Set in 1988, twenty-five years after Algeria’s independence from France, the country is still suffering from political instability, corruption, and the residual rivalries and hatreds between those who supported French rule during the war and the FLN and other groups, socialist and otherwise, which fought against French rule. The internecine rivalries and hatreds among a multitude of these local groups, many of which shared the same general goals during the war, have divided families and continued into the next generation with even more bloodshed. The devastated economy at the end of the war has not been improved, people are living in poverty, religious fundamentalism is growing, the young have no future, and citizens everywhere are casting jaded eyes on those who reek of success—shady businessmen, corrupt politicians, and those who have achieved their wealth at the expense of their fellow citizens. In this newest installment of the Inspector Llob series, chronologically the “pre-quel” to the series, author Yasmina Khadra turns a spotlight on Algeria’s devastated country and its demoralized citizens.
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Author and rock journalist Peter Murphy certainly doesn’t do anything by halves, and this novel and the author’s own promotion of it are about as over-the-top as it is possible to get. Murphy has produced a publicity video based on the book (see Notes below), using a gargoyle, the sound of crows (a motif in the book), and the powerful, raspy voice of Blind Willie Johnson, singing “John the Revelator,” a song the R & B singer recorded in 1930. Murphy calls his blog “The Blog of Revelations,” and his MySpace page is “John the Revelator,” filled with information about the book and its reviews. He has been actively campaigning to have his book win the “Not-the-Booker” Prize from the Guardian UK, where it is #6 on the longlist of forty-six books, and he is doing book-signings and interviews everywhere. He is obviously having a ball! The book, an “Irish gothic” novel with dark, religious overtones, is set in rural southeast Ireland, where the author himself grew up.
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On a fine Saturday morning in April, the Yale campus discovers that more than two dozen students have gone missing in the past thirty-six hours, many of them the children of parents prominent in industry and government. Most of them have recently been “tapped” for one of Yale’s secret societies—such as Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key, and Book and Snake. All these societies own elaborate Greek edifices on campus, the most prominent architectural feature of which is the complete lack of windows. Inside these “tombs,” the societies’ secrets remain absolute. This morning, however, all the attention is on the tomb of Book and Snake, where, it appears, the missing students are being held hostage. The resolution is a real tour de force, one that I certainly never expected, and which I suspect others will find as dramatic and shocking as I did. Most importantly, it is this conclusion which moves the novel beyond the immediate and local, and elevates it into a grander commentary on our foreign policy and international reputation. This is the best thriller I have read in years!
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In this intriguing police procedural, Irish author Gene Kerrigan keeps the action crisp and fast-paced, with plenty of complications to keep the reader busy. What makes this novel different from so many of this genre is that he is also outstanding at creating characters with whom the reader develops empathy—especially Garda Chief Inspector Harry Synnott. Synnott is likeable and basically good-hearted, but he is busy, and he is easily distracted by events in which he is directly involved. He fails his ex-wife and son, even as he is trying to help poor junkie Dixie Peyton. Eventually he fails everyone he tries to “help.” His final recognition of his failings comes dramatically and brutally, and the reader is left to ponder whether he will be able to deal with his self-realization. Outstanding “Irish noir.”
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Voted the The Best Mystery of All Time by Norwegian Book Clubs, author Jo Nesbo focuses on the long-term resentments of the now-elderly Norwegian veterans of the Eastern Front who were branded traitors to their country in 1945. These characters and their agendas join in 1999 with the ultra-conservative political agendas held by many Norwegian young professionals, and the still-flourishing neo-Nazi party. This union creates an explosive political and social environment which award-winning Norwegian author Jo Nesbo develops into a thriller full of hatred, violence, and mayhem. Creating parallel narratives, Nesbo alternates the battles and interactions of Norwegian soldiers on the Eastern Front, with the everyday battles of Inspector Harry Hole to preserve order in Oslo against those who sincerely believe that “In His wisdom God so ordained it that an inferior creature is never happier than when serving and obeying a superior creature.”
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