The Priest, the Witch, & the Poltergeist (Barbara Wade Rose)

The Priest, the Witch, & the Poltergeist by Barbara Wade Rose has one of the most interesting reasons for existence I’ve ever heard.  One routine day at the dentist, Rose picked up a book on the paranormal to take her mind off her upcoming procedure.  She began to read about an 1851 trial in Cideville, France, and was inspired, through a ton of future research, to turn the events into a novel.  What results is one of the most interesting books I’ve read in awhile about something I knew nothing about.

A suspected poltergeist is causing havoc in the Cideville parsonage and rattling Father Lariat and the rest of the inhabitants.  After a failed exorcism and séance, Lariat is convinced that the poltergeist is the doing of a local witch, Thorel Felix.  Felix and the rest of his coven are desperately trying to get their leader released from jail, but Lariat had a huge part in putting him there.  After an altercation between Lariat and Felix, the person who is brought to trial isn't whom you would expect.  

This book is filled with interesting characters, and you’ll probably feel sympathy for those who, in ordinary society, aren't usually considered “sympathetic”.  Much to my surprise given the title, The Priest, the Witch, & the Poltergeist, I was not particularly filled with much suspense as I read (In other words, if you're looking to be scared, you should probably go elsewhere.).  Even so, the events of 1851 are interesting enough in and of themselves to become the basis of a great work of historical fiction.  So be glad Barbara Wade Rose had a dentist appointment that day!

MY RATING - 4

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Robin Sloan)

Clay, fresh out of design school and recently laid off from his job at the bagel shop, desperately needs employment.  Walking through the city one day, he sees a "Help Wanted" sign on a bookstore owned by an old man named Mr. Penumbra.  In a flash, he’s hired, only to find out that this is no ordinary indie bookstore.  For one, customers are few and far between, and the day’s grosses rarely go above the single digits.  Most importantly, however, there seems to be some sort of “secret society” related to the store, whose goal it is to break a code.  Will Clay, with the help of two friends and a girlfriend have something to do with this codebreaking?  Scooby Doo!  Where are you?

If the first paragraph sounded a little tongue-in-cheek and juvenile, that’s what I felt reading Robin Sloan’s Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore.  The only way the reader would ever be able to tell this is an adult book and not a science fiction/fantasy teen novel is that it features adult characters.  Sloan received pretty good reviews for this debut novel, possibly because readers can identify with the numerous technology references used in the book.  Google, e-readers, the iPad and a book about Steve Jobs all make appearances, so bibliophiles in 2013 can rejoice!

While this would probably make a great short story, it just didn’t work for me as a novel.  I found myself just wanting to "get through it" rather than getting "lost in it", which to me is the hallmark of a wonderful book.  Sloan gets props for book-jacket creativity, however.  At first glance, it looks like a very plain cover, but then…

MY RATING - 2

52 Little Lessons from It's a Wonderful Life (Bob Welch)

Ask anyone what movie they most associate with the holidays, and many will say the 1947 classic It’s a Wonderful Life.  I know the calendar has now turned to January, but I was just sent a copy of 52 Little Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life by Bob Welch.  Just like the treasured film it’s inspired by, this hardcover book is a treasure in and of itself.

As we begin another new year, resolutions will most likely have been made.  If you’re like me, you make them and then break them within a few weeks (days?).  For this reason, Welch’s book is just perfect for this time of year.  He takes 52 things he’s learned from George and Mary Bailey, Clarence the Angel, and yes, even the evil Mr. Potter, and relates them in simple ways to our everyday lives.

To me, Christmas Eve isn’t complete without getting home in time to see George at the bridge finally wanting to live again.  One of the most important things I realized from Welch’s book is that absolutely nothing has changed at this point in terms of George’s problems.  He still lost $8,000, he was still probably going to jail, the Building and Loan was probably going to close, and the staircase in his “drafty old house" was still broken.  The changes were all inside his heart…enough to run through Bedford Falls yelling “Merry Christmas”…yes, even to Mr. Potter.

MY RATING - 5

A Murder at Rosamund's Gate (Susanna Calkins)

A Murder at Rosamund's Gate is Susanna Calkins's absorbing debut novel.  Just a warning that time WILL easily slip away as you become engrossed in this historical fiction mystery.  I was pleasantly surprised that this is deemed Book 1 of the Lucy Campion Mysteries; if there's a Book 1, there has to be a Book 2, right?  So I look forward to reading Calkins's future tales.

