Black Ice

Black Ice is the 21st Scot Harvath spy thriller from Brad Thor. I have read every book in the series and loved them all. However, Black Ice was a slow read with little suspense. In this installment of the series we have Harvath enjoying a summer off from work with his girlfriend Solvi. She is also a spy but for her own country, Norway. Near the end of his vacation, Harvath is told he must return to Washington ASAP or resign. He agrees to go back to Washington but as he leaves his favorite Oslo cafe, Harvath sees a man he killed enter a cab in front of the cafe. Harvath had confirmed the death of the Chinese  spy before informing his bosses and knew he was dead. Now he wonders whether he killed a double or if he had just seen a double. 

For the first time for a Brad Thor novel, I was frequently able to put the book down. Normally I would read his books in one sitting. It took me several days to get through it. When I read about Scot's girlfriend Solvi, it was apparent that the author was a man. Scot is always the catch, not the other way around. Scot's job is always more important than the women's job. The women are submissive to the man. I am not sure why this irked me now. Maybe the pattern is more apparent after 21 novels. I also wonder if men are his target audience.

I must also wonder whether I was not in the mood for a spy story or whether something was off in the writing. All I know is that I wasn't as interested in this installment of the series as I have been with prior novels. Perhaps Thor should switch up his formula for the series to breathe new life into his plots and characters. 

I am sorry to have to rate Black Ice 3 out of 5 stars. Thor usually gets a 5 star rating from me.

Stacking the Shelves #14

I am so excited about the approaching publication of A. M. Stuart's Evil in Emerald. I have pre-ordered a copy of the book, which will be published at the end of the month on March 29, 2022. Evil in Emerald is the third installment of the Harriet Gordon Mystery Series which takes place in Singapore during the early 1900s.

Some of you may remember the first two books in the series Singapore Sapphire and Revenge in Rubies. Most historical mystery fans read Singapore Sapphire when it was published in 2019 and loved it. I read many glowing reviews of this novel.

In Evil in Emerald Harriet turns to volunteering in local plays as an outlet from her work. She has been enjoying the rehearsals for her role in the Singapore Amateur Dramatic and Musical Society’s latest production – Pirates of Penzance. However, Harriet quickly discovers tensions among the staff of the theatre company. When the leading man is found murdered, suspicions abound, exposing scandalous behavior as well as some insidious crimes.

Inspector Robert Curran once again turns to his friend Harriet for help with the case. Curren's own life soon begins to unravel when a mysterious man turns up on his doorstep claiming to know more about Curran’s past than he himself knows. After Curran hears some devastating news, the line between his personal and professional life begins to blur. Now, more than ever, Curran needs Harriet’s steadfast assistance. When another cast member is found dead Curran and Harriet  hurry their investigation to find the killer before a third person dies.

Harriet's character has an interesting background. She is a widow who survived a typhus epidemic in India and an incarceration in Britain for her suffragette activities. This past is not part of the mysteries that she solves but it shows how she grew into an independent woman with insight into the human psyche. When she was released from prison Harriet sailed to Singapore to help her minister brother with his school for children.

If you haven't tried this series yet I highly recommend that you start reading.

Threads of Hope

Threads of Hope is the 3rd book in the Plain Patterns trilogy by Leslie Gould. The story opens with Tally Smucker enjoying a quiet life of reading and quilting. She can concentrate on her hobbies because of her decision never to marry. However, she has to deal with grief over her mother's catastrophic illness as well as the physical demands of being her caregiver. When a former Plain friend, Danielle, exhibits the symptoms of PTSD from her service in the army, Tally invites her to join a group of quilters at a fabric shop called Plain Patterns. Jane Berger owns the store and Jane likes to tell true stories from yesteryear while the ladies sew. During these quilting get togethers, Tally and Danielle learn about the plight of a WWI soldier and the girl he left behind, Jane's ancestor Kate Landis. Kate was an Amish woman who had to deal with her boyfriend Amos leaving the Amish community to fight in WWI. There is also the 1918 flu pandemic that is raging at the time. The couple's story resonates with both Tally and Danielle but for different reasons.

