Hell or High Water by Joy Castro

Nola Cespedes may finally get her break when her boss at the Times-Picayune assigns her a feature story. When Nola hears the actual assignment, though, she's more than a little apprehensive: After Katrina, a number of sex offenders vanished off the map. The paper wants a piece covering locals' thoughts and perspectives on the issue as well as that of convicted sex offenders still living in the city. While Nola would rather do just about anything than interview possibly violent pervs, she knows it's her best shot in making a name for herself and leaving New Orleans behind. Almost simultaneously, news of a kidnapping is making its way through the Crescent City. Connections are made to two recent murders and Nola suspects that it could make a great parallel to her own story.

Joy Castro's plot is really smart but much too complicated to easily sum up. There are a number of threads to the story: Nola's assignment, effects of Katrina, New Orleans itself, the kidnapping, Nola's personal life -- all of it comes together in a somewhat surprising way by the time the story wraps up. In this, Castro has shown herself to be a truly master plotter!

I also loved Nola. She's abrasive and a little off putting in her attitudes and actions, but getting to know her through the book shows that she's a layered character with a lot of things going on. In fact, obvious though it may be, Nola is a huge part of the story.

And finally there's New Orleans itself. Castro's New Orleans is not the happy "laissez les bons temps rouler" New Orleans that some folks focus on. Nor is it a dark and criminally rank cesspool either. It's a pretty fair and accurate portrayal of the city. New Orleans seems to cause authors problems. I'm sure any city is like that for readers who are familiar with them. By that I mean coming across tons of descriptions that either don't do the city justice or are completely inaccurate. I've come across a lot of authors who truly love the cities they are writing about and those authors take care in presenting the city in a way that is fair and truthful. I feel that's what Castro has done here.

I think Hell or High Water is a fabulous thriller and would definitely recommend it to readers looking for a clever and intriguing read.

The Thing About Thugs by Tabish Khair

Amir Ali has come to London under the pretense of telling his story to Captain William T. Meadows for study. See, Amir has convinced Meadows that he is a thug. His reasons, as you will learn, are sound but the results are unplanned. During his residence in London, a series of gruesome murders takes place. And while the locals are searching high and low for the culprit, they inevitably begin to turn an eye to the obvious scapegoat -- the confessed thug living in their midst. 

There are a number of really cool things about Tabish Khair's debut -- the setting for one. Victorian London is a fascinating place. The time period lends itself to some really interesting avenues for a writer, like that of phrenology. A truly bafflingly misguided search for answers into a mystery that has plagued people for centuries: is there a quantifiable predictor of behavior. In this case, violent behavior. The idea was basically that a person's skull was evidence of a person's personality. And of course the idea gave way to some pretty ridiculous theories all based in the pseudoscience of the day.

Amir, while he is untruthful, has led everyone to believe that he is a murderous criminal. And being a foreigner to boot -- in a time and a place that was definitely prone to suspecting outsiders simply for being outsiders -- leaves Amir with no choice but to discover the identity of the killer himself.

Which leads to another fascinating aspect of the tale -- Victorian grave robbers. See we come full circle back to my anthropology courses I've discussed here before and common themes that appeal to me in fiction!

I will confess, as I've seen others on the tour do, I did not have much of an idea of the historic use of the term "thug" as it's used here. But Khair does a great job of explaining things in a way that a reader unfamiliar with any of these aspects can still get the gist and enjoy the story. In fact, there's an underlying sense of humor to the tale along with the more serious (if you really think about them) things being discussed.


The Thing About Thugs is an interesting period mystery with a clever plot and a unique structure (which a lot of the other bloggers have mentioned). I had less of an issue with the switches in narrator than some, but will admit there were a couple of places where it became a bit murky for a few lines.

For more stops on the tour, visit the official TLC tour page here.

Death of a Schoolgirl by Joanna Campbell Slan

I adore Jane Eyre. Adore it. So when I had the opportunity to read Joanna Campbell Slan's first in her new Jane Eyre Chronicles, I said of course I was interested! I happily spent my weekend ensconced in Slan's version of Jane's post Bronte world.

