A Tale of Two Suspense Novels

Hello and apologies for my silence over the last months. I promise I have been reading and talking books and writing, just not here. That last one really hurt. I'll work on a summary of some of those from The Great Silence, but today I'm tackling the most recent titles.

One of my girlfriends kind of got me on a suspense kick with Blood Sisters, which I enjoyed and texted her more than once with "wtf?" I requested a few from some library sources I have and surprise! two became available the exact same day. It's hard not to compare them, so I'm going to.

Both of these were enjoyable, interesting, fast-paced, twisty- all the things you want in a thriller. But I have to say, A.J. Finn did a better job in crafting the story.

The Woman In the Window is the Hitchcockian-noir story of an agoraphobic psychologist who spies on her neighbors and witnesses something terrible. It leans on the unreliable narrator structure in a way that doesn't make me hate Anna, the protagonist. Yes, she drinks too much and mixes it with her meds (tsk, tsk, Dr. Fox), but I found it less annoying than the same ploy in The Girl On the Train. Some of the twists were predictable, some I expected but not from whom.

The Couple Next Door follows a couple and a detective in the days after the couple's infant daughter is abducted while the parents are at a party next door. It's definitely a unique premise that could spawn some thought-provoking conversations among parents (and probably lead to a bunch of pearl-clutching and sanctimommying, but let's stay positive for a few minutes). The title suggests much more interaction with the couple hosting the party, but they barely register. The husband is literally only in the first scene. And their big secret adds almost nothing to the plot. Although, with a cliffhanger ending, perhaps Shari Lapena intends to delve more into their lives. It's a page-turner, but in my opinion, falls short of its counterpart today.

- Finn's characters are more engaging. We experience enough of Dr. Fox's interior life to get a feel for who she really is. We are told what Marco and Anne Conti and Detective Rasback are thinking, not shown.
- Finn's crime is the focus of the story, the conflict we want to be resolved. The missing baby is almost secondary to Lapena's story. More time is spent on the possible reasons Cora is gone than dealing with the aftermath of a baby vanishing. More time is spent watching the least sympathetic parent, which makes it hard to find someone to like.
- Finn propels the story from the first-person point of view. This, to me, makes all the biggest difference. The reader gets caught inside the fragile mind of one woman. You feel trapped in her obsession because she is the only one revealing the plot. I kept thinking how much more suspenseful the Contis' story would have been if only one of them had been telling it. Instead, we bounce around and have an omniscient third person telling us how everyone is feeling but never revealing intimate thoughts through action or inner dialogue.

Lest it sound like I hated Couple, I admit I will share it with friends. If you like suspense, it's a good, quick read. It's a good story poorly told. It's a rough draft that still needs editing.

So, those are the two books I read this week. I've got one more suspense novel in my queue before I switch things up.

Others that I won't be reviewing now but finished:
Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo- decent. Not the world-building and complexity of Harry Potter, but an enjoyable child-discovers hidden talent/family secret arc.
Plantagenet series by Phillippa Gregory- reliably good. I enjoy Gregory's research-based imaginings of the lives of women in history. Particularly, I love that different women recounting the same events as friends and as enemies all have my sympathy. These books are the precursors to the wildly popular Tudor books from a few years back.
The Road to Jonestown about the history of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple. Though I took a course in college that focused on Jonestown, I learned so much from this. Warning- the back pages are full of very graphic images.
Hell's Princess- a disappointing offering from a well-respected true crime researcher. Belle Gunness lived on her murder farm in the small town where I grew up. While I did learn more from the book than I picked up at the county museum display, I was put off by the reliance on "yellow journalism" for research while also talking about how unreliable media was at the time.
The Light of Fireflies by Paul Pen. Wow. I should actually write a whole review of it. I wasn't expecting the thriller aspect of this one because it starts out more like book club lit. It's just a really compelling read. The translation to English is skilled and poetic. I highly recommend it.

That's about all the summarizing I can handle today. I downloaded several new titles on World Book Day and put in requests for 13 new books at the library, so there's more material to come. In case you missed it, I did a roundup of titles for the summer over at the Destin 30A Moms Blog.

A Piece of Fanfiction

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two

Where, oh, where do I begin? Since my thoughts on this book are so scattered, I'm going to try to put them down in an orderly, start-to-finish fashion. Let's hope I don't get sidetracked.

