Although we were on an incredible trip for the last 5 weeks, I carted along more than a few books for entertainment, education, and to take up space in a closet! Grabbing three softcover books from three very popular authors, I did enjoy myself. Just hope the readers of this column find an author they’ve never tried before.
Karen Robards is a very popular author with many female readers; I’d noticed one day in our Library the number of her books going off the shelves that day with several patrons. SHATTERED is the book I’d chosen, and found it somewhat fascinating, particularly with the descriptions of the horse farms in Kentucky. The plot is equally interesting, but typically “girl returns home after a number of years; meets with a former classmate; gets involved in a slightly ‘hairy’ situation; and then discovers that she wants to connect with the classmate”. However, Ms. Robards has a talent of holding the reader’s attention. A good summer book to take to the beach, and you can find it for sale at our Library.
Now Phillip Margolin is an author that I particularly enjoy and admire his technique, and SLEEPING BEAUTY is a book that keeps you constantly guessing. Sometimes I’ve found that I was able to decide who did what to whom, and could decide how the story would end. However, this book by Margolin kept me guessing and guessing as I turned the pages. And various author-reviewers evidently felt the same. Beginning at the ending (well, almost the ending), the plot then returns to the beginning of the story; sounds as though it could be confusing; however, the author writes so well that the reader doesn’t get lost.
A young high school student is awakened suddenly at home to find a stranger in her room; he leaves and then enters the room of her parents, cruelly killing her father. And finally, he goes into the room of another student, and assaults and kills her. Ashley suffers from this horror for more than a year, and finally enters a private school to attempt to complete her education. But horror follows her there when her mother is killed and the head mistress of the school badly injured, who then falls into a coma; the “Sleeping Beauty” of the title. The supposed assailant is caught and tried; but the plot increases and accelerates.
And the last is FOOL ME TWICE as written by the replacement for Robert B. Parker, the author of the series concerning Jesse Stone. Michael Brandman seems to have been able to pick up where Parker left prior to his death. Jesse Stone is Chief of Police in the small town of Paradise near Boston Massachusetts. Stone begins his day by being present when a Mercedes as driven by a local teenage girl barrels through the intersection, striking another car. As the recipient of much antagonism from the teen, Stone summons her parents for a consultation and then understands some of the teen’s anti-social attitude.
The book continues with the arrival of a film crew with a starlet attempting to escape an abusive husband and her murder, and then semi-peaks with the discovery of theft and embezzlement from the local water department. Or Paradise isn’t really paradise, but just a small town viable to crime as any other town.
Parker’s style of writing meant short chapters of mostly dialogue with few descriptive sentences, being quite easy to read and follow the development of characters and “hang” with the plot. Luckily, Brandman, as his successor, has developed that ability quite well. I preferred books concerning Jesse Stone as opposed to the Spenser stories. Not certain as to why, but … .
Don’t forget the Spaghetti Dinner on April 25! Plan to be there and enjoy delicious pasta while learning about the plans being made by the Friends of the POC Library. See the ad in this issue for more information. Hope to see you there.
“When an old person dies, a Library burns down!”
Karin Gillespie
This was a quote I found in a book by Ms. Gillespie, and discovered how very true it is with the loss of several people, including my mother-in-law recently.
