Brutal by Michael Harmon

Poe Holly's mother is off on another humanitarian rescue thing, that in Poe's mind makes her mother feel better and look better because the rest of the time she is such a jerk. Poe isn't going to miss her, she isn't around anyway. Problem is: Poe's mother is insisting that she leave her home, her band and everything that does mean something to her to go live in small town California with the father she has never known.

I thought here we go again, poor misunderstood big city kid has to move to narrow minded small town and show them how they should really behave. Poe was thinking the same thing, nothing surprising there, but as Poe tackles the evil high school system that protects the privileged students who torment and bully the not-so-fortunate students, she discovers a little of the bully within her.

What really struck me was the way Poe powerfully articulates the way that teachers and students collude to allow a bullying system to thrive in this high school. She just ZINGS! her logic at the adults around her, and I thought, "You go girl!"

Summer Reads

I've been reading all summer, but only three books seemed worth blogging about. Wish I'd found more interesting story lines and characters.  They all seem repetative lately.

The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry

Cotton Malone, a supposedly retired U.S. Justice Department agent, deals in rare books, until he nearly dies in a particularly nasty fire in a local museum. Now, he and his friend, Cassiopia Vitt, are chasing the villains across Europe trying to connect the dots among Irina Zovastina, president of the Central Asian Federation, President Daniels of the United States, and Enrico Vencenti of the Venetian League. The treasure appears to be Alexander the Great's tomb. Really, the truth involves biological weapons, billions of dollars in pharmaceuticals, and a medallion with the microscopic inscription for "life" in ancient Greek. Like most spy thrillers, Venetian Betrayal throws characters at the reader at an intense pace, and then bounces from location to location and action to action scene. Initially, I was annoyed that the plot just didn't move forward efficiently in a more connected style. But, as the pace increased and the enemy encounters intensified to reach the ultimate conflict, I found myself envisioning the action on the big screen, and it was amazing. Malone is a bit of a sap when it comes to Cassiopia, but one brilliant and capable spy when it comes to solving the intricate puzzle that Berry created. Worth every word read, I enjoyed chasing Malone and Vitt across Europe and Central Asia. Of course, the historic connection to ancient Greece caught my historian's interest. The action, while plentiful and violent, really intensified a sense of reality that the story needed. Overall a solid addition to the spy thriller with overtones of ancient treasure hunting genre.

Royal Target by Traci Hunter Abramson

A CIA operative, Janessa Roger specializes in linguistics, who sometimes finds a little excitement. While at a Brazillian state reception, she is suddenly requested to act as additional security detail for the royal family of Meridia, namely, Prince Garrett Fortier. He finds it quite humorous that a tiny woman like Janessa is his "body gaurd". But, Janessa and Garrett make a connection that neither expects, and when Janessa is sent home because of her religious beliefs, she is suddenly available to act as Garrett's fiance and lead the CIA's security detail to protect the royal family from what appears to be terrorist attacks associated with the possibility of the U.S. building a naval base in Meridia. Cute describes this fairly predictable book. The characters have just enough spice and chemistry to make them likable. Abramson throws believable distractions and complications (within the context of a spy novel) into the romance to keep the reader in suspense about who is targeting the royals and whether Janessa and Garrett will truly make a love match. An LDS suspense romance with a palpable religious conflict, Royal Target, is an escape piece that was just fun to relax and read. Nothing deep or thought provoking, but the book doesn't pretend to be those things, it is just a wonderfully, complicated and cute love story. Yeah!

Her Good Name by Josi S. Kilpack

At thirty-five Chrissy is still unwed ( a veritable unknown in the world of Mormons in Idaho), moreover, most men she dates are a little put off by her ethnicity or Mexican-American heritage. Still, her best friend Amanda keeps trying and eventually sets her up on one more blind date. She agrees but is fully prepared for disappointment. Micah turns out to be attractive and funny and interested. But, with one phone call everything changes because she has to ditch him to rescue her niece. Not a good ending. It's over before it has a chance to begin. Unfortunately, it is at that disastrous end that an even more disastrous event occurs, Chrissy's identity is stolen. Suddenly, she has a pile of debt amounting to $90,000, a criminal record, and no job.

