Review: The Lightning Rod

The Lightning Rod by Brad Meltzer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The second in Meltzer's Zig and Nola series and I'm still not sure I like Nola, but will admit, she's pretty complex and seems to be getting a little less emotionally guarded. Zig is a mortician and has, for most of his career, worked at Dover Air Force base where most fallen military bodies are brought to be prepared for burial. He's considered an artist since he has performed miracles it would seem to make many of these wounded and damaged bodies whole enough to be viewed by families and friends with a minimum of despair at the trauma the fallen has suffered.
Nola--Nola is in the Army--she's an artist, too. Her job is to paint, sketch, draw military events and personnel at some of the most chaotic situations. She has suffered trauma too--primarily emotional and most in her childhood. She is self-contained, a loner with little empathy or social warmth or grace. As a young girl she save Zig's daughter from a disfiguring if not life threatening accident at Girl Scout camp. His daughter died at 12. He has a soft spot for Nola and since she always seems to get into dangerous situations, he finds himself either bailing her out or working with her.
In this story, a former colleague of Nola's has been murdered--she was in his crew during a operation called Grandma's Pantry and found him to be a good leader and mentor. She wants to know why he's dead. Zig has been appointed the one to prepare the man's body. There is a lot of mystery about why, least of which is that the guy is not full time active--he's National Guard --and is getting pretty elaborate treatment. When Nola shows up at the funeral, Zig knows there is a mystery to be solved and Nola is somehow involved. And off they go, into another convoluted case which brings some revealing facts about Nola--maybe she's not so bad--

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Review: How the Light Gets In

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Using the birth of the Dionne Quintuplets as inspiration Penny weaves a tale around the death of the last Ouellet quint. Marie-Constance had been a patient of Myrna's in Montreal. Her childhood had been traumatic and when her therapy sessions ended, she and Myrna became friends. After a short visit to Three Pines she'd returned to Montreal, intending to return for the Christmas holidays. When she failed to appear Myrna appealed to Gamache to investigate her disappearance. Although involved in the investigation, Gamache is simultaneously attempting to discover what his nemesis, Francoeur, is planning for the Surete, for Gamache whose department he has gutted, and for Jean-Guy Beauvoir whom he has all but destroyed. This is perhaps the most tension filled of the series so far as it builds to a plot that, if successful, will impact not just Montreal, not just Quebec but all of Canadian stability.

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Review: The Elias Network

The Elias Network by Simon Gervais
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Caspian and Liesl seem to be falling in love. He's pretty sure he wants to spend the rest of his life with her, but he has some pretty deep secrets about his work. He isn't just the translator at the UN he's told her he is. Liesl, on the other hand, finds Caspian physically and sexually appealing but his bland personality has her wondering if she should break it off. She is an accountant--or at least that is what she said she is. Still, he is off in Switzerland skiing so perhaps she'll run it by her real boss, who had wanted her to maintain their relationship. She needn't decide before his return. What she doesn't know is that Caspian is working black ops for a secret Federal organization and in Switzerland he's on a pretty dangerous assignment. The outcome of which causes Liesl's boss to encourage the affair until he can figure out if Caspian is the notorious Elias!

The ways of spycraft are convoluted. Just try to keep up, especially since some SDRs (Surveillance Detection Routes ) can be over 2 hours long!

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Review: The Boomerang

The Boomerang by Robert Bailey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'll never ride across the dusty plains on the road through Las Lunas from Belen to the Interstate to Gallup without imagining Nestor and his people somewhere in the area probably supervising a meeting with leaders of the Church, the cartels and the Peublo residents. Heaven only knows what new weapons he has or what new deals are going down. But in this book he is helping a former love, her husband and her daughter evade the leaders of the US government who are trying to silence them. Is there a cure for cancer out there? Does the DOD know about it? Is the Government and Big Pharm keeping it secret from the millions of people worldwide struggling with stage 4 of some incurable type? Don't know but this book will sure get you thinking! With the current upheaval in the Health and Human Services Department lately it hits close to home. Bailey's books are always good, this one is terrific and frightening.

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Review: Reasonable Fear

Reasonable Fear by Scott Pratt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Don't Forget A Man's Home Etc

The dead bodies of three young girls found floating in a Tennessee lake, two unbelievably rich and connected men seem to have entertained them the evening before on a now missing large boat. Check alibis, find witnesses, get an indictment, go to trial, case closed! Oh, wait this is Joe Dillard, district attorney. When has anything been that easy for him? Not going to start getting easy now

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Review: Changing Times in Nuala

Changing Times in Nuala by Harriet Steel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Normally, I give these books a 5 star rating but this only gets a 4 star because the title is a bit misleading. Indeed, the story takes place within days of Ceylon's independence from England but the preparations and activity of the people in the village or the British government reps are barely mentioned. Hopefully, the next book will give more details on the results of the break. At this point, India has been independent for two years and while that is mentioned the chaos and upheaval there is again sort of a side note. I suppose that the basic plots of the books are the cases with which Shanti and his officers become involved. In that regard, the tale does not disappoint. A prominent man is taken ill suddenly and there seems to be no clear cause though his sister is determined to convince everyone that his young wife has poisoned him. It certainly does not look good when that young woman disappears without a trace. The case becomes two-pronged then. What made the man ill and where is his wife? Lots of rumors, lots of red herrings, no clear suspects. In the end, however, the ending brings a bit of a surprise as well as several parades. One the usual pomp and tradition that only British soldiers in bright red uniforms can provide. The other a far more interesting parade of locals, excited at the prospect of getting their country back--dancers, musicians, acrobats and elephants. Archie and Florence are moving our the Residence but staying in Nuala. A new flag is flying and soon Ceylon will revert to Sri Lanka but with what adjustments? Longing to see what changes will come to Shanti and his police force as well.

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Review: The Lies I Tell

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Maybe My Favorite Color isn't Blue !

Wonder how safe those little quizzes your friend send you on FB? Well, meet Meg. The answers are just one of the tools this major con artist uses to work her way into meeting her next mark. And once she's become your " friend " it's open season. Now meet Kat. Thanks to a tip Meg gave her when Kat was a young reporter on the fallout of one of Men's cons, her life as planned was ruined. Kat is determined to destroy Meg . She will have to outcome the con, in a way! Tricky and with a twist totally unexpected but, somehow,satisfying.

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