book reviews – Page 2 – Pop Culture Nerd

Book Review + Giveaway: Kate Atkinson’s STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG

Though Started Early, Took My Dog is Kate Atkinson’s fourth book featuring private eye Jackson Brodie, it’s the first one I’ve read so I actually started late. But late is better than never and I’m happy to have finally met the investigator introduced in Case Histories.

Brodie is only one of the main characters in Started Early, with the others being a retired policewoman named Tracy Waterhouse who instinctively buys a four-year-old child from a woman she believes is abusing the little girl, and an older soap actress named Tilly who’s slowly losing her memory. The story moves between their separate points of view and different time frames—it begins in 1975 and alternates between then and the present—until the characters’ paths finally converge. The buildup is a little slow—Tracy’s backstory is important while Tilly’s past could have been abbreviated—but the pace accelerates once their storylines finally intersect.

Brodie, tracking down the biological roots of a client who had been adopted, is an immensely likable companion as he takes the reader through the countryside with him and his dog, which Brodie rescues from an abusive owner. How can you resist a dog described thusly?

[Jackson] spent some time drilling his new recruit on the beach—sit, stay, heel, come. The dog was pretty good. At sit its haunches dropped as if its back legs had been taken from beneath it. When Jackson said stay and walked away the dog might as well have been glued to the sand, its whole body quivering with the effort of not hurtling after Jackson. And when Jackson found a stick of driftwood and held it above the dog’s head, the dog not only stood on its hind legs but even walked a few steps. What next? Talking?

Atkinson’s wit is matched by her ability to squeeze the reader’s heart with observations like the following, as Tracy warns the little girl to watch out for people who might want to snatch her back:

“Keep an eye out for a gray car,” [Tracy] said to Courtney. Did kids her age know all the colors? Could the kid sing the whole rainbow? “Do you know what color gray is?”

“It’s the color of the sky,” Courtney offered.

Tracy sighed. Therapist would have a field day with this kid.

And Courtney’s not the only child in peril in this book. “Started early” isn’t just part of the title, it could be a comment on how early we can encounter misery in life, or how far back into the past we have to delve in order to understand our present. Though Atkinson leaves a few questions unanswered, this is a novel full of sharp observations about human nature and how it’s never too late to do the right thing.

I’m definitely going to read the other Brodie books now and you can, too,* since the generous folks at Hachette are letting me give away five sets of the Brodie titles. Each prize package will include:

Case Histories (Trade)
One Good Turn (Trade)
When Will There be Good News (Trade)
Started Early, Took my Dog (Hardcover)

How cool is that? To enter:

leave a comment telling me what habit you started at an early age (mine is reading)
be a U.S./Canada resident (no P.O. boxes, per Hachette’s request)

Giveaway ends next Wednesday, March 30 at 5 p.m. PST. Five winners will be randomly selected via random.org then announced here, on Twitter and Facebook. Winners will have 48 hours to claim prizes before alternate name(s) are chosen so make sure you check back!

* I never felt lost reading this book but have a feeling it contains minor spoilers from previous cases.

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Book Review: Brad Parks’s EYES OF THE INNOCENT

Though Brad Parks had Shamus and Nero awards thrown at his Faces—his debut novel, Faces of the Gone, that is— there’s no sign of the sophomore slump in his follow-up, Eyes of the Innocent, which is even better than its predecessor.

Newark Eagle-Examiner investigative reporter Carter Ross is back, assigned to write a routine piece about the dangers of space heaters. He soon discovers the story behind a recent house fire that killed two children had nothing to do with heaters, but something much more destructive and prevalent. His investigation turns deadly when he and his interns uncover corruption that leads to City Hall.

The topic at the center of Eyes—the subprime mortgage crisis—is a resonant, timely one. In the last few years, I’ve watched hardworking friends lose their homes after being encouraged by lenders to buy more than their budgets allowed. Seeing their homeowners’ pride turn into panic is heart-rending and Parks captured that sense of despair. Sometimes the villain doesn’t carry a gun or have tattoos. He/she could be the person in the suit who preys on your dreams.

The novel isn’t all bleak. Parks inserts notes of levity into the proceedings, sometimes with just a line: “She’s so tough she can slam a revolving door.” His characters are colorful and never lacking for quips. Ross’s editor Tina still wants him to be her sperm donor/baby daddy and his intern Tommy still disparages Ross’s WASP-y fashion sense. And don’t underestimate new intern Sweet Thang aka Lauren, whose hot body Ross tries hard not to ogle. She may seem too fluffy for the newsroom at first but later proves she’s made of sterner stuff.

