True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa by Michael Finkel

Christian Longo was the father of three.  He had a beautiful, devoted wife.  He appeared successful. Then, his family was murdered, discovered one by one in a river.  Longo sets off for Mexico, where he assumes the name of a New York Times journalist, Michael Finkel.  What he doesn't know is that while he is in Mexico, Finkel is facing the wrath of the press for an unethical story he wrote and submitted for publication.  Finkel goes into hiding, only emerging when a police officer contacts him about his identity being stolen by a murderer.

Disturbing, True Crime left me questioning our ability to tell and to recognize truth.  Longo and Finkel are both adept liars.  One faces the truth about himself, and the other continues to lie. Finkel was likeable even if he was not admirable, and to Finkle, Longo was charming, an evil that was neccessary to  his pursuit to of the truth about Longo and himself. 

Difficult to put down, True Crime made me keep reading.  The style is clear and crisp.  It felt something like driving by a horrible wreck and seeing bodies being removed, wishing you didn't look, but knowing you have to. Propelled through the novel, in the end I am still wondering what to believe about these men. 

Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy C. Bennett

Most girls are fascinated by fairy tales, well the Disney version, where everything turns out beautifully. If you really think about it though, most fairy tales are dark, full of evil and wicked people. Murder is common as is death, in general, and that says nothing about all of the nasty "mothers" that inhabit most of the stories.

So it is with Bennett's modern retelling of the Rapunzel story. Rapunzel is locked in a tower for her own safety. She has an imune deficiency that has kept her in her apartment like room for seventeen years. Thankfully, her mother who is technologically illiterate herself, gets Rapunzel a computer. One Facebook post later, Fane has entered her life awakening her curiousity about the world beyond her room.

While the concept should be a strech, unfortunately, it is not in a real world where children are kidnapped and held against their will for decades. Bennett successfully captures the horror of the situation while still infusing the story with hope. Rapunzel has been naive and continues to be innocent throughout the novel, but she grows. She faces her fears and discovers a better world.

I seriously liked this retelling. Do NOT skip the author's note, it will help with the suspension of disbelief that the story requires.

The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva

     Gabriel Allon, top notch art restorer and part time Israeli Intelligence operative, has been drawn into the hunt for a Palestinian terrorist.  But, the real question is who will cause more damage to Allon: the terrorist, the beautiful agent he must work with or the Israeli Intelligence community itself?
     As a character study, The Kill Artist, is fascinating.  Allon is intriquing, as a spy should be, and his cool, calculating exterior hides a more intricate man.  On the other hand, the plot lacked suspense and action, especially for a spy novel, but the overall effect was intriguing, and Gabriel Allon is a character worth further study.
     Definately an adult book with adult language and situations, Silva's first novel in the Allon series was a New York Time Bestseller.

Confessions: The Paris Mysteries by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

     Reloacted to Paris, Tandy is now facing threats from Royal Rampling immediately upon her reunion with his son, James, her first love, but the real threat is coming from somewhere else and has something to do with her sister, Katherine's sudden death six years ago. 
     I was seriously disappointed in this novel that read like a bridge to something much more exciting to come.  I really liked Tandy in the first two mysteries.  She was complex and quirky and interesting.  The cases she was solving were twisted and thrilling.  This time around she was a whiny teenager, and I knew how it was all going to work out almost from the very start.  Occaisonally, there was a bit of true suspence, but for the most part the story was predictable.  I doubt that I will give up on the series yet; I am accutally interested to see if the first Tandy returns.

The Four Doors by Richard Paul Evans

I've come to truly appreciate Richard Paul Evans succinct, crisp writing.  That's it.  The concepts behind the four doors aren't new, but the presentation makes them not only accessible but also tangible.  I felt like I had something concrete to work on, a specific way to improve my thinking and my actions.  So, essentially, he accomplished his purpose, and that is worth five stars.

Goners, The Final Hours of the Notable and Notorious

Goners should reside in the bathroom, not because it covers Elvis's death which occured in a bathroom, but because it's one of those books you can pick up and read a section of and then put it down. Oddly enough, I couldn't put it down. Maybe I have an unhealthy interest in death that I never realized, or maybe my brain just needed a break. More likely it is the fact that Kerr writes clean prose with tantalizing tidbits that pull you from story to story.  A fun read for the morbidly curious.

The Map Thief by Michael Blanding

     Frequently, I find non-fiction written by journalists to be well written, efficiently paced, and detailed enough to be intriguing.   Such is the case with The Map Thief.  Blanding investigates the story of E. Forbes Smiley III, an apparently successful rare map dealer who was caught stealing maps from Yale University and later confessed to having stolen nearly 100 maps from other public institutions such as the New York Public Library and the Boston Library.  

     Blanding traces Smiley's rise in the world of rare map dealing, examines Smiley's motivations and personality, and introduces the reader not only to the world of rare maps, but the history of these unique historical artifacts.

     It's a fascinating world, full of meticulous scholars, grandious dealers, and determined collectors.  Smiley had a gift, a talenet for envisioning the way a collection of maps could tell a story, and an increasing need for money.  In the end, though, it is difficult to tell what possesed Smiley to steal from the institutions that trusted and helped him as well as the dealers who supported him.

    An excellent read for the history buff who loves intrigue and peaking into the minds of those who create it.