Book Review - The Heights; Louise Candlish

 

The Heights; Louise Candlish

Atria - 2022

(review copy provided by publisher)

The Heights is a disturbing twisty thriller that examines the psychological effects resulting from the tragic loss of a child.

He thinks he’s safe up there. But he’ll never be safe from you.

The Heights is a tall, slender apartment building among the warehouses of Tower Bridge, its roof terrace so discreet you wouldn’t know it existed if you weren’t standing at the window of the flat directly opposite. But you are. And that’s when you see a man up there – a man you’d recognize anywhere. He’s older now and his appearance has subtly changed, but it’s definitely him.

Which makes no sense at all since you know he has been dead for over two years. You know this for a fact.

Because you’re the one who killed him. It’s time to confess what we did up there.

Ellen Saint is wife, mother and a lighting consultant with a very real fear of "heights." Married to Justin, Ellen has a teenage son named Lucas who lives with them even though her ex-Vic( father of Lucas) is still very involved in his life. Justin and Ellen also have a twelve year old daughter Freya together.

As the story begins we learn that Lucas is an academic scholar at the Foxwell Academy in Beckenham (UK).  He has been assigned as a buddy to a new student named Kieran Watts. Kieran lives with his foster mother Prisca in South Norwood.  From Ellen's first interaction with Kieran, she senses a concern that he is not the type of friend she wants for her son.  Her instincts are right as since Kieran and Lucas have been hanging out Lucas has seemed to have changed - his grades are sliding, his is partying and and there is proof of drug use as well.  When a tragic incident occurs and Lucas ends up dead, Ellen is sure that Kieran is to blame and she is determined he will pay for the death of her son.

The Heights was an addictive read that drew me in early on.  Ellen was a well-written character who is bent on revenge. The loss of her son brings out the worst in Ellen and, her life is consumed with thoughts of revenge for a young man she believes does not deserve to live.  The story is written in the form of a memoir called "Saint or Sinner" and, it is told in four parts from the POV of both Ellen and Vic (father of Lucas.)  This style worked well and gave a unique perspective of allowing readers to form the own opinions based on differing views of what has transpired. The writing was edgy and provided for some unexpected twists as well.  I really enjoyed this one but I did feel that at 400pp it was a tad too long.  If you enjoy good psychological thrillers - be sure to try this one.

Thanks go to Atria Books for sending a review copy my way.  This book releases in the US on March 1, 2022.

Rating - 4/5 stars

Book Review - One Step Too Far; Lisa Gardner

One Step Too Far; Lisa Gardner

Dutton - 2022

(eGalley/NetGalley)

(Book # 2 - Frankie Elkin - Missing Persons Series)

After reading Before She Disappeared last year and loving it, I knew I had to read book #2 of that series which was released last month. I wasn't disappointed. This new one can be read as a stand alone as there is a good amount of information about Frankie Elkin, her past and her obsession with finding people who have gone missing. Instead of a Boston setting we move with Frankie to the Wyoming wilderness.

Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic and a troubled soul who has been roaming the country trying to help locate people who have gone missing.  It's the cold cases that the authorities have all but given up on that call her to action.  Her latest travels brings her to Ramsey, Wyoming where a young man named Tim O'Day had gone missing while he and his buddies were on a bachelor party weekend camping and drinking outing in the national forest five years earlier.  Tim's mother is now dying of cancer and his father Martin, wants one final attempt to find the couple's son.  A party of eight, along with a cadaver dog named Daisy are about to begin what will prove to be a most frightening ordeal. It quickly appears that some of them may not escape this wilderness alive.  

From the very first lines of this book I was riveted:

THE FIRST THREE MEN CAME stumbling into town shortly after ten A.M., babbling of dark shapes and eerie screams and their missing buddy Scott and their other buddy Tim, who set out from their campsite before dawn to get help.

"Bear, bear, bear," the first guy moaned.

"Mountain lion!" the second guy insisted.

Third guy vomited.

Frankie Elkin is a wonderful character, she damaged yet she feels deeply and suffers guilt and remorse over things that have happened in the past.  There are very specific details about wilderness survival, clothing, equipment, things needed in an emergency - all that was fascinating to someone like me who has always made it a point to stay out of the woods.   I loved the dynamics between the characters, most of them have changed and suffered in some way since Tim's disappearance. Frankie is a newbie to this group and, of course, she's an outsider that needs to observe and carefully weigh what she says and does to this group of strangers. Bad things happen deep in these woods and the tension and wonder about who will survive this ordeal and whether Tim or his remains be found was always on my mind as I read.  I thought this book was very good and I loved that this one had an ending that I hadn't thought about as well.  Don't miss this new series.