Nerd verdict: Sharp, witty Eyes

Buy Eyes of the Innocent from Amazon| B&N| Indie Bookstores

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Book Review: Wallace Stroby’s COLD SHOT TO THE HEART

This review is by Mr. PCN, who loves Richard Stark novels.

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Cold Shot to the Heart‘s protagonist Crissa Stone is a thief and a damn good one. She has a go-between named Hector who helps find jobs worth her talent and abilities, ones that come with a hefty paycheck of which Hector gets a piece. She usually works with a crew and rarely with someone she doesn’t know because she can’t trust anyone in her profession. When a job doesn’t feel right, she turns it down, no matter how rich the payoff.

Wayne, the person who taught her everything she knows, is currently doing time in prison. Along comes a greedy Texan with a powerful sway over the parole board overseeing Wayne’s upcoming appeal. He’ll help get Wayne out of jail, but for a price.

Crissa doesn’t have the money so she goes to Hector and he gives her what may be the perfect job. Small crew, big payout, too big to turn down. The job looks good on paper but Crissa breaks a rule by working with someone she doesn’t really know. Suddenly she’s running for her life from a psycho who not only wants her share of the heist but wants her dead as well.

I read this book in one sitting, a rare thing. There are only a few authors who compel me to do so; Richard Stark aka Donald Westlake is on this short list with his Parker books. Anyone who has ever read Westlake’s lean, hard prose in a Parker novel knows what I am talking about.

Comparisons will be made between Parker and Crissa Stone, and anyone who misses the literary equivalent of heroin the Stark novels provide can find some solace in Stroby’s heroine. Yes, Crissa is a woman instead of the brick wall of a man Parker is, but there’s a reason her last name is Stone. I’d be surprised as hell if a strong actress doesn’t grab the movie rights to what I hope will be a long-running series.

Buy Cold Shot to the Heart from Amazon| B&N| Powell’s|IndieBound

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Book Review: Lee Child’s WORTH DYING FOR

In Worth Dying For (Delacorte, Oct. 19), Jack Reacher is making his way to Virginia to hopefully meet the woman with the sexy voice with whom he spent much of 61 Hours conversing on the phone. But a driver who gives him a ride drops him off in Nebraska where Reacher intends to spend only one night at the sole motel in a desolate town.

His plans change when he runs into a drunk doctor at the motel bar and offers to drive the man to a patient’s house to treat a broken nose. When Reacher realizes how the woman’s nose got broken, he tracks down the husband to teach him a lesson. This gets him embroiled in a power struggle between the townspeople and the nasty family of four men who control almost every aspect of the residents’ livelihood. When the fight is over, as Reacher says, “some will be dead, some will be sheepish, some will have self respect.”

You’d think that by this time, the fifteenth book in the series, Reacher has seen and experienced everything. But something happens to him in this installment that has never happened to him before. And boy, is he not happy about it. He kicks butt a plenty and engages in some spectacular fight scenes but we also see him in pain. There’s a sense that the wear and tear of his exploits are catching up to him but this only humanizes him. At one point, he even frets if his roughed-up appearance would be acceptable to Susan, the woman he’s traveling across the country to meet. I can’t remember any instances in the other novels where he worried about his looks.

The situation Reacher gets entangled in carries more emotional resonance than some of his previous cases. The locals have long been beaten down by their hard lives but Reacher lights a spark that restores their fighting spirit. One resident in particular, Dorothy Coe, has such a heartbreaking story, it demands the kind of justice Reacher excels in doling out.

Nerd verdict: Worth the price

Buy Worth Dying For from Amazon| B&N| IndieBound| Powell’s

Note: I’m heading up to Bouchercon so I’ll be back next week with a report on all the hijinks!

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Conjurer of Destinies: Review of Monique Truong’s BITTER IN THE MOUTH

This review is by contributing writer Thuy Dinh, a practicing attorney and the editor of the literary webzine Da Mau.

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In Vietnamese, words that convey happiness and suffering are themselves distinct tastes. While happiness is always nutty-sweet (ngọt bùi), suffering provides a wide range of bitter tastes: bitter-spicy (đắng cay), sour-bitter (chua cay), medicinally sharp like bitter melon (khổ qua) or acidly bitter like soap berries (bồ hòn—a Southeast Asian fruit that’s also used as a natural detergent).

