Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

CORONAVIRUS DIARY: March 1, 2021

March 1, 2021

First Anniversary: Quarantined 3/19/2020

It’s just about a year ago that I woke up with a scratchy throat and thought, I know it’s allergies but what if it’s Covid? I decided to protect my co-workers and stay home. Little did I know I wouldn’t leave my house again for months. And when I did leave, it was very, very scary.

I have been frightened of leaving my house since then, but life goes on and I had no choice. I went back to work for the fall semester. I wasn’t thrilled about it, but I like to eat so money is a necessity, not to mention health insurance. Fortunately, I have the most incredible manager. She understood everyone’s situation and fears and worked with all of us to keep us safe and keep the library open. I was asked to go in two mornings a week, and that felt very doable to me.

Another great perk of my job is that there is a Covid testing site on campus. I can make an appointment and get tested as often as I like. At first, I was going every couple of weeks, but that soon trickled down to once a month and now I haven’t gone since 2020. I keep the hell away from people, double mask, wear gloves when it makes me feel safer, and wash my hands or use hand sanitizer several times a day. And moisturize my poor hands every single time I wash.

I’ve been using Kiehl’s Delux Hand and Body Lotion in Coriander scent for over twenty years. It doesn’t smell like coriander (which is cilantro!) but it has a faint, delicious scent that I love. I started using it when I worked for Borders Books because working with books is very drying to your hands. A co-worker recommended it to me (thanks, Oriana!) and I haven’t stopped using it since. It is remarkable in that I can put it on my hands and I don’t have to wait before going back to work. It doesn’t leave any residual greasiness. Best of all, despite all the handwashing and sanitizing, my hands are soft. I keep a bottle in my desk at work, and by the kitchen and bathroom sinks at home. It is not cheap, but as another brand likes to say, I’m worth it! The first time I bought it I paid $13 for it. It has almost doubled in price since then. I don’t think I’ve seen a sale on it (maybe Macy’s might honor their sales or coupons on it, or it might be one of the brands in the fine print that don’t ever get discounted.) On the bright side, I generally only buy one bottle every 8 months or so, it lasts a long time.

I am reading all sorts of things now. I still love my happily ever afters, but with all the changes in this country since the beginning of 2021, I can handle the darker stuff again. I will be posting more reviews shortly. Hope you caught my review of Kristen Hannah’s latest blockbuster, The Four Winds. If you need a book for your book group, look no further. It was one of the saddest books I’ve read in a while, yet I loved it. I just finished The Vineyard at Painted Moon by Susan Mallery, more women’s fiction than romance and an excellent read. She even offers some wine pairing tips and a recipe at the end of the book. I promise to post a review this week. I also read a sort of natural disaster thriller from Bridget Foley, Just Get Home. It’s not due out until April 13th, but you can preorder if you’re so inclined. Or reserve it at your library. It’s based on the experiences of two women who get caught out when “the big one”, a massive earthquake, hits Los Angeles. It’s one of those books that you just can’t put down.

My husband and I have finally caught up on the Great British Baking Show. We finished the 2020 season last night, and it was a bittersweet moment. That show has been my happy place for an hour or two each night for the past few weeks. I know it’s called the British Bakeoff in the UK, and I understand why (Pillsbury!), but it still amazes me that the openings always have the correct title. Occasionally a participant says something about the Bakeoff, but I guess Pillsbury can’t do anything about that! We also watched the new remake of All Creatures Great and Small, and it was excellent. If you have access to PBS, I highly recommend it. I loved the books when I was a kid and enjoyed the first go round of the BBC television show, but this, I think, is better (at least in my mind it is.) I loved it so much got the audiobook read by the star, Nicholas Ralph. It is his first TV role! He was terrific.

I haven’t had a haircut in over a year, or a manicure or pedicure, which makes me sad. My nails are an abomination. I’ve gained way more weight than I should have, and it is a daily struggle to attempt any sort of diet. My best efforts are to try and skip the junk food and just eat smaller portions. Some days are easier than others. I still love to cook and bake but I have cut back on the baking at least.

