July 11, 2005
Hi everyone--
In the week of the new Harry Potter making its debut, all you Harry fans will finally get your hands on the new copy and hopefully be satisfied with how our boy is shaping up. I will be taking my teen to the bookstore the first day (not the night before at midnight!) basically because it will be 25% off in the beginning, and since we are going to buy it anyway, why not save some $$? But my real reason for making a big deal about the Harry Potter series is not because I think it is that great (though many would beg to disagree) but because it gets kids/young adults talking about books and reading. Maybe a trip to the bookstore with all the Harry hoopla will be seen as a fun outing for those who don't show much interest in reading yet. Hopefully those boys going to buy Harry will see other types of books that they want to read too, and start a new interest besides tv and video games. I used to work in a school and it was gratifying to see young kids, especially boys, clutching the huge hardcover in their arms in the hallway, and seeing them sitting on a swing at recess reading!! I am not targeting boys to pick on (in my family my son is the big reader) but (I have heard) that young boys traditionally don't read for pleasure as much as girls. One thing I can say definitively: parents should read to their kids or at least read at home to show a good example. It will benefit their kids in the long run.
My new picks this week are two mysteries by Kate Pepper, pen name of Katia Spiegelman Lief. She is a writer and a teacher in NY, and has had a couple of books printed by a small publisher years before, but these two books mark her foray into mysteries. She also has a third book, still untitled, due out next summer. After reading these two, I will be eagerly awaiting it!
Top Pick:
"Five Days in Summer" by Kate Pepper (mystery writer)
(304 pages) Onyx Books c. 2004
I stumbled upon this book quite by accident. I was walking up and down the new fiction paperback aisle at Barnes and Noble, and the employees had stacked a few piles of books on the floor in front of the shelves, apparently yet to be newly shelved. I was keeping my eyes on the book spines and almost tripped over the pile ( I wear bifocals and have to tilt my head up to read close-up). So I literally stumbled over a previously unknown author (to me) that I will now put on my must-read list!
"Five Days in Summer" is Ms. Pepper's first entry into mysteries, and it is definitely worth a read! She writes in a way that makes you feel a part of the action; you are there sitting at the Parkers' kitchen table while the distracted father feeds the kids and is thinking about what action he will take next to find his missing wife. The story takes place on Cape Cod around Labor Day, and the story is so descriptive in its beach scenes that you can almost smell the salt air and hear the sea gulls cry. Emily Parker is wrapping up a family vacation trip with her three kids while her husband stays in NYC to keep working. They have been staying at her newly widowed mother's beachfront home and now Emily wants to make one more trip to the supermarket to get sandwiches and snacks for the long drive home. But Emily never makes it home that day. Emily's mother, Sarah, and husband, Will, must deal with the small town police department to launch a search. They know that Emily did not run away and something is very wrong. Will runs into a retired FBI profiler who is now living in town, and is convinced to recruit his help to solve the mystery of Emily's disappearance. Meanwhile, Emily's kids are bearing the brunt of a missing mother and understandable neglect from distracted relatives, and the oldest boy is intent of finding his mother himself.
When clues at the supermarket lead the new female detective and the retired FBI Special Agent on a lukewarm, confusing path toward Mrs. Parker there are red herrings galore, and you will change your opinion as to who took her hostage several times before the ending. There are more quirky characters than not, and you will have to read carefully to keep track. The retired special agent is able to link Emily's disappearance with a serial abductor/murdererer, whose M.O. is to kidnap a mother, then a couple of days later, kidnap her young son, and then within five days, release the mother and leave a body part of the boy somewhere to be discovered. He takes exactly five days from start to finish for his gruesome deeds, and Emily's family and the police are racing against the clock to find out who took her. You will stay tuned from Day 1 to Day 5 in this tale, and when you figure out who is the guilty party, the only complaint you might have is: would a troubled past really trigger a seemingly average peson to go to all this effort every seven years to carry out these kidnappings and murders? Is this too far-fetched? Well, unfortunately from what we read in the news, there are individuals out there who blend in with society, but harbor deep, troubling thoughts and plan unspeakable acts.
So, yes, this could happen, and you will be pleased with the way that the loose ends are wrapped up by the conclusion. Worth a read-- no overt violence except the discussion of the past murders, no sex scenes, no swearing, just a good old fashioned whodunit.