In the wake of the events at Thornfield, Jane and Edward have taken up residence at Ferndean. Edward is still recovering from his injuries in the fire and the couple has recently welcomed a new addition to their family -- son Ned. During all of this, Adele has been living in London, a student at Alderton House School for Girls. When a disturbing letter arrives from Adele containing pleas for help and a shocking threat, Jane decides she will travel to London to check on the girl. Edward is under doctor's orders to take it easy for the immediate future and plans to follow Jane at a later date, leaving his new wife to travel alone. But Jane is quite capable of taking care of herself and, in spite of a bad turn en route, she arrives in London ready to help Adele. Jane gets to the school just as the body of a dead student is being carried away. Though the dead girl was originally reported as having died of natural causes, Jane and others are sure there is something more sinister to blame. Coincidentally Alderton is one teacher down and Jane is mistaken as the replacement, which leaves her in the perfect position to investigate the death and the threats Adele has been receiving. But if the death is indeed murder, that means that Jane and Adele could both be in danger. 

I thought Slan did a fantastic job with Jane. She was, for the most part, a pretty convincing continuation of Bronte's heroine. My one complaint concerns the nice and neat wrap up at the end of the story. The build throughout the book was great but then the end -- specifically the unveiling of Jane's attacker -- felt like an unnecessary afterthought.

Overall, Death of a Schoolgirl was a fun period mystery and a welcome return to a cast of much-loved characters.

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon take 2

Morning, all. Since I didn't have my book in hand for my original stop on the TLC tour for Carlos Ruiz Zafon's latest, I get a second shot. Happily I do have a copy now. I also had a chance to read the new e prequel as well. "Rose of Fire" is a short little look at the origins of the cemetery of forgotten books and is a free download courtesy of Harper Collins (with an excerpt of Prisoner of Heaven included).

Now if you read my original post, then you know that I'm a big fan of Zafon's work. His writing is nothing short of fantastic (and I should commend his translator as well considering how well the works read in English). Zafon's ability to build amazing atmosphere and an intense and captivating plot filled with wonderfully imagined characters makes his books the kind you can completely lose yourself in. Trust me -- I'd started The Shadow of the Wind on audio to get me through the 20+ hour drive from Louisiana to Colorado back in 2005. While it made the drive infinitely more tolerable, three quarters of the way through a disc turned out to be defective. Fortunately we were almost at our destination and I was able to exchange my audio for a physical copy. Also fortunate that the store had plenty in stock because I'd have gone bonkers waiting for an ordered copy to arrive at that point!

The Prisoner of Heaven is set after The Shadow of the Wind. Daniel and Bea are married and have an infant son. Sempere & Sons has seen better days, but is still hanging on when a mysterious customer arrives and purchases a rare copy of Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo. Lo and behold, the copy is intended as a gift for Fermin. Daniel is skeptical of the transaction and quickly closes up shop, following the man through the city streets in hopes of discovering something to support or disprove his gut feeling that something strange is going on. When Daniel confronts Fermin over the issue, he learns that his old friend is hiding some very strange secrets in his past. And those secrets concern Daniel as well.

For your viewing pleasure (and further enticement) check out the trailer:



I should warn you that you definitely need to read both The Shadow of the Wind and Angel's Game before diving into The Prisoner of Heaven. It's been long enough since reading its predecessors that even I've had a bit of a time reacquainting myself with the characters and the overarching storyline. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed returning to Spain and Sempere & Sons. The Prisoner of Heaven was a fabulous addition to the series! Word has it that Zafon has intended this to be a four parter, in which case I will be waiting in great anticipation to see what comes next!

For more stops on the tour, visit the official TLC tour site here. For more on Zafon and his work, visit his website (above). You can also check like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter (tweets are in Spanish).