I am a quilter so I loved the quilt shop setting for this trilogy. Also, there are several parallels to the present time. We are two years into the COVID-19 pandemic and we are dealing with the Ukraine War, which could spill into WWIII. The author gives us some insight on how these issues were dealt with in the past but, of course, she did not know at the time she wrote the novel that history would repeat itself. Danielle's treatment for PTSD is also featured and it is educational for the reader. 

When quilters gather together they tend to solve all the problems in the world by discussing them and coming up with their own solutions, always better than what the politicians decide. I certainly felt this camaraderie among the Plain Patterns group and remember conversations that I have had in the past with fellow quilters. Quilting is also a way to mull over personal problems when you are sewing by yourself. Art and crafts are an outlet for me on dealing with personal issues. This book reinforced this effect as the characters also discussed the problems of the day.

Threads of Hope is the best book in the trilogy. It has more mystery elements than the other two books which made it a fast read.  4 out of 5 stars.

Swine

• Publisher: ‎Humanoids, Inc. 
• Paperback: ‎120 pages
• Publication Date: 10/5/21
• ISBN-10: ‎1643376047
• ISBN-13:‎ 978-1643376042
• 
  
• Swine takes the cake. The story premise concerns a miracle that the biblical Jesus performed.  Two thousand years ago Jesus confronted the demon Legion in the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac and cast them into pigs to drown in the sea. You can read about it in Mark 5:1. The author poses this question: what would have happened if every pig didn't drown as Mark tells us. Tyrone Finch imagines that a handful of the swine swam to safety and have spent the centuries planning revenge and causing a few random disasters along the way. His plot is certainly creative. Swine contains all ten issues of this miniseries and it is Finch's first comic.

The pigs are responsible for the sinking of the Titanic, the Hindenburg disaster and other disasters in history. Chasing down and killing these pigs are a man and woman team who are joined by the same tragedy. Ellis Rafferty spent seven years in prison after being wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife, minister Becky. He asserts that the pigs killed her. Now released, he seeks to avenge her death. Joining forces with Becky’s sister, Zoey, they hit the road to chase down and kill the pigs. 

While the story is a little far fetched, it was entertaining. The graphics were beautifully drawn by Mauricet and colored by Lee Loughridge in those bright colors that I love. I must say that the pigs were amazingly drawn with every type of facial expression that there could possibly be. They are agile and can fly through the air when they want to attack a human. That old adage that when pigs fly . . . comes true in Swine. Each release begins with the traditional culinary drawing of the pig which shows where certain cuts of pork come from the body. It is a true devotional for the consummate pig lover.

5 out of 5 stars.

Girl in Ice

Girl in Ice is Erica Ferencik's third novel. I am not sure how to categorize it. Environmental thriller is the closest description but this is not an end of the world horror story. The story is about a girl who is found frozen in the ice in a deep crevice in Greenland and the climate scientists who are trying to communicate with her. Valerie Chesterfield is a linguist who loves the dead Nordic languages. She languishes in the shadow of her twin brother, Andy, an accomplished climate scientist who was stationed on a remote island off Greenland’s coast. Andy has recently committed suicide. He ventured into unprotected into 50 degree below zero weather wearing nothing but boxer shorts. Valerie suspects foul play though. She knows her brother loved life and would not have killed himself.

When Wyatt, Andy’s fellow researcher in the Arctic, discovers the girl, he immediately calls Val. Despite her agoraphobia Val journeys to Greenland to solve the mystery of the girl's language as well as her brother’s death. However, the moment she steps off the plane, her fears almost overwhelm her. She medicates herself with pills and alcohol. The landscape is tough and Wyatt, brilliant but difficult, is an enigma. The girl, Sigrid, is intriguing, and Valerie has a special connection with her. A few weeks after she thaws out, Wyatt believes that Sigrid may be ill. Valerie thinks that the answer to healing Sigrid lies in discovering the truth about Wyatt’s research. She does not know whether his data can be trusted and wonders if it has anything to do with her brother's death. 

