The Good Lord Bird by James McBride (2013) Riverhead Books

The telling of John Browns last few years from the point of view of a young negro boy rescued/kidnapped and mistaken for a girl because of his size.  It details the lives of John Browns’ sons and their faith-free following of the man who considered himself following God’s will.  

A feather from the Good Lord Bird (an extra-large ivory billed woodpecker) is considered good luck, but the bird does not save Fredrick Brown, who is a little slow, and ends-up dead from another preacher.

Masterfully done and turned into a movie.

Polar Quest by Alex Archer (2009) Gold Eagle

In which, our heroine, Annja Creed, is picked-up by government agents and sent to Antarctica on a dig for some unexplained artifacts of metal unlike anything else on Earth.  Once there, she’ll be trapped until the weather allows exit from the continent.  But as soon as she lands, someone tries to ambush her.  And walking from the tavern, bundled-up for the weather, someone knocks her over and then tries to run her over with a slow moving vehicle while she’s trapped in her clothing like a turtle on its back.  Then Garin, one of the men who is as old as the sword she inherited from Joan of Arc appears as a Major and someone booby traps her laptop.

The Dry by Jane Harper (2017) Flatiron Books

Australian Federal Agent Aaron Falk, a financial forensic detective, goes back to his hometown for the funeral of his best boyhood friend, Luke, who has apparently committed suicide after killing his wife and oldest boy, but not the baby.  The town is in an area going through a drought and everyone is on edge.  Falk was accused, when he was a kid, of killing a friend.  He was fishing at the time, but Luke provided an alibi.  Now everyone in town hates him.  Luke was found in the bed of his pickup along with two unexplained scrapes on the bed.  Finding the real murderer is a twisty tale.

Never Never by Candice Fox & James Patterson (2017) Little Brown & Company

A quick-paced story in Australia starring a woman sex crimes detective, Harriet Blue (Harry) whose brother has just been arrested as a serial rapist and murderer.  Her boss sends her out of town to a mine in the middle of the desert to investigate the disappearance of several miners.  The mine people are convinced the miners just left – and they will do anything to keep from shutting down the mine.  There are local drug dealers who seem to get a pass, protesters who continually try to sabotage the mine and prostitute who hang around the miner’s places.  And there is a soldier who is hunting miners.

Night School by Lee Child (2016) Delacorte Press

Wherein Jack Reacher just got back from a mission where he had to assassinate two evil politicians in Eastern Europe and his reward is to be sent to a school – that’s not a school.  He’s joined by a CIA and an FBI agent who got the same ‘reward’.  What they’re really there for is to find a man who is selling something for 100 million to the Taliban.  It’s a game of narrowing down what they don’t know and matching it with what they can glean by going to Hamburg.  What is worth that much that can be sold by one man?

Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs (2015) Ace

The Werewolf family, Charles, the son of the Marrok (over all Werewolves in the U.S. maybe world-wide) takes his mate and wife, Anna, to an old friend’s horse ranch to pick a new horse.  While there, they investigate the disappearance of a little girl who went to school with his friend’s granddaughter.  It turns out that she was replaced by a fey’s fetch changling.  The friend is old and dying and refuses to be turned by his son (the local alpha).  But there is something left for him to do.

The story is the best so far in the series.

Squirm by Carl Hiaasen (2018) Alfred A Knopf (8/8)

This is a story about a boy in Florida who likes snakes. It’s a story about the boy’s mother who likes to watch nesting bald eagles.  It’s about his sister who is tired of moving every time the bald eagles leave their nests.  It’s about finding out where his father lives (Montana) and finding a way to try to visit.  It’s also about the father who likes to make everyone think he works for the government on a secret undercover capacity, when he really is independently wealthy and spends his time tracking-down hunters who are trying to kill endangered animals.  And it’s about the father’s new native American (Flathead) family.  And of course, it’s about growing-up.

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwidtz (2010) Penguin Young Readers

In which the novelist takes on the narrator’s tongue-in-cheek about Hansel and Gretel as the main characters of several Grimm tales;

- Faithful Johannes about the man who under-stood four generations of kings of Grimm and did everything he could to help his kings achieve their goals, even stealing the most beautiful woman in the world to marry – who bore her king twins (Hansel and Gretel) at great cost of his own life, and then great cost of the lives of the twins, even though they were revived, prompting them to run away and embark on their own adventures.

