~4.5~ Wow what a fantastic find Jon Harrison’s debut novel turned out to be. Just an all-round great read that I was actually sorry to finish as by th...more~4.5~ Wow what a fantastic find Jon Harrison’s debut novel turned out to be. Just an all-round great read that I was actually sorry to finish as by the end I’d grown so attached to all the characters, I felt like I knew them, like they were friends of mine and I wasn’t ready to let them go.
The Banks Of Certain Rivers is one of those books that I kept picturing as a movie while I was reading, it’s just such a great story. Slow burning, full of surprises, encompassing humor, drama, suspense, tragedy, love and life. Yup this has it all, along with some very good writing.
I’ll admit that initially this was slow going (after the nail biting prologue) as the author just sort of drops you into it and you’re left trying to figure out who all these characters are and why their detailed back stories are so important. But as it all comes together, wow, I couldn’t read fast enough. So many twists and turns, and a very clever plot as even the smallest; most mundane of details becomes very important by the end. I personally never did figure out “who done it” and was left surprised many times.
I don’t want to give away any plot details here, as this is SO worth discovering on your own, but I need to mention the e-mails. What a freakin genius idea. I am left wondering what happened to them though?
High school teacher Neil Kazenzakis is hanging on by a thread. Of course he thinks everything is fine but with his wife permanently disabled, a girlfriend who wants a commitment and a teenage son he’s been keeping at arm’s length (so he doesn’t find out about the girlfriend) it’s not going to take much to topple his house of cards. And that’s exactly what happens.
When dubious and career ending video footage of Neil surfaces online, and is picked up by the media, it looks like Neil will lose everything. Now he’s questioning his own memories of the event which in turn is making it difficult to prove his innocence let alone repair the damage. It’s also forced Neil to re-examine a few other issues he thought he’d dealt with. And then there’s his son Chris, probably not the best time for him to come clean about Lauren but there’s even more to come there as well.
This was an excellent read that I highly recommend. I’ll be on the lookout for Jon Harrison’s next book. Cheers 355jb45(less)
Killing Me Softly is a love story but not in the typical sense; it’s obsessive, all consuming, violent, intense, desperate and ultimately terrifying....moreKilling Me Softly is a love story but not in the typical sense; it’s obsessive, all consuming, violent, intense, desperate and ultimately terrifying. And oh my god is it good. I literally could not put this down.
If I could compare this book to anything I would say that initially it reminded me of a combination of 9 ½ weeks and that Richard Gere/Diane Lane movie from a few years ago (Unfaithful) -based on the passion, intensity and utter randomness of our couples first encounter. Of course it then unravels into a tense psychological thriller which much in a car wreck sort of way you can’t take your eyes off of. Throughout I had a feeling of, this just can’t end well.
I should mention that despite the fact that the blurb on the jacket describes this book as ‘erotic’ all the sex scenes are off page; it’s still sexy as hell -in an alarming sort of way. And I’ll admit to being very uncomfortable in sections, shaking my head at our heroine’s decisions and basic lack of “self” (“what the hell are you thinking girl?”) I also doubted myself, doubted Alice and Adam and was left utterly raw and heartbroken by the end. Just the kind of reading experience I love.
Alice Loudon has it all: a comfortable life, a stable (nice) live-in boyfriend, a good job, clever friends, and then one day while walking down a London street on her lunch hour she sees him, standing there, staring, as if waiting for her. The attraction is immediate; it’s unexplainable, like a lightning bolt that neither of them can turn away from. He is Adam Tallis and without speaking a word she follows this complete stranger to his apartment where she proceeds to let him take her clothes off and engages in the most intense love making she has ever known. In fact with Adam she needs a new word for sex. He envelopes her, obliterates her, he is unlike any man she has ever known, and within days she is lost to him.
Abandoning everything (and I mean that literally) Alice leaves her boyfriend and moves in, within months they’re married. Nothing matters except him and them and her world becomes very small. She barely recognizes herself in the mirror anymore as Adam begins to possess every aspect of her being. He worships her, desires her, loves her in an all-consuming way and there isn’t room for anyone or anything else. Alice’s world shrinks to being just Adam; the stranger she fell in love with on a street.
Adam. Her enigmatic husband, world renowned mountain climber, guide and reluctant hero after his last expedition in the Himalayas left half of their group dead. Adam comes with a whole circle of mysterious and exotic friends and it’s when Klaus decides to write a book about the tragedy of the Chungawat expedition that Alice opens her eyes. Reality creeps in, jealousy and doubt takes hold and the tension level rises. How well does she really know this man? Told entirely from the first person we witness Alice’s inner turmoil, doubts and fears as curiosity about her husband’s past and former lovers becomes in of itself an obsession.
“What a ghastly farce it all was. Our whole marriage was built on desire and deception.” (less)
Opening Line: “Nailer clambered through a service duct, tugging at copper wire and yanking it free.”
Wow what a world Paolo Bacigalupi has created here...moreOpening Line: “Nailer clambered through a service duct, tugging at copper wire and yanking it free.”
Wow what a world Paolo Bacigalupi has created here with Ship Breaker. I won’t say this is the best dystopian book I’ve read but it’s definitely up there as the freakiest in terms of a plausible or even inevitable future -should global warming cripple the earth, the ice caps melt and all of our natural resources disappear.
Initially I’d been drawn to this book because it reminded me of a documentary I’d seen about families in India who lived and worked on the beach, eking out a living by breaking down oil tankers for parts (which is the exact scenario here) The extreme poverty, danger, expendability and daily fight for survival stuck with me and I suppose that’s why for several chapters here I assumed this took place in a third world country, it does but that country is now on the US Gulf coast. For me this is where Ship Breaker shines; the world building here is simply awesome.
Anyways this was a great read, well written, unique and action filled. There are morality choices (love books that make me think, what would I do?) some romance (a hint of) pirates, hurricanes, knife fights, train chases, treasure hunting and a drug addicted antagonist who also just happens to be the hero’s father. Yeah he was a very bad man. Come to think of it there is quite a bit of violence in this story.
I also enjoyed the distinctions presented here in class discrepancy and fell in love with a character named Tool (a DNA altered or manufactured half man/dog/tiger who could really do with his own book. I struggled a bit with the weird names (reminding me of (The Hunger Games) in their anonymity) Pima, Bapi, Sloth, Tick-Tock. And lastly I just need to mention a scene that will haunt me for a long time –when our hero gets lost and stuck deep within the bowls of the tanker, its pitch dark and he’s fallen into an oil reservoir. This made me frantic, claustrophobic, terrified and a real fan of Bacigalupi.