Whew! This was a riveting read. I was hooked from the first page with its foreshadowing narrative: "There would be no bursting into tears at school. Grief was for after hours, for the nightly bottle of merlot, for my dark apartment, for waking on the couch at dawn, the blue light of the TV caressing my aching flesh." I couldn't put the book down until I  finished reading it. Not only did each chapter end with suspense to keep me reading, but practically every page did also. 

I enjoyed reading about the Greenland setting. It is an integral setting where the physical landscape, climate, weather and culture become part of the story. In addition, it's harsh landscape matched Valerie's emotions. Both were frozen. While the characters were careful when they went outside, I couldn't help but see the beauty in the snowy scenes they were navigating. Snow is always beautiful when you don't have to go outside yourself! It was fascinating to learn about the three languages that are spoken in the island: West Greenlandic, East Greenlandic and the Thule Greenlandic called Inuktun. Val was an expert in these languages. She stated in the novel "A language is far more than a means of communication. It is the very condition of humanity."  Her problem in communicating with Sigrid was that Sigrid did not speak any of these languages. She spoke a few words from each language but Val could not determine what Sigrid was trying to tell her. 

The author did a great job creating her characters. Val's emotional state matched the landscape of the novel. The agoraphobia that she suffered from was shown, not told. We saw Val medicating herself in order to be able to leave her home and later, leave the the comfort of her workspace in Greenland. Wyatt Speeks was the perfect villain. The climate scientist was impatient with others and this caused Val to be wary of him. She was not sure whether she could trust him or any of his decisions. Wyatt's assistant, Jeanne, was equally as emotionally frozen as Val. Her conversations were always cryptic but she suffered the loss of family members too. Jeanne was the cook and mechanic at the station. I thought it was odd that someone who wasn't a scientist was working at the station. The two other scientists working at the Greenland station were married to each other. Polar marine scientists Nora and Rajeev Chandra-Revard were way too lovey-dovey and their passion for each other was a little sickening. However, they did provide a break from the three other dark personalities.

I loved Girl in Ice and am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

The Sugarcreek Surprise

The Sugarcreek Surprise is Wanda Brunstetter's newest novel. It is the second novel in her Creektown Discoveries series and was published earlier this month. The story concerns 25 year old Lisa Miller who became an orphan when she was seven after her family was killed in an auto accident. Lisa's grandparents decide to take her to their home in Sugarcreek, Ohio and raise her themselves. Lisa, however, has trouble making friends and has never opened up to her grandparents about her loss.  She is afraid that if she ever loves anyone again, that they will die and leave her alone in the world. 

When Paul Herschberger moves into her community, Lisa has already been teaching for 7 years. She has no plans to ever marry and have children of her own. Paul is also heartbroken. His longtime girlfriend in Indiana was also dating his best friend. Paul expected to marry the girl but broke things off with her after catching her with his buddy.  Paul decides to move to Ohio and work with his uncle as a carpenter. Soon he meets Lisa and is attracted to her.  Paul thinks that he met Lisa sometime in the past but cannot remember where they could have ever met. He tries to get her to go out with him but Lisa refuses all of his advances. Eventually they become friends over their mutual love of antiques and books. The question for the reader is whether these two hurt souls can ever overcome their handicaps and become a couple.

Romance is not usually the kind of book I read.  However, these Amish romance stories get to me every time. There is something about how these stories are told that attract me. There is a mystery to them and reading them is similar to reading a mystery novel because you want to know how the characters overcome whatever personal problem that they have. The Sugarcreek Surprise was no different. I was captivated from the first page until the ending. The religious aspect of the story is also intriguing for me. It is always fascinating to see how other people deal with their problems. We all have problems and the Amish are no different from the rest of us. Having a faith tradition of my own, I enjoy reading how the characters resolve their conflicts by using their faith. The answer is always the same, regardless of your faith tradition: will you allow God to change you so that you can overcome negative circumstances? 

This novel is appropriate for all ages and women in particular will enjoy it. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Delicacy

James Albion's The Delicacy is a fictional story about the restaurant industry told in graphic novel format. Set in the world of flashy restaurants, this story of greed and ambition comes with a macabre ending as rare and delicious fungi spell trouble for two brothers who are running a restaurant. 

