Genre Fiction Books - Page 4

The Given Day CD

Dennis Lehane

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 92 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Set in Boston at the end of the First World War, New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane's long-awaited eighth novel unflinchingly captures the political and social unrest of a nation caught at the crossroads between past and future. Filled with a cast of unforgettable characters more richly drawn than any Lehane has ever created, The Given Day tells the story of two families—one black, one white—swept up in a maelstrom of revolutionaries and anarchists, immigrants and ward bosses, Brahmins and ordinary citizens, all engaged in a battle for survival and power. Beat cop Danny Coughlin, the son of one of the city's most beloved and powerful police captains, joins a burgeoning union movement and the hunt for violent radicals. Luther Laurence, on the run after a deadly confrontation with a crime boss in Tulsa, works for the Coughlin family and tries desperately to find his way home to his pregnant wife.

Here, too, are some of the most influential figures of the era—Babe Ruth; Eugene O'Neill; leftist activist Jack Reed; NAACP founder W. E. B. DuBois; Mitchell Palmer, Woodrow Wilson's ruthless Red-chasing attorney general; cunning Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge; and an ambitious young Department of Justice lawyer named John Hoover.

Coursing through some of the pivotal events of the time—including the Spanish Influenza pandemic—and culminating in the Boston Police Strike of 1919, The Given Day explores the crippling violence and irrepressible exuberance of a country at war with, and in the thrall of, itself. As Danny, Luther, and those around them struggle to define themselves in increasingly turbulent times, they gradually find family in one another and, together, ride a rising storm of hardship, deprivation, and hope that will change all their lives.

A Most Wanted Man

John Le Carre

Amazon Price: $28.80 List Price: $32.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Renouf Pub Co Ltd Amazon Marketplace: 6 new & used starting at $25.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 122 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Most Wanted Novelist 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Fete of Death
I'm not going to make any bones about "A Most Wanted Man." It's one of le Carre's best works to date.

Le Carre continues to run rings around other writers in the espionage thriller field. Whereas most of these writers feel compelled to espouse their political views at the expense of story and character and to mortgage their talent to their PC publishers who have political axes to grind, le Carre remains objectively bent on telling a well-crafted, well-written story.

Other, lesser, writers, propagandists essentially, may fume and pontificate on their soapboxes about their political weltanschauungs in preachy novels that masquerade as thrillers. Le Carre, however, doesn't permit his political biases to interfere with his art. This is especially true in "A Most Wanted Man," which is more a novel than it is a thriller in the sense that there isn't much action in it. It's a novel about lies, manipulation, and double-dealing in the spy game, where the innocent and the guilty become caught up in an internecine clandestine political imbroglio beyond their control.

--Bryan Cassiday, author of "Fete of Death"

Editorial Review:

A le Carre masterpiece.

The Devil in the White City

Erik Larson

By: Doubleday UK Amazon Marketplace: 12 new & used starting at $5.87

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 782 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Can't tell what this book is about; The Worlds Fair or H.H. Holmes 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is choppy at best. It moves from one subject to the next and does not read through.
I was very dissapointed with this book. If I had known I would of bought the other book on H.H. Holmes!

Remarkable Story of Tragedy in the Shadows of Triumph 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Stories of triumph and tragedy are paralleled in this remarkable book by Erik Larson. I initially picked up this book because of an interest in Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. The coverage of Burnham was fascinating and I also found myself quickly absorbed in the suspenseful drama of H.H. Holmes. The long shadows cast by the creation of the Fair provide cover for the sinister activities of a polite professional predator. This book took me on contrasting journeys of wonder and contempt for the people encountered along the way. Larson intricately builds a remarkable portrait of Chicago in the late 19th century. He skillfully includes enough historical anecdotes to open up other avenues for exploration as well. If you have an appreciation for architecture, history, or just a good true crime story, this is a book to savor.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1695 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

if i could time travel, i'd go back and not read this book 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

First, I'll echo another reviewer and say it had useless scenes that didn't add to the story. Also, it seemed like everything was so extreme. I was fine buying into the time-travel deal. That's obvious. But, what was supposed to be realism was so fantastical. There were nothing slightly mundane, nothing NOT melodramatic. All emotions were heightened. I kind of felt like I was reading a romance novel that was dressed up as legitimate literature. It was pretty crass without it being about--I don't know--circus sleazebags. I guess...I didn't feel like the characters grew up enough. Last thing that bugged me. There's a servant/maid/cook in the Abshire home (Clare's parents) who is so ridiculously a black mammy stock character, it's kind of embarrassing to read. It's like the author hasn't much experience with non-whites. And the portrayal of the Korean nanny/friend isn't too much better.