Nailer works the “light crew” scavenging through the wrecks of ancient oil tankers that now litter the coast. His job is to crawl deep inside these iron beasts and strip them of their copper wire, turning it over to his violent crew boss. It’s very important the Nailer make quota as there are many other kids starving in the shanty town who would kill for his job. It’s a brutal existence but all he knows. The other problem that is fast approaching is that Nailer is quite simply getting too big for his work, struggling to fit into the rusty pipelines. And then what? With no way of earing his keep and only so many viable organs to sell how will he live?
As luck would have it a “city killer” hurricane strikes the coast and in its aftermath Nailer and his friend Pima stumble upon the wreck of a luxurious clipper ship. Smashed against the rocks the ship is filled with more valuables then either of them could dream about in a lifetime. Nailer has hit the “lucky strike” now if he can find a way to claim and cash in the bounty before the other scavengers discover them. He hadn’t counted on any survivors amidst the wreckage however and now he’s faced with the choice of killing this half drowned “swank” girl or saving her in the hopes that her wealthy family will reward him. Cheers 330jb4 (less)
Opening Line:"I was thirty years old when the seaplane T.J Callahan and I were travelling on crash-landed in the Indian ocean."
Gawd this left me shatt...moreOpening Line:"I was thirty years old when the seaplane T.J Callahan and I were travelling on crash-landed in the Indian ocean."
Gawd this left me shattered, easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s taken me ages to get a review organized because I just couldn’t figure out how to write one that would do this amazing story justice.
There were just so many things I loved about this; a survival story, a forbidden romance, a tropical desert isle location, action, suspense, (freakin sharks) uncertainty, heartbreak. ON THE ISLAND was unputdownable from the very first page, took me on a ride that I didn’t want to end and tugged at my heartstrings every step of the way. Anna and T.J’s story of survival and ultimately love is fascinating, well written and not one that I'll be able to forget.
Thirty year old Anna Emerson has just taken a job tutoring a wealthy family’s 16 year old son for the summer. The job takes her to the Maldives, which is perfect because her current relationship is going nowhere and she wants the time away to sort out her feelings. Anna meets up wither student in the airport where they begin the long multi connection journey together. T.J Callahan is old beyond his 16 years, having just stared cancer in the face but spending his summer vacation with his family and a tutor is the last thing he wants to do even if she is kinda hot.
On the last leg of their journey the pilot of their single engine plane suffers a heart attack and crash lands somewhere in the Indian Ocean. With Anna unconscious T.J manages to get them ashore and then their journey begins. For 3 1/2 years Anna and TJ struggle for survival on the deserted tropical island (think Tom Hanks in Castaway) armed only with only with items that wash up on the beach, a determination that they will be rescued and each other. Together they face insurmountable odds and with each year that passes their bond and dependence on each other only grows.
A lot of other reviewers have mentioned the age factor being an issue but I never had a problem with it. I felt that their relationship took a natural progression due to their circumstances. I mean they relied on each other completely and after a time rescue and the outside world would have seemed a dream. Through uncomplicated writing and an alternating 1st person POV the author really gives us a feel for both characters. This is particularly important in T.J’s case because his POV matures from boy to man, assuring the reader that there isn’t anything wrong or dirty with the romance aspect.
The survival side of their ordeal is also realistically portrayed and this is definitely one of those books that will make you stop and think; what would I have done in their situation? Would I have done anything differently? Would I have survived? Could I have bettered the situation?
Throughout I kept having flashes of The Blue Lagoon (especially during the shark scenes) which was an absolute favourite movie of mine as a teenager (Come on, Christopher Atkins romancing Brooke Shields in a loin cloth) This may have played a part into why I loved this book so much, well that and haven’t we all had the marooned on a desert isle with a hot guy fantasy at one time or another? Other influences here were Lost and as I mentioned Castaway.
This is a beautiful love story that until the very end I was never sure how it was going to play out. *Sigh* the epilogue. I want to thank everyone who recommended it to me and I’ll be doing the same Cheers.
Opening Line:"I'm shivering, and I can't tell it it's because something strange is going on or because of the dream I had or just because I'm in the k...moreOpening Line:"I'm shivering, and I can't tell it it's because something strange is going on or because of the dream I had or just because I'm in the kitchen, away from the warmth of the wood stove."(less)
Oh this was good, probably just as good as Life As We Knew It but the shock factor from that 1st book kind of knocks this one down a notch. This is a...moreOh this was good, probably just as good as Life As We Knew It but the shock factor from that 1st book kind of knocks this one down a notch. This is a companion book to LAWKI, that’s right the same exact events from a different perspective. Here instead of reading from the diary of a girl in rural Pennsylvania we get the POV of a 17 year old boy in New York City as he also deals with the aftermath of an asteroid hitting the moon and knocking it out of its orbit. The same apocalyptic events follow; Tsunamis claim the coasts, volcanoes erupt, ash fills the sky, arctic winter sets in followed by food shortages, killer flues and starvation.
THE DEAD & THE GONE is equally as realistic and bone chilling as the first book, maybe even more so and also just as fascinating and unlookawayable. Even knowing the turn of events I was going to face this book still managed to shock me and mess with my head. Yup, the OCD is back too, stockpiling food and supplies just in case.
Family again plays a key role within this story as does religion, courage and personal sacrifice and there are couple of scenes in that regard that are going to stick with me for a long time. Like when Alex enters Yankee Stadium in the (hopes?) of identifying the body of his missing mother. This scene is terrifying; right from the militant aspect of him boarding the bus to get to the stadium through to the sounds Susan Beth Pfeffer describes inside. I can still hear the wailing, the buzz. And then there’s “body shopping” with his friend Kevin -amazing what becomes normal in an apocalyptic world. I can’t honestly say I was pleased with the ending, it just sort of well, ends without any resolutions or even a feeling of this is a good place to stop for a cliff hanger. I kept turning the page looking for more. Huh did I miss something? Other than that a fantastic, absorbing read.
17 year old Alex Morales is a junior in high school when cataclysmic events alter his life forever. Within hours of the asteroid hitting the moon his home of New York becomes an unfamiliar city. Panic sets in as the power and phones go out and Alex quickly realizes that with his father in Puerto Rico attending a funeral and his mother unreachable at her job at a hospital in Queens he is in charge of the care and safety of his two younger sisters. With news of subway floodings and worldwide tsunamis he also has no way of knowing if his parents are dead or alive. Waiting to hear of their fate just added another level of suspense to this story.