The story opens with Tulip and his brother Rowan having left the simple comforts of their remote Scottish island with a plan to grow succulent, organic vegetables in an idyllic market garden, and to open a restaurant serving these wholesome culinary delights to the busy sprawl of London. However, the world of fine dining seems impossibly competitive until they discover a delicious new species of mushroom. The dish brings diners in droves, catapulting their small restaurant to success beyond their wildest dreams.  Pressured by the demands of a hungry city, Tulip decides to crack the secret of their new ingredient's growth. But just how much will he sacrifice to feed his own insatiable ambition?

I was not expecting this comic to be so suspenseful. If it wasn't for the graphics, I would call it a cozy mystery. It has a perfect mystery plot with fast pacing. The Tulip character surprised me. His ambition seemed to be unbelievable. I don't think new restauranteur's would want to expand their business as fast as Tulip. However, the stress he endured created more and more suspense for the story. The ending was unexpected and I am still not sure how I feel about it. I was wanting something else while I was reading but I guess karma finally found its way to Tulip.

I LOVED The Delicacy and highly recommend it for comic lovers. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Opus Dictum

The Opus Dictum is the 2nd Vatican Secret Archives Thriller by Gary McAvoy. He previously wrote the Magdalen Chronicles trilogy but all of the characters in the Magdalen Chronicles are also in the Vatican Secret Archives series. McAvoy stated on his website that the Vatican series is a sequel to the Magdalen series and recommends that readers start his books with his first, The Madgalen Deception. If I had known this, I would have started reading his books in order.  However, I just discovered him as an author in January 2022 when I read The Vivaldi Cipher. In April 2022 McAvoy will have his 6th book published called The Petrus Prophecy. He is a promising new author and likes to write religious thrillers. 

The publisher's summary:

In 1982, Roberto Calvi, known as “God’s Banker,” was discovered hanging under London’s Blackfriars Bridge. What wasn’t found was the briefcase he was known to have had with him the night before, reportedly stuffed with incriminating documents, a special key, and a computer disk filled with codes, which together unlock a piece of the Vatican's troubled past.

When the briefcase mysteriously reappears in the Vatican Secret Archives, Father Michael Dominic and his team—Hana, Marco, Karl, Lukas, the feisty young nun Sister Teri, and Dominic’s new assistant, Ian—are up against two powerful and enigmatic organizations, Opus Deus and the ultra-secret, outlawed Masonic Lodge P2, who savagely fight for control of the briefcase and its contents. Their goal? To carry out one of the most dangerous conspiracies the Church has ever faced—all happening during an unexpected conclave to elect a new pope.

From Rome, Italy, to Geneva, Switzerland, join Dominic and friends as they fend off plotters, kidnappers, and blackmailers who have threaded their way into Vatican politics for decades, in a conspiracy known as The Opus Dictum.

I enjoyed this book immensely. When the Dictum was first mentioned at the midway point, I remembered what the story was supposed to be about. I have to question why it took so long to introduce the main thrust of the plot. Aside from this, the story was still entertaining and kept me reading until the quiet hours of the night. 

The characters were fully developed and interesting. The villains provided all the suspense a good thriller needs. With several characters being villains, it was hard to know which one was going to be the main one but having several ratcheted up the suspense a notch. 

The scientific methods used to decode documents was fascinating. I had never heard of steganography before. With steganography you can hide messages in digital images that the human eye cannot see. There are several other scientific tools used by the characters in the story. It gave authenticity to their pursuit of either good or evil.

A great read! 5 out of 5 stars.

Island Queen

When I initially saw this novel for sale on Amazon I was not sure whether I wanted to buy it. However, I did get it and I am glad that I read it. It is the fascinating, true life story of Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, a free black woman who rose from slavery to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in the colonial West Indies. At 592 pages, the book qualifies as a selection for the Chunkster Challenge.

The publisher's summary:  

Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom—and that of her sister and her mother—from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier, and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent.