Ok, first. THIS BOOK IS NOT WRITTEN BY JOANNE NO-MIDDLE-NAME-BUT-THE- EDITORS-DIDN'T-THINK-BOYS-WOULD-READ-A-WOMAN'S-WRITING ROWLING. That's not entirely true. The people who wrote this lifted entire scenes from the real Harry Potter series, so that dialogue is consistent with the characters we know and love. The rest of the story- not even close. It's like they took the original stereotypes we had about them all, added 20 years, and never bothered to let them grow beyond Year One. Except Harry, who has turned into The Man, not the one you buy shots for- the one who keeps you down.

Back to that middle name thing- how in the world, did someone at a publisher, probably several someones, read The Philosopher's Stone, realize that it had great potential and not realize that it had Universal Appeal? I realize that boys are not encouraged to read about girls while girls are expected to read about boys and girls, but really? The first is filled with female characters that girls should get closer to- Macgonagall, Molly, HERMIONE. The whole idea that Rowling was forced to cloak her identity to protect poor little boys who might accidentally enjoy fiction by a woman just sets my feminism bone a-buzzin'.

Parts One and Two- this is not only unnecessary, it's false. I hate to be the Dwight Shrute here, but one could not read just Part One and have a complete story. They are dependent on each other to tell a whole story arc. There's a semicolon at the end of Part One, not a full stop. Also, none of the children are actually cursed, so the title is inconsistent with the rest of the stories.

Now into the actual pages. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how this is a stage production. The scenes are so short and shift setting so often, you'd have to have the best set people in the world, possibly a rotating stage or a huge one. The huge one is probably how it happened because the characters don't move around while they are together or talking. So one huge background, lit the right, very focused way, could bounce around all over the magical world. I imagine it a very complicated production. In addition to the logistical nightmare, most of the scenes are so short there would have to be a lot of scrambling about on stage. One scene is a single page and doesn't contain a word of dialogue. And don't get me started on the actual magic that would have to occur. On stage. There's polyjuice, people.

The characters- what have they done to the characters we know? Macgonagall has lost her soft spot for Harry and the Gang. Headmistress must be a tough job if it crushes her spirit. Remember, she was a strict teacher, but she had a quiet, impish fire inside her. How did the woman who gave Harry his Nimbus 2000 come to merely tolerate him now that he's Head of Magical Law Enforcement? Was Ron lobotomized? Why doesn't Neville ever show up on stage? What has become of Teddy? WHERE IS HAGRID?

One of my favorite things to ponder is how the original stories would be different if Harry had accepted Draco's offer of friendship on the Hogwart's Express. Would Harry have become a Slytherin? (oh my goodness! it looks like this might be about that. Oh, wait, no.) What different path would he have taken to defeat Voldemort? Would the prophecy been about Neville instead? Would Ron and Hermione gotten together? Oh, the possibilities are endless! I got excited at the beginning of this book thinking that someone else had put pen to paper and drawn up one possible scenario, just one generation off. It starts with that premise a little bit- Albus is a Slytherin and friends with Scorpius, son of Draco- but that's about as far as that goes.

The story is unbelievable even when you suspend disbelief enough to accept magic. There are gaping holes. Is The Augury a bird, a child, or a place where they roast muggles? It is never referenced in the original novels, just in video games and later companion books. Now that Draco is out from under his father's thumb, why is he still a dickweed? Did he and Harry really not figure a way to be friendly in the twenty years since The Battle of Hogwarts? I could've sworn that a major theme of the series was redemption and forgiveness, I expect the hero to apply that to others, too. Why was Cedric's death so much more influential than any other person who died for The Cause? Did the writers fancy RPatz and wish him to not be sparkly?  And why hasn't Harry's scar been bothering him this whole time Voldemort's Child has been alive? Because it hurt him from the moment Moldy Voldy started sucking on unicorn blood in the first one. It wasn't that he was taking power and making efforts to destroy anyone, his mere existence was enough.

So despite all these complaints, I still liked the book. I was, once again, whisked away to a fantastic world where anything is possible, where good will triumph over evil, where people drink butterbeer. I think the writers, publishers, and producers were banking on that nostalgia to sell a truckload of books. We Potterheads will buy anything remotely related to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. We're still talking about the stories nine years after the last one was published. They are enchanting and magical themselves. After all these years? Always.

Being connected to the originals is enough to earn this one three Marias. I know many will argue I'm being sentimental, and I'm ok with that.

Chapter 38: A Book with a One Word Title

Baggage, S.G. Redling

Another Kindle Unlimited title that I snagged to cross off an item on the list. I did not have high hopes for this book. The first 30-40% of it, I was sure the whole thing was going to be awful. Besides the single word title, I picked it because it reminded me of slam dancing with my sister at The Metro to this. So, I was surprised when the story (finally) caught my interest.

