Archive for October, 2009

GENEROSITY: AN ENHANCEMENT by Richard Powers

There are many reasons why Thassadit Amzwar should not be the way she is—always happy. For one thing, she has lost most of her family in the ongoing Algerian civil war. Her father is killed and her mother dies soon after from pancreatic cancer. She has left her home behind and is now a refugee studying in a mediocre college, Mesquakie, in Chicago. It is here that she runs into Russell Stone—who is teaching the creative writing course she is enrolled in…

October 18, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , , , , , ,  Â· Posted in: 2009 Favorites, Contemporary, Literary, US Midwest, y Award Winning Author

POISONVILLE by Massimo Carlotto

Set in the industrialized northeast region of Italy, Poisonville begins with the brutal murder of lawyer Giovanni Barovier, fiancée of Francesco Visentin, another lawyer and son of the area’s second richest family.

October 17, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , , , ,  Â· Posted in: italy, Mystery/Suspense, Noir

BOX 21 by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom

The grisly lives of innocent, sixteen- and seventeen-year-old Lithuanian girls, tricked into leaving their homeland on the promise of good jobs, unfold in tawdry detail as Anders Roslund and Borge Hellström focus on the sex trade in Sweden, its clientele, the financial syndicates which profit from it, the enforcers which protect it, and the police and others who allow it to flourish. Lydia Grajauskas, a “pro” with three years of experience by the age of twenty, like her friend Alena Sljusareva, serves twelve customers a day, earning almost no income except what she can negotiate with her customers for “extras.” Living in an apartment which a Russian with a diplomatic passport claims as “Lithuanian territory,” exempt from Swedish laws, Lydia can expect little help from the local police. Until she is beaten within an inch of her life.

October 16, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , , ,  Â· Posted in: Sleuths Series, Sweden, Translated

TELL ME SOMETHING TRUE by Leila Cobo

Leila Cobo’s debut novel, TELL ME SOMETHING TRUE, is an utterly wonderful and riveting book that had me in its clutches from the first page. It is lyrical and sensual with no word out of place. The character development is perfect, deep and meaningful, bringing the reader into the heart of the protagonists and their lives. In a sense, this novel sang to me in its poignant story of great loves.

October 15, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: ,  Â· Posted in: Debut Novel, Family Matters, Latin America, Latin American/Caribbean, Reading Guide, World Lit

SOME THINGS THAT MEANT THE WORLD TO ME by Joshua Mohr

SOME THINGS THAT MEANT THE WORLD TO ME: What a wonderful book this is. As a clinical social worker and marriage and family therapist, I was very impressed with the clinically accurate portrayal of Rhonda, the protagonist. Rhonda is a 30-year-old man who suffers from depersonalization disorder which is one of the more severe symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is virtually always caused by extreme childhood abuse. When someone suffers from depersonalization, they can go into what is considered a fugue state or see themselves or parts of their body as “other.” As part of his disorder, and also as an homage to his resiliency, Rhonda has an inner child that accompanies him from time to time. He calls this child “Little Rhonda.” He also has an older Rhonda as a friend. She is nurturing and loving towards him and he calls her “Old Lady Rhonda.” Both of these Rhondas help him come to terms with his present life in relation to the trauma he’s suffered in the past.

October 15, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: 2009 Favorites, California, Contemporary, Debut Novel, Family Matters, US Southwest

THE MONSTER IN THE BOX by Ruth Rendell

In Ruth Rendell’s THE MONSTER IN THE BOX, Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford takes center stage. In his mind’s eye, he relives his early days as a policeman and even recalls his youthful romances. Why this sudden attack of nostalgia? Wexford’s obsession with the past results from a renewed sighting of his nemesis, Eric Targo, whom Wexford believes has killed before and may kill again. The problem is that Wexford does not have a scintilla of proof that Targo has committed murder, and for many years, Wexford “had kept silent because he knew no one would believe him.”

October 14, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: ,  Â· Posted in: Sleuths Series, United Kingdom, y Award Winning Author