Okay, one more thing. The friendships portrayed in this novel are so substandard. Those who are "best" friends are really...lacking in depth and trust. The friendships are shallow, empty, backstabbing, heartless, and selfish. All while being portrayed as genuine and good (enough?). Strange, really. Made wonder if the author has experienced any truly good relationships.

Now the good stuff. I loved the format. Reading both perspectives, jumping around in time, etc...that was well-done. I'm not a writer, so I don't know how difficult this was, but it was rather consistent. The rules for time travel, and the personal rules that the characters set for themselves are adhered to as far as I could tell. There were enough well-written sentences that helped me process my own thoughts and feelings, which actually made the title of this review not entirely true. I'm kind of glad I read it. But, I wouldn't recommend it highly to anyone.

Editorial Review:

This extraordinary, magical novel is the story of Clare and Henry who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future. His disappearances are spontaneous and his experiences are alternately harrowing and amusing. The Time Traveler's Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare's passionate love for each other with grace and humour. Their struggle to lead normal lives in the face of a force they can neither prevent nor control is intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

Sea of Poppies: A Novel

Amitav Ghosh

Amazon Price: $17.16 List Price: $26.00 Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks By: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Amazon Marketplace: 17 new & used starting at $16.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize At the heart of this vibrant saga is a vast ship, the Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean; its purpose, to fight China’s vicious nineteenth-century Opium Wars. As for the crew, they are a motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts.  In a time of colonial upheaval, fate has thrown together a diverse cast of Indians and Westerners, from a bankrupt raja to a widowed tribeswoman, from a mulatto American freedman to a freespirited French orphan. As their old family ties are washed away, they, like their historical counterparts, come to view themselves as jahaj-bhais, or ship-brothers. An unlikely dynasty is born, which will span continents, races, and generations.  The vast sweep of this historical adventure spans the lush poppy fields of the Ganges, the rolling high seas, the exotic backstreets of Canton. But it is the panorama of characters, whose diaspora encapsulates the vexed colonial history of the East itself, that makes Sea of Poppies so breathtakingly alive—a masterpiece from one of the world’s finest novelists.

The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel

Diane Setterfield

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 598 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A book for book lovers 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Setterfield's novel grabbed me from the first page.
This is a book for book lovers. The main character is a young woman who works in her Father's antiquarian book shop; she is hired to write the biography of a famous authoress who is notorious for giving a different
"life story" to anyone seeking to write her bio. This book kept me up at night until I finished it. Great sub-plots. Can't wait to read more of Setterfield's literary creations.

Editorial Review:

Sometimes, when you open the door to thepast, what you confront is your destiny.

Reclusive author Vida Winter, famous for her collection of twelve enchantingstories, has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate livesfor herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about herextraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret forso long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her ownpainful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret ismesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness -- featuring the beautifuland willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess,a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

The Chronicles of Narnia (Box Set)

C. S. Lewis

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1021 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

To Stop ALL The Confusion.. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

In order to get the intended story of Narnia read them in their theatrical release. At first, i must admitt, that i was confused as to why "they" (movie people and such)would release the 2nd book within the series, The Lion,The Witch and The Wardrobe, before the first, The Magician's Nephew, but afterward i thought of the order into which i was introduced to Narnia. My 2nd grade teacher first read LWW (#2) to us & then Prince Caspian (PC,#4) and so on with the stories containing Lucy and Edmund. Only THEN is it time to see the creation of Narnia, the importance of the lampost and other seemingly insignificant elements.
So i would say that the correct (or less confusing & complicated) order of reading would be 1: LWW (#2); 2: PC (#4); 3: VDT (#5); 4: SC (#6); 5. HHB (#3); 6. MN (#1) 7. LB (#7)

Stories to read again and again 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is well-written, fun fantasy with a message (though not a preachy one). Enjoyable for middle schoolers and adults, grab something hot to drink and curl up for a fun escape. This is one of those books the movie doesn't spoil. The characters are memorable and believable.

Editorial Review:

Collection includes all seven novels in the series.

