THE TAKING by Dean Koontz

Finished Sa 5/25/19

This is a paperback that I got at the library books sale on Sa 4/13/19; 50 cents

Nobody thrusts the reader into the action quicker than Dean Koontz, and this novel is no exception. Koontz is the master of the gray area between thriller and horror.

"An extraterrestrial species hundreds or thousands of years more advanced than us, would posses technology that would appear to us to be not the result of applied science but entirely supernatural, pure magic." Arthur C. Clarke

the novel's page on wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking


Set in the southern California town of  Black Lake.

Molly and Neil Sloan live in a small cabin and early one morning a fierce rain begins to fall. Molly awakens and something isn't right. She senses an evil presence and the rain smells of semen.

Wolves are on the porch and they are non-threatening. They look at her imploringly.

Neil awakens and agrees with Molly that something is amiss. They are under attack from something they do not understand.

The get in the SUV and head to town to organize some kind of a response.

They meet a neighbor who is dead, yet the corpse is animated. He quotes T.S Eliot.

On the way they see Molly's father. He had been institutionalized for the killing of several children. Molly shot him during this incident. This man is really only an animated corpse.

They find many people from the town in the local tavern- The Tail of  the Wolf.

Inside the tavern the people have split into groups. Some want to stay sedated, others are on the fence, and some want to create a fort out of the town bank.

The dogs in the tavern seem supernaturally attuned to the situation. They protect the people, especially the children.

The rain has changed to fog, and pods of some kind of alien nature are taking hold all over the town.

The evil forces come from animate and inanimate objects/ plants/ flora/ fauna.

The apparitions can float through solid objects.

During several forays, Molly and Neil feel that they must protect the children from harm.

Molly meets a madman/ murderer and he says that 'the children are not for sifting'.

THE TWIST:

This is a biblical attack by god similar to Noah's flood.

The whole thing could have been found in the book of Revelation.

I thought this was a interesting take on an 'end of times' novel without becoming religious because the alien invasion theme is so pronounced.

I loved the book, and all of Dean Koontz's books are worth a look, and many are first rate. This was one of the latter.

A VALID CRITICISM FROM GOODREADS- Drebbles:

"The reason the characters are so one-dimensional is Koontz's writing. He spends too much time telling readers what is going on instead of showing them. A perfect example is what happened between Molly and her father when she was eight years old. Instead of bringing readers into the classroom with Molly and her father (which would have been a terrific way to open the book) Koontz tells readers what happened halfway through the book, in alternate paragraphs, as Molly encounters her father as an adult. The scene where Molly and Neil listen to the astronauts being attacked in space should have been especially frightening, the reader should have been able to imagine the horrors along with Molly and Neil but it just didn't work."

GOODREADS From Mary:

"All this contributed to the horror for me. But most of all was the continuous suffocating, drowning heaviness that is palpable throughout.
All in all, I would now raise to 4 stars and recommend to horror and science fiction lovers".

THE LEAVERS by Lisa Ko

Finished Sa 5/18/19

The May, 2019 selection for the Contemporary Book Club

An enlightening, yet searing examination of the immigrant experience in modern day America.

Deming Guo and his mother Polly/ Peilan
Daniel Wilkinson

A very poor woman at age nineteen has a baby with a young man she doesn't love- He's a neighbor.
She doesn't want to marry- he does. She flees China to America. She borrows $50,000 from loan sharks to finance the trip.

********On Sunday, 5/19 I could have booked  a flight from NYC to Beijing for $1,048.46, and a flight from Spfd to Beijing for $1,369.70

For a few years she lives in squalor in NYC (Deming is barely a toddler), she can't take care of the kid and work sweatshop hours, so she sends the boy back to China.

When he's about six, she brings him back to NYC (He was staying with Polly's father, and he died). When the boy is eleven, she is swept up in an ICE raid at the nail salon where she works.

She disappears and none of her family know where she is. She had told them that there was work in Florida.

Her son at first is living with his mother's sister in law. But, this woman puts him up for adoption with The Wilkinsons- Peter and Kay.

He grows to college age in a white suburb five hours NW of NYC. He never fits in and is obsessed with 'What Happened To Mom'?

Plays in a punk rock band (Psychic Hearts) on guitar with his best friend Roland. They are beginning to break big, but he cannot commit.

