The Cellist

The Cellist is the 21st book in Dan Silva's Gabriel Allon spy series. Allon, an art restorer on the side, always gets pulled away from his art to go after another terrorist on behalf of the Israeli government. Here, we have Allon dealing with everything from Russian money laundering to an attempt on the life of the president of the U. S. The story explores one of the preeminent threats facing the West today - the corrupting influence of dirty money wielded by Russia. 

The publisher's summary:

"Viktor Orlov had a longstanding appointment with death. Once Russia's richest man, he now resides in splendid exile in London, where he has waged a tireless crusade against the authoritarian kleptocrats who have seized control of the Kremlin. His mansion in Chelsea's exclusive Cheyne Walk is one of the most heavily protected private dwellings in London. Yet somehow, on a rainy summer evening, in the midst of a global pandemic, Russia's vengeful president finally manages to cross Orlov's off his kill list.

Before him was the receiver from his landline telephone, a half drunk glass of red wine, and a stack of documents. The documents are contaminated with a deadly nerve agent. The Metropolitan Police determine that they were delivered to Orlov's home by one of his employees, a prominent investigative reporter from the anti-Kremlin Moskovskaya Gazette. And when the reporter slips from London hours after the killing, M16 concludes she is a Moscow Center assassin who has cunningly penetrated Orlov's formidable defenses.

But Gabriel Allon, who owes his very life to Viktor Orlov, believes his friends in British intelligence are dangerously mistaken. His desperate search for the truth will take him from London to Amsterdam and eventually to Geneva, where a private intelligence service controlled by a childhood friend of the Russian president is using KGB style active measures to undermine the West from within. Known as the Hayden Group, the unit is plotting an unspeakable act of violence that will plunge an already divided America into chaos and leave Russia unchallenged. Only Gabriel Allon, with the help of a brilliant young woman employed by the world's dirtiest bank, can stop it."

This is another fantastic novel from Dan Silva! It has all the characters we have known throughout the series plus a few unnamed ones, i.e., the Russian president and an erratic American president refusing to concede an election. This particular installment of the series is more current with the world's political situation than the earlier ones. The plot includes a global pandemic, Russian interference in American elections as well as Russian looting of the assets of the West. The author must have written fast to include these events into his story.

As I said above, the characters were all known to the series. There weren't any new ones, which I was expecting. It was fun to read about their exploits since their last entry into the series. The Israeli characters showed growth and I suspect that one or more will not make in to the next book because of their age or retirement. Some were barely mentioned due to their age. Some will probably be promoted. It shows that Silva is constantly keeping their duties changing as they advance or decline in their careers.

All in all, this was a riveting read. I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

Viral

Viral is Robin Cook's 38th medical thriller and it is my favorite from among all of his books. The ending was unexpected and extremely satisfying that I am tempted to begin rereading it ASAP.  

The main character, Brian Murphy, and his wife and child travel to Cape Cod for a two week vacation. When wife Emma begins to get flu-like symptoms, they cut their vacation short and return to New York City after one week. On the drive home, Emma begins to convulse. When the family reaches their local hospital Emma is given a room in the ICU area. She is diagnosed with eastern equine encephalitis, a/k/a EEE. It is a rare and highly lethal mosquito-borne viral disease that she probably caught during one of their barbeques on the coast. To make matters worse, Brian and Emma's daughter Juliette begins to exhibit alarming physical and behavioral symptoms too.  Emma's hospital stay is rather expensive. When Brian receives a $221,000 bill that his insurer refuses to pay, citing dubious clauses in their health insurance policy, he decides to get to the bottom of the hospital's predatory billing practices.  

My love of the story is based on my own experience with encephalitis when I was 8 years old and my 35 year history dealing with insurance companies after a catastrophic injury in a car accident. The author gives us the basics on encephalitis, the treatment and etiology of which has changed drastically since I had it 55 years ago. I ended up googling it and discovered even more information that was geared to my experiences over all these years.  Cook is known for writing the etiology of whatever disease he writes about in his books. It becomes part of the plot action. Naturally, I was drawn to this particular story.  