In Bitter in the Mouth, Monique Truong dazzlingly explores a whole array of an outsider’s experience via the literal and figurative trope of synesthesia. Her main character, Linda Hammerick, suffers from a rare sensory disorder: she registers words first and foremost as specific tastes, isolated and independent from their meanings. When she hears the word mom, Linda thinks of chocolate milk. (Incidentally, the word chocolate from the Aztec word xocolatl means bitter water). Linda’s challenge–which is also the central mystery of the novel—is how to unravel her sensory confusion, to discard/distill the bitter from the nutty-sweet.

Linda’s memory begins not in infancy, but Athena-like in 1975 when she is 7. She either does not remember or is vague about the years and events that precede 1975. Bitterness is the first taste that Linda remembers, which was “bitter in the way that greens were good for us were bitter. Or in the way that simmering resentment was bitter.” Linda’s favorite color is fire, because it contains “red and yellow and orange and blue.” The following excerpt from the first chapter provides the main clues to the novel’s mystery, which is not revealed until the book’s second part:

I’ll tell you the easy things first. I’ll use simple sentences. So factual and flat, these statements will land in between us like playing cards on a table: My name is Linda Hammerick. I grew up in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. My parents were Thomas and DeAnne. My best friend was named Kelly. I was my father’s tomboy. I was my mother’s baton twirler. I was my high school’s valedictorian. I went far away for college and law school. I live now in New York City. I miss my great-uncle Harper.

But once these cards have been thrown down, there are bound to be distorting overlaps, the head of the Queen of Spades on the body of the King of Clubs, the Joker’s bowed legs beneath a field of hearts: I grew up in (Thomas and Kelly). My parents were (valedictorian and baton twirler). My best friend was named (Harper). I was my father’s (New York City). I was my mother’s (college and law school). I was my high school’s (tomboy). I went far away for (Thomas and DeAnne). I live now in (Boiling Springs). I miss (Linda Hammerick). The only way to sort out the truth is to pick up the cards again, slowly, examining each one.

Facts in Truong’s novel are never what they seem, the same way an acquired language may assault, dilute or obliterate an immigrant’s mother tongue. In this sense, all outsiders are synesthesiasts. Truong, a 21st century writer writing about displacement, has drifted a long way from the refined taste of Proust’s madeleine and the fragrant waft of Tran Anh Hung’s Scent of Green Papaya. Her protagonist’s sensory world is instead attacked by tuna casserole and chicken a la king, gray, gloppy food held together by Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup—“the Great Assimilator,” as Linda wryly quips. American optimism, embodied by Bisquick pancake mix (“the possibilities, the sweet and the savory, were all in that cheery box”) is both salvation and forgetfulness.

Linda’s mom—her chocolate milk—is both her mom and not her mom. Linda’s true name and the word matricide both evoke peach. Linda is her father’s New York City because it was there that he met the love of his life. Linda’s best friend is her uncle Harper, who evokes a not-too-subtle reference to the novel’s literary influence, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird. (Or perhaps Harpers Ferry, the site of the abolitionist John Brown’s failed rebellion against Southern slaveholders).

Yet Linda asserts that she “was never Scout. I was Boo Radley, not hidden away but in plain sight.” Linda’s self-identification with Boo Radley is another clue to the novel’s mystery. She is a self-willed, almost ruthless exile who cannot even entertain the sentimental thought of nostalgia. While Uncle Harper is the closest embodiment to Linda’s sense of home, he is no Atticus Finch because he, like, Linda, is mutely and deeply estranged from his own Southern Baptist culture.

Linda’s need to reconstruct her personal history from memory’s gaps and distortions is probably similar to an immigrant’s reinvention of identity in his/her adopted homeland. In this sense, a self-inventor is both explorer and fortune teller: how to construct a believable narrative from a jumble of cards?

Truong proceeds to answer this question by weaving in the seemingly disparate legends of Virginia Dare (reputedly the first child born in North America to English parents), the Wright Brothers, and the poet-slave George Moses Horton—outcasts who helped define North Carolina’s cultural history. Her novel is an ambitious and poignant meditation on how to define your true essence, a compelling assertion that individual will can trump biological and geographical destinies. To celebrate your affliction—if being different is seen as an affliction—is not enough; you must learn how to synthesize your synesthesia into a larger canvas so that, like the Wright brothers, your ultimate achievement isn’t simply “flight but flight accompanied by a safe landing.”

Monique Truong has flown and landed with amazing grace.

