Unsavory Characters in an Agreeable Novel: "Summer House with Swimming Pool", by Herman Koch - Book Review

Author Herman Koch’s Summer House with Swimming Pool opens with Marc Schlosser, the main character and narrator, explaining to the reader what a caring doctor he is to his patients - how his patients come from miles away because of his genuine, heart-felt bedside manner. He is woefully unconvincing in his delivery.

Despite what his patients may think, right off the bat, Marc is unlikeable. He is insensitive and judgmental. Koch lays down Marc’s thoughts in long, self-important paragraphs that drag on for pages. Surprisingly, though, the antagonist in the book, chauvinistic stage and screen actor, Ralph Meier, is even less likeable.

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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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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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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