Review: The Stranger Inside (by Lisa Unger)

My Rating: 4 stars

This is the third book of Lisa Unger's that I've read and while I liked this one better than her previous one (Under My Skin, which came out last year), I would have to say my favorite is still The Red Hunter, which I read 2 years ago.  With The Stranger Inside, Unger once again delivers a compelling story of psychological suspense that sets itself apart from other books in the genre through the oftentimes morally ambiguous characters she depicts — characters that often find themselves straddling that blurred line between right and wrong.   With each of her books, Unger does a deep dive into the psyches of her main characters and it is this exploration of their inner thoughts that drives the plot.

The story here revolves around Rain Winter, a former journalist and current stay-at-home mom to an infant daughter, who is living a blissful suburban life that she built with her loving husband Greg.  One day, Rain hears on the news a report about the murder of Steve Markham, a man who was widely believed to have escaped justice when he was acquitted of killing his pregnant wife a year earlier.  Having been one of the journalists who had covered the original murder case, including the trial and subsequent acquittal, the news of Markham's death triggers in Rain a curiosity that piques in her a strong interest to dig into the case on her own.  As she delves deeper and eventually uncovers an unexpected connection to a different case from her past, Rain suddenly finds herself pulled back into the dark memories of a horrific event that had occurred in her childhood — a nightmare that had left one of her friends dead, another friend irreparably damaged, and herself deeply traumatized.  Even when further involvement in the case threatens to rip apart the beloved family she worked so hard to create, Rain still can't seem to pull herself away.   In order to make amends for her past, will she have to sacrifice her family?  Also, in a world where justice is not always on the right side of the law, the idea of morality and right vs wrong ultimately comes into question.

Plot-wise, I would say that this book fell more into the "slow-burn" category, meaning that, even though there were some twists and turns as is expected in suspense novels, the plot was not fast-paced to the point of keeping me on the edge of my seat impatiently waiting to see what happens next.  Instead, most details were revealed gradually, a little bit at a time, through a narrative that jumped back and forth between the past and the present.   While this worked well for the most part, I did feel that there were a few sections that got a bit too bogged down by details, which made those parts of the plot seem to drag a little.  Overall though, this was a relatively minor issue, since things did get back on track pretty quickly after that.

With 3 of her books under my belt, Lisa Unger has become a "go-to" author of sorts for me now in terms of books in the psychological suspense genre.  In addition to continuing to explore her backlist when I get a chance, I'm also looking forward to her next release, whenever that may be!

Received ARC from Park Row via Edelweiss.

Review: The Last Train to London (by Meg Waite Clayton)

 My Rating:  3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars

As another worthy entry into the canon of World War II related historical fiction, this book focuses on the famous Kindertransport system that helped to transport thousands of children out of various parts of Europe during the Nazi occupation of the region in the late 1930s, immediately prior to the official start of the war. In particular, the story focuses on the efforts of Truus Wijsmuller, a brave Dutchwoman who dedicated her life to helping countless children escape Nazi-occupied territories, both on her own as well as working with other agencies.  

At the center of the story are the Neumans, a wealthy Jewish family whose chocolate-making business is known throughout Austria.  Their teenage son Stephan is a budding playwright who, during the course of getting his haircut one day, meets math genius Zofie-Helene, a young Christian girl around his same age who quickly becomes his best friend and companion going on excursions together throughout the city of Vienna.  Not long after they meet however, the Nazis invade Austria and soon, the 2 youngsters, along with Stephan's little brother Walter, find themselves having to flee the only home they'd ever known, venturing on a harrowing journey toward an uncertain future where safety and survival are the goal but unfortunately not guaranteed. 

Over the years, I've read my fair share of WWII era novels and while stories set in this time period can difficult reads emotionally, I will continue to read them because of the importance I've always placed on knowing and understanding history as essential in order to learn from it.  While this book did fall into the "necessary read" category for me and I'm definitely glad I read it (especially since my knowledge of the Kindertransports program was very limited prior to reading this), I feel like the story did not have as big of an emotional impact on me as other stories set in this era usually do.    I think part of the reason for this is because of the way the story was formatted, which was basically with super short chapters where the narrative jumped back and forth from one character to another — this caused the story to come across too "choppy" for me and broke the flow a bit, to the point that it made it difficult for me to get into the story and connect with the characters as much as I had expected to.  With that said, the last third or so of the story was actually quite strong and that's when I started to feel more of a connection with the characters, however by that time, it was already near the end of the story. 

Overall though, I still feel that this story has the potential to be a powerful one if better executed, which is why I decided to round up in terms of the rating.  I would also still recommend this one, as the story is a good one and the writing is good as well, it's just that the format didn't really work for me personally, but it might be fine for others. 