Anna Shuler Ray has had terrible things happen to people around her on February 17. Really, really terrible things. To two people, so it seems more like a coincidence than some sort of lifelong pattern. So while she is drinking herself into a stupor in an admittedly poor attempt to cope with the anniversary, someone on her campus is murdered. In the building where she works. Oh, and the guy is interested in her.

Cousin Jeannie is in town, as some sort of enabling support. I mean, sure, sometimes cranking up your favorite childhood pop hits, devouring junk food, and chugging bottles of wine SEEMS like a great idea. But, really? Is this helping someone you love? Someone you consider your sister? This falls firmly on my list of Bad Ideas.

So, ambitionless alcoholic narrator is similar to Girl on the Train, but unlike Rachel, Anna has zero interest in getting involved in another crime. She tries so hard to avoid any connection that she draws attention to herself. As the story progresses, the story arc I expected to unfold doesn't. Well, not exactly. I was right about the villain and the motive, but how we get to that point was not what I thought.

Even with a rough start, Anna's tale became more engrossing. The flashback chapters were clear and crucial to understanding how Anna has become some miserable. I found myself liking her more, in part because the third person flashbacks give her some tenderness and vulnerability that the first person narrative full of self-deprecating remarks dragged the beginning. By about halfway through, I wanted to read more- not so much for the revelation of The Big Secret, which was no surprise- but to see what kind of road Anna might move along next.

One of my favorite scenes is in the police station, when an officer has confronted Anna with a particularly painful piece of evidence that ties her to the campus murder(s). The rest of Anna's lines are simply "fuck you." Over and over. And it was great because I felt that complete loss of any reasonable response and her need to just stand her ground with her "phrase du jour." It was comedic, dramatic, and realistic. I loved it.

My biggest disappointment with the novel is that there is mention of a crime from the past that earned a name. You know the type- BTK, Westside Strangler, Columbine. Sensational murders that could be concentrated into a few little words that are universally recognized for their horror. So, after reading the book, I googled the name of the crime from Anna's past. No wikipedia entry. Nothing. And I just feel like making a couple of true crime-style webpages would be a great publicity for the book and just add an element to the overall style. I know this is a fictional crime, but having that to read after would have probably earned an extra half Maria.

Still, I enjoyed the book once it really got rolling and found myself interested in a pretty flat character. So Baggage earns 3.5 Marias for being surprisingly satisfying.

Chapter 24: A Mystery or Thriller

The Girl On the Train, Paula Hawkins

I was hesitant to start this one because I've been burned by Girl books (see previous post about my The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo surprise). I also really, really hated Gone Girl. Why does Gillian Flynn hate romance so much? I hated every character of every one of her books, which probably means they are good books if I am still so emotional about them. But, anyway, I gave another Girl book a try. It will be hard not to fill my review with a bunch of cliches, but I will do my best.

My guess is that published reviews include words like taut, tense, and shocking. That's a little grandiose for this novel, but it doesn't miss the mark by too much. The pace manages to move quickly enough to build tension while also detailing boring daily events. It has a nice upward curve toward the final conflict, with little crests along the way. At times it is written with the frenetic energy of an obsessed alcoholic on a bender. At others, the calm deliberation of the same alcoholic during a brief period of sobriety. And scattered throughout these journals are the perspective of the assumed victim and The Other Woman.

Rachel is the obsessed, out-of-control alcoholic who witnesses something from the train. When she reads news that a woman she has seen through that window for years has disappeared, her mission becomes to help solve the case. The problem is, her ex-husband and his new wife live a few doors down and they do not have an amicable relationship. These three women's lives get tangled up with the two husbands, past and present lovers, and secrets that everyone hides. (Trigger warning- infertility and infant death play major roles in this book.) Normally I don't like switching of narrators and time too much, but even ignoring the dates, I was able to keep a good grasp on where and when I was reading.

As I was reading, I kept trying to decide if it would be possible to make into a movie. The whole thing feels very Hitchcock. I knew there was a big twist that I wasn't supposed to see coming, so I prepared for everything. I was not floored by the revelation. Not even all that surprised. But it is still a good twist. I stayed up late to finish it and find out just what the heck happened to everyone. A little bit of Hitchcock trivia for you- the phrase "this is where I came in" referred to movies until Psycho was released. Films ran on a loop with no starting time. So you paid for your seat and walked in somewhere in the plot and left when you got back to that point. Hitchcock changed all that because it was so important to him that every detail of Psycho be seen from beginning to end. He ordered no admissions after the opening credits and changed the way we watch movies forever.

