Book Reviews: August 2012
Murder, Molls, Gangsters, Guns, Bad Boys and Bad Girls in Classy Crop of Thrillers
reviews by Sharon L. Shervington
Gone Girl — written by Gillian Flynn
Remember Lacey Peterson and her creepy husband Scott? They come to mind immediately upon delving into this intricately plotted maze of a thriller.
It is Amy and Nick’s fifth anniversary, and preparations to celebrate it are underway. Amy has planned her elaborate annual treasure hunt for her husband, and then he comes home to find her gone, the house in shambles.
As a child Amy was the inspiration for her parents’ very popular Amazing Amy book series, and her beautiful face has become well-known for that. The books have also provided her and her parents with substantial fortunes.
But her parents have lost nearly all their money, and they ask Amy for a $650,000 loan, which she gives them. She then takes her last $80,000, and she and Nick, along with his twin sister Margo, buy a bar in his tiny hometown on the Missouri River. They leave New York to care for Nick’s sick father (and to enjoy a much less expensive life).
But things are not well with the couple, and Nick becomes the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance.
The story is told from Nick’s real-time point of view, alternating with entries from Amy’s diaries over several months – entries that make Nick look very bad indeed.
Shortly after its release Gone Girl was high up on The New York Times Bestseller List, a spot it well deserves. The plot twists are thrilling, the writing is so smooth you don’t see them coming, and you won’t forget these characters any time soon. Though it seems like Lacey and Scott all over again, it is not.
Gone Girl; by Gillian Flynn; Crown; $25; 415 pages
Private Games — written by James Patterson
It has been a quite a productive year for Mr. Patterson, a writer whose momentum continues to grow. His “Private” series is about a posh private security firm and its owner. This installment is especially timely as it unfolds during this summer’s Olympic Games in London, where a deluded team of three sisters called the Furies and their leader try to ruin the games by killing and maiming some of the top athletes, with the ultimate intention of a mass-murder that would kill possibly hundreds of spectators in their twisted version of a grand finale.
The criminal team, however, are threatened by dissension in their ranks. Still they have met their match in the Private firm, working in concert with Scotland Yard and other security forces. After Private Games you will be tempted to read the other entries in the Private series. In one, when Private’s owner finds a young woman, a former girlfriend, dead in his bed, not surprisingly he becomes the prime suspect. Expect plenty of red herrings. And, oh yes, he just happens to have an (identical) evil twin.
Other enjoyable recent titles by Mr. Patterson are I, Michael Bennett, and Guilty Housewives.
Private Games; by James Patterson; Little Brown $26.99
Into the Darkest Corner — written by Elizabeth Haynes
This is a book that describes in chilling detail what may be many women’s worst nightmare – falling for someone who seems too good to be true but then turns out to be worse than one could have ever imagined.
The book begins with the aftermath of just such a scenario, which has turned our heroine Catherine Bailey from a normal fun-loving young woman into an obsessive-compulsive basket case, a woman who obsessively washes her hands, and who checks the locks dozens of times before she can go out. Her gorgeous abuser, Lee Brightman, is in prison, but she knows that the former police officer will one day be released.
The book alternates chapters that describe the intensity of their courtship and how her old friends, even those closest to her, do not believe her when she says she is being abused. Lee charms her friends and never leaves marks. The other chapters deal with Catherine’s life in the present, her efforts to pull herself together with the help of a neighbor who is a talented psychologist. And the two turn out to have feelings for each other.
Not long after, the nightmare begins again when Lee, a sociopath, is released from prison. Into the Darkest Corner offers all the suspense of the traditional thriller while taking a look at our current social mores and attitudes about partying and partner abuse. This excellent debut novel asks valuable questions about loyalty, therapy, and friendship.
Into the Darkest Corner; by Elizabeth Haynes; $25.99; 400 pages
The Flapper Series: Diva — written by Jillian Larkin
Diva is the third and final installment of the Flappers. A young adult series, it combines elements of murder, mayhem, crime, and interracial love during prohibition. It works so well on so many levels that I recommend it highly for adults too.
The central character is Gloria Carmody, a mousy yet beautiful Chicago debutante with a glorious voice, who is engaged to marry a man she does not love. He later turns up dead.
The other main characters – introduced in the first book, Vixen – are Gloria’s talented cousin Clara Knowles, the former flapper queen of New York City who fools everyone with her demure image; the gorgeous Marcus Eastman, and the treacherous Lorraine Dyer, all lifelong friends she has known since childhood.
Early on the friends, separately and together, begin to visit Chicago’s speakeasies and fall in love with the wild lifestyle they embody. And it is at one such club that Gloria meets and falls in love with Jerome Johnson, a talented black jazz pianist who is convinced that Gloria has what it takes to be a big star. She gets a gig at the club, and he teaches her the elements of singing she needs to become a success.
Unfortunately the club is owned by feuding racist gangsters, and when Gloria shoots a man to save Jerome’s life, the pair are forced to flee to New York City.
In the second book, Ingenue, all the other main characters come to New York, but they are mainly estranged. Gloria gets out of jail, but to do so she has to go undercover at a swank Long Island mansion for the FBI. That is the scene – along with New York City clubs, Columbia University, Barnard College, and the Plaza Hotel – of most of Diva’saction. Will Gloria and Jerome find a way to marry? Will Marcus and Clara recognize their love before its too late? And most of all will this group of friends stay alive amid all the gangland mayhem?
This is a delicious series in which each volume is more fun than the last.
The Flapper Series: Diva; by Jillian Larkin; Delacorte Press; $17.99
