Cheshire

Jenn Reads: The Boy In the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberol and Agnette Friis

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The Boy In the Suitcase  by Lene Kaaberol and Agnette Friis was a mystery book club pick by one of our members.

The book starts off fast-paced and with a great premise: Nina Borg gets a

The Boy In the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberol and Agnette Friis

phone call from her friend Karin, who says that she needs to go immediately to a Copenhagen train station and open a public locker. She’s told she will find a suitcase in the locker, but to not open it while in the train station.

She finds a three year old boy, drugged but still alive, in the suitcase.

Surprise! Given the title, there’s no surprise in that bit of knowledge.

Many comments on Goodreads indicated how frustrated people were with the first 60 or so pages of the books, as the authors introduce characters who seemingly have nothing to do with each other. Hang in there! They do!

The action takes place over the span of two days and in several different countries, Denmark and Lithuania. After Nina finds the boy in the suitcase, the logical thing for her to do would have been to bring him to the police. But does she do that? No… she drags him around with her, leaving him in a hot car for a period of time, neglecting to feed him, and letting him see a dead woman.

Nina is supposedly a “do-gooder” but I find fault with that. She’s a terrible mother, wife, and caretaker of this small boy. Nina ignores her family for two whole days while she “takes care” of this boy. At one point, the police go to her house and talk with her husband, who believes her injured or in serious trouble. As indicated in the previous paragraph, she doesn’t take very good care of the little boy, providing him with the minimum of food, sleep, protection, and comfort. And she’s irresponsible! By the end of the book, I’d about had it with Nina Borg.

What I did enjoy in this book were the social issues the authors touched upon. Prostitution, sex slavery, child kidnapping, child trafficking, and the underbelly of Europe were exposed. And let me tell you- it ain’t pretty. Denmark in the past is said to have one of the highest standards of living and some of the happiest and fulfilled people in the world. A socialist nation, they get free healthcare, free college education, long maternity/paternity leave, child care, etc, etc- all of which sound pretty good to me. But, like in any culture, there are also the unsavory aspects of a nation.

A quick, easy, fast-paced read, I thought The Boy In the Suitcase was an excellent pick for this time of year. I listened to it on audio and thought the narrator was excellent. It was very helpful listening to it because I likely would have struggled with the pronunciations of the names, places, etc. The Boy In the Suitcase  is the first book in a series featuring Nina Borg, and while I liked this book, I won’t be continuing the series. Nina just drives me nuts.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

On Our Shelves: New Fiction & Non-Fiction

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New Fiction

 Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon – This is the story of the extraordinary journey of Yohan, who defects from his country at the end of the Korean War, leaving his friends and family behind to seek a new life on the coast of Brazil.

The Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzeman – A family lake house, two sisters, and a young painter living next door – the decisions they make one summer will have lasting effects for all of them.

The Rathbones by Janice Clark – A gothic, literary adventure set in New England, Janice Clark’s haunting debut chronicles one hundred years of a once prosperous and now crumbling whaling family, told by its last surviving member.

The Queens Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle – A tale inspired by the life of Henry VIII’s sixth wife follows her reluctant marriage to the egotistical and powerful king in spite of her love for Thomas Seymour, a situation that compels her to make careful choices in a treacherous court.

Little Black Book of Murder by Nancy Martin – Nora Blackbird may have been to the manor borne, but these days money is so tight, she can’t afford to lose her job as a society columnist. So when her new boss at the Philadelphia Intelligencer—Australian tabloid editor Gus Hardwicke—tells her to work the celebrity gossip beat or start checking the want ads, the choice is easy.

New Non-Fiction

 Boy 30529 by Felix Weinberg – Born into a respectable Czech family, Felix’s early years were idyllic. But when Nazi persecution threatened in 1938, his father traveled to England, hoping to arrange for his family to emigrate there. His efforts came too late, and his wife and children fell into the hands of the Fascist occupiers.

Nine Years Under by Sheri Booker – “Six Feet Under” meets The Wire in a dazzling and darkly comic memoir about coming-of-age in a black funeral home in Baltimore.

The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli – This book by world-class thinker and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli is an eye-opening look at human psychology and reasoning — essential reading for anyone who wants to avoid “cognitive errors” and make better choices in all aspects of their lives.

Serving Victoria by Kate Hubbard – Serving Victoria follows the lives of six members of her household, from the governess to the royal children, from her maid of honor to her chaplain and her personal physician.

Stonehenge – A New Understanding by Mike Pearson – Despite its being one of prehistory’s most alluring landmarks, before the Stonehenge Riverside Project led by noted archeologist Mike Parker Pearson, only half of Stonehenge itself—and far less of its surroundings—had ever been investigated, and many records from previous digs are inaccurate or incomplete.

New Romance

 Castaway Cove by JoAnn Ross – Single dad Mac Culhane has traveled to some of the world’s most dangerous war zones, but now he and his young daughter have settled in Shelter Bay, where he’s become the late-night DJ for the local radio station. The last thing he expects is to connect over the airwaves with a caller….

Behind His Blue Eyes by Kaki Warner – The first in a brand-new Western trilogy set in Heartbreak, Colorado, starring an advance man for the railroad—and the woman whose trust (and heart) he longs to win.

Midnight Games by Elle Kennedy – A master of disguise, Isabel Roma spends her life pretending to be other women.  Normally, her emotions are reined in tight—but sexy mercenary Trevor Callaghan has a knack for getting under her skin. The elite operative’s quiet strength and raw magnetism are a distraction that can quickly turn deadly in their dangerous line of work…

Surrender to Sultry by Mary Beckett – How do you stay under the sheriff’s radar in a town that prides itself on knowing everyone’s business? Leah’s not sure it’s possible, but she’s determined to avoid Colton Bea for as long as she can. Seeing him again would be too heartbreaking-and she knows from experience his bone-melting kisses are way too tempting.

