2015 BOOK SUMMARIES

January - THE HUSBAND'S SECRET by Liane Moriarity (Erin)
Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

February - THE RACKETEER by John Grisham (Frances)
The protagonist Malcolm Bannister, an African American and former United States Marine, had been an attorney in a modest Virginia small-town law firm. A real estate transaction which he undertook in good faith turned out to have involved the purchase of a secluded hunting lodge where a crooked Capitol Hill lobbyist invited corrupt Congressmen for orgies with underage girls. When the scandal was exposed, Bannister was caught up in a large FBI sweep and his name was added to many others on a hundred-page racketeering charge sheet as his protestations of innocence were ignored. He was charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), convicted and given a ten-year prison term.^[2] The plot starts five years later with Bannister half way through his term, where he has since been disbarred, divorced by his wife, is losing his son and nursing a bitter grudge against the Federal Government in general and the FBI in particular.^[3] He gets his chance when the brutal murder of a federal judge, Judge Fawcett, and of the judge's mistress makes headlines in the media and the FBI investigation goes nowhere. ^[1] Bannister not only knows who the killer was and why, but also what had been in the judge's safe, as well as the judge's own hidden corruption.
He convinces the FBI to offer him a deal which will set him free as well as make him a member of the United States Federal Witness Protection Program, in return for information leading to the indictment of the murderer. He tells the FBI that Quinn Rucker, a drug dealer he met in prison, had escaped and murdered Judge Fawcett as revenge for a failed bribery attempt in which the judge took half a million dollars but didn't follow through on his end of the deal. He provides information on Quinn's whereabouts, who is arrested and confesses to the crime, which leads to an indictment. However, it is revealed later that Quinn Rucker is not the murderer and that Bannister is aware of this.  After the indictment, Malcolm Bannister is released and given a new face and identity, Max Reed Baldwin. After the FBI discovers that Rucker's gang know of Bannister's whereabouts and are seeking revenge, Bannister leaves the program and goes off the radar. He sets up a fake film company called Skelter Films, and proceeds to locate a man whom he had also met in prison, Nathan Cooley. He contacts Nathan and asks him to take part in the filming of a documentary about corruption in the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI. Thanks to the Witness Protection Program, Bannister ensures that Nathan is unaware of his real identity, and succeeds in winning his confidence and landing him in prison in Jamaica by drugging him while he's on a private plane and planting cocaine, a handgun and a fake passport in his luggage.  It is revealed that Nathan is in fact the real killer, and that he stole approximately $8.5 million worth of gold from the judge who had taken it from a mining company, Armanna Mines, in exchange for a favourable ruling giving them permission to mine uranium in the region. Bannister tricks Nathan into giving him the location of the money and steals it. Meanwhile, charges are dropped against Rucker after it is found he has an alibi, and it is revealed that they have been working together in order to steal the money Bannister learned about in prison. Bannister trades the identity of the real killer in exchange for immunity and tells the FBI to investigate the bribery that took place between Judge Fawcett and Armanna Mines.

March - Blood and Justice by Rayven T. Hill
When sixteen-year-old Jenny James goes missing, and the local police are unable to find her, the girl's frantic mother hires private investigators Jake and Annie Lincoln to search for her daughter.
When the body of Jenny's boyfriend is discovered, the mystery of her disappearance deepens. Shaken out of their comfort zone of Internet searches and poring over public records, the couple soon find themselves facing the frightening possibility they are looking for the latest victim of a serial killer.
As more bodies pile up, the town is gripped with fear. It seems no one is safe, and the Lincolns race to solve an impossible puzzle before they become the killer's next victims.

April - THE FIRST COUNSEL by Brad Meltzer
A man faces a lot of pressure when dating the first daughter of the U.S., especially if she is sexy, rebellious and maybe a little bit crazy like Nora Hartson. But young White House lawyer Michael Garrick thinks he is up to the task. Their first date begins with a wild car chase to shake off Nora's ever-present Secret Service tail and ends when Nora and Michael see something they were never meant to see something that will put Michael's career, and his life, in danger. As witnesses to an ever-widening conspiracy, Michael and Nora find themselves tangled in a web of intrigue and under suspicion for murder. As the pressure increases, Nora makes herself scarce; when she does surface, she seems even more vulnerable and crazed, leaving Michael to decide if she is, in fact, part of the conspiracy or, like him, a victim of it. As he tries to make sense of the trap surrounding him, he finds himself not knowing whom, if anyone, to trust.