- Hansel and Gretel – the classic tale of the children finding the witch’s chocolate cake home (not gingerbread?) and being taken-in by the baker, who fed them sweets, fattening them up to eat.  Only the tables got turned and she ended up baking in the oven.

- The Seven Swallows – when Hansel and Gretel fled the witch, they asked a farmer to take them in – he always wanted a daughter; he had seven sons, with whom he was disappointed.  He cursed the sons and they turned into swallows.  When the twins found out, they fled with the intent of finding the swallows and freeing them from the curse.  Hansel came upon an old gnome in the forest who told he where the swallows had gone and that he would need a chicken bone to unlock the door.  The Twins climbed the crystal mountain and found the door just like told gnome told them, but Gretel lost the bone, so she cut-off her own finger to use as the key.  When they told the swallows that their parents missed them and loved them, they turned back into humans and went home.

- A Smile as Red as Blood - The twins, lost in a forest, happened upon a beautiful glade and a tree told them they could stay as long as they respected the forest.  But each night, Hansel was overcome by an urge to hunt.  He became more beast than human and eventually he was hunted by the local duke.  But when the beast was paraded at the duke’s court and skinned, Hansel was discovered inside the skin.  The duke had a terrible gambling habit and lost to the Devil – the prize was whatever was in his room in front of the fire.  When they got to the castle, Hansel, recuperating, was warming his hands before the fire – the Devil claimed his due.

- The Three Golden Hairs – the twins were separated and Hansel is in a panic because he has to go to hell.  At this time, Joseph has found Hansel and tells him that if he could get three of the Devil’s golden hairs, the Devil would have no power over him.  On the way to hell, he finds tow different villages with problems caused by the Devil.  Once he’s in hell, he refuses to act like the other tormented souls, so the demons take him to the Devil’s home in hell.  There, he steals the Devil’s glasses and while he is nearsighted, he proceeds to steal the hairs.  On his way back, he favors the people who had been vexed by the Devil.

- Hansel and Gretel and the Broken Kingdom – in which the twins return home to find their country in ruins by a dragon.  They decide to do something about it.  But it’s not easy.

- Hansel and Gretel and the Dragon – the Twins raise a ragtag army to fight the dragon and lose a lot of their soldiers in the fight, but they survive, a first, and they wound the dragon, a first.  When they get back to the castle, their father has a terrible headache and does not come down to see them, but their mother is very proud.

- Hansel and Gretel and their Parents – the twins deduce that their father is the dragon, so they kill him, but like he did for them, they revive their father.  The King and Queen, abdicate their throne to their children and they live -maybe not entirely happy and not ever after, but it’s the end of the story.

The House with a Clock in the Wall by John Bellars (1973) Puffin Books

An intriguing gothic mystery set around a little boy, Lewis, who is orphaned and taken-in by his Uncle Jonathan.  Jonathan is a warlock and lives in a mansion that was once owned by his friend, then enemy, before that man’s death.  Mrs. Zimmerman, who lives next door to Jonathan, has a degree in magic from a university.  The most disturbing thing about the new house is that it is full of clocks.  Sometimes at night, Jonathan goes around and silences all of them.  But the ticking remains in the walls of the house.

Lewis, who never seems to have any friends because he is overweight, is befriended by the local school hero, because his arm is broken and therefore he can’t participate in any of his favorite sports.  He teaches Lewis to throw a ball, to hit the ball with a bat.  Lewis tells him about magic and takes him home to prove it.  But the boy does not believe Lewis.  So upon finding a ritual in Jonathan’s library about raising the dead, Lewis and his friend go to the graveyard to raise a fearsome witch from the dead.

In the movie, there are more dramatic changes and the man in the passageway is the man who owned the mansion.  He plays a significantly more prominent role, but the outcome is the same.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2018) G.P. Putnam’s Sons (7/24)

Southern Fiction at its best.  This is the story of a little girl living in the Marsh of the North Carolina coast.  Her mother, then her siblings and finally, her Father leave here to grow-up on her own.  She attends school for a day but runs away back to her home in the marsh, where she can avoid the truant officers. 

She finally makes a friend with a boy who teaches her how to read.  He provides only textbooks about biology and science.  She also reads the book of poetry that her mother left behind.  He leaves her too, goes away to college and does not return to her.  While he’s gone, the local jock woos her and promises marriage and a new life.  She gives him a shell necklace that she made, and he promises to wear it for the rest of his life.  But she finds he is engaged to marry another girl from the town.  So, she rejects him.  