His foster/ adoptive parents pressure him to go to their college. He is an economics professor, she is a political science professor.

He freaks and finds his mother and visits her for the first time in China. She has remarried and is teaching English and her new husband owns a factory.

He sees his birth mother's husband, Leon. His wife Vivian had paid Daniel's mother's debt.

Mike was Leon and Vivian's son and Daniel was like a brother, but they were lost since Dan's mother was swept up in the raid.

In the end Mike and Daniel live together. Daniel is trying to get his music to the public and Mike is living on a federal grant and is a professional.

From Amazon-

"Ko is the deserving recipient for the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for this socially engaged novel........ Raised in rural China, bold Peilan realizes she is pregnant and decides she does not care to be a wife. She knows the best opportunities are in the United States, so she pays a loan shark to be smuggled to New York. Years later, Peilan, now "Polly," and her son, Deming, live in a cramped apartment in the Bronx. For Deming, life is good. But the day Polly doesn't come home, 11-year-old Deming must start a new life. Adopted by a white couple from rural New York, Deming Guo becomes Daniel Wilkinson. In a predominantly white town, Daniel's coming-of-age is difficult. At a low point in his college years, he unexpectedly discovers a link to his mother and embarks on a journey to find her—and, thus, himself again. Ko adroitly moves back and forth in time and between New York and China. The two parallel and sometimes overlapping stories come full circle as Peilan becomes Polly, Deming becomes Daniel, and the two return to their original names. Mastering English becomes an important status symbol to Polly, just as reclaiming his childhood language of Fuzhounese becomes vital to Daniel's own identity. VERDICT Ko's characters and their experiences will resonate with most readers. This moving work will particularly appeal to students interested in issues such as undocumented immigrants, poverty, cross-racial adoption, and second-generation Americans."

Link to Lisa Ko's website:

http://lisa-ko.com/about/

Guardian review:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/22/leavers-lisa-ko-review-migrants-debut-chinese-american

"The Wilkinsons’ liberal do-good impulses are not openly mocked, but they are critiqued by Ko. Their hope – well meaning but condescending – is to rehabilitate “Daniel” into middle-class life. “They wanted him to succeed in the ways that were important to them because it would mean they had succeeded, too.”


The Atlantic review:

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/05/lisa-ko-the-leavers-book-review/526179/

THE APPEAL by John Grisham

Finished Th 5/9/19

This is a paperback that I picked up at the library sale a couple of months ago.
Grisham is a fantastic sociopolitical story teller- no one does it better!

A small town in rural Mississippi has been savaged by a major chemical manufacturer. The water is no longer drinkable, but hazardous. Bowmore is located in Carter County- now referred to as 'Cancer County'.

A husband and wife team of lawyers has just won a $41 million dollar settlement against the corporation.

The CEO of the company realizes that he must 'buy' a seat on the Mississippi supreme court. The balance is five to four- liberal bias. He needs that swing vote to be conservative and 'business friendly' and a proponent of 'tort reform'.

Conservative forces in Washington DC search the area for a candidate that they can promote. The find a man with sterling character, but only a lawyer with absolutely no experience as a judge. Ron Fisk didn't even have any aspirations toward the judicial branch.

The liberal swing vote was a woman who normally ran unopposed. The conservative forces spent over three million and use a smear campaign to get the seat for Ron Fisk.

Near the end of the novel is kind of a clunky sub-plot where Ron Fisk's son is insured in a baseball game. One of the kids is using an aluminum bat that was judged dangerous, banned, yet the company was not required to recall the faulty equipment. And when they bring the kid into the emergency room, the doctor reads the wrong x-rays. This causes much more brain damage and the hospital is clearly responsible for massive damages. Fisk realizes that he cannot come out 'for' damages because he was elected as a 'tort reform' candidate.

Fisk, as the swing vote, goes with the conservative majority on the court. However, in his summation he admits that the court has been 'purchased'.

The takeaway from the book is that 'buying' a judgeship might be a more effective way of governing that passing legislation, or even electing a president.

People will be unable to sue and receive compensation for malpractice. Lawyers won't even bother to take the cases because they know that whatever the result, if they win, they will be overturned in the supreme court.

Not mentioned in the book, but companies will slash safety features because they know that they'll never be held responsible for unsafe products.

