the later addition that Lewis wrote many years after the original book. In this, Screwtape, now retired, proposes a toast and the graduation banquet of his Alma Mater. This provides even deeper areas of comparison between the bureaucracy of Hell and the gentle wooing of Heaven.

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Low Pressure

Low Pressure by Sandra Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book. Bellamy Lyston Price wrote a bestselling book about a supposedly fictitious tragedy which happened when she was twelve. At a Memorial Day picnic a terrible tornado swept through the park and one of the casualties was her sister. When a reporter figures out that the plot was an actual tragedy, Bellamy begins to get threats to leave the story alone. Bellamy never knew what happened to her sister and there were a lot of questions about whether this was an accident or murder. Bellamy held the key information although she didn’t know it. What follows is lots of action, mystery and a little romance. The book is compelling and fast paced.

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Seed

Seed by Ania Ahlborn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was very interesting. Jack Winter seemed to escape a horrific tragedy when he was growing up in rural Georgia, but something is happening to his daughter and Jack is beginning to fear for her. The book is written in a compelling way and I found myself identifying with several of the characters. It is part mystery, part thriller and part horror.

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Farriers' Lane

Farriers' Lane by Anne Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was the story of a heinous crime which was committed five years prior to the time of this novel's setting. A young man was stabbed and hung, as if in crucifixion, a fact that leads the police to conclude that the assailant was a Jew. A young actor, who was Jewish was tried and executed, but his sister has always insisted that he was innocent. The story opens with the death of an Appellate Judge's death, which just happens to occur in the Opera Box next to the one in which were Charlotte and Thomas Pitt. It seems that this judge had received a visit from the young man's sister and something she said made him interview a number of the participants in the earlier trial. It seems as if the Farrier's Lane murder is at the heart of this murder.

While it is hard to figure out who the guilty person is until near the end, there are "facts" that are accepted as evidence that are easy to see through. There are several examples of circular logic which even Pitt accepts during most of the book. Usually Anne Perry is more subtle than in this book, but it doesn't distract from the story

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The Hyde Park Murder

The Hyde Park Murder by Elliott Roosevelt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Eleanor Roosevelt helps a young girl whose parents want her to stop seeing the young man she intends to marry because his father has been arrested for financial scandal involving investments. She wants to prove that the young man has been framed. Unfortunately, the young man's father appears to have committed suicide, but Bob is sure that he has been murdered. As the plot develops other actual people like the newly appointed SEC Commissioner, Joe Kennedy become involved.

The plot has many twists and turns, but moves at a pretty fast pace and the history of the era is very interesting. It is a nice way to get a little history lesson with a pretty engaging mystery.

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(Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #2)

Spirit Walker by Michelle Paver
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was OK, but I never engaged with the characters. The book was mainly about surviving in the woods and escaping a huge maniacal bear and eventually stealing its power. I can't say the book is poorly written, because it is not. It just wasn't for me.

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A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the terrible wars in Africa. It is the story of a 12 year old boy who, along with some friends, is separated from his family when the rebels attack. The first quarter of the book is about the children's attempt to keep out of the way of either of the armies and to find their families. Eventually, they are caught by the army and given guns and drugs and turned into soldiers. The book does not go into great detail about all the atrocitis the children commit, but the ones that are alluded to are horrifying. The use of drugs and the tactics that engender hatred of the enemy are terrible.

One of the strongest things about this book is the ease with which children can be turned into terrorist. Ishmael Beah is able to give us enough of a glimpse into his pre-war life to realize that he is an intelligent and kind boy who was turned into a monster despite his intention to not become a soldier.

The last part of the book is his reclaimation and I was just in awe of the people who do this incredible work. One scene stays with me. The boys are in the reclaimation center with other boys who fought on the opposite side, but finally out of danger. Despite the work of the staff, they end up in a fight and boys are killed. The terrible brain-washing that inflames their hatered is so difficult to eradicate that even when they are safe, it is hard to let go of. To all the things that happen, the staff continues to convey to the boys that it is not their fault. That is probably one of the strongest messages...the boys are not at fault. They have been turned into killing machines by adults and used for their own ends.

This book is about Sierra Leone, but it is found all around the world. Children raised on hatred to this extent are unable to use the same kind of reasoning as adults and they kill blindly. Their childhood is being stolen from them and turned into something terrible.

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The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was excellent. The complicated relationship between the characters is rich and well articulated. I liked this especially because it gave me some insight into the complicated thinking of the Taliban and the people who are effected by them. Apart from that, the book was an excellent thriller.

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Genie: A Scientific Tragedy

Genie: A Scientific Tragedy by Russ Rymer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The story of Genie is a truly a tragedy in every way. There was no "right" way for Genie. In some respects, it would have been better for Social Services to have given her to a family who would have raised her as a beloved pet. In actuality, that was the only level at which she could have happily functioned, but who would have thought that when she was found? Because of how she was raised, she was an empty slate, a perfect subject for understanding how language was learned and emotions were formed. No one would have denied her the right to learn as much as she possibly could, but when she began to level out and no further progress could be made, she became a problem with no solution. The people who studied her cared for her, but their job was to study her, not adopt her. Social Services then had the problem of where to place her. She wasn't a puppy. Even with her limited emotional development, leaving the people who spent so much time with her was difficult. There was no good answer, and it was apparent that she would again be "abused," although not intentionally.

The information gleaned from the study of her life was tremendous. In fact, what they learned from her made it possible to better help if another child was found. It is amazing to me that people's experiences actually "create" their brains. If children are raised like an animals, as with feral children, they develop aspects of the brain that help with survival, rather than language. Our brains respond to our environment. I think that was the rational I was given with respect to studying algebra...it seems a lot more sensible now.

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