Harvest Season

 

It has happened again, unfortunately. I read the first book in the series The Seasons of Carnage, the book having been Tourist Season. I liked that book well enough to read the second one, Harvest Season. However, I did not get very far with this audiobook. Perhaps the best part was the prologue in which the author warned the reader about the multiple kinds of trauma that would be involved in the story. Really, it was an invitation for voyerism, which of course is a part of the character of this reviewer. Clearly, the author has vast knowledge of those subjects, or at least, a great imagination. 

The story in Harvest Season has to do with the romantic relationship of two serial killers. Admittedly, I did not get very far with the story. While I did not find the two readers to be problematic, the material was just too silly and almost flap stick. There are times when I like wisecracking detectives, but somehow, this story just did not grab me. I felt nothing in common with the primary characters, and I did not care what was going to happen to them. I was only into the book a short way when I chose to abandon the effort, and I'm not interested in reading the third novel that has been promised.

Ironwood

 

Connelly is the king of thrillers and the men at MenReadingBooks have read most of his 40+ novels. Just one year ago, I read and reviewed the first book in a new series, Nightshade, which I rated very highly. The author is able to keep his stories and characters very interesting and believable.

In Ironwood, Detective Stilwell suspects that one of his new deputies on Catalina Island is a serial killer. A murder has occurred, but it happened a few years earlier, and this became a thing when the woman's bones were uncovered in a remote area of Catalina Island. It turned out that there have been a series of murders of women who were hiking alone through wilderness trails in California. Stilwell continues to get flack from his captain who works out of his office in Long Beach. When the protagonist is trying to set a trap, another one of his new deputies is murdered, and a second officer is shot in the throat but survives. It seems corruption is rampant on Catalina.

Once again, Stilwell, or "Stil" as he is called by most people he knows, has found life on Catalina as highly desirable, compared to his life on the mainland, or "overland" as the people on Catalina call it. Usually, as was initially the case with Stil, a transfer to Catalina was a punishment for having done something wrong. However, he began to realize that being sent to the island was just what he needed. His girlfriend Tasha has been promoted to acting Harbor Master, and their relationship is evolving. The story involves corruption, cartel murders, small crime, and Stil's relentless pursuit of clues in the face of a captain who is mostly focused on any publicity that would make his operation look bad. 

I consumed this story in audiobook format, and the reader was excellent. Like nearly all of Connelly's books, it gets a highly favorable review from me. You won't be disappointed.

The Keeper

 

I should start by saying I've not been attracted to Tana French's writing for many years. I have reviewed six of her books, but none lately. My reaction to her is suprising to me since she has been revered by so many readers, and she obviously has a huge following. I got this book in audioformat and I tried to listen to it twice, about two weeks apart, and I simply could not concentrate on the material. When my mind wonders to the grocery list or some item on my to-do list, it's not a good sign. I did not get far in the book, probably less than 30 pages. I found the audiobook's reader to be a bit too melodramatic, so maybe it was the reader, maybe it was the material - I suspect it was a little of both. I can't give this successful author a good review or recommendation for purchase of this novel. I decided the book would not get a third try, so I'm returning it unfinished to Libby.

Judge Stone

Judge Stone was co-authored by James Patterson and Viola Davis. There are at least a dozen reviews in this blog of Patterson’s prolific works, but most of those have been written by other reviewers. I tend not to seek out his books. However, because Viola Davis, an incredible actress, was his co-author and because she was reading the entire story for the audiobook, I chose to take it on. Those were good decisions.

The novel is about a 13-year-old black girl, Nova, who was raped in Alabama, and then she became pregnant. She knew her mother did not believe in abortion. At the young of age 28, her mother had already birthed four children, and Nova was the oldest who was immediately given responsibilities to help raise her siblings. Feeling caught between her own wish to abort the child and her fear of her mother’s reaction to learning she was pregnant, and when was having significant first trimester symptoms, Nova went to the school nurse who then discovered her pregnancy. At the time, Alabama had the most strict anti-abortion laws in the country. Anyone who was found to have assisted another person to get an abortion was guilty of a Class A felony, meaning a long jail term. The nurse then took her to a local doctor who knew the law, but who disagreed with denying this child an abortion.

Viola played the role of Judge Stone who then contended with the controversy when the abortion became public news.  The doctor was arrested. The DA was relentless in pursuing the doctor’s punishment. The case landed on Judge Stone's docket. She was under assault by the town people, as well as the thousands of people that descended on the small town to protest with religious fervor.