The writing was superb. The pace was super fast because Brian needed to save the lives of his wife and child. The reader doesn't know how things will turn out, just that there is a sense of urgency. Brian had to fight this battle on three fronts:  the disease, the insurer and the hospital. I believe this alone will connect with every reader. All Americans have been put through the ringer with medical matters. The ending was quite different from what we have seen from Cook in the past. I won't elaborate, but I loved it!

Another aspect to the plot is how asian mosquitos came to be located on the U. S. eastern coast. This mosquito has a distinct look: 2 white dots on its wings. Climate change is the reason that this type of mosquito traveled from the tropics, where it is normally located, to the eastern coast of the United States. Later on in the story, the reader sees that this particular mosquito is somewhere else on the planet. I don't want to be a spoiler so I will leave it at that.

The hospital setting was where much of the action took place. Cook shows us what we are all familiar with: hours long waits in the emergency room, seemingly uncaring staff, and, of course, the nasty billing department who call you nonstop trying to collect. The plot goes into hospital billing practices that I was not aware of. It has made me determined to check my bills in the future now that I know how this system works.

I thought the characters were sympathetic.  We don't know much about Emma because she becomes ill early in the story. Daughter Juliette is four-years-old and cries constantly. She is catered to quite a bit. I can certainly feel for Brian. Having been through his circumstances more than once in my life, I felt his pain. His emotions ran high throughout the entire story. Although Brian is a problem solver by nature, he just cannot penetrate the medical system to resolve his issues. His line of thinking is insightful for anyone new to this experience. There are 4 other characters of note. His mother, mother-in-law, business assistant and a new friend named Jeanne all help him steer through the mess that healthcare is today. Jeanne, in particular, becomes a major part of the story. She is a child psychologist who lost her husband a year ago via the same situation that Brian now finds himself in.

Viral will make you read your insurance policy and search for medical billing advocates.  I loved it and rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

Book of the Month: August

This second book in the Jaipur Trilogy is my best read for August. Indian fiction is one of my favorite kinds of books to read and when I see this kind of book I grab it. This second book concentrates more on the Malik character than the Lakshmi character. Lakshmi is the main character of the trilogy but she did not have much part in the murder investigation. Her protege handled most of it. However, it felt good to see how these two characters are evolving. I will be sorry when the trilogy ends but hopefully, the author will continue to write Indian fiction. She is great at this genre.

Every review of the book that I have seen has been positive and I think historical fiction fans are going to love it. I cannot recommend it more highly.

Apricots

I reviewed Sally Christie's fantastic Versailles trilogy 2 years ago. I was not aware that she wrote any other books so when this mystery appeared in my Amazon feed, I grabbed it. 

Apricots takes place in a town called Apricots in 1792 St. Domingue (present day Haiti). During the largest slave rebellion that the world has ever seen, 1,000 plantations were burned on the northern plains and 2,000 whites were killed. The rebellion was put down but slaves still controlled the northern plains. A young widow, Rose Fongravier, is struggling to manage her crumbling coffee plantation when she discovers a dead body at the bottom of her garden. The island residents wonder if there was an accident or a murder and whether it will begin another slave revolt. With 400,000 slaves and 30,000 whites, a rebellion could be started at any time. The story covers the span of merely one day within its 392 pages, with a cross section of the plantation's inhabitants offering their understanding of who is responsible for the dead body in the garden. 

I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters in the beginning of the story. After a few chapters, though, it was easy to keep up with them. The story is tightly packed with action and the reader gets to see the awful conditions that the slaves had to live with on the coffee and sugar plantations. Their stories were heartbreaking. Can you imagine being free for 60 years and then enslaved again on the whim of another person? Promises made to slaves by their owners in wills were simply discarded by their heirs; the law be damned.

