A Darker Domain by Val McDermid

"We're cold cases, Dave. We don't process fresh inquiries." Karen rolled her eyes at Phil, smirking at her obvious frustration.

"It's not exactly fresh, Inspector. This guy went missing twenty-two years ago."

Karen straightened up in her chair. "Twenty-two years ago? And they've only just got round to reporting it?"

"That's right. So does that make it cold, or what?"

Technically, Karen knew Cruickshank should refer the woman to CID. But she'd always been a sucker for anything that made people shake their heads in bemused disbelief. Long shots were what got her juices flowing. Following that instinct had brought her two promotions in three years, leap-frogging peers and making colleagues uneasy. "Send her up, Dave. I'll have a word with her."

-A Darker Domain 

Karen Pirie is a detective in the cold cases department in Fife, Scotland, and in A Darker Domain, she takes charge of two unusual cases. One, illustrated in the passage above--a missing persons case, twenty-two years later--is too intriguing to pass up, and she takes it on without her boss's knowledge. The second is the reopening of a high-profile case from around the same time--the murder of heiress Catriona Maclennan Grant and the disappearance of her son, Adam. Catriona's father, Brodie Grant, still blames the police for botching the case so many years before, and Karen has her work cut out for her, juggling that investigation with the one that's off the books.

I'd never read a Val McDermid book before, but I understand that she's a respected mystery writer, and I can see why. I quickly became pretty absorbed in the two cases, both of which were trickily well plotted. McDermid did a nice job of giving the reader just enough to puzzle over without telegraphing things too much or withholding too much vital information. The ending was realistic, I suppose, but quite cynical and a little abrupt. I wished it could have been a little happier.

I would definitely be interested in reading more by McDermid. I just watched the first episode of Wire in the Blood recently, based on her series of books, and it was quite good. I have more than a few unread mysteries to go, though, so it might be a while.

Up next: Needed a change of pace from all the mayhem--the perfect time for Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

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.

World War Z by Max Brooks

I then told him about the outbreak and listened as he made some joke about the hygiene habits of hillbillies. I tried to chuckle along but continued that I thought the incident might be significant. Almost reluctantly he asked me what the symptoms were. I told him everything: the bites, the fever, the boy, the arm...his face suddenly stiffened. His smile died.

He asked me to show him the infected. I went back into the meeting hall and waved the phone's camera over each of the patients. He asked me to move the camera closer to some of the wounds themselves. I did so and when I brought the screen back to my face, I saw that his video image had been cut.

"Stay where you are," he said, just a distant, removed voice now. "Take the names of all who have had contact with the infected. Restrain those already infected. If any have passed into coma, vacate the room and secure the exit."

-World War Z 

I think we can all agree that being the doctor asked to treat Patient Zero in a zombie apocalypse would have to rank pretty high in terms of bad situations to find oneself in. Of course, dealing with Patient One Hundred wouldn't be any picnic either. Or Patient One Thousand. Or Patient Oh-My-God-I've-Lost-Count-Because-There-Are-So-Many-Damned-Zombies. A zombie apocalypse, in general, just does not seem like a pleasant place to be.

So why is it so entertaining to watch and read about one? I quite enjoyed Zombieland, am a regular viewer of The Walking Dead, and now World War Z. It's no news flash that zombies are enjoying a cultural moment right now, like vampires before them, and pirates before that, &c, &c. I'm sure a sociologist could wax philosophical about how our interest in zombies reflects our fears about society at the moment--but I'm not a sociologist. I do know zombies are pretty scary, though.

World War Z is imagined as a collection of interviews conducted seven years after a zombie apocalypse. The interviews trace the spread of the contagion, the way rumors flew and people scrambled to react; the actual battles waged against Zach (as zombies are called by the military) and the struggle to survive on a daily basis; and glimpses of the slow recovery. Along the way, we meet people from around the world, from all walks of life (though it is skewed toward military personnel), giving a broad view of the conflict.

It was a pretty interesting read, although (unsurprisingly, given the title) it was a little military-heavy for my taste. I think I would have preferred a book that focused more on regular people, with fewer paragraphs describing anti-zombie weaponry. For arms buffs, I'm sure that was fun, but I tended to zone out at times when confronted with the denser military sections. 

