Gray Mountain by John Grisham

Set in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia, this book is a combination of murder mystery and Appalachian drama.  Samantha Kofer loses her high profile job in NYC where she is an attorney for a financial group.  She technically is only furloughed but even that early on you know the hills will draw her in and her return to NYC is likely to be just for visits from that time forward.  To his credit, Grisham leaves the frequency up to the reader to decide if Samantha will become a permanent resident of Brady or just a temporary transplant from the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.

With a lawyer mother in Main Justice, a powerhouse attorney father even though he has been disbarred, this Georgetown Law graduate really had nowhere to go but up. Then the recession hit and the bottom fell out of the money contracts.  Given the option of quitting, trying to find another job or taking the furlough and keeping her health insurance she chose the latter!  Smart woman as health insurance is golden. The only option that responded was the Mountain Legal Aid Clinic and she decided to take it.

Brady, a fictional town in a nonexistent county, is the type of place where a little can go a long way. People are poor.  They are more than not undereducated and wary of outsiders.  Unlike the first book we read about Appalachia, these are hard-working folks who have the odds against them probably from day one.  I wondered when I first started the book, if meth use was going to be its central focus but it was a side show compared to the real criminal element in the area—strip mining and coal companies more interested in the bottom dollar than the people who work the mines.
I grew up when strip mining was first a hot topic.  Laws were enacted mandating the reclamation of the land.  Grisham points out in the book that much of the land reclaimed was made into things like golf courses in a land where the majority of the residents don’t have the time or money to play golf.  I know several people who died in the mines. Classmates fathers, uncles and brothers.  When Mr. Ryzer talked about how the miners had lost their union twenty years ago, I thought of the mine disaster that from a couple of years ago.  I lost a college acquaintance who went into the mines because it paid better than teaching.  That mine was a nonunion mine and safety was not a top priority.

People died—good and bad people. Lives were threatened and destroyed.  All good items for a book but not good for the millions of people who live like he depicted every day.  I liked the way Samantha grew into the job.  She began taking risks. Yes she was a city girl with lots of street smarts but in a city where you may never see the same person twice those smarts will require adjusting when you enter a small town where your business is everyone’s business!  Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and the big city lawyers with their slick, threatening approach to bullying the poor into going without benefits, livelihoods and decency truly pissed her off. I know he probably won’t write a follow-up to this but I have written my own next chapter!  I look forward to discussing it with you at our next meeting!

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

This book took a bit to get into.  In fact it took over a hundred pages before I was hooked.  Since this is only the second novel of Mr. King’s I have read I guess I was hoping for the book to draw me in like so many of the movies and miniseries have.  I think this will make a great movie too!

This is a multifaceted story of people who have social, psychological and personal issues.  Each of the characters here has some form of these issues.

Brady Hartsfield is one very disturbed young man but I should have expected nothing less.  Once the source of his psychosis begins to become clear then the story gets more interested.  He holds two jobs, cares for a dependent mother and kills people.  He is both a victim and a victimizer.  Very intelligent, he cannot cope with normality on a day to day basis. His mother, Debbie is not quite as dysfunctional as she seemed. True she was a drunk, but highly functioning as proven in the end.

The Trelawney family is equally dysfunctional.  Olivia and Holly (Gibney) both suffer from OCD and who knows what else.  Olivia’s care was used in the first murder and then she was driven over the proverbial edge by the driver through some very unusual methods.  Holly manages to control her own illness to capture the same killer!  Janey had come around to believing she might find some happiness when Brady kills her trying to kill Hodges.

Bill Hodges is trying to deal with retirement and thinks about killing himself.  Brady exploits that thinking it would be a fun thing to do—make the guy bite the bullet in reality. 

Jerome is the least confused in the entire group. His social issue is more based on the fact that he is a brilliant young black man who falls into Ebonics from time to time and likes to hang out with the retired old guy whom he alternately learns from and teaches.

The technical details of the story fascinate me.  I hope they are not able to hook into our computers and control our lives. It does make you think twice about allowing a third party to work on the computer though! 

