STORM FRONT by John Sandford

STORM FRONT

By

John Sandford

One star? Two stars? I can't decide. If I were to use a star system, I would need a 1/2 star option for this one. I did not like the book, but I like Virgil Flowers, in general, as a character.

I became disenchanted with John Sandford when he killed off one of his characters, portraying her as single and wanting a child, while in the previous book, the character already had a child. I can be unforgiving for glaring errors such as this. I read Storm Front nonetheless, as I am a fan of Sandford's character, Virgil Flowers.

And, I honestly did not like Storm Front, despite the presence of Flowers. Mossad, Hezbollah, assassins, and the like all searching for a stolen Israeli relic in Mankato, Minnesota? The plot is as confusing as it is unbelievable. Flowers' process in solving the mystery is also not credible. I found it difficult to keep the characters straight, and the ones I could get a grasp on are shells of characters, with little development at all. Even Virgil Flowers, with his interesting, well-developed back story, is portrayed without much development or depth; he does not appear as the same good looking, intelligent, un-police-officer-like police officer whom I have grown to love.

Parts of the book appear to have no purpose. For example, at one point, Flowers goes to the garage to detail the interior of his boat. For those of us who have known Virgil, it comes as no surprise that his boat would be spotless - why would he need to detail it? Those who do not know Virgil might wonder why he would need to detail his boat. There does not appear to be any relevance to the plot. Also, the snippets of conversation between Flowers and Davenport appear to be superfluous and meaningless to the story.

            Furthermore, I found the writing itself is wanting. The first line of Chapter 2 begins: "It was one of the great Minnesota summers of all time...." Elsewhere, Sandford describes the Holiday Inn, “an older building downtown, left over from the sixties or seventies, slowly failing in place….” And later in the book, we are told that Virgil, while driving, "threw them off Highway 14 and onto 390^th Street to West Elysian Lake Road...."

The book was not a total disappointment. When we are told that "Virgil changed into combat gear - jeans and a T-shirt....," we catch a glimpse of the Virgil Flowers we know and love. Nonetheless, Storm Front leaves me with the impression that Sandford does not understand that his characters have developed a life of their own and that this book was put together in great haste. I remain disappointed.

NOT RECOMMENDED

SPLENDOUR FALLS by Susanna Kearsley

SPLENDOUR FALLS

by

Susanna Kearsley

            When I first began reading Splendour Falls, by Susanna Kearsley, I was initially disappointed, as I am wont to be, when I find that one of her books is not set in Scotland. But, there was King John and Queen Isabelle and siege and intrigue and hidden treasure. And, as with Kearsley’s other books that take place outside Scotland, I was wont to very quickly forget about Caledonia and became fully engrossed in the particular setting of this novel. With Splendour Falls, it was not long before I wanted to book travel to Chinon.

            Britisher Emily Braden, whose cousin, Harry, was a Plantagenet scholar, was persuaded by Harry to take a vacation and meet him in Chinon. However, Harry, true to form, was not very reliable.

            Despite his promise, King John did not come for Isabelle during the siege; despite his promise, Harry did not meet Emily’s train on her journey to Chinon. John, however, did send a knight to rescue Isabelle; Harry, on the other hand, simply neglected to show at the agreed upon time and place. Perhaps Emily was right: Prince Charmings no longer existed.

            But John’s young wife was not the only Isabelle of intrigue in Chinon’s history; another Isabelle, in another historical time, was also shrouded in mystery. Although Emily had known of King John and Queen Isabelle, she was unaware of all that was hidden in Chinon – hidden in its history or hidden in the many tunnels running underneath it. It did not take long, however, for her to become ensconced in the complexities and intrigues of its people and its history.

            As always, Kearsley’s characters are wonderfully developed, complex, and fascinating.  The interweaving of their lives – especially on the Chinon backdrop – is masterful. The story is very compelling; more often than not, I reached the end of a chapter and decided to read just one more – until, of course, I reached the end of that next chapter.

Chinon teems with history. And, along with that history, there is magic everywhere. Perhaps, Emily, there are Prince Charmings after all!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

GEORGE KNOWS by Mindy Mymudes

George Knows is a fabulous book about a Basset Hound (George) who works very hard to properly train his "Girlpup", a young witch-in-training.

Mymudes is a "dog person", and she definitely gets it right when writing about George!

