Cane River

Author: Lalita Tademy
Genre: Historical
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2005
Pages: 584
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Beginning with her great-great-great-great grandmother, a slave owned by a Creole family, Lalita Tademy chronicles four generations of strong, determined black women as they battle injustice to unite their family and forge success on their own terms. They are women whose lives begin in slavery, who weather the Civil War, and who grapple with contradictions of emancipation, Jim Crow, and the pre-Civil Rights South. As she peels back layers of racial and cultural attitudes, Tademy paints a remarkable picture of rural Louisiana and the resilient spirit of one unforgettable family.

There is Elisabeth, who bears both a proud legacy and the yoke of bondage... her youngest daughter, Suzette, who is the first to discover the promise-and heartbreak-of freedom... Suzette's strong-willed daughter Philomene, who uses a determination born of tragedy to reunite her family and gain unheard-of economic independence... and Emily, Philomene's spirited daughter, who fights to secure her children's just due and preserve their dignity and future.

Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Cane River presents a slice of American history never before seen in such piercing and personal detail.

Review: I listened to the audio, which was very well done. I enjoy a good family saga, and this did not disappoint. There were slow parts, but as a whole the book was engaging and interesting. Knowing that this book was the culmination of the author's research into her family's past added depth to the story.

Crowning Design

Author: Leila Meacham
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2017 (first published 1984)
Pages: 240
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Some people aren't meant for happily-ever-after. And Deborah Standridge is one of them. When she called off her wedding to the perfect man to pursue her passion as an architect, she didn't mean to hurt anyone. But Deborah saw her chance to finally make her own dreams come and she took it, setting in motion a tragedy that has haunted her ever since.

Now, as one of Denver's most successful architects, Deborah has avoided love at all costs...until Daniel Parker walks into her life. He commissions her to design his company's headquarters and soon makes her want to believe in love again. But Dan is keeping a shocking secret that could rip apart everything they've built—and break Deborah's heart once and for all. Will Deborah find the strength to put the past behind her to fight for a love that could last for all time?

Review: Leila Meacham's Roses may be my favorite book of all time. I have also read more recent novels she's written. However, I wasn't aware that she had three novels published in the 1980s.

I enjoy reading authors who have been writing for a long time, and seeing how they evolve in their craft. It's also entertaining to see how times and sentiments have changed. This book had clear sexist overtones, as would have been the norm when this novel was written. 

This would not be the first book I'd recommend if you're interested in giving this author a try, that would be Roses, but placed in the context of the times, this was a fun, quick read.

Other Leila Meacham Novels
April Storm
Aly's House
Roses
Ryan's Hand
Somerset
The Dragonfly
Titans
Tumbleweeds

The Woman in the Window

Author: A. J. Finn
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher, 2018
Pages: 448
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: For readers of Gillian Flynn and Tana French comes one of the decade’s most anticipated debuts, to be published in thirty-six languages around the world and already in development as a major film from Fox: a twisty, powerful Hitchcockian thriller about an agoraphobic woman who believes she witnessed a crime in a neighboring house.

It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening . . .

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

Review: This was somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars for me (out of a possible 5). The Woman in the Window began slowly, and I wondered when it was going to turn into a thriller. After being pulled into the world of an agoraphobe, and a lot of "Sunday driving," I did get into this book, and it became impossible to put down.

If you're familiar with the old movies that author references throughout this book, then I suppose it will add something to the narrative. I am not, and therefore found them distracting and even annoying.

An unreliable narrator. My least favorite kind. Why? Just why? Reading, reading, reading, and then bam everything you thought you knew, you don't. In this case though, it works. 

I'm off my game because the answers to this book were right in front of me the entire time, and I never connected the dots. 

White Rose Black Forest

Author: Eoin Dempsey
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Amazon Publishing, 2018
Pages: 270
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: December 1943. In the years before the rise of Hitler, the Gerber family’s summer cottage was filled with laughter. Now, as deep drifts of snow blanket the Black Forest, German dissenter Franka Gerber is alone and hopeless. Fervor and brutality have swept through her homeland, taking away both her father and her brother and leaving her with no reason to live.

