Nan Willard Cappo (Author of Cheating Lessons)

Nan made a comment on Christy English's review of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

"Christy, I agree. Our book group read it and this diverse group of women all enjoyed it--for all kinds of reasons. Overall, we liked having a hero who...more "

Nan rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Instant Influence: How to Get Anyone to Do Anything--Fast
by Michael Pantalon

read in January, 2013

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So far I've used this book to kickstart my job search and really do the tasks; help my mother-in-law articulate her real reasons for moving from her big house to an apartment (they aren't what we thought); and help a client organize his office. Now h...more

Nan rated a book 2 of 5 stars

Steal Across the Sky
by Nancy Kress (Goodreads Author)

read in September, 2012

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I wanted to love this book, because I highly value Nancy Kress' books on writing--I use them a lot. But based on this novel only (it's the only one of hers I've read) she's showing the "John Gardner" syndrome--when a writer's books about how to creat...more

Nan rated a book 5 of 5 stars

The Persian Boy (Alexander the Great, #2)
by Mary Renault

read in September, 2012

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This is the second Renault title I've read, and I might like it even better than the Mask of Apollo. I remembered only a few generalities about Alexander the Great. I certainly didn't know about his devoted eunuch Bagoas, and how fascinatingly detail...more

Nan rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Havana Bay (Arkady Renko Series #4)
by Martin Cruz Smith

read in June, 2012

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Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko books do two things very well that I'm a sucker for: they give me fast-moving, intelligent and darkly humuorous mysteries, and they feed my interest in history and foreign locales that I'm too lazy to satisfy via nonf...more

Nan rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Into the Darkest Corner
by Elizabeth Haynes

read in July, 2012

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I loved the tension and compelling suspense of this debut novel; the tone of the writing and focused, detailed characterization were very well done. Catherine/Cathy Bailey leads a promiscuous party life you'd hate to think your daughter would try, bu...more I loved the tension and compelling suspense of this debut novel; the tone of the writing and focused, detailed characterization were very well done. Catherine/Cathy Bailey leads a promiscuous party life you'd hate to think your daughter would try, but once I accepted that, I was compelled to keep reading to see what happened. I don't remember ever encountering the narrative device the author uses here: date-labelled alternating sections, both in first person, one set from Catherine Bailey, hard-drinking party girl who gets involved with and almost killed by a handsome abusive psychopath cop (!), and one of accounts set four years later by Cathy Bailey, frightened, damaged OCD-crippled girl who can barely get to work because of the exhausting safety-checks she must repeat for hours. Once I realized this was the same character at different periods, I was hooked. This device avoids distancing, dreaded flashbacks, which aren't as interesting as present story. Clever, and it works well here.

The reasons I can't give it more than 3 stars are these: when Cathy finally gets the psychiatric help she needs, she cures herself so fast it strained my belief to the breaking point. (SPOILER ALERT) Her shrink and her boyfriend do such a good job helping her deal with her fears that even though she is quite correct that her attacker will hunt her down once he's released from prison, and even though she HAS PROOF that he's been in her apartment and left little clues in her laundry, silverware drawer, etc., that he knows she will recognize, Cathy--who's seemed pretty smart up till now--doesn't buy a gun, call the cops and tell them, or even convince her new boyfriend (who's also a shrink and should know better) that the Psycho is indeed back. No, she does deep breathing and then GOES INTO THE APT or down the stairs or to the meeting with her old friend, when she KNOWS he'll be watching her. Sheesh. I don't mind her being terrified, but I did mind her getting stupidly brave at all the wrong moments. Still, very entertaining. Author to watch.(less)

Nan rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Alibi
by Joseph Kanon (Goodreads Author)

read in June, 2012

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I just discovered Joseph Kanon's new book, Istanbul Passage, so now I'm reading his earlier books as well. Alibi did not disappoint. I adore books where the suspense comes from the moral dilemma of the protagonist, so I figured this would be up my al...more I just discovered Joseph Kanon's new book, Istanbul Passage, so now I'm reading his earlier books as well. Alibi did not disappoint. I adore books where the suspense comes from the moral dilemma of the protagonist, so I figured this would be up my alley. Or canal, as it's set in post-WW II Venice. But in Kanon's work there's never just one dilemma to worry about--every character has a secret.
American Adam Miller has just left the army after being an investigator of war criminals in Germany. His widowed mother has settled in Venice, where she'd once lived, and he goes to stay with her until he figures out what's next. Unlike most of Europe, Venice appears unchanged by the war's horrors. On the surface. By the time Adam meets his mother's new fiancee Gianni, and the pretty Italian Jewish Claudia fresh from a concentration camp, he realizes everyone in Venice has been affected by the war in some way. With the best of intentions (to protect his mother from a fortune-hunter, and show Claudia that love and life can still be hers), he gets caught in currents much murkier than anything he's read in a German case file. Soon he's up to his eyebrows in a murder investigation, and alibis, and not knowing who to believe--and realizing he himself is not to be trusted. About one-third through there came a scene that made me yell out in surprise. I had to put the book down and to absorb it before I could keep reading. And even then the revelations come so quickly yet unexpectedly, and subtly--the dialogue is a model of tight precision--that I had to use a blank piece of paper to read line by line, so my eye wouldn't be tempted to skip ahead before my brain caught up.
I was dazzled, though by the end, tired. Maybe one or two shocks too many. Or perhaps my complexity meter isn't used to being stretched by such elegant, layered plotting. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is, I really, really wanted a character--just one!--to believe in and root for. But such is the murky moral climate here that no one emerges without stain, or complicity in some very bad acts. For these people, the war will never be over.(less)