As summer turns to arctic winter the rich and influential abandon the city, leaving the poor to fend for themselves. Disease and starvation threatens those left behind, food becomes scarce, money no longer has any value and the barter system takes over, what can he trade to feed his sisters for another week? How many tins of food can he get for this watch, this coat, these shoes, this bottle of vodka. How much is this 10,000 dollar winning lottery ticket worth? (A tin of pineapple as it turns out) When his pretty and spirited 12 year old sister becomes something of value Alex has to find a way to get them out of New York at any cost.
“Imagine if Bridget Jones fell into A million little pieces, flew over the cuckoo’s nest and befriended Lindsey Lohan along the way.” Okay I might hav...more“Imagine if Bridget Jones fell into A million little pieces, flew over the cuckoo’s nest and befriended Lindsey Lohan along the way.” Okay I might have stolen that quote from the back of the book but it does describe Spin perfectly, so I couldn’t help myself.
This was a fantastic read and from a new Canadian author no less. Totally relatable, addictive and hilarious, I had trouble putting this one down. It's written along the lines of Sophia Kinsley’s Confessions of a Shopaholic series or as I mentioned Bridget Jones's Diary, I also had flashes of Girl, Interrupted (if the loony bin were rehab) And yet despite all the comparisons Spin still manages to have a unique feel to it.
Peppered with pop culture references from movies, TV and music there's even a chapter by chapter playlist included at the end. I also just love books that are written the way we girls actually think, you know with random disjointed thoughts and crazy insecurities. And how much fun is it to follow a heroine who isn’t perfect? Kate, well she’s a mess so it was an absolute blast stumbling along with her while she finds herself.
Kate,(Katie, whatever) Sanford has just landed the job interview she’s been dreaming about her entire adult life, (other than writing for Rolling Stone that is.) It’s an interview with her favourite music magazine The Line. It’s also Katie’s 30th birthday which is all the more reason to celebrate, right? I mean what harm can meeting her friend Greer and having one little drink do? She’ll still get home early enough to be clear headed and fresh for the big interview tomorrow. Well as most of us know there’s no such thing as one drink (especially with friends like Greer.)
Katie’s botched interview is hilarious, she’s late arriving, still a bit drunk and concludes the meeting by excusing herself to throw up and lie on the restroom floor. Needless to say she doesn’t get the job. She is however just perfect for another assignment they have in mind; entering a 30 day stint in rehab to spy on the new “it” girl of the moment and writing a 5,000 word expose for their subsidiary gossip magazine. (Should she succeed the job she actually wants will also be waiting for her.) It’s a no brainer really, at this point Katie has burned almost every bridge she can and has nothing left to loose, besides its only for 30 days.
Kate’s observations from rehab while somewhat heartbreaking still retain the comedy. Her experiments with jogging had me laughing out loud as did the descriptions of her dog obsessed counsellor. Of course there’s a romance in bloom and hey what do you know she might just have a drinking issue after all. At the very least Katie needs to grow up and stop telling people she’s still in college or at least partying with college kids. The rehab section of the story is predictable but that doesn’t make it any less fun to watch the train wreck and cheer from the sidelines. The ending reads like a Hugh Grant movie and I loved it. Cheers 284jb5(less)
Opening Line: "Driving down Long Valley Road. Lovely day; bright sunshine, blue sky."
This week has been one filled with romantic tragedies for me. Fir...moreOpening Line: "Driving down Long Valley Road. Lovely day; bright sunshine, blue sky."
This week has been one filled with romantic tragedies for me. First I went to the see the re-release of Titanic in 3D (oh Jack) and then because I hadn’t had quite enough heartache I decided to revisit one of my all time favourite romances with Somewhere In Time (Bid Time Return.) It’s been years since I first read this as a teenager, -god knows how many times I watched the movie starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve (another tragedy there) and I wasn’t sure if I’d feel the same about it now.
Really the only difference this time around was that I was able to appreciate the quality of the writing and amount of research that must have gone into making this tale of time travel, well, believable. The romance is still as moving as it was. And yes much like Titanic even though I knew what was coming I still shed a tear at the end.
Told from a first person narrative and written as if you were reading a journal, we meet Richard Collier. A 30ish Los Angeles screenwriter with an inoperable brain tumour. Not wanting to burden his family, Richard packs up his life and decides to end his days wherever the road takes him. These beginning chapters are fast moving, choppy and written with short slightly erratic paragraphs as Richard dictates into an audio diary. In the second half the journal entries become longer and more detailed and quite honestly a little dry in places.
Through the fate of a coin toss Richard finds himself at the Hotel Del Coronado, a grand seaside resort, steeped in history that manages to become a character onto itself here. It’s within the hotel museum that Richard comes across a turn of the century photograph of an actress named Elise McKenna, and at that moment everything else in Richard’s life ceases to exist. He can’t stop thinking about the beautiful woman, or the look in her eyes, becoming obsessed with her and the time she lived in. Richard then begins to research her life and in every instance notes a complete change in her character after her acting troupe left the hotel 75 years before. If only he could meet her, if only he could get to her and find out what made her so sad, why she never married.
Its then that Richard begins researching time travel and self hypnosis, convinced that he can get back to her. When he finds his name in an 1896 hotel registry he knows with certainty what the change in Elise was. He was with her, now he just has to get back to her. Some of the time travel paradoxes in this are positively mind bending and you can’t think about them too long for fear of brain explosions.
As I mentioned the writing changes as soon as Richard finds himself in 1896 (yeah he does) becoming more formal and detailed. It is explained that he is now writing his accounts instead of dictating. Matheson’s descriptions of the time are pure genius, not just taking into account the obvious like clothing but the social attitudes, the language differences, the size of people. Is everyone short and stocky? I loved the descriptions and Richards discovery of it all. The romance aspect here is beautifully done albeit a little soppy and with a hint of the supernatural, because as it turns out Elise was expecting him. Well not him but through a physic she’s been waiting for someone mysterious to sweep her off her feet. Her over protective manager plays the antagonist here, trying in vain to keep them apart and while Richard should hate him he finds that he cannot because he knows how the man dies.
I suppose you can’t change the past though and as much as I found myself cheering for our couple it was already written. Probably the most moving part of this book is in the afterward (provided by Richard’s brother) which explains that his time travel was only that of a form of escapism provided by his tumour amassed brain. Robert Collier cannot however explain the love letters in Richards pocket or the antique (yet new) pocket watch or Elise McKenna’s famous dying last words. He leaves it up to the reader to decide if it happened or not. I think it did. Cheers. 291jb4(less)
“What are we if not an accumulation of our memories?”
