BLACKWATER FALLS (PolProc-et Inaya Rahman/Lt. Waqas Seif-Denver, CO-Contemp) – 1st in series – Ausma Zehanat Khan Girls from immigrant communities have been disappearing for months in the Colorado town of Blackwater Falls, but the local sheriff is slow to act and the fates of the missing girls largely ignored. At last, the calls for justice become too loud to ignore when the body of a star student and refugee--the Syrian teenager Razan Elkader--is positioned deliberately in a mosque.
Ginny – DNF/NR – The book did have a strong opening. What then held her attention was learning about the character’s nervous breakdown. Ginny wanted a strong female protagonist, but the book felt cluttered. She liked 3 of the women, and felt it was well-written, but found she just couldn’t finish it. Instead, she skipped to the end, where the last line broke her heart. Kathleen Derring – Okay - I liked the setup of the story, and the protagonist. Several of the villains (or villainous characters) seemed pretty paint-by-numbers, and I thought the book would have been better with more subtlety there. Kathleen Gill – G+ – She has learned a lot about communities about which she had no idea. The author tended to belabor points and needed a good editor, but the author did give the character some redeeming qualities. She liked the setup of the story (with the mystery around the placement of the body), and the protagonist. Several of the villains (or villainous characters) seemed pretty paint-by-numbers, and I thought the book would have been better with more subtlety there. Linda F - VG+ - I enjoyed the flow of AZ Khan's narrative writing, which enabled me to not want to put the book down. Her characters were intertwined to create memorable members of a small community in Colorado, where with each turn of events, the suspect list continually grew. The reality of how immigrants with different faiths are dismissed is exposed throughout the book, which in turn promotes empathy for others. Marcy – VG - Initially I thought I would rate this 5 stars, very much enjoyed the first half of the book. Eventually it started to get a little bit tedious and could have ended a little bit sooner. Still I got a lot out of the book. I learned more about Muslim culture (although I really wish she would have included way more definitions of Arabic words she used, either through footnotes or parenthesis). The are scenes which are unrealistic. Are undercover agents going to just start discussing their undercover status in front of someone who is not a part of the mission? How can a guard be positioned INSIDE a freezer, and then he's never walked around in there to see what he's guarding, and Inaya is able to get around in there to find the bodies! Nancy – VG - After a slow beginning, I became immersed in each of this book’s numerous storylines. The mystery was always important, but often took a back seat to the realistically portrayed Islamophobia, racism, white supremacy, and sexual abuse. It was also a good education about what it means to be a practicing Muslim in a racist environment. Almost every character in ‘Blackwater Falls’ was well drawn, particularly the strong and brave female main characters: Inaya, Areesha, Catalina, each of them working while also balancing demanding family lives, and in Iyana’s case, living religiously. Iyana’s backstory in the Chicago Department was also well written, but needed a transition into that memory. The politically astute Cyrine and the more minor female characters of I Iyana’s mother and her sisters were well-written female characters too. Male characters were generally OK although some felt stereotypical. A few cons: I thought the budding romance between Seif and Iyana detracted from the plot and felt silly. I also didn’t believe that a devoted religious family like Razan’s would have repeatedly allowed her to go off camping alone overnight without a chaperone. And finally, while the ending was exciting and did pull everything together, the character of the previously mild-mannered Sych suddenly appearing with gun drawn initially snacked of an old-timey western. Pamela - VG+ - I enjoyed the flow of AZ Khan's narrative writing, which enabled me to not want to put the book down. Her characters were intertwined to create memorable members of a small community in Colorado, where with each turn of events, the suspect list continually grew. The reality of how immigrants with different faiths are dismissed is exposed throughout the book, which in turn promotes empathy for others. Ron - G+ - Well-written and plotted novel with interesting protagonists that also deals with timely issues.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: G+
THE LONG WEEKEND (Susp-Various-England-Contemp) – Standalone – Gilly MacMillan Three couples. Two bodies. One secret. Dark Fell Barn is a “perfectly isolated” retreat, or so says its website when Jayne books a reservation for her friends. A quiet place, far removed from the rest of the world, is exactly what they need. Three couples. Two bodies. One secret. Dark Fell Barn is a “perfectly isolated” retreat, or so says its website when Jayne books a reservation for her friends. A quiet place, far removed from the rest of the world, is exactly what they need.
