In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

Judy Blume is back with a wonderful adult novel that, on the surface, appears to be about a teenage girl growing up in New Jersey during the 1950s. But In the Unlikely Event is so much more! Although this is a work of fiction, the story line is based on three plane crashes that really did occur in this area during this time.

The novel focuses on 15-year-old Miri Ammerman, and how the horror of these crashes affect her and her friends and family. We must remember that airplane travel was very new and glamorous back then, and when this small town in New Jersey is hit, it hits hard. Remember, too, that the undercurrents and fear of communism and UFOs was also running rampant, and you can imagine how much torment was going around.

Judy Blume, in my opinion, captures perfectly the feel of that time on a young girl. Once again she has done what she does best, write about the feelings, hopes, and drama of young adult life.

Karen

Read-alike: Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. This is her other adult novel.

The Drop by Michael Connelly

The Drop is the seventeenth title in Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series and, I’m embarrassed to admit, the first one that I’ve read. Despite jumping in so deep into the series, I was happy to find out that The Drop was easy to follow and not bogged down by back stories from previous installments.

The Drop finds Bosch, a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department, investigating the death of the son of a prominent city councilman and working on a reopened 1989 rape and murder case. The strange thing about the rape and murder case is that the DNA found on the body was from an eight year old. Could an eight year old have actually done something like this? Was a major mistake made at the crime lab? Twists and turns abound in this case. It also thoughtfully explores why some victims of crime grow up to be criminals themselves.

The case involving the councilman’s son isn’t quite as engaging, but this has more to do with all the layers and the shocking ending of the rape and murder case than Connelly doing a poor job exploring what happened to the councilman’s son. I’m not sure if I’m going to go back and read all the books in the Harry Bosch series, but considering the way The Drop pulled me in I’m sure this won’t be the last Michael Connelly novel I read.

John

House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe

Sibyl Allston lost her mother and younger sister on the Titanic three years before this story begins. Living in Boston with her father and younger brother, she is almost on the shelf of permanent spinsterhood when Benton Derby, a former suitor reappears in her life. Helen, her mother, had introduced her to Mrs. Dee and the occult world so popular at this time and Sibyl is turning to it more often to help her with her grief and other emotions about her loss.

Benton is a total skeptic regarding the paranormal and tries to convince Sibyl that it is all sham by exposing Mrs. Dee’s trickery. While agreeing about Mrs. Dee, Sibyl begins seeing visions in a scrying orb the false medium gave her earlier. Believing she is moving closer to seeing her mother and sister in its shadowy sphere, she and Benton are surprised at what is really happening and where her apparent “gift” might take her.

House of Velvet and Glass is an entertaining picture of the society of the time with its strict rules, fascination with the occult, and burgeoning scientific knowledge. 

I listened to this and found the narrator did very well with her presentation and making the various characters distinguishable. 

CAS

First Impressions by Charlie Lovett

Sophie Collingwood has just graduated from college when her uncle Bertram, with whom she shares an all-consuming love of books and literature, dies suddenly in a fall. He leaves his flat and library to Sophie, but when she comes to take possession, she finds the books were sold to settle his estate. She fixates on the manner of his death and the loss of his library as she takes a job in a rare book dealer’s shop.

When two men contact her, each searching for the 2^nd edition of an obscure collection of moral allegories by a little known 18^th century clergyman, things start to heat up. Does the book prove her favorite author, Jane Austen, plagiarized Pride and Prejudice? Sophie is determined to settle this question as well as prove her uncle did not die in an unfortunate accident. And what about the American professor on holiday and one of the book collectors – neither of whom she can dismiss from her thoughts and dreams?

A bit of literary history, modern day sleuthing, and romance all combine to make First Impressions fairly entertaining. Frankly, I expected better characterizations and a slightly more plausible story line from Lovett whose Bookman’s Tale (see July 2013) I really enjoyed. But the allusions to Austen and her works, as well as the historical sections, make up for many of the weaker points.

CAS

The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths

Forensic anthropologist Ruth Galloway, returns in the 7^th book in this series set in northern England. When a developer’s backhoe operator uncovers a downed World War II fighter plane with a body in it, DCI Harry Nelson calls her in to help. Initially assuming the body in the cockpit is the pilot, a bullet hole in the corpse’s forehead quickly changes that conclusion. As the corpse is identified, more, not fewer questions surface about the how and why and where of this body’s demise and where it was buried before being moved to the plane.

 Griffiths excels at bringing in eccentrically realistic characters that fit Ruth’s world beautifully. Ruth herself is humanly quirky enough to be frustratingly appealing. Her relationship with Nelson and evolution as a sometimes conflicted single mother give her character added dimension. The touches of history are worked into the story seamlessly and add another layer of depth to Griffith’s writing. The Ghost Fields, named after the designation given false airfields meant to mislead German aircraft during the war, is a well-told mystery and interesting story.

CAS

Disclaimer by Renee Knight

Disclaimer is one of those novels that is so good, so suspenseful, so different that you want to tell everyone to read it and tell everyone all about. BUT YOU CAN'T! Because... no matter what is said or written, there is the possibility of a spoiler. So here are the bare bones and if you like twists and turns and surprises all the way through, you will love this.

Charlotte Ravenscort and her husband have just moved in to their new home and are surrounded by chaos. Getting ready for bed one evening, Catherine notices a book on her nightstand that she is not familiar with. Did her husband put it there? Maybe her son? Well, whatever, she thinks, and starts to read it since she is intrigued by its title, The Perfect Stranger. Very quickly, Catherine realizes there is something wrong with this whole situation. Very wrong. The main character in this book is obviously her, and the story line is about a long ago buried secret that only she knows about. Or so she thought...

You won't want to put this one down.

Karen

Read alike: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

Kitty Miller is contented with her life as a thirty-something, single woman in 1962 Denver. She and her best friend Frieda are independent booksellers, she’s close to her parents – currently on an anniversary trip to Hawaii, and she hasn’t really thought much about her earlier hopes for a husband and family for a long time. Life is good. Then one night she goes to bed and the dreams start.

Kitty’s dream world is populated by Katharyn (Kitty when she looks in the mirror!) and Lars Andersson, a couple deeply in love with each other, their children, and their life in 1963 Denver. It’s as if Kitty has entered her what-might-have-been alternate universe! Night after night she finds herself drawn further into Katharyn’s world and begins to start functioning as Katharyn even as she is aware that it’s all a dream. But her interactions in this other world start affecting her life in the current one as both worlds demand more of Kitty/Katharyn as time passes. She feels the need to finally end these dream trips for the sake of her health and sanity but is no longer sure where she truly belongs and which is dream and which is reality.

The Bookseller is a debut novel and has some of the bumps often associated with such. Some characters are not well-drawn or consistent in their actions; the story doesn’t always flow well and certain segments strain credulity. That being said, I was pulled in enough to want to find out how Kitty’s story is resolved and am glad I stayed with it. The premise was intriguing and I believe Swanson’s writing shows potential. While this could have been a true psychological drama, as an engaging beach read it still makes the cut.

CAS