Really, really enjoyed this one (thanks Tamster) even though suspense/thrillers aren’t my usual g...more“What are we if not an accumulation of our memories?”
Really, really enjoyed this one (thanks Tamster) even though suspense/thrillers aren’t my usual genre. The premise here reminds me of the movie 50 First Dates -girl wakes up each morning with no memories of the previous day(s) and essentially relives each new day as her first, being told about her accident and looking at photographs of her missing life. This isn’t a comedy though. The story here is dark and mysterious, with an impending sense of everyone/everything is not as it seems. As the reader you have the task of trying to figure it out who the bad guy is, who’s lying to Christine and why. I didn’t figure that out or see the big twist coming until I was right on top of it, so this was a super fun read for me.
At times the story does get repetitive because we’re continually in Christine’s head, being retold or reading and relearning everything from her journal over and over again. By the same token the first person narrative also got to be a bit much but really this couldn’t have been written any other way.
We begin with Christine waking up in a stranger’s bed. She can’t remember how she got there but her twenty-something self tells her that she must have hooked up with the man at a party. Christine is not hung over though and soon learns that she’s no longer in twenties either but from the same decade as the middle aged man washing up in the bathroom. And now he’s telling her that he’s her husband Ben, and that she suffered a devastating injury resulting in a rare form of amnesia, leaving her unable to retain memories from one day to the next.
Left alone Christine begins to putter about the house, what does she do all day anyways? Does it matter? She soon receives a phone call from a man claiming to be her Doctor; he explains that she has been keeping a journal and where it is hidden. It is through this journal that Christine begins to piece her life back together, forming a fragmented picture from those she is supposed to trust. But not everything adds up and as the days go by and the journal entries get longer Christine realizes that she is receiving two different versions of her life from her Doctor and her husband.
Relying completely on the journal Christine begins testing her husband and finally doubting herself as confusing memories return. Are they real? When the last day’s journal entry reads “Don’t trust Ben” who will she turn to? What is the truth?
I found this scary and sad in the sense that Christine has lost 20 years of her life. Imagine being in college and waking up at 45! Repeating the same day over and over, not knowing what is real, just relying on those you think you can trust. Realizing that you’ve probably been having the same conversations, asking the same questions and being told the same horrible truths (lies) every day.
This was a great read, it’s not perfect but made me stop and think. It has also been optioned for film by Ridley Scott’s production company. And I think it will make a fantastic movie.
Opening Line: "I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference."
So I’m going to try to write a somewhat sensible review here that doe...moreOpening Line: "I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference."
So I’m going to try to write a somewhat sensible review here that doesn’t come across as all gushy fan-girl. I will say (hopefully only once) that I adored this book but you should know that I'm a bit of a sucker for a tragedy too. ONE DAY was brilliant in every way; making me laugh and cry while filling me with nostalgia and longing. And because I’m the same age as Dexter and Emma the time frame here was also totally relatable (see nostalgia) with little details I had forgotten about from the past two decades.
Equal parts heartbreaking and hilarious yet also suspenseful as each chapter takes place a year to the day after the last one so you have to figure out what’s happened in that time between. And of course you want the H/h to get together so you’re waiting with bated breathe for them to finally “see” each other too. In the end this also made me want to seize the day like it’s my last, phone up all my long lost friends and lovers and look at old photographs. Hmmm and I haven’t even gotten into the genius of the writing yet (how do you put that into words?)
I knew that writing a review here was going to be difficult (when you love a book this much there doesn’t seem to be enough correct words to do it justice) and I promised myself to just keep this short and to the point so here goes... This is one of the most hilarious, perceptive, witty, moving and heartbreaking books I have ever read.
Told in 5 parts in alternating POV’s and over a span of twenty years Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley meet in 1988. Em has just graduated from university and hooked up with that boy she’s seen around for ages. He is Dexter, beautiful, pretentious and in his mind destined for greatness. As the sun rises they drink wine and talk about their futures. They have their whole lives stretching out ahead of them in an endless number of days and isn’t it going to be wonderful they can achieve anything they want to.
Starting as lovers Dexter and Emma continue as friends and the book joins them on July 15th of each year (St Swithin’s day) through their 20’s and 30’s and into their 40’s. As anyone in their 40’s knows, life happens and it doesn’t always go as planned, missed opportunities and the like.
“When I was younger everything seemed possible. Now nothing does.”
Through phone calls and letters, in different countries and towns, through assorted relationships, jobs and life’s little surprises and ruts we join Em and Dex each year in a unique snapshot of their life. They don’t always get along but they do think about each other everyday in some way and in case you haven’t figured it out this is ultimately a love story.
I can’t say much more about this without giving it all away. But when I read the last word I wanted to start it again and nothing I’ve tried to read since compares. Cheers.
“Live each day as if it’s your last, that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that?” (less)
This was just the perfect Valentine’s Day read. In the style of (The Notebook), a heartbreaker with flashbacks to the 2nd World War, religious underto...moreThis was just the perfect Valentine’s Day read. In the style of (The Notebook), a heartbreaker with flashbacks to the 2nd World War, religious undertones and a love story that knows no bounds.
Betty White starred in the Hallmark movie version of this which is how I first became aware of the story. I liked the book even better though, even if it did jump around a lot with different time periods and up to 10 POV's including some very minor secondary characters. The battle scenes from the Philippians were particularly well done.
As well as the main 1940’s war time romance we’re also given a modern day older man/younger woman second chance romance (as the son of our couple tells his parents love story to a TV reporter) I enjoyed it equally as much.
The Last Valentine is just an all-round, beautiful, albeit bittersweet love story that left me believing in magic, requiring some tissues and unable to forget. Cheers ~4.5~ 350jb45(less)
I am rapidly reaching the point with Megan Hart that if she were to write a phone book I’m pretty sure I...moreOpening Line: "This was the life she'd made."
I am rapidly reaching the point with Megan Hart that if she were to write a phone book I’m pretty sure I would read it because she’s just that good at making words beautiful. She also manages to put those words into exactly the emotions and private thoughts I assumed I was alone in having while weaving and layering together an achingly thoughtful story. And here with Precious And Fragile Things I’ve learned that she can hold my attention without the erotica too. Because this was so not erotic, it wasn’t even in any way a romance, in fact it was kind of disturbing. Yet in the end I would have to say that it was also amazing, because its lingered with me for days now.