The college boy comes back and even though she will not trust him, he sees her collections of shells and feathers from the marsh and convinces her to write a book on the subject.  She does and it gets published.  With this money, she pays back taxes on her 300+ acre property inherited from her father.  

The local jock, drunk, reminiscent of her father, traps her in a local lagoon and tries to rape her.  She fights back and escapes but is noticed by some local fishermen.  

She’s invited to go see her publisher at a writer’s conference in Greensboro and takes the bus.  Everyone notices her, because she was dressed a little differently for the time.  While she’s gone, the jock dies, falling off a tower they’ve both been to before.  The mother, retrieving his personal effects, notices the shell necklace is missing.  

The marsh girl is accused of murdering the boy and goes to trial.  But in the end, the jury does not believe there is enough evidence to convict and she is let free.  She never returns to the town where she was shunned and accused of murder.  She does connect with the college boy and they live a life of research and love.  That is not the end of the story.  

Lost Souls by Dean Koontz (2010) Bantam

The fourth volume of his Frankenstein series reveals that Victor Frankenstein's clone, released when he died, has found its way to a small town in Montana - just like Erica five and Jocko on a separate path.

Carson and Michael have moved to San Francisco, married and had a child, whom they named Scout, after the character in To Kill a Mockingbird.  Deucalion (the monster who is much more of a protector) visits them and recruits them to help find Victor.  This incarnation of Frankenstein has revised a new race plan and created something he calls Builders, which can replicate themselves by devouring humans.

Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys (2011) Philomel Books

The story of Lithuanians who, like other people from Estonia, Latvia and Finland, were displaced by Stalin because they were educated, writers, or teachers, and sent to Siberia in hopes they would provide slave labor and die.  It is a heartbreaking account from one girl’s perspective of how she lost her mother and father.  Her father was a professor and died in prison for the crime of having an opinion that was counter to the invading Soviets.  Her mother died trying to keep her children safe.  The enduring strength of those who survived was met when they finally were able to return home thirty years later only to find their property and even their names stolen by strangers who threatened to turn them back to the Soviets for further punishment on the charge of seeking the truth.  These stories are only coming to light in the last twenty years as time capsules are found in construction sites.

 A Coyote’s in the House by Elmore Leonard (2004) HarperCollins

This is a different kind of book by a master storyteller.  In this tale, the Coyote is the main character and he runs with a gang of coyotes in the Hollywood hills.  He becomes friends with a German Shepard who was in the movies and is now essentially retired.  The German Shepard leads him into his master’s house and introduces him to a Standard Poodle who is a show dog.  The German Shepard wants to join the Coyote’s pack. Hence ensues fun and mayhem.

Way Station by Clifford D Simak (1963) Del Rey Books (7/3)

A soldier comes home from the Civil War to farm with his father.  When the horse runs away with his father and causes his death, the man calmly buries his father, then goes out to the field where the horse is still in its braces and kills the animal. Later a traveler comes by and asks for a drink of water, then recruits the soldier to be the attendant of an inter-galactic way station in his home.

Over time the man meets many different types of people coming through the way station.  He never seems to age because time is suspended in the station.  After 150 years, people have noticed there’s something different about him, but the local culture is to keep to yourself and not mess in other people’s business.  He takes walks into the local woods to watch the sunset or just to look in the sky.  There is a girl, considered by most to be retarded and a witch, since she is able to heal broken things.  Her father is afraid of her and beats her mercilessly.  One day she comes to the station and lets the soldier see her back.  He takes her into the station to apply first aid.  While there she manages to turn on a trinket left by one of the travelers, one the soldier was never able to work.

The soldier’s recruiter visits and reveals a political upheaval in the galaxy due to a missing spiritual token.  It may mean the end of the station.

Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson (2018) Nancy Paulson Books (6/28)

Part of a school year of six students passes in a special class in the fifth grade in a school in Brooklyn.  These students know they have been put into the class because they have learning difficulties.  But it’s not a problem with their intelligence, it’s because they’re all trying to deal with different events in their lives because of a kind of PTSD due to things that happened to members of their family.

The story is narrated by a red-headed, girl whose mother was black and the father is Irish.  They were in a car accident that killed her mother and when the man went to get help, he returned to find the police already there and has been imprisoned because he left the scene.  Another is hyper-active because she lost her father.  Another is depressed because his father, from the Dominican Republic, has been taken by the INS.

The teacher has given them an hour each week in a room by themselves to talk.  This is the story of what they talk about and how that changes their lives.