Cowboy Seeks Bride by Carolyn Brown – Rancher Dewar O’Donnell is just an old-fashioned cowboy at heart, and he can’t wait to reenact the historic Chisholm Trail ride with his buddies. The trial-run cattle drive for a reality TV show sounds like a great time—until H.B. McKay pulls up in her slick red sports car…

Remembering Barbara Mertz

/ Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment
Image of Elizabeth Peters

Barbara Mertz

Barbara Mertz might not be a name that you immediately recognize, but you just might recognize her pen names. She was the best-selling mystery writer who wrote dozens of novels under the pen names of Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. Sadly, she passed away in her home on the morning of August 8, 2013.  Mertz is survived by her children, Elizabeth and Peter, and six grandchildren.

Barbara Mertz earned a PhD from the University of Chicago in Egyptology at the age of 23. She first became a published writer in 1964 and authored two books on ancient Egypt, (Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs (1964 with a revised edition in 2007) and Red Land, Black Land (1978 with a revised edition in 2008) Both books have been continuously in print since their first publication.

Mertz used the pseudonym Elizabeth Peters to pen more than 3 dozen mysteries. Several are stand-alone novels, including Summer of the Dragon (1979), and The Copenhagen Connection (1982), but she is perhaps best know for her series mysteries.

One series dear to my heart is about Jacqueline Kirby; who just happens to be a librarian with a very large purse and a knack for solving mysteries. Jacqueline makes her first appearance as an unwilling detective in The Seventh Sinner (1972).

Another Elizabeth Peters series is the Vicky Bliss Mysteries,  which follows the adventures of an American art history professor who keeps getting involved in international crime and her love interest, a charming art thief known as Sir John Smythe.  The first book in this series is Borrower of the Night (1973).

As Elizabeth Peters, Mertz may be best known for the 19 book Amelia Peabody series, the last of which was published in April of 2010. The heroine is an Egyptologist and the stories all relate to the “Golden Age” of Egyptology, spanning the 1880s to 1922. The first book in the series is Crocodile on the Sandbank, first published in 1976. There is also a companion book, Amelia Peabody’s Egypt: A Compendium, published in 2003.

As Barbara Michaels, Mertz wrote primarily Gothic and supernatural thrillers, including twenty four stand-alone novels including  Be Buried in the Rain (1985), Search the Shadows (1987), Smoke and Mirrors (1989), Into the Darkness (1990), Vanish with the Rose (1992), Houses of Stone (1993), The Dancing Floor (1997), and Other Worlds (1999).

You can find more information about Barbara Mertz and her books on her website http://www.mpmbooks.com/, which sadly does not seem to have been updated since last fall, but still has the most comprehensive information about her body of work.

Non-Fiction Summer Reading

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There’s no reading quite as wonderful as summer reading.  Here are some terrific non-fiction books that are perfect for a relaxing summer day.

I Wear the Black Hat by Chuck Klosterman –  Mr. Klosterman questions the modern understanding of villainy and delivers perceptive observations on the complexity of the anti-hero in a very humorous way.  He blends cultural analysis with self-interrogation and imaginative hypotheticals.

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel – This is the true story of the young American wives whose husbands were sent into space as part of the Mercury Seven program.

Difficult Men by Brett Martin – An entertaining and insightful look at the creators of some highly rated recent television series such as Breaking Bad, The Shield, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos and Deadwood.

The Good Life Lab – Radical Experiments in Hands-On Living by Jehanara Tremayne.  An inspirational story of how one couple ditched their careers and life in New York City to move to rural New Mexico to live self-sufficiently.

Mickey and Willie: Mantle and Mayes, the Parallel Lives of Baseball’s Golden Age by Allen Barra.  The combined biographies of two baseball greats.

 

Sharon Reads: Dean Koontz’s Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages

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Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages

Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages by Dean Koontz is a book that readers from elementary school ages through adults can understand and enjoy, with beautiful illustrations and a story that feels very real. Isaac Bodkins was a magical toy-maker who creates toys that can come to life in order to help children trough difficult times. He calls his creations Oddkins. However, Isaac has passed away sooner than expected, and before he could train the next toy-maker. The race is now on to see whether a good or evil magic toy-maker will wield the power. A team of Isaac’s Oddkins are on the move to find the toy shop of Isaac’s chosen heir, while evil toys from the hidden sub-basement try to stop them from reaching their goal before the evil toy-maker can purchased Isaac’s toy shop.

Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages might be Koontz’s first book intended for more than just adult readers, but you would never know it from the read. Living toys are a new idea, but Koontz instilled a new life to the idea, with strong personalities for each of the living toys. I loved the idea that the toys are intended to help children facing special difficulties, although I wished all children could have one rather than just the ones with the ‘potential for greatness’, since I think everyone has that potential. However, that would make for one busy magic toy-maker! The Oddkins that face the action, both good and bad, have quirks and personalities that often made me smile or shudder, depending. The good Oddkin’s quest for Colleen Shannon’s shop, Isaac’s nephew’s search for the truth, and an ex-con in search for more ways to inflict pain intersect with the evil Oddkins intent on securing their future and the success of the dark toy-maker. There are epic battles, internal debates, and characters that will take hold of your heart. What else do you need?

I recommend Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages for adults that are fans of Koontz works as well as adults, teens, and the middle grade set. On a scale of one to five, I would give Oddkins a full five stars. There is a combination of fast passed action with enough introspection and personal discovery to keep readers of all ages and all genre preferences entertained and turning the pages.

(This review was originally published on Sharon the Librarian.)