SILVER LIES (Hist Mys/Inez Stannert-Leadville, CO – 1879) – 1st in series – Ann Parker They all came to Leadville with the same purpose: Get in. Get rich. Get out. As 1879 draws to a close, this Rocky Mountain boomtown has infected the world with silver fever. It's not much different than the dot.com mania or the corporate scams that heat up over a century later. Unfortunately for Joe Rose, a precious-metals assayer, death stakes its own claim. Joe's body is found trampled into the muck behind Inez Stannert's saloon. Inez already had much more to deal with than pouring shots of Taos Lightning and cleaning up a corpse. A lady educated on the East Coast, she has a past that doesn't bear close scrutiny, including her elopement with a gambling man who has recently disappeared. Most townsfolk, including Inez's business partner, Abe Jackson, dismiss Joe's death as an accident. Death, after all, is no stranger in Leadville. But Inez wonders: Why was this loving husband and father carrying a brass token good for "one free screw" at the parlor house of Denver madam Mattie Silks? When Joe's widow Emma asks Inez to settle Joe's affairs, almost against her will, Inez uncovers skewed assays, bogus greenbacks, and blackmail. Lies and secrets run deep in Colorado, secrets more likely to lead to a hanging than to today's congressional hearings or country-club prisons for the crooked and the greedy. Then again, maybe Joe's murder was purely personal
LJ – VG+ - I thought Parker wrote a wonderful first book. Her descriptions of 1870's Leadville are vivid and integral to the story and provide a true sense of life during that time, especially for a woman on her own. Her characters are diverse, real, interesting and fully developed. Inez is a smart, independent woman, capable of holding her own yet will doubts and insecurities of her own. Abe is a free black man, but still a black man not that long after the end of the Civil War. Reverend Sands is a preacher with a past making him very interesting. Ms. Parker is an excellent storyteller who gets all the details right and includes Author’s Notes to draw us even further into the period. Her dialogue is appropriate to the period. There is a romance, but it doesn't overwhelm the story or the character and very good suspense. “Silver Lies” is, in many ways, about a town and a particular point in this country’s history. The plot is interesting and compelling; it caused me to read way too late into the night in order to finish it in one read. Marcy G – VG – This was a book she’d never have read on her own but really liked it. There was an excellent sense of time and place. She didn’t like some of the personal choices the character made and felt there was a bit too much emphasis on the romance, but she really, really liked it and felt it was well written with interesting characters.
Group Rating Average: VG/VG+
The Woman in Black(Horror-Arther Kipps, England- ) – Standalone – Susan Hill A classic ghost story: the chilling tale of a menacing specter haunting a small English town. Arthur Kipps is an up-and-coming London solicitor who is sent to Crythin Gifford--a faraway town in the windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway--to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of a client, Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. Mrs. Drablow's house stands at the end of the causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but Kipps is unaware of the tragic secrets that lie hidden behind its sheltered windows. The routine business trip he anticipated quickly takes a horrifying turn when he finds himself haunted by a series of mysterious sounds and images--a rocking chair in a deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a child's scream in the fog, and, most terrifying of all, a ghostly woman dressed all in black.
Aimee – G+ - She has 20 pages left. There was a lot of foreshadowing. It is a well-written ghost story that did scare her. She liked the little dog and felt he was wonderfully realistic. The descriptions were powerful and effective. LJ – VG+ - This is definitely a thing-that-go-bump-in-the-night book and so wonderfully British. I knew it was a ghost story when I started. Boy, is it ever. It starts easily enough. Kipps is an interesting character who, it appears, suffers from the then unrecognized SAD (seasonal affective disorder), so going to Eel Marsh House isn’t exactly the best environment for him. Then slowly, “things” start happening. In the best tradition of classic horror writers, Hill draws you into the story until, as with the marsh, you can’t escape. You’re not certain you should continue reading into the night, but you can’t put it down either. Some, I see, have complained about the ending, which I agree is a bit abrupt, but it is also very effective. “The Woman is Black” is an excellent ghost/horror story that should be read in bright daylight. Otherwise, I don’t guarantee a good night’s sleep. Marcy – VG – This is another book she never would have read, were it not for the group. Again, she really enjoyed it. She liked the way it started; it reminded her of Poe. The writing was very descriptive. You definitely felt Kipps terror. It’s a quick read, and interesting. Marcy is very glad she read it.
