I'd Know You Anywhere, Laura Lippman

One of my favorite popcorn authors is Laura Lippman.  Her thrillers are smart and action-packed and always have an interesting psychological component.  But I'd Know You Anywhere falls short of the emotional impact that I have grown to expect from her books.

Eliza Bennet is a happily married mother of two.  After living in London for about a decade, her family has moved back to the US, to a quiet suburb of Baltimore.  But her idyllic family life in the present has a horrific past at its core.  Twenty years ago, when she was only 15 and called herself Elizabeth, Eliza was kidnapped and held for six weeks by a serial killer named Walter Bowman.  Known by some as the "one who survived", and by others as a possible accomplice to Bowman's killing spree, Eliza has worked hard to put her past behind her, changing her name, moving away from her family, and keeping herself out of the public eye.  Only her parents, sister, and husband know her story.  At least until Bowman, on death row and scheduled for execution in a few short weeks, reaches out to her, asking for contact.  Eliza, seeing a chance to get him to confess to the other murders he committed and give some families long-awaited comfort and justice, agrees to talk with him.  What she doesn't know is that he plans to try and use her to get his sentence commuted.

The story is told in chapters that alternate between the past and present, with certain sections of the book being told from the point of view of Walter Bowman.  The chapters that detail Eliza's imprisonment were surprisingly non-threatening.  Bowman made her travel with him, and even kidnapped another girl while she was with him, but I never got that feeling in my gut that I get when I read a really good thriller.  The chapters that detail the present day are even less emotionally satisfying.  I understood her feelings of guilt, and how she could question her own perceptions of something that happened to her when she was young and traumatized, but at times it felt like so much navel-gazing.  And the ending was way anti-climactic.  Let's just say that all the angst boils down to a rear-view mirror.  There was no real sense of menace, and given that one of the most violent character is locked up on death row for the entire novel, there is no real action either.  I'll not give up on Lippman, but this was not her best.

Judging a Book by Its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere by Lauren Leto

ISBN-13: 9780062070142
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: October 2012
Format: Paperback, 288 pgs
Source: Publisher

Calling out all book lovers (occasional readers and non-readers apply as well)! Have you ever came across a literary guide which not only offer you some insight of the wonder and beauty of reading but also an account of the peculiar world of book culture and how we speak condescendingly about the most revered authors and their literary works even if we haven't read them! 

Author Lauren Leto started off this guide on her introduction to books when she was a child and how she was initially overwhelmed by the words and sentences in books to becoming a well-read reader as she is today. In this guide, she shares with us her opinions and observations of the book culture and some of the titles she read in both snarky and sometimes condescending voice. Either way, she has got me hooked to this guide as she covered some topics such as:

1) The Bookshelf of the Vanities

2) That Certain Bookstore Smell (From Self: Oh yes!)

3) Ten Rules for Bookstore Hookups 

4) Rules for Public Reading and Rules of Book Club

5) Petition to Change the Term from "Bookworm" to "Bookcat" (I like this one!)

6) Fan Letters (Don't we all have the desire to write to our favourite authors at some stage?)

7) How to Write Like Any Author (Names like Stieg Larsson, Malcolm Gladwell, Henry Miller,  Cormac McCarthy... just to name a few)

8) What Your Child Will Grow Up to Be if You Read Them... (like The Giving Tree, Green Eggs and Ham, The Velveteen Rabbit, Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Wind in the Willows, etc)

9) Stereotyping People by Favourite Author

10) Strategies to Avoid Discussing the Major Plot Points of Any Novel

11) A Gift Guide by a Bad Gift-Giver

12) How to Succeed in Classifying Fiction Without Really Trying

Though written in a fun and humorous way, Lauren Leto has a deep admiration for every one of the authors whose work she discussed in this guide and she stated that "there is nothing more beautiful than a well-written book, and there is nothing more admirable than the attempt to create something beautiful", which I agree.  

Here are some of my favourite quotes in this guide (pg 267 - 9) which I think will strike a chord for bibliophiles and the like: 

- Reading is a solitary activity. You can be surrounded by a thousand people, but processing the written words in your brain is something only you are going through. ... A good novel presents you with an engaging world that is a reality only for you. 