Received ARC from Harper Books (HarperCollins) via NetGalley.

Review: The Long Call (by Ann Cleeves)

My Rating: 4 stars

Set in North Devon, England, a place where two rivers converge to meet the sea, The Long Call is a brand new detective series from author Ann Cleeves that introduces us to DI Matthew Venn, a forty-something police detective who is investigating the case of a man named Simon Walden found stabbed to death on the beach, in an area close to where Matthew lives with his husband Jonathan.   After breaking away from the strict evangelical community to which his estranged family still belongs, Matthew is no longer welcome among the Brethren, cast out to the point of only being able to observe his father's funeral from afar.  As Matthew and his team follow the leads that emerge in investigating Walden's murder, the detective finds himself unexpectedly pulled back into the folds of the Brethren community, where the secrets of his past threaten to collide with the present life he so painstakingly built.   To complicate matters, having recently transferred from Bristol, Matthew is the new boss in town heading up a group of detectives whose personalities couldn't be more different from each other, but who must now work together to solve the case, the dynamics of which add a layer of complexity to the investigation.  

This was a well-written police procedural that I found to be engaging and a bit different from ones I've read previously.  Normally I would expect these types of stories to be action-packed and fast-paced, with a complicated plot as well as twists and turns galore, but surprisingly, that wasn't the case here.  Instead, this was an atmospheric read that was actually a bit of a slow-burn, but not to the point of being draggy — rather, the plot moved along in a way that felt natural and un-rushed, though with an ending that still managed to be unpredictable and also a resolution to the case that caught me off guard.  I like how Cleeves didn't just focus on developing a complex and believable plot, but also balanced it with meticulous character development as well, lending a level of depth to the story that made it more engaging in my opinion.

Overall, I enjoyed this quiet but steady detective story that kept me interested throughout.  This is the first book in a new series for Cleeves, and for me, it is a good introduction to this author's work, since this is my first time reading her books.  I'm definitely looking forward to continuing this series when the second book comes out!  As for her previous book series, I understand that two of them — the Shetland Island as well as Vera Stanhope series — were both turned into successful television series; no doubt that this new Two Rivers series will likely follow in the same footsteps.  When that happens, it will be interesting to see how this story translates on screen.

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press (Minotaur Books) via NetGalley.

Review: This Tender Land (by William Kent Krueger)

My Rating: 5 stars

Wow, what a story!  It's not often that I start a review off this way, but I'm a bit speechless right now — all I know is that this book is absolutely deserving of all the accolades it had gotten up to this point, so what better way to start this review than with the first thought that came into my head after finishing this one.  The summary for this book refers to it as a "big-hearted epic" that has "the feel of a modern classic," which is a description I definitely agree with, though beyond that, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to also use the word "masterpiece" to describe William Kent Krueger's beautifully written newest novel.  This is a book I would heartily recommend – one that packs a lot of heart and plenty of soul into a powerful, absorbing story with some of the most richly developed, endearing characters I've come across in awhile.

The story opens with our main protagonist Odie O'Banion, an elderly man now well into the eighth decade of his life, who is asked by his great-grandchildren to tell them a story — which, as a lifelong storyteller, is a task he is more than willing to oblige.   He starts to recount for them the story of what happened to him during the summer of 1932 and from there, we are taken back several decades to when Odie was 12 years old and ends up with his older brother Albert at the Lincoln Indian Training School in Minnesota after their father dies.  Odie's lively personality and mischievous nature gets him into constant trouble with the school's superintendent Thelma Brickman, who is given the moniker 'the Black Witch' for her cruel and ruthless treatment of the hundreds of children in her care, many of whom were Native American children forcibly separated from their parents and sent to the school to be educated.  It is not long before circumstances force Odie to flee the school and together with his brother Albert, along with their best friend at the school, a mute Native American boy named Mose,  and 6-year-old Emmy Frost, whom they all adore as a little sister in tow, they set out in a canoe, journeying along the Gilead River toward Mississippi in search of a place they could call home.  On their journey, these 4 orphans, who nicknamed themselves "the Vagabonds," encounter an eclectic mix of characters from various walks of life — people with good intentions as well as bad ones; depraved families displaced as a result of the Great Depression; people who themselves are struggling to survive, yet display a generosity of spirit that is unparalleled; a faith healer who helps Odie and the others discover their true selves; Gertie and the others they meet in the backwater shanty towns of Saint Paul.  Along the way, the 4 of them must also reckon with the past and confront a cruel history — specifically the country's inhumane treatment of Native Americans.  In the end, the journey becomes one of self-discovery and regardless of the outcomes, each child's life becomes enriched from what they experienced during that fateful summer.

