I'll update the book I just finished and provide a synopsis for the one I've got on my nightstand and then continue with my look at the Mystery genre, American cops. I'm almost finished that list.
Just Finished
"Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery (Green Gables #2).... *sigh* What a stoopid story!! What a load of schmaltz!! What does it offer anybody, I ask? Well, maybe love... maybe friendship... maybe flights of imagination... family, happiness, a few tears, gentleness, caring.. So nothing really. ;0)
This second book of the Green Gables series finds Anne Shirley back in Prince Edward Island living with Marila. She is now 17 and about to assume her job as teacher of the school she started in. The book, like Anne of Green Gables is a series of vignettes, little incidents that make up Anne's life. Her life as a teacher, as she tries to win over her students (do you have any doubts?). There are new acquaintances, the new neighbour Mr. Harrison, grumpy and upset about the fact that Anne's cow continues to escape into his wheat crop (quite a funny incident ensues). There is young Paul Irving, one of her students and a kindred spirit when it comes to wonderful imagination. There is Miss Lavender, a spinster who Anne and Diana (Anne's closest friend) discover by accident and who becomes a dear friend and whose life Anne will change most drastically. There are the twins, Davy and Dora, from a distant cousin of Marila, who will be adopted by Marila and Anne and will spice up their lives (especially the precocious Davy)
Of course, there are the old friends from the first book; Diana and Gilbert (who plays a smaller role in this one as he is teaching in a nearby district) and their close neighbour, Mrs. Lynde, Marila's oldest friend. These people continue to enrich Anne's life, as she enriches theirs.
It's a wonderful story. You will laugh at some of the happenings, feel tears as Anne's life changes throughout, especially at the end. There are even some tense, frightening moments (see Chapter 24). All in all, it's a wonderful story of a simple, but fascinating life. At times it made me think fondly of events in my childhood. What more can you ask from a story. As I said, stoopid story! Well, ok, a lovely, warm, satisfying story. (5 stars)"
Next In Line
"The depression of the 1930s led people to desperate measures to survive. The marathon dance craze, which flourished at that time, seemed a simple way for people to earn extra money dancing the hours away for cash, for weeks at a time. But the underside of that craze was filled with a competition and violence unknown to most ballrooms."
My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - American Cops
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| Karin Slaughter |
In my last entry, I looked at Slaughter's first series, the Grant County mysteries. The Will Trent series features Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent Will Trent and his partner Faith Mitchell. There are 8 books in this series and two short stories. Sara Linton from the Grant County series joins the first two books. I've read the first 3 books in this series so far. I'm not sure I like it quite as much as the Grant County books, maybe too many character foibles, but it's still a good thriller series.
"I enjoyed my introduction to Will Trent, even if he was often on the periphery of the story. The story rather focused on John Shelley, an ex-con trying to get his life in order and discovering that someone has been using his identity. It's more about John's investigation into who is doing this that is the focus of the book. Other characters in the story include Michael Ormerod, an Atlanta cop, with his own secrets and Angie Polaski, a vice cop, with connections to all three men. Throw in a serial killer and you've got the makings of a tense, interesting story. Sometimes it seemed far-fetched to me, but ultimately it didn't really matter. I will try other Will Trent mysteries. (3 stars)"
"Fractured is the 2nd Will Trent, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent, mystery by Karin Slaughter. Overall, it's a tense, quickly - paced, interesting mystery. I do have some issues with Trent; how he is able to function effectively as an investigator, with all the paperwork and bureaucratic matters he must deal with, when he is dyslexic and basically can't read, does cause me some issues. However, having said that, people learn to work around physical and mental issues and Slaughter has worked hard to make it plausible. Trent is smart and imaginative and has found ways to deal with those administrative matters. His issues do at times mean he misses items that might be useful in solving cases, but his boss knows about his problem and accepts them. (As long as he doesn't screw up)
In this book, Trent takes over a kidnapping case from the Atlanta PD when they miss key clues at the crime scene and he ends up being teamed up with an Atlanta cop, Faith Mitchell, in working through the case. There are issues and tensions between them as well, as Trent's last case involved finding and dealing with corrupt Atlanta cops, including Faith's mother. (Yep, there are lots of twists and issues in this story).
It's interesting as Trent and Mitchell learn to work together (Trent is a bit of a loner) and the methodical manner in which they investigate and try to ascertain more about the victim, Emma,a young girl and her friends to find out who might have wanted to kidnap her.
Oh, let's throw in a couple of other little twists; Emma's mother came across the crime scene and killed a young man she thought was attacking her daughter, who turns out to have been a possible witness. And Emma's father went through the same foster system as Trent and has major issues with Trent being involved in the case.
Enough twists and turns and issues? Well, they do ultimately get resolved very nicely and the story moves along at a nice pace to keep you very interested. Do I like the Trent stories as much as I liked the Grant County series. Not yet, but still very enjoyable and I will continue to work through the books. (3.5 stars)"
"Undone is the 3rd book in Karin Slaughter's Will Trent suspense series. I had greatly enjoyed her first series, the Grant County books, featuring coroner Sara Linton as the central character. I'd read the first two books in the Will Trent series and enjoyed them but not as much as the Grant County books. Probably one of my difficulties with total enjoyment was wrapping my head around the main character, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) detective, Will Trent. Trent has so many issues, the main one being dyslexic, meaning he has great difficulty even reading, figuring out his left from his right (meaning it's difficult just getting from A to B), etc. But even so the stories themselves were highly interesting mysteries.
The 3rd book, Undone, was excellent. It's only problem was maybe being somewhat too long, but even with that minor complaint, it was easy to get into, an interesting, creepy, unsettling mystery, and the story just flowed. The other nice thing was that Sara Linton, one of my favorite characters in a mystery series, was in this story. She had just started working in the ER at Grady County and is immediately involved with the mystery.
So what is the basic story? A naked woman is hit by a car driven by two elderly people. It turns out she's near death, appears to have been tortured cruelly for a long time and by the time she is brought to Grady County, she's in a coma and the doctors are struggling to bring her back. Even though it appears to be a local police department case, Rockford County, Will Trent and his partner, Faith Mitchell, GBI detectives, get involved, causing interdepartmental headaches and friction. While Faith is at the hospital, Will discovers where the body has been kept (in a hole in the ground - not just a hole... but a scary place as you'll discover) and also discovers she wasn't the only victim.
So there you go. This starts a frustrating, intense investigation, with Will and Faith treading on the toes of other jurisdictions, with the help of their fantastic boss, Amanda Wagner (I love her. She's grumpy, smart, down to earth, strong - willed and scares the pants off people when she needs to.. including her own detectives). The case involves one of the creepiest serial killers I've yet to read about. The descriptions of his / her actions are just intense enough to give you the shivers. Will and Faith deal with their own problems and each other. Sara has her own issues, which I won't get into if you haven't read the Grant County series because they relate to incidents that take place there. (By the way, you should read Grant County before you dive into this series)
It's a long story, as I've mentioned, but it doesn't really seem to be as you move through the investigation, the character interactions and the final, exciting finish. It's been so nice to get back into Karin Slaughter's stories again. You'll love the characters and curl into a ball as you move into the story.. *shudder*... Great stuff (4 stars)"
I have the next two books in the series - Broken (#4) and Fallen (#5) and after that are Criminal, Unseen and The Kept Woman. As well there are two novellas, Busted and Snatched.
This is the penultimate author in my look at American Cops. Of course, it's not all-inclusive, just those books I've tried. But maybe it'll give you some ideas.
Have a great week!.
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