Conservative Book Talk

In a story reminiscent of Rebecca (due to the focus on Menley’s feelings, emotions and marital struggles), Clark leads on from one suspenseful chapter to the next. This is great summer reading.

The leading lady, Menley Nichols, may or may not be chasing ghosts of the distant past, but she is certainly chasing the ghosts of her past. Just a few years prior to this story, a tragic accident caused the death of her firstborn son Bobby. Menley was driving and never saw the train.

Now, with a baby girl named Hannah, Menley struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. In an effort to boost her recovery, Menley, her husband Adam and baby Hannah decide to vacation in Remember House on Cape Cod. What should be a relaxing vacation turns into a nightmare on the coast. Of course, no one mentioned to the ill Menley that the house was haunted by its first mistress….

The story revolves around Menley’s attempts to prove her independence, her ability to care for Hannah all the while writing a children’s novel set in the 1600’s. This survey into the past brings to light mysteries about Remember House that had been hidden for centuries. Meanwhile, Adam, a high profile NY defense attorney is defending a local Cape Cod resident who has been fingered for his wealthy wife’s accidental drowning death. Mix in a few more subplots, throw in a dash of ghosts and out comes a mystery worthy of Mary Higgins Clark. In other words, it’s worth reading.

There are a couple of downsides. The first is profanity. While Clark never uses a lot of profanity, there is always some. Secondly, Clark breaks something that I thought was an unbreakable rule: the omniscient narrator lies. Every character, even when alone, decries their innocence / blamelessness / victimhood etc…. In her books, On the Street Where You Live and Nighttime is My Time, whenever she cuts to a scene with the evil character alone, you know what the evil character thinks, but not who they are. In Remember Me though, one never reads a confession from the bad guy. Therefore, it is never clear whether there is a bad guy or even if a crime has been committed. Other than wondering whether the book is about a murder already committed, a murder that might be, whether Menley is crazy (or maybe she is being manipulated out of the picture), or maybe its something else entirely, the book is good.

No, I won’t spoil the ending and tell you what the book is about. If you must know anything, the book is about memories and remembering your past. Menley needs healing in dealing with her past. Others have pasts that they want to conceal. One character has Alzheimer’s disease and she has the linchpin to the whole plot.

Enjoy this summer mystery. Just preferably not on the Cape in August.

Tags: Mary Higgins Clark, Matt Gardenghi, Mystery, Remember Me

Book three of the Alex Rider series. Alex Rider is British, and really, he shines in England. Something about the interactions across the pond seem to flow naturally and be so lifelike I can see the book unfolding in my head. Once you add Americans into the picture, its another story. Or maybe just less of a movie-in-book-form than previous volumes; either way, the Americans stand out like cardboard cut outs on a live action set. Thankfully, that is rectified when our main bad guy shows up (he and the main minions are Russian), and things kick into high gear for another rousing adventure.

PLOT: revolves around Alex getting roped into another mission, this one in America, involving a Russian nuclear nutcase. Instead of the British spy agency backing him all the way, he has to work with two American CIA agents (who aren’t supposed to tell the kid anything), and as usual, nobody knows what they’re actually after, even Alex. Alex, one female agent, and one male agent are soon in Florida, trying to get into the mansion of an impressively protective former Soviet general. His house consumes an entire island, and only a deep underwater cave is left unguarded…

POSITIVE: The world of spies is murky and uncertain in this series (as in real life), and Alex, while clearly brilliant, doesn’t know anything more than the agents he’s assigned with. As in, yay for adult competence! He saves everyone, but only once he’s willing to admit that he doesn’t know very much and so approaches each new thing with caution and humility. The story line also flows very naturally, making the transition from rainy London to the swamps of Florida and eventually the Russian Arctic Circle very natural. One of my pet peeves is “crazy” bad guys who are really just deluded idiots; this one is genuinely crazy, so he’s creepy, but he acts like you’d expect a lunatic to act, with unexpected logic, especially regarding his treatment of Alex. And the supporting minions are developed well enough that they supplement the performance, by treating his insanity as normal. And yes, that will only make sense once you’ve read the book. In short, the author has figured out what makes a good horror story, and applied the principles to his spy tale. He also discusses, subtly, several adult themes of women in the workforce, pride going before a fall, nuclear ethics, manipulation of the media, and security systems and their effectiveness being based on the people running them. These are positive because as an adult I enjoyed finding something to think about over the course of the book, and they are subtle enough that a kid could miss them entirely.