As always, thanks for reading and stay safe!

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THE COPPER ROAD: Beyond the Promise by Richard Buxton

February 12, 2021

Shire’s Union, Book 2

From the publisher:

Shire is far, far from home, his old life in Victorian England a fading memory. To keep a promise to his childhood love, he’s sailed an ocean and battled through war-torn America.

He’s kept his promise, but now Clara’s pushing him away.
The war won’t let him go.

Fighting for the Union and his friends, Shire must survive the brutal campaign for Atlanta and imagine a future without her.

After a violent end to a cruel marriage, Clara is free from her husband but not from his ghost. All that is left to her is Comrie, her home in the Tennessee hills. But the war relentlessly steals away its treasures and its people.

Tod, a captured Rebel, escapes in Pennsylvania. His adventures on the roads and rivers back to his regiment cast the Civil War in a new light. Does he still have the will to fight?

Three young lives become wrapped in the Rebels’ desperate need for copper. Friendships, loyalty and love will be tested beyond breaking point. Shire has new promises to keep.

The Copper Road is the second novel from award winning writer Richard Buxton. Book one of Shire’s Union, Whirligig, was shortlisted for the Rubery International Book Award.

Richard Buxton who is not a citizen of the United States nor resides there gives us an extremely well-researched novel set in the final months of the Civil war that engulfed the U.S. in the 1860s. A slight kinship is to the Stephen Crane The Red Badge of Courage which dealt with a young soldier finding the courage to go into combat. The difference in the books is that Buxton presents combat as a horror involving killing in large quantities with dead and maimed men spread out over what are just killing fields. There is nothing noble about the death depicted in his novel.

Shire is a young man that has followed Clara, a childhood friend of his, from England to the United States in order to care for her. Clara has married and left for America to be with her new husband, a man not exactly enamored by his prospective father-in-law and also Shire. Due to circumstances Shire finds himself a soldier fighting for the north in the Civil war raging when he arrives. At the same time, Clara’s new husband has been killed in the war placing his widow as head of property he owns in the state of Tennessee.

A third character, Tod, enters the picture as he is escaping from a Yankee prison of war train taking Confederate prisoners to incarceration. The novel tells the stories of the three principal characters as their lives interwind in the midst of the war. Tod and Shire somehow meet in the midst of combat, each fighting for a different army and immediately form a liking for each other which brings them together over the near future. Clara and Tod also meet when both are passengers on a steamboat and are drawn into a sexual encounter which has bearing later on.

Allowing for the literary license which depends on farfetched coincidences to occur at the proper times Buxton’s book is an interesting read. It is not an all-night draw due to several over-long descriptions of different situations but is a novel that is sufficiently interesting for the well-done descriptions of actual military events of the war.

2/2021 Paul Lane

THE COPPER ROAD: Beyond the Promise by Richard Buxton. Ocoee Publishing (July 23, 2020). ISBN: 978-0995769335. 442 pages.

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TWENTY by James Grippando

February 10, 2021

Jack Swyteck Novel, Book 17

From the publisher:

Jack Swyteck and his family are caught in the crossfire after a deadly school shooting claims twenty casualties—Florida’s fifth mass shooting in as many years—in this provocative and timely thriller from Harper Lee Prize–winner James Grippando that touches on some of the most contentious issues roiling America today.

It is the message every parent of a school-age child fears: “Active Shooter on Campus.”

Jack Swyteck is at his office when he receives the emergency text from Riverside Day School. Both his daughter, Righley, and his wife, FBI agent Andie Henning, are in danger. Andie is in the school’s rec center when she hears the fire alarms, then loud popping noises and screams coming from the hallway. A trained law-enforcement officer, Andie knows she’s supposed to stay locked down inside the room. But Righley is in her kindergarten classroom and Andie must get her to safety.

The tragedy prompts mass hysteria—and dangerous speculation. The police haven’t identified the shooter, but they find a handgun on the school grounds registered to a parent, a Muslim man named Amir Khoury. News of the gun and its owner leaks and quickly goes viral. Within minutes Al Qaeda claims responsibility. Andie is shocked—Amir is married to her friend, Lilly, a WASP whose bloodline goes back to the American Revolution.