I also would have enjoyed if Brooks had chosen to follow more individual stories throughout the duration of the war. I think it would have been interesting to see how people, as individuals, were affected by various stages of the war, rather than getting more of a societal view. Brooks does revisit a few of his characters at the end of the story, but people mostly pop up to share their perspectives on specific parts of the war and then disappear.

I know that a movie adaptation is underway, and I will be curious to see how much of the story makes it to the screen. It seems like there is potential for a pretty intense film, though I'm curious to see how any worthy zombie picture can possibly be rated PG-13. 

Up next: The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

Sasha tipped back her head to look at him. She made a point of doing this now and then, just to remind Coz that she wasn't an idiot--she knew the question had a right answer. She and Coz were collaborators, writing a story whose end had already been determined: she would get well. She would stop stealing from people and start caring again about the things that had once guided her: music; the network of friends she'd made when she first came to New York; a set of goals she'd scrawled on a big sheet of newsprint and taped to the walls of her early apartments:

                                    Find a band to manage

                                    Understand the news

                                    Study Japanese

                                    Practice the harp

-A Visit from the Goon Squad

It now seems appropriate that I procrastinated for a week on writing this review, as Sasha's set of goals up there looks not unlike a list of resolutions. Also gives my blog that classy--albeit slightly dated--touch to start the year with 2010's Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, dontcha think?

A Visit from the Goon Squad tells the story of--well, what exactly? A bunch of people, a city, an era, their music. It encompasses a lot, really. Egan spends each chapter with a different character, and these characters weave their way in and out of each other's stories; this method that must have involved a heck of a lot of notes, I'd imagine. The bulk of the story takes place in the first decade of the 21st century, but jumps back as far as the 60's and forward into the near future. It's a pretty impressive feat.

It's also a pretty easy story to get wrapped up in, and I found myself regretting that I hadn't saved it for my recent travels--I finished it sitting in an airplane right before takeoff, actually. There's something about the world that Egan creates that really draws the reader in, even though I wouldn't describe it as a particularly warm book. There wasn't a character I really loved, but the format of the book helped to engender sympathy with all of them, which is a pretty nifty trick. It's not necessarily a book I see myself returning to--although having said that, a reread probably would allow me to make connections between characters I'd missed the first time around. It's a bit hard to imagine rereading anything right now, with more new books on my shelves than ever. Lucky me!

Up next: World War Z, which I just finished yesterday and hopefully will be back to post about relatively soon.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I love you too, I wanted to say with as much hurtful sarcasm as I could muster, but she hadn't seen me, and I kept quiet. I did love her, of course, but mostly just because loving your mom is mandatory, not because she was someone I think I'd like very much if I met her walking down the street. Which she wouldn't be, anyway; walking is for poor people.

-Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children


If you were to flip through a copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, it's the photographs that would catch your eye*.  The photographs are all rather, well, peculiar: photographs of children apparently levitating and lifting boulders and standing covered in bees. These unusual children are the focus of Ransom Riggs's book.

Although I was intrigued by the photos, I was also concerned that they might be nothing more than a gimmick; the story just a way to string one photograph to the next. Luckily, there's more to Miss Peregrine's Home than that.

The story centers on Jacob, a teenager living in Florida and filling his days with increasingly byzantine attempts to get fired from his job at a drugstore. (It will never happen, as his family owns the chain). His life is privileged but otherwise mundane--nothing peculiar about it at all.

That is until something quite pivotal happens, something that divides his life into Before and After, as Jacob puts it.  It's traumatic, but it has implications beyond the post-incident nightmares and therapy sessions: it convinces Jacob that the stories he heard as a child--fantastic stories his mysterious grandfather told about his own childhood, stories that centered around the photographs scattered throughout the book--might actually be true.

This realization prompts Jacob to seek out the place in England where his grandfather spent part of his childhood, under the care of the elusive Miss Peregrine. It's a rich world, populated by characters who do the book's strange photographs justice. There's adventure to be had there, certainly, but it's also a place where Jacob wrestles with some thorny emotional issues--issues that I'm loath to bring up without spoiling the story, but ones that I found it interesting to mull over.

The end of the story sets up Riggs quite nicely to continue the story in a sequel (or series).  I'm most certainly on board to continue the journey with Jacob whenever the next book is released.

Up next: The prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (which I've actually already finished--behind once again!).

*Though the design of the pages themselves, I might add, is also quite striking.

