These Dreams of Another Era Leave Us Wanting More from "Entry Island", by Peter May - Book Review

Entry Island, written by accomplished author Peter May, has two story lines: a murder mystery in present day on a Canadian barrier island and a tale of forbidden love in mid 19th century Scotland. Both involve the same main characters, Sime and Kristy.  

Sime, short for Simon but pronounced “Sheem,” is our protagonist. In current times, he is investigating Kirsty as the key suspect in the murder of her mega rich husband. He is overcome by the notion that they have met before. She assures them they have not.   

So begin his dreams of times past with her in Scotland.

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Not Your Typical Psychopath Crime in “Hollow Man”, by Mark Pryor - Book Review

Hollow Man's intriguing narrator, our protagonist Dominic, is an Englishman living in Austin making his living as a prosecutor and musician. He’s also a psychopath; or as Dominic prefers, a sociopath. It sets up an interesting plot with a cast of curious characters.  I met author Mark Pryor, himself an Englishman living in Austin, at BookExpo America in May, and received an early release of the book. As my first foray into reading Pryor’s work, it was definitely a fun read.

The story begins with Dominic providing us an education about his condition. In his arrogant, yet affable voice, we hear how he has a rather troubled history as a youth, how his parents shipped him off to America, and he is now adept at hiding behind a well-crafted facade. 

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A Train to Miss? "The Girl on the Train", by Paula Hawkins - Book Review

I know I’m late so here is my nutshell review for those of you who also missed the train (pun intended):

The Girl on the Train
By Paula Hawkins

Engaging mystery; incredibly depressing, unlikeable characters. Can’t say that the former compensates for the latter.

Open at your own risk……

Published:  2015
Publisher: Riverhead Books/Penguin

Elizabeth's rating: 2 ½ stars

Broken Lives, an Unsolved Murder, and a Cave: All Part of "Last Words", by Michael Koryta - Book Revew

“The panic he felt then was unlike any he’d known before. A sensation of being trapped in someplace small, and abandoned in someplace endless, all at once.” These are the thoughts contemplated by the protagonist in Michael Koryta's Last Words as he finds himself stranded in an underground cave. 

If reading something can make you claustrophobic, this might not be the book for you. 

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"God'll Cut You Down: The Tangled Tale of a White Supremacist, a Black Hustler, a Murder, and How I Lost a Year in Mississippi", by John Safran - Book Review

A long, complicated title for a similarly long, complicated book. I read about God’ll Cut You Down in Garden & Gun magazine, one geared specifically to Southerners, and had to get it.

Author John Safran, a Jewish Australian documentarian, pursued the story because he had spent time with murdered white supremacist, Richard Barrett. Why Safran knew Barrett is a titillating story on its own and is explained in the book.

The title sets the scene. Barrett’s partially charred body is found in a field in front of his house with multiple stab wounds. Vincent McGee, a young black man who had been in trouble more than out, is the suspect. Why? Well, in addition to being the last person to be with Barrett, he confessed. The twist? It might have been self-defense.

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A Dead Writer, a Curious Teen, and a Crime in "Finders Keepers", by Stephen King - Book Review

In the past couple of decades, Stephen King has made a decided shift from horror to thriller/supernatural, a shift that has turned me into a huge fan. Previously unable to finish his books out of sheer terror, I am chomping at the bit for the thrillers.  Finders Keepers, the sequel to Mr. Mercedes, did not disappoint. Started it on a Wednesday; finished it that Sunday.

Early on, Finders Keepers seems only tangentially related to Mr. Mercedes and I wondered if it was a marketing gimmick to call it a sequel. But mid way through, the rag tag crime team of Bill, Holly and Jerome from the first book show up to help our latest protagonist in trouble, teenager Pete Saubers.

Pete has the fortune to happen upon a trunk full of money and notebooks filled with poetry and prose at a time of family crisis.  In time, he realizes the notebooks are the true value of his find. They are 20 years of unpublished writing from American hero author John Rothstein, who was tragically murdered years before.

Finders Keepers: A Novel
By Stephen King

The problem for Pete? Morrie Bellamy, the man who buried the trunk, gets paroled after decades in prison and, you guessed it, comes looking for his trunk.

King not only tells a fast paced story that keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can read the words, but he masterfully illuminates the important, yet tenuous, connection between authors and readers. One that King certainly grapples with daily. While extreme, King, perhaps partly autobiographically, shows how destructive a relationship can be between an obsessed reader and an unaccommodating author.

Don’t worry; even though the underlying theme is reminiscent of Misery, the plot is fresh enough for Finders Keepers to stand fully on its own. And, for those of you longing for King’s horrors of the past, don’t fret, Morrie Bellamy, even in his 70 year old broken down body, is as dark and frightening as they come.

Published: 2015
Publisher: Scribner

Elizabeth's rating: 4 stars