- A story is unbiased with respect to the reader. It presupposes nothing about the audience. Books don't require that you read them in a certain place, at a certain time, or with certain equipment. Just eyes. Literature connects by transporting people to the same consciousness; a stranger who's read the same book you've read, whose eyes passed over the same words, may be a part of a completely different environment, and even time, but for a while, at least, they shared a world with you. A community is built out of that isolated experience; an author has the power to build worlds and to populate them not only with characters but also with their readers. 

- Good books command study, presenting you with the puzzle of how and why their plot is laid the way it is  laid - without examination the meaning is lost.

- The greatest argument for the oneness of humanity is the recognition that we are all emotional beings, subject to the fantasies of a story. We talk about this event we went through alone because it connects us together. You're nevermore human than when you realize a sentence has the power to push and pull the emotions of millions. 

To end it all, I enjoyed reading Judging a Book by Its Lover as it has inspired me to read some of the titles which I wanted to read but haven't (e.g. Crime and Punishment, The Catcher in the Rye, etc) but most of all, this guide made me smile as I agree with some of the stuff Lauren Leto mentioned and not to mention it also made me laugh over some of her remarks. Humour, anecdotal, reference... this guide has it all and I think this book would make a great gift to anyone who enjoys reading. 

Whispers of the Dead, In Which David Hunt Can't Catch a Break

Simon Beckett is one of the better mystery/thriller writer's I've discovered in a while.  His main character, David Hunt, is a forensic anthropologist from the UK, complete with tragic past and an obsessive nature focused on finding justice for the dead.  Beckett's books are formulaic thrillers on the surface, but with a sense of malevolence and creepiness that does not always come across in other works in this genre.

Whispers of the Dead finds David taking a sabbatical from his work in the UK.  He is studying in the US, at a body farm in Tennessee just known as "the facility".  There, bodies are exposed to the elements in various ways so that pathologists and forensic anthropologists can study the effects of varying environments in the decomposition process.  And that is not even the grossest thing in this book!  David is mostly recovered physically from being attacked by a serial killer, but the fact that she escaped and is possibly hunting him down to finish the job makes it harder to heal emotionally.  He is hoping that getting away from England and his failed relationship with his girlfriend will give him some perspective, and help him figure out how to move forward.  He has barely arrived when he is drawn into a series of bizarre murders at the request of his old friend and mentor.  There is a killer at work in the Smoky Mountains, leaving bodies or parts of bodies in elaborate tableaux designed to draw the forensic people deeper and deeper into his crimes.  Soon David and his friend become targets themselves.  Can this really be happening to him AGAIN? (that would be the "David Hunt can't catch a break" part)

Despite the fact that it seems completely unlikely in real life that the same forensic anthropologist could be targeted by not one but two serial killers in succession, the fact is that the story is so good that I didn't even care that it wasn't that feasible.  The story is mostly told in the first-person from David's point of view, but at the end of each chapter is a vignette written in a slightly awkward second-person that reveals the mind of the killer.  There are plenty of hints dropped along the way, but even so I was still surprised by the twist at the end.  And Beckett is not afraid to kill off important major or minor characters, which adds a sense of unpredictability to the whole things that is refreshing in a formula genre book.  Whispers of the Dead is an excellent popcorn book-as long as you aren't too squeamish when you eat...er...read!

A Wicked Snow

America is fairly obsessed with the serial killer, both in the true crime sense and the fictional sense.  There are many infamous killers out there who have captured our imagination, but they are mostly men.  Female serial killers are a rare breed.  Of the ten most prolific female serial killers, only three were active in the 20th century.  Compare that to just the number of male serial killers that you can probably name off the top of your head and you can understand why female serial killers get the kind of attention they do.

Even though the group is small, Gregg Olsen knows a lot about them.  The best selling author of non-fiction books on female killers turned his attention to creating a fictional one in his first novel, A Wicked Snow.   Hannah Griffin-wife, mother, and CSI- has spent most of her life trying to forget her past, and the terrible night when it was discovered that her mother killed at least 17 men and buried them on her Christmas tree farm.  After that night, Claire Logan became synonymous with evil and greed and filicide (killing one's own children-you're welcome!).  Her mother disappeared that night, and many people believed she was dead.  But Hannah felt sure that her mother was alive, and when a package turns up at her office containing evidence from her mother's case, she begins a search that leads her to some surprising discoveries.

