KOLYMSKY HEIGHTS (Thriller-Johnny Porter (aka Jean-Baptiste Porteur), Siberia-Contemp) – Standalone-Lionel Davidson Something appears to be going on at a research station deep in Siberia, and surveillance satellites and spy planes have taken some curious photographs. A Soviet scientist who once attended a conference sends an ambiguous and unsigned message to an English academic whom he met at a conference some years earlier. It is not easy to see and understand quite who the real recipient of the ambiguous message should be, nor even where the scientist sent the message from, or how. He has vanished from the scientific community. British and American intelligence mysteriously converge on the English academic. They are keen to discover who this message is really being sent to.
Dianne - G+ - This book was very different from the books I have usually read in this group. It was really a thriller and the story of a quest as noted in the introduction by Philip Pullman. The hero, Porter, journeys to Siberia and brings back items that will help cure blindness. He faces fear, hunger, thirst, and most of all, deadly cold as he makes his quest. He has to be a shape changer, a mechanic, a linguist, and finally, he is a tender lover. This was a long book with lots of details about life in Siberia. The descriptions of the activity that takes place in such forbidding territory were fascinating. The trade activity that goes on, the travel on frozen rivers, the combination of shipping by boat and truck, the lives of the men who do this work, all was interesting. In the introduction, Pullman notes that the descriptions of Siberia may be made up, may be the result of the author spending months in the library, but however he did it, he created a wonderful adventure story. The book suffers a bit from having been written in 1994 before the scientific advances that could have enhanced the narrative. CRISPR and other methods of manipulating DNA could have added to the story and made some of it more credible, though more frightening perhaps. But it was definitely a very interesting book. Gabriel – Okay - The different factors of the premise are interesting, but something about the way it's written makes most of the novel oddly unengaging. Thriller heroes are often over-the-top, but this book didn't make me suspend disbelief about how Johnny Porter has so many skills--both a rugged survivor and speaks so many fairly languages like a native. The Bible code was really cool, though. Ginny - VG+ - Rereading this book was again a treat. What a gripping spy thriller. There was the suspension of disbelief required at times (the building a car out of nothing???) which worked and helped to intensify the power of the author’s carefully crafted plot. The feeling of racing against the clock was relentless. The brutal environment of Siberia helped propel the storyline. I couldn’t put it down. Ron – Ex – Bill Pullman said it was the best thriller he ever read. Whether you call it a thriller, mystery, adventure, the author seems to make the most outlandish things believable.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: VG
THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY (Myst-Four Characters-Boston-Contemp) – Standalone – Sulari Gentill The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning―it just happens that one is a murderer.
Dianne - G+ - This book had an interesting story within a story involving a stalker. While it broke up the narrative, it was an interesting device and left the reader questioning what was going on. Was the person sending messages to the author as she wrote a friend, a reviewer? Using the device of 4 people meeting at a table in a library, randomly or otherwise, was intriguing. For the reader, making a decision about who was trustworthy, who was telling the truth, was really engaging. The person sending the author messages had it all figured out, was giving advice about the plot, was suggesting the author mention the pandemic, etc. All of this was unusual and not typical of most books in the genre. By the end, this reader’s head was spinning. The author created wonderful suspense as the writer of the story takes what seem to be foolish chances, blinded by love or delusion, or maybe just intuition. That said, the ending was a bit abrupt, the solution a bit boring. But all in all it was a very good read. Gabriel - G+ - Engaging characters--I liked seeing their friendship grow, seeing them interact with each other, and learning their secrets. I didn't know at first if the business with the author and her beta reader would go anywhere, but it did. Ginny – Good - The author used a good technique of writing a story within a story. Each of the four main characters have their own secrets which come to light chapter by chapter. And I did like Leo’s reactions at the end of each chapter though it was galling. From the beginning though Leo was a red flag. The author was pretty good at creating a cat and mouse feel within a maze of more murders and more secrets. Discovering the identity of the real murderer took some rethinking at times. The only negative I found was the ending. Helen – Good – She does think there was a loose end. The story Hannah was writing was too pat. For a well-known author, Helen wondered why she was making so many simple mistakes. The premise of sending chapters was odd. Joni – Ex - I adored this book. Read it in less than a day. I was totally engaged from the beginning, loved every single character (although the “fake” doctor may be my fav), and was “on the bus” for the entire ride. (Sorry for the Ken Kesey reference!) The plot was engaging and having so many different threads and levels of reality made it just brilliant. I do have to say that reading it in pretty much one whack may have made it easier to follow. I think it would have been more difficult to follow the threads and levels of narrative if read over a period of weeks. LJ – DNF – There were elements of the author's writing I did like. Any book set in Boston, and particularly the Boston Public Library, will capture my attention. The author does have a good voice and knows how to create a well-done metaphor. She found an excellent way to introduce and merge the four principal characters. Unfortunately, it lost me with multiple points of view and a story within a story, within a story. Nancy – Good – The ending was not a surprise. Slow in the beginning but she enjoyed the complexity. She enjoyed the ending but felt as though it was trying too hard. Ron – VG – Thought the letters were well done.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: G+
A LONG SHADOW (PolProc-CI Shadow-England-Contemp) – 1st in series – H.L. Marsay When the bodies of a young, homeless girl and a girl who disappeared thirty years ago are found on the same day, residents in the historic city of York are aghast. It seems unlikely the two cases are related, and yet some of the same players knew both victims. As Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow and his eager new partner, Sergeant Jimmy Chang, dive into their investigation, they uncover a complicated web of pop stars, pub owners, shopkeepers and old school friends who each have something to hide.
