The Racketeer by John Grisham

It has been a while since I read any of Grisham’s works even though I have read almost everything he has written.  This did not disappoint!  The Racketeer is a great story of revenge in a well-developed plot that has all kinds of twists and turns that lead you one direction then another. In true Grisham style, you are drawn into the story wanting to see the main character succeed against all odds.  The criminal element even has several twists which led to an even more rewarding story!

Malcolm Bannister/Max Baldwin is one complex character.  I did not understand at first where he was coming from. Yes, I understood his desire to get out of prison, wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit.  I understand that prison creates strange alliances.  Somewhere I missed that Vanessa was Quinn’s sister but even that makes sense in the end.  Individuals using their knowledge of the law to put things right is what Grisham is famous for and this is one of his best since The Firm in my humble opinion. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the way Malcolm/Max used the system to win his freedom and win his retribution. The details that went into the scripting of this novel are extensive even though the author says it is a total work of fiction and that paragraphs of prose make up for lots of research it is still entertaining!  The workings of the parole system, Rule 35, witness protection etc. give a convincing story line.  Add to that love interest and the fake movie plot, I was hooked. I admit that at first I wondered why he was going after Nathan but even then thought he had something to do with the reason why he wanted to get out of prison.  I admit also that it did not occur to me that he was in on the “scam” with Quinn.  I do recall that he mentioned several times how good friends they were but I focused more on the “were” than the “are”!  I also remember him talking about Nattie but even when he referred to him as Nattie later on it did not occur to me that he was the killer and would be held accountable for his crime until the trip to Jamaica.  Guess I was too caught up in the story to see the intricate way in which Grisham wove this tale of deceit and retribution!  The use of the film company to win his confidence and get him away from the Bombay was well done.

I am a firm believer in holding folks accountable. I would have been a bit disappointed had Malcolm/Max just gotten his friend out of jail, gotten the real killer convicted for the murders and collected the gold as a reward without a higher purpose.  The idea of getting the group responsible for uranium mining is just icing on the cake!  That is the true genius behind Grisham—righting wrongs in a subtle fashion.

If anything, I would like to know how things progress after the entire group arrives in Antigua. Does Quinn stay on the straight and narrow?  Does Malcolm/Max and Vanessa live happily ever after? Does Nathan live long enough to go to trial for the murders he committed?    I look forward to hearing what the rest of you think!

The Good House by Ann Leary

Recovering alcoholic, Massachusetts, ties to the Salem Witch trials, and leading real estate broker in a small town were all things that made me look deeper into this book when I first saw it recommended in Parade magazine.  I began reading it while we were in Florida, then had to stop to read last month’s selection.  I am happy I went back to it.

Hildy Good could be any of a number of people I know.  She might be what is called a hard living person.  She functions successfully in most everything she does but has her demons that alternately confound her and give her pleasure.  As the story begins she is in recovery, discharged from Hazelton after an intervention by her daughters.  She went into rehab so she could be part of her daughters’ lives and more importantly, so she could spend time with her grandson.  However, the call of the alcohol was not deafened.  She drank—but only at home and only by herself and only wine.  She interacted with humans on a professional basis, her children within limits and her dogs with pleasure.  Then came Rebecca!

I have thought about Rebecca and why she is included in the story.  She is a troubled soul herself, married but having an affair with her psychiatrist  (Peter), someone Hildy has known since her own childhood.  What do these two have in common? Hildy wants a friend and one that does not judge. Rebecca will not let others know she is drinking because Rebecca does not want others knowing of her affair with Peter.  I think Rebecca is Hildy’s alter ego.  The more she drinks the crazier Rebecca becomes. She is obsessed with Peter, like Hildy is obsessed with wine. 

Hildy resumes a high school relationship with Frankie.  Her own husband left her for another man and she decided she would reconnect with Frankie.  Frankie represents everything she is not.  He is salt of the earth—owns his own business.  He is stable.  He cares about her and they can have fun together.  He does not judge her when she drinks until she gets really bad.  He is a true friend who took care of her crashed car and was trying to create a story that protected her when Jake went missing—just in case she had killed the kid!  Hildy was from a more respected family who could trace her roots back to the Witch trials and who had the ability to see things –although she did not claim to be clairvoyant. Her daughters think he looks like a gnome, she likes that he takes control. She went to the country club, Frankie collected garbage.