I loved the book, and the day that I finished the book I got 'THE CAMBER' in the mail from Netflix. Another Grisham novel about a white Klansman who is on death row and his lawyer grandson tries to save him from the gas chamber. Gene Hackman as the Klansman and Faye Dunaway as his alcoholic sister. 

LOW DOWN: JUNK, JAZZ, AND OTHER FAIRY TALES FROM CHILDHOOD by Amy Jo Albany

Finished Mo 5/6/19

I got this memoir on Amazon after seeing the film 2014 film, 'LOW DOWN' starring John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, and Glenn Close.

This is a biography of Joe Albany's daughter, Amy Jo, and deals with her life in the sixties and early 70's.

"Her childhood on the slummy side of Hollywood among addicts, prostitutes, sexual deviants is not a fairy tale with a happy ending".

Reminded me of the children in books by Charles Dickens

Joe Albany (born Joseph Albani; January 24, 1924 – January 12, 1988) was an American modern jazz pianist who played bebop with Charlie Parker as well as being a leader on his own recordings. Most of the 1950s and 1960s saw him battling a heroin addiction, or living in seclusion in Europe. He also had several unsuccessful marriages in this period. He returned to jazz in the 1970s and played on more than ten albums. He died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest in New York City at the age of 63.

She spent most of her early life with Joe except the times that he spend in jail or rehab. During those times she lived with Joe's mother.

A.J.'s mother was a lush and an addict. She had little or no contact with Amy Jo.

Amy Jo's name is taken from two of the characters in 'LITTLE WOMEN'.

This is a particularly harrowing story: both for Joe and his daughter. The end of the book seems like AJ's life might have even been grimmer than Joe's.

"I would dive into the bottomless darkness of my life and sink all the way down. It was a beautiful drowning."

THE BAT by Jo Nesbo

Finished Sa 5/4/19

This is a trade paperback that I got on Amazon and received on Mo 4/15/19. I had seen the film, 'THE SNOWMAN' and ordered the book by Jo Nesbo.

'THE BAT' is the first in the Harry Hole (pronounced:Harry  Hoo-Leh, Harry's Australian police comrades call him Harry Holy) series.

At GoodReads someone posted that the title would actually be 'The Batman' from Swedish, but it couldn't be used because of copyright issues with the famous comic book series.

Harry is invited to Sydney, Australia because a Swedish news anchor was murdered. She was believed to have been killed by a serial killer.
Harry is living in the Kings Cross section of the city. This is the 'red light' district.

Harry meets a red headed girlfriend, Brigitta.

Many plot twists and it was a little hard to follow.
Harry is befriended by an Aboriginal police detective, Andrew.

At the start of the novel Harry is sober, although he has an alcoholic past. He begins drinking heavily as the novel unfolds.

This man is a friend of the killer. Toowoomba. Both Andrew and the killer had a background in amateur boxing (similar to Golden Gloves).

They are also involved with members of a traveling circus act. A number of the clowns are gay and are early suspects.

I probably should have read this faster because I kept losing steam when I went back to it. I still like the series, but it's not as good as Ian Rankin or John D. McDonald, and nowhere close to Michael Connelly. But, maybe the series will pick up since this is only the first novel. ( A reader commented  that the first two in the series are the weakest)


The plot from wikipedia:

"The story revolves around the Norwegian police officer Harry Hole, who is sent to Sydney, Australia to serve as an attaché for the Australian police's investigation into the murder of a young female Norwegian celebrity, Inger Holter. Her boyfriend, Evans White, is initially approached as a suspect. Hole is assisted by Aboriginal colleague Andrew Kensington; together they find out that they are dealing with a serial killer who strangles blonde women. Hole befriends a red haired Swede named Birgitta. As the story becomes more complex, Harry struggles to find the killer and becomes more alcoholic. There are more back stories about Harry's past and culture in Australia".

The novel's page in wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bat_(novel)

PAGAN BABIES by Elmore Leonard

Finished Tu 4/23/19
This is one of the paperbacks that I bought at the library book sale on Sa 4/13/19

My interpretation of the very twisty plot:

An American priest is present during the genocide in Rwanda during the 1990's. The church was packed with people believing that they would get sanctuary. Hutu rebels entered the church and 46 people were murdered- small weapons fire and machetes.