Christine – VG – Loved that the book was set in York, her neck of the woods and a place she loves. However, she was glad it was only 200 pages long as it was over-the-top and silly. She did like the younger detective. It was a cozy with a mystery. Dianne – Okay - This book is one of several about detective Shadow I have read. It is a book to read on a plane. There was a lot of intrigue, many red herrings, etc. Altogether, it was just okay. The writing wasn’t bad, not too many mannerisms, but the detective is a fuddyduddy and unpleasantly rude to his sergeant. A so-so mystery. Ginny – DNF - Honestly, I began reading the book and soon tossed it out. Joni – VG - Sadly, I read it a few weeks ago so any comments are vague, general, and less than insightful due to a glitch in my personal memory. I liked the book and got through it quite quickly. I liked Shadow and his partner although I am starting to find some characterizations in many mysteries mind-numbing cliches. I enjoyed the plot and didn’t guess the resolution by the second chapter which is always a big plus for me. I was interested in how an aspect of the social structure of the homeless was portrayed. As a social worker I worked with that population for several years and the writer seemed to be consciously trying to be sensitive which was also a big plus. Ron - Okay
Something appears to be going on at a research station deep in Siberia, and surveillance satellites and spy planes have taken some curious photographs. A Soviet scientist who once attended a conference sends an ambiguous and unsigned message to an English academic whom he met at a conference some years earlier. It is not easy to see and understand quite who the real recipient of the ambiguous message should be, nor even where the scientist sent the message from, or how. He has vanished from the scientific community. British and American intelligence mysteriously converge on the English academic. They are keen to discover who this message is really being sent to.
Dianne - G+ - This book was very different from the books I have usually read in this group. It was really a thriller and the story of a quest as noted in the introduction by Philip Pullman. The hero, Porter, journeys to Siberia and brings back items that will help cure blindness. He faces fear, hunger, thirst, and most of all, deadly cold as he makes his quest. He has to be a shape changer, a mechanic, a linguist, and finally, he is a tender lover. This was a long book with lots of details about life in Siberia. The descriptions of the activity that takes place in such forbidding territory were fascinating. The trade activity that goes on, the travel on frozen rivers, the combination of shipping by boat and truck, the lives of the men who do this work, all was interesting. In the introduction, Pullman notes that the descriptions of Siberia may be made up, may be the result of the author spending months in the library, but however he did it, he created a wonderful adventure story. The book suffers a bit from having been written in 1994 before the scientific advances that could have enhanced the narrative. CRISPR and other methods of manipulating DNA could have added to the story and made some of it more credible, though more frightening perhaps. But it was definitely a very interesting book.
Gabriel – Okay - The different factors of the premise are interesting, but something about the way it's written makes most of the novel oddly unengaging. Thriller heroes are often over-the-top, but this book didn't make me suspend disbelief about how Johnny Porter has so many skills--both a rugged survivor and speaks so many fairly languages like a native. The Bible code was really cool, though.
Ginny - VG+ - Rereading this book was again a treat. What a gripping spy thriller. There was the suspension of disbelief required at times (the building a car out of nothing???) which worked and helped to intensify the power of the author’s carefully crafted plot. The feeling of racing against the clock was relentless. The brutal environment of Siberia helped propel the storyline. I couldn’t put it down.
