Sunset Bay
Susan Mallery
Pocket, Feb 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 9781416567172
On the plus side, Los Angeles CPA Megan Greene is doing well at work, has a great nurturing father and is engaged to a doctor. On the minus side she is somewhat estranged from her shallow younger sister Leanne and a source of scorn from her even shallower mother.
Megan’s life goes into tailspin when she learns her fiancé is cheating. She ends her engagement angering her mother who reminds her she had no prom date. At work, a newbie is trying to use her not as a mentor but someone whose reputation is to destroy so there is one less body to step on in the climb up the ladder. Dealing with these issues seems easy until her father tells her to grow up. However the worst blow occurs when her high school boyfriend Travis comes home as he still owns her heart, the one he broke when she was eighteen. She considers returning to what enabled her to cope as a teen: designing clothing.
This modern day Job is an intriguing character study of a woman who seems contented in her life though she has relationship issues that she has ignored until the plus side of her personal ledge implodes. The poignant story line will leave readers thinking how they will react to what one perceives as a strength turning into a potential debilitating weakness. Although too much hammers as the heroine at one time, fans of contemporary second chance at life tales will appreciate Susan Mallery’s insightful drama.
Harriet Klausner
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Tuck-Stephen Lawhead
Tuck
Stephen Lawhead
Thomas Nelson, Feb 2009, $26.99
ISBN: 9781595540874
In the late eleventh century they fled to the forests of the March from the invaders who routed Rhi Bran y Hud and his loyal Grellen fighters from their home Elfael; William the Conqueror gave their land to Abbot Hugo. Although the forest outlaws have become a powerful force due to their skill with the longbow inside the dense forest, they know they are losing the war outside the March. Hugo accompanied by traitorous Guy of Gysburne and their ferocious Ffreinc barbarians assault Bran’s subjects with a brutality never seen before as women and children are expendable to this ruthless horde.
Robin and the Grellen feel helpless while their loved ones are being butchered. They know they must confront a much more powerful enemy not as outlaws hiding behind trees in the forest, but as a freedom fighting force. Bran has strong allies like Will Scarlet the forester, Angharad the seer, Merian the warrior and especially the diabolical Friar Tuck. Leaving Will and the seer behind with the Grellen inside the March to continue the guerilla tactics, Bran and Tuck leave the forest to rally the collapsing Ffreinc forces under the rallying cry of the return of the heir. At the same time Lady Merian learns her father is dead and her brother is a puppet married to the enemy. Their efforts look even more hopeless than when they started the end game.
The final tale of the King Raven trilogy (see SCARLET and HOOD) is a terrific finish to a great retelling of the Robin Hood legend. The story line is fast-paced keeping the sense of desperate franticness that the heroes face while their people are being butchered. Fans of the saga will relish Stephen R. Lawhead’s excellent rendition but should first read the previous books to obtain a better understanding of what inspires Bran and his loyal teammates to keep on going though they are dispirited and confronting overwhelming odds to become living legends instead of dead outlaws; as even the myths are written by the victors.
Harriet Klausner
Stephen Lawhead
Thomas Nelson, Feb 2009, $26.99
ISBN: 9781595540874
In the late eleventh century they fled to the forests of the March from the invaders who routed Rhi Bran y Hud and his loyal Grellen fighters from their home Elfael; William the Conqueror gave their land to Abbot Hugo. Although the forest outlaws have become a powerful force due to their skill with the longbow inside the dense forest, they know they are losing the war outside the March. Hugo accompanied by traitorous Guy of Gysburne and their ferocious Ffreinc barbarians assault Bran’s subjects with a brutality never seen before as women and children are expendable to this ruthless horde.
Robin and the Grellen feel helpless while their loved ones are being butchered. They know they must confront a much more powerful enemy not as outlaws hiding behind trees in the forest, but as a freedom fighting force. Bran has strong allies like Will Scarlet the forester, Angharad the seer, Merian the warrior and especially the diabolical Friar Tuck. Leaving Will and the seer behind with the Grellen inside the March to continue the guerilla tactics, Bran and Tuck leave the forest to rally the collapsing Ffreinc forces under the rallying cry of the return of the heir. At the same time Lady Merian learns her father is dead and her brother is a puppet married to the enemy. Their efforts look even more hopeless than when they started the end game.
The final tale of the King Raven trilogy (see SCARLET and HOOD) is a terrific finish to a great retelling of the Robin Hood legend. The story line is fast-paced keeping the sense of desperate franticness that the heroes face while their people are being butchered. Fans of the saga will relish Stephen R. Lawhead’s excellent rendition but should first read the previous books to obtain a better understanding of what inspires Bran and his loyal teammates to keep on going though they are dispirited and confronting overwhelming odds to become living legends instead of dead outlaws; as even the myths are written by the victors.