When Xavier, Amir and Lilly’s oldest child and an eighteen-year-old senior at Riverside confesses to the crime, the local community’s anti-Muslim fervor explodes to levels unseen since 9/11. Terrified for her son’s life, Lilly asks Jack to step in. A seasoned defense attorney with a passion to see justice done, he’s taken on plenty of complicated cases. Xavier’s, however, is not one he’s inclined to take—until an old friend who lost his daughter in the shooting tells him that he must.

With the public calling for blood and prosecutors confident their case is air tight, Jack must unearth the Khourys’ family secrets in order to expose the shocking truth and save his client from certain death. But he may not be able to save everyone—including himself.

Twenty is the 17th novel James Grippando has published featuring Jack Swyteck and his family as the centers of the story. The title of the book is a reference to the twentieth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, events that forced the U.S. and its allies to begin a war against radical terrorism. I came away from reading this novel with the impression that Grippando, definitely a top-tier author of books, has somehow surpassed himself coming out with the gripping read to top all gripping reads.

The story begins with a mass shooting at a private school in Miami, and one that is attended by Swyteck’s daughter Righley who is a kindergartener there. Both Jack and his wife Andie find out about the shooting and rush over to the school to ascertain that their daughter is not hurt. Andie is an agent for the FBI but is not permitted to carry her gun when entering school grounds. She reacts instinctively by just standing guard at the kindergarten area holding a fire extinguisher as the only weapon she can put her hands on.

When the crisis is calmed one of the high school boys stands up and admits he did the shooting. With the deaths and wounding are tallied up the parents scream for blood calling for an immediate death sentence for the boy that confessed. While Jack is totally against representing the confessed killer, he is talked into it by one of the parents of a girl wounded in the attack. The rationale for the request is that it will probably spare all concerned from having their children forced to testify over and over again about the attack if the death penalty is sought by the prosecution. If the defendant pleads guilty in exchange for multiple life sentences it will end quickly and allow those grieving to come to grips with their anguish.

Public opinion is slanted by the fact that the father of the boy confessing to the shootings is Muslim and first opinions postulate that he radicalized his son and masterminded the murders. With the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 coming up it is not difficult to read terrorist activity into an already flammable situation which is described very well by the author. The reader will not be able to absent himself or herself from getting on the emotional rollercoaster that is set up quite well by Grippando. An all nighter? How could it not be and then some.

2/2021 Paul Lane

TWENTY by James Grippando. Harper (January 5, 2021). ISBN: 978-0062915085. 384 pages.

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THE LOVE PROOF by Madeleine Henry

February 9, 2021

BLOG TOUR!

From the publisher:

A brilliant physicist studying the nature of time embarks on a journey to prove that those we love are always connected to us, leading to surprising revelations in this fresh and unique love story.

Sophie Jones is a physics prodigy on track to unlock the secrets of the universe. But when she meets Jake Kristopher during their first week at Yale they instantly feel a deep connection, as if they’ve known each other before. Quickly, they become a couple. Slowly, their love lures Sophie away from school.

When a shocking development forces Sophie into a new reality, she returns to physics to make sense of her world. She grapples with life’s big questions, including how to cope with unexpected change and loss. Inspired by her connection with Jake, Sophie throws herself into her studies, determined to prove that true loves belong together in all realities.

Spanning decades, The Love Proof is an unusual love story about lasting connection, time, and intuition. It explores the course that perfect love can take between imperfect people, and urges us to listen to our hearts rather than our heads.