Ron – Ex – Bill Pullman said it was the best thriller he ever read. Whether you call it a thriller, mystery, adventure, the author seems to make the most outlandish things believable.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: VG
THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY (Myst-Four Characters-Boston-Contemp) – Standalone – Sulari Gentill
The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning―it just happens that one is a murderer.
Dianne - G+ - This book had an interesting story within a story involving a stalker. While it broke up the narrative, it was an interesting device and left the reader questioning what was going on. Was the person sending messages to the author as she wrote a friend, a reviewer? Using the device of 4 people meeting at a table in a library, randomly or otherwise, was intriguing. For the reader, making a decision about who was trustworthy, who was telling the truth, was really engaging. The person sending the author messages had it all figured out, was giving advice about the plot, was suggesting the author mention the pandemic, etc. All of this was unusual and not typical of most books in the genre. By the end, this reader’s head was spinning. The author created wonderful suspense as the writer of the story takes what seem to be foolish chances, blinded by love or delusion, or maybe just intuition. That said, the ending was a bit abrupt, the solution a bit boring. But all in all it was a very good read.
Gabriel - G+ - Engaging characters--I liked seeing their friendship grow, seeing them interact with each other, and learning their secrets. I didn't know at first if the business with the author and her beta reader would go
anywhere, but it did.
Ginny – Good - The author used a good technique of writing a story within a story. Each of the four main characters have their own secrets which come to light chapter by chapter. And I did like Leo’s reactions at the end of each chapter though it was galling. From the beginning though Leo was a red flag. The author was pretty good at creating a cat and mouse feel within a maze of more murders and more secrets. Discovering the identity of the real murderer took some rethinking at times. The only negative I found was the ending.
Helen – Good – She does think there was a loose end. The story Hannah was writing was too pat. For a well-known author, Helen wondered why she was making so many simple mistakes. The premise of sending chapters was odd.
Joni – Ex - I adored this book. Read it in less than a day. I was totally engaged from the beginning, loved every single character (although the “fake” doctor may be my fav), and was “on the bus” for the entire ride. (Sorry for the Ken Kesey reference!) The plot was engaging and having so many different threads and levels of reality made it just brilliant. I do have to say that reading it in pretty much one whack may have made it easier to follow. I think it would have been more difficult to follow the threads and levels of narrative if read over a period of weeks.
LJ – DNF – There were elements of the author's writing I did like. Any book set in Boston, and particularly the Boston Public Library, will capture my attention. The author does have a good voice and knows how to create a well-done metaphor. She found an excellent way to introduce and merge the four principal characters. Unfortunately, it lost me with multiple points of view and a story within a story, within a story.
Nancy – Good – The ending was not a surprise. Slow in the beginning but she enjoyed the complexity. She enjoyed the ending but felt as though it was trying too hard.
Ron – VG – Thought the letters were well done.
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: G+
A LONG SHADOW (PolProc-CI Shadow-England-Contemp) – 1st in series – H.L. Marsay
When the bodies of a young, homeless girl and a girl who disappeared thirty years ago are found on the same day, residents in the historic city of York are aghast. It seems unlikely the two cases are related, and yet some of the same players knew both victims. As Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow and his eager new partner, Sergeant Jimmy Chang, dive into their investigation, they uncover a complicated web of pop stars, pub owners, shopkeepers and old school friends who each have something to hide.
Christine – VG – Loved that the book was set in York, her neck of the woods and a place she loves. However, she was glad it was only 200 pages long as it was over-the-top and silly. She did like the younger detective. It was a cozy with a mystery.
Dianne – Okay - This book is one of several about detective Shadow I have read. It is a book to read on a plane. There was a lot of intrigue, many red herrings, etc. Altogether, it was just okay. The writing wasn’t bad, not too many mannerisms, but the detective is a fuddyduddy and unpleasantly rude to his sergeant. A so-so mystery.
Ginny – DNF - Honestly, I began reading the book and soon tossed it out.
Joni – VG - Sadly, I read it a few weeks ago so any comments are vague, general, and less than insightful due to a glitch in my personal memory. I liked the book and got through it quite quickly. I liked Shadow and his partner although I am starting to find some characterizations in many mysteries mind-numbing cliches. I enjoyed the plot and didn’t guess the resolution by the second chapter which is always a big plus for me. I was interested in how an aspect of the social structure of the homeless was portrayed. As a social worker I worked with that population for several years and the writer seemed to be consciously trying to be sensitive which was also a big plus.
Ron - Okay
GROUP RATING AVERAGE: G+