Serena: A Novel

Ron Rash

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 52 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton travel from Boston to the North Carolina mountains where they plan to create a timber empire. Although George has already lived in the camp long enough to father an illegitimate child, Serena is new to the mountains -- but she soon shows herself to be the equal of any man, overseeing crews, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving her husband's life in the wilderness. Together this lord and lady of the woodlands ruthlessly kill or vanquish all who fall out of favor. Yet when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she sets out to murder the son George fathered without her. Mother and child begin a struggle for their lives, and when Serena suspects George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning.

Rash's masterful balance of violence and beauty yields a riveting novel that, at its core, tells of love both honored and betrayed.

American Wife: A Novel

Curtis Sittenfeld

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Total reviews: 128 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

On what might become one of the most significant days in her husband’s presidency, Alice Blackwell considers the strange and unlikely path that has led her to the White House–and the repercussions of a life lived, as she puts it, “almost in opposition to itself.”

A kind, bookish only child born in the 1940s, Alice learned the virtues of politeness early on from her stolid parents and small Wisconsin hometown. But a tragic accident when she was seventeen shattered her identity and made her understand the fragility of life and the tenuousness of luck. So more than a decade later, when she met boisterous, charismatic Charlie Blackwell, she hardly gave him a second look: She was serious and thoughtful, and he would rather crack a joke than offer a real insight; he was the wealthy son of a bastion family of the Republican party, and she was a school librarian and registered Democrat. Comfortable in her quiet and unassuming life, she felt inured to his charms. And then, much to her surprise, Alice fell for Charlie.

As Alice learns to make her way amid the clannish energy and smug confidence of the Blackwell family, navigating the strange rituals of their country club and summer estate, she remains uneasy with her newfound good fortune. And when Charlie eventually becomes President, Alice is thrust into a position she did not seek–one of power and influence, privilege and responsibility. As Charlie’s tumultuous and controversial second term in the White House wears on, Alice must face contradictions years in the making: How can she both love and fundamentally disagree with her husband? How complicit has she been in the trajectory of her own life? What should she do when her private beliefs run against her public persona?

In Alice Blackwell, New York Times bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld has created her most dynamic and complex heroine yet. American Wife is a gorgeously written novel that weaves class, wealth, race, and the exigencies of fate into a brilliant tapestry–a novel in which the unexpected becomes inevitable, and the pleasures and pain of intimacy and love are laid bare.


Praise for American Wife

“Curtis Sittenfeld is an amazing writer, and American Wife is a brave and moving novel about the intersection of private and public life in America. Ambitious and humble at the same time, Sittenfeld refuses to trivialize or simplify people, whether real or imagined.”
–Richard Russo

“What a remarkable (and brave) thing: a compassionate, illuminating, and beautifully rendered portrait of a fictional Republican first lady with a life and husband very much like our actual Republican first lady’s. Curtis Sittenfeld has written a novel as impressive as it is improbable.”
–Kurt Andersen

Double Cross

James Patterson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 180 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Not his best work 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Double Cross (Alex Cross Novels)
I have read all of this series, my boyfriend got me hooked on them. He is an excellent writer, however I do not enjoy reading a book that has this much violence in it. Yes, I'm sure these situations exist, but I read to escape the stresses and horrors of everyday life not be immersed in it as this book does. The story is not that plausible for a real detective either and I found myself reading and saying oh come on, that wouldn't happen in real life. He has reached too far on this one and I won't be buying another in this series if it has the same type of violence that this once contains.

Not as good as his others 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The Alex Cross series is not meant to be highbrow literature, it is meant to be a page-turning, rollicking ride - enjoyable, but forgettable. Whilst Patterson has still delivered an enjoyable read, I think it is largely due to the great cast of characters that he has created, not to do with the actual plot of this story, which is not as good as some of his others (eg Pop Goes The Weasel, Roses are Red etc).
This story flits back and forth between perspectives, Cross' and the baddies'. During the chapters narrated by the latter, the story loses momentum, and can become bogged down and even sometimes confusing (which is not what one wants from a popcorn book). Still, Alex Cross has the same great, ballsy attitude that keeps on bringing me back time and again.
My main quibble is the frequent sexual innuendo and soft-core pornographic elements. At times through out the book, it felt as though Patterson was looking for any opportunity to his readers cringe at the incessant sexual activity - not because of its existence per se, but because of the incredible, blunt corniness (seriously, he wants to use his 'lightsabre' to penetrate his girlfriend 'good and deep'? Really? Patterson needs to do a stint writing at Penthouse to get this stuff out of his system, then return to the Cross of old).
Overall, it is still an entertaining read compared to many books out there, but not as great as some of the other Cross ouvre - fluffy, forgettable, but fun.