When Jake Dwight disappeared I really thought she might have hit him while she was out driving drunk.  In many ways it would have made sense. It would be her wakeup call that she needed to stop drinking and do it today.  Instead, Jake was found by Rebecca who wasn’t even looking for him and then took credit for finding him like she had meant to do that all along!  Rebecca’s craziness led to the death of Peter instead. He committed suicide and returned to Hildy in a dream or as a ghost. I admit to wondering if she had hit him with the car! 

I am pleased that she voluntarily checked herself back into rehab.  Drinking to the point of blacking out and waking daily with a hangover headache does not seem a productive way to live life.  She was able to function but it was becoming more difficult every day.  From her mother’s own mental illness to the relationship she had with her own daughters Hildy seemed to be in a downward spiral into depression.  Only she could make herself recover.  No one could do that for her.  She remained friends (without benefits, this time) with Frankie and I hope continued to live a long, prosperous life in Wendover.  In an odd way, I found the book to be uplifting due to the ending.  She was good at her job, able to “see” what others needed with housing, could contribute to society and develop a lasting, strong relationship with her children and proudly be Gammy to her grandson.  I guess she decided she too wanted MORE!

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

It took me a bit to get into this book—not because it is a bad book but because too much was going on in life to focus on reading.  Once I was able to get into the book, I enjoyed it.  I had to check out a few of the questions raised to see if it was all fiction or if there was a hint of truth in the book.  That made me like the book more. 

People deal with illness in a variety of ways and I can think of little worse than confinement to a small room where all you can do is look at the ceiling.  Toss in the lack of what Grant considered quality literature to read and I would probably jump at the idea of investigating Richard III myself!  I readily admit that my impression of Richard III is more of the Shakespearean style than anything else.  I never thought much about him otherwise.  However when checking some of the “facts” uncovered in the novel I too believe he warrants a second look by historians.  Maybe the unearthing of his possible remains will give him that.  Sir Thomas More was indeed a child when Richard lived (seven years old)  so his history is not exactly a firsthand account. John Morton was the Archbishop of Canterbury who restored the wealth of the country under Henry VII and it is probable that the account attributed to More was his.  While the War of the Roses may have ended, old hatreds are difficult to put aside. 

The police style investigation made the book interesting and more believable than just an historical essay would.  The fate of the princes in the Tower is unknown.  They disappeared but where, how and possibly even when is subject to speculation.  While touring the Tower the Beefeater talked about them and even said they were never found.  The previous books we read suggested they were secreted out of the country and fakes placed in their stead.  Since this is a detective mystery, the lack of a body would make it difficult to charge anyone for the crime.  Also, as Grant and Carradine determined, too many questions went unanswered.  Why had Richard not been outraged at various acts?  Where was the charge against him in the legal proceedings?  Where was the confession of Tyrrel?  Those and many more were without answer.

One question that did come to mind as I read the book was why The Daughter of Time for the title?  While he never directly accuses Henry VIII’s mother of the crime, he does make her the likely suspect.  Thinking back to the other books I think I might agree!   The book does make me a bit more skeptical of all histories until I  remember that part of every history is the story!

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

Well, this one left me feeling cheated!  I was cheated out of Trond’s adult life. I was cheated out of so many details. From the time he and his mother went to Sweden to pick up the money until he showed up at the cabin, only bits of his life were given.  Maybe that was the point.  Did I really need to know all the details to understand the man?  I will admit I went online to read other reviews to see if I had missed something. Some left me wondering if we were talking about the same book!  Next I found a list of discussion questions for book clubs and began to realize I may have cheated myself from just enjoying the novel and his vivid attention to detail.  Being here in Florida I also discussed it with visiting friends. The more I talked about it the more I realized it was not such a bad book, I just wanted more!  It was like the season finale of Downton Abbey—how can it be over and when can I see more?

With my husband being one quarter Norwegian and one quarter Swedish, one would think I would know more about how these men like to keep things to pertinent facts only.  BTW—the other half is Scots/German!  Most of the family in Minnesota might relate to this book better than I!  They love their cold, their woods and their remoteness. They are also among the most loving people I know.  Trond seemed to be both even though he fought it.  His coming to the woods to have time to think was a return to what he had known as a child.  He had been as happy there as I think he could be. 

What an upbringing.  He spent so much time with his father who appeared to love him but then abandoned the family.  He learned so many things about survival from his father yet, I am not certain he loved his father—or his mother, his first wife, his children or maybe even the dog!  I think he was afraid to show his love for fear of losing what he loved.  The story developed because he had lost his wife and sister within a year’s span.  One thinks it is about mourning their loss but the whole story is about his friend, his father and his youth.  I think the mourning began long before his wife and sister died.

