THE GODS OF GUILT by Michael Connelly

January 13, 2014


This is the latest entry in the Lincoln Lawyer series, but fear not, Harry Bosch is lurking around the fringes. Mickey Haller is a great character, and I loved the tongue-in-cheek references to the Lincoln Lawyer movie. Yes, Mickey has had his life turned into a film, causing enough lawyers to start practicing out of Lincoln Town Cars to create some humor with Mickey hopping into the wrong car on more than one occasion.

Connelly is not known for writing humorous mysteries, and the humor pretty much ends there. An online pimp calls Mickey asking for help; he’s been accused of murdering one of his girls. Turns out Mickey knew her and had tried to help her get out of the life. He believes the pimp and agrees to defend him. This case is not as simple as it seems; a drug cartel is involved, along with the inherent violence there, and some of the unusual twists that Connelly excels at.

The courtroom is where it always ends up with this series, and again, Connelly comes through here, interweaving testimony with legal strategies and great character development. The title “Gods of Guilt” refers to the jury, and I find it fascinating to see all the legal machinations in motion; I always feel like I’m learning something. 

This was fast reading, one night, as I couldn’t put it down. Another excellent read from the master of crime fiction. If you’d like a taste, Connelly has posted an excerpt here.

1/14 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE GODS OF GUILT by Michael Connelly. Little, Brown and Company (December 2, 2013). ISBN 978-0316069519. 400p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

TWOSPOT by Bill Pronzini & Collin Wilcox

December 30, 2013

Interesting classic from 1978. Pronzini’s San Francisco based Nameless Detective (actually “Bill) becomes involved with the affairs of a prominent Napa Valley family owned winery. When one of the parties is murdered, Collin Wilcox’s Lieutenant Frank Hastings is called into the picture.

Alternating chapters from the two authors weave a complex story in which various possibilities are assessed and discarded before the two men working together come to realize this no ordinary matter, but in fact, is the point of an explosion that could have international repercussions.

Amazing how a book this old can continue to be extremely readable 35 years later.

12/13 Jack Quick

Twospot: The Nameless Detective Paperback by Bill Pronzini & Collin Wilcox. Speaking Volumes, LLC (August 17, 2011). ISBN 978-1612320694. 224p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

Welcome

December 30, 2013

Home is where the heart is. There’s no place like home. A home without books is like a room without windows…

For me, that is very true, so perhaps this is the best place to start.

Welcome to my new home, stacyalesi.com. But don’t worry, bookbitch.com will get you here, too.

The BookBitch is not gone, just re-imagined. It was time for a change. A kinder, gentler home. While my home may have changed, rest assured my opinions have not.

I am packing my bags, so to speak, and moving in here. Taking all my reviews with me, and some of my reviewers as well. This will be a process so please be patient if what you are seeking cannot be found here yet.

I am leaving the BookBitchBlog as it is for a while until the move is complete. Or as complete as I care to make it. We often use moving as an excuse to get rid of excess, to purge, to cleanse. I am hoping to have a clean house here, and the best way to do that is to start with a clean house.

Besides the opportunity to go mainstream, I wanted all the reviews to be more easily searchable and more easily found. I wanted to combine my blog with my website and just have one home instead of shifting between two. Hopefully this site will accomplish that.

My most heartfelt appreciation to xuni.com for this gorgeous design and making everything work the way it should. Sheer genius!

All comments, suggestions, and constructive criticisms are welcome.

I hope you’ll stop by often.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

TRUST ME by Jeff Abbott

December 30, 2013

Luke Dantry, a young man with the double tragedy of having both his mother and father killed in accidents when he was younger, is working for his stepfather at a  job  with a Washington D.C. think tank involving investigation, on line, of possible terrorists whose verbal anger might explode into physical action against the United States.   He assumes that his identity is kept secret due to working only on computer.
Suddenly he is kidnapped, taken to a remote cabin and left there to die. Freeing himself, he realizes that the terrorists he has been tracking are more organized and dangerous than previously thought. Pushed into a situation where he must help himself or be killed he finds that there is not only one organization but two pitted against each other and which of them are the bad guys is not readily apparent.
In investigating the groups, Luke’s past comes up and becomes a motivating factor in the events.  He teams up with a girl that he had dated, and who had been kidnapped when her current boyfriend was killed by one of the groups in opposition. The two cooperate in trying to solve what becomes their mutual problem and does supply some romantic interest.
Jeff Abbott has the ability to keep his readers involved with the plots and characters he writes about.  Trust Me is a bit too simplified in terms of events and motivations of the characters involved, but is, like most Abbott books, one that will provide a satisfying read with a logical plot and ending.

