Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

There is some agreement that mankind, homo sapiens, rather than ape like creatures, walked the earth less than 100,000 years ago, although recently bone fragments have been found dating about 100.000 years ago traced to Cro Magnon rather than Neanderthal men.

Grossman brings us a fascinating and plausible book postulating a highly evolved civilization existing about 200,000 years ago. He begins with a story about a discovery made by Galileo Galilei in 1601, that if revealed, was felt could possibly destroy religions, bring down governments and lead to worldwide turmoil.

A society of very powerful men was formed that for 400 years closely guarded the secret to prevent the vast problems foreseen by Galileo from becoming public. Quinn McCauley and Katrina Alpert, both paleontologists and well respected in their field leads an expedition to caves in Montana to explore possibilities for new discoveries. What emerges from their exploration are discoveries which are so startling in nature that they lead the pair to other sites around the world. These discoveries might be the answer to why Galileo turned his interests to studying the stars,and why he was convicted of heresy by the Inquisition.

Old Earth touches upon arguments between science and religion in developing the story and provides what is a fascinating exploration for an alternative theory of the history of our planet. The term mesmerizing is quite applicable to the book as well as the concept of thought provoking.

3/15 Paul Lane

OLD EARTH by Gary Grossman. Diversion Publishing (March 10, 2015).  ISBN: 978-1626816343. 374p.

Click to purchase

Joe Coughlin Series (Book 2)

World Gone By is a continuation of Live By Night, which is perhaps the only flaw in a fascinating novel by Lehane. The book brings the characters created in the first book ten years into the future during the time of the Second World War, but without the information of the first novel there is a loss of continuity that the reader will miss.

Joe Coughlin, who had built an empire in Tampa, Florida for the Boston crime family he worked for, sees his work destroyed and his beloved wife killed in the first book, and is now the consigliere to the Bartolo crime family traveling back and forth for them between his home base in Tampa to Cuba. Joe works with and meets the mob families of Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, connections with naval intelligence as well as the mob financed Cuban dictator Batista.

Lehane describes the rise of the mobs during World War Two, the murders, public official corruption and the intercine battles between the mob families. A gun battle on Ash Wednesday on the streets of Ybor City, Tampa is described in exacting detail bringing to life the violence and the complete disregard of law and order of the mobs.

The ending serves up a picture of ultimate payment by many of those that have lived a life without regard for the rights of others. It is another superb read served up by a master of his craft. Very well done.

3/15 Paul Lane

WORLD GONE BY by Dennis Lehane. William Morrow (March 10, 2015).  ISBN: 978-0060004903. 320p.

Click to purchase

What would cause a man to escape from prison one day before he is to be released? A perplexing question seeing that if caught escaping he faces another 20-25 years behind bars.

Audie Palmer does just that. After 10 years in jail, subject to constant physical and mental harassment, and without telling anyone Audie escapes. He was imprisoned after being caught at a holdup of an armored car carrying seven million dollars in which four people were killed. He pleaded guilty to participation in the crime and a plea bargain sent him away for the 10 years. During the robbery he was shot in the head by police arriving at the scene but survived after months in the hospital.

Michael Robotham, in a mesmerizing novel, answers the questions posed and treats his readers to an excellent read. The seven million dollars stolen from the armored car never reappeared and Audie is suspected of knowing where it is. Moreover, the cash is old bills, unmarked and destined for destruction by the authorities as a normal activity to keep the money supply clean. This means that it is easily spendable and untraceable. The armored car company has a contract to collect these bills from several banks at set periods and transport them to the site where they will be burned.

Robotham fleshes out the characters involved in his book quite well. Audie is a complex individual with a very high I.Q. who thinks things out and does not act rashly. We meet the authorities chasing him and learn to understand their motives in what is happening. This is definitely a book to finish in one sitting in order to satisfy the interest in what is really happening. Easily a five star novel and one that, if the reader has not read a book by Michael Robotham yet, will make sure that his future writings are anticipated and obtained.

3/15 Paul Lane

LIFE OR DEATH by Michael Robotham. Mulholland Books (March 10, 2015).  ISBN: 978-0316252058. 432p.

Click to purchase

Christopher and his wife, Laura, have found the perfect new house for their soon to expand family. It’s an old Victorian in a nice neighborhood, a house that’s been empty long enough that even with Christopher’s planned renovations it still falls within their budget.

Soon after moving in, though, strange things begin to happen. First, the builders find a bunch of old stuff apparently connected to a medium who’d previously owned the home. Then the couple begins to hear noises: knocking on the walls and voices that Christopher decides will make a great subject for an experimental recording project. But as he becomes more and more obsessed with the voices, Laura becomes convinced the strange occurrences are having a negative effect on them all.

Much of The Voices is about the deterioration of Christopher and Laura’s relationship. The longer they live in the house in question, the more time Christopher spends in his studio devoting all of his energy to the voices. And Laura is correct in believing that the voices are bad.

The setting is a definite stand out. Tallis set his tale in the mid 70s, which adds another layer of friction between the couple – the changes in both of their chosen industries and societal changes as well.

Tallis, whose background is in psychology, no doubt intended this to be a subtler haunted house story. On the one hand I admire it and admit that it does make for a different approach; it’s a clever spin on the classic ghost story. On the other hand, I really wanted more of the thrills and chills and more of Maybury’s story.

2/15 Becky LeJeune

THE VOICES by F. R. Tallis. Pegasus (December 14, 2014). ISBN: 978-1605986562. 352p.