Do I like the way the story ends?  Yes and no.  For those who survive life improves. However for the survivors, there are the memories of those who did not.  As for Brady Hartsfield?  I think he lives to wreak havoc again!

Just One More Damned Thing by Jodi Taylor

What if?  The question is often asked and answers are rarely given.  Movies are made about time travel; TV series popularize the idea and books, as we know delve into the topic.  Jodi Taylor has combined many things in her book to enable the audience to not only believe in time travel but look forward to the journey with the characters.

This book offers science fiction, history, intrigue and espionage all wrapped up nicely with a human interest side tossed into the mix to make it believable.  While she delves into some more than others, each character is quite human. Maxwell is a loner. She has had a rough childhood but found solace in books and history.  She is fiercely independent, does not tolerate alcohol well, is slow to trust others and extremely stubborn. Each of these traits has her both competent and inept at the same time.  I was very happy when she began her relationship with Leon Farrell.  His is the only other character’s story that gets much detail.  Other seems more surface that deep. I assume each character is essentially a loner who is very intelligent and willing to give up interaction with the outside world to achieve and experience time travel.

St. Mary’s is like I imagine many secret institutions.   It is filled with intelligent people who think what they have to offer is better than anything anyone else has to offer.  The experiments are secret. Interaction with the outside world is discouraged but participants are expected to build teams.  Funding is both plentiful and tight.  The work done there is important and most likely never to be told to the world!

What I liked:  the concept to time travel. I often wonder what it would be like to see the world in a different time. I do not think I would be the least bit interested in going by 68 million years though!  I liked the technical aspects of the pods.  Not only could they blend in but the modules could tape what was happening for later investigation. I liked Maxwell’s sense of loyalty and determination to always complete the job. I liked that even though members of the group disliked one another they still worked to get the job done.

What I didn’t like: the pregnancy. Was that supposed to depict the depth of despair, that she could fall no lower? I disliked that so many were lost on the trips but recognize that if one drops into an historical event, one must expect that it might get dicey!  I dislike, but totally believe it possible, that some are willing to break the law to make a fortune, even to the point of going into history and changing it.

I really wish the book ended its story. I understand the idea of a series but would prefer something more definitive.  Now I have to read the others!

China Dolls by Lisa See

This book is historical fiction.  I enjoy reading the genre and enjoyed the book.  I went on-line afterward to read what others had to say regarding it and found a mixed bag of comments. Folks either liked it or found it wanting.  For those who did not like it they wondered how these three women became and remained friends despite such varied backgrounds.  Having given some thought to that I find it much easier to see how they did versus how they would not. 

It was 1938 and these three women were doing what most young ladies would never do—let alone young ladies of breeding.  However, each was a damaged person in her own way.  Grace Lee was fleeing an abusive father. Ruby Tom was hiding her Japanese heritage and Helen Fong was dealing with many issues, least of all being a daughter who had perceivably brought shame to the family. The author does a good job of letting the reader know what the backstory is to each girl as the story develops. Helen’s story is the last to be fully detailed.  It goes to the heart of many traditional Asian families of the time who held daughters accountable for things beyond their control.

Relationships are interesting.  Grace and Ruby wanted the same man.  Ruby was not picky about her relationships and Grace was.  Helen appears a bit jealous of both at times, possibly because she is judged so harshly.  While she seemed to like both girls, I do believe Grace was her best friend as they had more in common than did Helen and Ruby.  When Helen turned Ruby into the authorities for being Japanese she was dealing with her past.  It is not until near the end of the book that we learn why she did this.  Maybe this is why some thought these girls would never have been friends.

Those who did enjoy the book liked the details of the circuit of dance girls and the entertainment of the late 30s and even to the post war era.  I do not recall ever hearing about the travelling shows discussed in the book but then I doubt they ever made it to WV!  Reading the Acknowledgements at the book’s end lets me know that such tours existed and so did many of the people in the book.  Fascinating characters formed from collections of history makes this book come alive for me.