MAY - ENDURANCE, Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
In the summer of 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set off aboard the Endurance bound for the South Atlantic. The goal of his expedition was to cross the Antarctic overland, but more than a year later, and still half a continent away from the intended base, the Endurance was trapped in ice and eventually was crushed. For five months Shackleton and his crew survived on drifting ice packs in one of the most savage regions of the world before they were finally able to set sail again in one of the ship's lifeboats. Alfred Lansing's Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage is a white-knuckle account of this astounding odyssey.  Through the diaries of team members and interviews with survivors, Lansing reconstructs the months of terror and hardship the Endurance crew suffered. In October of 1915, there "were no helicopters, no Weasels, no Sno-Cats, no suitable planes. Thus their plight was naked and terrifying in its simplicity. If they were to get out--they had to get themselves out." How Shackleton did indeed get them out without the loss of a single life is at the heart of Lansing's magnificent true-life adventure tale.

JUNE - PRIVATE L.A. by James Patterson and Mark SullivanPrivate L.A. by James Patterson with Mark Sullivan is the seventh installment in the Private series but the third in the series featuring world-renowned private investigator Jack Morgan, head of Private Investigation. In this segment of the series, Jack Morgan is up against a mountain of problems when his twin brother, Tommy, is charged with murder.
Things are going from bad to worse in Los Angeles. Jack Morgan and his trusted team of investigators are called in when a group calling themselves 'No Prisoners' are holding the LA Authorities to ransom threatening to carry out massacres at random locations until their demands are met. And Jack has been asked to investigate the disappearance of the biggest superstar couple in Hollywood, Thom and Jennifer Harlow, along with their children, and prevent the news from leaking to the media.
It is a suspenseful story with a plot that moves at breakneck speed. It has all the trademarks of James Patterson's thrillers: absorbing, great characters, fast-paced, dramatic twists and turns and unbelievable storyline. Though the book coursed through three different plots, they are blended together only as Patterson can and wrapped up satisfactorily at the end.  It is an absolutely delightful perfect weekend getaway read.

JULY - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a #1 New York Times bestselling novel about two unforgettable American women.
Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world.
Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.
Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.
As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

AUGUST - THE WEDDING by Nicholas Sparks - Date:  August 27thSparks returns to characters from The Notebook (1996) and writes about Allie and Noah Calhoun's oldest daughter, Jane, and her husband, Wilson. As their thirtieth anniversary approaches, Wilson realizes that he loves Jane now more than ever and worries that his neglect (he completely forgot their twenty-ninth anniversary) may have finally driven her away. Wilson plans on showing Jane how much he loves her, but then their oldest daughter, Anna, announces that she and her boyfriend are getting married and asks if they can plan a small utilitarian wedding on her parents' anniversary. Jane agrees to share the date and convinces Anna to have a formal wedding; something that Jane missed. Jane is surprised by Wilson's willingness to work and ability to come up with truly miraculous arrangements. This sort of involvement is out of character for Wilson, a workaholic estate attorney in New Bern, North Carolina, but he really is determined to change, and Sparks is at his romantic best in this tender love story about a flawed hero trying to right his wrongs.

SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS by David Guterson
San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies.  But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder.  In the course of the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than a man's guilt. For on San Pedro, memory grows as thickly as cedar trees and the fields of ripe strawberries--memories of a charmed love affair between a white boy and the Japanese girl who grew up to become Kabuo's wife; memories of land desired, paid for, and lost. Above all, San Piedro is haunted by the memory of what happened to its Japanese residents during World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbors watched.  Gripping, tragic, and densely atmospheric, Snow Falling on Cedars is a masterpiece of suspense-- one that leaves us shaken and changed.

 DEAL BREAKER by Harlan CobenSports agent Myron Bolitar is poised on the edge of the big time. So is Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback and Myron’s prized client. But when Christian gets a phone call from a former girlfriend, a woman who everyone, including the police, believes is dead, the deal starts to go sour. Trying to unravel the truth about a family’s tragedy, a woman’s secret, and a man’s lies, Myron is up against the dark side of his business, where image and talent make you rich, but the truth can get you killed.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Intersecting, overlapping, not-quite-what-they-seem lives. Jealousies and betrayals and wounded hearts. A haunting unease that clutches and won’t let go. All this and more helps propel Paula Hawkins’s addictive debut into a new stratum of the psychological thriller genre. At times, I couldn’t help but think: Hitchcockian. From the opening line, the reader knows what they’re in for: “She’s buried beneath a silver birch tree, down towards the old train tracks…” But Hawkins teases out the mystery with a veteran’s finesse. The “girl on the train” is Rachel, who commutes into London and back each day, rolling past the backyard of a happy-looking couple she names Jess and Jason. Then one day Rachel sees “Jess” kissing another man. The day after that, Jess goes missing. The story is told from three character’s not-to-be-trusted perspectives: Rachel, who mourns the loss of her former life with the help of canned gin and tonics; Megan (aka Jess); and Anna, Rachel’s ex-husband’s wife, who happens to be Jess/Megan’s neighbor. Rachel’s voyeuristic yearning for the seemingly idyllic life of Jess and Jason lures her closer and closer to the investigation into Jess/Megan’s disappearance, and closer to a deeper understanding of who she really is. And who she isn’t. This is a book to be devoured.

