Home-Tony Morrison

Home


Toni Morrison

Knopf, May 8 2012, $24.00

ISBN: 9780307594167



After serving in the army in the Korean War, Frank Money returns home to Lotus, Georgia. Angry, he suffers from battle fatigue and combat injuries. He is not greeted as a war hero, but with racism due to the color of his skin.



Frank searches for his sister Cee as a family friend claims his sibling needs him or will soon be dead. When he went off to war, Cee was married but her husband left her. Now some doctor is experimenting on Cee; not if Frank can help it, but will she allow herself to fall back to her childhood haven that her big brother provided.



This is a fascinating historical family drama where the respective plights of Frank and Cee are critical but it is the changing relationship between the siblings that make for another great Toni Morrison novel. Frank leans his fierce protection of Cee never allowed her to mature to the point where she could protect herself. Now Cee tries to face issues while helping her brother confront the demons that he kept at bay with alcohol. The insightful storyline makes a strong case that the truth will set you free if you recognize what the truth is though you may never state what you believe the truth is.



Harriet Klausner

Stardust-Carla Stewart

Stardust


Carla Stewart

FaithWords, May 15 2012, $13.99

ISBN: 9781455504282



In 1952 in Mayhaw, Texas, Georgia Peyton finds the note her Book of Knowledge encyclopedia salesman husband O’Dell left her in the sugar bowl. O’Dell informed her he left her and their two daughters (Rosey and Avril) because he found a woman who appreciates him. Two months later Georgia buries her runaway spouse whose body was found by the Zion.



Georgia was three years old when her parents left her at the Stardust Motel. Her Aunt Cora raised her while the motel owners Doreen and Paddy always welcomed her. O’Dell’s life insurance beneficiary is Fiona Callahan. Sheriff Bolander informs Georgia that Paddy died from cancer. She learns Paddy left the Stardust to her. Doreen fears for her great-niece who she loves like a daughter as running a highway motel is dangerous for a woman. Instead of selling the run down motel, Georgia decides to prove herself by making it successful. To her shock, Georgia’s grieving mother-in-law Mary Frances moves into one of the Stardust’s cabins. Korean veteran Peter Reese and his dog Sebastian stop at the Stardust and makes repairs. An ailing pregnant woman with a young daughter Bonnie arrives at the Stardust. The woman goes to the hospital while Georgia watches the child of the last woman she wants to help.



Putting micro economics aside, Stardust is an enjoyable historical starring a wonderful but besieged single mom whose motel is a magnet to a horde of tousled people. The motel has a metaphysical life of its own with its symbolic flickering lights while each resident is fully developed as each enhances the reader’s stay at the motel. Still this is Georgia’s tale as she muses to forgive or not forgive; that is the question.



Harriet Klausner

Be My Prince-Julianne MacLean

Be My Prince


Julianne MacLean

St. Martin’s, Apr 24 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780312552770



In 1814, Lady Alexandra Monroe has spent her life groomed by her family to marry Prince Randolph of Petersbourg, a man she not met. He arrives at St. James Palace where she meets him his sister Princess Rose and his younger brother Prince Nicholas. Both men are handsome charmers.



Alexandra is attracted to the wrong sibling but for her family’s sake must ignore her desire. Known as a womanizer, Nicholas reciprocates her feelings as he wants the lovely Alexandra. They consider eloping, but he has a secret he must tell her first while she has a few of her own. Scandal leaves this couple in love with little hope for a future together.



Be My Prince is an engaging Regency romance starring two likable protagonists though his secret has been used frequently in literature so that readers will figure it out before it is revealed. The support cast adds to the enjoyable plot while the storyline is fast-paced as Julienne McLean opens up her Royal Trilogy with a fun historical.



Harriet Klausner

Death and Transfiguration-Gerald Elias

Death and Transfiguration


Gerald Elias

Minotaur, Jun 19 2012, $26.99

ISBN 9780312678357



Fortyish violinist Scheherazade “Sherry” O’Brien asks blind violin teacher Daniel Jacobus to help with her obtaining the permanent position of concertmaster at the prestigious Harmonium Orchestra as their new concert hall is being built in lower Manhattan. She has held the position on a temporary basis. Jacobus refuses her plea for assistance. The music director Vaclav Herza escaped Czechoslovakia in 1956 and over the decades has earned his reputation as an odious despotic legend. After harassing her from the moment she filled the position, Herza abruptly fires Sherry though she was the obvious best choice as the concertmaster. Distraught, Sherry commits suicide. The already upset orchestra members struggling with contract negotiations go hysterical with rage at egomaniacal Herza who they hold culpable.