This is a masterful thriller.  Olsen does a really good job pacing the novel so that you are totally drawn into the mystery without being frustrated by the things you still don't know.  Hannah herself is a character that is easy to relate to, as are the other major characters.  Her motives and actions seem perfectly reasonable given the circumstances, and there is an emotional impact from the fact that she was directly related to the events behind the current story.  As popcorn books go, this one is very satisfying!

Movie: High Tension

Let me start off by saying that I have simply no idea what this film is all about. All I see is a tough looking, alpha female holding a barbwire stick and looking mean enough to hack anyone who's crossed her path. I watched this film through an app on my iPhone and the blurb simply stated that this is a French film about two young women whose intention is to visit a countryside for vacation but an unexpected visitor has ruined their wonderful vacation. Sounds thrilling to me, I had initially thought, but once I was into the film there was no turning back for me, no matter how horrific and/or bloody it seems. 

The film begins with a scene of a woman in a hospital gown; her back is filled with stitches and she is whispering to herself. She has vague memories of a woman running from something (or someone) in a forest and her stomach is wounded. 

Back to a new scene, we see two happy young women in a car heading to somewhere else. Their names are Marie and Alex, and their destination is to Alex's parents' house at a countryside. They have decided to stay there for their college break and a quiet countryside sounds appealing; plus it is Alex's family. 

That night, before Marie settles into bed, she thought she hears something in the house. The film moves on to show Alex's father answering to a doorbell and someone bulky wearing a cap slashed at his face. Filled with blood and in pain, Alex's father crawls back into the house but is stopped by the killer when he presses Alex's father's head between two rails of the staircase and then shoves the bookcase towards him. Needless to say, Alex's father is gone with his head decapitated. At this point, I knew where this film is going and that it would be filled with more gore and violence but yet I couldn't stop myself from watching it. I wanted to find out what happened to the family and whether or not if Marie and/or Alex would be hurt or worse, killed by this sadistic killer. 

True enough, there was more gore and violence as Alex's mother is the next victim as her throat was brutally slashed. Seeing both Alex's parents dead, Marie goes off to find Alex but she is too late - for Alex is chained  in her bedroom but she promises her that she would call for help. Unfortunately, the line was cut and Alex's younger brother is the next to go, as the killer shot him after he realized he has gone into the cornfield. 

Feeling satisfied that he didn't find anyone except Alex in the house, the killer proceeds to haul her into his old van and make his escape but Marie manages to creep into the van before he drove off. They travelled down a deserted road and just when Marie thought they would be dead, the killer stops at a gas station and Marie decides that this would be the best time to call for help and stop the killer, but she is dead wrong. 

Filled with intensity as the title of this film suggest, this story is about a sadistic psychopath who would not stop at anything just to get his 'prize'. Aside from the gore and violence (be warned - there are lots of them), I felt that this is a classic slasher movie and that it has delved into the character as well as the complexities of the killer. Sometimes, what you see is not what you expect and High Tension had stumped me in many ways, not only the gore, violence, the ending but also the psychology as well. Though this is an old film (released in 2003, AKA Switchblade Romance), this is one of those films that would stay in your mind for a long while; which I find is a good thing to me for I don't have the intention to watch it, again. It was too horrific to me.

The Broken Teaglass

I'm a mystery lover.  Have been ever since my mother started passing her Sara Paretsky and Patricia Cornwell novels to me as a teenager.  And I'm a lover of words.  It feels childish, but whenever someone compliments my writing or remarks on an unusual word I use when speaking, I get a little thrill of pride.  So The Broken Teaglass seemed like a can't miss for me-a combination of mystery and word worship.

