Book Review: Switched by Amanda Hocking

               A few months back while I was searching for some books to interest my special niece; I came across an interesting young adult series written by a woman named Amanda Hocking. After reading an excerpt from it I decided that it was something also worth exploring for myself. The author began her writing career without a major publisher; instead publishing her books herself electronically and after 2 million dollars in sales (which is completely unheard of for those following this path) she did finally land a publishing deal with St. Martin’s. The author has currently written over a dozen titles and many of which may well be of interest to some young (or young at heart) readers in your life.

               The title that I have just finished was called: Switched. It starts with the main character, a 17 year old Wendy Everly, recounting her particularly unpleasant and life-changing 6^th birthday party. As the novel unfolds you begin to understand more about this particular event and the motivating forces behind it. You will get sucked into a world of mythical creatures and hidden cities; forbidden love and prophecy. The story is well-crafted and filled with unexpected situations and twists. It is the first in a Troll-ogy (trilogy about trolls) and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for something that will definitely entertain. Books are always a great Christmas gift…but if you want to try-before-you-buy; don’t forget to borrow a copy from the local library!

 

Book Review: Force of Nature by C.J. Box

Force of Nature (2012) by American crime writer C.J. Box is an “exquisitely designed, six-act mystery” according to a Library Journal review, that uses falconry for its central metaphor without ever losing the necessary drive to make this a riveting read. In other words, it works on more than one level, a common attribute of great art.

  This is the author’s 12th Joe Pickett novel and focuses on Joe’s outlaw friend, Nate Romanowski. Nate hides from his enemies in the foothills of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains, where he raises and flies his falcons, except when he helps game warden Joe on cases. But he realizes his former sociopath Special Forces commander is hunting him down and systematically killing all his known associates. Joe and his family are on the list and it forces him to consider how far he can go to help his friend Nate.

 The struggle between loyalty and law is not a new theme for the author. It infuses the entire Joe Pickett series, a work primarily set in the wilds of Wyoming far from the legal support systems found in big cities. This exploration of the theme is notably impressive in this superb entry.

Review by Peter Critchley of the Vernon Branch

Book Review: Original Sin by P.D. James

British author P.D. James, critically acclaimed by such literary journals as the Times Literary Supplement and Literary Review, is another writer whose finest work transcends the mystery genre. Original Sin (1994), featuring New Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh, is set in the modern publishing world and showcases the author’s uncanny penetration into even the most minor of characters. The characters live on the page with a fierce intensity, even deeper than the mystery at Innocent House occupied by the venerable publishing firm of Peverell Press.

 The directors of the firm believe the suicide of senior editor Sonia Clements in the archive room of Innocent House is the last and most shocking episode in a series of disruptions to their business. But their troubles have barely begun as they learn when they open the door to discover the body of managing director Gerard Etienne dead of carbon monoxide poisoning, with his dead jaws open and the head of a stuffed snake stuck inside. Commander Dalgliesh is assigned to investigate and ferret out motives and opportunity that lead to a hair-raising resolution.

Review by Peter Critchley of the Vernon Branch

Science Fiction Book Talk!

     The genesis of science fiction can be traced directly to the publication of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley more than two centuries ago. It grew so popular in the decades that followed to where today the genre  greatly influences modern popular culture through movies, television, books and a myriad of computer games.
     It is not every reader’s cup of tea but some science fiction authors are terrific storytellers and their work is easily accessible to readers of other genres, especially when time travel is used as a device to drive the story. Everyone can identify with the thought of travelling time.
      Blackout and All Clear (2010), a stunning two-volume work, clearly illustrates multiple prize-winning author Connie Willis well deserves the critical acclaim she’s earned as an incomparable storyteller. The first novel in the series is an enormously entertaining tale of time travel, war and the deeds—great and small—of the ordinary people who shape history.
     Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place, with scores of time-travelling historians being sent into the past. Michael Davies is preparing to go to Pearl Harbor, Merope Ward is struggling with a group of bratty 1940s evacuees and Polly Churchill’s next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London’s Blitz. But the time-travel lab is now cancelling assignments for no apparent reason and switching everyone’s schedules.
     When Michael, Merope and Polly finally travel to World War II it only grows worse. They face blackouts, unexploded bombs, dive-bombing Stukas, rationing, shrapnel, V-1s and two of the most incorrigible children in all of history, to say nothing of a growing unease that not only are their assignments but the war and history itself are spinning out of control. The once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches and the three heroes begin to question their most firmly held belief that no historian can possibly change the past.
     Blackout and All Clear reveal a side of World War II seldom seen before: a dangerous desperate world where there are no civilians and everybody, from the Queen to the lowliest barmaid, is determined to do what they can to help a beleaguered nation survive.
     The Map of Time (2011) by renowned Spanish author Felix Palma is a riveting thriller that explores the impact of time travel in three intersecting narratives. The opening chapter of the story, set in 1896 England, starts out like a tragic Victorian romance. Andrew Harrington plans to take his own life, despondent over the death years earlier of his lover, the last victim of Jack the Ripper. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Claire Haggerty plots to escape her restrictive role by escaping to the future via Murray’s Time Travel, a new commercial concern that offers such a trip for a hefty fee.
     Finally, Colin Garrett of Scotland Yard believes a weapon from the future could only have caused a fatal wound on a murder victim. H.G. Wells, the author of The Time Machine, becomes involved and serves to link all three stories. The Map of Time is a wonderful blend of genres, including science fiction, steampunk, mystery and romance, and will appeal to a wide range of readers even if they seldom read science fiction.
    The Accidental Time Machine (2007) by Joe W. Haldeman is an unusually insightful and evocative tale that shines. Matt Fuller, a likeable underachiever stuck in a rut as a lab research assistant at MIT in the near future, is startled when a calibrator he has built begins to disappear and reappear, apparently springing forward in time for progressively longer intervals. The young research assistant eventually develops a time machine but when he claims to have done so it costs him his job, girlfriend and possibly his freedom.
     A keen curiosity and a series of unfortunate accidents hurtles Matt through different futures and he gradually becomes more adaptable and resourceful as the experiences hone his character. The young woman he rescues from a techno-religious dictatorship offers him a chance to develop a mature relationship. He also teams up with an AI that intends to press on to the end of time and this forces Matt to decide what he truly wants from life.
     The Accidental Time Machine is a brisk cautionary fable that ultimately spins a humorous, provocative tale that in tone is reminiscent of Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys, another bewitching tale. It is also easily accessible and well worth the effort.