I’ve never read anything like this before, (which I seem to say with each of Hart’s books) 99% of this takes place within a secluded, snowed in, mountain cabin and its here within those 4 walls, in a simple character study that we watch two very different yet equally damaged souls bounce off each other. By all rights this should have been boring and tedious read yet because of Hart’s gifts as a writer I was left utterly entranced.
Gilly Solomon is exhausted. Mentally and physically burnt out from the endless cycle of looking after her house, her husband, and her two young children. All she dreams about is a couple of hour’s peace, a break from the constant crying children, menial tasks, and endless demands to her time, someone to look after her for a change. Gilly’s at a breaking point the night a man jumps into her Suburban, holds a knife to her throat and tells her to drive. She isn’t thinking clearly when she manages to get the children out and she’s definitely lost it when they stop for gas and Gilly doesn’t run….
Now she’s stranded in a remote cabin with a dangerous knife wielding stranger who can’t release her because he fears going back to prison and she’s only got herself to blame. Time however forges a bond of sorts between the captor and the captive and as the snow piles up around them and the days turn into months she learns that her kidnapper -Todd is not the lunatic she first believed. He’s but a man shaped by his horrific past much in the same way Gilly is.
The tension throughout this is palpable by the end though the suspense was killing me because I had absolutely no idea how this was going to play out, and I knew there couldn’t really be any kind of conventional HEA. All I will say about “that” is I was VERY surprised by what did happen and my only disappointment in this book lies here as well, as I would have liked more details on the …afterwards. Cheers people.(less)
Opening Line:"My grandfather, the knife fighter, killed two Germans before he was eighteen."
I came away from this feeling, very cold, very hungry and...moreOpening Line:"My grandfather, the knife fighter, killed two Germans before he was eighteen."
I came away from this feeling, very cold, very hungry and with an inexplicable need to make sure my pantry was full. CITY OF THIEVES is a fantastic story; set in 1942 during the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad. It’s a coming of age story filled with adventure, suspense, friendship, romance and tragedy all washed down with (from what I understand) a historically accurate picture of Leningrad during the blockade.
I should point out that despite the events of the time this is also a surprisingly funny read as our two main characters; Kolya the romantic optimist and Lev with his random internal observations both have an interesting way of looking at life around them during the absurdities of war.
The story begins with a powerful opening chapter; a writer asks his grandfather to tell him about his experiences during the war. All the narrator knows -and he doesn’t remember anyone telling him its just one of those family folklores that he always has- is that his grandfather, "the knife fighter" killed two Germans before he was eighteen and is missing a finger. And so Lev begins to tell his story to his grandson. Talking openly for the first time about his childhood, coming to America and sex. Mostly though he talks about a two week period in 1942 when he met his best friend, the woman that would become his wife and killed two Germans. I actually referred back to this chapter several times during the course of the book and again when I finished.
Its January 1942 Leningrad is under marshal law, surrounded by the German army and what’s left of its inhabitants are starving. Our hero 17 year old Lev Beniov has just been arrested for looting and placed in a cell with a handsome friendly deserter named Kolya Vlasov. Both of their crimes are grounds for execution and as our heroes get to know each other that’s what they expect come morning. However in a twist of fate they are given a chance to save their own lives, a secret mission for a powerful soviet colonel, all they have to do is find a dozen eggs for his daughter’s wedding cake.
A dozen eggs in a city cut off from supplies, a city resorting to cannibalism and eating glue from book spines to survive. It is of course a ludicrous and impossible task one which takes our new friends far into German occupied territory, through the bitter cold of winter and countless adventures and atrocities. The outcome didn’t really surprise me but I haven't stopped thinking about it either.
“One moment I thought I had a few minutes left to live; the next a sniper was flirting with me. Was she flirting with me? The days had become a confusion of catastrophes; what seemed impossible in the afternoon was blunt fact by the evening. German corpses fell from the sky; cannibals sold sausage links made from ground human in the Haymarket; apartments blocs collapsed to the ground; dogs became bombs; frozen soldiers became sign posts. I had no food in my belly, no fat on my bones and no energy to reflect on this parade of atrocities. I just kept moving, hoping to find another half slice of bread for myself and a dozen eggs for the colonel’s daughter.”(less)
Opening line: My desert -island, all time, top five most memorable split-ups, in chronological order:”
This is one of those modern classics on everyone...moreOpening line: My desert -island, all time, top five most memorable split-ups, in chronological order:”
This is one of those modern classics on everyone’s “to read” list and while it wasn’t my first Nick Hornby book it is the one that everyone talks about so of course I went into this expecting to be awed. I guess I should mention that I haven’t seen the movie (what! I know) so I knew nothing about the storyline, not that that would have influenced me I just went into this blind.
And, well I wish I could say I loved this (since that would make me one of the cool kids) but honestly the best I can come up with is under whelmed. Of course the writing is wonderful and it really is laugh-out-loud funny in places but I also found myself alternating between skim reading (because the story wasn’t going anywhere) and all the 80’s pop music references and top 5 lists got to be a bit much. But then I'd catch myself rereading and marking numerous passages because they were just genius, describing exactly how I felt/feel.
I should tell you that the music references are somewhat dated now and anyone under the age of 40 will be scratching their heads especially if you live in America as this involves British pop music and Indie bands.
I think one of the main problems for me is that our protagonist Rob isn’t a very likable character. It was hard to have any sort of compassion for him or for that matter even want to read about him. I actually found myself preferring any of the sections that placed him with other people because when we were alone in his head being all introspective I got bored. Rob is immature, selfish, self-absorbed and depressed, stuck in a job, apartment and relationship that have all gone stale. He has zero self confidence yet at the same time is so full of himself that he expects everything to revolve around him, which of course it doesn’t and this in turn makes him lash out at his friends, parents and girlfriend to feel better about the state of his life.
Rob is a bit of a loser; a thirty-something music junkie he spends his days running a near failing record shop and reminiscing about the 80’s when he was semi successful DJ. Rob’s life has stalled and he can’t see a way out so he compiles top 5 lists of his favourite bands, songs, episodes of Cheers etc, insults his equally lost friends and plots ways to kill the guy who lives in the flat upstairs and stole his girlfriend. Along the way Rob manages to grow up, (some) and realizes change might not be so horrible. (less)
Opening Line:"Charlie St. Cloud wasn't the best or brightest boy in Essex County, but he was surely the most promising"
I read this a few years ago but...moreOpening Line:"Charlie St. Cloud wasn't the best or brightest boy in Essex County, but he was surely the most promising"
I read this a few years ago but after recently seeing the movie I was reminded of how much I’d liked this story and decided I had to revisit Charlie St Cloud and his little brother Sam. Even though I knew the big reveal this time through I was still able to immerse myself completely in this magical, moving journey from death back to life.
