Speak of the Devil by Richard Hawke

Speak of the Devil by Richard Hawke
Thriller

Fritz Malone is the bastard son of the former police commissioner in New York City and knows a thing or two about the job. Rather than becoming a cop though, he became a private investigator. Fritz goes out to get his girlfriend some bagels and finds himself in the middle of a Thanksgiving day massacre at the parade. He takes a gun from a fallen cop, chases the shooter, and shots him in the arm before police take him and the gunman in to custody. Fritz finds himself in the middle of a blackmail scandal of the mayor that the police don't want the media to find out about. He's asked to quietly investigate when another bomb goes off and another note is received from the blackmailer. Fritz needs to find this guy, and fast, to stop more people from getting hurt.

Fritz has a great dry sense of humor that easily enamors him to the reader. Even in stressful situations, he always has a comeback or a quip. I really enjoyed him as a character and felt that his relationship with his girlfriend was quite believable.

In terms of the mystery, it was a fast-paced thriller. Hawke leaves clues for the reader throughout the story but the twist at the end is still surprising. I would pick up Hawke's next novel for Fritz Malone.

First Line: "If she had known she would be dead in another five minutes, maybe she wouldn't have swatted her son so hard."

Rating:
(4/5)

Home Front

Home Front by Kristin Hannah
Fiction/Literature

Michael and Joleen Zarkades are an average American couple. Michael is a criminal defense lawyer and Joleen is in the National Guard and flies a Black Hawk helicopter. They have two children, Betsy, age 12 and Lulu, age 4. They have been married for twelve years but are now facing a difficult patch in their marriage with the big D (divorce) looming.

Betsy has just entered middle school and is at the, to borrow a term from the book, frenemy stage. Her best friends are friends one day and enemies as cruel as they can be the next day. She is obnoxious to her mother and her father has distanced himself from his family so Betsy is anxious for his attention.

All their lives are changed as Joleen is called up for deployment to Iraq. She is duty-bound to go but what happens to her family and how does she cope worrying about them as they are worrying about her

This book is about duty, honour, love, forgiveness and surmounting the difficulties in one's life. PTSD is the main topic and is well-researched. This book is about American forces but could just as easily be written about our Canada forces in Afghanistan. There is a strong message and one that should be read. Our forces need our consideration and help even when they have returned from these countries. These men and women have given up their lives for us and even though some of us may not understand this level of commitment one has to admire what they go though over there and upon their return.

To say this book is emotional is a vast understatement, I spent the greater part of it in tears. Another winner from this great author

First Line: "The way she saw it, some families were like well-tended parks, with pretty daffodil borders and big, sprawling trees that offered respite from the summer sun."

Video in which Kristin interviewed helicopter pilot and mother, Warrant Officer Teresa Burgess, who was an advisor to Kristin for HOME FRONT

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Rating:
(4.5/5)

Bone in the Throat by Anthony Bourdain

Bone in the Throat by Anthony Bourdain
Mystery/Thriller

Anthony Bourdain is best known as a chef and the author of Kitchen Confidential. This novel is his first attempt at fiction and it tells the story of Tommy, nephew to a mobster but trying to break away from that lifestyle and make one as a chef. He has a job working as a sous-chef at a fancy French restaurant, but his uncle Sally got him that job. Tommy becomes close to the head chef, Michael, who has a methadone addiction and he also learns that Sally has his hand in the restaurant, with the owner owing him business. As the FBI closes in, they try to squeeze anyone they can about more information on Sally and his cronies.

Since Bourdain knows all the ins and outs of the restaurant business, it's no surprise that his first fiction novel focuses around a restaurant. That's really where his writing shines, when the speaks about making food and being in the kitchen. The mobster/mystery part of the book was a bit lack-luster. It could have been any old book about mobsters. I would read one of Bourdain's non-fiction books but I don't think I'd pick up another of his fiction works.

First Line: "That the dead body should be found washed up on the beach was not so unusual."

Rating:
(3/5)

Speak of the Devil

Speak of the Devil by Richard Hawke
Mystery

Fritz Malone, a private investigator and bastard son of a former police chief decides to go out for bagels on a beautiful Thanksgiving morning. He lingers to watch the parade and suddenly sees a gunman taking aim on the princess on a float. Fritz throws the bagels at the princess , saving her life and takes after the gunman. Both Fritz and the gunman are apprehended by the police and instead of being driven to the local precinct are driven to a building near police headquarters.

Fritz learns that the city as been under the threats of Nightmare for awhile and this is one of those threats being carried out. The gunman turns out to be only a messenger and the current police commissioner asks Fritz to take this case on before any more threats are carried out.

Speak of the Devil is an intrigue and thriller that reels the reader in and keeps him turning the pages. I did not see the end coming and this makes it a great whodunit for me. Fritz is an engaging detective with loads of baggage and his girlfriend Margo is a perfect counterpoint for him. I will look forward to the next in the series.

First Line: "If she had known she would be dead in another five minutes, she wouldn't have swatted her son so hard"

Rating:
(4.0/5)

Informed Consent by Sandra Glahn

Informed Consent by Sandra Glahn
Fiction

Dr. Jeremy Cramer has lived through many tragedies, including his father drowning in water and his son dying in a car crash. He's always blamed himself for those accidents in the back of his mind and wondered what he could do about them. As an infectious disease researcher, Jeremy gets the chance to research why children usually survive cold water submersion but adults don't. Politics makes him change his research focus to slowing down the progression of AIDS but there are applications there too.

Having to put in many late nights, Jeremy's marriage is in shambles. His wife blames him for their son's death though she hasn't admitted to it. Things get even worse when Jeremy puts another of his children in danger by bringing him in to the lab at work. Jeremy wonders why he dangers everything he loves.