12/13 Paul Lane

Trust Me by Jeff Abbott. Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (December 17, 2013). ISBN 978-1455552627. 480p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE ASCENDANT by Drew Chapman

December 30, 2013

A novel about a war between the United States and China with no shots fired and battles fought with psychology, financial manipulation and computer hacking, circumstances very similar to the reality of today. It is Drew Chapman’s first book and one that mesmerizes the reader immediately with the back and forth secret movements by both the US and China.

Garrett Reilly is a 26 year old bond trader with a New York brokerage house and the most successful trader in town. He has a photographic memory for numbers and the ability to sense patterns in them, to rank them and to make money for himself and his firm by working this ability to come out ahead of other buyers and sellers in trading. His ability allows him to sense a sudden enormous selloff in US Treasury bonds to the tune of billions of dollars, and he is aware that following this trend can make him very rich.

Starting to follow the Treasury market and taking advantage of it causes the US government to become interested in him and he is visited by army Captain Alexis Truffant, who advises that Garrett has stumbled upon the initial attack of a covert war started by China. He is asked to begin working for the government to help thwart the attack, and plan action against the enemy. It helps that Captain Truffant is quite beautiful and a romantic interest develops between the two. Garrett is placed in charge of a group tasked with challenging the Chinese and developing a response that does not involve military action but played out the same way as the attacks. Manipulation of markets, hacking of computer data, and psychological warfare that does not involve weapons. And oh, yes bringing China to it’s knees.

Chapman’s knowledge of computers, financial markets and the inner workings of government delivers a scenario of an unconventional war between superpowers that is fought behind the scenes, with no knowledge that a conflict is occurring by the people of these countries. Brilliant idea and delivery of the first of what should be many novels by this author in the near future.

12/13 Paul Lane

The Ascendant by Drew Chapman. Simon & Schuster (January 7, 2014). ISBN 978-1476725888. 400p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

GAME by Anders de la Motte

December 28, 2013

Henrik Pettersson isn’t about to pass up a free phone. No one is around to claim it, after all. But the phone is strange with seemingly no way to turn it on. Still, it’s sleek and looks cool and should fetch him at least a few bucks at a pawn shop. That’s what HP thinks until he’s invited into the game. He initially believes it’s a prank but the invitation is just too tempting and the revelation that points earned translates into cash is all HP needs to be drawn in. As the game progresses, though, the tasks HP is set with escalate soon placing his own sister in danger. Now he must decide, is it worth it to continue even when leaving could mean his own life? Game kicks off an exciting trilogy that’s already made waves in Anders de la Motte’s native Sweden. The author draws on his own experience in policing and IT to create a frighteningly believable scenario in which otherwise ordinary folks become pawns of a far-reaching conspiracy all under the guise of gaming.

12/13 Becky Lejeune

GAME by Anders de la Motte. Atria/Emily Bestler Books; Reprint edition (December 3, 2013). ISBN 978-1476712888. 400p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

DREAMS AND SHADOWS by C. Robert Cargill

December 28, 2013

Ewan Thatcher was just a baby when he was taken by the fairies that dwell within the Limestone Kingdom. The fairies had plans for Ewan, plans that would take years to be realized. While Ewan was learning the ins and outs of living with the seelie and unseelie, however, Colby Stephens was left much to his own devices for friendship and entertainment. So when Colby stumbled upon Yashar, a cursed djinn in search of a child to remember him, he believed that his wildest dreams were finally coming true. When the two boys’ paths finally crossed it set in motion a course of events that would haunt both of them well into adulthood. Cargill’s debut is dark and utterly unique. A blend of folktales and fairy lore mixed with Cargill’s seemingly signature gruesome twists, Dreams and Shadows is a welcome mix of fantasy and horror sure to please fans of both genres. This first from Cargill is addictive reading so it’s fortunate that the follow up, Queen of the Dark Things, is due out next spring.