Harriet Klausner
Tuck-Stephen Lawhead
Tuck
Stephen Lawhead
Thomas Nelson, Feb 2009, $26.99
ISBN: 9781595540874
In the late eleventh century they fled to the forests of the March from the invaders who routed Rhi Bran y Hud and his loyal Grellen fighters from their home Elfael; William the Conqueror gave their land to Abbot Hugo. Although the forest outlaws have become a powerful force due to their skill with the longbow inside the dense forest, they know they are losing the war outside the March. Hugo accompanied by traitorous Guy of Gysburne and their ferocious Ffreinc barbarians assault Bran’s subjects with a brutality never seen before as women and children are expendable to this ruthless horde.
Robin and the Grellen feel helpless while their loved ones are being butchered. They know they must confront a much more powerful enemy not as outlaws hiding behind trees in the forest, but as a freedom fighting force. Bran has strong allies like Will Scarlet the forester, Angharad the seer, Merian the warrior and especially the diabolical Friar Tuck. Leaving Will and the seer behind with the Grellen inside the March to continue the guerilla tactics, Bran and Tuck leave the forest to rally the collapsing Ffreinc forces under the rallying cry of the return of the heir. At the same time Lady Merian learns her father is dead and her brother is a puppet married to the enemy. Their efforts look even more hopeless than when they started the end game.
The final tale of the King Raven trilogy (see SCARLET and HOOD) is a terrific finish to a great retelling of the Robin Hood legend. The story line is fast-paced keeping the sense of desperate franticness that the heroes face while their people are being butchered. Fans of the saga will relish Stephen R. Lawhead’s excellent rendition but should first read the previous books to obtain a better understanding of what inspires Bran and his loyal teammates to keep on going though they are dispirited and confronting overwhelming odds to become living legends instead of dead outlaws; as even the myths are written by the victors.
Harriet Klausner
Stephen Lawhead
Thomas Nelson, Feb 2009, $26.99
ISBN: 9781595540874
In the late eleventh century they fled to the forests of the March from the invaders who routed Rhi Bran y Hud and his loyal Grellen fighters from their home Elfael; William the Conqueror gave their land to Abbot Hugo. Although the forest outlaws have become a powerful force due to their skill with the longbow inside the dense forest, they know they are losing the war outside the March. Hugo accompanied by traitorous Guy of Gysburne and their ferocious Ffreinc barbarians assault Bran’s subjects with a brutality never seen before as women and children are expendable to this ruthless horde.
Robin and the Grellen feel helpless while their loved ones are being butchered. They know they must confront a much more powerful enemy not as outlaws hiding behind trees in the forest, but as a freedom fighting force. Bran has strong allies like Will Scarlet the forester, Angharad the seer, Merian the warrior and especially the diabolical Friar Tuck. Leaving Will and the seer behind with the Grellen inside the March to continue the guerilla tactics, Bran and Tuck leave the forest to rally the collapsing Ffreinc forces under the rallying cry of the return of the heir. At the same time Lady Merian learns her father is dead and her brother is a puppet married to the enemy. Their efforts look even more hopeless than when they started the end game.
The final tale of the King Raven trilogy (see SCARLET and HOOD) is a terrific finish to a great retelling of the Robin Hood legend. The story line is fast-paced keeping the sense of desperate franticness that the heroes face while their people are being butchered. Fans of the saga will relish Stephen R. Lawhead’s excellent rendition but should first read the previous books to obtain a better understanding of what inspires Bran and his loyal teammates to keep on going though they are dispirited and confronting overwhelming odds to become living legends instead of dead outlaws; as even the myths are written by the victors.
Harriet Klausner
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The High City-Cecelia Holland
The High City
Cecelia Holland
Forge, Feb 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780765305596
Late in the tenth century, with his beloved cousin Conn dead lying in a cave under Kiev, Raef Corbansson feels survivor guilt and isolation. He knows his cousin who was his best friend and who saved his worthless life. Raef feels that was such a waste as he should have died not Conn (see VARANGER). Raef becomes a rower on a ship where no one seems to speak the same language. They shipwreck near Chrysopolis with his crewmates captured by an invading army. Raef rescues his oarmate and helps save the Armada loyal to Byzantine Emperor Basil under the command of Michael Lecapenus win the battle.
Raef and the victors travel to Constantinople to celebrate, but he cannot as Conn and the magic inside him both haunt him. Emperor Basil is irate when Raef refuses to join his army and pledge dying loyalty to him especially his refusal to track down and bring home in chains if necessary the runaway Empress Helena who has joined the enemy; he soon faces a treason charge. Lecapenus and Laissa the whore help his escape from an emperor, a city and an empire he sees as corrupt.