Although this is a book written for children, it is also a great book for adults. I found it very enjoyable and look forward to reading the sequels!

Highly Recommended!

THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE Neil Gaiman

THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE

Neil Gaiman

The Ocean At the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman, is magical. The writing is magical; the story that it tells is magical; and, the ocean at the end of the lane is magical. We learn of a seven year old boy who sees the magical; he believes and accepts the magical. We learn of his magical adventure with Lettie, an eleven year old girl who lives nearby at the Hempstock farm (which, by the way, is also magical).

            The boy returns to the Hempstock farm as a divorced man with grown kids, and he has difficulty comprehending the magical. As he looks at the duck pond – “It was only a duck pond, out at the back of the farm” – he recalled that “Lettie had had a funny name for it. I remembered that. ‘She called it the sea. Something like that.’”

            The man did not remember. He did not even know why he had come there. “’Lettie wanted you to,’ said somebody.” He looked to Lettie’s mother to help him remember. Or, was that Lettie’s grandmother?

            The ocean – or, rather, the duck pond – demonstrates how children are amenable to the magical. Their magical insight, however, diminishes with age.

            Gaiman’s book does a great job of depicting these disparate ways of considering the magical. It is eye-opening. A wonderful read. It is, quite simply, magical!

Highly Recommended

THANK YOU!

Thank you to Idea-ist for nominating IMO Book Reviews for the Shine On Award!

http://getlostinlit.blogspot.com/2013/10/shine-on-award.html

ADVENT by James Treadwell

I found this book to be confusing. Furthermore, the book never "grabbed" me; I could have stopped reading at any point and not cared about what happened to the characters or whether I even finished the book.

Not Recommended

THE FLAMETHROWERS by Rachel Kushner

THE FLAMETHROWERS

by Rachel Kushner

            It can be daunting reviewing a book by an author who has been called “[o]ne of the most brilliant writers of the new century” and who has received praise from the likes of Jonathan Franzen. Rachel Kushner was nominated for a National Book Award for her first book, Telex From Cuba. The Flamethrowers is Kushner’s second novel.

            We never learn the name of Kushner’s protagonist. The young woman from Reno, Nevada is only referred to as ‘Reno”. She moves to New York City to join the art world. Reno’s art is tied to her interest in motorcycle racing, and her favorite bike is a Valera motorcycle.

            The Flamethrowers details the many characters and experiences that Reno meets and has while part of the New York art scene. She begins a relationship with an artist, Sandro Valera.Valera’s Italian family makes the motorcycles that Reno prefers, but he has turned his back on his family. Later in the book, she and Sandro visit his family in Italy; Reno ends up in Rome in the midst of the 1977 radical rebellion.

            The Flamethrowers skips around quite a bit – both in place and in time. As I began reading the book, it seemed to drag, and I felt a bit bewildered. As it began to come together, however, both the pace and my interest picked up.

            The characters in The Flamethrowers are well developed; although they are not always sympathetic characters, they do have depth.

Kushner’s writing is very good. At times, her writing is ironic, as well as iconic – for example, when Reno tells about a man she met at a bar:  

Later we danced. My arms were around his neck, his Marsden Hartley T-shirt clinging to his broad shoulders in the heat and sweat of the bar. I had not kissed him but knew I would, and he knew that I knew, and there was a kind of mutual joy in this slide into inevitability, never mind that I didn’t know his name or if anything he said was true.

            “You’re pretty,” he said, brushing my hair away from my face.

            How did you find people in New York City? I hadn’t known this would be how.

            “They could put your face on cake boxes,” he said.

            I smiled.

            “Until you show that gap between your teeth. Jesus. It sort of ruins your cake box appeal. But actually, it enhances a different sort of appeal.” (p. 66).

Kushner’s writing, at times, can even be said to be seductive.

            Reno and her friends like speed; they like to push the limits. Each, in his or her own way, is on the offense. Ancient yet modern. It is not always pretty, but it can always be lethal.

Who are the flamethrowers? I do not know Kushner’s answer to that question. But, even though Sandro’s father tells him that he, Sandro, doesn’t want to be one, in my opinion, he and Kushner’s other characters are the flamethrowers.

            I may have had some trouble getting into this book. But worse, despite finishing it, I’m having trouble getting out of it.

Highly Recommended.

The copy of The Flamethrowers that I reviewed is an Advance Reader’s Edition provided for my honest and independent review.