“Henry uses deep characterizations and poetic descriptions to deliver a mesmerizing love story that contains a lot of serious science talk but luckily doesn’t require prior knowledge of physics. Fans of stories about the power of first love and the struggle to listen to one’s head or heart should not pass this one up.”—Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Henry has done a masterful job…This book is academic and heartfelt and tender and loving. It is worth every minute spent reading it.” —Kirkus Reviews(starred review)

When publicists send me info on their upcoming books, they generally send along blurbs from other authors and media sites. Occasionally, if publication is pending, I will also get snippets of reviews. This was the blurb that moved this book into my “Read Next” folder: “Fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife will be blown away by Madeleine Henry’s The Love Proof. Told across decades, the book tells the story of physicist Sophie Jones’s quest to prove true love not only exists, but that soulmates will find each other in every iteration of reality.” —PopSugar

I loved The Time Traveler’s Wife. I loved it so much I read it more than once, I facilitated a book discussion on it, and I refused to watch the film for a very long time. This book is not that, not by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, it pretty much revolved around time but not really time travel, and that is a huge difference. Also, I found myself skimming it quite a bit as theories of mathematics and physics filled the pages, or at least I assume that’s what that stuff was, as I said, I didn’t read it all that carefully because I didn’t care. When I returned to college to finish my degree after being away for over twenty years, the computer algorithm somehow decided I needed an additional math class. I had taken Statistics (twice) and College Algebra (twice) and as I told my advisor, I would drop out again before taking an additional math that I did not need. My major, English, required just two maths and that was that. He fixed it. Physics? Never. But I digress.

The characters at the center of this love story both march to the beat of their own drummers. They are both brilliant, hard-working, dedicated to their studies, and ambitious, albeit in different ways. Yet there is that strong physical attraction that defies all the logic in the world and that is what initially draws them together. Then they become inseparable.

Jake goes on to fulfill his dreams of running his own hedge fund and earning billions of dollars. But before he does, he realizes that Sophie has given up on her ambition, some theory about time (I don’t know exactly how to explain it because I didn’t really care to understand it.) So he dumps her at graduation. She goes back to work, but both of them experience this feeling that somehow they are still together. My best understanding of it is it most resembles this thing they do on Star Trek where there is a parallel universe: same people, same surroundings, but different behaviors and outcomes. Whatever.

They both go on to have enormously successful, yet lonely lives. Until they meet again, some thirty years in the future. The future looks exactly like the present except the Apple watches are called something else and do a lot more.

I’m not explaining this well, sorry. It’s not an easy story to pin down with a few sentences. Bottom line? I loved the beginning, struggled to get through the middle, but it was worth it in the end.

2/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE LOVE PROOF by Madeleine Henry. Atria Books (February 9, 2021). ISBN 978-1982142964. 304 pages.

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THE SCORPION’S TAIL by Lincoln Child & Douglas Preston

February 7, 2021

Nora Kelly, Book 2

From the publisher:

From #1 bestselling authors Preston & Child comes a thrilling novel following archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson as they work together to solve a twisted crime that reaches far beyond any of their worst fears.Following the acclaimed debut of Old Bones, this second “happily anticipated” new thriller in Preston & Child’s series features Nora Kelly, archaeologist at the Santa Fe Archeological Institute, and rookie FBI Agent Corrie Swanson, as they team up to solve a mystery that quickly escalates into nightmare (Booklist).

A mummified corpse, over half a century old, is found in the cellar of an abandoned building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Corrie is assigned what seems to her a throwaway case: to ID the body and determine cause of death. She brings archaeologist Nora Kelly to excavate the body and lend her expertise to the investigation, and together they uncover something unexpected and shocking: the deceased apparently died in agony, in a fetal position, skin coming off in sheets, with a rictus of horror frozen on his face.

Hidden on the corpse lies a 16th century Spanish gold cross of immense value.

When they at last identify the body — and the bizarre cause of death — Corrie and Nora open a door into a terrifying, secret world of ancient treasure and modern obsession: a world centered on arguably the most defining, frightening, and transformative moment in American history.

The team of Child and Preston have been giving their readers well-done novels for many years. The duo has the knack of formulating an interesting plot coupled with crisp writing making for a flow that captures the imagination of their readers.