The characters were fully developed and reflected the era in which they lived. I think the author's choice to have the events occur within one day made the pace of the story uber fast. I found it to be unputdownable.

The book is based on a true story and I feel it should be recommended reading. 5 out of 5 stars.

Factory Summers

Factory Summers is another great autobiography from cartoonist Guy Delisle. He has written several travelogues from following his wife to Jerusalem, Pyongyang, Shenzen and Burma while she worked with Medecins Sans Frontieres. Here, we have the story of Delisle's four summers as a teenager working for a pulp and paper factory in Quebec City where he grew up.

Factory Summers has alot of dry humor within its pages. Delisle describes his co-workers as sexist, telling dirty jokes on a daily basis. As a union employee myself, I can say they are typical union workers. LOL. If they can find a way to relax on the job, they do it. It's not that they are forgoing the hard work their jobs demand. These fellows work with huge machines that require constant cleaning up and fixing and the areas they are located in have no air conditioning. There is danger of getting hurt every day. The factory was built in 1927 and there had not been any changes to the building or the machinery over the years. This was an antiquated system that Delisle was dealing with. With 12 hours shifts required 6 days a week, I doubt that he would be allowed to work here as a youth if the factory was in the U.S. I thought it was a cruel job for a sixteen-year-old kid and cannot believe he did the work without questioning the rules. If it was me working there, I would have filed a complaint with OSHA for unsafe working conditions.

The story itself was well told. The monotony of the work days are shown by both dialogue and drawings. The only reprieve the author had was by drawing comics and making plans to attend animation school in Toronto. His relationship with his father, who got him the job, is also a part of the story. The book opens with Delisle having his annual visit with his father, divorced from his mother, and ends with his death. The relationship frames these summers working at the same plant his father worked at. 

I highly recommend this one. 5 out of 5 stars.

Can't Wait Wednesday #8

Susan Wittig Albert is one of my favorite cozy mystery authors.  Her newest novel, Hemlock, is due for release on September 7, 2021. Albert writes the China Bayles Mystery Series that take place in Pecan Springs, Texas. With a cast of colorful characters, it always delivers a relaxing read. 

With this installment of the series, China Bayles travels to the North Carolina mountains to visit her friend Dorothea Harper. Harper is the director of the Hemlock House Library which houses a collection of rare gardening books. When the most valuable books disappears, Harper becomes the prime suspect. China steps in to search for the thief.

The author has only changed the location of her books once before. It was not pleasant reading so I am a little apprehensive about Hemlock. I can only hope that it turns out to be a good read.

Loch Down Abbey

Loch Down Abbey is a Downton Abbey wannabe. Fortunately for the author, it will be made in to a TV series. As a book, there wasn't much of a plot. 2 characters died but the resolution of their deaths was not prominent. The story was basically about how the aristocratic characters spend their days. The story takes place in the Scottish Highlands during the 1930s.

The publisher's summary:

"It's the 1930s and a mysterious illness is spreading over Scotland. But the noble and ancient family of Inverkillen, residents of Loch Down Abbey, are much more concerned with dwindling toilet roll supplies and who will look after the children now that Nanny has regretfully (and most inconveniently) departed this life.

Then Lord Inverkillen, Earl and head of the family, is found dead in mysterious circumstances. The inspector declares it an accident but Mrs MacBain, the head housekeeper, isn't so convinced. As no one is allowed in or out because of the illness, the residents of the house - both upstairs and downstairs - are the only suspects. With the Earl's own family too busy doing what can only be described as nothing, she decides to do some digging - in between chores, of course - and in doing so uncovers a whole host of long-hidden secrets, lies and betrayals that will alter the dynamics of the household for ever." 