Grace Lee is a talented young lady running for her life.  She makes her way in a hard world and with the help of Ruby and Helen survives in a world that could have eaten her alive.  She meets Joe early, falls in love, appears to lose him to Ruby and eventually marries him and lives a great life.  She was always focused on making a life for herself.  She however, never forgot her mother, sending money back to her through her own dance teacher. This was done to protect her mother from her father’s wrath. It is amazing that her father for all his abusive actions toward her remained proud of Grace to his dying day. If only he would have shown that instead of beating her.  But, then she would not have left, made her way to San Francisco and become famous.

Helen Fong was a dutiful daughter. Her parents had sent her back to China where she married a Chinese man. Then why was her own father so derogatory?  Was it only because she was a girl?  Helen meets Grace and sees in her someone she fears she will never be—strong and independent.  Helen takes a stand about dancing telling her father she will be adding more to the family coffers than her brothers.  Money talks and she goes into business.  When she meets and falls in love with an Occidental she is continuing to shame her family.  Becoming pregnant does not help. So, marrying a gay man makes it all better.  She has Tommy, her father is happy she is married and ironically, Eddie is more accepted by her father than she is.  Sad that her father never seemed to recognize her value any more than Grace’s did.  Still she goes on to become very successful herself. Only when we learn her true story to we realize just how strong a person Helen really is.

Ruby Tom so wanted to be someone other than who she was.  Being Japanese was not easy before the war and certainly not easier after the war.  She did what she had to do to survive and didn’t really care who she used or hurt in the process. At least that is the way she is portrayed.  I think she has a different backstory that wasn’t brought completely out by the author.  Learning to entertain all those Navy guys at a very young age indicates there is much more than just being a dancer to her life.  She is the one who essentially dances nude in the shows, has numerous affairs and even five husbands. 

I think even the naming of these girls reflects their character.  Grace was graceful. She was caring and forgiving. Ruby was flashy even to the end.  Helen was stable and strong.  So, I tend to agree that Lisa See developed a great historical novel about interesting women who lived in a time fraught with hardship and progress.  They survived.  Many did not.

Copperhead Road by Roger Canaff

First let me start by saying that I know the author.  Therefore I probably have a bias toward this book that others might not.  That out front, I did enjoy the book.  Enjoying the book is not something I intended to do.  Sound conflicted?  It should.  The book is well written and holds ones interest.  You want the main character to be alright.  The subject matter is what I did not like.  I know that this occurs and that continues to bother me.  No child should ever have to live through the abuse, the fear and the thoughts of unworthiness that the main character does in this book.  That is what I did not like.

 John is a bright person who lost much of his early childhood into middle school to a predator who raped him and other young boys all in the name of being a trusted member of society.  How often does this happen?  I imagine that many young people, male and female are victimized like this on a daily basis.  Why do they not just step forward and demand the abuser be punished?  Reading the book gave me some insight into that.  A child is taught to respect their elders.  When an adult tells you you are a special friend, it makes you feel important.  When that adult also threatens you if you tell, then you are scared.  John did tell and others did not believe him.  Where else did he have to go?

Cotler is the one I cannot really figure out.  He has this sixth sense about tracking things and yet failed to see what his best friend was going through.  He should have known and told his father.  Was this a flaw in his own character?  Did he really know and did not know how to tell his father?

Vinnie is the person I feel sorriest for. He will always be the victim.  He tried to be different but I doubt he could ever make the change, hence his actions.  John is a survivor.  He matures and stands on his own two feet. 

 Without doing a total recap of the story, this book is about surviving.  Some of the young men do and others do not. It is also about revenge.  Lon is one who sets about exacting revenge in the wrong way while enlisting John and Vinnie to help him.  Coach Bonner gives John great advice about keeping his circle of confidants small.  Steve proves a good, sympathetic friend. 

This book is also a wake-up call to adults.  Maybe things were different in 1985.  Adults missed the occasion to help these boys on many occasions.  From the doctor to the lawyer, folks turned a blind ey to how a child could receive such injuries.  Were they that ignorant or were they burying their heads in the sand?