Nan made a comment on LJ's review of The Ivy Tree

"I know. I write mysteries myself (probably because I read so many of hers!), and envy Mary Stewart her time period of no cell phones, texting or inter...more "

Nan rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Same Kind of Different as Me
by Ron Hall

read in May, 2012

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Our book club chose this, and I delayed reading it till the last minute because I always feel manipulated--and bored--by "heartwarming" racial stories. But this was better than I expected, and different. Ron Hall is the white, wealthy Texan art trade...more

Nan rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Finder (Borderlands)
by Emma Bull (Goodreads Author)

read in May, 2012

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It's hard to pin down why I like this book so much. Maybe the sense that I've walked into the 3rd or 4th book of a series, because the backstory and history of the Borderlands setting is so deftly, unobtrusively suggested at. (Though this is the only...more

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	Cheating Lessons 3.49 of 5 stars 3.49 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 2003 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unaccounted For 3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Nan made a comment on Christy English's review of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand "Christy, I agree. Our book group read it and this diverse group of women all enjoyed it--for all kinds of reasons. Overall, we liked having a hero who...more "
Jan 23, 2013 10:04am · see review
Nan rated a book 5 of 5 stars Instant Influence: How to Get Anyone to Do Anything--Fast by Michael Pantalon read in January, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
So far I've used this book to kickstart my job search and really do the tasks; help my mother-in-law articulate her real reasons for moving from her big house to an apartment (they aren't what we thought); and help a client organize his office. Now h...more
Jan 09, 2013 08:36am · see review
Nan rated a book 2 of 5 stars Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress (Goodreads Author) read in September, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I wanted to love this book, because I highly value Nancy Kress' books on writing--I use them a lot. But based on this novel only (it's the only one of hers I've read) she's showing the "John Gardner" syndrome--when a writer's books about how to creat...more
Oct 01, 2012 01:56pm · see review
Nan rated a book 5 of 5 stars The Persian Boy (Alexander the Great, #2) by Mary Renault read in September, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is the second Renault title I've read, and I might like it even better than the Mask of Apollo. I remembered only a few generalities about Alexander the Great. I certainly didn't know about his devoted eunuch Bagoas, and how fascinatingly detail...more
Sep 11, 2012 02:56pm · see review
Nan rated a book 4 of 5 stars Havana Bay (Arkady Renko Series #4) by Martin Cruz Smith read in June, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko books do two things very well that I'm a sucker for: they give me fast-moving, intelligent and darkly humuorous mysteries, and they feed my interest in history and foreign locales that I'm too lazy to satisfy via nonf...more
Jul 06, 2012 05:51am · see review
Nan rated a book 3 of 5 stars Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes read in July, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I loved the tension and compelling suspense of this debut novel; the tone of the writing and focused, detailed characterization were very well done. Catherine/Cathy Bailey leads a promiscuous party life you'd hate to think your daughter would try, bu...more
Jul 02, 2012 03:03pm · see review
Nan rated a book 4 of 5 stars Alibi by Joseph Kanon (Goodreads Author) read in June, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I just discovered Joseph Kanon's new book, Istanbul Passage, so now I'm reading his earlier books as well. Alibi did not disappoint. I adore books where the suspense comes from the moral dilemma of the protagonist, so I figured this would be up my al...more
Jun 28, 2012 12:12pm · see review
Nan made a comment on LJ's review of The Ivy Tree "I know. I write mysteries myself (probably because I read so many of hers!), and envy Mary Stewart her time period of no cell phones, texting or inter...more "
Jun 22, 2012 02:08pm · see review
Nan rated a book 3 of 5 stars Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall read in May, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Our book club chose this, and I delayed reading it till the last minute because I always feel manipulated--and bored--by "heartwarming" racial stories. But this was better than I expected, and different. Ron Hall is the white, wealthy Texan art trade...more
May 24, 2012 05:15am · see review
Nan rated a book 4 of 5 stars Finder (Borderlands) by Emma Bull (Goodreads Author) read in May, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
It's hard to pin down why I like this book so much. Maybe the sense that I've walked into the 3rd or 4th book of a series, because the backstory and history of the Borderlands setting is so deftly, unobtrusively suggested at. (Though this is the only...more
May 13, 2012 09:09am · see review

Nan Willard Cappo

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