The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Dutton Children's, 2012
328 pages

A few days after I wrote the previous entry, I started reading the Young Adult novel The Fault in Our Stars. At first, the reading went quickly and I became absorbed in the world of Hazel, a sixteen year-old who has cancer. Hazel is an incredibly gifted, quirky kid, whose lifespan has just been granted a few more years thanks to a tumor-shrinking drug. When her mom talks her into going to Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel meets the incredibly handsome and delightful Augustus "Gus" Waters, another sixteen year-old whose bone cancer is in remission.

Gus is an amputee with one leg, and his wits are a perfect match for Hazel's quirkiness and sarcasm. When he learns of her obsession with a book called "An Imperial Affliction" which was written by the elusive one-hit-wonder author Peter Van Houten, Gus is determined for her to get the answers to the questions she seeks regarding what happened to the characters in the novel. He'll go to great lengths to do so!

[It was about at this point when I received some sad news about a friend with a cancer diagnosis. Just days after that, a close family member learned the same. Needless to say, my reading of this book slowed down for a while . . . I just couldn't deal with the subject matter for a few weeks. I feel the need to emphasize that my putting it aside is not a reflection on the book but on my personal state of mind at the time!]

When I was finally able to return to Hazel's world, I found myself swept away on an adventure to find Peter Van Houten, who is nearly as interesting a character as Hazel herself. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to leave the plot at that, in order not to reveal too much. But I will say this: It's one of the most original, best written young adult novels I've read since [brace yourself] the very excellent Catcher in the Rye. The writing is exquisite and honest; Hazel and Gus are so real . . . and likeable, too.

If The Fault in Our Stars doesn't win a million awards, I'm going to be both disappointed and shocked.

The Celtic Conspiracy

The Celtic Conspiracy
Author: Thore D. Hansen (translated from German by Anne Adams)
AmazonCrossing, 2012
471 pages

The Celtic Conspiracy is the recently-released (in the USA) English translation of a German language novel called Die Hand Gottes or The Hand of God. I took a chance on this book despite a 3-star rating and several negative reviews on Amazon.com. (Interestingly, the ratings on the Amazon Germany site average 4.5 stars as of this writing.)

I'm glad I took a chance, because despite a few first-time-author flaws, this is the best conspiracy novel I've read since Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (which blew me away when I read it back in 2004).

The Celtic Conspiracy's plot begins at the end of WWII with the discovery of a hidden cache of well-preserved scrolls and other items in a cave near Klagenfurt, Austria. The finder is a British Army officer who happens to be an archaeologist. Sensing that he's onto something, he takes what he can carry and then has his men seal up the cave's entrance to preserve the contents.

Flash-forward to the present time, when several characters cross paths, drawn together by Ronald MacLary, an Irish-American judge who happens to be a conspiracy theorist in his, um, spare time. Turns out MacLary is the son of the British Army officer/archeologist we met in the opening section, and he remembers his Dad telling him stories about the Celtic Druids and the stash of stuff he found in Austria. Unfortunately, the elder MacLary died when the boy was still young. The son's life obsession has been around solving the mystery his Dad passed along to him.

Joined by a couple of modern-day Druids, a linguist, and an attorney keen on revenge against the Church for wiping out so many indigenous cultures in the name of religion, MacLary sets out to find the antiquities and to learn what really happened. But of course, there are those who don't want these things found, because they'll reveal a secret that's been kept for some two thousand years.

There are lots of tense moments, and sometimes . . . sometimes, things seem a bit rushed. The Celtic Conspiracy at times seems like a spy novel, then a courtroom drama, then a sort of New Age manifesto. I think it's the latter that's sparking some of the low ratings for the book, but I could be wrong.

Bottom line? I was entertained. Not blown away. But entertained nonetheless. And it was nice to read a book that was (at least partly) set in Austria. :)

Unwanted

Unwanted
Author: Kristina Ohlsson
Atria/Emily Bestler Books, 2012
368 pages

When a six year-old girl disappears from a high speed train on the way to Stockholm, legendary investigator Alex and his team spring into action. Fredrika is an academic who's fairly new to working with the police, and her colleagues don't yet appreciate her analytical skills. Peder, a law enforcement professional, is one who definitely thinks Fredrika is in the wrong place. But the three of them have work to do, so the investigation begins.