Feeling guilt and remorse, Jacobus, accompanied by his sighted friends (Nathaniel Williams, Max Furukawa and Martin Lilburn) investigate Herza’s past in Prague and Tokyo. At the same time the angry contract negotiations and the nasty auditions continue.



The fourth Daniel Jacobus amateur sleuth (see Death and the Maiden, The Devil's Trill and Danse Macabre) is an entertaining mystery as the cantankerous protagonist believes he has one more major addition to his redemption list. Humorous, readers obtain a look behind the scenes at a major orchestra. Still, it is virtuoso Jacobus who makes this a fun tale as the acrimonious violinist probes Herza’s history.



Harriet Klausner

Blind Goddess-Anne Holt; Tom Geddes (translator)

Blind Goddess


Anne Holt; Tom Geddes (translator)

Scribner, Jun 5 2012, $15.00

ISBN 9781451634761



In Oslo, thirtyish civil lawyer Karen Borg finds the dead body while walking her dog. At about the same time the cops bring in a dazed man wandering the streets with blood on him; he refuses to speak. Special Branch police attorney Hakon Sand observes while Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen interviews the man and learns he is Han van der Lerch, a student from the Netherlands who confesses to killing the drug dealer. Hakon tells his friend Karen that the Dutch suspect wants her as his lawyer though she has not practiced that form of law since her exams eight years ago and she is a witness having found the corpse.



Two days later, someone kills sleazy attorney Hansa Larsen. Sand and Wilhelmsen find a connection between the two homicides. Drugs cop Billy T informs them that on the Oslo streets is a rumor that drug-dealing lawyers are involved in the trafficking, which explains why van der Lerch demanded the civil attorney to defend him; as her reporting the corpse makes her most likely trustful. As the police continue their inquiry, they begin to unravel a web of corruption that permeates all levels of the Norwegian Danish government.



The first actual Wilhelmsen Norwegians police procedural (second after 1222 published first in America when the heroine is retired and wheelchair bound due to a bullet in her spine) is a fabulous investigative thriller as the inspector and the police attorney follow clues that increasingly include highly affluent individuals. Part of the fun of this whodunit is the insight into the criminals discussing the police investigation. Although the prime villain seems a bit disappointing fans will enjoy this entertaining Norwegian Noir.



Harriet Klausner

On The Prowl-Christine Warren

On The Prowl


Christine Warren

St. Martin’s, Apr 24 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780312357214



Years ago, their parents arranged the marriage between Saskia Arcos and Nic Preda. Though they have not seen one another in two decades, each agrees to marry the other in order to unite and strengthen their families.



When Saskia and Nic meet for the first in years, each is stunned by their attraction. As the chief of the Streak and a CEO, the pair will live in Manhattan. However, the Council has a problem with his fiancée being a Tiguri were-tiger as they are convinced this clan needs elimination for attacking their leader and other problems. Nic will die if needed to keep his mate safe, but Saskia is not one to hide from enemies; she joins her mate as they prowl the asphalt jungle seeking an unknown predator.



This engaging Other romantic urban fantasy (see Not Your Ordinary Fairytale, The Big Bad Wolf and Black Magic Woman) with a clever mystery is an enjoyable thriller starring an Alpha and a shifter who turns into an Alpha when her mate or family is threatened. Sub-genre fans will enjoy this paranormal romantic paring On The Prowl of New York searching for a diabolical foe.



Harriet Klausner

Cursed-Benedict Jacka

Cursed


Benedict Jacka

Ace, May 29 2012, $7.99

ISBN 9781937007591



In London empathic diviner mage Alex Verus sees infinite possible futures and sometimes influences which one occurs; he has one survivor mantra to choose a future in which he remains alive. After a battle with mages when he refused their demands he open an artifact from the ancient mage war as the outcome is one hundred percent deaths for him and his two dependents, Luna the cursed woman and Starbreeze the ancient air elemental (see Fated), Alex tries to keep a low profile running his magic shop. However, the warring mages of the Light and Dark pressure him to join their side, but he rejects both as his empath ability reminds him of the hostilities harm each causes civilians.



Alex also tries to assist his friend Luna cope with her family curse. However, Luna’s new friend persuades her he end the curse with a relic that grants wishes. The storeowner has no time to intercede as he realizes that an assault on his friend Arachne the spider is from someone who is draining the life force of the magical beings with humans on the docket next.



This is a great urban fantasy as guns and magic deftly rock London. Alex is a terrific protagonist who struggles with remaining altruist towards the helpless by avoiding either Dark or the Light camps; as each commits crimes against humanity without a second thought re collateral damage of the innocent. The storyline is fast-paced as the hero investigates who is siphoning off the life forces of others.



Harriet Klausner