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (2015) Mulholland Books

The third C.B. Strike mystery.  Having solved two highly publicized crimes, Cormoran’s detective business is doing well, until someone sends a woman’s severed leg to his secretary/partner.  She was expecting it was flowers sent by her fiancé. 

This gets just as highly publicized and most of their clients call and cancel their contracts, leaving only two.  Cormoran can think of three possible suspects, including two he put away and the man who was accused of killing his mother.  But the police think they have nothing to do with it and ignore all three.

Cormoran, with the help of his assistant/partner, start trading off surveillance on the two people they still have contracts for and Strike’s suspect list.  This leads to Strike trying to keep her out of hard by giving her surveillance he thinks is harmless – of course, it’s anything but.

The writing is gritty and the plot leads inexorably to the murderer, though hints are placed so innocuously that the reader is surprised at the reveal while in agreement that the clues were there all along.

Innocence by Dean Koontz (2013) Bantam (6/15)

The story of Addison Goodheart, who because of his appearance, must hide from man so as to not cause them to attack him.  He was born in the woods in a cottage and birthed with the help of a midwife, who wanted to kill him as soon as he came out from his mother.  Even she, the woman who bore him could only stand to look at him for moments at a time.  Over the first 8 years of his life, she tried to kill him six times, but in the end could not bring herself to do the deed.  After his eighth birthday, she gave him a backpack and insisted he leave – since he had mostly raised himself in the woods, this was not a problem, but the night she sent him away, she took her own life.

He hopped into the back of a heavy-hauler truck and hid beneath a tarp and rode to the city.  There he met a man who was like him and who then raised him and became his father.  But even that came to an end a decade later when two policemen came upon them in a snowstorm and insisted on identification.  When his father removed his ski mask, the police shot him to death and then beat him.  Addison was able to hide away until they left.  Then he disposed of the corpse as he’d been instructed to do.

Another eight years passed with him living in a subterranean room and venturing out only when he was sure he would not be seen.  Then one night, in his favorite place, the city library, he saw a girl being chased by a man.  The girl, Gwyneth, dresses and uses makeup to appear like a marionette.

The story goes from there, showing man’s fear of innocence and how the world ends and is renewed.

Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts (2018) St. Martin’s Press

The story continues from Year One with the child who was born to be The One turning thirteen and having grown up with a step father and three younger brothers, she goes with Mallick the Sorcerer to be trained and to get ready for the battle against evil.

She meets elves and changelings, and goes on three quests and finds a white owl, who guards a treasure and will not give it to anyone who climbs its tree, a white wolf who likewise has a treasure to guard and a white horse, whom everyone fears, who turns out to be a combination unicorn and Pegasus.  She eventually reaches into the well of life where she takes up a flaming sword and a shield.  Having accomplished all this, she returns to her mother and family, then begins training them.

When she is ready to go to the town of New Hope, her family goes with her.

Once there she has a battle with three evil witches, a mother, father and girl.  She manages to kill the father, but the others get away.

Obviously there will be a third volume.

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs (2012) Ace

We follow the werewolf enforcer and his wife as they work on the mysterious deaths of three werewolves.  When they get to Boston, there is a currently missing fae, the half-human daughter of one of the ruling lords of the fae.  Our werewolves find her, but she has been hurt badly and will never be able to dance again.  The people responsible are brought to trial, but are declared not guilty by a jury.  The fae lord, declares that the fae are no longer at peace with the U.S. and decapitates the guilty party.

God of the Hive by Laurie R King (2010) Bantam

Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes try to rescue his son, Damien.  Reverend Brothers has survived the incident on Orkney Island, but when he checks-in with his benefactor, he is killed.  Holmes and Russell do not know this.  Russell, with Damien’s daughter connect with a pilot (who took her north in the previous volume) and attempt to fly back to London but are shot at on the way and crash in a forest.  A man who seems like the Green Man, rescues them and gives them shelter.  Holmes older brother Mycroft has been abducted and has his life threatened.  A group of men invade the green man’s home but are stranded when the green man leads Russell and party to their car.  The green man turns out to be a war hero with a tainted past and son of a Lord.  Russell discovers a key in Mycroft’s home and tracks it to a woman who says the key hasn’t been used in ages and in fact the lock was changed years ago.  She also discovers that Mycroft’s secretary has been receiving large sums of money from an unknown source, especially just after Mycroft’s disappearance and then mysteriously disappeared himself.  Holmes has his some secreted away in Holland but returns to London to solve the mystery.  The story culminates with all parties coming together.