I thought this book addressed all of the social issues involved in this story with compassion. The cast of characters, those that supported Judge Stone and those who hated her, was a very rich and powerful novel. While some of the details were predictable, the ending was not what I expected. Although heartending, it was so enjoyable to hear Viola address this most important topic with depth and wisdom. This was a 5/5 read.

 

The Silver Fish

 The Silver Fish by Connor Martin is an espionage story that mostly place in West Africa, mostly in Ghana. It caught my interest based on the location. I’ve not often seen a thriller novel based in West Africa. I was in both Senegal and the Ivory Coast several decades ago, and my daughter just returned from a work project in Ghana. I remember eagerly listening to a professor who had moved to a remote area of Nigeria in the 1930’s. I hoped that this novel would live up to the spellbinding experience I felt in those lectures. Unfortunately, the quality and vitality of the story simply didn’t measure up to my expectation. The book opened in Ghana with the assassination of a Nigerian telecommunications executive, and then quickly turned to the efforts by both China and the United States to have controlling interest in Ghana’s local politics.

Primarily, this novel was based on the location of Ghana being where undersea high speed telecommunication cables came together. Thus, whatever information the United States was sending overseas would have to pass through these fiber optic cables. The Chinese were trying to tap into the cables in order to know what the U.S. was doing, and the U.S. was trying to keep them from doing so. Various spies, including double agents were involved in this effort, and large bribes were being paid to local politicians as well as operators of these systems. A journalist was trying to get information about this high profit enterprise for the story of her lifetime. 

Although I did finish the book, I never got particularly interested in the outcome for the protagonist, Danielle Moreau. While James Aidoo, a young male Ghanian was sometimes interesting, his presence had an uncertain importance as he interacted with both Chinese and American agents. So, as the book wore on, it just never led me to be excited about the material. I can’t give a favorable recommendation for this novel.

Seldom Seen Road

Seldom Seen Road by John Degen (Latitude 46 Press)

I just finished Seldom Seen Road, a new murder mystery by John Degen. This is Mr. Degen’s third novel and the first featuring Mark Roth as a widower amateur detective. 

The setting of rural Ontario north of Toronto allows Degen to use his detailed knowledge of the area to immerse the reader into Mark’s daily life. The local color, especially the diner where everyone knows your business (even if they don’t know your name), compliments the narrative. I appreciated the balance of detail and action; I rarely skipped ahead to get with the story. 

The murder of Paul Robichaud, a local environmental activist, is the hub of the wheel with excellent choices of spokes to support a complex but not too burdensome storyline. Mark Roth is assisted by his cousin Jeremy Roth who works as a constable and his daughter Stephanie, a criminologist in Thunder Bay. These characters serve as solid counterweights both in solving the murder and supporting Mark as he struggles to find his way after the unexpected death of his beloved wife. The plot has a nice proportion of lines including a uranium mine, aggressive real estate development, and an evolving marijuana trade. 

I really enjoyed reading this one. Not as much “can’t put it down” as “this was so engaging I didn’t want to”.

The Correspondent

 An off-genre book review:

This is not the sort of novel I would pick up without some outside interference. But, when I get a recommendation from my wife and one of my daughters (both of whom read more than I do), and one of my sisters, then I reluctantly stray from the narrower genre of thrillers, espionage, and murder mysteries. I seem to go far afield more often than my fellow reviewers in this blog, and I am often thrilled to have done so.

I listened to The Correspondent in what was a marvelous artistic effort to give this masterpiece a proper audio format. I replayed the last 10 minutes of the audiobook for my wife, and she commented that the literal voice given to Virginia Evans’ characters made it even better. We both look forward to the forthcoming motion picture of Jane Fonda portraying this old woman writing letters to her friends, enemies, authors McMurtry and Didion, and many other characters. I can’t think of a more fitting actor to play Sybil Van Antwerp.

Sybil much preferred to communicate through writing letters and not relying on email or talking on the telephone, although she did so when it seemed like the only way to reach out. Sybil said that as she wrote by hand, she took time to carefully think out each sentence so that she was writing exactly what she meant to say. Her writing was not always kind and loving. Rather, she could be abrupt and mean if she felt it was appropriate. This woman was adopted at the age of 14 months, and her parents were good in their roles. She was married and divorced, had two boys and one girl, lost one of the boys in a accident that occupies much of the book, had a distinguished career as a law clerk for a judge, made mistakes, and struggled with true intimacy, especially with her daughter Fiona. As the story progressed, Sybil struggled with the horror of the gradual loss of her vision and the deterioration of her other physical abilities.