The current novel utilizes Corrie Swanson a relatively new agent of the FBI and Nora Kelly an archaeologist to tell the story of a plot originating centuries ago. The action takes place in an area near to and on the White Sands New Mexico military base. A mummified corpse is discovered buried in the cellar of an abandoned building in a New Mexico ghost town. Probably thinking that checking the body after so many years would be a relatively simple thing to do Corrie’s supervisor assigns the investigation to her thinking that it would give her some more field experience with a relatively easy finish.

In her initial investigation, Corrie finds evidence that would require the services of someone trained in archaeology and she contacts Nora who has worked with her on a previous case. Findings arise that indicate that the roots of what has been found date back about 400 years and initiating in the country of Mexico. A sheriff enters the investigation when findings indicate that the body may have been as a result of murder. He is a young man and a bit of mutual attraction begins between Corrie and him. Possibly something for the authors to continue in future books involving Corrie.

The book is an interesting one and does incorporate research done by the authors which peak up the interest for the reader. No problem in continuing to look for and read novels by the team. They also have written books individually giving rise to the question: do they sleep?

2/2021 Paul Lane

THE SCORPION’S TAIL by Lincoln Child & Douglas Preston. Grand Central Publishing (January 12, 2021). ISBN: 978-1538747278. 416 pages.

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TEN RULES FOR FAKING IT by Sophie Sullivan

February 6, 2021

From the publisher:

What happens when your love life becomes the talk of the town?

As birthdays go, this year’s for radio producer Everly Dean hit rock-bottom.

Worse than the “tonsillectomy birthday.” Worse than the birthday her parents decided to split (the first time). But catching your boyfriend cheating on you with his assistant?

Even clichés sting.

But this is Everly’s year! She won’t let her anxiety hold her back. She’ll pitch her podcast idea to her boss.

There’s just one problem.

Her boss, Chris, is very cute. (Of course). Also, he’s extremely distant (which means he hates her, right? Or is that the anxiety talking)?

And, Stacey the DJ didn’t mute the mic during Everly’s rant about Simon the Snake (syn: Cheating Ex).

That’s three problems.

Suddenly, people are lining up to date her, Bachelorette-style, fans are voting (Reminder: never leave house again), and her interest in Chris might be a two-way street. It’s a lot for a woman who could gold medal in people-avoidance. She’s going to have to fake it ‘till she makes it to get through all of this.

Perhaps she’ll make a list: The Ten Rules for Faking It.

Because sometimes making the rules can find you happiness when you least expect it.

Everly has sucky birthdays, and her 30th is the worst yet. She catches her boyfriend in bed with another woman. To make matters worse, she doesn’t realize she is complaining about it in front of a live mic at the radio station where she works. Listeners get involved quickly, but Everly suffers from social anxiety. I really liked the way that was handled in this book.

The romance is a super slow build. The new station manager is hot for Everly, but is afraid to get involved as this is just a stepping stone for him. His family owns the station and he is being groomed for much bigger things, a continent away in New York. Meanwhile, he quickly realizes that he has a viral moment that can lead to big ratings, so he convinces Everly to commit to a Bachelorette style radio dating show.

Everly is a likeable character, as is Chris, the station manager, and the dates they set her up on are more funny than fun. This is a light and enjoyable romantic romp, and a fast, fun read, but nothing really special.

2/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

TEN RULES FOR FAKING IT by Sophie Sullivan. St. Martin’s Griffin (December 29, 2020). ISBN: 978-1250624161. 384 pages.

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THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah

February 5, 2021

From the publisher:

The Today Show/Jenna’s Book Club February Pick
One of “2021’s Most Highly Anticipated New Books”―Newsweek
One of “27 of 2021’s Most Anticipated Historical Fiction Novels That Will Sweep You Away”―Oprah Magazine
One of “The Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2021″―Parade
One of the “Books Everyone Will Talk About in 2021”―PopSugar
One of “The 57 Most Anticipated Books Of 2021″―Elle
One of “32 Great Books To Start Off Your New Year”―Refinery29
One of “25 of the Best Books Arriving in 2021”―BookBub
One of “The 21 Best Books of 2021 for Working Moms”―Working Mother
One of “The Most Anticipated Winter Books That Will Keep You Cozy All Season Long”―Stylecaster
One of the “Most Anticipated Books of 2021”―Frolic

From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.