It's set in the mid-1600s right around the beginning of the plague's entrance into London.  Lucy is a young servant girl living in the kind magistrate's household.  A series of murders, including of someone very close to Lucy, soon makes the area a dangerous place to be.  Calkins expertly combines not only a "whodunit" but also great suspense as the plague creeps ever closer.

With this novel, Susanna Calkins proves herself to be a literary talent and her protagonist is interesting enough to star in future books. Calkins is off to a rip-roaring start with A Murder at Rosamund's Gate.

MY RATING - 4

NOTE:  This book will be released on April 23, 2013.

The Alienist (Caleb Carr)

As a huge fan of historical fiction, especially that which takes place in the late 1800s/early 1900s, it's hard to believe it's taken me this long to discover Caleb Carr.  He was recommended to me by my friends at Goodreads, and I am so glad that he was!  While The Alienist is not a quick read and took me a long while to get through, it is well worth it for those who love this time period.

John Moore, the narrator and a police reporter with The New York Times, is asked by his psychologist friend, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, to join in on an investigation.  A mass murderer is on the loose in New York City, one who focuses on wayward children.  Back then, psychology was just coming into the mainstream and much frowned upon, with those who practiced it sometimes called "alienists".  With the assistance of NYC police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, Kreizler puts together a very hush-hush group to investigate the killings and try to get into the murderer's brain before he strikes again.

While some reviews have said The Alienist is too wordy with too much dialogue, I found these chapters fascinating.  As the group talks through each aspect of the case, hoping it'll provide clues, the reader is witnessing the very beginning of this science becoming known to the public.  There were a few points where I wish Carr would have sped up the action, but in the end, it all makes for a very satisfying completion to one big puzzle.  So I may be a little late (19 years to be exact), but I look forward to reading the sequel, The Angel of Darkness.

MY RATING - 4

American Ghost (Janis Owens)

I’m going to start with a warning that if you’re looking for a spooky novel, American Ghost, by Janis Owens, is not it.  Many people on other sites have posted that they were under the assumption that this was a ghost story.  However, the type of ghost Owens writes about is not traditional but historical.

American Ghost takes place in the American South, but I wasn’t entirely sure in what time period until after the first few chapters.  Sam Lense is a college student who has come to Hendrix, Florida under false pretenses.  He tells the people he meets that he is researching Native American tribes of the area when really he is investigating an ancestor’s murder at the hands of Henry Kite.  Kite was executed for his crime long ago, along with most of his family, in such a heinous way, that the modern-day people of Hendrix do not wish to speak of it.  Sam meets Jolie Hoyt, who comes from a family that is very well-known for all the wrong reasons.  Did the Hoyt family have something to do with this lynching?  Sam soon realizes that digging into the secrets of Hendrix could be extremely dangerous.

Some readers have compared this book to The Help, but in my eyes, there is no comparison.  To me, the present-day characters in American Ghost were not fully fleshed out enough to the point where I cared enough to continue reading about them.  However, the historical aspect of the novel makes it worth reading and remembering that it wasn’t so long ago that this actually happened in America. 

MY RATING - 3

The Uninvited (Liz Jensen)

Liz Jensen's The Uninvited is an extremely dark read that will have your heart palpitating at some points but will have you practically falling asleep at others.  What better way to begin a book than having a seven-year-old child putting a nail gun to her grandmother's neck?  Warm and fuzzy this novel is not.

Hesketh Lock is investigating cases of business sabotage followed by rash suicides.  Before going through their violent ends, the saboteurs insist that someone is inside them.  Children are also committing horrific acts to their parents and other adults.  Lock desperately tries to determine if there is some parallel here, even when things hit way too close to home.

At times, I couldn't stop reading The Uninvited, as Jensen lulls you into a state of contentment for awhile and then pulls the rug out from under you.  However, I wanted to like this book much more than I did.  After an unbelievably terrifying first page, the novel slows down drastically, and the ending is just too far-fetched for me.  However, if you're a fan of movies about creepy children (like Village of the Damned and Children of the Corn), this book might be right up your alley.

MY RATING - 3