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One can say that this book is a wonderful love story, but it is a novel far above the recounting of a romance. It is a story that moves through various twists and turns granting the mesmerized reader a good deal of sleepless moments while glued to the pages.

Maddie (Madeline) and Ian’s love story begins when she is in a position overseas and visits a friend of hers in a nearby country. At a party she meets Ian who is a professional soldier in the British army. He is currently part of a detachment guarding diplomats stationed at embassies in that country. She falls for him, and he for her but it takes a period of 16 years for the two to finally marry and settle in Maddie’s home state of Kansas. Their union produces a beautiful son named Charlie loved by both in a marriage that seems very successful.

Things change when Maddie suffers an accident during a camping trip, scarring her face and causing her to begin seeing a therapist to help her come to grips with the disfigurement. It is during her visits to the analyst that the fact that Ian suffers from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) due to his constant postings into combat areas comes out. Since it is Maddie that is used as the first person narrator we learn much about the symptoms of Ian’s PTSD as outlined by her. She is, by her own admission, living with a man with an abundance of phobias that make life for both difficult.

The ending is an incredible piece of writing which brings the reader through several complete changes of view about what has and is happening. Ward has written other novels prior to “Beautiful Bad” but she has certainly vaulted to a place right at the apex of the literary world. I can’t wait for her next book and I’m sure that this will be the reaction of anyone reading this book.

3/19 Paul Lane

BEAUTIFUL BAD by Annie Ward. Knopf (March 5, 2019). ISBN 978-0525521877. 272p.

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Hen (short for Henrietta) and her husband Lloyd have just moved into a new house just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. They start to meet their neighbors shortly after moving in as a normal activity for people changing into a new environment.

Hen is an illustrator, and a fairly successful one. She is bipolar and has had a bad experience some years ago with a murder of someone that was close to her at that point. But she seems to be on the right meds with her condition controlled and has found happiness with Lloyd and with her work. This was until she and Lloyd in their process of meeting neighbors are invited to Matthew and his wife’s home. Hen sees a sports trophy displayed which she is sure belonged to the person murdered years ago and realizes that Matthew is probably the murderer.

Certainly this recognition would normally provide the ingredients of a great story with Hen reporting her suspicions to the police and than later confronting Matthew as he actually murders another man. But Swanson takes us far beyond one crime as the reader is introduced to Matthew’s psychotic brother Richard, Lloyd’s affair with another woman and her murder, and a probable description of the crime occurring years ago that Hen was privy to. A convoluted set of events certainly but put together by a master of the genre and bringing a great story and some sleepless nights to a fascinated reader. The ending is not broadcast but is logical based on events described with further books by Swanson eagerly awaited.

3/19 Paul Lane

BEFORE SHE KNEW HIM by Peter Swanson. William Morrow (March 5, 2019). ISBN 978-0062838155. 320p.

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A novel that is guaranteed to grab hold of the reader immediately and not let go until the finale. It should be termed dark, but not gothic, although the concept of malevolent spirits permeates its pages. Viktor Kosarek is a young recently graduated psychiatrist who had studied under Carl Jung, one of the fathers of modern psychiatry. It is 1935 and set in a Czechoslovakia with the advent of Nazism on the horizon as Viktor seeks his first job. He holds the theory that evil in a person is due mainly to an evil spirit existing within the makeup of people. That the reason for murder taking place is the pressure brought by this force beyond the ability of the person to control.

Viktor’s theories catch the attention of the manager of a famous insane asylum known as the Hrad Orlu asylum for the criminally insane. At the time the asylum houses only six patients who are among the most horrific killers in Europe . He is invited to work at the asylum attempting to treat the six and prove his theory. Upon arrival Viktor begins sessions with the six; One woman and five men. He is aided with a young lady, Judita, handling the written transcription for the interviews with the patients. She is Jewish and is attempting to flee Europe ahead of the Nazi terror she realizes is coming. A love affair does develop between her and Viktor which plays out in the background.

A second scenario is developed dealing with a serial killer known only as Leather Apron who is terrorizing Prague. His methods of slaughter are reminiscent of England’s Jack the Ripper murderer. Russell follows the chase led by a policeman and also ties in ancient legends about evil entities that have permeated Czechoslovakia’s past.

The reader will be led into reading about murder at its most horrible with descriptions of mutilated bodies that can definitely be very difficult to bear. These are tied into Viktor’s findings in a logical way that helps lead to a finale that is logical and ends the novel in a manner very suited to the story being told. An excellent piece of dark literature that will keep readers glued to the pages attempting to discern an ending that is certainly not telegraphed but is quite satisfying.

3/19 Paul Lane

THE DEVIL ASPECT by Craig Russell. Doubleday (March 5, 2019). ISBN 978-0385544368. 432p.

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There is one absolute truism in any of Iles’ books written about the American south and set in the twentieth century: There will be a man or woman that is inherently good and facing a group that is evil personified. Just prior to the present novel he was involved in writing several books centered in the city of Natchez. His principal character became involved with fighting a group calling itself the “Double Eagles”. The story actually painted the villains as being involved with both the assassination of John F. Kennedy as well as running Natchez.

Cemetery Road introduces Marshall McEwan in the role of principal protagonist and a shadow group known as the “Poker Club.” Marshall grew up in the small town of Bienville, Mississippi. He was an athlete, a good student and in love with a girl nicknamed Jet. Jet seemed to reciprocate this love until circumstances drove them apart. Marshall left his birthplace, went to Washington, D.C. and over eighteen years gained a well earned reputation as a great reporter. He found himself in many dangerous areas and it appeared that he would continue. His work won him a Pulitzer prize capping his already great reputation.

His progress was interrupted by his mother calling him to return to Bienville to run the family newspaper. His father who was the editor in chief had suffered a major coronary and Marshall was asked to keep things moving until his father recuperated. The biggest problem for Marshall was that he ran into his old girl friend Jet. She was married to Paul, a boyhood friend of his, but it looked like she and Marshall were still in love with each other. While they planned to leave together when Marshall was free to return to his Journalistic career Jet was hampered by Kevin, her son, and the obvious fact that her husband would never let him leave with his mother.

The circumstances of the novel include the winning of the construction of a big Paper mill by the Chinese government In Bienville and the prospect of more jobs, higher wages and added fortunes for members of the Poker Club. A murder of a man that found ancient bones and works at the proposed site of the paper mill with the prospect of the town losing the site and the Mill galvanizes the actions of both Marshall and the Poker Club in different points of view. Marshall to expose the murder and the club to protect their turf.

Iles is a superb builder of characters for his novels and Cemetery Road is no exception. How will the affair between Marshall and Jet turn out? And, of course will the Poker club succeed in keeping the knowledge of a probable historic site from the U.S. government and the turning of it into a protected national park. Like his previous novels centered on Natchez, this one is possibly the first of more. But it stands alone as a completely mesmerizing read with the questions raised by the ending not spoiling the enjoyment of a great author at his best.

3/19 Paul Lane

CEMETERY ROAD by Greg Iles. William Morrow (March 5, 2019). ISBN 978-0062824615. 608p.

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