Thinks I found interesting:

Out Stealing Horses was both the game played by Jon and Trond and the code used by the Resistance for getting things between Norway and Sweden.  Maybe his father was instrumental in getting the heavy water secrets out.

Jon’s mother worked in the Resistance alongside Trond’s father and I do believe that when his father left the family it had something to do with an affair the two had developed and continued after the war but we know that she stayed on the farm until Jon returned and claimed his primogeniture right to the place.  Did his father abandon her as well?

Trond’s father left the telling of his story to another man, Franz.  Was this because he did not think he could share such details with a teenage son? Was it because he was gone before Trond reached adulthood and never had the opportunity to tell him personally. 

Lars and Trond end up at the same place and help each other out when necessary but both are men seeking solitude from early life. Lars felt betrayed by Jon who left after the death of Odd. He had stayed, endured the isolated childhood as the one who killed his twin, worked the farm and lost it due to laws beyond his control.

Trond spoke very little of his mother but the ending I did not see coming. It was as though they were happy once relieved of all ties with the father.

Things I still wanted to know:

Why would his father leave the family money knowing they could not take it out of Sweden?  And why leave so little that it probably cost as much to get there as was left?

What did Trond do for his life’s work that he had given up when he came to the cabin?  If he was a successful businessman then why live such a bare life?  Was that to reflect the desire to reclaim control over his life or was he truly thinking he was an old man (67 is hardly old and those Scandinavians life to be very old!) who had come to the woods to live out a short life?

Would Trond develop a better relationship with Ellen?  She had driven all the way out to find her father who barely had a relationship with her to begin with.  Was it her mother who died or was she the child of the first wife? 

Would Lars and he become friends and finally find some peace to ease their souls?

My take on the rest of the book!

Trond comes to terms with his life and even though he loves the solitude and the time to read Dickens realizes that he does not want to be his father. Trond uses his newfound lease on life to fix up the cabin, welcomes his daughter (s) and helps Lars realize that he was not at fault for killing Odd.  He has determined that he is indeed the leading character in his own life and chooses to life that life as he would have liked his to be.  Yes—the hopeless romantic here!

Enjoy all—see you in April.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I first saw this book listed in Parade magazine and though it looked good. I saw it again in other magazines. I looked at it at Costco and did not buy it. I thought ok, when I finish the next book I will get it!  Then we decided to make it our selection for this month!  I hope others enjoyed the book like I did.

That being said, I was frustrated by the book.  Nick frustrated me. How could he be such a patsy?  His wife was missing. I never for a minute believed he killed her. I must admit I was a bit surprised by her calculating nature.  Even though it was hinted at in the very beginning, I still missed that to begin with.  Amy was a manipulative, self serving evil person. I suppose the best way to go about this is to follow the author’s method of first one then the next!

Nick—Midwest kid wanting to break through the monotony of his life goes off to the big city, meets extra special girl.  Girl and boy fall in love, marry and proceed to live the urban life they think they want.  However, boy feels repressed by his dysfunctional family at home in Missouri. Dad hates women, has Alzheimer’s. Mom is over indulging, dying of cancer and a force that seems to go on forever. Boy and girl lose jobs in journalism industry.  Boy and girl move to Missouri where girl is not a happy camper.  Boy and girl have marital issues and boy begins to veer away from the marriage.

Amy—New York born and bred, she is always in the limelight as a result of her parents books in which she is the lead character.  She always feels more a part of the book than a real person but the reader does not get that until part two.  Parents have the perfect relationship, she wants, feels entitled to the same.  She does not know how to be herself outside the books.  She is thorough, conniving, and evil, a true sociopath who cares for absolutely no one but herself.

In assessing the characters I was disappointed that Nick had the affair with Andie. It seemed out of character and beneath him. I wondered a bit about the relationship with Margo (Go) his twin but realized that they were equally codependent as created by their mother. I thought he hid behind the alcohol too much and needed to be more proactive with the investigation. That was before I learned of Andie! Afterward, it made more sense.  Amy was a bit more complex. I did not see the explicit plan she had concocted. I can understand being ticked off at her husband for having an affair, but her vindictive response is something I cannot comprehend. If you no longer want to be married to someone, divorce them. 

I liked the way Ms. Flynn drew the reader into the characters even though they frustrated me.  Nick grew as a person as we went through the book. Amy became more and more sociopathic and evil.  I loved the way Nick began to read her and manipulate her. I had high hopes for his survival.  I truly believe each person who is evil will get what they deserve.  Therefore, I did not anticipate her becoming pregnant and Nick staying with her.  I can only hope that while Nick becomes the parent his father never was, Amy becomes totally smitten with the child and actually overcomes her sociopathic nature turning into a loving parent focused on her child in the way she never felt her own parents did.  If not I am left to believe that the child is doomed either to be killed by its mother or becoming an even more evil person that she, having learned at the feet of a perfect example. 