The superb fifth Dark Ages Viking saga (see VARANGER and Conn’s father’s escapades in THE SERPENT DREAMER, THE SOUL THIEF and THE WITCHES' KITCHEN) is an exhilarating historical thriller that continues the adventures of the survivor of the second generation. This time much of the novel rotates between an anguished yet heroic Raef with no time to grieve and the absolute demanding Basil. Fascinatingly, Raef’s saving the armada becomes yesterday’s news as the Emperor demands what you will be doing for me immediately. Fans of the tenth century saga of a traveling Irish barbarian will fully relish this direct sequel to VARANGER; newcomers will better appreciate Raef’s anguish if they read the previous entry first.
Harriet Klausner
Cecelia Holland
Forge, Feb 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780765305596
Late in the tenth century, with his beloved cousin Conn dead lying in a cave under Kiev, Raef Corbansson feels survivor guilt and isolation. He knows his cousin who was his best friend and who saved his worthless life. Raef feels that was such a waste as he should have died not Conn (see VARANGER). Raef becomes a rower on a ship where no one seems to speak the same language. They shipwreck near Chrysopolis with his crewmates captured by an invading army. Raef rescues his oarmate and helps save the Armada loyal to Byzantine Emperor Basil under the command of Michael Lecapenus win the battle.
Raef and the victors travel to Constantinople to celebrate, but he cannot as Conn and the magic inside him both haunt him. Emperor Basil is irate when Raef refuses to join his army and pledge dying loyalty to him especially his refusal to track down and bring home in chains if necessary the runaway Empress Helena who has joined the enemy; he soon faces a treason charge. Lecapenus and Laissa the whore help his escape from an emperor, a city and an empire he sees as corrupt.
The superb fifth Dark Ages Viking saga (see VARANGER and Conn’s father’s escapades in THE SERPENT DREAMER, THE SOUL THIEF and THE WITCHES' KITCHEN) is an exhilarating historical thriller that continues the adventures of the survivor of the second generation. This time much of the novel rotates between an anguished yet heroic Raef with no time to grieve and the absolute demanding Basil. Fascinatingly, Raef’s saving the armada becomes yesterday’s news as the Emperor demands what you will be doing for me immediately. Fans of the tenth century saga of a traveling Irish barbarian will fully relish this direct sequel to VARANGER; newcomers will better appreciate Raef’s anguish if they read the previous entry first.
Harriet Klausner
Angels of Destruction-Keith Donohue
Angels of Destruction
Keith Donohue
Shaye Areheart (Crown), Mar 3 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780307450258
In 1985 in wintry Pennsylvania nine year old Norah knocks on the door of lonely widow Margaret Quinn. The older woman lets the frozen waif inside, but is surprised to learn the child insists she does not have parents and has always been on her own. Norah explains that she needed shelter from the cold night and saw the light in Margaret’s home. Margaret excitedly allows Norah to stay; feeling redemption as her own daughter Erica as a teen ran away a decade ago to the West Coast with her boyfriend to join the radical Angels of Destruction.
Margaret and Norah agree that Norah will masquerade her as her granddaughter. Norah enters the school and becomes friends with a student Sean whose dad abandoned him. When Norah begins to insist she is an angel with a destructive message, some fear her while others revel in her seemingly magical happiness. However, one person in the shadows has followed her from before and struggles with what to do about her.
Obviously the bond between Margaret and Norah is the center of the tale as they even convince the older woman’s skeptical sister that the child is her grand-niece. Using flashbacks, readers learn what happened to Erica on the road west. However, the key to the story line that keeps reader’s attention is who Norah truly is and what is her mission in Pennsylvania.
Harriet Klausner
Keith Donohue
Shaye Areheart (Crown), Mar 3 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 9780307450258
In 1985 in wintry Pennsylvania nine year old Norah knocks on the door of lonely widow Margaret Quinn. The older woman lets the frozen waif inside, but is surprised to learn the child insists she does not have parents and has always been on her own. Norah explains that she needed shelter from the cold night and saw the light in Margaret’s home. Margaret excitedly allows Norah to stay; feeling redemption as her own daughter Erica as a teen ran away a decade ago to the West Coast with her boyfriend to join the radical Angels of Destruction.
Margaret and Norah agree that Norah will masquerade her as her granddaughter. Norah enters the school and becomes friends with a student Sean whose dad abandoned him. When Norah begins to insist she is an angel with a destructive message, some fear her while others revel in her seemingly magical happiness. However, one person in the shadows has followed her from before and struggles with what to do about her.
Obviously the bond between Margaret and Norah is the center of the tale as they even convince the older woman’s skeptical sister that the child is her grand-niece. Using flashbacks, readers learn what happened to Erica on the road west. However, the key to the story line that keeps reader’s attention is who Norah truly is and what is her mission in Pennsylvania.