Gabriel – Good - On average, it's *almost* good, so I'm rounding up. The main characters are *fairly* interesting, and mostly held my interest. Less interested in Maggie and John. The narrator of the first-person sections was nasty-and slimy, more so because of the mixture of being psychopathic and being parental. Had some of the standard-issue psychopath arrogant smug superiority, but not that often, which is a relief. Helen – DNF – Read the beginning and the end but skipped the middle. She couldn’t connect with the characters. Joni – Ex – Read it a bit ago and loved it. Loved the characters, the story, and the way the plot evolved and surprised her. Liked that they talked about the Levy Body dementia. She thought the characters were fascinating people. It kept her totally engaged. Kathleen G – Good - Fast past, suspenseful, the characters, except for the murderer, felt real. I liked the two-track suspense about which husband was the killer, and it kept me guessing for quite a while. the killer was poorly developed and would have benefitted by more backstory about his descent into madness; also felt that his wife, Jayne, who seemed so attuned to him, and a trained observer, had failed to pick up on it. The side story of the farm owners was distracting but the handling of John's dementia was well done. The character development was a little weak in some areas. I felt that the first two thirds of the book were tight and had great depictions of the insecurities of relationships and their issues, and lots of intriguing personality insights, but it seemed to go a little wild and fell apart towards the end. Great descriptive writing. Linda – VG - Blackwater Falls is Khan's first novel that is situated in the United States. The victim in this novel, Razan, was a high school student who was tested in aerodynamics to see if she qualified for an internship at Apex Dynamics which is a fictional company. In this novel's fictional context Apex Dynamics is a sub-contractor of Lockheed Martin, a real worldwide aerospace firm. Razan was chosen for the internship which means that she was miles ahead of me in physics. I would say that Razan was probably brilliant and that her death was a tragic loss. Marcy – Okay - This was a bit (not too bad) of a thriller, which I'm not into. It was well written in that it really kept me reading, no down spaces, but it was poorly written in that there was not one character that I cared about (well maybe a couple of minor characters connected to the farm). By the end, I was just reading as quickly as I could to get it over and done with. Will not read anymore by this author. Nancy – Good - The initial plot drew me in because of its interesting setup, and the buildup around the letter from ‘E’ was interesting. But then when all three women dismissed it as a hoax and barely looked back, the mystery was abruptly deflated and became less interesting. For two women who were supposedly long-time friends, it didn’t seem that Jayne or Ruth cared or knew many intimate details about the other. Then there was inclusion of Lewy Body. However, not everything about how the book’s characters related to the disease made sense. Why for example, was Maggie Elliot not worried about her husband driving or disappearing for hours into the night? Etc. Etc. The one character I cared about was Ruth. And even though I would have liked to have known more of her back story, her inner dialogue, to me, was interesting and realistically tortured. I was interested enough in this thriller to keeping reading in order to find out who the killer was. That being said, at times, the plot did veer into soap opera. Lastly, the book’s structure was confusing. The book included many different points of view and it was not always clear which character was speaking. I repeatedly had to backtrack to determine that. Specific organization by chapters would have helped too. Pam - VG+ - I enjoyed the flow of AZ Khan's narrative writing, which enabled me to not want to put the book down. Her characters were intertwined to create memorable members of a small community in Colorado, where with each turn of events, the suspect list continually grew. The reality of how immigrants with different faiths are dismissed is exposed throughout the book, which in turn promotes empathy for others.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: G+
BELSHAZZAR’S DAUGHTER (PolProc- Inspector Ikmen-Istanbul-Contemp) – 1st in series - Barbara Nadel Tourist brochures present Istanbul as a glamorous, modern city, but the brochures don't make much mention of Balat, a decrepit neighborhood of narrow, twisting alleys and crumbling tenements. Until recently it was home to Leonid Meyer, a reclusive elderly Jew who, like many of his neighbors, came here long ago to escape one of Europe's various bloodbaths. But Meyer's refuge ultimately became his coffin, the carnage crowned with a gigantic swastika. A racist murder? Inspector Ikmen has his doubts, and begins tracking down the few people who might have known the old man, including a faded prostitute, a shadowy family of Russian emigres, a disappearing rabbi, and a high-strung young Englishman in the throes of erotic obsession.
Charlotte – Okay – She’s about 2/3 though it and is getting used to the detail. Enjoying it. Gabriel – Okay – Between Poor and OK, so I'm rounding up. Strong sense of place, but what happens doesn't have much connection to Istanbul. The erotically-obsessed Englishman isn't that interesting and doesn't have that much connection to the rest of the plot. Helen – DNR – Skipped some bits, as it was hard to like the characters. The drinking and smoking became too much, and there was too much that doesn’t make a lot of sense. She skipped a lot but the very ending was satisfying. Katy D. - G+ - This felt like it would have usually been too much of a potboiler for me, but I really enjoyed the detective and his interactions with his wife and coworkers. I thought the narrative point of view switching was well done, particularly at the end with the revelations about the context for the murder, and what the reader ends up knowing that the detective doesn't. Ron – NR –Initially rated it as Okay because of its setting and interesting take on historical events, as well as some interesting characters., but changed it to “NR.” However, the plotting overall is sloppy, and the villains are very stereotypical. Several things seemed to be big inconsistencies, or at least illogical. Also, I did not particularly like the lead character so will not be reading any more in this series.
