In the Stacks

Book Reviews by Jennifer Luper

Jennifer Luper is a staff member of the Rangeview Library District.  She is now at the Perl Mack Branch.

Current Reviews

Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie

A frying pan is quite a weapon. It is perhaps the weapon of choice for Agnes Crandall, the heroine in Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer’s newest combination of genres, Agnes and the Hitman. Don’t hold it against her; she was undergoing court ordered therapy for her anger issues. Besides, the rest of the frying pan attacks were clearly not her fault.

This is a humorous, saucy if you’ll pardon the pun, novel about a likeable would-be caterer and food columnist and the equally likeable government hitman thrown across her path. As with many of Crusie’s heroines, one almost can’t believe the extent of disaster that follows them. She has to pull off catering a wedding almost single-handedly as her fiancé is trying to sabotage her every move, someone tries to steal her dog by gunpoint the night before the wedding party is picking out the wedding cakes, not to mention lying in-laws, stolen treasure, the mob, gorgeous government hitmen and trying to stay alive long enough to write her column by deadline. Fortunately for the reader, it is a thoroughly entertaining ride. 

Crusie and Mayer make a great team on blending together romantic comedy and suspense. Those two genres don’t seem like they should ever be uttered together in the same sentence, however in Agnes and the Hitman as well as their prior dual effort Don’t Look Down, it works. 

They deftly craft intrigue and suspense into an intricate plot. Of course it does have some saucy bits of romance, but it’s not too spicy. The plot is fun and fast-paced. There are some obvious moments where the reader will recognize plot devices and guess the outcome. However, there are still some tricks up their sleeve and surprises in store for interested readers. The only misgiving to be found is that they didn’t elaborate chapters with recipes. One or both of the authors clearly love cooking with butter (it’s a theme), why not allow readers the same culinary ecstasy as the characters? Readers may have to set down the book at each chapters end for a snack.

All in all, the cooking implement wielding maiden, also known as “Cranky Agnes” through her syndicated food column, delivers a comedic touch and spicy romance throughout her misadventures in life, love and recipes.

The Ghost at the Table by Suzanne Berne

It’s almost gallant the way one family member will try to bring the family (sometimes full of estranged or feuding loved ones) together for Thanksgiving.  It is as if the most beautifully prepared, homemade cranberry sauce will bring together in peace the most divided and warring factions of a familial clan.  Stuffing with extra gravy will make old hurts subside and for one day there will be peace (at least there will be when the tryptophan from the turkey kicks in).  This familial drama is standing up to take notice in the latest novel from Suzanne Berne, “The Ghost at the Table”. 

Two sisters, Frances and Cynthia, live on opposite ends of the country in order to keep their sisterly bliss alive and well.  However, conflict arises when their usual routine of holiday invitation and subsequent decline is shattered as Cynthia is begged to come home for Thanksgiving dinner and break bread with their estranged father.  Secrets in this family had been built upon and layered for years, most of which are surrounding the mysterious death many years ago of their mother and how their father’s much younger girlfriend moved into their house so shortly after their mother’s death.  Suspicions, hostility and denial were steeping in this family like some strong brew.  Though after a strong start (and middle), the mysteries began to get a little weak. 

Sisterly relationships are the driving force in this novel.  Berne shows through several generations of this family as well as through the daughters of Mark Twain in an interesting allegorical touch, the psychological interaction of sisters and the roles they assume throughout life.  Cynthia is by profession a writer of historical fiction for pre-teen girls and writes stories about famous women throughout history as told by the point of view of their sister.  The sister as narrator is usually unique in her own way, but not nearly as spectacular as her sister.  It was interesting to see how clearly the author portrays these sisters in their roles; who was their father’s and mother’s favorite, the overlooked child and the daughter who could do no wrong.  Yet after a while, the glimpse inside these characters stopped being as interesting and started to become sad, like watching a train slowly derail.  The characters stopped being endearingly dysfunctional and you wanted to get away from the Thanksgiving dinner as well.  The ending felt disjointed, and frankly disappointing.  Loose ends were tied up fairly well, but the ending feels unsatisfying.  It leaves you as if you had many great appetizers and were excited for the main course, but they forgot the turkey.