“My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.”

Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.

By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.

In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa―like so many of her neighbors―must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.

The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it―the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

For the past four years, I’ve been mostly reading happy books with happy endings. Reality was so bleak that these books were my escape. It’s 2021, we have a new president, a Covid vaccine, and I am hopeful once again. So I found myself seeking out other books, darker books, and I thought I could switch things up again. I’ve always read broadly, across most genres. I want to find my way back to that. So I started here. With the darkest, most depressing book I’ve read in many, many years. And you know what? It was great.

I think the NY Times review summed it up beautifully: “The Four Winds seems eerily prescient in 2021 . . . Its message is galvanizing and hopeful: We are a nation of scrappy survivors. We’ve been in dire straits before; we will be again. Hold your people close.”

Elsa is a remarkable woman, but she doesn’t know it. Suffering with rheumatic fever as a child, she believed she would probably not live to adulthood. Her family thought her plain and boring and let her know that. But she does live, and at 25 finally realizes this was going to be her life. Living at home with her parents, until they were gone. She asked if she could go to college, and is laughed at. She saw her future as bleak; never marrying, never having children, never having a life. Until the night she sneaks out to go to a speakeasy.

She meets Rafe, a very good looking young man, several years younger than herself. She goes off with him that night, then sneaks back home. She meets him a few more times and eventually finds herself pregnant. Her family, pillars of the community, are incensed. Rafe is Italian, and to her family, he is beneath them. Rafe does the right thing and marries Elsa.

Their marriage is not great. Elsa loves Rafe, but he is always distant. They live with his parents on the family farm. The Great Depression and then drought strikes, and stays for years, starving the family. Hannah’s vivid descriptions of hunger and dust storms and life during that time is simply mesmerizing. Elsa’s world turns upside down. Rafe leaves them. And eventually, her young son develops life-threatening breathing issues from all the dust.

Elsa takes the family truck and the children and heads west. Her in-laws can’t leave the farm, but they understand she has to go. All the talk is about California needing workers, so Elsa heads west. The journey is harrowing, and when they arrive, they do not find a land of milk and honey. Instead, they find poverty and illness, and despair. But Elsa never gives up, and she won’t let her children give up either.

I’ve read Kristin Hannah for many years, and always enjoyed her books. She wrote women’s fiction, stories of women’s lives and friendships and love, and she was good at it. Her books were successful. And then she wrote The Nightingale, rocketed to the top of the NY Times bestseller list, and hasn’t looked back yet. Firefly Lane is now a series on Netflix, The Nightingale movie has been filmed, stars Elle and Dakota Fanning, and is scheduled to be released late this year. I would be surprised if The Four Winds doesn’t end up a film; it is cinematic in scope and a story just begging to be told in a visual medium.

These characters and their story will be with me for a long time. Elsa is a warrior, a mother, and an inspiration. This glimpse into a period of American history is soulful and disturbing and beautifully illustrates the American people’s resilience. Don’t miss it.

2/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE FOUR WINDS by Kristin Hannah. St. Martin’s Press (February 2, 2021). ISBN: 978-1250178602 . 464 pages.

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THE UNWILLING by John Hart

February 2, 2021

CLICK TO PURCHASE

From the publisher:

Set in the South at the height of the Vietnam War, The Unwilling combines crime, suspense and searing glimpses into the human mind and soul in New York Times bestselling author John Hart’s singular style.

Gibby’s older brothers have already been to war. One died there. The other came back misunderstood and hard, a decorated killer now freshly released from a three-year stint in prison.

Jason won’t speak of the war or of his time behind bars, but he wants a relationship with the younger brother he hasn’t known for years. Determined to make that connection, he coaxes Gibby into a day at the lake: long hours of sunshine and whisky and older women.

But the day turns ugly when the four encounter a prison transfer bus on a stretch of empty road. Beautiful but drunk, one of the women taunts the prisoners, leading to a riot on the bus. The woman finds it funny in the moment, but is savagely murdered soon after.

