Tuesday Book Review

Four-star review of State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

This is a complex thriller about a terrorist plot with the US Secretary of State as the main protagonist, trying to get to the bottom of it, although her relationship with the president who appointed her is strained. Throughout, there are questions of who is loyal to the US, who is behind the plot, and what’s the ultimate plan. Perhaps a few too many twists for my taste and somewhat unbelievable, but there was plenty of action and excitement. A few of the characters are interesting, but a few are caricatures. Louise Penny’s Gamache and the town of Three Pines show up and play a part. 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Five-star review of Qualify (Atlantis Grail) by Vera Nazarian

I shouldn’t have enjoyed reading this YA novel as much as I did. The imagination and ingenuity of the author and her first-person present tense narrator were amazing. How did this escape my notice before this? I’m now eager to read the next entry in the four-book series. A huge, extinction event asteroid is approaching Earth, but aliens claiming to be descendants of the ancient human race who fled when Atlantis disappeared under the sea have come to save a portion of the population. Teens, first selected through regional contests throughout the world, must compete for the coveted positions. Among them are the four Gs, the story’s narrator Gwen and her two brothers and sister George, Gordy and Gracie Lark. All of their friends and fellow competitors as well as the Atlanteans have rounded personalities.  I wish I’d written it. 

Tuesday Book Review

Five-star review of The Summer Guests: A Thriller (The Martini Club Book 2

Folks retire to Amity, Maine, where people keep to themselves, including the five ex-CIA agents who make up the Martini Club. Others come for the summer months. Once again, Maggie, Declan, Ingrid, Lloyd and Ben assist acting police chief, Jo Thibideau, much to her grudging acceptance, in the search for a missing summer visitor, teenage Zoe Conover, who was a guest at her stepfather’s family summer home. The case soon involves a murder investigation. All of the characters are well-rounded; most are likable while the rest are not. I particularly liked the discussions among these retired spooks in their sixties and seventies about whether they were losing their cognitive abilities, and I’m looking forward to more from the Martini Club.