The Train of Small Mercies by David Rowell

I readily admit that I am a child of the Kennedy’s! By that I mean that I was drawn by John Kennedy’s challenge to do more when I joined the Peace Corps in 1976 and was hooked on politics with the campaign of Robert Kennedy in 1968.  Remind me one day to share with you all my memorabilia from that time period.  This being said, how could I not pick up a book about that sad day in June when the funeral train left New York and travelled to Washington? The fact that it is written by an area (Silver Spring, MD) author only added to its draw.

The Train of Small Mercies tells the story of one day in the lives of multiple people from all walks of life.  Each person was going to watch the train as it passed them and while waiting, divulged a bit of their own story along the way.  Black, white, male, female, rich, poor, young and old—everyone had a story and felt within themselves a bit of the pain the nation was feeling when RFK was killed.  From the Irish immigrant who was in DC to apply as a nanny for the Kennedy family awaiting the birth of their eleventh child to the wounded Viet Nam veteran struggling to find a place in the returned society, to the black Pullman worker on the first day on the job, to the young child recovering from a parental kidnapping, the stories grab your attention because they are very real.  Any one of those stories could have been one of ours.

I watched this story progress and remembered watching the train’s progression myself. I was not near any of its stops so my viewing was from a TV inside my home in West Virginia.  I had been glued to media from the time RFK was shot in LA. I was actually listening to the returns via transistor radio at the time. I should have been asleep and in those days the TV actually signed off at midnight.  I listened all night long and sunk into a deep despair when his death was announced.  Like many I imagine, I wondered if we would survive as a nation with all that was happening.

I am not going into greater detail regarding the individual stories included in Mr. Rowell’s book as I look forward to hearing which ones spoke to you during our discussions.

World Made By Hand by James Howard Kunstler

Rebuilding the world in the 21^st century sounds depressing.  Rebuilding it as a result of war, terrorism and influenza is even more so. I should have been in a deep funk while reading this but I was not.  It made me feel hopeful for the future even if it is not bright.  I do not like reading about the US after such catastrophes. When, in the 80s I read The Third World War, I had to flip to the end to make sure we survived before I could finish it. I did not even jump ahead here. I somehow knew it would be ok even if ok was never the same as before.

Doing without AC, electricity, running water, etc. reminded me of Peace Corps. I survived but I was younger then. I wonder how I would react today.  In all honesty, I am a survivor so I think I would be one of those taking charge and getting it done. Robert Earle became that person.  He was not ready for that role in the beginning. Like I imagine so many people are after a catastrophe, he seemed to exist in a vacuum, going about his day doing what was necessary to live to the next day.  He stated he tried to avoid nostalgia because it would destroy you.  Still, he thought of cold beer and air conditioning and the lack of communication from the outside world. He missed his son, took comfort with the preacher’s wife and stepped up to responsibility when needed.

Several things interested me in this book. Sociology and politics have taught us that we must interact with others in order to survive.  Aristotle said “Man is by nature a political animal.”  We have to have a system of enforceable laws or the lawless take over the world.  Stephen Bullock gave up on the law and started his own community where he provided for those who worked for him in a more benevolent manner than most. Still he was in control and no one really challenged him.  The bullies of the world rose to the top reminding me that S… floats.  Wayne Karp, Dan Curry, both are despicable people whose deaths did not bother me in the least. I did think it appropriate that Wayne Karp was the reason Robert Earle became the mayor since his lawlessness led him to want to do something about it.

The New Faith Brotherhood adds a delightful twist to the story.  Here is a group of survivors who are looking for a great place to settle having left several other good places.  John Brown came to mind in this one!  A religious group, its leaders have no problem handing down God’s vengeance on the low lifes in the area.  They had the ability to take care of most every situation and served almost as the conscious of Union Grove. 

Britney and Sarah added some stability to Robert’s life when they moved in with him.  He now had a family. I presume they went on to create a more solid family, possibly even having more children.  I enjoyed the ending of the book as it left the impression that even without electricity things were returning to the new normal—trade was being restored, Union Grove was developing a plan of moving forward. As I sit here using my laptop to write this, comfortable in my climate controlled home with plenty of life's conveniences, I wonder how I would fare without electricity?  Hopefully, that is one thing I will not have to know. It is bad enough when the power goes out for just a few hours!