Vanessa Riley’s novel brings Doll to vivid life as she rises above the harsh realities of slavery and colonialism by working the system and leveraging the competing attentions of the men in her life: a restless shipping merchant, Joseph Thomas; a wealthy planter hiding a secret, John Coseveldt Cells; and a roguish naval captain who will later become King William IV of England.

From the bustling port cities of the West Indies to the forbidding drawing rooms of London’s elite, Island Queen is a sweeping epic of an adventurer and a survivor who answered to no one but herself as she rose to power and autonomy against all odds, defying rigid eighteenth-century morality and the oppression of women as well as people of color. It is an unforgettable portrait of a true larger-than-life woman who made her mark on history.

The story began when Dorothy was five-years-old. It started out slow but picked up when Dorothy was 18. At that point I couldn't put the book down. There were a couple of unsavory sections where Dorothy or another female family member were being raped and/or referred to with racist and sexist language. The book is not for everyone but it does tell a part of history that we don't usually hear about. I was surprised at how easily and quickly Dorothy was able to save money to buy herself and several family members freedom from their slave owners. This ease seemed wrong from the history that I have been told over the years. Her ability to get away with talking back to her white owners did not feel right to me either. Perhaps she was able because she lived in the Caribbean. I am not sure. Dorothy was able to build several businesses and became one of the most wealthy women in the Caribbean. It would be interesting to find out whether this was a norm or an anomaly for black women in the Caribbean during the early 1800s. 

Dorothy pushed her daughters to marry white men. She prospered off of these relationships but perhaps her motivation was just to ensure that her children had food to eat. These white husbands had the power of manumission and this was one way for Dorothy to keep her descendants free people. The language used in the book took some getting used to. The West Indies dialect as well as the Irish words used by the white slave owners was very hard to get used to. Most of this language was used in the first half of the book. It got alot better in the second half.  With all of these issues in my mind I am still thinking to myself about my feelings about the novel. There are many questions that the Author's Note does not answer.

3 out of 5 stars.

The New Girl

Ruth Heald is one of my newest favorite authors.  I read her The Wedding and I Know Your Secret, both of which were fantastic psychological thrillers. When I saw an ad for her newest book, I couldn't wait to get it. Heald now has a respectable six novels to her credit. She only writes the psychological thriller genre and is superb with this type of writing. Heald studied Economics at Oxford University and then worked in a mix of sectors from nuclear decommissioning to management consulting. She worked at the BBC for nine years before leaving to write full time. Heald stated on her website that she is fascinated by psychology and finding out what drives people to violence, destruction and revenge.

Sophie Williams has moved from Dorset to London in order to escape her past. She thought that she could keep her past a secret by moving with no possessions other than a few clothes. She soon lands her dream job in advertising and it comes with a bonus. Sophie is offered the use of an apartment that her new employer owns for free. She is attracted her boss James and he feels the same about her. With James by her side, Sophie begins to feel safe again, more secure than she has felt in years. However, Sophie begins to hear odd noises at night and has a feeling that she is being watched. James convinces her that she is imagining things but when a new dress appears in her closet, Sophie wears it to work the next day. She is stunned when the atmosphere becomes chilled. 

Wow! This was a page turning mystery with many twists and turns. I found my heart beating fast everytime something happened to Sophie. I thought she was pretty gullible and knew she would be in danger because of her poor decisions. She should have known that all of the gifts that her new employer gave her were for a reason, a reason not good for her. I think most women would have had their antenna up and swirling furiously. I began dreading each new chapter because I knew she would find a simple reason to excuse all the bad things that were happening and ignore the obvious. The author did a great job of writing suspense into each chapter. The suspense was so high that I was scared for Sophie. It's been a long, long time since I cared this much for a character. However, I have had similar experiences with men and recognized every trap that she fell into. 

5 out of 5 stars.