Buy Bitter in the Mouth from Amazon| B&N| Powell’s| IndieBound

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Book Review: I’D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE by Laura Lippman

I’m conflicted in writing this review because Laura Lippman is a very skilled writer, someone who can string ordinary words together to create a breathtaking sentence. But her latest novel, I’d Know You Anywhere, frustrated me immensely because I couldn’t find many characters to root for, including the lead.

Eliza Benedict is the former Elizabeth Lerner, who was kidnapped when she was fifteen and held hostage for six weeks by Walter Bowman. Bowman had snatched and killed other girls before Elizabeth and another one while she was with him. Neither is quite sure why he let her live. The book opens twenty-three years later when Eliza (she’d shortened her first name and taken her husband’s last name to avoid attention) receives a letter from Walter, now on death row, claiming he’s sorry and would love to hear from her. She writes back, telling him to not write her, but Walter’s accomplice, a woman who’s against capital punishment, shows up on Eliza’s street and pretty much bullies her into accepting phone calls from Walter. He slowly worms his way back into Eliza’s world and she realizes she must confront him to quiet the ghosts in her head and wrest control of her life.

**MILD SPOILERS**

While I can’t imagine what it’s like to have gone through what Eliza did, I had to repeatedly put down this book because many of her actions, or rather, non-actions, are hard to swallow. I couldn’t understand why she would respond to Walter’s first letter, much less agree to accept collect phone calls from him on a regular basis. Her reasoning is if she ignores him, he’d just continue his attempts to contact her. Well, giving in to him also encourages him to prolong the connection. She even buys a new phone and gets a different number just for Walter because she doesn’t want him to have her regular number. How about not giving him any number at all?

Her sister, Vonnie, painted as brash and self-indulgent, actually nails it on the head when she tells Eliza:

“You let life happen to you….Jesus, if there’s one thing I would have learned from your experience, I think it would be to never let anyone else take control of my life. Instead, you’ve handed yours over. To [your husband] Peter, to the children. And now you’re giving it back to Walter Bowman.”

I don’t fault the teenage Elizabeth for being passive and doing what it took to survive; I have a problem with her remaining so docile as an adult.

Eliza’s passivity is especially alarming when Barbara, the anti-death-penalty woman, is clearly stalking her. Barbara hand-delivers notes from Walter, always knowing where Eliza and her family are, including where her daughter has soccer practice. Besides invading Eliza’s privacy, Barbara is unbearable in her righteousness. I would have gone straight to the police station and filed paperwork requesting a restraining order. But Eliza does nothing, fearing her past would be revealed, that her children would be devastated since they know nothing of her dark secrets. This seems like a reckless decision since protecting them from a killer with an outside accomplice—Walter makes subtle threats against them—should be Eliza’s first priority.

**END SPOILERS**

The only thing that kept me reading is Lippman’s deft prose. She has a way of describing things that’s instantly visceral:

Getting a letter from Walter was like some exiled citizen of New Orleans getting a telegram signed “Katrina.” Hey, how are you? Do you ever think of me? Those were some crazy times, huh?

I also commend Lippman on presenting all sides of the story: Walter’s justification for his actions, Barbara’s crusade against capital punishment, the mother of a dead girl who wants to make sure Walter gets executed, and Eliza’s reasons for communicating with her tormentor. But in Lippman’s attempt to be fair to everyone, she has failed to make any strong statement at all.

Nerd verdict: I don’t care to Know these characters

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Book Review: ROOM by Emma Donoghue

Writing a review for Emma Donoghue‘s Room is a tricky thing since I wholeheartedly want you to read it but the less you know about the plot, the better. It’s told from the point of view of a 5-year-old named Jack and right away, you understand you’ve entered an unusual world but aren’t sure what’s going on. The dawning realization of Jack and his mother’s situation packs a huge emotional wallop I don’t want to spoil for you. Is it enough to say this book made me weep openly at times in public? That it haunts me and is unlike anything I’ve read in the last several years? How about the fact it’s been shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize?

If you need more, I’ll give a brief description but must reiterate that your reading experience will be more powerful if you just pick up the book and jump in. The suspense factor is much higher when you don’t know where events are headed.

**SYNOPSIS ALERT**

Jack was born in a windowless 11-by-11-foot room and has spent his entire life there. That’s because his mother, known only as Ma, has been held captive for the last seven years. Ma tries to give Jack as normal a life as she can, teaching him songs and how to read. She also tells him that things like trees and animals and cars only exist on another planet so he doesn’t long for them. But soon after Jack’s fifth birthday, Ma realizes she can’t raise him in confinement forever and forms an awful, desperate plan for escape. Though the author said the idea for Room was “triggered by” the real-life case of Josef Fritzl, the book made me think of Jaycee Dugard and how this story could have been told by one of her children.

