Book Reviews by vicki rock

Ken Follett wrote “The Pillars of the Earth,” that was published in 1989. It is a historical novel about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. It was followed by novels continuing the story. “The Armor of Light” is the fifth in the series.

“The Armor of Light” opens in 1772. Sal Clitheroe is taking lunch to her husband, Harry. He and other laborers are harvesting a crop of winter turnips. Ike Clitheroe warns Will Riddick, the supervisor, not to overload the cart. Riddick doesn’t listen and when the cart goes out of control, Harry is injured. Alec Pollock, the barber-surgeon, arrives, but Harry dies of his injuries.

In the grounds of the bishop’s palace, Arabella Latimer, the bishop’s wife, is creating a rose garden to the surprise of her family. She never expressed an interest in gardening. Their daughter, Elsie, wants to start a Sunday school for impoverished children. Her father is opposed because he doesn’t think the laboring class should have any education.

Amos Barrowfield works for his father, Obadiah, who sells fabrics. Amos buys yarn. He realizes there is a yarn shortage. David Shoveler tells him it is because people in Yorkshire are using flying shuttles on their looms, which makes the weaving go twice as fast. People who use cotton are using a newly invented spinning jenny. Luddites, followers of Ned Ludd, destroy as many of the new machines as they can.

Everyone is talking about France. Revolutionaries beheaded King Louis XVI and declared war on England. The militia is drilling daily. Soon prices of food skyrocket and women are concerned that they can’t feed their families.

There are many characters - some good, some terrible - and readers will really get engrossed in the plot. Fans of historical fiction will especially relish this one. Ken Follett does extensive research on each era his books are set in. You don’t have to read the others in the series to enjoy it, but I recommend that you do because it’s one of the best book series there is.

Charles Milton drives an RV on the rodeo circuit in the Southwest. He is pleasant enough, but keeps to himself. Of course, no one knows he is a serial killer.

He attends collegiate and professional rodeos, moving from region to region. Milton chooses young indigenous women because of law enforcement’s history of ignoring their disappearances. He is meticulous in his methods, abducting, murdering, and disposing of his victims while leaving no evidence of his crimes—or their identities—behind.

Milton seems like such an average guy that his former neighbors are shocked when his photograph is on newscasts all over the country. His real name is Ronald J. Addison and he is wanted for six murders.

Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady is called to the scene when a homicide victim is found. The remains are eventually identified as Rosa Rios, who has been missing for three years. Federal investigator Dan Pardee, a field officer with the newly formed Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Task Force, is assigned to the case.

Joanna’s daughter Jennifer is also taking a personal interest in this case, having known Rosa from her own amateur rodeo days. Now a criminal justice major, she’s unofficially joining the investigation.

This is the 20th in the Joanna Brady series. It is fast-moving and suspenseful. The stories of the lore of Tohono O'odham Nation add to the modern-day mystery.

Hardy “Hardly” Reed, 21, is drifting through life, usually stoned. Hardly is a minimum-wage scare actor at an amusement park, Haunted Frontier, in an unnamed Midwestern city. He is probably the last person you’d ever want to count on.

Then one day he notices two children, around six or seven, sitting all alone on a bench outside of the court where he is to pay a traffic ticket. Hardly checks if they’re okay and sees what looks like cigarette burns on both children. Someone is hurting these kids. The children are picked up by their mother. Hardly is able to find out that her name is Tracy Shaw.

He reports the incident to Child Protective Service. That should be the end of it. After all, Hardly's not even good at looking out for himself so the last thing he wants to do is look out for anyone else. Two days later, he talks to a caseworker and finds out that they are understaffed and overworked.

Hardly decides he has to do what's right and help the kids. For the first time in his life, Hardly decides to fight for something. He finds out their father’s name is Nathan Shaw and the children are Pearl and Jack. Nathan is a lawyer who deals primarily with bankruptcies and disputes with the IRS.

Hardly tracks down the family with help from his unusual friends: His foster brother Preston; Eleanor, a female goth city employee; Felice, a 40-something former private investigator turned realtor; and Salvador, 16, a co-worker from Haunted Frontier. Then he finds out that Nathan isn’t only a lawyer; he runs a violent drug gang. Hardly refuses to give up. And as he tries to help the children, his life changes.

This is well-written and has a deeply-moving ending. Hardly is one of the most unusual protagonists, and unlikely heroes, ever. You’ll root for the good guys to win.

Lamentations, a young female servant, flees the horrors of a New World settlement to try to reach French Canada. Jamestown colony is filled with starvation and disease.

As she travels, she recalls incidents from her past: she was born in an English poor house then a woman took her as a maid at the age of four. She made her sleep at the bottom of her bed, using the child as a foot warmer. As she gets older, she is handed over to her mistress’s brutal son and his friends and is raped.

There is a lot of suffering in this novel. I found it difficult to read because of how she was treated. The book has no dialogue, which is unusual. It is a very dark narrative.

In William Shakespeare’s play, “Romeo and Juliet,” Romeo Montague is infatuated with Rosaline Capulet. Her father, Masetto, is determined that she join a convent so he doesn’t have to pay a dowry. Romeo tries to talk to Rosaline at a party, and that’s where he sees her cousin, Juliet.

