Monthly Archives: March 2020

head, mystery, reviews, women's fiction

Liz Moore — Long Bright River

The title of this novel should be Long Dark River instead of Long Bright River. There is hardly a bright moment in the 500 pages. (It could be cut to about 300 without losing anything.) But it’s well written, enough to keep me reading through the whole book.

There are two plots. One is a family story about two sisters, a cop, Mickey, and an addict, Kacey. They haven’t been on speaking terms for years, but Mickey keeps an eye out for her sister. When she doesn’t see Kacey on the streets for several weeks, she assumes her sister is missing, possibly dead from an overdose or a serial killer who is loose in the neighborhood.

The serial killer is the second plot, the mystery. I think it’s supposed to be the main plot since the book is classified as a mystery/thriller (I’d call it “women’s fiction” or a family novel), but the serial killer thread takes a backseat to Mickey’s search for her sister. She’s not a very good cop. She neglects her duties, breaks rules, believes and follows up rumors, and finally gets suspended.

The first person narrator, Mickey, isn’t likable. She’s depressed, insecure, terrible decision-maker, and she doesn’t connect with people. The author spends far too much time in Mickey’s head and switches to her past in some chapters, which probably isn’t necessary. I wanted to like her but never connected.

One thing that irritates me about the writing is the use of the M-dash instead of quotes for dialog. It’s distracting. I don’t know what the author is trying to prove.

There’s not an ounce of humor in this story.

character, head, mystery, POV, reviews, setting, thriller

Lisa Gardner — When You See Me

Hikers find a girl’s bones off the Appalachian Trail in northern Georgia. They turn out to be the remains of a girl gone missing 15 years earlier, a suspected victim of dead serial kidnapper Jacob Ness. The incident brings together a team of crime investigators, led by FBI agent Kimberly Quincy. She recruits a group from Boston who have been tracking Ness’s crimes—police sergeant D.D. Warren, civilian kidnap-survivor Flora Dane, and Flora’s sidekick, computer guru Keith Edgar.

The book combines police procedural and thriller. The first part, mostly procedural and introduction to the characters if you haven’t followed the series, is a bit boring if you’ve followed Gardner’s novels. The pace picks up as it goes along, and the crimes and criminals pile up. The last few chapters are action-packed. The story pace feels like a train slowly chugging out of the station, picking up some speed as it goes through the city, then turning into high-speed rail.

The plot is chilling. Hopefully no real towns exist like the one in this story. Gardner’s excellent writing kept me reading even through the early slow chapters.

The pace and the proliferation of characters keep my rating at 4 stars, not 5. I would prefer fewer POV characters. Four women carry the story, each picking up separate pieces of information—Kimberly, D.D., Flora, and a girl without a name or voice who is held captive by the bad guys.

Even with these flaws, When You See Me is an excellent read. I recommend it, and I recommend that if you haven’t read other Lisa Gardner books…do it now!

character, head, heart, humor, mystery, reviews, setting, thriller

P.J. Tracy — Ice Cold Heart

Not having read the previous books in the Monkeewrench series, this was a standalone for me. It was well written, and I enjoyed it.

The characters, good and bad, are interesting, some with unique backgrounds and personalities, but there are too many to follow. I was almost to the end of the story before I had them all sorted out. It probably would have helped to read earlier books in the series first. But they were warm, sometimes humorous, and the baby in the office at Monkeewrench added insight into some of the characters.

I won’t summarize the story; it’s covered many times in reviews. The plot had many twists and turns, but I feel it overdoes the coincidences and connections between crimes, like cop shows on TV. I can’t believe that happens often in real life.

There were several bad guys in this story, and I spotted them all early before they were revealed even though some were painted as good or harmless. But there is a twist at the end.

“You ever notice that when it’s this cold, snow doesn’t crunch, it squeaks?” The bitter cold Minneapolis setting made me shiver, reminding me of my many years living in the north. I’m glad I now live in Florida.

Overall a good read. I would recommend it, but with the caveat that you read other books in the series first.

fantasy, head, heart, reviews, setting

Erin Morgenstern — The Night Circus

Ms. Morgenstern writes beautiful pictures with her creative imagination. This is a novel for the senses.

Not a particular fan of fantasy, I picked up The Night Circus because I thoroughly enjoyed her second novel, The Starless Sea. I see there are mixed reviews for this story; people seem to love it or hate it. The plot moves slowly, but the author writes beautifully. You need to immerse yourself in the sensations of the circus to enjoy it.

The book is magic.