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(originally posted on July 26, 2007)
I'm reluctant to tag any book as the Next Big Thing in Thrillers, but I'd say Barclay's standalone novel - which I read in one continuous sitting late at night when I was supposed to be asleep - comes awfully close. The concept is high, the execution is down-to-earth and the plot twists will really make you wonder about family relationships. Look for it at the end of September.
(originally posted on July 26, 2007)
In her first novel, Penney already has a finely developed sensibility that reveals much about her characters in a few sentences here, a few paragraphs there. The mystery is not only compelling on its own - who did kill a visiting French-Canadian trapper? - but for what it represents: the widening chasm of a small town holding fast in a frozen north. A lovely work that's hard to classify in the best possible way.
(originally posted on July 26, 2007)
The first paragraph sucks you in and thereafter the story of the juxtaposition between an island's survival by brute force and the power of imagination is a marvel. Jones creates wonderful characters and delivers big themes with the smallest of missteps. One might not have thought of a Dickens novel as a minefield of danger but the New Zealand-based author shows, in stark terms, just how this comes to pass.
(originally posted on July 26, 2007)
In the midst of heavy crime and literary fiction reading I need to take a break with some YA and boy, did this ever fit the bill. I cheered for Ishmael when he managed to score social points; and really lost my heart to fellow "loser" James Scobie, whose expertise with words cows even the most horrible of bullies. Bauer, a teacher, understands the minds of young teenage boys and made me smile for almost the entirety of the book.
(originally posted on July 26, 2007)
What a staggering achievement for Wiggins, who manages to tell America's greatest and boldest stories as seen through the direct and indirect lens of one ordinary gentleman and the family he struggles to solidify and then hold on to. As I read on I was so transported into Wiggins' world and her use of language and idiom. I expect I'll be reading this again not too long from now.