This book continuously poses ethical questions and makes you question what you would do in the same scenario. Given the chance, I think I'd act similarly to the main character. Despite this book being a medical book, the author did a good job of explaining all of the medical terms in laymen terms.

Glahn makes it easy to immediately connect with the characters, which allows the reader to get in to the book quite quickly. I had troubles putting the book down!

First Line: "Like most children, Jeremy Cramer thought his children would never die."

Rating:
(4.5/5)

The one you really want

The one you really want by Jill Mansell
Romance

Nancy's husband gave her a shiny new red lawnmower for Christmas. But Nancy had figured she was getting jewelry when the local jeweler sent her husband a thank-you card for all his business. Nancy leaves Edinburgh and her adulterous husband for her friend Carmen's luxury London flat.

Carmen's husband Spike the member of a famous rock band died and Carmen figures she will now be single for the rest of her life. She has a ton of money and a beautiful flat which she will share with Nancy and her husband's brother Rennie.

Carmen's next door neighbour is Connor whose daughter Mia has come to live with him. Mia can't stand her father's current girlfriend and decides to play matchmaker with some disastrous results.

This was an amusing read. A great romance with quite a few characters which makes it that more interesting

First Line: "'Go on, you can say it,' Nancy offered, because it was so obviously what Carmen was longing to blurt out down the phone."

Rating:
(3.5/5)

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore
Literature/Fiction

Most of the residents of Pine Cove are on anti-depressants, as prescribed by the local psychiatrist Dr. Val Riordan. But when one of her patients allegedly commits suicide, Dr. Val thinks that maybe it's a better idea for none of her patients to be on medicine and forces them to take placebos. But a sudden, very weird, event causes a few people to go missing and seems to cause the entire city to become horny. The event turns out to be a giant sea-dragon coming out of the sea to seek revenge on a man that killed one of his family members.

Typical to all Christopher Moore books, this quirky tale is completely off the wall but still incredibly entertaining. I found that there were a bit too many characters to keep track of in this novel. I don't think Mavis, the bar owner, was a necessary character and things could have been cut out to reduce the confusion to the reader. There's usually a laugh-out-loud point of all Moore books but I didn't find that with this book.

First Line: "September in Pine Cove is a sigh of relief, a nightcap, a long-deserved nap."

Rating:
(4/5)

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Fiction

A man and his boy set out in a post-apocalyptic world down a road, heading south to warmer climates. The world has been like this for a few years and the father decides they can't stand another winter where they are. Life is getting more and more dangerous because there is less and less food. It seems that plants and most animals haven't been able to survive the disaster, whatever the disaster is.

The story paints a picture of a very stressful and weary journey for the two. The father wants nothing more than to protect his son, both from danger and from seeing things a young child shouldn't see, which is incredibly difficult in this time. The conversations between the two is quite brief but is usually filled with hope though at sometime it's forced hope.

For such a grim subject, this book is surprisingly easy to read. Looking back on this book, if I were to write a post-apocalyptic book, I'd include all of the elements from this book: a journey, trying to find food, finding bad guys, etc. Yet somehow the book still seemed like it was original. I really enjoyed this read.

First Line: "When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him."

Rating:
(4.5/5)

Fool's Mate

Fool's Mate by Laura Pedersen
Romance

Josie Kincaid is a hard-worked and underpaid Journalist who is the go-to person in the TV newsroom where she works. She re-writes stories, checks facts and dreams of becoming an investigative journalist and changing the world. In order to achieve this she has become one of the guys, drinking too much, sleeping around and being very aggressive.

Josie has shared her office with a bunch of other journalists. When she has scared off the latest office mate, it is Calvin Thomas, son of a well-known Connecticut senator who moves in. He is everything Josie hates; preppy, monied, Republican and engaged. Calvin is a lawyer who wants to give journalism a 'try' instead of going into the family business of politics. Josie is everything Calvin hates; out-spoken, a slob and angry.

As this fast-paced story progresses Josie is forced to acknowledge her destructive behaviour. Josie finds that lifestyle changes are hard to achieve. But when Josie gets the assignment of a lifetime she is forced to look at life differently.

Laura Pederson has written a romance with a little intrigue and humour. I loved the station manager T.E. and his witty sayings. I found Josie a bit hard to understand and relate to at first as she is such a hard-core journalist but as the story progressed one can not help but root for her.

First Line: "The president of the United States was in the middle of surgery to remove a polyp from the presidential colon, a volcano of Vesuvian ferocity had erupted in Alaska, there'd been an assassination attempt on the military dictator of Myanmar, and it was only nine o'clock in the morning."
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Rating:
(4.0/5)

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Science Fiction

Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy go to a special school that's on for kids like them. They live there and learn there and, in many ways, they are like normal teenagers. But some things don't seem to make much sense to those three and as they slowly start to peel away the layers, they learn more about what their future is going to be like. As they learn about their future, they also need to go through regular teenage problems, like betrayal, gossip, and sex.

Years later, Kathy meets up with Ruth and Tommy to re-live some of their good times together and some of their more passionate arguments. They still have a lot of questions about what happened while they were at school and what's still to happen to them in the future.

This book is a very subtle science fiction. The way Ishiguro presented the more science fiction elements of this book were slipped in to the book like they were no big deal and as if they are secondary elements to the story. Not only were these elements the odder parts of the story but they were also the twists in the story and I don't recall ever having read a book where the author is so nonchalant about the twists of his story.

One thing I never understood about the book is why the characters just accept their fate. Why don't some of them run away? Some of them would dream of running off to the USA and becoming actors. Why didn't they try? Also, why did Kathy put up with Ruth all that time? I would have given up with her and found other friends.

First Line: "My name is Kathy H."

Rating:
(4/5)