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In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant

In the Company of the Courtesan, the new novel by Sarah Dunant, is told from a point of view a bit lower, three feet lower to be exact.

The scandalous world we are invited into is shown to us through Bucino Teodoldi, a dwarf and companion to Fiammetta Bianchini, the famous courtesan well paid for by high-ranking church officials.  Bucino's narration is at times unhesitatingly honest yet practical about the realities of life, including his chosen life as beast to Fiammetta's beauty.

However, this story does not turn sentimental; Bucino knows the extra entertainment for clients he brings to the table as a curiosity and banks on it as accountant for his lady.  He believes his "ugly exoticism can become part of her attraction."

This tale does not shy away from the gritty responsibilities of life in the second sack of Rome during the middle of the Protestant Revolution.  Jewels are swallowed and valuables hidden in chests buried under pig excrement while they must find their way out of fates worse than death from two different warring factions bent on the invasion of Rome.

One of these factions, the German Protestants, was seeking to destroy the corrupt Vatican City and all who fed the corruption; another faction was the Spanish under rule from the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.  Either way, the invasion did not bode well for an ostentatious house of a high priced prostitute whose clients included those within the church.

The reader is thrown into the action immediately as one is drawn to the practical yet viper-quick wit of Bucino while he and his lady attempt to flee the macabre scene.  Some scenes of the ransacked Rome do reverberate, it can get pretty creepy.

But the eloquence and enthusiasm of the writing spur the reader to continue.  One is then led into the glamour and hardship of sixteenth century Venice.

Readers will become immersed with the characters lives.  It is truly beautiful character study and development.  Dunant brilliantly illustrates the cynicism and later the slowly expanding heart of Bucino.

"When one is in the business of slaking male desire, it is hard not to develop a certain contempt for the very appetite one is manipulating."

Beauty, art and characters are intricately woven together in this richly historical novel.  The entirety of this novel is strong, vibrant and a showcase of ".... the elegant spiced with the crude."

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Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson

What lurks in the dark alley of an assassin's mind?  Manhunt:  The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer gives the reader a glimpse into that dark recess.  We are allowed to troll around, look for clues and examine the furnishings of that sinister space in John Wilkes Booth ego.  

This is a lurid tale of conspiracy plots to murder the top three leaders of the United States, an assassination and the footsteps that followed a 12-day manhunt to find the most hated man in America.

The reader is also introduced to many supporting characters in this non-fiction drama.  One famed actress of her time, Laura Keene, had performed the lead in the play Abraham Lincoln saw the last night he was alive.  After all the real and horrific drama unfolded, Keene fought her way through the mob of confused and near riotous theatre goes into the Presidential box.

Might she, the actress asked Dr. Leale, cradle the dying president's head in her lap?  The request was granted by Mary Lincoln who was also in attendance, and the actress' greatest fame was sealed.  Many wished to see the dress and begged her to model it for them.  She kept the dress but soon "banished the haunted artifact from her sight."

This is a fascinating book, though not a fast read.  Author James L. Swanson does a fantastic job of keeping the reader at the edge of their seat while still keeping with the ornate, often verbose language of that period.  As hard as it is to imagine an extravagant description of a gunshot wound or brain injury, Swanson pulls it off.  However, the author does not glamorize ar dwell too closely on the gruesome medical facts of the plot.  He takes an angle on the story closely related to the crime scene investigative medical mysteries of today, reporting on the path of the bullet and how the President's newly found doctor from Ford's Theatre could tell immediately the wound was mortal and how the President sustained a brain trauma.

What is truly amazing about this work is the vast amount of evidence, quotes from original sources and first-hand information shown to the reader.    It is employed in such a fashion that makes the reader feel uncannily like they are within the midst of Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, who took charge of the immense manhunt and at the same time watching Booth and his co-conspiritors frantically try to evade capture.  Manhunt:  The 12-day Chase for Lincoln's Killer gives the reader a rare personal look at events that are vaguely touched upon in our history textbooks.