Jim Kelly is a whole different story.  I think there is a special place in hell for folks like him and I pray that he is there!

White Heat by M. J. McGrath

Some mysteries you read and can’t put down. Some make you want to read every other book ever written by the author.  This is not one of those.  It is well written but I could not get into the location.  I have no prior knowledge of Inuit culture, language or even of life in the Arctic Circle.  If I didn’t think about the conditions, the food, the cold, etc. I was able to get into the mystery! 

I cannot imagine life in the Arctic.  The farthest north I have been is Thunder Bay, Ontario and that was during the summer months. Six months of darkness would drive me insane. I could handle the long day much better.  I also can never imagine my favorite food being seal blubber and blood soup.

I think the author did a great job of describing life in this part of the world.  Alcoholism and drug abuse run rampant as does despair and people looking for a quick dollar.  Like in the Killing in the Hills, people are caught up in the circumstances of living to the point that they are willing to go to almost any lengths, including murder, to improve their own life.

Joe and Edie were two who seemed to have come to terms with life in Autisaq. Edie was guiding tours into the wild and teaching at the school. She had stopped drinking two years prior and was using much of her guide money to help her stepson, Joe, save enough money to enter nursing school.  Then a series of accidents happen which threatens to destroy the life they are building.  Joe ends up dead, an apparent suicide!  Of course, the reader does not think he was the type to commit suicide any more than his step-mother does.  I first thought it was a bit too easy but as the story developed the complexity of life in the wild drew the reader into its tangled web.

Edie is a multifaceted woman, half Inuit, half foreign!  She works hard, plays hard, maintains a relationship with her ex-husband, and often prefers her dogs and the frozen world to interaction with many humans.  She is also a very determined individual who is determined to get to the bottom of the murders/accidents that cost her her job and her step-son.  To do so she must rely on a policeman who prefers to watch the goings on of lemmings to doing any real work.  However, Derek Pallister does not like to let go of a hunch any more than Edie.  Together they get to the bottom of this and the outcome will surprise most! 

M J McGrath ties many themes into the novel.  Russian vs US desires to gain access to Arctic oil and gas rights, possible terrorism in the blowing up of an oil rig, meth labs, murder and interpersonal relationships make for a good read.  Now if I could just get over my inability to like the cold, the raw food, and the names I can’t pronounce!

Hanson's Mariners by Richard Towers

As we know this is written by one of our community!  I am pleased to have it offered as a book club selection.  I hope you did as well! I spent 33 years in the education system and this book rang true to my experiences, if not true to my actual experiences.

Rob Mariner is a man of many facets and I liked them all. He was not wishy-washy. He set goals and went after them even when things got rough.  He was not a superhero, nor should he be.  Superheroes do not make good principals.  He cared about his students and took risks on their behalf.  He was a gentle soul who made Denny’s mother feel pride in her son (was he really dealing drugs out of the deli?  Great twist to the end and wrapped it all up!) He was a no-nonsense principal who could get students to understand the wrongfulness of their ways while still allowing them to keep their humanity. 

Many things occurred in this book which makes it not only enjoyable but also a good read.  There are many portions that ring true.  The poetry game seemed appropriate given their backgrounds and that they were working to make the Friday evening meal special. While I would have liked Rob to go marching over to “bring Liv back” it fits his personality. He was focused and that focus was the source of their problems.  Had he gone it would not have fit the character as well. Also, because there is always there hint of antagonism between him and his father I see that as something he would not do.  It is quite appropriate that Les and Rob not get along. Les wanted the job and was set up as a non-team player even for Andrew.  Rob’s hospitalizations also fit. Anyone who is under that kind of stress will have health issues and these humanize him.  The book really does not slow. It took me three days to read because I did not have time to read straight through.  I never had to go back and reread to keep things straight.