In “Fair Rosaline,” it is the time of the plague. Rosaline’s mother, Emelia, has just died. After the period of quarantine, the family goes to Verona. The story is told from Rosalind’s viewpoint.

Since Rosaline is going to be sent to a convent, she sneaks into a Montague party. That is where she and Romeo meet and start seeing each other. When Rosaline breaks it off, Romeo turns his attention to Juliet, who is only 13. Rosaline is now worried for her cousin’s safety.

Rosaline blames herself for things she didn’t have control over. The constant self blaming is melodramatic. Romeo is portrayed as a man who preys on younger women. The story is slow-moving.

On Memorial Day in 1958, people in Jewel, Minnesota are preparing for a parade. The people of Black Earth County are mostly farmers, but by what was then called Decoration Day, crops are planted.

In those days, the population of the town was about 4,000. Brody Dern is the sheriff. He is at the jail with a prisoner when Herman Ostberg rushes in and says the body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn was found floating in the Alabaster River. He was fatally shot. Sam Wicklow, publisher of the local newspaper, Black Earth County Clarion, is behind Ostberg.

After viewing the body, Dern sends Ostberg for Deputy Asa Fielding and Dr. Porter, who is also the coroner. Dern then goes to tell Quinn’s family of his death. Marta Quinn is an invalid. She has two teenage children, James Jr. and Colleen, and a younger daughter, Bridget.

Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. Quinn recently fired Bluestone, who worked on his farm, and his wife, Kyoto, who worked in the house.

When Bluestone is arrested, the court appoints Charlotte Bauer as his defense attorney. She is semi-retired. She doesn’t think that Bluestone is guilty. As the rumors spread, more violence follows.

The reader feels the tension building to an amazing ending. It is a story of racism, of small town life and of families. Krueger paints a vivid image of the characters and the landscape. I like how he details in the epilogue what happens to the characters after the story ends.

William Kent Krueger is the bestselling author of “This Tender Land,” and “Ordinary Grace,” as well as 19 books in the Cork O’Connor mystery series. “The River We Remember” is a stand-alone novel.

Holly Gibney has been a recurring presence in Stephen King’s books since he introduced the character in 2014's “Mr. Mercedes.” She goes from a shy recluse to a private detective in the series. She and her partner, Pete Huntley, own the Finders Keepers detective agency in a midwestern college town.

Pete is ill with Covid. Holly is on leave because her mother, Charlotte, died recently.
Holly and Charlotte had a difficult relationship. But when Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating Bonnie Dahl, her missing daughter, Holly doesn’t want to turn her down. Detective Isabelle Jaynes recommended the agency.

Bonnie, 24, is an assistant librarian at Reynolds Library and was bicycling home when she disappeared three weeks earlier. The bicycle was found parked, with a note: “I’ve had enough.”

When Holly sees some kids skateboarding, she calls Jerome Robinson to ask for his help in questioning them. As they start questioning the boys, they tell Holly and Jerome that their friend, Peter Steinman, disappeared two years ago. One of Bonnie’s coworkers tells Holly that Ellen Craslow is also missing.

Professors Rodney and Emily Harris live a few blocks from where Bonnie disappeared.
The elderly couple are semi-retired from Bell College: she in English and he in the Life Sciences department. The reader learns right off that they are serial murderers. The questions are how, why and can Holly outwit them?

Stephen King is a master at building tension and “Holly” ramps it up. This is one of his best. The characters, especially Holly and Jerome’s sister, Barbara, are excellent. The Harrises are creepily realistic. You don’t have to read the others in the series to enjoy this, but if you want to, they are “Mr. Mercedes,” “Finders Keepers” and “End of Watch.” This is an astonishing addition to the series.

Jeremy Rosco, sailor, adventurer and legend, arrives suddenly in Greystone, Devon. He goes to the Maiden’s Prayer tavern and says he’s rented a cottage. Gwen Gregory owns the cottage.

People are delighted that there’s a celebrity in town. Rosco told them he was in Greystone to meet someone, but didn’t say who. Harry Carter, the landlord, says he came in nightly, then stopped just as suddenly as he started.

Mary Ford is on lifeboat duty when a call comes in about a fishing boat in trouble. Rescuers find Rosco’s body in the dinghy. He has been stabbed. Mary is a single mother to Isla and to Arthur, who has a rare genetic illness. Mary’s father, Alan, is visiting and watches the kids when Mary is called out.

Detective Inspector Matthew Venn remembers visiting Greystone as a child. His parents took him to Barum Brethren social events. But Venn has been estranged from his family since coming out as gay. He is now married to Jonathan. Sergeant Jen Rafferty is with Venn.

This is the third in the Two Rivers series. The characters are well-drawn and they evolve over the books. Ann Cleeves is also very good at creating settings for her novels and excellent plots. She is also the author of the Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez series, all of which I enjoy.

“We didn’t call the police right away.”

Mia, 20, explains that when her father and her younger brother, Eugene, didn’t return from a walk in a nearby park, they weren’t concerned. Her mother and her twin brother, John, say they couldn’t have known something was wrong.

