The Quickening

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The Quickening

Michelle Hoover

Other Press: 2010, 215 pages

Reviewed by Tori Lyons

Enidina "Eddie" Current enjoys the simple life of a farmer in the Midwest during the early 1900's.  Her neighbor Mary Morrow, however, is unhappy with her rural life and yearns for more.  Although they have little in common and are often, in fact, at odds with one another, these two women come to rely on one another.  But when the Great Depression forces families everywhere to make difficult choices, Eddie and Mary's tenuous friendship unravels, and along with it their families and everything they hold dear.

The Hangman's Daughter

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The Hangman's Daughter

Oliver Pötzsch

Ullstein Taschenbuchvlg: 2008, 448 pages

English version published by AmazonCrossing in 2010

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The first in the Hangman's Daughter series, the historical fiction novel is set in Germany in 1659.  Jakob Kuisl comes from a long line of executioners; he himself is the current hangman in the town of Schongau.  When a young boy is fished out of the river, dying not from drowning but from a brutal attack, the people notice a crude tattoo on his shoulder.  The townspeople are convinced that it is a witch's mark and that the local midwife murdered him.  Jakob is not convinced and neither is the young physician Simon or Magdalena, Jakob's headstrong daughter.  As more children are found slaughtered with the same mark on their shoulders, the main characters race against the clock in order to save the midwife and save the town from the hysteria that will surly bring a bloodbath if it is not stopped.  Readers should be aware that there is violence, including scenes of torture but it is not excessively gory.

Wedding Night

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Wedding Night

Sophie Kinsella

Dial Press: 2013, 464 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Lottie is devastated; she's 33 and been with Richard for three years and she just knew that he was going to propose.  Except she was wrong, Richard had no intention of proposing.  Fed up with dating and excited about reconnecting with an old ex-boyfriend, Lottie jumps into a very quick marriage.  Lottie and her new husband, Ben, are off to honeymoon in Greece, where they first met each other 15 years ago.  However, Lottie's sister, Fliss, thinks this is all a huge mistake.  She has to stop Lottie from regretting her decision and realizes that annulment is the best and fastest option.  But how can she stop the blissful couple from coupling on their honeymoon?  Kinsella's Wedding Night is full of humor, wit, and entertainment, even if the situations are a bit out there.

Attachments

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Attachments

Rainbow Rowell

Dutton: 2011, 323 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Set in Nebraska towards the end of 1999 (think Y2K paranoia), Lincoln's job title is "Internet Security Officer" and he was expecting it to be awesome, like he would be defending the company by building firewalls and catching hackers.  What he actually does is read the work emails and monitors them for any of the red flag notices: inappropriate jokes, words, etc.  He knows that he should tell Beth and Jennifer that their constant emails are in violation of company policy but he doesn't and just keeps letting it go on.  Even though he knows it's creepy, he likes reading about what's happening in their lives and the job's so boring that their emails are often the highlight of his night.  But then he realizes that he's falling for Beth, even though he's never met her.  He wants to talk to her but how?  What will he say?  This is Rowell's first novel and it's endearing but not in an overly sentimental way.  

Ripper

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Ripper
Isabel Allende
Harper: 2013/4, 496 pages
Reviewed by Jessie Park

Indiana Jackson is a holistic healer who believes in essential oils and how the planets affect her future.  Amanda Martin is her teenage daughter who is set to go to MIT and spends all her time on Ripper, an online gaming community that focuses on solving crimes.  Over the course of several months, San Francisco experiences several seemingly unrelated murders.  Amanda and her Ripper colleagues, which includes her grandfather Blake, meet online and try to solve the cases, becoming more convinced that they are all done by the same twisted person.  Amanda and Blake have the inside access since her father, Bob Martin, is the homicide police chief.  Things become personal when Indiana is kidnapped and Amanda is dead sure that the kidnapper is the same murderer the Ripper players have been chasing.  It's a race against time as Amanda and the Ripper players try to solve the murders and shed light on the murderer's identity while Bob rallies the police force to find his ex-wife before it's too late.  Adding to the action is Ryan Miller, Indiana's best friend who is also in love with her.  He's a highly skilled ex-Navy SEAL who will stop at nothing to ensure her safety, even if he's the number one suspect in her disappearance.  This is not a light read but it does pick up towards the middle as much of the book goes into the backgrounds of the characters.  There is violence throughout the book but it is not intensely gory.

The Girl on the Train

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The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins

Riverhead Books: 2015, 336 pages

Reviewed by Tori Lyons

Touted as "the next Gone Girl," The Girl on the Train is a psychological thriller set in the suburbs of London.  Rachel is an alcoholic who lost both her job and her marriage.  She rides the train into London every morning so her roommate won't find out that Rachel lost her job.  From the train, she becomes obsessed with a couple who she often sees sitting on their deck, drinking their morning coffee, inventing personalities and even names for this idyllic couple.  When the wife goes missing, Rachel becomes way too involved in the investigation into her disappearance, putting herself in danger.  This book alternates chapters from the points of view of three women: Rachel; Anna, Rachel's ex-husband's new wife; and Megan, the woman who goes missing.  It had enough twists to keep me riveted and I would highly recommend it to fans of crime novels/thrillers.

Anna Dressed in Blood

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Anna Dressed in Blood

Kendare Blake

Tor Teen: 2011, 320 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Cas Lowood is not your average teenager: he's a ghost hunter.  He is constantly traveling with his mother and his ghost-sniffing cat, putting to rest dangerous ghosts who like to kill.  Following a tip, Cas and his troupe head to Canada to find a ghost called Anna Dressed in Blood.  Anna was murdered in 1958 and still wears the dress she was killed in, except that instead of the color white, the dress drips blood red.  While Cas is efficient and has yet to meet a ghost he can't defeat, Anna is different.  She's not known to spare the life of anyone who dares to enter her house but for some reason, she spares Cas's life.  Readers should be aware that there is a hint of explicit language.  There is violence throughout the book.  It is not extremely graphic but enough to make the more squeamish uncomfortable.  There is a sequel titled Girl of Nightmares.