Hotel Portofino

I had high hopes for Hotel Portofino. The beautiful cover attracted me to pick it up but that old adage, don't judge a book by it's cover, seems appropriate. I just didn't care for the story. The plot premise was good, which was another reason why I borrowed it from my local library. The story revolves around a British family who opens an upper class hotel on the Italian Rivera during the 1920s. After only being open a few weeks, owner Bella Ainsworth is struggling to deal with a pile of problems. Her high society clientele are demanding and Bella is targeted by a corrupt politician. When her marriage falls apart Bella doesn't think she can handle any more adversity but it keeps on coming.

I had difficulty becoming interested in the book from its opening pages. I thought that once I knew who all of the characters were that it would get better. It didn't. Other reviewers have said that the story is similar to Downton Abbey and I think Hotel Portofino might make a great movie like Downton because it is high on atmosphere. However, it falls short as a novel. There was not much action and even that beautiful setting couldn't keep me interested.

Unfortunately, this one a little dull. 2 out of 5 stars.

The Perfect Home

This is Kevin Lynch's second book. The Perfect Home is a psychological thriller set somewhere in the UK. The place is not mentioned but since the author uses the anglicized spelling of words, it must be in either England or Ireland. The author lives in Dublin so Ireland is a good guess. 

The story opens with June Sweeney gardening in her back yard. She loves her home, which she retained in her divorce from Nick. It is where she raised her two kids who are now college age. June has filled every room with family photographs and trinkets. She especially loves the garden and works on it every day. June likes the neighbors in her cul-de-sac and the feelings are mutual. The neighborhood is peaceful. She has the perfect home . . . until Steve Murray moves in next door.

Steve keeps 3 or 4 cars parked in his driveway and plays music loudly all day and night while he repairs them. June meets with her neighbor Fred almost every day to discuss their mutual complaints about Steve. When June brings her complaints to son Sam and daughter Cathy, they do not side with her. They believe Steve is an OK guy. He is just trying to recover from a setback. June begins to feel all alone in her misery thinking that it can't get worse. It does. Strange things are happening in her house late at night and even more disturbing, June’s cheating ex-husband suddenly seems to always be at her house. It’s almost as if he’s stalking her. Then Fred is murdered. What is happening to June's perfect home?

I love finding new authors who can write these tension filled thrillers. Kindle seems to bring many of them to my attention and I am thrilled (pun intended) to discover Kevin Lynch. He had my complete attention from the first page and I couldn't put the book down until I read it in one sitting. The pace is fast as each page moves the plot forward. There is no wasted dialogue or setting descriptions other than this perfect cul-de-sac, referred to in the book as "the estate." I am not sure what that is but in my mind I picture a cul-de-sac.

June is presented as a June Cleaver on steroids. With the eerie atmosphere of the novel, I can see her as a character in the movie Psycho. The story felt like it could have been written by Alfred Hitchcock and would have made a great episode of the Twilight Zone. 

I am rating this a 5 out of 5 stars. It is a must read for all.

Fast Girls

Fast Girls tells the story of the 1936 US women's olympic athletics team, a timely historical fiction novel given we have just watched the Beijing Olympics last month. The story actually begins with the 1928 women's athletics team and continues on to the 1932 team before getting to the main storyline. The athletes featured in the book are from real life. Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens and Babe Dickrickson are the best known. I was surprised that several of these women were from the Chicago south suburbs. I grew up there and loved seeing news articles from a local high school. What surprised me was that the school was integrated. 

Half of the book covers the 1928 and 1932 Olympics. The last half deals with the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany. Louise Stokes was black and not welcome in the Third Reich but none of the others really were either. Because these Americans were expected to win gold, their German hosts did their best to tire them with activities. Their rooms were also rather cold. Helen had a meeting with Hitler that terrified her. She wrote in her diary that he groped her in front of a group of people and wanted to see her privately. Her coach led her to safety. I was astonished that the host country's leaders would behave in this manner. However, haven't we all recently read how the Chinese government publicly excoriated American athletes of Chinese descent? The athletes were told that they should have competed for China. Nathan Chen was told by government leaders to leave China after his gold medal skate. He refused.

The novel covers many races that these ladies participated in over an eight year time span. While there is alot of political drama, Fast Girls is basically a sports story. 

5 out of 5 stars.