As any good author will let you know there must be a twist or two!  Les and Mr. Pulaski being twins added to the suspense.  I saw Les as an ass but never a killer.  Even his taking money for getting unwed mothers to give up their children did not make him a killer.  I think it was a pleasant surprise to find out he was just an unhappy person who would eventually get what was coming to him by losing the school he wanted so badly.  I have known plenty people in education who are in it because of the power they perceived came with the job. Ironically, most of them did not even like children and I think Les fits into that category. Juan’s father being part of the “Mexican Mafia” is not farfetched either as Juan did not want his father to know what was going on with the threats against them.  Could be he feared his father yanking him from school but the idea of him going ballistic and taking matters into his own hands is lots more fun!  In keeping with the use of poetry between Rob and Liv, the Charge of the Light Brigade is terrific.  It depicts his sense of getting in way over his head—with Liv and their relationship, with the murder investigation at school and even with the problems around the school itself.  the comment about “way too much education” makes it all the more appropriate.  As for the death of Travis riley by Rasheed—genius! I had no idea who he was and it all seemed to make sense after I got over the OH NO!! stage.  I even expected Rasheed to be the one going after Rob in the end but liked that Mr. Pulaski was there instead.

Many questions arise.  Why did Jennifer failed to testify at Christian Pulaski's trial,

and was Mr. Pulaski death in prison accident or murder? This one is trickier!  One of my former students just spoke on CNN about the young ladies in Cleveland. He would tell us to always believe the young lady. Laws require Rob to do exactly what he did.  That being said, I have known people who make accusations based on desire to be noticed, gain attention, even as a cry for help.  Jennifer was a drinker like her mother.  Maybe someone else had abused her and she used her art teacher as a scapegoat. Maybe it was to get out of trouble for the wrestling team capers.  Maybe it did happen.  The fact that she did not testify leads one to think it did not; that she got the attention she needed, dried out a bit and was able to go with her father where she probably wanted to be all along.  OR, Mr. Pulaski got to her and bribed/threatened her into not testifying.  The unanswered makes it good!  As for his murder, and I believe it was a murder, I would look into Juan’s father! 

 If there is any unfinished business here it is what happens to Leon Salazar?  I liked the kid and would hope he made it somewhere and was able to stay alive. What say the rest of you?  Look forward to our discussions!

 

A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller

A murder mystery set in my home state—what is not to like!  The only thing I disliked is that the author, another native, made up a county when we have 55 perfectly good ones to choose from!  Everything else I liked.  Everything else is described perfectly.  Extreme poverty, honest pride, small towns where everyone knows someone who knows someone and the hollers (hollows for non-natives) keep more secrets than can be counted. Despair that comes from having the intelligence but not the money or wherewithal to change the direction of one’s fate is evident. 

She weaves a good tale of a child who is pulled from horrible conditions and goes away to become a lawyer. Has a perfect family, married to a man who also “escaped” and has no intention of ever returning.  What got her to return to Acker’s Gap with her daughter is something many questioned as the book progressed.  I am one who left and has no intention of returning. However, I am not a prosecutor who has the opportunity to put drug criminals behind bars and hopefully enable others to use the innate intelligence they possess and pull themselves out of the cycle of despair that has hit so much of the state.  Meth labs abound.  Looking at my hometown newspaper I see evidence of this each week.  More and more are lured into the quick fix and easy money.  Behind each of them is a person like Tom Cox, someone who knows better, can do better and thinks (convinces himself) he is doing it for the right reasons until the greed sets in. 

The secondary story here is Bell’s itself.  She was abused by her father and her sister killed the father and burned the trailer with him in it.  She went to prison and insisted her sister consider her dead.  Bell tried even until the very end but Shirley would not give in.  It is interesting that Nick told her people had known what was going on in the house but did not want to speak up.  That is the nature of such insulated small towns.  Even the Bevins household would allow a mentally challenged young man to take the blame for a death of a young boy rather than admit to an affair.

The novel is tied together nicely when Carla asks her to go back to her high school and talk to the students.  Progress on so many levels!  She leaves the reader with hope that thinks can change. I hope she is correct.  