Reviews by Peter Critchley from the Vernon Branch

Book Review: Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

     Recently I picked up a copy of the title “Still Missing” by Chevy Stevens. I had read the synopsis for this story online and immediately placed a request for this title to come in for me at the library. When I opened the book and began reading I had a feeling that I had read something like it already...yeah, because I had already read this story a few years ago. So don't worry if this happens to you sometimes- I am 34 years old and this is certainly not the first time it has happened (nor will it be the last I'm sure.)

     I happily spent a few minutes skimming through the book, reliving the storyline, characters, and plot. I remembered too much of it to bother re-reading it, but enjoyed flipping through it and refreshing my memories. This story was recommended to me by one of my library customers (Thanks again) and I really liked it!

 

     Set in Vancouver Island (the author's stomping grounds) it tells the story of a female Realtor who is abducted and held for many months before managing to escape. The story focuses on this time in her life as well as how she handles her life after (with a few plot twists and turns to keep things interesting and exciting.) If you like a good thriller and don't mind some colourful language and descriptions of sexual abuse, this could be an enjoyable book for you.

 

     In many respects it reminded me a bit of “Room” by Emma Donoghue; but I found it to be a bit less “heady.” Chevy Stevens has several other books that I will be exploring in the coming months; including one due to come out on June 17th of this year called “That Night.” You can place your name on the request list now at the library – stop by the branch, give me a call, or give it a try online! At least we can all be confident that it will be one book we haven't already read!

Review by Diana McCarthy, Community Librarian, Falkland Branch

 

Book Review: Mistress of the Art of Death

Mistress of the Art of Death (2008) by Ariana Franklin is an absorbing blend of historical fact and grisly fiction that will keep readers turning the pages. It is 1171 in Cambridge, England, and Henry II is extremely agitated—four children have been found murdered and mutilated and the townsfolk are blaming the Jews, who have sought shelter in the castle. King Henry, less concerned about the murderer than the tax revenue he is losing while the Jewish community languishes in the fortress, appeals to the king of Sicily to send him a master of the art of death, one who can examine the deceased and determine the cause of death.  

 Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar, a mistress of this art, arrives with a returning group of pilgrims. Along with an eunuch escort named Mansur and Simon of Naples, a Jew with an affinity for detection, she must piece together the mystery of these gruesome crimes before the monster kills again.

Review by Peter Critchley, Vernon Branch

Shakespeare's Rebel - Power, Politics, Conspiracy and Rebellion

Shakespeare’s Rebel (2013) by talented Canadian author C.C. Humphreys is a terribly gripping historical thriller set in London 1599, a city on the brink of revolution. John Hawley, the protagonist of the story, is the best swordsman in England. He is also a player, or actor, an alcoholic with a great affinity for Ireland’s “finest aqua vitae” and is still deeply in love with Tess, the estranged woman he loves and the mother of their son.

There is more to John Hawley, a veteran of several major battle campaigns, than the reader might appear in the opening chapter. He is desperate to win back Tess, be the kind of father his son can respect and choreograph the fight scenes for the splendid new theatre, the Globe. John also wants to remain free to help his oldest friend Will Shakespeare complete the play that threatens to destroy him: The Tragedy of Hamlet.


The only problem is the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth’s last, and perhaps, greatest love. The earl, a champion jouster and dashing general, is a man John ardently wishes to avoid. He knows the other side of the earl, an impetuous melancholic, and he has had to risk his life for him in battle several times before. All John wants is to remain free to realize his dreams But he soon finds himself enmeshed in the intrigues of court and forced to play a deadly game of power, politics, conspiracy and rebellion.



Review by Peter Critchley of the Vernon Branch