Loch Down Abbey is advertised as a locked room mystery. Who or what was in the locked room? I don't know. The book primarily revolves around an artistocratic family, the Ogilvy-Sinclairs, who have lived in Loch Down Abbey for over 600 years. They are dysfunctional, with every family member at war with each other over mostly small things. They love to make life hard for their servants and treat them abysmally. After Lord Inverkillen and the nanny are found dead, a sickness takes over Scotland and Britain. The government has asked people to wear masks and stay inside while the sickness rages. In the Abbey, half of the servants are ill and cannot wait on the  family hand and foot. The family is outraged that servants have taken over part of the family and guest quarters and that they will have to dress themselves, forego their breakfast trays and downsize the number of cakes served at tea. Flour, sugar and toilet paper have been hoarded from the stores. Sound familiar? I think the author wrote her story based on the COVID-19 pandemic that we all are dealing with at the present time. 

The depiction of the lives of the rich are what make this a good read. I am sure that we all have watched Downton Abbey over the years. Loch Down Abbey is a castle that is slightly smaller in size than Downton but the characters all behave the same. Loch Down has more servants though, thirty, so there are alot of characters to keep track of. There isn't much mystery here but it did not affect my enjoyment of the book. It is a relaxing read.

4 out of 5 stars.

Stacking the Shelves #7

Stacking the Shelves meme is hosted by the Reading Reality blog. It was originally hosted by the Team Tynga's Reviews blog and now is solely hosted by Reading Reality. I have been anticipating the arrival of a few new graphic novels from Amazon this month to add to my comic collection.

Factory Summers was written by one of my favorite comic book authors: Guy Delisle. DeLisle is best known for his travelogues to Pyongyang, Shenzhen, Burma and Jerusalem, where he followed his wife who worked for Medecins Sans Frontieres, the French branch of Doctors Without Borders. In Factory Summers DeLisle returns to writing autobiographies. While he was a teenager, he worked in a pulp and paper factory for three summers beginning when he was 16. DeLisle worked twelve hour shifts performing physically strenuous tasks. He was the only minor working there. His father, who worked an 8 hour white collar job upstairs in the company's office, helped DeLisle get this job. The book recounts his experiences there. 

I am also awaiting delivery of Let's Not Talk Anymore. This is a serious story about  five generations of women from author Weng Pixin’s family, each at age 15. The lineage is full of breakages – her great grandmother Kuān is sent away from her family in South China, her grandmother Mèi is adopted by a neighbor to help with housework, and her mother Bīng is heartbroken by her father’s estrangement. Pixin’s own story centers on her feelings of isolation and her rebellion from her mother. She extends the line by envisioning a fictional future daughter, Rita, who questions her family’s legacy. This family saga spans 100 years.

Com'on post office.  Where are my books?

The Amish Quilter's Unexpected Baby

This is the first book in a series about fictional character Esther Zook, an Amish quiltmaker who moves from Pennsylvania to a new settlement in Colorado. Esther is starting over after her father’s death, piecing together a new life with as much care as she puts into her intricate quilts. When her wayward sister abandons her five month old baby on Esther's doorstep, it throws all those plans for a fresh start asunder. Esther had accepted her status as an old maid. She is thirty and has no plans to be a mother, or a single mother at that. Levi Kiem, the eligible young man who’s making repairs in her house, has attracted her attention. Esther believes that he cannot have any interest in her other than as friends because of their age difference.  Levi is 24. Levi has plenty of marriage prospects. His dat has even offered to send him to Ohio to find a wife. Yet the more time he spends with Esther, the more intrigued he becomes. Feisty and independent, she’s nothing like the wife he once imagined for himself. Yet just as a quilt is crafted from contrasting cloth, they might find that together, they can create a family.

The book was an enjoyable read, although all the writing about the baby screaming started to get on my nerves. I could literally hear that kid through the pages and started thinking about all the screaming babies I have listened to while riding on a bus. Esther and Levi are both compelling characters. Their so-called romance was one of those he thinks, she thinks stories. Neither of them are able to express their true feelings to each other until the very end of the story. I must admit that all of the missed connections between them also got on my nerves. I think there were too many of them. It would have been nice if they became romantic with each other sooner in the plot so that we could see more of how the romance developed.  