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

When I first started this book it reminded me of the movie Memento which I did not like.  Every time you think you have figured out the plot it changed and started all over again.  Once I got further into the book (because I truly believe I should read each book before commenting!) I realized that Ursula was leading each of these lives in different times that simply coincided with the same time period.  Ursula led many diverse lives, some more interesting than others.  I enjoyed the ones that dealt with the blitz, disliked the ones where she suffered unfairly.  I liked that people presumed dead were not.  I liked that in each of the lives she remained strong woman.  When nearly destroyed by men, she fought back, whether directly or indirectly.  She lost much and gained much. In fact, one could question whether or not she lost everything and gained nothing.  Did she live from infancy?  Which of the many lifes was really hers?

Teddy was one of those characters I enjoyed watching develop.  He was a darling as a baby and remained a favorite of Ursula throughout the book.  Maurice seems to have been a pain from birth and remained so.  Pamela is also a character that remained a true sister regardless of the time in which she is placed.  Izzie fares better in some than others but she is the creative individual that adds a spark to an otherwise dull life.

I am not sure what to make of the way the author deals with the men in Ursula’s life—particulary the ones with whom she is romantically involved.  Crighton I liked despite the fact that he was an adulterer.  The relationship was one of mutual admiration and respect.  Obviously the marriage to the teacher (Derek Oliphant) was horrible. He was such a horrible person but a presume he was included as penitence for her having had an abortion.  I was pleased to see that she was able to correct both the rape and the marriage in another life.

The life in Hitler’s Germany is one area I was not able to wrap my head around.  It is like she just dropped in there.  The premise of visiting the family of Eva Braun and actually getting to know her I suppose was to allow Ursula to see the other side of WWII.  However, this again ended with her having to make a terrible decision regarding a child.  One way or another, the child always seems to die.  This one was particularly poignant.

I think many of wonder about the opportunities to do things differently.  Would we make any of the same mistakes?  Do we learn from previous encounters, realities?  I look forward to our discussions!

The Butcher's Theater by Jonathan Kellerman

I have read several books by Jonathan Kellerman but this is the first that provided such a detailed, intricate mystery that differs from the Alex Delaware mysteries I so like.  While it is a murder mystery it does not ta place in California.  I enjoyed the Israeli setting and the insight it gave the reader into the social and political issues that continue to plague the country today. 

The interaction between the members of the police department plays up the conflicts between the ethnic groups as well as the cooperation.  It is an interesting to see how the weaknesses of one person become a strength for another.  History was woven into the personalities of the characters. Religion and social mores cause conflict and resolution at the same time!  It is as if the entire book is two sides of the same coin.  For every up there is a down and every turn leads into a more complicated twist.

Without giving away too much of the book, I will say that I was captivated by the way Kellerman used social situations to add to the suspense.  Fatima was kicked out of her family because she had a boyfriend.  Other victims had similar pitfalls—prostitution, drug addiction, the inability to conceive children.  They appear separate but in the final analysis they related very well to the killer and his desire to purify the world.

Dani is the ultimate detective—determined to get to the bottom despite what it might cost him.  A devout Jew, he missed the Sabbath most of the book. His family is extremely important to him but he all but abandons it to solve this case.  In the end he realizes how those sacrifices could impact his life and family and lays it all on the line to protect those he loves.

In order to catch a murderer as devious as the one here an international army was needed.  The cooperation of law enforcement personnel in the US, the Netherlands, Interpol and the FBI, exposes the criminal mind and lead the reader on a chase to the end that has many false turns.  I found this one of the most endearing things about the book.  I turned many others into the Butcher prior to realizing who it actually was!  I did feel vindicated to learn that one of my “choices” turned out to be a bad guy in a very different way.  Each of my suspects had their own secrets and I am left wondering how some will deal with those.

Without giving it away to those who are still reading the book, I would like to pose some questions.  Was the psychological damage done to the killer by his parents?  Did they create him or was he the way he was by his own nature?  Were the women he killed a substitute for his mother? Were the women killed more than just victims of the Butcher or were they also victims of the society in which they lived?

I look forward to discussing the book with you and hearing your opinions!