Girls from immigrant communities have been disappearing for months in the Colorado town of Blackwater Falls, but the local sheriff is slow to act and the fates of the missing girls largely ignored. At last, the calls for justice become too loud to ignore when the body of a star student and refugee--the Syrian teenager Razan Elkader--is positioned deliberately in a mosque.
Ginny – DNF/NR – The book did have a strong opening. What then held her attention was learning about the character’s nervous breakdown. Ginny wanted a strong female protagonist, but the book felt cluttered. She liked 3 of the women, and felt it was well-written, but found she just couldn’t finish it. Instead, she skipped to the end, where the last line broke her heart.
Kathleen Derring – Okay - I liked the setup of the story, and the protagonist. Several of the villains (or villainous characters) seemed pretty paint-by-numbers, and I thought the book would have been better with more subtlety there.
Kathleen Gill – G+ – She has learned a lot about communities about which she had no idea. The author tended to belabor points and needed a good editor, but the author did give the character some redeeming qualities. She liked the setup of the story (with the mystery around the placement of the body), and the protagonist. Several of the villains (or villainous characters) seemed pretty paint-by-numbers, and I thought the book would have been better with more subtlety there.
Linda F - VG+ - I enjoyed the flow of AZ Khan's narrative writing, which enabled me to not want to put the book down. Her characters were intertwined to create memorable members of a small community in Colorado, where with each turn of events, the suspect list continually grew. The reality of how immigrants with different faiths are dismissed is exposed throughout the book, which in turn promotes empathy for others.
Marcy – VG - Initially I thought I would rate this 5 stars, very much enjoyed the first half of the book. Eventually it started to get a little bit tedious and could have ended a little bit sooner. Still I got a lot out of the book. I learned more about Muslim culture (although I really wish she would have included way more definitions of Arabic words she used, either through footnotes or parenthesis). The are scenes which are unrealistic. Are undercover agents going to just start discussing their undercover status in front of someone who is not a part of the mission? How can a guard be positioned INSIDE a freezer, and then he's never walked around in there to see what he's guarding, and Inaya is able to get around in there to find the bodies!
Nancy – VG - After a slow beginning, I became immersed in each of this book’s numerous storylines. The mystery was always important, but often took a back seat to the realistically portrayed Islamophobia, racism, white supremacy, and sexual abuse. It was also a good education about what it means to be a practicing Muslim in a racist environment. Almost every character in ‘Blackwater Falls’ was well drawn, particularly the strong and brave female main characters: Inaya, Areesha, Catalina, each of them working while also balancing demanding family lives, and in Iyana’s case, living religiously. Iyana’s backstory in the Chicago Department was also well written, but needed a transition into that memory. The politically astute Cyrine and the more minor female characters of I Iyana’s mother and her sisters were well-written female characters too. Male characters were generally OK although some felt stereotypical. A few cons: I thought the budding romance between Seif and Iyana detracted from the plot and felt silly. I also didn’t believe that a devoted religious family like Razan’s would have repeatedly allowed her to go off camping alone overnight without a chaperone. And finally, while the ending was exciting and did pull everything together, the character of the previously mild-mannered Sych suddenly appearing with gun drawn initially snacked of an old-timey western.
Pamela - VG+ - I enjoyed the flow of AZ Khan's narrative writing, which enabled me to not want to put the book down. Her characters were intertwined to create memorable members of a small community in Colorado, where with each turn of events, the suspect list continually grew. The reality of how immigrants with different faiths are dismissed is exposed throughout the book, which in turn promotes empathy for others.
Ron - G+ - Well-written and plotted novel with interesting protagonists that also deals with timely issues.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: G+
THE LONG WEEKEND (Susp-Various-England-Contemp) – Standalone – Gilly MacMillan
Three couples. Two bodies. One secret. Dark Fell Barn is a “perfectly isolated” retreat, or so says its website when Jayne books a reservation for her friends. A quiet place, far removed from the rest of the world, is exactly what they need. Three couples. Two bodies. One secret. Dark Fell Barn is a “perfectly isolated” retreat, or so says its website when Jayne books a reservation for her friends. A quiet place, far removed from the rest of the world, is exactly what they need.
Gabriel – Good - On average, it's *almost* good, so I'm rounding up. The main characters are *fairly* interesting, and mostly held my interest. Less interested in Maggie and John. The narrator of the first-person sections was nasty-and slimy, more so because of the mixture of being psychopathic and being parental. Had some of the standard-issue psychopath arrogant smug superiority, but not that often, which is a relief.
Helen – DNF – Read the beginning and the end but skipped the middle. She couldn’t connect with the characters.
Joni – Ex – Read it a bit ago and loved it. Loved the characters, the story, and the way the plot evolved and surprised her. Liked that they talked about the Levy Body dementia. She thought the characters were fascinating people. It kept her totally engaged.