Hutus were the perpetrators and the Tutsis were the victims.

Hutus are the taller race and Tutsis were shorter.
Hutus would often chop the feet off of Tutsis before murdering them.

Father Terry Dunn is really not a priest. His mother always wanted him to join the priesthood, and he left Detroit saying that he was going to California to study, but he really hooked up with a girlfriend.

Terry's uncle was a priest and he always respected this man. When he went to Rwanda to visit the man, the uncle needed a priest as a replacement and he rammed it through.

Terry would always give ten hail marys for any offense. Before leaving the country he executed four members of the Hutu rebels who were responsible for the killings in his church. They told him what they had done and they would be coming back to finish the job- kill all Tutsis!

Terry returns to Detroit and stays with his married brother, Francis, and his family.

Fran believes that Terry is really a priest. Terry tells everyone that he is starting a charity for the Rwandan orphans- 'pagan babies'.

Terry meets a woman, Debbie, who did legal work for Fran.
Debbie went to prison for running down her boyfriend, Randy, with her Ford Escort.

Randy is a hustler and owns a restaurant that he got by swindling Debbie for $67,000.

Randy is getting shaken down by a mob boss, Victor.

Terry and Debbie take Randy and the mob for thousands of dollars.

Debbie tries to double cross Terry, but Terry wins and takes all the money.

He returns to Rwanda and uses the money to help the Rwandan children.

The novel begins in Rwanda. The protagonist is a priest named Terry Dunn. It is a few years after the genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus.

Father Terry lives in Rwanda with his girlfriend Chantelle. He doesn't have qualms about substituting punishment for penance. If that means killing four Hutu murderers who slaughtered his Tutsi congregation, so be it. After being an instrument of divine wrath, Dunn breaks camp and heads for Detroit. He wants to raise money for 'Pagan Babies' — the children orphaned during the genocide.

Dunn's brother Fran specializes in lawsuits for personal injuries. He is helping Debbie, a woman who spent three years in jail for deliberately hitting her ex-husband Randy with a Ford Escort. Debbie is trying to have a career as a comedian. In the meantime we learn more about Terry's past and his problems with the IRS, which was the reason for his fleeing to Rwanda to help his uncle.

Debbie's ex-husband Randy now owns a restaurant and is involved with some of the same gangsters that Terry once knew. Debbie and Terry begin a relationship. Randy stole sixty-seven thousand dollars from Debbie and now it's only a matter of time before Debbie's desire for cold, hard cash and Terry's fundraising for Rwandan orphans join forces in a carefully plotted financial assault on Randy. They want to receive a donation of 250,000 dollars from Tony Amilia, the local wiseguy, for the 'Pagan Babies'. In Randy's restaurant all of the local wise guys, hit men, and scam artists twist and twirl around each other for the money and for their lives.

HIT MAN by Lawrence Block

Finished Sa 4/20/19

This was one of the paperbacks that I picked up at the 'Romance/ Mystery/ Thriller' Sale at the library on Sa 4/13/19.

John Paul Keller (Just Plain Keller)

The is an anthology, but really can be read as a novel. The chapters can be read as short stories, or a novel because the chapters refer to each other.

From Google Books page:

"But he is a complex person: understandably guarded and reclusive, icy and ruthlessly efficient, he is also prone to loneliness, self-doubt, and career worries. Indeed, he is going through a full-fledged mid-life crisis. Keller may be a crack assassin, but he is also an all-too-human being.

As Keller goes about his rounds, fulfilling his contracts, he learns a few crucial truths about himself and the ways of the normal world and winds up a wiser (if not a better) man".

Keller is a hit man who lives in lower Manhattan.

Many times when he visits a new town for a 'kill', he falls in love with the area and dreams of moving there. He even visits local realtors to check out the area.

He gets his 'contracts' from an unnamed man in White Plains, NY.

Keller deals with Dot, the old man's secretary.

Keller's life changes when he gets a dog, Nelson.

Nelson is an Australian Cattle Dog

When he gets the dog he takes a girlfriend, Andria. She watches Nelson while Keller is 'on the road'. She eventually leaves Keller and takes the dog as well.

Keller goes into therapy, Dr. Breen, and the therapist uses him to kill for him. Keller kills the therapist