**END SYNOPSIS**

Donoghue took a big risk writing in Jack’s voice but she handled it beautifully. The story is so disturbing, I’m not sure I could’ve handled it from Ma’s point of view. Jack leaves out information about things he doesn’t understand; our filling in the blanks is horrific enough. He has a unique perspective about the world but still behaves like a “normal” five-year-old in many ways. He’s not too cutesy or precocious; he feels real to me. His innocence moved me so much I sometimes didn’t know if I should laugh or cry and often did both at the same time.

Ma is also heartrending in her courage and fierce love for Jack. Here’s a woman who doesn’t waste time on self-pity, instead focusing all her energy on how she can protect her son. Ma and Jack’s resilience is what makes this book ultimately uplifting and one you won’t soon forget.

Nerd verdict: Make room for Room

Buy Room from Amazon| B&N| Powell’s| IndieBound

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Book Review & Giveaway: THE GLAMOUR OF GRAMMAR

How much of a nerd am I? I spent last Saturday night at home reading a book on grammar and considered it a good time. That’s because Roy Peter Clark makes it fun in The Glamour of Grammar, a book of writing guidelines. As introduction, Clark says “this book invites you to embrace grammar in a special way, not as a set of rules but as a box of tools…It doesn’t shout at you, ‘No, no, no,’ but gives you a little push and says, ‘Go, go, go.'”

And that it does. It helps that I’ve always loved grammar and language in general. I don’t like the term “grammar snob” because I don’t think I’m better than anyone. I simply want to put my best foot forward when speaking and writing and avoid sounding like an idiot. If my blog were full of mistakes, I imagine you wouldn’t be reading this.

So yes, I have an interest in this book’s subject matter but wouldn’t have necessarily enjoyed it if it weren’t for Clark’s breezy, witty, friendly voice. There’s no stuffy preachy tone here. Unlike William Strunk and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style, which has great advice but is bare bones in delivery, Clark offers anecdotes along with his tips on how to write more effectively. Even if you never dangle modifiers, split your infinitives or confuse “lie” and “lay,” this book can help you take a more conscious approach to language. Haven’t we all said or written something then later claimed, “That’s not what I meant!”?

I like how Clark encourages us to break rules whenever necessary to avoid “hypergrammar,” syntax that’s correct but calls too much attention to itself, e.g. “for whom are you looking?” instead of the more common “who are you looking for?” I heartily agree when he writes:

As writers, we should never be satisfied with the words we inherit, the ones that already appear in our dictionaries. Learning to use them correctly is the license we need to bend them, stretch them, and blend them with others, as context, meaning, and audience allow.

If you’re thinking, “OK, you’ve convinced me I need a copy of this book even though I’m already brilliant,” you’re in luck. Hachette Book Group is allowing me to give away two copies. To enter:

be a subscriber or Twitter follower (tell me which; new subscribers/followers get 1 entry and current ones get 2)
leave a comment about what grammatical issues trip you up the most
live in U.S. or Canada, no P.O. Box, per HBG’s request

Giveaway ends Tuesday, September 7, 5 p.m. PST. Winners will be chosen via Random.org and only announced here and on Twitter. I will not contact you personally so please check back to see if you win. Winners have 48 hours to claim the prize before alternate names are chosen.

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Book Review: David Rosenfelt’s DOG TAGS

When you hear legal thriller, you probably think John Grisham or Scott Turow or Richard North Patterson and that’s all good. What I can’t figure out is why David Rosenfelt isn’t up there with those guys. His novels about Andy Carpenter, the dog-loving, independently wealthy defense attorney, are just as well-plotted and paced, if not better since those other authors can sometimes go unnecessarily long. Rosenfelt’s books are also funny and always feature amazing dogs.

The eighth installment in the series opens with Andy being asked to represent Milo, a German shepherd police dog re-purposed as a thief by his owner, ex-cop and Iraq war veteran, Billy Zimmerman. Zimmerman’s in jail accused of murder while Milo’s been put in a cage with, oddly enough, a 24-hour armed guard. Andy goes to court to argue for the dog’s release but soon finds himself taking on Zimmerman as a client as well.