12/13 Becky Lejeune

DREAMS AND SHADOWS by C. Robert Cargill. Harper Voyager (October 29, 2013). ISBN  978-0062190437. 464p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

CARMINE’S FAMILY-STYLE COOKBOOK by Michael Ronis

December 23, 2013

CARMINE’S FAMILY-STYLE COOKBOOK: More Than 100 Classic Italian Dishes to Make at Home by Michael Ronis and Mary Goodbody

I finally got to eat at the original Carmine’s in NYC last summer and the food was fantastic. The menus are written on chalkboards hung on the walls, and the food is served family style, so you either go with a large group of very hungry people or bring home lots of leftovers. Either way you win.

The cookbook helps home cooks recreate a lot of the recipes from the restaurant, including the most delicious, garlicky Caesar Salad and the best Penne alla Vodka ever. But what makes this cookbook really standout are all the “basic recipes” that are included, like Carmine’s Marinara Sauce, Bolognese Sauce, Carmine’s Bread Crumbs, Peppers and Onions and lots more.

I have a Sicilian mother-in-law and all I can say is these recipes meet her high standards – and mine. If you want to cook southern Italian food, look no further than this incredible treasure trove of recipes.

10/11 Stacy Alesi

CARMINE’S FAMILY-STYLE COOKBOOK by Michael Ronis. St. Martin’s Press (October 14, 2008). ISBN 978-0312375362. 336p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

AMERICAN FLAVOR by Andrew Carmellini & Gwen Hyman

December 23, 2013

This two-time James Beard award winner takes us on a journey of American food. But this cookbook is not an homage to southern food or midwestern food or whatever you think of as American food. Instead it is a blend of all of our ancestry, from Greek Lamb Stew to Pierogies to Beef Short-Rib Mole to a Dutch Baby to Rigatoni with Sunday Night Ragu . This is interesting food like Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin with Maple and Vinegar and Wax Beans with Popcorn & Parmesan, comforting food like Fried Chicken and Mac-‘N-Cheese-Stuffed Meatloaf. This is a good cookbook to have on hand when you are tired of the same old thing and want to try something different, but not too far out there. I loved the Heirloom Zucchini Bake with Fresh Tomato, Mozz, and Basil and the Pecan-Crusted Cod with Rosemary, an unusual flavor combination that really worked well together. Yankee that I am I have trouble making biscuits, so my next project will be the “World’s Best Biscuits – End of Story”. 

5/12 Stacy Alesi

AMERICAN FLAVOR by Andrew Carmellini & Gwen Hyman. Ecco (October 18, 2011). ISBN  0061963291. 336p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

A16: FOOD & WINE by Nate Appleman & Shelley Lindgren

December 23, 2013

I think it was while I was reading one of the last issues of Gourmet magazine that I found out that this cookbook won the prestigious 2009 International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Award as Book of the Year. After having perused it, I can see why it won; this is more than just a cookbook. A good chunk of the book focuses on the wines of southern Italy, and the rest on the food.

A16 is considered by many to be one of the best Italian restaurants in the country, and to have the chef (a James Beard 2009 Rising Star Chef of the Year award nominee & a recent contestant on The Next Iron Chef on the Food Network) share his recipes is truly a gift. In fact, this book will make a wonderful gift this holiday season.

While I haven’t tried the Monday Meatballs recipe, I’d like to, it’s very different with its infusion of ricotta cheese and milk. I loved the Braised Cannellini Beans with Garlic, Marjoram, and Oregano, especially since I got to use the oregano & marjoram from my garden. But this is not a cookbook for the beginning cook; the meatballs involve grinding your own meats, and it would take a very brave novice to attempt to make their own sausage. But do try the Neapolitan Pizzas and do use the wine pairings suggested, they are worth the cover price alone.

FYI, the A16 is the highway that runs through southern Italy.

11/09 Stacy Alesi

A16: FOOD & WINE by Nate Appleman & Shelley Lindgren.  Ten Speed Press (September 1, 2008). ISBN 978-1580089074. 288p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

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