Clocking in at  nearly 500 pages, this book covers a lot of ground both thematically and historically, yet never once does it feel overwhelming or tedious to read.  Krueger's prose here is masterful, and as our narrator, Odie's voice and the amazing story he tells is poignant as well as absorbing.  This is very much a character-driven story with Odie and his fellow "Vagabonds" as the driving force of the entire narrative,  however with that said, all the other characters that they crossed paths with at different points in the  journey were equally important in shaping this into the powerful story that it became.  For me, the best historical fiction novels are the ones that have the ability to transport me to a time and place where I feel as though I am experiencing the events personally alongside the characters, and without a doubt, this book absolutely accomplished that.  More significantly though was the emotional resonance of the story, as I felt like I experienced the entire spectrum of emotions while reading this – whether it was anger at the way the children were being treated at the school, sadness at the plights of the families displaced due to circumstances not of their doing, joyfulness when Odie and the gang triumphed over one obstacle after another, hopefulness during those moments when even those people with the hardest of hearts were moved enough to help others in need (those were just a few  examples).  This was a story where every character touched my heart in some way, to the point that I was reluctant to see the story end because I wanted to be with these characters for as long as I could.

I don't give 5 stars very often, but this book definitely deserved it (actually, if I could give more stars, I would)!  I've heard a lot about Krueger's works over the years, though (I am a bit ashamed to admit) this is the first book of his that I've actually read (a wrong that I hope to rectify some time in the near future!).   In a letter to his readers at the beginning of this book, Krueger talks about "pouring the best of himself into this story" and in asking us to read it, he is "offering [us] his heart" --  I am honored to have taken up this offer and in so doing, I can now count this among one of my favorite reads this year!    If you get the chance to read this one, I hope that you will also love it as much as I have!

Received ARC from Atria Books via NetGalley

Review: The Beekeeper of Aleppo (by Christy Lefteri)

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Let me start off by saying that this is a book everyone needs to read, especially given the current environment we live in with the immigration issue at the forefront of topics recently here in the Western part of the world.  Though I have read plenty of books over the years about the immigrant experience from different viewpoints, including from the refugee and asylum perspectives, few of those books have been as haunting and affecting as this one.  The story of Nuri and Afra and their harrowing journey to escape the conflict in Syria, the tremendous losses they endure one right after the other --  the loss of their home, their livelihoods, their family, their precious child, even their own souls – ordinary citizens caught up in horrible circumstances not of their making, already having to suffer through so much loss and devastation, yet somehow still finding the will to live, to push ahead through the grief and the desperation and finally arrive at their destination, only to face an uncertain future.  This is one of those stories that reminded me once again just how much we often take for granted as we go about our daily lives and how we should be so much more grateful than we usually are for everything we do have.

This was a heart-wrenching, emotional read that brought tears to my eyes more than once, yet it was also thought-provoking and relevant to so much of what is going on in the world today.  I will admit that it did take me a little while to get used to the book’s unique format (with the last word of each chapter acting as the bridge that starts the flashback to the past in the next chapter), but the beautifully written story as well as the realistically rendered characters (all of whom I adored) more than made up for my brief struggle with the format.   Nuri and Afra are characters that I know will stay with me for a long time to come, as the penetrating sadness around their story is one that is difficult to forget.  With that said though, there were also moments of hope amidst the desperation, such as when Nuri and Afra finally make it to their destination (not a spoiler, since we are already told this from the very first page) and are met with much kindness from the people they end up staying with at the refugee center as they wait for their asylum applications to be processed.  These interactions at the refugee center in present time brought a certain element of hope to the story, which helped to balance out the overwhelming sadness of the past narrative recounting Nuri and Afra’s harrowing journey – at the same time, it made their story all the more poignant and powerful.   

Part of what made this story feel so realistic was the fact that the author Christy Lefteri based a lot of it on her previous experience working with refugees as a UNICEF-sponsored volunteer in Athens, Greece.  In addition to that though, there was also Lefteri’s personal connection as a daughter of refugees (both her parents fled war-torn Cyprus back in the 1970s), which combined with her volunteer experience to produce such a powerful and inspiring story.  I know my review probably doesn’t say a whole lot, but in a way, the vagueness is a bit deliberate, as I feel the story already speaks for itself and nothing I say will be able to do it justice.  All I’m going to say is that this book definitely deserves to be read – and sooner rather than later! 

Received ARC from Ballantine Books (Random House) via NetGalley.