Formerly a well respected cop, Zimmerman signed up for Iraq then lost a leg in a bombing. When he couldn’t get his police job back upon his return, Zimmerman became a thief, using Milo as his accomplice. The two get in trouble when their target for a gig ends up shot by an assassin right in front of them and Zimmerman is arrested for his murder. The case is further complicated by the fact the murder victim was Zimmerman’s Army superior. Though the prosecution theorizes that Zimmerman had a grudge against the man partly responsible for the loss of his leg, Andy discovers the real motives behind the killing are more sinister and involves people much more powerful than Zimmerman. Andy then has to decide between doing what’s best for his client and preventing a cataclysmic event from happening on U.S. soil.

Rosenfelt knows how to entertain, delivering thrills, laughs, heart and likable characters. He also knows how to comment on current affairs and the plight of our war veterans without getting on a soapbox. Zimmerman is a thief but also a man who, after defending his country, is failed by its healthcare system, the justice system and the police force on which he served before enlisting in the Army. But Zimmerman doesn’t feel sorry for himself; he turns out to be one of Andy’s best clients ever, making me want something to go right for him.

As in all Rosenfelt novels, the canine characters are as dynamic as the human ones. Milo has a heroic moment near the end that’s breathtaking and Andy’s golden retriever Tara remains cooler than cool. Andy gets an amusing new (human) law partner, Hike, who’s brilliant despite his pessimistic attitude about everything. I, on the other hand, am optimistic that you’ll enjoy this book and the entire Andy Carpenter series.

Nerd verdict: Clever Dog

Buy Dog Tags from Amazon| B&N| Powell’s| IndieBound

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Book Reviews: ONE DAY & HOLLY’S INBOX: SCANDAL IN THE CITY

I read a lot of mysteries so my head is often filled with stories about death and other gruesomeness. Every once in a while, I like to clear the palate by reading something different. Here are a couple non-mysteries I recently finished, though I can’t say they were all lightness and rainbows.

One Day by David Nicholls

Emma and Dexter meet in 1988 on their graduation day from an Edinburgh college and we follow the ups and downs of their friendship by checking in with them on the same day, July 15, every year for the next 19 years. On that first day, Emma, a feminist and academic, expresses her hopes of changing the world while making playful predictions of how Dexter, a privileged playboy, would turn out by the time he’s forty. As anyone who’s ever been an idealistic twentysomething knows, life doesn’t always work out the way you envisioned it. We witness Emma and Dexter’s disillusionment, their difficulties in relationships with other people and attempts to adjust their worldview as they mature. Through it all, their relationship remains a constant, ultimately leading to both happiness and tears.

A blurb in the front of this book likens it to When Harry Met Sally but I think that’s too convenient and lazy a comparison. I really enjoyed that movie but it’s a lark compared to this story. One Day delves much more deeply into the messiness of life and death, unfulfilled potential and unrequited feelings, how there’s a window of time to do certain things and once it closes, sometimes it’s forever. Because the book spans almost two decades, you can probably relate to it no matter where you are in your life journey. And if you’ve ever had romantic feelings for your best friend but feared you’d ruin your friendship, you know where Dexter and Emma are coming from.

I was impressed by how well Nicholls, using the third person omniscient POV, captures Emma’s inner life. I’ve had male writer friends tell me getting inside a woman’s head is one of the biggest challenges for them as a writer, but Nicholls makes Emma believably complex, not a man’s idealized or clueless version of how a woman thinks and behaves. I enjoyed her musing while on a date with a wannabe stand-up comedian who wouldn’t quit making jokes:

He’s laughing me into a stupor, she thought. I could heckle, I suppose, I could throw a bread roll at him but he’s eaten them all. She glanced at the other diners, all of them going into their act, and thought is this what it all boils down to? Romantic love, is this all it is, a talent show? Eat a meal, go to bed, fall in love with me and I promise you years and years of top notch material like this?

Dexter is less likable, with his partying and womanizing, but he recognizes Emma’s beauty long before she does so he’s not completely superficial. He resembles guys I knew in college (I’m about the same age as Dexter and Emma) who later straightened out so I could tolerate Dexter’s shallow phase and believe he’d eventually mature.

The movie version is already in production with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess (21, Across the Universe) as the leads and I think they’re excellent choices. Nicholls, like he did for the screen adaptation of his novel Starter for 10, wrote the script and An Education‘s Lone Scherfig is directing. Read the book now so you can be a snob when the movie comes out.