Turns out the girl's parents have split, and there's been a custody battle. Soon it comes to light that the girl's father had frequently abused her mother. Everyone is looking for the father so they can question him, but he's nowhere to be found. Naturally, he becomes suspect number one -- until the missing girl is found dead in a town some 600km to the north of Stockholm.

It's a page-turner. I read the last 40% in one sitting, not caring at all that I had to get up early the next morning to go to work. :)

Ohlsson does a great job of weaving social issues such as domestic violence and mental illness into the story.  Some of the characters are creepy. Really creepy. Yet if you take a look at their backgrounds and life experiences, they're creepy because someone made them that way. 

Apparently, Unwanted is the first book in a series. The other books aren't yet available in the USA, but I'll be on the lookout because I'm definitely interested in reading more by this author!

Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey
Author: E.L. James
Vintage, 2012
528 pages

I first heard about this book a couple of months ago, when it was being offered at a discounted price on Amazon.com. At the time I remember reading the description and thinking: "Hmm. This doesn't sound like my type of book. I'll pass." But for about a month now (maybe longer) it's been number one on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, followed closely by the second and third books in this series known as The Fifty Shades Trilogy. And then a good friend of mine confessed to me over lunch one day that she'd recently read all three books in a very quick span of time. Calling it "mommy porn" and "Twilight for grown-ups but without the vampires and werewolves", she found it to be very, um, shall we say compelling.

Obviously, I took the bait. And here we are.

Anastasia "Ana" Steele is a university student who is about to graduate with a degree in literature. One day she does a favor for her best friend that brings her into contact with one of the most successful young businessmen in the country - billionaire Christian Grey. Despite being worlds apart (Ana's from an 'average American' sort of family and is in many ways quite average herself; Christian's from a very wealthy family, is model-handsome, and quite a powerful man), they're drawn to each other.

OK, I really don't want to say much more except this:

There is mucho sex in Fifty Shades of Grey.

Hence the mommy porn. But look, here's the deal: I don't want my Mom to read this. And I don't want my niece to read it, either, although she probably already has -- kinda like I read Jacqueline Susann in seventh grade. :)

If you like romantic fantasy, you'll probably like Fifty Shades of Grey. As to whether I'll read the second and third books, the jury is still out. This is not my typical genre, and I'm ready to get back to a good international thriller or mystery now. Curiosity sated!

The Ottoman Cage

The Ottoman Cage
Author: Barbara Nadel
Minotaur Books, 2005
320 pages

It's been very busy here these past few weeks. I've only had time for reading 20-30 pages a night . . . so it's taken me way too long to read The Ottoman Cage, the second installment in British author Barbara Nadel's series featuring Istanbul's chain-smoking, brandy-drinking detective Çetin Ikmen. (You can find my thoughts on the first book, Balshazzar's Daughter, by clicking here.)

This time, crotchety Ikmen and his colleague, the dashing young Suleyman, are working together to solve the murder of a delicate young man who had apparently been imprisoned in a private home for a very long time. As they try to determine: a) who the victim is and b) whodunnit, the case takes them in all sorts of directions and as usual, they encounter several interesting (putting it mildly) characters, including a delusional man who thinks he's Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, several pimps, and an extremely creepy murderer.

One of the things I love about Nadel's books is the emphasis on Istanbul as a very diverse city, and of course it is a major cultural crossroads. Whereas Balshazzar's Daughter highlighted the Jewish community, The Ottoman Cage puts the spotlight on the Armenian community . . . and we learn a bit more about Istanbul's complex and rich history.

But Ikmen and Suleyman are the ones we really care about. Ikmen has been married to his wife Fatma for more than two decades. They have nine children, and now Ikmen's elderly father -- who has dementia -- is living with them. Fatma is going through a difficult time and is having some health issues which she doesn't want to bother her husband with. The plot thickens with the introduction of their adult daughter, an international flight attendant who has her mind on . . . you guessed it . . . a pilot.