THE GIRL WHO WROTE IN SILK by Kelli Estes
Inara Erickson is exploring her deceased aunt's island estate when she finds an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. As she peels back layer upon layer of the secrets it holds, Inara's life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein, a young Chinese girl mysteriously driven from her home a century before. Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core ― and force her to make an impossible choice.
Inspired by true events, Kelli Estes's brilliant and atmospheric debut serves as a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing, and the power of our own stories.
 

2014 BOOK SUMMARIES

JANUARY - DEAD IN THE WATER by Stuart Woods
Stone Barrington only wants a winter getaway from the chill of New York in the beautiful, tropical Caribbean paradise of St. Mark's. But what the lawyer and ex-cop gets instead is the chance to defend Allison Manning. The beautiful young woman stands accused of killing her rich husband on board their luxurious yacht and then burying him at sea.   Stone isn't exactly conversant with the island country's law, but this much is clear to him: Allison is being railroaded by the perverse sense of justice of a prosecutor who will do anything to stay in office. Donning the robe and wig of a British barrister, Stone does everything he can to save Allison—from publicizing the case all over the American press to conducting the kind of smart, tough investigation that money can't buy. Just when he has the jury in the palm of his hands, a shocking reversal of fortune changes everything. And what was once a sure thing begins to look a lot like a death sentence.

FEBRUARY - INFERNO by Dan Brown
The threat of world overpopulation is the latest assignment for Brown's art historian and accidental sleuth Robert Langdon. Awakening in a Florence hospital with no memory of the preceding 36 hours, Langdon and an attractive attending physician with an oversized intellect are immediately pursued by an ominous underground organization and the Italian police. Detailed tours of Florence, Venice, and Istanbul mean to establish setting, but instead bog down the story and border on showoffmanship. Relying on a deceased villain's trail of clues threaded through the text of Dante's The Divine Comedy, the duo attempt to unravel the events leading up to Langdon's amnesia and thwart a global genocide scheme. Suspension of disbelief is required as miraculous coincidences pile upon pure luck. Near the three-quarters point everything established gets upended and Brown, hoping to draw us in deeper, nearly drives us out. Though the prose is fast-paced and sharp, the burdensome dialogue only serves plot and back story, and is interspersed with unfortunate attempts at folksy humor. It's hard not to appreciate a present day mega-selling thriller that attempts a refresher course in Italian literature and European history. But the real mystery is in the book's denouement and how Brown can possibly bring his hero back for more.

MARCH - LONE SURVIVOR by Marcus Luttrell
Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to be very close to Bin Laden with a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive.
This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, SEAL fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history. His squad mates fought valiantly beside him until he was the only one left alive, blasted by an RPG into a place where his pursuers could not find him. Over the next four days, terribly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through the mountains and was taken in by sympathetic villagers who risked their lives to keep him safe from surrounding Taliban warriors.
A born and raised Texan, Marcus Luttrell takes us from the rigors of SEAL training, where he and his fellow SEALs discovered what it took to join the most elite of the American special forces, to a fight in the desolate hills of Afghanistan for which they never could have been prepared. His account of his squadmates' heroism and mutual support renders an experience that is both heartrending and life-affirming. In this rich chronicle of courage and sacrifice, honor and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers a powerful narrative of modern war.

APRIL -  TAHOE NIGHT by Todd Borg
TV talk show host Leah Printner had a perfect life until a car accident killed her husband and left her face badly scarred, ending her thriving career. After Leah gets out of the hospital, Detective Owen McKenna gets a call from the landlady of Leah's father. The landlady thinks that a man is stalking Leah. She thinks both Leah and her father are in danger. Will McKenna look into it? McKenna is only on the job a few hours before the father is murdered. When he realizes that the killer wants the daughter as well, McKenna rushes Leah into hiding. McKenna discovers that there is more than one killer, and that they are fixated on Grendel, the monster in the ancient, epic poem, Beowulf. McKenna also learns that the crimes are linked to an art forgery of old-master paintings. Under the paralysis of fear and the trauma of injury, Leah's life hits bottom. The woman is broken and maybe beyond saving. But the killers made one fatal mistake.

MAY - GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn
Marriage can be a real killer.    One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.    On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?    As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?   With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest

JUNE - THE LIGHT BETWEEN THE OCEANS by M.L. Stedman
After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.
Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.
M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss.

JULY - THE WANDERER by Robyn Carr
Nestled on the Oregon Coast is a small town of rocky beaches and rugged charm. Locals love the land's unspoiled beauty. Developers see it as a potential gold mine. When newcomer Hank Cooper learns he's been left an old friend's entire beachfront property, he finds himself with a community's destiny in his hands.   Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.
With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home.

