The BookFetish Blog

My cousin recommended Karen White’s The Night The Lights Went Out  and I read it over two days at the very end of 2018.

From the Publisher’s Summary:

Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It’s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren’t helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail.

Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee—something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past.

Sugar’s stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother’s seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather’s world.

In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee’s house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women….

I enjoyed The Night The Lights Went Out,  but it isn’t without its share of challenges. I figured out the three big plot reveals early on in the book. And at times I felt like the book was trying to decide if it was women’s fiction or a thriller. Ultimately, that all worked itself out into a satisfying story.

There were two things that resonated with me as I was reading this. I think these may make the book appeal to me in ways it may not appeal to others. First is that I live quite near the town Sweet Apple represents. In fact, I was there last night. It’s neat to recognize so many things that are a part of the story. And White isn’t wrong in her depiction of many people in the area.

The second thing is Sugar’s story. Parts of it resonate based on stories from my own family, years back. That made her backstory all the more compelling and relatable for me.

I did have a few problems with the book. Like I mentioned, I was able to glom onto the major plot twists pretty quickly, so it became more of “let’s see if I’m right” versus finding a big reveal at the end. One part of the story is reminiscent of a particular scene in Gone With the Wind. These things did not detract from the story for me. I enjoyed reading it and getting lost in the story, but really, Sugar is who made this book for me.

I recently listened to the audiobook of Tana French’s The Witch Elm. I have liked French’s Dublin Murder Squad series and was looking forward to this one.

From the Publisher’s Summary:

From the writer who “inspires cultic devotion in readers” (The New Yorker) and has been called “incandescent” by Stephen King, “absolutely mesmerizing” by Gillian Flynn, and “unputdownable” (People), comes a gripping new novel that turns a crime story inside out.

Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who’s dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life – he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden – and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.

A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we’re capable of, when we no longer know who we are.

I liked the narrator for the most part, which is critical to enjoying any audiobook. And for the most part, I liked the characters in this book- a favorite was Uncle Hugo. I very nearly detested Leon because at times he was portrayed so bitchily.

Overall I liked the plot and the character interactions, but I do have a few problems with the book. First, it’s too long. I don’t mind a long book if it doesn’t drag, but I feel like a good third of this one could have been cut out and it would have been fine. Second, without spoiling, I found the “big plot” as constructed by a teenager to be pretty unrealistic (though entertaining).

The heart came through in the novel, though. I found myself tearing up at a particular point, and that is something in a mystery, at least for me. As far as works from Tana French go, I prefer the Dublin Murder Squad books, but I’ll read another standalone.

The authors of The Wife Between Us are back with a new thriller that will be released on January 8, 2019.

From the Publisher’s Summary:
Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.

When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave.

Question #1: Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?

But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding.

Question #2: Have you ever deeply hurt someone you care about?

As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

Question #3: Should a punishment always fit the crime?

From the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us comes an electrifying new novel about doubt, passion, and just how much you can trust someone.

Thanks to Boxing Day and a cold, I was able to finish An Anonymous Girl this afternoon.  I enjoyed reading it, and I wanted to see how it would play out.  But I feel the characters are unrealistic and the plot largely implausible.  While Jess needs money for very real reasons, I found it hard to believe that she would have so quickly and implicitly trusted and became infatuated with Dr. Shields.  It seemed odd to me that Jess was so willing to follow vague instructions without question, though as is a point of the book (and the study in it) it is possible for a need for money to impact moral decisions, and I suspect that is the reason the authors chose to have Jess be so seemingly gullible.

And as delightfully cold and calculating as Dr. Shields is, I’m not sure I buy how meticulous her character is in planning. Do you remember Melrose Place?  I kept picturing Dr. Shields as Dr. Kimberly Shaw.  I don’t know if that is a distorted memory of the show, or a reasonable resemblance, but Marcia Cross as Kimberly Shaw was Dr. Lydia Shields in this book for me.

(photo courtesy Google)

That being said, the book gets interesting as Jess’ trust in Dr. Shields erodes- as, in fact, her trust in nearly everyone erodes, and I did want to see how Jess would get out of things, assuming she would make it through to the end.