With a story and writing style reminiscent of Nicholas Sparks this is an easy, beautiful and somewhat tear-jerking read that I would recommend to fans of his. There is of course a touching love story here but to me this was more about brothers, letting go of the past and embracing life.
Sherwood also manages to also bring the seaside town of Marblehead Massachusetts to life with quaint and intriguing secondary characters and a unique yachting theme. There were times here when I could actually smell the sea breeze, feel the salt spray on my face and really see his descriptions of clouds and setting suns. So much so that despite the movie being filmed some 50 miles from my (Canadian) back yard I still had the urge to visit New England. I think what I liked most here though was Sherwood’s comforting take on the afterlife; giving us all hope that our departed are with us, all around us and waiting for us.
As a teenager Charlie St. Cloud died in a car accident, brought back after a few minutes by the paramedics his younger brother Sam wasn’t to be so lucky. During those brief moments before Charlie was returned to life he made a promise to his brother that he would never leave him, and he never has. Now 13 years later Charlie is working in a cemetery, he’s still full of guilt over the accident however by some twist of fate he can now see the dead walking amongst the tombstones and every night at sunset he meets Sam in a secret grove where they play baseball together in a Field Of Dreams sort of way. Charlie’s never missed a single sunset with the fear that his brother would fade away if he did, in this way though neither of them has been able to move on. The cemetery almost becomes a character of its own here, no longer feeling like a creepy, sad place but one of magic and adventure.
Tess Carol is about to embark on a solo sailing trip around the world so meeting someone like Charlie is definitely not in her plans. Yet despite his odd habit of disappearing at sunset she can’t help but fall in love, these days he seems to be the only one who really “sees” her. When Tess’s boat is lost in a storm Charlie is faced with the ultimate choice between death and life. In joining the search party he chooses love and a future full of possibilities yet in doing so he’ll also break his promise and risk losing his brother forever. (less)
4.5~ Wow, this was one of those short sneaky books that you devour in a day and then can’t stop thinking ab...moreOpening line:“I have always loved my wife.”
4.5~ Wow, this was one of those short sneaky books that you devour in a day and then can’t stop thinking about. At about 130 pages SUNRISE ON KUSATSU HARBOUR has a huge story to tell and with about 200 more pages it would have been an epic read. As it stands though it felt rushed and important events that I would love to have read about in greater detail were glazed over. However the narration style almost dictates this as it is the retelling of a story from a third person and the underlying message does still manage to shine thorough.
Sunrise is a frightening, tragic and haunting story of star crossed lovers. Encompassing love and hate, revenge and prejudice but most of all forgiveness. It’s a small book with a big message and a twist at the end that will really leave you wondering. I also think that this book would make for a fantastic movie, regardless I’m just glad I found it.
We begin with a man finding a video tape at a garage sale. Instead of the tape containing the movie he was expecting it instead shows the confession of an older Japanese man. And so our story begins with the writer of this tale telling us Meiko’s story via the video diary. Taking us back to Japan during the 2nd world war where we watch a young couple fall in love and make plans for a promising future together. One fateful day our hero Meiko is called to serve in the army, he pledges his undying love to his girlfriend Tori on Kusatsu beach, vowing to always be true to her and return and get married as soon as Japan wins the war. Meiko then leaves his peaceful village in Hiroshima to help create biological weapons for the war effort.
So, now that we know where they are, we all know what’s coming next and it was very interesting to see life from the other side of the war. On the day the US drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Tori is in Kusatsu harbour, missing her man. The blast knocks her from the beach and into the ocean saving her life. However everyone and everything else she has ever known is now gone. Deciding that she must try to find Meiko, Tori then travels many hundred miles to where he is stationed in Nagasaki only to learn that just the day before Meiko went AWOL and is now trying to find her back in Hiroshima.
That is when the 2nd bomb drops on Nagasaki, leaving Tori alive but horribly burned and disfigured. She is hospitalized for a long time. Meanwhile Meiko has of course not been able to find his true love and can only assume that she is dead. When the Emperor of Japan surrenders Meiko makes his plans for revenge, sailing out of Kusatsu harbour on a boat bound for America. Little does he know that the figure watching from Kusatsu beach is his Tori. As I said this a star crossed lover’s story and our couple cross paths many times before finally meeting again far away and under unusual and fateful circumstances. For such a short read this book is decades in it’s telling with Meiko paying a huge cost for his revenge. Not easily forgotten. (less)
Creepy, beautiful and heartbreaking would be how I’d describe STOLEN. A very different sort of read that w...moreOpening Line: "You saw me before I saw you."
Creepy, beautiful and heartbreaking would be how I’d describe STOLEN. A very different sort of read that would make a good book club choice because of all the symbolism and emotions the reader is left with in the end, not all of which are comfortable. I found myself suffering from Stockholm syndrome here because I felt for the bad guy. I really wanted a different ending for him.
The beauty of Australia is another reason I enjoyed this so much; the land just comes alive here; the dry burnt earth, the smell of eucalyptus, the endless sand and dust, the stars, the voice of the desert and how we’re like a grain of sand, insignificant in the great scheme of things. See I told you this was a deep read. The Outback setting is very much a main character within this story; brutal and giving, dangerous and loving. Yes, the symbolism.
I should also mention that Gemma’s story has been written in the first person as a letter to her abductor and it feels a little strange and clunky at first because of the way she always refers to him “-you grinned almost proudly, I screamed and bit you, you were standing in the kitchen” etc.
Gemma is sixteen years old, travelling with her parents from London to Vietnam via Bangkok when she meets a man in the airport. He buys her a coffee and seems strangely familiar. He’s in his twenties, good looking in a rugged sort of way and she’s flattered by the attention. Gemma never finishes her coffee. Drugged and kidnapped her next cohesive memory is waking up in a ramshackle house surrounded by sky and sand. She is nowhere. There is nothing for as far as she can see except rolling red dunes and her captor. She doesn’t even know what country she’s in. Of course Gemma tries to escape; she almost dies trying more than once.
“I knew as soon as I set off it was hopeless. Where would I run to? Everything looked the same. I could see why you hadn’t tied me to the bed. There was nothing and no one out here. Only us.”
25 year old Ty as the kidnapper is an intriguing character and he’s been written in such a way that you can’t help but feel for him as his troubled past is slowly revealed. Make no mistake he’s messed up but you understand why he did what he did, what motivated him. I think what creeped me out the most about his past is that as it turns out he’s been watching Gemma for years, literally stalking her since she was a child (that’s why he seems familiar to her) In his mind kidnapping her will save her from the world which has done nothing but hurt and disappoint him.