As for Suleyman, well, he's been unhappily married for several years. It was an arranged marriage, and he's tried very hard to make it work. Enter Ayşa Farsakoǧlu, a police sergeant who might possibly have a crush on Suleyman. Or does she? Whatever the case, his life is about to become much more complicated.

Read this series if you have any interest at all in Istanbul, Turkey, or the Ottoman Empire . . . but mostly if you just want to read a solid police procedural. Who knows, you might even decide to kick back with a strong cup of Turkish coffee. That would certainly keep you up so you could read.

P.S. In case you're wondering why the second book was published in 2005 and the first one in 2006 (if you clicked the above link to the first book) . . . well, I don't know the reason for certain, but most likely it has to do with the publisher. I just wanted to add this here in case you thought the mistake was mine. THIS TIME, it isn't. :)

Divergent

Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins, 2011
501 pages

This young adult (YA) dystopian novel has been on my list for several months. After watching the movie The Hunger Games (which as most of you know is based on the first of another YA dystopian trilogy), I decided to jump in. I was immediately hooked.

Beatrice Prior is a sixteen year-old living in a futuristic Chicago where people are divided into five factions: Candor (truth/honesty), Amity (friendliness/peacefulness), Erudite (intelligence), Dauntless (bravery), and Abnegation (selfless). Beatrice's family is Abnegation. They wear colorless clothing, are very modest, and never take more than their share of anything. They're the folks who volunteer, and they're also in control of the government, according to the rules set up by their forebears since their faction is considered incorruptible.

Beatrice and her brother, Caleb, are at the age where they must choose a faction. Everyone expects them to choose Abnegation, since that's what their parents are. But Beatrice has always been a little different in her thinking, and that's a major dilemma. If she chooses another faction, according to the rules, that faction will become her new family. This means she would no longer be able to associate with her parents and brother. I guess you know where this is going. As it says on the book cover: One choice will transform you. Beatrice (who becomes Tris after making her choice) is about to be transformed in a huge way. And there's no turning back.

Of course, in the process of her transformation, Tris will discover her strengths. She'll also learn that her world isn't as perfect as she thought it was. Family and friends turn out to be not what you expect. Things are happening with the factions that were supposed to have been impossible. In fact, it's impossible not to draw parallels to problems in today's society while you're reading Divergent.  For this reason alone, I think Divergent is worth a read if you're into YA stuff.

Divergent appears to be the first in a planned trilogy. The second installment, Insurgent, is set to be released in May in the USA. That one's already on my list for sometime in the near future. :)

Circle of Bones

Circle of Bones
Author: Christine Kling
Tell-Tale Press, 2011
560 pages

The Caribbean is rich with history, and when you add to that a vivid imagination and some tough characters, you get Circle of Bones.

Maggie Riley is a former Marine who experienced great loss a few years back when something went down in Peru. Now, she spends as much time as possible on her sailboat. She takes care of her elderly father from a distance, touching base often with his caretaker in Washington, D.C.

Somewhere off the coast of Guadeloupe, Riley spots a man floating in the ocean. Riley rescues him . . . and immediately regrets it. He gives her a fake name and a wild story, then disappears soon after they reach the harbor.

Turns out he's Dr. Cole Thatcher, a marine explorer, and he's being chased by modern-day pirates. For real.

Meanwhile on Guadeloupe, Riley planned to meet her ex-boyfriend, Diggory ("Dig") Priest, who mysteriously dumped her after the incident in Peru. But their reunion isn't happy. In fact, Riley quickly discovers that Dig (a CIA agent) is a bad, bad dude.

Cole, Dig, and the freaky pirates are all looking for the same thing, and now Riley's caught in the middle. Unfortunately for her, some more bad stuff is about to go down. And it looks like some people in high places are behind it all. 

Circle of Bones is a clever thriller that also has its funny moments. I liked the Caribbean setting . . . and the sailing. Clearly the author knows her way around a boat, and I found that aspect of Circle of Bones to be refreshing. Although she's not perfect by any means, Riley is a formidable character with a great deal of potential. I hope to see her again in a future book.