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intro - To Paradise; Hanya Yanagihara

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon.  I've read and enjoyed this author's previous (2) books: The People in the Trees and A Little Life so this (720pp.) is a "must read" for me. I've read 13 chapters so far and, although it is different, I am enjoying it.

To Paradise; Hanya Yanagihara

Doubleday - January 2022

Book 1

Washington Square

He had come into the habit, before dinner, of taking a walk around the park: ten laps, as slow as he pleased on some evenings, briskly on others, and then back up the stairs of the house and to his room to wash his hands and straighten he tie before descending again to the table.  Today, though, as he was leaving, the little maid handing him his gloves said, "Mister Bingham says to remind you that your brother and sister are coming tonight for supper," and he said, "Yes, thank you, Jane, for reminding me," as if he'd in fact forgotten, and she made a little curtsy and closed the door behind him.

What do you think. Have you read anything by this author?  

Book Review - The Lincoln Highway; Amor Towles

                                                      The Lincoln Highway; Amor Towles 

                                           (Combo read/listen) - Viking - 2021 & Penguin Audio

I spent the better part of last week reading and listening to The Lincoln Highway. This is my third book by Amor Towles and IMO, another winner.  I loved the characters, even most of the minor ones were a joy to hear from.

Set in 1954 the story takes place over the course of ten days.  The story begins with 18 year old Emmett Watson being released early from a one year sentence to a work farm in Kansas for an involuntary manslaughter charge.  It was an unfortunate incident that landed Emmett this sentence. Now back in Nebraska, his father has died so it's just Emmett and his eight year old brother Billy. The boy's mother had abandoned Emmett and Billy years earlier.   With their house foreclosed and a few thousand dollars set aside Emmett and Billy plan to start fresh and head along the Lincoln Highway in Emmett's prized Studebaker. Billy has dreams of finding their mother who always looked forward to 4th of July fireworks in Lincoln Park in CA.

Things don't go exactly as they planned when two of Emmett's work farm inmate buddies: Dutchess and Wooly escape and show up to derail those plans.  I thought the road trip alone was time well spent.

All of the major characters here are looking for new start: Emmett and Billy hope to build a new life together, Dutchess would like to have his own restaurant and Wooly would just like to find peace and happiness.  There are several minor characters who left an impression as well (both good and bad) : Sally, a spunky next door neighbor, Ulysses a WWII veteran, the unsavory Pastor John and Professor Abernathe.  The story is told in multiple POVs which really helped to shed light on the past of each character.  I was especially fond of Emmett and Billy.  I admired Emmetts fierce concern and devotion to his smart, intense eight year old brother Billy; Billy won my heart as well. I found the ending both heartbreaking yet hopeful.  Highly recommended.

The audio book production was excellent with a full cast:  Edoardo Ballerini, Dion Graham and Marin Ireland. Although in general I like Marin Ireland as a narrator, I found her slightly annoying in the role of Sally.  This was a combo read/listen - about a 50/50 split.

Here are a few quotes I noted:.

Quotes -

 "Wouldn't it been wonderful if everybody's life was a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. Then no one person's life would be an inconvenience to anyone else's.  It would just fit snugly in its very own, specially designed spot, and then in so doing, would enable the whole intricate picture to become complete."

"Because young children do not know how things are supposed to be done, they will come to imagine the habits of their household are the habits of the world.  If a child grows up in a family where angry words are exchanged over supper he will assume that angry words are exchanged at every kitchen table; while if a child grows up in a family where no words are exchanged over supper at all, he will assume that all families eat in silence....."

Rating 4.5/5 stars

Note: I purchased the print edition of this book and the audio version was provided to me at no cost by the publisher.

(2) Book Reviews - The School for Good Mothers; Jessamine Chan and In Five Years; Rebecca Serle

 

The School for Good Mothers; Jessamine Chan

Simon & Schuster Audio - 2022 (11 hours 56 min.)

(audio download provided at no cost in exchange for my review)

Frida Liu is a 39 year old Chinese American with an Ivy League degree who has a lot on her plate besides working full time.  Her husband Gust left her for a much younger, wealthy woman just three months after their daughter Harriet was born.  The couple has joint custody and as the story opens Harriet is 18 months old.

One day Frida uses bad judgement and leaves Harriet alone as she runs to the office for a file.  Distacted and suffering from insomnia, she also grabs a coffee and then distracted by email,  leaving Harriet alone longer than planned. When her neighbor reports a crying child to the authorities the government intervenes and Frida is sent to a one-year residential program with some 200 others who were deemed unfit or in need of mothering skills.  She must successfully complete this program in hopes of regaining shared custody of Harriet.