That is, until she discovers an unconscious airman lying in the snow wearing a Luftwaffe uniform, his parachute flapping in the wind. Unwilling to let him die, Franka takes him to her family’s isolated cabin despite her hatred for the regime he represents. But when it turns out that he is not who he seems, Franka begins a race against time to unravel the mystery of the airman’s true identity. Their tenuous bond becomes as inseparable as it is dangerous. Hunted by the Gestapo, can they trust each other enough to join forces on a mission that could change the face of the war and their own lives forever?

Review: On the shorter side, the author packs a big punch with a little book. As with most World War II books, I've read, tears were shed, but all in all, the best of humanity shines.

Say You're Sorry

Author: Melinda Leigh

Genre: Thriller

Publisher: Amazon Publishing, 2017

Pages: 336

Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: After the devastating loss of her husband in Iraq, Morgan Dane returns to Scarlet Falls, seeking the comfort of her hometown. Now, surrounded by family, she’s finally found peace and a promising career opportunity—until her babysitter is killed and her neighbor asks her to defend his son, Nick, who stands accused of the murder.

Tessa was the ultimate girl next door, and the community is outraged by her death. But Morgan has known Nick for years and can’t believe he’s guilty, despite the damning evidence stacked against him. She asks her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye, for help. Taking on the town, the police, and a zealous DA, Morgan and Lance plunge into the investigation, determined to find the real killer. But as they uncover secrets that rock the community, they become targets for the madman hiding in plain sight.

Review: I connected with the main character on many levels, and loved the book as a whole. A single mom, and career-oriented, Morgan Dane is a likeable character. 

I was expecting more set-up before the demise, but bam, there it is. The novel is off and running from Chapter 1.

The little bit of romance that plays out is plausible and feels like a natural progression. I love this author's writing style. I can't wait to read more books in this series.

The Morgan Dane series
1 Say You're Sorry
2 Her Last Goodbye
3 Bones Don't Lie
4 What I've Done
5 Secrets Never Die 
6 Save Your Breath

Beneath a Prairie Moon

Author: Kim Vogel Sawyer
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group, 2018
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Abigail Brantley grew up in affluence and knows exactly how to behave in high society. But when she is cast from the social registers due to her father's illegal dealings, she finds herself forced into a role she never imagined: tutoring rough Kansas ranchers in the subjects of manners and morals so they can "marry up" with their mail-order brides. Mack Cleveland, whose father was swindled by a mail-order bride, wants no part of the scheme to bring Eastern women to Spiveyville, Kansas, and he's put off by the snooty airs and fastidious behavior of the "little city gal" in their midst. But as time goes by, his heart goes out to the teacher who tries so diligently to smooth the rough edges from the down-to-earth men. How can he teach her that perfection won't bring happiness?

Review: In my 20s this was my go-to genre, and despite having read dozens of novels in this genre, this was "hokey." It's also probably the least substantive book I've ever read. That said, I loved it. It's cute. It warms your heart. It's light reading, which is exactly what I needed following the true crime novel I finished earlier this week.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

Author: Michelle McNamara
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher, 2018
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.

At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle’s lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.

Review: This was like watching Investigation Discovery or other crime shows, of which I'm a big fan. I don't know what it says about me, but my husband and I also got into a documentary on the Zodiac Killer in California.

This book was published in February 2018, and the GSK was caught 2 months later thanks to DNA evidence. However, the author had correctly tied many loose ends and created a relatively accurate profile. It's unfortunate she didn't live to see his arrest.

Had the author lived, I think this book may have been written in more cohesive way since she was the one with the initial vision, but it was still an excellent novel.

As I was finishing this book, we found a Cold Justice episode, I believe, that discussed the Golden State Killer. It was interesting.