Nerd verdict: One Day stayed with me for much longer

Buy One Day from Amazon| B&N| Powell’s| IndieBound

Holly’s Inbox: Scandal in the City by Holly Denham

Another male author who has an impressive grasp on the female voice is Bill Surie, who uses the pseudonym Holly Denham to write his two books about, well, Holly Denham. Scandal is the sequel to last year’s Holly’s Inbox and once again, Surie uses only e-mails to tell our heroine’s adventures in her professional and love life but somehow manages to make her a multifaceted character. *Spoiler below if you haven’t read the first one.*

The novel begins with Holly being in a fairly good place: she’s up for a promotion and she and Toby are living together. Well, technically they are but Toby is always at work or out of town. Holly begins to wonder if he’s having an affair, her suspicions strengthened by a bitchy co-worker’s behavior towards Toby. Her new position also doesn’t turn out well and she gets unexpected news when she goes to the doctor. At one point, Holly hits rock bottom but with the support of her friends, she manages to bounce back in time to discover the real reason behind Toby’s absences. *End spoiler*

As with the first book, this one has more emotional impact than you might expect from a book told in a limited format. Nowadays, we probably communicate with our loved ones electronically more than any other way so it’s plausible that e-mails would divulge much about our daily lives. (I just wish there weren’t so many typos, which may resemble real e-mails but I assume this book went through copy edits.) I felt Holly’s pain and frustration in her messages, even when she tries to remain professional in dealing with a mean higher-up or brave in the face of adversity so her family wouldn’t worry too much. The format made it clear that a skilled writer doesn’t need long-winded prose to paint characters with depth. Surie eliminates unnecessary details to cut straight to Holly’s heart.

Nerd verdict: Add Scandal to your inbox

Buy Holly’s Inbox: Scandal in the City from Amazon| B&N| Powell’s| IndieBound

What are you reading this weekend?

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It’s a Savage World: Don Winslow’s SAVAGES & Carl Hiaasen’s STAR ISLAND

We’ve had gorgeous weather here in SoCal so you’d think I’d be outside doing outdoorsy stuff, right? Wrong. OK, maybe I spent a couple days outside. Rest of the time, I’ve been a good little nerd, catching up on reading while sitting at my window seat, basking in some secondhand rays. Here’s a couple I finished:

Savages by Don Winslow

Ben, a “Baddhist” (bad Buddhist), and Chon, a vet of two tours in our current war, have gotten rich doing what they love: get high. Chon brought home premium seeds from “Stanland” (Afghanistan) which Ben cultivated into potent blends sold by happy dealers for whom the benevolent Ben even provides health care. Life is good until the Baja Cartel decides to muscle in on their business and kidnaps O, their mutual gal pal, to make sure the boys obey. Big mistake, because Ben and Chon, who suffers from PTLOSD (Post-Traumatic Lack of Stress Disorder), show they can be David to the Goliathan cartel, igniting an explosive series of events that leave more than a few people dead.

If you’re thinking “Drug dealers? No, thanks,” consider this: Winslow is expert at making you care for people you probably wouldn’t want to know in real life. A theme that pops up in many of his books is brotherhood, the unbreakable bond between friends. Ben, O (short for Ophelia), and Chon might do questionable things but what you do unto one, you do unto all. I like books that challenge my worldview and make me a little less judgmental, if only towards fictional characters and situations.

Winslow has a distinctive rhythmic style I find lean, mean, compelling. Here’s how he tells about a lesson Chon (Little Johnny) learned when he was three:

Big John lifted Little Johnny up to the living room fireplace mantel, held his arms out, and told him to jump. “I’ll catch you.”

Delighted, smiling, the little boy launched himself off the mantel, at which point Big John lowered his arms, did an ole, and Little Johnny crashed face-first on the floor. Dazed, hurt, bleeding from the mouth where a front tooth had gone into his lip, Chon learned the lesson his father had intended about trust:

Don’t.

Ever.

Anyone.

Did I mention the book is also funny? It’s dark humor, sure, but there’s levity among the violence. And the dialogue is so hip, you feel a little more gangsta after reading.

It’s no surprise Oliver Stone snapped up the movie rights since the action is cinematic and some of the scenes are actually written in script format. Stone had better not eff it up or I’ll get all Chonny on his ass.

Nerd verdict: Fierce Savages

(For more on Winslow, including coverage of a recent SoCal appearance, check out my friend le0pard13’s three-part article here.)