The whole story was told through the letters and this led to multiple subplots, all of which the author brought to fitting conclusions. This is probably the most erudite book I’ve ever read. There was only a limited use of a narrator. The depth of all of the characters is something I don’t experience in my usual genre. In short, this book gets an A+, a 5/5 rating, and my strongest recommendation. I don’t believe I’ve ever specifically suggested that one listen to a book rather than read it, but I am doing so with The Correspondent. Maggi-Meg Reed was the narrator, and she was marvelous, and there were more than 12 other specific actors who played all of the rich cast of characters with whom Sybil corresponded. I’ve never seen such a successful effort to portray a novel in audiobook format. Grab this one and your life will be richer for the experience.

God's Country by William Kent Krueger

Cork O'Connor is busy loving life in Aurora. Gratefully retired from decades as a police officer, mostly as the Sheriff of Tamarack County, MN way the hell up in the North Country. Second wife (1st killed in an earlier book), sons and daughters (direct and in-law), couple of grandsons, close lifelong friends. Still runs a hamburger stand on the nearby vacationland lake (in northern MN, lakes are everywhere). He's what used to be called a 'half-breed,' half Irish (father) and half Ojibwe (mother). That term has gone out of style.

Aurora is part of the gateway to to the massive Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Several thousands acres of trails, lakes, portages, rivers, forest on the border with Canada. Solitude with a capital S. The state birds are mosquitoes and black flies. Cork and the 'menfolk' are all going on a canoe outing. Taking the grandsons on their first camping trip in the Boundary Waters. 

In prep, they stop in to check in with this local guide. Good thing to do when heading into the wilderness. The wife says her husband was just hired by a couple guys to head into the area for a few days. She was curious about these two characters. They were dressed like they'd just left LLBean. Not their usual clients. Cork said he'd keep and eye out for the party of 4 (a 2nd guide aide joined them), but given the size of the Park, it's doubtful.

Off goes the O'Connor party. They paddle a route infrequently used by visitors, reaching their first campsite. Exploring the campsite area, they come across evidence something untoward may happened, recently. They set off the next day and paddle to the next campsite. From the water, Cork sees smoke from a campfire. Through his binoculars, he sees his friend tied to a tree. Fearing the worst, Cork convinces the rest of his party to head back as protection for the boys. Cork presses on alone because that is what a sheriff, current or retired, would do. He pulls in and quickly learns that the 2nd guide has been killed and his friend has been badly beaten. 

These two goons want to be taken to a rock formation known to the locals as The Devil's Ass. They have a rough map that isn't detailed enough to find the rock formation. Unable to convince their guides, one guide is shot and Cork's friend beaten to give up the information. Cork mostly just ambles in and talks these two losers into letting the injured guide paddle (mostly float) back in exchange for Cork taking them to the rock formation.

Now Cork has no intention of taking them where they want. He just wants to keep them out in the open on the water for a few days until a search party finds them. They guys want to find something hidden in the rocks and then hightail it for Canada. Over the next 3-4 days, Cork has to keep these two fools calm, hopefully not see any other park visitors, and still find a way to subdue them for arrest (or worse).

As you might guess, things have a way of spiraling down allowing Cork lots of time for self reflection about his inner wolf leanings as he considers his options. Has to be careful. The two guys, one in particular, are stone killers.

This is Krueger's 22nd O'Connor book. I've read a bunch, maybe a dozen or so. Honestly, Krueger has never failed to disappoint. We've watched O'Connor's life as a cop, both the good and the bad, spelled out in smooth lyrical prose. Krueger's writing appears effortless. This story is told as though O'Connor is relating the tale over a campfire. The reader is a comfortable friend who is mesmerized by a close friend's history. Very readable. I'd definitely put this at the top of my Cork O'Connor experiences. Have to love it because it's primarily three main characters trying to survive the wilderness and each other. 

Krueger's also written some standalone books. One of which, Ordinary Grace, won the Edgar Award for best fiction novel of 2014 (Fiction's version of Best Picture). That book was astonishing (reviewed by the MRB boys) and remains one of my top 5 reads . . . ever.  You can't go wrong with Krueger. Solid, reliable, highly skilled, expertly plotted and presented. A storyteller's storyteller. You'd be wise to put this on your 'to-be-read' shelf.  And add him to your personal list of must-read authors. 

 But . . . 

It's not available until 18 August 2026. It's too bad you can't get to this sooner.  Don't forget. Make a note on your August calendar. Trust me. You can take my opinion to the bank.

Thanks to the good folks at NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance reviewer copy.  

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