 

Amish Quilter was an OK book.  3 out of 5 stars.

The Father of All Things

The Father of All Things is another TKO Shorts horror comic. This one was written by Sebastian Girner, editor-in-chief of TKO Studios. Here we have a war story taking place in 1914. WWI is raging when Georg, an idealistic fourteen year old German boy, is caught up with patriotic fervor and lies about his age to get in the army. Georg wants to defend his country but is unprepared for the horrors of war.  He quickly becomes sorry that he enlisted when he sees fellow soldiers shot and killed. While sitting in the trenches Georg finds an unexplored tunnel and crawls his way through it. When he gets to the end of the tunnel he crawls out and meets a monster. Who is the monster? God? The devil? Someone else? Read the comic to find out. It's a thought provoking story.

   

Hand Me Down

Hand Me Down is a TKO Short comic by Alex Paknadel. It follows the lives of Reuben and Lyra who are on the brink of divorce when Reuben gets promoted at work. In keeping with Reuben's desire for a different lifestyle they move to a glitzy new neighborhood in order to keep up with the Joneses. The couple are invited to a risqué soiree hosted by Reuben's boss Magnus who wants his guests to enjoy the darker side of life. When Lyra realizes that the attendees are part of a secretive society that swaps partners she quickly leaves the party and goes home. When Reuben comes home Lyra sees that he is a changed person and not for the good.

Hand Me Down is part of TKO Presents second wave of shorts published earlier this year. While only 19 pages, it is still a compelling horror story with an unexpected twist at the end. Check it out. After all, it's only $2.99.

5 out of 5 stars.

Night Train

Night Train is a TKO Short comic by Steve Foxe. It is the story of a ten year old youngster named Neal whose family moves to a new home to add space for a new baby to be born into the family. The home is noisy because it is located under a train track. Neal's baby brother drives him insane by screaming all night and cannot sleep. His parents are not handling the new addition well either. Neal begins to see a spectral train with a ghost for a conductor. When the ghost offers to take Neal's baby brother away, Neal cannot resist the offer. However, when Neal wakes up he is not sure if he really gave his brother away, if he dreamed it all up or whether he is just daydreaming.

Night Train is part of a three short comic release by TKO Presents that they published in November 2020. The illustrations by Lisandro Estherren and coloring by Patricio Delpeche add to the supernatural feeling of the story. They visually appear dreamlike.  The comic is only 10 pages long but contains a well plotted horror story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

5 out of 5 stars.

China

China is the latest historical fiction novel by Edward Rutherford. He has written several prior novels on Paris, London, Manhattan, Russia, Ireland, New York and Dublin. His books remind me of another chunkster author James Michener. This particular novel begins in 1839, at the dawn of the First Opium War, and follows China's history through the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. We see the rising and falling of the fortunes of Chinese, British and American families as they navigate the tides of history. Along the way, the readers sees a deeply researched portrait of Chinese history and society, its ancient traditions and upheavals to its emergence as a global power. Rutherford has also given us some romance and some adventure too.  

I knew this would be a good book so I read slowly to savor each page. I was not disappointed. There are seven alternating storylines which were hard to follow in the beginning. However, as each storyline got fleshed out it was easy to make the transition. We read about a mandarin Lord Lin and his protégé Jiang Shi-Rong, Chinese pirate Nio, British missionary Cecil Whiteparish, peasant Mei- Ling, a Manchu soldier, British opium trader John Trader and a eunuch who works in the palace. Eventually all of the the characters' lives intersect and we meet their descendants too. Three particular events in Chinese history are told in detail:  The Opium War, Taiping Rebellion and Boxer Rebellion. While I was familiar with these events, it was good to read how they affected people from various walks of life. 

China is a long saga to relish. 5 out of 5 stars.