The Butcher and the Wren

The Butcher and the Wren is Alaina Urquhart's debut novel. Her day job as an autopsy technician certainly was helpful for her in writing this fantastic psychological thriller. I was completely engrossed in the book from the first chapter.

The publisher's summary:

"Something dark is lurking in the Louisiana bayou: a methodical killer with a penchant for medical experimentation is hard at work completing his most harrowing crime yet, taunting the authorities who desperately try to catch up.

But forensic pathologist Dr. Wren Muller is the best there is. Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of historical crimes, and years of experience working in the Medical Examiner's office, she's never encountered a case she couldn't solve. Until now. Case after case is piling up in Wren's examination table and soon she is sucked into an all consuming cat and mouse chase with a brutal murderer getting more brazen by the day."

This is a fast paced plot driven story that takes place in Louisiana. Here there are plenty of good places to stash a dead body. They can be hidden in tall grass by the water's edge or next to exposed tree roots. The variety of these places provide different decomposition times which could confuse a medical examiner not as experienced as Dr. Muller.

The serial killer and Wren Muller characters are well developed. We read more about the serial killer's background than Muller, who is the protagonist. He has a data entry day job but also attends medical school at Tulane. Because of his busy schedule he can only "work" on weekends. He always leaves different calling cards when he dumps a body in order to confuse the police. I liked him as a character. Wren is the perfect sleuth. She has the educational background and employment experience to conduct forensic investigations and would be great as a series protagonist. There is a side to her personality that could make her character a little softer. She was a crime victim herself. I don't know if the author plans on this being a series but I hope so. 

Mystery lovers will definitely want to read this book. 5 out of 5 stars!

The Nanny

The Nanny is a fantastic psychological thriller by Ruth Heald. I have read every one of her books and they all are unputdownable. In The Nanny, there are many twists and turns but they particularly happen in short sequence beginning at the midway point in the book. 

The publisher's summary:  

"I clutched baby Chloe's blanket, tears streaming down my face as I remember the night she disappeared. I looked up at the apartment block I once called home. I knew I'd never be welcome here again. One mistake had ruined everything.

When I  accepted a job working as a nanny for David and Julie and their young children, I couldn't believe my luck. I bonded with the baby Chloe instantly and would have done anything for her. She had David's thick dark hair and smiling eyes. I fell in love with her and was excited about her future. But when a terrible mistake led to Chloe disappearing, I was instantly blamed. With no evidence, I was let go and I returned home to try and rebuild my life. 

Twenty years later and I am still haunted by what happened. I have a family of my own now and I've worked hard to be the best wife and mother I can be. But I've never forgotten the child who stole my heart. Then a young woman arrived on my doorstep and the past secret that I have kept from my family comes hurtling into my present. I try to tell myself that I am overreacting but the woman in front of me looks so much like David. Who is she and why is she here?"

I loved this book. It is plot driven with a super fast pace. Half of the story takes place in 1999 Thailand and half in London in the present day. There isn't much that the Thailand setting provides other than being known for its stiff criminal penalties. 

There are quite a few characters. Hayley is the main character and she is married to Lars with a young daughter named Alice. Hayley's mother lives with them also as she has early dementia and mom has a caregiver named Michelle. In 1999 Hayley had been traveling during her gap year with two girlfriends and they landed in Bangkok. Running short of money caused her to accept a job with British expats David and Julie MacFarlane as a nanny for their newborn infant Chloe and two of David's daughters from an earlier marriage. 

Hayley has alot of secrets that she has kept from her girlfriends, the MacFarlanes, her husband and mother. Trying to keep them all close to her heart gives the story tension that keeps the reader engaged. We don't know what the secrets are and I wasn't sure who was going to turn out to be the villain. While the story is told in alternating time periods, there is no alternating plot. 

The Nanny is sure to be a hit with mystery lovers. 5 out of 5 stars.

Ducks

Ducks is a graphic memoir by Kate Beaton. Inside the pages of this hardcover book we read about the two years of her life spent working in Canada's oilfields. When Kate graduated from college, she had a hefty student loan to repay. Knowing that she would never make enough money from working in her chosen field to pay it off, Kate took a job in Alberta's oil sands where she worked as a laborer and then in the crib shop where she handed out tools to workers. She took a few months off after the first year and paid off half her student loans. Kate then worked in a museum but couldn't make her minimum loan payments on that salary. She returned to the oil sands for another year. Her student loans were then paid off and she decided to work as a cartoonist. The rest, they say, is history.

I was impressed with her concern for paying off her student loan debt. Kate delayed beginning her career until the debt was paid. Many residents of the Cape Breton island that she grew up on traveled to the oil sands so they could support their families. I was astonished by the amount of sexual harassment that she had to endure while working there. It doesn't say much for Canadian men and I am surprised by the conduct because I have always heard that Canadians were more group oriented than individualistic. So why the Ducks title? During her second year hundreds of ducks died from getting caught in the sands. This received alot of media attention at the time.

The story itself is well written with an obvious beginning, middle and end. There were twists and turns during her employment which gave it a mystery flare. The drawings were done in black and white in comic book strip format. At over 400 pages it is a hefty book but is also a fast read. I am looking forward to reading more from this young cartoonist.

5 out of 5 stars.

Starry Messenger

Starry Messenger is Neil deGrasse Tyson's 18th book but the first one that I have read. I didn't know what to expect. I thought that maybe he would make a statement about Christianity being a false religion. This is not a problem for me. I know what his views are from regularly watching his Star Talk TV program. I also wondered whether the material would be over my head. 

I did not see any main point that Tyson was trying to communicate in this book. While there are chapter divisions, the reader sees him pontificating on various social issues with no connection between the material. In the Preface, Tyson states that societal ills could all be solved by people thinking as scientists. If we could just see earth as the Apollo astronauts did, our differences would disappear.  Scientists are the only objective people on the planet. Scientists do not have opinions, they just have facts.

As I was reading I kept looking for the reason that the book was written. I didn't find one. I did notice, however, that there were two ideas repeated in every chapter. First, he is concerned how visiting space aliens view humankind. I don't know why he is upset about this as there is no scientific proof that aliens exist. Remember, all scientists are objective and only deal with facts. Second, Christianity is the reason for all of the problems in the world. Tyson states that the God of the Bible demands competition among his earthlings which promotes racism, colonialism etc..., as well as the idea that Christians are superior to non-Christians. He cites at least one verse from Genesis in each chapter to prove his points. I have to say that he has a psychological complex about the Bible because he has written about it so much in this work. So what if he's an atheist. But when someone can't stop writing and talking about the Bible in this way, he has a personal problem separate from being an atheist.

The material was not over my head. This is not a scientific book. It is about society as a whole from caveman days to the present. With the two main ideas presented in each chapter being ideas that have not been proved by science, why are his "objective" "opinions"  being touted as truth? Also, I got the impression that he feels superior to us regular folks who are not scientists. Superiority runs deep in this work. Again, I had to wonder how he became superior to everyone else since God is the entity requiring superiority from his followers and Tyson is not a God follower.

The book was a disappointment. I expected a scientific book. What I got was unorganized ramblings regarding problems on earth. The writing itself was good but the content was lacking. I am rating it 3 out of 5 stars.