The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman

It isn't his fault. He wants to be sober. He strung together two years this time, chastened by the incident at his younger daughter's first birthday party. And he managed to stay sober even after Lori kicked him out last month. But the fact is, he has been faking it for months, stalling out where he always stalls out on the twelve steps, undermined by all that poking, poking, poking, that insistence on truth, on coming clean. Making amends. Sobriety--real sobriety, as opposed to the collection of sober days Gordon sometimes manages to put together--wants to much from him.

-The Most Dangerous Thing

 Five kids--Gwen, Mickey, Tim, Sean, and Go-Go--share a few idyllic months exploring the woods around their hometown in Maryland. Then something terrible happens, so terrible that it splinters the group permanently.

Decades pass. There are marriages, divorces, children. Then Go-Go dies in a car accident, possibly a suicide.  Go-Go had led a troubled life since that one awful night, and his death dredges up the memories that group (and their parents) had worked so hard to forget. Once Gwen, in particular, decides to start unraveling the story of that long-ago night, she discovers some things that rock her understanding of the past.

There were some very strong aspects to this novel. I liked that Laura Lippman took what could have been a fairly conventional premise for a mystery and made it infinitely more interesting by exploring multiple points of view, both in the past and present. I especially thought it was a smart move to include the viewpoints of the parents, which certainly made the story more complicated and interesting. Ultimately, I'm not sure that I totally bought the story's resolution, but I appreciated the exploration of the misunderstandings and mistakes that can lay the ground for tragedy. 

Up next: Continuing with the mystery trend, A Darker Domain by Val McDermid.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbø

The snow in the yard reflected enough light for him to make out the snowman down below. It looked alone. Someone should have given it a cap and scarf. And maybe a broomstick to hold. At that moment the moon slid from behind a cloud. The black row of teeth came into view. And the eyes. Jonas automatically sucked in his breath and recoiled two steps. The pebble-eyes were gleaming. And they were not staring into the house. They were looking up. Up here. Jonas drew the curtains and crept back into bed.

-The Snowman 

I was so excited to read the next Harry Hole novel--until I realized it wasn't the next Harry Hole novel. I was still happy to read The Snowman, to be sure, but it did take a little bit of the shine off when I realized that somehow The Redeemer had been lost in the shuffle. I'm still not sure why The Redeemer is so unavailable, but I'll get a hold of it somehow--when I'm in London this summer, if nothing else, though it might be hard to wait until then!

Leaving the mysterious publication order aside, The Snowman was another satisfying outing from Jo Nesbø. This time around, Harry's extensive knowledge of serial killers is put to good use when he finds himself on the trail of a criminal who kills women--all mothers--who have cheated on their husbands. The killer is as cold as his icy moniker would suggest, and the crimes are bloodier and more disturbing than I recall from previous Harry Hole stories. Unsurprisingly, the denouement is mind-boggling. I find it quite curious that this is the first Harry Hole story slated to be adapted for film--by Martin Scorsese, no less-- as I simply cannot imagine actually seeing the end of the story on screen. That's not to say it wasn't gripping--it absolutely was--but it also got pretty ludicrous.

Obviously, I'm on board for more Harry Hole books. I was quite keen to keep reading at the end of The Snowman, particularly seeing how badly Harry had been shaken by this case. I'll have to be in suspense a bit longer, though, I suppose, since I do want to read The Redeemer before moving on.

Up next: I was hungry for more mystery, so I went with Laura Lippman's The Most Dangerous Thing.

Deadwood by Pete Dexter

Charley had never seen anybody throw like Bill. It was magic, the way things connected for him. Bill climbed into the wagon and came out with a bottle. He pulled the cork with his teeth and spit it onto the ground, signaling his intentions. It was a bottle without a future. He took a drink and handed it to Charley. Charley wiped off the lip and joined him. The whores were shrieking again.

-Deadwood 

Ah, Deadwood. I'd been wanting to read it since I watched the HBO series the summer before last. Haven broken my tibia that June, I had a lot of free time and very limited mobility--you can imagine how much I enjoyed being absorbed into the show's colorful world. The book, by Pete Dexter, offers a different take on the characters (many of whom are historical figures), but is still quite good in its own right.

Much like the show, Deadwood deals with the establishment of the eponymous town in the Black Hills in the 1870s.  We see how characters as different as lawman Seth Bullock and weary legend Wild Bill Hickock are drawn here, and how they survive (or don't). The stories run the gamut from preaching to poker to pestilence--everything you might expect from the Old West, I suppose, but at some point that became enormously compelling to me. Blame the show, I guess.

The one issue I would take with Pete Dexter's take is the way he handles the story of Solomon Star.  In the series--and in real life, as far as I can ascertain--Star was a smart, practical businessman who was unfailingly levelheaded and honest. Dexter's Star is as well...up to a certain point. And it's not that I can't imagine Star doing the things Dexter proposes, exactly, but I'm not happy to do so. It was just a bit too much for me.

Overall, though, I enjoyed it, and I thought Dexter's prose in particular was fantastic. I'd definitely be interested in checking out more of his work.

Up next: Jo Nesbo's The Snowman.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I go downstairs wearing a thick Christian smile. Living at home, whenever I want to leave Longleaf, I have to ask Mother if I can borrow her car. Which means she'll ask me where I'm going. Which means I have to lie to her on a daily basis, which is in itself enjoyable but a little degrading at the same time.

-The Help

As snobby as it sounds, I must admit that I've grown wary of bestsellers. For every Kite Runner, worthy of the good word of mouth, it seems that there are three treacly tales full of trite, mediocre writing. (I'll be kind and avoid naming names.) Thus it took me a while to get to The Help--and indeed I wasn't convinced I should read it until the movie started getting good buzz as well.

The Help centers on the lives of women living in Jackson, Mississippi in the throes of the civil rights movement. One of them, Skeeter Phelan, is an aspiring writer in search of a worthy subject.  She hits upon an idea: interview the women who work in the homes of her upper-class white peers. It's a good idea, but a dangerous one. The Help chronicles Skeeter's journey to interview these women, as well as the lives of two women who will become her most important contributors: Aibileen and Minnie. Strong, thoughtful Aibileen has weathered the death of her only son, and has grown weary of the injustice she's seen in her life. Headstrong Minnie is more reluctant to talk to Skeeter, but her story of sweet revenge becomes essential to the book. Together, the three women offer a compelling look into another world, a world that would be almost unbelievable if it hadn't actually existed.

Perhaps because it seems both so familiar and so alien, I find that chapter in American history to be fascinating. I became utterly absorbed in the stories of Skeeter, Aibilieen, and Minnie, and had a hard time putting The Help down. I recently watched the film as well, and while it (unsurprisingly) had to sacrifice some of the novel's detail to achieve a workable running time, it was still quite enjoyable. A pleasant surprise in every way.

Up next: After a couple of false starts with other books, I'm currently enjoying Deadwood.