Group Rating Average - VG
The Midnight Palace(Suspense-Ben and Sheerie-Calcutta-1930s)Standalone - Carlos Ruiz Zafon Set in Calcutta in the 1930s, "The Midnight Palace" begins on a dark night when an English lieutenant fights to save newborn twins Ben and Sheere from an unthinkable threat. Despite monsoon-force rains and terrible danger lurking around every street corner, the young lieutenant manages to get them to safety, but not without losing his own life. Years later, on the eve of Ben and Sheere's sixteenth birthday, the mysterious threat reenters their lives. This time, it may be impossible to escape. With the help of their brave friends, the twins will have to take a stand against the terror that watches them in the shadows of the night--and face the most frightening creature in the history of the City of Palaces.
Charlotte – G+ - She enjoyed it. It’s really more of a fantasy than a mystery. It was a light, easy read that definitely kept her engrossed Christina – Good - Loved it when it started out but then felt it was over the top. She had a hard time believing the supernatural. At first she felt it was too bizarre, but then she enjoyed it. Still she felt she couldn’t quite get a grip on it. Linda S – Good – A lot of it was totally over the top. However, it is a Young Adult novel, which then allowed her to be more forgiving. It’s an archetypical faerie tale. Once she adjusted to that, she enjoyed it, found she was interested the whole way through and enjoyed it. LJ – VG - I was completely captivated by the story and never considered putting it down. The descriptions are powerful and the dialogue quite wonderful. If one approaches this as an adult novel, the story can seem over the top. However, it is good to remember it is a young adult book, and is set in India with all the sense of mysticism that location provides. I found the story absorbing and very enjoyable. It is a battle of good against evil, with a wonderful atmosphere of suspense and menace from something you don’t know whether is real or supernatural. No matter what it is, it added up to one very good read.
They all came to Leadville with the same purpose: Get in. Get rich. Get out. As 1879 draws to a close, this Rocky Mountain boomtown has infected the world with silver fever. It's not much different than the dot.com mania or the corporate scams that heat up over a century later. Unfortunately for Joe Rose, a precious-metals assayer, death stakes its own claim. Joe's body is found trampled into the muck behind Inez Stannert's saloon. Inez already had much more to deal with than pouring shots of Taos Lightning and cleaning up a corpse. A lady educated on the East Coast, she has a past that doesn't bear close scrutiny, including her elopement with a gambling man who has recently disappeared. Most townsfolk, including Inez's business partner, Abe Jackson, dismiss Joe's death as an accident. Death, after all, is no stranger in Leadville. But Inez wonders: Why was this loving husband and father carrying a brass token good for "one free screw" at the parlor house of Denver madam Mattie Silks? When Joe's widow Emma asks Inez to settle Joe's affairs, almost against her will, Inez uncovers skewed assays, bogus greenbacks, and blackmail. Lies and secrets run deep in Colorado, secrets more likely to lead to a hanging than to today's congressional hearings or country-club prisons for the crooked and the greedy. Then again, maybe Joe's murder was purely personal
LJ – VG+ - I thought Parker wrote a wonderful first book. Her descriptions of 1870's Leadville are vivid and integral to the story and provide a true sense of life during that time, especially for a woman on her own. Her characters are diverse, real, interesting and fully developed. Inez is a smart, independent woman, capable of holding her own yet will doubts and insecurities of her own. Abe is a free black man, but still a black man not that long after the end of the Civil War. Reverend Sands is a preacher with a past making him very interesting. Ms. Parker is an excellent storyteller who gets all the details right and includes Author’s Notes to draw us even further into the period. Her dialogue is appropriate to the period. There is a romance, but it doesn't overwhelm the story or the character and very good suspense. “Silver Lies” is, in many ways, about a town and a particular point in this country’s history. The plot is interesting and compelling; it caused me to read way too late into the night in order to finish it in one read.