AUGUST - THE PIED PIPER by Ridley Pearson
A wave of baby nappings has terrified parents from San Diego to Portland. And when the Pied Piper--named for the penny flute he leaves in the cribs of his victims--claims his first Seattle infant, the investigation draws in homicide detective Lou Boldt. Assigned temporarily to Intelligence so he can spend more time with his kids while his wife is hospitalized for chemotherapy, Boldt's role is to keep the FBI out of the Seattle Police Department's way.
But FBI special agent Gary Flemming is a tough adversary--so tough it almost seems as if he's intentionally sabotaging the SPD's investigation. Then the Pied Piper snatches Boldt's own daughter, promising that unless Boldt throws both the Feds and the SPD off his trail he'll never see his child again. Caught between his professional obligations and his fear for Sarah's life, Boldt launches his own private manhunt with the help of John La Moia, his replacement in homicide, and police psychologist Daphne Matthews, his closest friend in the department.
They form a task force under the noses of the Feds and the SPD, and soon discover how the Piper has managed to stay a step ahead of the police, elude capture, and find his small victims. The chase moves from Seattle to Portland to New Orleans, culminating in a thrilling denouement in the daffodil fields of Washington's Skagit Valley. Combining strong characterizations with an impressive command of both policing and pacing, Ridley Pearson, author of Chain of Evidence and Beyond Recognition, delivers another sure winner in this outing for Lou Boldt.

SEPTEMBER - JUST ONE DAMNED THING AFTER ANOTHER by Jodi Taylor
Behind the seemingly innocuous façade of St Mary's, a different kind of historical research is taking place. They don't do 'time-travel' - they 'investigate major historical events in contemporary time'. Maintaining the appearance of harmless eccentrics is not always within their power - especially given their propensity for causing loud explosions when things get too quiet. Meet the disaster-magnets of St Mary's Institute of Historical Research as they ricochet around History. Their aim is to observe and document - to try and find the answers to many of History's unanswered questions...and not to die in the process. But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And, as they soon discover - it's not just History they're fighting. Follow the catastrophe curve from eleventh-century London to World War I, and from the Cretaceous Period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. For wherever Historians go, chaos is sure to follow in their wake.

OCTOBER - THE NOVEMBER MAN by Bill Granger
Meet Devereaux.  Covert operative from the top secret R Section.An intelligence agency founded by President Kennedy after the CIA botched the bay of pigs operation.R Sections function is to essentially spy on the spies.  After receiving orders to go to England to meet with an informant demanding $30,000 for information about an alleged plot to assassinate a high ranking member of the British Royal Family, the reluctant Devereaux is drawn into a complex web of deceipt, treachery,and inter-agency backstabbing of the most lethal varieties.  A no nonsense character, Devereaux has many enemies{or are they friends?} to contend with, not least of which is Soviet agent Desinov who always seems to appear at crucial times.  Who are the plotters of the assassination and what are their motivations? Is it the IRA, KGB, CIA, or some other unknown entity? The story unfolds with brisk pacing and an exceptional feel for the dialects of Ireland. The concept of the upstart R Section is an interesting one for it makes for natural intrigue and suspense.  Who are the good guys and who are the villains? The line is most assuredly blurred.  Author Bill Granger invests his protagonist Devereaux with an angst and cynicism that can only come from having been in the game for many years.

NOVEMBER - THE TIMEKEEPERS SON by Mike E. Miller
What would you do if you could start your life over again? What if you didn’t have a choice?
That’s what happens to Andy Meyers. He has all the normal trappings of life: a beautiful wife, a nice house, and a good job. But all that vanishes when he wakes to find himself reliving his own childhood. He is suddenly nine-years-old again, and he is poised to reenact a terrible chain of events that altered his life forever.  But that’s just the beginning. Things get even more complicated when Andy discovers an impossible note. Someone knows he has come back. Someone who doesn’t want him to change anything. And they will stop at nothing to keep him from it.  As Andy starts to unravel his own past, he begins to find that things are much different than he ever imagined. His family has a secret. A secret so big that it could change everything.

DECEMBER - HOTEL AT THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford
Henry Lee is still mourning the death of his wife when he learns that the belongings of Japanese Americans hidden in the basement of Seattle's Panama Hotel for decades have been discovered. Henry is drawn to the basement, and what he's searching for there opens a door he thought he had closed forever. The story switches back and forth between 1986 and the 1940s, when a 12-year-old Henry attending an American school (he's "scholarshipping" as his father likes to say) meets another international student working in the school kitchen. Keiko is Japanese American, the enemy according to Henry's father, but the two become best friends before her family is imprisoned in one of the relocation camps.