Harriet Klausner
Friday, February 13, 2009
Love Mercy-Earlene Fowler
Love Mercy
Earlene Fowler
Berkley, Mar 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780425225974
In Morro Bay, California, Love Mercy Johnson has taken in stride recently becoming a widow as she is generally contented with her life though she still “talks” with her Cy and misses his foghorn laugh. She enjoys writing a column and taking photos for a magazine, working on her in-laws' cattle ranch and co-owning the Buttercream Café except for balancing the books. Her only regret is her rift with her grandchildren; she wishes she could patch things up with them, but they have long memories.
Out of the blue, her eighteen years old granddaughter, Loretta Lynn "Rett" arrives in Morro Bay after hitching across the country to escape from a relationship that turned ugly. Whereas Rett dreams of making it as a song writer or as a truck driver, Mercy wants her granddaughter in her life. Still they struggle to make amends, but the divide remains wide until a crisis forces grandma and grandchild to decide to unite or remain apart.
This is a profound character study of two women divided by a family feud that keeps each from reaching out to the other; something both emotionally need and want. Readers will admire Mercy, whose asides to Cy enable readers to understand her. Rett brings the youthful enthusiasm that anything is possible. Rotating perspective with Benni Harper playing a minor role, Earlene Fowler proves Rett’s theory of life and relationships as she and her grandma hold the engaging plot together.
Harriet Klausner
Earlene Fowler
Berkley, Mar 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780425225974
In Morro Bay, California, Love Mercy Johnson has taken in stride recently becoming a widow as she is generally contented with her life though she still “talks” with her Cy and misses his foghorn laugh. She enjoys writing a column and taking photos for a magazine, working on her in-laws' cattle ranch and co-owning the Buttercream Café except for balancing the books. Her only regret is her rift with her grandchildren; she wishes she could patch things up with them, but they have long memories.
Out of the blue, her eighteen years old granddaughter, Loretta Lynn "Rett" arrives in Morro Bay after hitching across the country to escape from a relationship that turned ugly. Whereas Rett dreams of making it as a song writer or as a truck driver, Mercy wants her granddaughter in her life. Still they struggle to make amends, but the divide remains wide until a crisis forces grandma and grandchild to decide to unite or remain apart.
This is a profound character study of two women divided by a family feud that keeps each from reaching out to the other; something both emotionally need and want. Readers will admire Mercy, whose asides to Cy enable readers to understand her. Rett brings the youthful enthusiasm that anything is possible. Rotating perspective with Benni Harper playing a minor role, Earlene Fowler proves Rett’s theory of life and relationships as she and her grandma hold the engaging plot together.
Harriet Klausner
Honolulu-Alan Brennert
Honolulu
Alan Brennert
St. Martin's, Mar 3 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312360405
In 1914, Korean Regret wants to attend school, but has no money to do so because in her country females are banned from classrooms. To go to school, she must leave the peninsular; she chooses Hawaii where girls attending school is the norm. She signs up as a mail order bride and a wealthy Hawaiian agrees to marry her.
She changes her name to Jin and arrives in Hawaii. However, she finds the islands not to be a paradise as her plantation owning spouse is abusive and overindulges with alcohol and gambling, which in a vicious circle leads to more nastiness towards her. She and some of her mail order bride peers, in similar ugly marriages, flee for Honolulu where they hope to find a better way to earn a living.
This epic look at Hawaii over several decades in the first half of the twentieth century contains a ton of interesting tidbits that anchor time and place but also supersedes the coming of age character study of an Asian expatriate. Especially enlightening and extremely insightful is the WW1 and Depression Eras as the female Asians struggle with survival. Fans will appreciate Alan Brennert’s deep look back as Asian immigrants making it in the Hawaiian Territory before WW II changed the paradigm.
Harriet Klausner
Alan Brennert
St. Martin's, Mar 3 2009, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312360405
In 1914, Korean Regret wants to attend school, but has no money to do so because in her country females are banned from classrooms. To go to school, she must leave the peninsular; she chooses Hawaii where girls attending school is the norm. She signs up as a mail order bride and a wealthy Hawaiian agrees to marry her.
She changes her name to Jin and arrives in Hawaii. However, she finds the islands not to be a paradise as her plantation owning spouse is abusive and overindulges with alcohol and gambling, which in a vicious circle leads to more nastiness towards her. She and some of her mail order bride peers, in similar ugly marriages, flee for Honolulu where they hope to find a better way to earn a living.
This epic look at Hawaii over several decades in the first half of the twentieth century contains a ton of interesting tidbits that anchor time and place but also supersedes the coming of age character study of an Asian expatriate. Especially enlightening and extremely insightful is the WW1 and Depression Eras as the female Asians struggle with survival. Fans will appreciate Alan Brennert’s deep look back as Asian immigrants making it in the Hawaiian Territory before WW II changed the paradigm.
Harriet Klausner
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