Marcy G – VG – This was a book she’d never have read on her own but really liked it. There was an excellent sense of time and place. She didn’t like some of the personal choices the character made and felt there was a bit too much emphasis on the romance, but she really, really liked it and felt it was well written with interesting characters.
Group Rating Average: VG/VG+
The Woman in Black(Horror-Arther Kipps, England- ) – Standalone – Susan Hill
A classic ghost story: the chilling tale of a menacing specter haunting a small English town. Arthur Kipps is an up-and-coming London solicitor who is sent to Crythin Gifford--a faraway town in the windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway--to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of a client, Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. Mrs. Drablow's house stands at the end of the causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but Kipps is unaware of the tragic secrets that lie hidden behind its sheltered windows. The routine business trip he anticipated quickly takes a horrifying turn when he finds himself haunted by a series of mysterious sounds and images--a rocking chair in a deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a child's scream in the fog, and, most terrifying of all, a ghostly woman dressed all in black.
Aimee – G+ - She has 20 pages left. There was a lot of foreshadowing. It is a well-written ghost story that did scare her. She liked the little dog and felt he was wonderfully realistic. The descriptions were powerful and effective.
LJ – VG+ - This is definitely a thing-that-go-bump-in-the-night book and so wonderfully British. I knew it was a ghost story when I started. Boy, is it ever. It starts easily enough. Kipps is an interesting character who, it appears, suffers from the then unrecognized SAD (seasonal affective disorder), so going to Eel Marsh House isn’t exactly the best environment for him. Then slowly, “things” start happening. In the best tradition of classic horror writers, Hill draws you into the story until, as with the marsh, you can’t escape. You’re not certain you should continue reading into the night, but you can’t put it down either. Some, I see, have complained about the ending, which I agree is a bit abrupt, but it is also very effective. “The Woman is Black” is an excellent ghost/horror story that should be read in bright daylight. Otherwise, I don’t guarantee a good night’s sleep.
Marcy – VG – This is another book she never would have read, were it not for the group. Again, she really enjoyed it. She liked the way it started; it reminded her of Poe. The writing was very descriptive. You definitely felt Kipps terror. It’s a quick read, and interesting. Marcy is very glad she read it.
Group Rating Average - VG
The Midnight Palace(Suspense-Ben and Sheerie-Calcutta-1930s)Standalone - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Set in Calcutta in the 1930s, "The Midnight Palace" begins on a dark night when an English lieutenant fights to save newborn twins Ben and Sheere from an unthinkable threat. Despite monsoon-force rains and terrible danger lurking around every street corner, the young lieutenant manages to get them to safety, but not without losing his own life. Years later, on the eve of Ben and Sheere's sixteenth birthday, the mysterious threat reenters their lives. This time, it may be impossible to escape. With the help of their brave friends, the twins will have to take a stand against the terror that watches them in the shadows of the night--and face the most frightening creature in the history of the City of Palaces.
Charlotte – G+ - She enjoyed it. It’s really more of a fantasy than a mystery. It was a light, easy read that definitely kept her engrossed
Christina – Good - Loved it when it started out but then felt it was over the top. She had a hard time believing the supernatural. At first she felt it was too bizarre, but then she enjoyed it. Still she felt she couldn’t quite get a grip on it.
Linda S – Good – A lot of it was totally over the top. However, it is a Young Adult novel, which then allowed her to be more forgiving. It’s an archetypical faerie tale. Once she adjusted to that, she enjoyed it, found she was interested the whole way through and enjoyed it.
LJ – VG - I was completely captivated by the story and never considered putting it down. The descriptions are powerful and the dialogue quite wonderful. If one approaches this as an adult novel, the story can seem over the top. However, it is good to remember it is a young adult book, and is set in India with all the sense of mysticism that location provides. I found the story absorbing and very enjoyable. It is a battle of good against evil, with a wonderful atmosphere of suspense and menace from something you don’t know whether is real or supernatural. No matter what it is, it added up to one very good read.
Group Rating Average: G+