Kathleen G – Good - Fast past, suspenseful, the characters, except for the murderer, felt real. I liked the two-track suspense about which husband was the killer, and it kept me guessing for quite a while. the killer was poorly developed and would have benefitted by more backstory about his descent into madness; also felt that his wife, Jayne, who seemed so attuned to him, and a trained observer, had failed to pick up on it. The side story of the farm owners was distracting but the handling of John's dementia was well done. The character development was a little weak in some areas. I felt that the first two thirds of the book were tight and had great depictions of the insecurities of relationships and their issues, and lots of intriguing personality insights, but it seemed to go a little wild and fell apart towards the end. Great descriptive writing.
Linda – VG - Blackwater Falls is Khan's first novel that is situated in the United States. The victim in this novel, Razan, was a high school student who was tested in aerodynamics to see if she qualified for an internship at Apex Dynamics which is a fictional company. In this novel's fictional context Apex Dynamics is a sub-contractor of Lockheed Martin, a real worldwide aerospace firm. Razan was chosen for the internship which means that she was miles ahead of me in physics. I would say that Razan was probably brilliant and that her death was a tragic loss.
Marcy – Okay - This was a bit (not too bad) of a thriller, which I'm not into. It was well written in that it really kept me reading, no down spaces, but it was poorly written in that there was not one character that I cared about (well maybe a couple of minor characters connected to the farm). By the end, I was just reading as quickly as I could to get it over and done with. Will not read anymore by this author.
Nancy – Good - The initial plot drew me in because of its interesting setup, and the buildup around the letter from ‘E’ was interesting. But then when all three women dismissed it as a hoax and barely looked back, the mystery was abruptly deflated and became less interesting. For two women who were supposedly long-time friends, it didn’t seem that Jayne or Ruth cared or knew many intimate details about the other. Then there was inclusion of Lewy Body. However, not everything about how the book’s characters related to the disease made sense. Why for example, was Maggie Elliot not worried about her husband driving or disappearing for hours into the night? Etc. Etc. The one character I cared about was Ruth. And even though I would have liked to have known more of her back story, her inner dialogue, to me, was interesting and realistically tortured. I was interested enough in this thriller to keeping reading in order to find out who the killer was. That being said, at times, the plot did veer into soap opera. Lastly, the book’s structure was confusing. The book included many different points of view and it was not always clear which character was speaking. I repeatedly had to backtrack to determine that. Specific organization by chapters would have helped too.
Pam - VG+ - I enjoyed the flow of AZ Khan's narrative writing, which enabled me to not want to put the book down. Her characters were intertwined to create memorable members of a small community in Colorado, where with each turn of events, the suspect list continually grew. The reality of how immigrants with different faiths are dismissed is exposed throughout the book, which in turn promotes empathy for others.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: G+
BELSHAZZAR’S DAUGHTER (PolProc- Inspector Ikmen-Istanbul-Contemp) – 1st in series - Barbara Nadel
Tourist brochures present Istanbul as a glamorous, modern city, but the brochures don't make much mention of Balat, a decrepit neighborhood of narrow, twisting alleys and crumbling tenements. Until recently it was home to Leonid Meyer, a reclusive elderly Jew who, like many of his neighbors, came here long ago to escape one of Europe's various bloodbaths. But Meyer's refuge ultimately became his coffin, the carnage crowned with a gigantic swastika. A racist murder? Inspector Ikmen has his doubts, and begins tracking down the few people who might have known the old man, including a faded prostitute, a shadowy family of Russian emigres, a disappearing rabbi, and a high-strung young Englishman in the throes of erotic obsession.
Charlotte – Okay – She’s about 2/3 though it and is getting used to the detail. Enjoying it.
Gabriel – Okay – Between Poor and OK, so I'm rounding up. Strong sense of place, but what happens doesn't have much connection to Istanbul. The erotically-obsessed Englishman isn't that interesting and doesn't have that much connection to the rest of the plot.
Helen – DNR – Skipped some bits, as it was hard to like the characters. The drinking and smoking became too much, and there was too much that doesn’t make a lot of sense. She skipped a lot but the very ending was satisfying.
Katy D. - G+ - This felt like it would have usually been too much of a potboiler for me, but I really enjoyed the detective and his interactions with his wife and coworkers. I thought the narrative point of view switching was well done, particularly at the end with the revelations about the context for the murder, and what the reader ends up knowing that the detective doesn't.
Ron – NR –Initially rated it as Okay because of its setting and interesting take on historical events, as well as some interesting characters., but changed it to “NR.” However, the plotting overall is sloppy, and the villains are very stereotypical. Several things seemed to be big inconsistencies, or at least illogical. Also, I did not particularly like the lead character so will not be reading any more in this series.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: Okay