Their relationship is never sexual, never even hinted at on Ty’s part but he does love her and plans to keep her forever. He’s spent years formulating his plan and this becomes obvious when Gemma discovers the outbuilding full of food and supplies. They won’t need for anything; he won’t have to leave here for years. As Gemma begins to depend on him and understand that he’s not going to hurt her she also starts to see the beauty in him and the desert land.
Not a book I will easily forget and I want to give a shout out for the camel that made me cry (sob actually) and the snake that changed everything. Cheers 321jb4.5(less)
This was very good, and had I read it a (few?) years ago when I was a teenager I know that I would have absolutely loved it. Back in the day this woul...moreThis was very good, and had I read it a (few?) years ago when I was a teenager I know that I would have absolutely loved it. Back in the day this would have been comparable to The Outsiders or the movie Red Dawn *sigh* young Patrick Swayze. I’ve actually heard this compared to Red Dawn quite a bit but other than a couple of major plot points it’s a very different story.
I loved that this takes place in rural Australia (including all the Aussie slang) and the Australian bush almost becomes a character of its own here. I loved the magic of the teens ascending “Satan’s steps” and finding “Hell” Their own private world in all its secluded beauty, far away from civilization, parents and rules. The excitement of their camping trip and the discovery of this hidden place along with the mystery of the hermit were my favourite parts. These are the things I would have loved as a teen reader- well that and all the sneaking around evading the bad guys, driving heavy equipment and blowing shit up -the action scenes are really quite awesome. There’s a bit of awkward romance here but for the most part this is just one great action adventure, I just wish I’d read it 20 (yeah, okay 25) years ago.
TWTWB is the first book from the “Tomorrow” series and the author obviously knew from the onset that this was going to be a series because the ending is left wide open without any real conclusion, in fact the reader is left hanging. I just mention this because you might want to have book 2 (The Dead of Night) handy when you start.
This is written from Ellie’s POV and in the first chapter she explains why she and her friends felt it important to start writing everything down. For them it means that one day they might be remembered because their world has already changed forever. Then she takes us back to the beginning of their story.
It’s the Christmas holidays in an undisclosed rural area of Australia. Ellie and her six friends have decided to go camping for a week instead of attending the annual fair at the showgrounds in Wirrawee. Most of the group was raised on farms, which is important here because they are a tougher breed; able to use a rifle, drive trucks and motorcycles, move stock, deal with a snake bite etc. Anyways, after a lazy week in the bush our group return to Ellie’s family property, which is the closest and soon realize that something is terribly wrong. The first things they notice are the dead animals and that the power is out, the radio is only picking up static. Where are her parents?
Heading to the other teens homes they find more of the same, everyone is just gone. Could it have anything to do with the V-shaped lines of jets that flew overhead for what seemed like hours the other night? Gradually they come to learn that their country has been invaded and soldiers are holding everyone from the district POW style at the fairgrounds in town. Our group then faces a startling decision, they can flee to their oasis in the mountains or they can fight back.
The author cleverly never gives a nationality to the enemy. They are just nondescript soldiers, wearing unremarkable uniforms, speaking a foreign language. This I liked very much. Cheers.
In the beginning of Water For Elephants Jacob Jankowski tells us that he is ninety or ninety-three. One or the other. He's not really sure anymore. Hi...moreIn the beginning of Water For Elephants Jacob Jankowski tells us that he is ninety or ninety-three. One or the other. He's not really sure anymore. His body betrayed him years ago and Jacob now fears that his mind isn’t far behind. Shuffling along miserably behind his walker, he’s living out his final days in the nursing home and hating every minute of it. Just another invisible senior citizen who’s family and the world as a whole has forgotten about.
When the circus comes to town and sets up its Big Top tents across the street Jacob comes alive and through a series of flashbacks begins to tell us his life’s story. Taking us back to when he joined the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show On Earth, a traveling circus he toured with during the great depression. So step right up folks because this old man has quite the story to tell.
At the age of 23 Jacob had a predictable future set out ahead of him, one that certainly didn’t involve joining the circus. However with his parents untimely death and the bank foreclosing on his family home Jacob soon finds himself homeless, heartbroken and mentally quite unable to sit his final veterinary exams. When an exotic, animal filled train steams toward him Jacob doesn’t even think. Flinging himself aboard the boxcar and inadvertently changing his destiny forever.
I absolutely adored this book, alternately falling in love with both Jacob, the crotchety old man and Jacob, the young, moral and penniless circus veterinarian. Water For Elephants transported me to another time and quickly became one of those books I never wanted to end.
Author Sara Gruen has researched the depression era circus life down to the smallest of details and I feel that this captivating and vivid story will appeal to almost anyone. Filled with action, adventure and a sweet forbidden romance there is also a fascinating sideshow of secondary characters including a clever Polish Elephant, a grouchy little person as Jacob’s roommate and a cruel and schizophrenic animal trainer whose wife Jacob just happens to fall in love with. All of this has been wrapped together with a compelling and innovative behind the scenes look aboard a travelling circus train. Showing us more often then not the darker side of circus life after the big top closes down. This is a love story, a life story, an animal lover’s story but above all it’s a circus story and who of us hasn’t dreamed about running away and joining the circus at some point in our lives? And the ending… *sigh*
I can't say enough good about this book, its easily one of my favourite reads this year and with Robert Pattison now taking on the upcoming movie role version of Jacob, I was able to picture him while reading, making it all the more sweeter. Cheers!
Opening Line:“Lisa is pregnant. Dad called around 11 o’clock to let us know.”
I loved this, easily one of my top reads this year; although maybe love i...moreOpening Line:“Lisa is pregnant. Dad called around 11 o’clock to let us know.”
I loved this, easily one of my top reads this year; although maybe love isn’t the right word because this book scared the crap out of me. It also depressed me, made me very cold and gave me OCD about stockpiling food. I mean just how long could I survive on what’s in my cupboards? Not very. Three boxes of Kraft Dinner and a jar of spaghetti sauce are hardly going to see me through a wintery apocalypse now are they? (Although that bottle of gin will come in handy)
As much as this book messed with my head, I also couldn’t stop reading it, fascinated in a morbid sort of way. I’ve heard it compared to a car accident and that’s true, once you start this you won’t be able to look away.