Buy Savages from Amazon| B&N| Powell’s| IndieBound

Star Island by Carl Hiaasen

Cherry Pye is a spoiled pop star whose penchant for partying and drugs forces her management team, which includes her mother, to hire a double to make the public think Cherry is out and about whenever she’s actually unconscious or getting her stomach pumped at a hospital. A tenacious paparazzo, Bang Abbott, accidentally kidnaps Ann the stand-in then tries to negotiate her release in exchange for getting an exclusive one-on-one photo session with Cherry. When Cherry’s mom doesn’t call the cops, fearing her stunt-double scheme would be exposed, Ann calls a homeless man named Skink to come rescue her. A recurring character in Hiaasen’s books, Skink is a former Florida governor now determined to keep greedy developers from ruining the “cherished wild places of his childhood.” He’d also previously held Ann hostage for a short time but long enough to become smitten with her. He sets off to rescue Ann in Miami, Cherry continues her destructive ways, the hapless Bang thinks he’s getting what he wants but in the end, everyone gets what they pretty much deserve.

From that synopsis alone, you can probably tell this is an over-the-top story with wacky characters. Besides the aforementioned ones, there’s a bodyguard named Chemo with a weed whacker for a hand, a manager with a taste for jailbait, and chain-smoking twin publicists who have had so much plastic surgery their faces don’t move. None of these people have ethics or any other redeeming qualities; this book could have also been called Savages. But unlike Winslow’s characters, there’s no one here to really root for. Ann is probably the most relatable but considering the cast of crazies, she’s in that position by default. She seems decent enough but too passive and ambivalent to be the hero.

Hiassen is a gifted writer capable of combining wicked satire and topical issues. His previous novels have often provoked thought while making me laugh out loud. This time the targets of his parody—fame whores, their grubby hangers-on, greedy lying bastards, unethical politicians—have become so ridiculous in real life, the author can’t outdo them in outrageousness. As I read about Cherry’s sordid adventures involving pills, booze and impulsive tattoos, it felt like reading a tabloid about all of Paris/Lindsay/Britney’s bad behavior. It’s not funny or even satire when it’s too close to reality. I found Cherry’s life and much of the book sad, which was probably not Hiaasen’s intention.

Nerd verdict: Star lacks power

Buy Star Island from Amazon| B&N| Powell’s| IndieBound

What are you reading this weekend? Anything you recommend?

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Book Review: John Verdon’s THINK OF A NUMBER

John Verdon’s Think of a Number hooked me quickly with an intriguing premise, but its need for editing prevents it from being more enjoyable.

Retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney is contacted by an old acquaintance, Mark Mellery, who says he’s being stalked by someone sending sinister notes. The note writer seems to be able to read Mellery’s mind, telling him to think of random numbers and correctly predicting them in previously sealed envelopes. Before Gurney can figure out the motive, Mellery is murdered, with baffling clues left behind for the cops to find. When other bodies start piling up, the police bring in Gurney as a consultant to help beat the killer at his own twisted game.

For the first quarter of the book, Verdon had me flipping the pages because I couldn’t figure out how the killer was pulling off the mind-reading scheme. Eventually, though, the author’s tendency to overwrite everything became problematic. Witness the following:

For a moment he was distracted by the awareness of his own dissembling presentation of his emotional reaction.

That confusing sentence aside, Verdon often states the obvious. Gurney is told by another cop not to remove and touch evidence from a plastic bag when the brilliant veteran detective would know this. Adverbs are overused, both in dialogue tags—e.g. “he whispered gratingly”—and in descriptions: A cop gives Gurney a “professionally neutral” look. As opposed to a casually neutral look? Neutral is neutral.

We’re also told several times within a scene how a character resembles Sigourney Weaver, and the androgynous quality of another’s voice is mentioned every time she speaks. These details have no importance, making their repetition curious. And perhaps to heighten Gurney’s expertise, Verdon piles the stupidity onto almost every other law enforcement character, having them ask inane questions befitting a rookie instead of a DA, police captain or twenty-four-year veteran on the force.

The emotionally distant Gurney is hard to like; even he admits he’s more cerebral than emotive. For all his thinking, his wife Madeleine is the one who figures out some of the most perplexing aspects of the case. He also makes an incredibly careless move to bait the killer that puts Madeleine’s life at risk then doesn’t warn her of the danger she’s in.

The book’s flaws are frustrating because the unique central puzzle could have been turned into a more thrilling story. I wish Gurney, the supposedly astute detective, and his creator had discovered that sometimes less is more.

Nerd verdict: Faulty Number

This post is part of the TLC blog tour for Think of a Number. Click here to see other participating blogs and reviews.

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