So, back to Train. It plays very heavily on the unreliable narrator thing. Rachel is very close to the bottom of a downward spiral and often admits that her memory is full of holes. The police question her involvement and do not take her seriously. Her peers vacillate  between pity and disgust for her. She makes one bad decision after another. Yet you cannot help but feel that some part of her drive is genuine. Near the end, one of the leading women says, "There's nothing so painful, so corrosive, as suspicion." That sums the whole novel up quite nicely.

I enjoyed this one and will gladly pass it on to another reader. It won't stay on my shelf for long and I probably won't read it again. But it was a fun ride, so I give it three Marias.

Chapter 22: A Book Published This Year

Go Set A Watchman, Harper Lee

You can't possibly be surprised that the most anticipated novel of the year is my selection for this category. Normally I try to keep my posts to the actual book, but there is no way to discuss this one without including a number of other issues. I'll try my best not to give away the plot beyond what is necessary.

First, the legal controversy. I was wary of purchasing Watchman because of the allegations of elder abuse. So I turned to facebook, specifically friends who I trust in important matters of southern writing, and not only agreed that the evidence of abuse was lacking but that Ms. Lee had a much more personal reason for holding back on this particular piece. The real Scout still has that compassion she learned in Atticus' lap decades ago.

Next, the writing. Watchman was rightfully rejected by Lee's publisher not because the story is bad but because it is immature. Understanding and loving Scout and Atticus of To Kill A Mockingbird makes Watchman a very different novel indeed. And, if you are like me, you grew up loving Scout like a sister. Atticus was the kindly neighbor who taught the whole community with his placid ways. But Jean Louise, as an adult, has a lot of growing up still to do. Without fully knowing her upbringing, she would come across as hysterical and dramatic- not that the situation doesn't warrant some histrionics, but the context of her childhood makes her wild reaction more sympathetic.

Now it would be unjust to discuss this novel without also talking about race and racism in America. I can be clumsy in these talks, so please have mercy and bear with me. Though set in the 1950's, the book could still be set today. In the wake of many headline-making stories of racism, "look how far we've come" seems to be not very far. Maybe we are not talking in productive ways. Is it possible for a person to be good and also be racist? Can a white, especially a southern white, speak against racism without being paternalistic? (This is one of those areas where I get very clumsy because, surprise! I don't know what it's like to be black in America. I know stories. I know what I witness, but that is not the same. Whenever a major event occurs and we as a nation talk about race in some new context, I  defer to someone with experience that I cannot possibly have. Sometimes that makes me really uncomfortable because I am faced with my own prejudice, but I am a seeker of knowledge. /tangent) Is it possible for a kinder, gentler style racist to move beyond that? Or is the psychic pain just too much to bear?

Some other things that this book has me thinking about- the tangled relationship between law and social change. Am I a Scout? Or am I an Atticus? Do the ends justify the means? Whose responsibility is it to help adults grow? Is there such thing as collective consciousness? I don't know the answer to any of these questions. I have ideas and I have a willingness to listen to other people's ideas on the subject, too.

So, aside from the racism, Lee really hits on some other things that I think have been overlooked by many because they are small in comparison. But I feel like she did a wonderful job of capturing what is now called the quarter-life crisis. Jean Louise has graduated college, is living on her own far from her home and just now really having to define herself as an individual. I'll be honest, I was so glad to get out of my 20's! There was so much turmoil and drama. I understand Jean Louise's wild reactions because I felt so passionately, too. But time has mellowed me some and maybe it will her. It does make me wonder if Atticus was ever so fiery, but we will probably never know.

The other thing illustrated beautifully in Watchman that lives in the shadow of Atticus' fall from grace is related to that fall and to Jean Louise's age. Scout left home. She returns annually as if it is a duty. She detests much of Maycomb, yet loves it, too. In all of her struggle, she fails to see how very much like her father she is, even when she thinks she hates him. The old adage "There's something about that guy I just don't like about myself" is spot on in this case. I'm not sure if Jean Louise ever comes to that conclusion. Honestly, I'm not sure what becomes of her. But the glimpse into her life as a young adult was interesting and thought-provoking.

Go Set A Watchman earns three and a half Maria's. It's not the best written work. On its own, it isn't even that compelling a story. But the context- that changes everything. For me, it's more an epilogue of Mockingbird than its own tale. I'd like to note that even if it isn't the best book published this year, it still belongs on the shelf with important literature. It still should be read. It is still relevant 60 years later. And, perhaps, as we undergo yet another Reconstruction (and future ones, too), we can learn something from Maycomb.