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Marley and Me by John Grogan

The tale of one dog's life, start to finish, is filled with joy, poop tales, laughter, frustrations (see poop tales), and sadness at that life's end.

John Grogan's Marley and Me runs the gamut of all these emotions in a funny yet cuttingly honest way.

Grogan offers that his story is of "life and love with the world's worst dog."   Foreshadowing be damned, readers will agree that Grogan and his wife should have seen it coming as they left the house of the amateur breeder and caught a glimpse of their new pup's father.

"Its tongue hung out wildly to one side, and froth flew off its jowls as it barreled past. In the split-second glimpse I got, I detected an odd, slightly crazed, yet somehow joyous gaze in its eyes."

The incredible, almost unbelievable scrapes that Marley the dog gets himself into will sound familiar to some, horrifying to others, and entertaining to all. The reader is regaled with tales of Marley's abundant joy at finding the aroma of their new child's diapers, as well as the effect of his exuberance of riding in the car with the window down (he attempted to jump out yet found himself stuck in the window with his owner).

Yet the author unflinchingly tells the frustrations he and his wife went through as well as the effect of her postpartum depression on her disposition towards Marley. There are some serious moments in which she took out her anger and frustration on the dog. There is also huge relief when that depression passes.

The author has an easy going, breezy style of writing that lets the reader forget how long they have been engrossed in the story. One may finally look up at the clock an hour and a half later and realize the world has moved on.

This is a laugh out loud (more times that one can count), pure pleasure read. Though this is also an emotionally honest story where one feels as if they know Marley personally by the end of the tale. The pictures inside the jacket's cover also add to the beauty of Marley's tale and his love of life.

Who knew a dog could smile so big?

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The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

When one thinks of Stephen King, you call to mind eerie and bizarre happenings in the state of Maine and sometimes Colorado. This book is no exception. 

However, that is where the similarities to his works in the horror genre end. The Colorado Kid is one of several titles released by the new publisher, Hard Case Crime. They are bringing back the pulp fiction paperback complete with the old fashioned cover art of ‘dames in distress’ by having well known authors such as Stephen King, Lawrence Block, Max Phillips and Wade Miller pen the dime store novel for a new generation. 

Yet King’s tale cannot be pigeonholed into the “hard boiled crime fiction” moniker set for the books under this publisher. 

This tale is about the actual aspect of not storytelling, but mystery telling. This book is a tribute to the head scratching ‘why’ of it all, the piling together of a set of incongruous and bizarre facts that lead to an unmistakable conclusion but with no idea of how it got there. 

Set on Mooselookit Island, Maine, the reader is treated to eavesdropping on the conversation between a young graduate student intern and two tried and true old newspapermen telling her the story of the only real unexplained mystery they know. The mystery has gnawed at their hearts and nerves for over twenty years and they now feel it’s time to usher in some new blood, to let it gnaw at her nerves as well. 

A body had been found on the beach sitting propped up by a trashcan, without a jacket in April, and appeared to have his hand curled in a spyglass motion set forever by rigor mortis. No identification, just a short set of improbable clues and questions that once answered, only leads to more questions. 

This is not a mystery in the classic sense of Agatha Christie where if you look hard enough and use the ‘little gray cells’, that you too can reach the solution ahead of time. Stephen King keeps you right there with that intern, desperately trying to piece together the edible bits of facts into a story with a beginning, middle and end. 

The intern, though, learns that satisfaction can come from asking the right questions. As always with Stephen King, character development is superb. 

He sets the scene and tells the story brilliantly and in a unique fashion. Some readers may not enjoy the ending, as it is not an ending in the traditional sense. 

The Colorado Kid is an ode to mystery, the bizarre and unanswerable, and the passion in still searching for those answers. 

Last updated: 29 October 2007 02:27 PM Mountain Time
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