Given his violent history, suspicion turns first to Jason; but when the second woman is kidnapped, the police suspect Gibby, too. Determined to prove Jason innocent, Gibby must avoid the cops and dive deep into his brother’s hidden life, a dark world of heroin, guns and outlaw motorcycle gangs.

What he discovers there is a truth more disturbing than he could have imagined: not just the identity of the killer and the reasons for Tyra’s murder, but the forces that shaped his brother in Vietnam, the reason he was framed, and why the most dangerous man alive wants him back in prison.

This is crime fiction at its most raw, an exploration of family and the past, of prison and war and the indelible marks they leave.

John Hart presents his latest novel based in the south of the United States during the Vietnam war. The wide-ranging and compelling story involves the price soldiers pay for fighting in war, family ties, an organized world of master criminals, and the coming of age of a young man.

Gabriel (Gibby’s) two older brothers have already fought in the war – one was killed in action, the other received a dishonorable discharge, and came home only to be sent to prison where he served several years. Their father is a long time police detective married to the love of his life, a lady whose background includes being an heiress. Gibby’s mother blames Jason, the brother returning from war, for the death of his brother, and refuses to see him. She has also made it clear to her husband that he is not to allow Gibby to meet with Jason as that would expose him to a bad influence.

But blood ties will out and Gibby secretly meets Jason spending a day with him and the company of two women. During the day one of the women manages to taunt a busload of convicts being transported along a public highway. These prisoners are from the institution that Jason had served his time in, and a master criminal actually running the inside of the jail arranges for the murder of the woman that did the taunting.

Jason is blamed for the murder and re-sent to the jail he had served his sentence in for safekeeping while awaiting trial. The events see Gibby deciding to prove his brother innocent of the murder and with the help of his best friend and a young lady that is becoming his girlfriend, go after the facts proving that Jason is innocent.

Hart tells the story with attention to building the characters of the principal protagonists, including that of a psychopathic killer awaiting execution at the prison. His prose flows freely and easily brings his readers into a mesmerized state while enjoying the book. A definite all-night read with another fascinating book to John Hart’s credit.

2/2021 Paul Lane

THE UNWILLING by John Hart. St. Martin’s Press (February 2, 2021). ISBN: 978-1250167729. 384 p.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

CORONAVIRUS DIARY: February 1, 2021

February 1, 2021

Tomorrow is Groundhog’s Day

At my house, in Florida, we celebrate the movie

Bill Murray, Andie McDowell, and of course, the groundhog. We are having winter-ish weather here this week. It’s 68° right now and going up to the low 70’s. But there is a cold front coming through. It started raining, and tomorrow and Wednesday are going to be in the low 40’s, with wind chill it will feel like the 30’s. On the two days I have to leave my house and go to work! I will be layering up and happy to wear my Ugg boots. I actually have quite a few pairs of boots now. I’ve been collecting them over the past several winters. Why not, it’s nice to switch things up now and then.

I am not complaining, trust me! Not with this big blizzard that is expected to hit New York City today. My mishpocheh (my son’s in-laws) already have had a lot of snow in Chicago: Chicago’s O’Hare Airport Records Largest Snowfall Since 2015.

<> on January 7, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois.

My son and daughter-in-law are in Brooklyn, where they are awaiting this: Mayor de Blasio declares state of emergency for worst blizzard in five years; three waves of snow predicted to dump 24 inches of snow on NYC which, as my friend Lynne who lives in Maine pointed out, they are not really prepared for. I found this little tidbit: The Blizzard of 1888: The biggest snowstorm to ever hit NYC where they got 22 inches (56 cm) in New York City. I am going to hope for the best!

In other news, the pandemic rages on, especially in South Florida. I have no idea when my husband and I will be eligible for the vaccine, but things are a real mess down here. The restaurants are packed with very few masks in sight. Driving around town, you would never know there was a pandemic. Our Republican led city and state means we are in deep trouble. The local hospitals and ICUs are full. I am putting all my faith in President Biden and the new administration to help. The new federal mask laws are definitely helpful, if they are enforced. Apparently our local law enforcement doesn’t enforce mask laws so I’ll be hibernating for a lot longer.

