“Lullaby,” by Chuck Palahniuk

FM’s ratings:

1. Premise 10
2. Prose 8
3. Plot 9
4. Characters 10
5. Overall 9

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Another mind-blower by Mr. Palahniuk! The premise gets a “10” for stark originality, even if it is somewhat hard to grasp. There are several sub-premises that interweave and intersect in a rather kaleidoscopic way that keeps the reader off balance. The characters are not deeply developed; just deeply disturbing and fascinating to watch. The prose has a certain starkness to it that we encounter in some of his other work; but it complements the subject matter so well that, once again, I am reminded of Kurt Vonnegut. The constantly reappearing catchphrases cement the flow in a surrealistic manner. The unusual disjointedness of the plot is offset by well-placed surprises – even shocks – throughout the plot. I just can’t get enough Palahniuk!

Here’s the October line-up!

"Mr. Mercedes," by Stephen King [10-7-17]

"A Skeleton in the Family," by Leigh Perry [10-14-17]

"Black Cat Crossing," by Kay Finch [10-21-17]

"The Executioner's Heart," by George Mann [10-28-17]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so. Also, if you have already read a book on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)

“Murder Sends a Postcard,” by Christy Fifield

FM’s ratings:

1. Premise 7
2. Prose 8
3. Plot 7
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Cozy Mysteries might appear, to the uninitiated, to be almost exclusively “written for women” the way Romances are. Perhaps that is true to some extent, but for those of us who like to read something intelligent, no matter which demographic is the target, this isn’t really a problem. The “written for women” issue might involve things like extreme overemphasis on relationships, chatty or gossipy scenes and dialog, too much detail on cooking and recipes, too-good-to-be-true male love interests, and “cutesy” description of babies, pets, home décor, and more. This book suffers from ALL these things (complete with recipes in the back of the book!). And yet – the intelligence is there. I never found myself rolling my eyes, or sighing with impatience to “get on with the story.” The characters are engaging, if not particularly well-developed. The dialog is natural and to-the-point. Overall, an enjoyable book with reasonably engrossing mystery elements.

Here’s the October line-up!

"Mr. Mercedes," by Stephen King [10-7-17]

"A Skeleton in the Family," by Leigh Perry [10-14-17]

"Black Cat Crossing," by Kay Finch [10-21-17]

"The Executioner's Heart," by George Mann [10-28-17]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so. Also, if you have already read a book on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)

“One Shot,” by Lee Child

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 9
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 10
4. Characters 10
5. Overall 10

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

This is smart writing. The prose is smart because it’s extremely “readable.” It’s just a bit shallow, partly as a consequence of its accessibility. But we don’t miss the depth of the prose (or the fact that the characters could have been explored a little more deeply) because the storyline is so compelling and the interest level never flags. Lee Child has perfected the Hero in Jack Reacher. Everything about Jack Reacher is impressive, yet he remains quite human. (And Tom Cruise is a great choice to play him in the movies, despite the fact that he’s about a foot too short and about 80 pounds too light for the role!) The setting is described in great detail, but it’s done so well, we don’t get bogged down at all. This is not as easy as Child makes it look. We are treated to some fascinating insights into several esoteric subjects without getting lost in the details – also a smart feat, displaying a very broad knowledge base on the part of the author. Beautiful writing; almost made me go out and pick up another Jack Reacher book immediately! But, alas, my backlog of to-be-read books is screaming for my attention…

“School Days,” by Robert B. Parker

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 10
2. Prose 10
3. Plot 9
4. Characters 9
5. Overall 9

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

I was told by the person who recommended this book that they thought I would like it very much because protagonist’s quirky sense of humor was very similar to mine. Absolutely true, although I feel like a second-rate wannabe in comparison! Think Bill Murray with muscles and a movie star face. Actually, I guess Bill Murray DOES have a movie star face, but you know what I mean. The humor goes a long way toward the “10” I give it for prose, along with the other aspects of the dialog. The premise hits my buttons as a teacher (retired), dealing with issues like school shootings, teacher-student sexual misconduct, and faculty politics. I’ve got to stop discovering favorite new authors; I’m starting to forget who some of them are! But I will absolutely seek out another novel by this author VERY soon.  

“Burnt Offerings,” by Laurell K. Hamilton

FM’s ratings:

1. Premise 7
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 6
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 7

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

In all the ways that are most important to me, this novel is quite good; but it has one major flaw and several minor ones. In previous books in this series, I gradually noticed a trend toward over-writing certain "scenes" - to choose an adequately descriptive word. When you have spent 9 or 10 chapters - maybe 80 or 100 pages - in the same room with essentially the same characters and relatively little plot development, a certain species of tedium sets in. Hamilton valiantly tries to maintain extreme tension in these scenes, but the reader begins to chafe. In this book, more than in the first 6, the plot seems to wander a bit, putting main threads "on hold" while our protagonist deals with other emergencies largely unrelated to the central plot-line. The central plot-line here seems to have been meant to be the mystery of an individual supernatural baddie that is setting major fires throughout Saint Louis through mental powers alone. Hence the title, "Burnt Offerings." We're soon sidetracked by a sub-plot which itself seems to be usurped by a sub-sub-plot which veers off on still another tangent of its own. At least, this is the impression one gets. Maybe we're supposed to see more of a connection between these story-lines prior to the explanation at the end, but I have more than a little difficulty keeping it all straight - maybe because I also read other books at the same time. Hamilton's distinctive brand of humor - one almost wants to call it Anita Blake's humor, as she delivers it in her first-person narrative - is present, but a little too understated here in favor of dark and dangerous tension. I had read, before delving into this series, that it atrophied in its later books from sinister supernatural suspense leavened with semi-trashy romance to mostly trashy romance with less suspense. I'm not finding this to be the case. Maybe that happens later. But a different kind of tedium is setting in which begins to feel like we're reading the same book over and over. We're not quite there yet, either, but I do find myself hesitating to move on to the next book in the series.