But when Eugene runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and Eugene is the only witness. Eugene, 14, was diagnosed with both autism and the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome. He cannot speak and has motor difficulties.

They are a biracial family: Korean and white. Adam Parson is a stay-at-home dad. Dr. Hannah Park, the mother, is a linguistics specialist. The three kids go by the combined name Parkson. They first decide to search for Adam themselves, thinking he was injured while walking home.

Police arrive before being called because when Eugene was running home he triggered a traffic accident. The family tells police that Adam would have never just gone off somewhere, leaving Eugene alone. But Eugene can’t tell them what happened.

“Happiness Falls” is a mystery. It is also a deeply moving story of the lengths parents will go to help their special-needs child. It is difficult to put down because of Angie Kim’s skilled pacing. The characters are what drives this remarkable novel.

Angie Kim is also the author of “Miracle Creek,” which won the Edgar award for best first novel in 2019. Her novels have a theme of how neurodiversity can effect family
dynamics. “Happiness Falls” is one of the best novels of the year and will stay with the reader long after the end.

Orphan heiresses Jane Raine, eight, and her sister, Eliza, six, are sent from India to England. They are biracial.

They first live with their guardians, Dr. and Mrs. William Duffin, but are eventually enrolled in Manor School, a boarding school for girls in York. In 1805, when Eliza is 14, a new girl her age arrives. Anne Lister is a brilliant, troublesome tomboy. Eliza and Anne become roommates.

The chapters about the girls at school are interspersed with sections of letters written starting in 1815, when Eliza is in a psychiatric hospital. She spends the rest of her life in that facility.

Anne Lister and Eliza Raine were real people. As an adult, Anne was known as "Gentleman Jack.” Her final significant relationship was with Ann Walker. They were married in Britain's first known lesbian wedding.

Starting at age 15, Anne began to write in personal diaries, a practice which she continued throughout life. At her death, the diaries consisted of about five million words. About one-sixth of Anne’s diaries are written in a code based on a combination of algebra and the Greek alphabet. She was convinced that no one would be able to decode her diaries. She was wrong.

In the mid-1890s, John Lister, a descendant of her family, discovered the diaries and broke the code, but after reading the diaries, he hid them. Anne’s diaries again remained a secret for decades, until Helena Whitbread found them while looking for a research project. It took her five years to decode the diaries. Some of the diaries were published in 1998 and 1992.

This is a well-written and deeply researched, touching and historical novel of two young women and their entangled lives. It is richly told and compelling; a different kind of love story.

Emma Donoghue has written 15 novels, including “Room,” “The Wonder,” and “Haven.” This is one of her best.

Change is coming to Sweden’s far north: its untapped natural resources for hydroelectricity and wind power are sparking a gold rush, with the criminal underworld leading the charge. But some people are unwilling to sell their land.

Lisbeth Salander, an exceptionally talented hacker, is traveling to the small town of Gasskas. She has been named guardian to her niece Svala Hirak, whose mother, Marta, has disappeared. Two things soon become clear: Svala is a remarkably gifted teenager—and she’s being watched.

Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist, is also heading north. He has seen better days. Millennium magazine is in its final print issue, and his relations with his daughter, Pernilla, are strained. Pernilla has a son, Lukas, 9.

Worse still, there are troubling rumors surrounding Henry Salo, the man Pernilla is about to marry. When the truth behind the whispers explodes into violence, Salander emerges as Blomkvist’s last hope.

Stieg Larsson, who lived in Sweden, wrote “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Girl Who Played with Fire,” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.” He delivered the manuscripts in 2004, but died before any were published.

Larsson’s estate authorized David Lagercrantz to continue writing the series. He wrote “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” “The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye,” and “The Girl Who Lived Twice.” Then Karin Smirnoff was chosen to write the next three in the series.

Karin Smirnoff was the right choice as “The Girl in the Eagle's Talons” reads as if Larsson wrote it. She keeps the action going without lengthy descriptions bogging down the story. The characters are excellent, especially Lisbeth Salander and Svala Hirak. The tension revs up and I was torn between racing to the end and savoring it more slowly.

Cass Barnes and Elaine Comerford are high school seniors in a small town in Ireland. They are best friends.

Cass’ father, Dickie Barnes, owns a Volkswagen dealership. It was once successful, but it is now going under. Instead of working to improve the business, he spends his days in the woods, building a bunker with Victor McHugh, a shady handyman. Dickie’s wife, Imelda, is selling off her clothes and jewelry on the internet. Their son, PJ, 12, is planning on running away. Then Cass and Elaine’s friendship goes downhill. Cass used to be top of her class, but is now binge-drinking.
Where did it all go wrong? When Cass wonders why there are no photos of her parents’ wedding, she’s told that on the way to the ceremony, a bee got trapped under Imelda’s veil and stung her face. Is that the truth?

The theme of the novel is the question if a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? Paul Murray’s characters are good, but the plot is drawn-out. He is the author of three novels. My favorite of his is “Skippy Dies,” which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2010.