New Releases 8/7/12

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

What In God's Name by Simon Rich

The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow

The Viper by Hakan Ostlundh

Death of a Schoolgirl by Joanna Campbell Slan

The Dead Do Not Improve by Jay Caspian King

Sentinel by Matthew Dunn

The Broken Ones by Stephen M. Irwin

I Heart Paris by Linsey Kelk

Bad Little Falls by Paul Doiron

Thy Neighbor by Norah Vincent

Diving Belles by Lucy Wood

Kill You Twice by Chelsea Cain

Black Isle by Sandi Tan

The Prophet by Michael Koryta

The Orchard by Jeffrey Stepakoff

Shunning Sarah by Julie Kramer

Devil's Gate by F.J. Lennon

King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama

Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

Wake by Amanda Hocking

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Rift by Andrea Cremer

Rivals and Retribution by Shannon Delany (13 to Life series)

New on DVD:
The Lorax

New reviews at Bookbitch.com:
Kill You Twice
Horns by Joe Hill
Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch

Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis

What if the Germans had a top secret weapon that could trump all the other players in WWII? What if their strange experimentation and attempts to dabble in the unknown had succeeded? In Ian Tregillis's Milkweed trilogy, this is just the case.

Dr. von Westarp is not a name well known outside of Germany. In fact when Lieutenant-Commander Raybourn Marsh first hears of von Westarp and his children, he has no idea what the information will mean for England. Sent to collect a defector with supposed intel that could change everything, Marsh is unprepared for what happens next: the defector bursts into flames and Marsh is barely able to escape with the man's smoldering briefcase. When he and his superior begin to analyze the contents of the case, they realize that they're up against something terrible and amazing. They create a new operation dubbed Milkweed specifically devoted to ferreting out any and all info on von Westarp and his strange creations. In an attempt to understand what their enemy has accomplished -- and to fight against them --  they also call on the help of a secret group of warlocks living in the UK. Now, as magic battles science, the fate of the free world hangs in the balance.

You may recall that I've posted about Bitter Seeds before. I'd purchased the book when it was released in hardcover and then it languished for a period in my TBR before I discovered that the second book had been delayed. Happy days, though, Cold War was released on July 17 and is at the top of my current "To Read" list.

I'd actually hoped to do a bit of a themed run, but am sadly behind. See, Ian Tregillis is part of George R. R. Martin's Wild Cards collective and I'd planned to dig up some other authors and titles and do a whole themed readathon on my end. Sadly my plans have been delayed. But that doesn't mean I'll be holding off on reading Cold War. Nope, I'm dying to know what comes next!

I loved the combination of fantasy and sci-fi wrapped around actual events. Of course a creative mind can do all sorts of thing with any time period, but the blitz was chaotic to begin with. The idea that this group of warlocks is hiding in plain sight in England and working their magic against this troop of engineered super power soldiers works on a lot of levels. You put the two together and it's pretty easy for me to suspend my disbelief and disappear into the story.

What I Did by Christopher Wakling

I'm part of the TLC tour for Christopher Wakling's latest today.

A morning outing turns devastating for one boy and his family in What I Did. When Billy ran out into the street, his father was understandably concerned and angry. But a passerby witnessing Billy's stern correction soon calls family services on Billy's father. What comes next, though the eyes of Billy himself, is nothing less than heartbreaking as Billy's father and family come to terms with the consequences of that one almost tragic morning. 

I have to say that I really struggled with this book. It was a tough read in terms of subject and style. What I Did is the kind of book that evokes a lot of emotions for me and not always in a good way. I was actually quite angry throughout the story.

My biggest issue though was the way the book was written. Wakling's narrator is a six year old and the book is written very much as if a six year old were writing it. For my brain, it made it really hard to follow. Thoughts jump mid sentence and ramble in ways that had me gritting my teeth trying to connect the actual story points around all the extra babble. In truth, it would almost have worked better had I been reading it out loud! (Which I have had to do before -- Trainspotting.)

I've no doubt that some readers will have no issue with the style at all. In fact, this kind of method can be very effective. Unfortunately I'm just not wired in the right way to be able to get it. I do, in my defense, quite enjoy reading books told from a kid's perspective. I think it lends itself very well to interesting manipulation of the story as well making ordinary elements extraordinary. It's the stream of consciousness via a six year old type of narrative here that threw me for a total loop.

To visit the rest of the stops on the tour, visit the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Wakling and his other works, visit his official website (link above). You can also follow him on Twitter.