If you are a fan of the Groundhog Day movie, check out Palm Springs on Hulu, with Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti. A similar premise but sorry, not as good. But a fun film nonetheless.

With all this horrible weather, let’s hope the groundhog does what he’s supposed to do and ends this winter early.

I am way behind on posting reviews, so please forgive me. I have been struck with a severe case of ennui. I’m working on it as best as I can.

As always, thanks for reading and stay safe!

2 Comments | Ramblings | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

FOOL ME TWICE by Jeff Lindsay

January 22, 2021

Riley Wolfe, Book 2

From the publisher:

Pulling off an impossible crime is the only way he can stay alive.

Stealing a Faberge egg. Surviving a double cross. And pulling off the most incredible robbery ever, for the world’s most demanding—and dangerous collector.

This will be the challenge of thief extraordinaire Riley Wolfe’s life.

Fool Me Twice opens in St. Petersburg, where Riley steals the egg—no easy task. Betrayed by the pilot he hired to help him get away, he wakes chained to a rock wall on one of the Kerguelen Islands—the most remote spot on earth—prisoner of a top-dog international arms dealer, and a top-notch art collector. He wants Riley to steal an artwork. Small problem–it’s a fresco, “The Liberation of St. Peter.” Slightly larger problem–it’s in the Vatican.

And, it’s a literal wall.

Riley has no choice: agree or die. But when his captor turns him loose, he’s grabbed by another arms dealer looking to do a double cross. Worse, he gives Riley a special incentive: a surveillance photograph of Monique, the love of his life, and more important, the art forger he can’t pull off any heist without. The threat is clear. Riley knows they both have only one way out.

With wicked dialogue, tons of explosive twists, and cinema-worthy scenes, Jeff Lindsay’s Fool Me Twice is another wildly entertaining caper starring the anti-hero you’ll root for, Riley Wolfe.

Jeff Lindsay’s second novel featuring Riley Wolfe who as fans know is a thief – not an ordinary one robbing banks or holding up armored cars but one that has long since made himself very wealthy and just lives for the thrill of doing the impossible. He is a man that seeks the challenge of an impossible score and then sits back and enjoys the adulation due him.

This book opens with Riley in St Petersburg, Russia where our hero pulls off the theft of a priceless Faberge egg under the noses of a group of guards and protective devices. When boarding the boat that he has hired to take him out of Russia he is betrayed by the pilot and delivered to the secret island hideaway of the world’s biggest arms dealer. Held captive for several days he then hears what his captor wants from him and it is about as impossible as it gets. The man wants him to steal a fresco which is art painted on a wall. Not only is the problem of how to transport a wall if he gets it, but the location of the painting which is in the Vatican as the clincher. Riley is told in no uncertain terms that his life would be forfeit if he doesn’t deliver.

Buying time Riley agrees to the job and is let go by Mr. Big. Then to compound his problems he is next seized by another arm’s dealer who wants Riley to get the Fresco and while delivering it to the first individual arrange for entrance onto Mr Big’s island fortress where number two will become number one by process of elimination. Riley has a sort of love interest although Monique, the lady in question’s prime function for him is to forge art used in his work. He is shown a picture of her as number two dealer also includes her life in the deal. We have to understand that at some point in the future Jeff Lindsay will probably set up the pair as lovers at the same time that they are working on nefarious schemes together. He, therefore, is anxious to keep the criminals away from her as well as saving his own life.

As in Lindsay’s previous novels including those featuring Dexter, the serial killer that only kills other serial killers the action is fast, the dialogue snappy and the reader will not be able to set the book down until finished. If the author continues with the success enjoyed by featuring loveable rogues what type of character will he showcase for his next portrayal of a bent character? It will make for a delightful mystery while we wait for anything written by him.

1/2021 Paul Lane

FOOL ME TWICE by Jeff Lindsay. Dutton (December 1, 2020). ISBN: 978-1524743970. 368 pages.