The premise of this story sounded intriguing, but I didn't hold out much hope for the book to really hold my attention because the premise also seemed thin. I wondered how the author was going to drag it out for more than 300 pages. Pleasantly surprised if not shocked, I loved the story. Chrissy is a strong, smart, highly self-reliant individual, but still real. She isn't superwoman. She struggles. Looses faith. I cried when her heart became broken on top of all the rest of what she was experiencing because of other's choices. It seemed like all her agency was taken by others, but she preserved and did something to make it better.

Micah was also a very real man with shortcomings and strengths,and Chrissy saw them both. This isn't a Cinderella story. It is a real life love and crime story. I also liked the way the author introduced the "enemy" early on instead of springing her on us in the last third of the novel. While I didn't like her, or her intensity of crazy devotion to her father's cause, reading about her made me realize the depth of evil involved in identity theft as well as gaining a greater understanding of why she made the choices she did. The action was believable and exciting,even thought it drug a bit during the middle third of the story.

Faith in a god who loves and cares for his people is at the center of Chrissy's beliefs and strengths. She is comfortable in her own skin and faithful to her religion, and while, romance and crime are at the center of the plot, it is God who is at the center of Chrissy's strength. Some may be put off by that, but for me it made her real, not just some super human character who always triumphs. I would recommend this novel and this author to any one, and indeed, I have.

Term Limits by Vince Flynn

Three political powerhouses, two senators and one congressman, are all murdered in one night. The perpetrators are skilled assassins who demand that the government be given back to the people, that the budget be balanced, and that they keep their campaign promises or there will be more deaths. The president may very well be their next target, unless ex-Marine and freshman congressman Michael O'Rouke tells the FBI what he suspects.

Flynn, obviously, is a very talented writer. I thought the plot was a little tedious about half way in, but by then I was committed to see how it turned out. As the story drew closer to an end, Flynn jumped among characters less which moved the story more quickly. His foreshadowing was done with a light touch, for example, one of the main characters appears at first to mild and easy going, but Flynn adds just enough emphasis on the character's body language to hint that more might be going on there. Oddly enough, I liked that the characters were so very direct about their political beliefs, which could have come across as preachy.

A political thriller and definitely violent, Term Limits, made me wonder about whether the real FBI, SEALs, and CIA have read the novel and worry about what Flynn reveals about their strategies and tactics. I liked it, and in the end I was surprised by how much I wanted to see the bad guys to not only get caught, but also suffer. Maybe that's my vindictive streak.

Lord of the Far Island by Victoria Holt

Orphaned at 5, Ellen Kellaway remembers little of her mother and nothing of her father. She is left to be raised by her Aunt Augusta who reminds her daily of her position as a recipient of the great family's kindness. Upon reaching adulthood she is to become a governess, but at the last minute, Paul Carrington, of the Carringtons, proposes marriage to his long time friend. Ellen is rescued, but she continues to be tortured by the bad dream she has had since childhood. Who is the mysterious stranger who suddenly shows up everywhere, and what will she do when she realizes that she really doesn't love Paul?



Holt's heroine is spunky, fun and interesting. Ellen is, in fact, sassy. I liked that she didn't just simply lay down and take her Great Aunt's abuse, and the fact that she is really curious, to the point of noisy, gives the story credibility. Although, much of the plot is predictable, I was caught off guard several times and truly shocked by the turn of events that Holt introduced into the story line. The other characters are fairly stock and even the hero seems less than sincere. In fact, I had a hard time understanding what drew Ellen to him.



A classical romance by the "Queen of Romantic Suspense", The Lord of the Far Island is well written if a bit slow for our fast paced world. I enjoyed the author's writing style as well as the conclusion of the story which truly did surprise me. Holt is a must for any romance enthusiast.