Monthly Archives: May 2020

character, head, heart, mystery, reviews

Harlan Coben — The Boy From the Woods

Wilde, who was found living in the woods thirty-some years ago and has no memory of how he got there or where he came from, makes an intriguing character. He lives off the grid in an Ecocapsule home in the woods, with extreme security. He has little social contact in his life, except for the family (son, wife, and mother) of David, who befriended Wilde when they were boys, and Wilde lived in the woods. David died in an automobile accident.

Hester Crimstein, David’s mother and a high profile lawyer and TV personality in her 70s, is another interesting character. She’s a small feisty bombshell. All the characters are well defined; most have good and bad sides to their lives and personalities.

The plot centers around Wilde and Hester searching for two missing children. Are they kidnapped or runaways?

There are several underlying themes in this book—political scandal, teen peer pressure, bullying, innocent man in prison, looking for lost family, and more. Cohen weaves it altogether seamlessly.

This is the first Harlan Cohen novel. I will look for more.

character, mystery, reviews, setting

Emily Brightwell — Mrs. Jeffries Delivers the Goods

A pleasant, light, cozy Victorian mystery, with likeable characters. A quick easy read when you don’t want any substance in a novel. But I found it very repetitive and I solved the murder very early in the story. Having the inspector’s household staff and friends doing all the investigating is a fun idea. But keeping their discoveries secret from him, only fed to him through Mrs. Jeffries and his constable, seems a bit far-fetched.

This is my first read in what appears to be a very long series.

character, literary, reviews

Heather Morris — Cilka’s Journey

This novel is a story of survival, a fictionalized version of the life of a real person. At the age of sixteen, Cilka is imprisoned at Auschwitz and survives by doing whatever is required to stay alive. When the Russians liberate the camp three years later, they accuse Cilka of being a Nazi collaborator and send her to a Siberian Gulag. Again she survives by making decisions, good and bad, to not only stay living but try to keep her hut mates and friends alive.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I’m not a great fan of historical fiction or WWII novels, so my judgment may be skewed. The story is very dark, depicting man’s inhumanity to man. Yet it contains accounts of kindness and friendship…even love. Some parts of the tale are poignant and heartbreaking, but other parts lack emotion. Cilka has a conflicted personality. She keeps her life secret, protecting herself from the judgment of others, keeping her distance from fellow prisoners. But she reaches out to help and defend them.

I read Cilka’s Journey as a stand-alone. It was given to me by a friend at this time when the libraries are closed (spring 2020). I probably won’t read the previous book in the series.