NEGATIVE: This is the darkest book in the series, in my opinion. Usually, authors forget to make the minions behave as if they’ve been minions for a long time, and the illusion of craziness is broken. Horowitz does a good job here of making it very real and therefore very scary. And something like seven different horrific ways to die are presented. Two bad words; many action scenes including bad guy sends minions to their death among the alligators, several life-threatening scenes where a young person is in danger of being electrocuted, eaten alive by sharks, chomped on my mechanical teeth, blown up, nuclear poisoning, ripped in pieces, etc –not graphic, and thereby more terrifying; our hero is unkind to a deformed minion (who wants him chopped in pieces); one stereotypical macho American guy who does stupidly risky things; and several characters consume alcohol liberally and one gets raving drunk.

OVERVIEW: four stars, because as a kids book it’s really rather more mature than it should be, with regard to the creepiness and violence levels. Otherwise, though, it’s very well crafted and though provoking.

Tags: adventure, Alex Rider, Anthony Horowitz, fiction, Mystery, Sincerelyornot, Skeleton Key, youth

Book two of the Alex Rider series (aka, more normal accidents). I am really enjoying this story line of teenage spy, I’ll tell you right now. I’ve found that when I’m feeling most unsure, I’m about to do something right. Alex is accepts his spy role but with reservations and hesitations (although he generally doesn’t hesitate to do what is right), and, drum roll, he makes mistakes in the process.

Plot: The “accidental” deaths of two important world figures have just one connection: sons who “happen” to be attending the prestigious Point Blanc academy, which “happens” to only admit fourteen year old boys. Guess who old Alex is? His secret agent skills have been emerging at school (the opening scene with drug deals is arguably the most hilarious bust up of all time), and its about time he took a vacation anyway. With that parental argument, the agent handler drops Alex off for a week of luxury training with murderously lazy rich brats. He’s delighted to leave them behind, until he finds the locale of his next mission involves the Swiss Alps, a miniature army, and a classroom that appears to be full of robots. And he is the newest classmate. In a school where classes are optional but only robots attend, no drugs are allowed but he falls right to sleep after one glass of soda pop, and the private bedrooms come equipped with hidden cameras, there are lots of secrets. But then, he’s a secret agent.

Positive: Well written, with good character development given to several supporting persons. Alex is delighted to hang out with kids his own age, until he recognizes how immature they all are. Several interesting themes regarding what a person’s taste in art says about them, how wealth does not bring happiness, and allusions to the effect of peer pressure. Also, did I mention that the obligatory opening action sequence is totally cool? The plot follows the stereotypical action-movie sequence of beginning action, introduction of real plot, development via small action sequences, and ever-bigger sequences of fighting and explosions, with a minor resolution that is an illusion to forestall the final ka-boom, and then the actual resolution (as do most of the Alex Rider series). As usual, that structure is tweaked to involve a more classical character development, and one very inventive opening sequence involving a drug ring, a boat, and a crane.

Negative: The crazy Swiss guy isn’t very realistic. He and his minions are pretty clumsy to have such a well-organized scheme, and the motivations are underdeveloped. I suspect the author was told to have a crazy lunatic in his second book just because it worked so well in the first, but he didn’t actually plan the plot around that point. So it seems incongruous. We forgive the book for its leaps of logic by the time of the last tension-filled scene, but the plot holes resemble, well, Swiss cheese. One of Alex’s escapades in particular is ridiculous beyond words (but since he is thinking “this is ridiculous” the whole time, I forgave it and enjoyed the thrill ride). Lots of action violence, some blood mentioned, adults are irresponsible, pride is used against several main characters with embarrassing frequency, drugs used against kids, and racism/apartheid espoused by bad guys.

Overall; great book for lounging on the beach with. Or in the library, where the next book is within easy reach (I borrowed the first three at the same time, and had to get the next three within a week, so be forewarned, its not a good book to casually pick up for half an hour between studying for other things!).

Tags: Alex Rider, Anthony Horowitz, fiction, Mystery, Sincerelyornot, youth