The residential program uses robot-like dolls resembling a child and things do not get off to a good start for Frida who is seen as too detached and too passive for starters.  Also, in this residential program, white when are given preferential treatment over other races.  Some of the infractions seemed ridiculous but this, after all,  is a cautionary tale.

This debut novel took a bit to get going and some of the language and imagery felt a bit over the top but, it was though provoking story for sure. What constitutes a "good mother?" Just when should the government and social services intervene?  Should needing anti-depressants be held against a mother in distress? I thought Frida came across as a somewhat flat and rather whiny character who lacked empathy and emotion. I never felt like a champion for her. Although this book wasn't a huge hit with me, I do think it would make a great discussion book. The audio book is narrated by Catherine Ho who did a good job.

Rating - 3.5/5 stars

In Five Years; Rebecca Serle

Atria Books - 2020

(library loan) (book group pick)

Dannie Kohan is a 28 year old over achiever and obsessive planner in terms of career and life plan.  The story opens with a big job interview and she anticipates that tonight will be the night that her live-in David will propose to her at the fancy Rainbow Room, a NYC restaurant.  Things do not go exactly as planned for Dannie as when she returns to the apartment she passes out for one hour and she sees herself five years in the future. She is with a handsome man named Aaron and in a different apartment.  When she wakes up she is back with David. She can't stop thinking about this and who was this strange man - was it a dream or premonition?

There is a whole separate storyline with Bella, Dannie's best friend and polar opposite since childhood that propels this story along.  I had no idea where the story was headed and was a bit surprised by the darker turn Bella's story took.

I did think this was a clever story but, it wasn't my kind of book. Although I was pretty sure my book group of older woman would not care for this one,  I was wrong, most of them enjoyed the book and, we all agreed it was a quick read and made for a good discussion.  I thought Dannie was rather shallow - can you really have it all in life without making some sacrifices and disappointing some people along the way?

Rating - 3/5 stars

Book Review - Ladder of the Years; Anne Tyler

 

Ladder of the Years; Anne Tyler

1995 - Vintage

(eBook downloaded from the library)

I love the stories Anne Tyler creates with everyday people and towns and places that are so easy to envision.  It recently came to my attention that I missed several of her earliest books - note to self to remedy that in 2022. Ladder of the Years was one of those books.

Cordelia (Delia) Grinstead is a Baltimore housewife and mother to three almost adult children.  Married 20+ years, her husband, Sam is a doctor and, at least to outsiders and friends it appears the couple has a good life. Sometimes she feels invisible -- or as she describes it --QUOTE--sometimes she felt like a tiny gnat around her family's edges.

On an annual family beach vacation a couple things happen that makes her do something on the spur of the moment - dressed in her swimsuit, beach coverup and carrying a beach bag containing $500 of vacation money, she hitches a ride from a repairman to Bay Borough where, without saying a word to her family, she rents a room, buys a few essentials and gets a job in a law office.

Eventually, things happen and of course, Delia must make a decision whether to continue with her new life or return to the life she left behind.

QUOTE---"The thing of it is, you ask yourself enough questions--was it this I did wrong, was it that? --and you get to believe you did it ALL wrong. Your whole damn life. But now that I'm nearing the end of it, I seem to be going too fast to stop and change.  I'm just SKIDDING to the end of it."

QUOTE--"The thing that attracts you to someone can end up putting you off."

My Thoughts - There was much to love about this novel for me: marriage, motherhood, expectations and even (2) cats and, bonus - the dream of starting a new life just for you (yes, have had that dream.)  I loved the people she met and the new life she created in her small town whether it was her landlady who became a friend, the folks at the diner where she would stop to eat, the border at the rooming house where she lived, her almost daily library visits and so much more.  This would have been an almost perfect read for me but, I felt the ending was too rushed.  Still, I highly recommend this one.

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - One Step Too Far; Lisa Gardner

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon.  I started this book and it's quite addictive. It's Book #2 of the Frankie Elkin series which began last year with: Before She Disappeared (loved that one.)

One Step Too Far; Lisa Gardner

Dutton - January 2022

1

THE FIRST THREE MEN CAME stumbling into town shortly after ten A.M., babbling of dark shapes and eerie screams and their missing buddy Scott and their other buddy Tim, who set out from their campsite before dawn to get help.

"Bear, bear, bear," the first guy moaned.

"Mountain lion!" the second guy insisted.

Third guy vomited.

What do you think - read more or pass?  (Lots of details about hiking, camping and rescue and recovery.)