I think The Wife Between Us was better, and, in fact, there are other thrillers I would recommend reading before this one, but think most people will still be entertained by An Anonymous Girl.

I chose Sweet Little Lies as one of my Book of the Month selections earlier this year. You know I enjoy a good mystery, and the synopsis intrigued me:

“In this gripping debut procedural, a young London policewoman must probe dark secrets buried deep in her own family’s past to solve a murder and a long-ago disappearance.

Your father is a liar. But is he a killer?
Even liars tell the truth . . . sometimes.

Twenty-six-year-old Cat Kinsella overcame a troubled childhood to become a Detective Constable with the Metropolitan Police Force, but she’s never been able to banish these ghosts. When she’s called to the scene of a murder in Islington, not far from the pub her estranged father still runs, she discovers that Alice Lapaine, a young housewife who didn’t get out much, has been found strangled.

Cat and her team immediately suspect Alice’s husband, until she receives a mysterious phone call that links the victim to Maryanne Doyle, a teenage girl who went missing in Ireland eighteen years earlier. The call raises uneasy memories for Cat—her family met Maryanne while on holiday, right before she vanished. Though she was only a child, Cat knew that her charming but dissolute father wasn’t telling the truth when he denied knowing anything about Maryanne or her disappearance. Did her father do something to the teenage girl all those years ago? Could he have harmed Alice now? And how can you trust a liar even if he might be telling the truth?

Determined to close the two cases, Cat rushes headlong into the investigation, crossing ethical lines and trampling professional codes. But in looking into the past, she might not like what she finds. . . “

My friend Kenneth also does Book of the Month, so I thought it would be fun to invite him to give his feedback in this review.

1) What did you like most and least about the book?
Most – the writing was clever and witty. I found myself laughing out loud a few times at the author’s wit, and who doesn’t enjoy a good Spice Girls theme?

Least – the plot felt too busy to me at times – many characters, whose actions I sometimes questioned as realistic in the scenario they were placed. Some parts of the plot were less believable to me.

2) How did you feel about Cat’s ethics regarding her obligations to her family and to her job?

Cat absolutely acted unethically and I don’t think it was right. But then again, it wouldn’t have made for nearly as interesting book had she come clean.

3) The damaged cop theme is common in a lot of police procedural novels. Do you feel like it worked here?

I haven’t read a lot of this type of novel, but I think it worked well. Cat’s damaged family created the damaged cop, who is now making choices that could implicate her family.

4) What did you think of the writing style and the plot twists? Would you read this author again?

I loved the writing style. The cheeky British humor and culture references were great. The plot twists worked, but I found them overcomplicated and at times unbelievable. Still, I would absolutely read from this author again.

5) Anything else you want to add

Geri never should have left the Spice Girls in the first place.

I generally like British and Irish crime procedurals, and Sweet Little Lies didn’t disappoint. Like Kenneth, I feel like some plot points were implausible, but they still managed to work.   It is a standard police procedural and there is nothing new or groundbreaking in the formula here.  Character ethics aside (because Kenneth is right, it’s the questionable ethics that give the characters their interest),  Frear does give us some characters I really liked: DCI Kate Steele and DS Parnell.  I liked the alternating story between the present and the past, and I liked that I didn’t easily figure out the plot twist.  I look forward to reading more from Frear, and think you’ll like this if you’re a fan of writers like Tana French.

An illuminating account of a terrible part of American history, Radium Girls tells the story of the young women who painted luminescent watch dials, ingesting and exposing themselves to Radium.

From the publisher’s summary:
The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive — until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.

But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women’s cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.

Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the “wonder” substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

I enjoyed the book, although I disagree that it reads at a “breakneck pace.”  While I was anxious to see the women get justice, I found the book dragged in a few places. Author Kate Moore also used phrasing like “she knew not” in more than one instance. While grammatically correct, it sometimes read as awkward and stilted.

Those are minor criticisms, though, and do not stop Moore from accomplishing her intent: humanizing these women and their stories.  I found myself having to periodically step away from the book because I was so enraged that how the women were treated, and how difficult it was for them to get any justice.  Yet the legacy of their fight lives on today.  It’s time these women were given a louder voice, and that their story is heard by more people.  Radium Girls is a must read for anyone with an interest in social justice, courage, and heroism.