The Complaints by Ian Rankin

He had wound his window down. He could smell and hear the sea. There wasn't another soul about. He wondered: did it bother him that the world wasn't entirely fair? That justice was seldom sufficient? There would always be people ready to pocket a wad of banknotes in exchange for a favor. There would always be people who played the system and wrung out every penny. Some people--lots of people--would keep getting away with it.

"But you're not one of them," he told himself.

-The Complaints 

If you'd given me the passage above out of context, I would have sworn up and down that it sounded like the musings of one Kurt Wallander. Malcolm Fox, the protagonist of The Complaints, is not quite the iconic detective Wallander is, but you can see why he's interesting company for the length of a book.

Fox is a cop working for (wait for it) the Complaints, the department that checks up on cases of possible corruption within the police force. It's not a terribly well-liked branch, as you might imagine. Fox's latest case is a troubling one: he's assigned to look in on a rising star in the force who's suspected of an interest in child pornography. Things get more complicated when that same detective, Jamie Breck, begins investigating the apparent murder of Fox's sister's no-good boyfriend. But in case that wasn't complicated enough, the whole thing spirals into a massive case of corruption that has apparently swept up Fox and Breck in its wake, and the two of them must team up to try and get to the bottom of things.

I must admit, I'm not wild about police corruption as a driving plot line. It's not terribly compelling to me, and I often find it hard to follow, as I did here. I had painful flashbacks to trying to decipher Red Riding Trilogy, which combined police corruption with jumps in time and unintelligible Yorkshire accents. Fox, as I mentioned, is a pretty good detective, but not really charismatic enough that I'd need to follow any further adventures, were Rankin to begin writing them. I enjoyed the Edinburgh setting, but I can't say it was a real page turner. I don't want to undersell the story--Rankin is clearly a talented writer--but a week after having finished The Complaints, not that much has stuck with me.

Up next: Tried starting the latest Blue Bloods book, but I'm having a hard time getting sucked in. So for now I've put that down in favor of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

The Dunwich Horror and Others by H.P. Lovecraft

It is true that I have sent six bullets through the head of my best friend, and yet I hope to show by this statement that I am not his murderer. At first I shall be called a madman--madder than the man I shot in his cell at the Arkham Sanitarium. Later some of my readers will weigh each statement, correlate it with the known facts, and ask themselves how I could have believed otherwise than I did after facing the evidence of that horror--that thing on the doorstep.

-"The Thing on the Doorstep," from The Dunwich Horror and Others 

November is the hardest month for me to update the blog, since I'm trying to conserve all my word power for NaNoWriMo. This year I'm pretty far behind, but that's all the more reason that I feel like I shouldn't have time to update here. But my book is inspired by the work of one H.P. Lovecraft, and The Dunwich Horror and Others is too great of a book to go so long neglected.

My mom sent me The Dunwich Horror for All Hallows Read, which was quite the fun surprise. Although I'm sure it would be absorbing any time of year, it was a particularly good fit for October, of course. I'm sure it goes without saying, but Lovecraft was just a master of horror.

I had only read one story of his prior to starting this book, which happened to be the first story in this collection, "In the Vault." It's marvelously creepy stuff, and interestingly one of the few stories in this book that does not deal with Lovecraft's mythology. Oh yes, the crazy, awesome Cthulhu* mythology.

It turns out I love the mythology angle, which I guess shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Things just get bananas in these stories.  I mean, the end of "The Rats in the Walls"? Whoa. The end of "The Thing on the Doorstep"? Whoa. Lovecraft doesn't do twist endings, but he does have the habit of offering one last piece of information right at the end of the story, and that information is usually crazy. That's why "In the Vault" made such an impression on me when I first read it, years ago.**

Prior to reading this entire book, in fact, I would have named "In the Vault" as the scariest story I'd ever read, simple as it is--but now it has some stiff competition. Definitely looking forward to reading some more Lovecraft in the future. For now, I'll just happily rip him off for NaNoWriMo. Not sure exactly what's going to happen, except there's something lurking at my character's house. Something very, very old, living somewhere very, very deep.

Up next: Finally caught up on blog entries! Currently reading The Complaints by Ian Rankin.

*How cool is it that spell check recognizes Cthulhu? Very cool, my friends.

**Oddly enough, I just checked the book's table of contents to make sure I was capitalizing the title correctly, and the story's not in the table of contents, it's just there. Creeeeepy.