The Broken Teaglass, by Emily Arsenault,  is set in the offices of the Samuelson Dictionary Company.  The main character, Billy Webb, is just out of college.  He accepts a job as a junior editor at the company, and soon finds himself working in a silent, slightly depressing cubicle.  One day, while working on updating definitions for a new edition, he comes across something interesting in the citations file.  It starts out like any other citation, except that it is longer than most, and appears to be from a book about the very company he works for.  He takes it to a co-worker, who gets sucked into the mystery when she searches for the book the citation is from, only to find that no such book was ever published.  Their curiosity sends them on a quest to find other citations from the same book.  With each one they find, they are drawn deeper into a murder mystery that involves the very people they work with each and every day.

As mysteries go, this one can't exactly be called a thriller.  But it is definitely a quirky little novel, that gains momentum almost imperceptibly until I found I couldn't put it down.  Part of it was the fascination of seeing how a dictionary is compiled.  Yes, I said fascination.  I love words, and anything to do with words.  There is something beautiful about the idea that even a dictionary, the very thing that we use to define our language, is as fluid and changing as the language itself.  The overall mood of the book is pretty dark-everything I pictured in my mind was in gray-scale.  The silent offices, the cold streets, the empty apartment that Billy went home to every night, provided a blank slate for the emotions provoked by the mystery itself.

I suppose that every whodunnit type of mystery is a puzzle to be pieced together, but this one is like one of those puzzles that is printed on both sides.  Because before Billy and Margot (or you as the reader) can put together the puzzle, they must first find and interpret all of the pieces, which are scattered among thousands of citations according to a system that they themselves must decode.  I felt such relief when all of the clues were finally revealed, and frankly the actual resolution was almost a let-down by comparison.  But it was worth it.

Sleepwalker by Karen Robards

ISBN-13:  9781439183731
Publisher:  Pocket Books
Publication Date: July 2012
Format: Paperback, 483 pgs
Source: Personal Library

Oil and water. Fire and water. Those are the stuff that don't mix; and the same goes to cops and robbers. 

Micayla "Mick" Lange is a cop in Karen Robards' Sleepwalker. When a family friend, "Uncle" Nicco Marino hires her to house-sit his house while they spend their week in Palm Beach for the New Year, Mick agrees since she has broken up with her boyfriend after finding him cheating on her. Her elder sister, Jenny, has her own family and she doesn't want to impose on them. She isn't in good terms with her father and her mother was murdered when she was a girl. Till present, the death of her mother shook her and she hopes to catch the murderer one day. 

Unlike Mick, Jason Davis steals things for a living. On New Year's Eve, he decided that he would break into a gangster's house. He has planned for this robbery and knew that the house would be deserted with New Year just around the corner, but he never expects that he would run into a sexy young woman, let alone a police officer. 

Mick is equally shocked to find a robber in the house, but what most shocking is finding incriminating photos in "Uncle" Nicco's safe that indicate he might be connected with the murder of the city councilman. Unfortunately, their presence in Nicco's office was captured by a security camera and Mick knew she has no choice but to "escape" with Jason, for she doesn't want to take any chances when her life is at stake and who knows what "Uncle" Nicco may do to them once he finds out what they have seen. On the other hand, Mick doesn't like the thought of "helping" Jason to escape, especially he has a bag full of Nicco's money and her cop instincts keep nudging her. 

As Mick and Jason race for their lives across Michigan wilderness on speedboat and snow-mobile, Mick begins to see a new light in Jason the more they spend their time together but would they be able to escape from the pursue of Nicco's men? What's more, being a law enforcer Mick has to turn Jason in if they managed to escape from Nicco and his men. Torn between her profession and love, what is Mick to do?

I have to confess I love reading stories when the protagonist is caught in a dilemma/situation and I want to see where the author is taking them. In a plot like Sleepwalker, one would think it is impossible (and unthinkable) to have a cop and a thief to fall in love with each other but Karen Robards did a great job in creating the two characterisations and allowed me to believe in the relationship they have come to develop during the run. 

Also, I find the plot intriguing but I have to admit that the beginning of the story is a tad slow and then it speeds up towards the end, which I didn't find it very convincing for some scenes. All in all, I enjoyed reading Sleepwalker and it made me feel good to read Karen Robard's book again as I haven't read her books for a while. I really liked her older titles such as Forbidden Love, Dark Torment, To Love a Man, just to name a few.