Life As We Knew It is written in diary form, from the POV of 16year old Miranda. The entries start just prior to a meteor hitting the moon and initially her accounts are self-absorbed, and annoying in fact she comes off kind of spoiled, which let’s face it, is realistic for a high school girl. I think the author probably did this on purpose to show us what her life and thoughts were like ‘before’ and how much she grows as a person by the end of this harrowing story.
Miranda lives with her mother and younger brother (with another brother away at college). Her father has remarried and is expecting a baby with his new wife. Nobody is paying much attention to the astronomers or the moon. I mean at 16 it’s all about you, everything else is just an annoyance. In May the meteor knocks the moon out of its orbit and everything changes.
Miranda’s mother is the real hero of this story, having the foresight to begin amassing food and winter clothes, (candles, batteries, water) while the rest of the world watches and waits. The power is the first to go, then Tsunamis take out anyone on the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents and volcanic ash quickly blocks out the sun. We the readers remain mostly naïve about world events because we only know what Miranda writes in her diary and she’s stopped listening to the news only occasionally giving us tidbit from rare radio broadcast that now mostly consist of death lists but soon even the radio stops.
As summer turns to arctic winter and disease threatens those left alive Miranda’s world grows smaller and smaller. School is cancelled, her friends have either moved or died and gathering firewood and water takes up most of her day. She has little strength left because she is starving and her family has moved into one room to conserve the small amount of heat the wood stove is putting out. It is cold, blinding snow storms and ash fill the sky, the food is almost gone, the food is almost gone! When she thinks about last week she wonders why she ever complained because she had it so much better, last week she was eating one meal a day, now she’s eating every second day and wondering just how much longer her family can survive. She hopes she goes first.
Opening line: “It screamed downward, splitting air and sky without effort.”
A few years ago while I was travelling in Europe I met a guy from Sarajevo...moreOpening line: “It screamed downward, splitting air and sky without effort.”
A few years ago while I was travelling in Europe I met a guy from Sarajevo and we became friends. At one point he asked me if I knew anything about what had happened in his country. I replied that I knew very little, only what I'd seen on the news. Sasha laughed and never said another word on the subject, which at the time I found strange. Now I know why, what could he possibly say that I'd understand?
This is a beautifully written, haunting and thought provoking story that I only wish I could say I liked more. Because it is so well done I also found it painful to read, depressing, absolutely futile and leaving me feeling angry at the whole world. Which I guess is the point and the ultimate result of any war.
I think what surprised me most is how little I knew about this conflict especially when you consider that it happened between 1992 and 1996. I mean that’s not that long ago and it’s not like this happened in a third world country either, this was modern Europe. I just finished reading a book set during the Second World War about the siege of Leningrad and this reads almost the same. How is that possible? How was this even allowed to happen?
Inspired by a real event this novel follows the lives of an unnamed cellist along with three others trying to survive in a besieged, war torn Sarajevo. It begins in the midst of a country gone mad, a mortar attack has just killed 22 people waiting in line to buy bread. Our cellist decides that to honour the dead for the next 22 days he will play at the point of impact. At 4 o’clock he dons his ragged tuxedo, sits in the bomb crater and plays. This simple courageous act creates a moment of peace and beauty among the rubble it also makes him a target.
Meanwhile a female sniper named “Arrow” is ordered to keep the cellist alive. Crouched from her perch in a bombed out building she waits for the counter-sniper who has surely been sent to kill him. She remembers back to a time when she went to college and flirted with boys at nightclubs and wonders how her life has became this?
The two other characters we follow disturbed me the most; An elderly baker on his way to work on his day off to get his daily ration of bread and a father making the long trek to “the brewery” to collect water for his family. A simple walk through the remains of the city has become a perilous journey. Mortars fall and the “men on the hill” go about their deadly business. Nobody is safe. Crossing the street had become a game of “Serajavan roulette” as the snipers pick off pedestrians. Should I cross now? Should I walk, run, crouch, crawl, go with a group? How do they decide who to shoot? But you need water and you have to eat. You have to make it across the intersection to keep your family alive.
These two men show us the city of Sarajevo as they walk through its remains and it very much becomes a character of its own here. The city shows us beauty and resilience and the men show us bravery, paralysing fear and humanity.(less)
Opening Line: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, Mrs Powell once said from the front of my high school literature class, going...moreOpening Line: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, Mrs Powell once said from the front of my high school literature class, going on to explain that some ancient Chinese scholar made that sage observation many centuries ago."
A Wayward Wind was one of those great surprise reads as I’d never heard of author John. W Huffman before and knew next to nothing about this story when I began. I will admit to a somewhat shaky start though as I got used to his style of writing and love of exclamation marks which peppered almost every sentence in the beginning chapters! However Huffman’s a fantastic storyteller and it wasn't long before I was carried away by this gripping adventure.
Huffman does a great job here of voicing the 60’s teenager, transporting you back to a time we can all relate to; when you lived in the moment, nothing was as important as your best friends (or that first kiss) and it felt like the whole world was against you. This story often reminded me of Stephen King, in particular Stand by Me or The Body. Probably because of the era it takes place in and the fact that 90% of the adults portrayed here are evil or in the case of parents left purposely vague. It also jumps back and forth between past and present and these sections are cleverly woven together by the end with our characters showing us the bond they formed and the events that marked them forever.
Its 1967, Jay Harte is just back from Vietnam, a decorated but disillusioned hero who can no longer fit into society. Along with his purple heart and bronze star Jay’s also got some serious scars, a short temper and can’t seem to find a job- since there isn’t much call back ‘in the world’ for leading men through a jungle and avoiding sniper fire. All of this pales however when he receives a letter from his childhood friend, now on death row for killing a man. The young Oliver Freeman that Jay remembers would never have been capable of such an act but it seems time and circumstances have changed both of them.
And so our story begins with Jay travelling to Angola state penitentiary and then flashing us back to the summer of 1960 when at 14 years old he and Ollie ran away in search of Ollie’s missing, and unbeknownst to them, heroin addicted mother. Hitchhiking their way to New Orleans and Baton Rouge they sleep under bridges, work odd jobs and come to rely on each other completely. Early into their adventure Hattie Trudeau joins them and with her inclusion they become the 3 musketeers. Now as well as avoiding gangsters and pimps in their search for Ollie’s mother they’re also on the run from the police and Hattie’s abusive guardian, Old Pete. The past and present eventually comes together along with an ending full of surprises.
A Wayward Wind touches on a huge scope of issues; becoming a love story, an adventure and a tragedy. Showing the bonds of friendship, the casualties of war and the horrors of addiction. Highly recommended. (less)
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