New review:
"Seven Minutes to Noon"
(307 pages) Signet Books c. May 2005
This is the second stand-alone mystery from Kate Pepper ( a third one will be published next summer). It starts with Alice Halpern, a pregnant, mid-thirties mother of two who is waiting in a Brooklyn park across from the kids' school, expecting her also pregnant friend, Lauren, to appear. She is left still clutching her friend's lukewarm latte, because Lauren is a no-show. Alice takes Lauren's son home with her and contacts her friend's husband, Tim, who is out of town on business. She also involves Maggie, her British pal who is co-owner of her upscale shoe store, and who is the third member of the "three sisters". Kate, Maggie and their husbands and kids, are two-thirds of the closely-knit extended group; that is, they share their lives as if they are family. Lauren's husband is naturally devastated, but Alice, who is six months pregnant with twins, is also suffering, from insomnia and delusions about someone stalking her. And how about her creepy landlord who is trying to evict her while she is dealing with Lauren's absence and her warm-weather pregnancy? Why is Alice's husband spending so much time at work when she needs his support, and what happened to her new real estate agent with whom she is frantically searching for a new home?
News resurfaces about another pregnant woman from the neighborhood who had gone missing
a few years back, and that her case might be linked with Lauren's disappearance. Alice hooks up with Frannie, a local police detective, to offer as much insight as she can into her friend's past few months to solve the mystery in time to save the baby girl Lauren is carrying. Now all of Lauren's friends and family are under suspicion, and no one knows who to trust anymore. As the police get closer to discovering the truth, Alice realizes her own life, and that of her unborn babies, may be in danger. A good solid story with several twists and turns to the plot, it will hold your interest. A big part of the story's appeal is the setting--a gentrified Brooklyn brownstone neighborhood near the bridge. It is part of New York City, but also has qualities of a small town. Ms. Pepper lives in Brooklyn and knows what she speaks of, which makes it that much more realistic. The characters are kept in the claustrophic setting of a small patch of the neighborhood area and it makes the story of an average mother: your neighbor, your friend, your student's parent, your customer, hit home hard. This book is worth your attention, and is a decent mystery read. You will be curious to find out what happened to the missing pregnant ladies, and how Lauren's disappearance affects everyone around her, particularly Alice. I personally preferred the other book "Five Days in Summer" a bit more, but this one certainly did not disappoint me, and I think you will not be disappointed by picking this one up. Ms. Pepper has done it again!
Books currently in my to-read pile:
"Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn" by Hannah Holmes (fun non-fiction ecology book)
"Lethal Lies" by Laurie Breton (new author for me, mystery that looks intriguing)
"The Things We Do For Love" by Kristin Hannah (for when I'm in the mood for something light)
"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown (okay, I'm late on the bandwagon with this one!)
Maybe I will be reviewing one of these shortly, or maybe whatever I pick up from the bookstore in the near future---as always, happy reading!!
In the week of the new Harry Potter making its debut, all you Harry fans will finally get your hands on the new copy and hopefully be satisfied with how our boy is shaping up. I will be taking my teen to the bookstore the first day (not the night before at midnight!) basically because it will be 25% off in the beginning, and since we are going to buy it anyway, why not save some $$? But my real reason for making a big deal about the Harry Potter series is not because I think it is that great (though many would beg to disagree) but because it gets kids/young adults talking about books and reading. Maybe a trip to the bookstore with all the Harry hoopla will be seen as a fun outing for those who don't show much interest in reading yet. Hopefully those boys going to buy Harry will see other types of books that they want to read too, and start a new interest besides tv and video games. I used to work in a school and it was gratifying to see young kids, especially boys, clutching the huge hardcover in their arms in the hallway, and seeing them sitting on a swing at recess reading!! I am not targeting boys to pick on (in my family my son is the big reader) but (I have heard) that young boys traditionally don't read for pleasure as much as girls. One thing I can say definitively: parents should read to their kids or at least read at home to show a good example. It will benefit their kids in the long run.
My new picks this week are two mysteries by Kate Pepper, pen name of Katia Spiegelman Lief. She is a writer and a teacher in NY, and has had a couple of books printed by a small publisher years before, but these two books mark her foray into mysteries. She also has a third book, still untitled, due out next summer. After reading these two, I will be eagerly awaiting it!
Top Pick:
"Five Days in Summer" by Kate Pepper (mystery writer)
(304 pages) Onyx Books c. 2004
I stumbled upon this book quite by accident. I was walking up and down the new fiction paperback aisle at Barnes and Noble, and the employees had stacked a few piles of books on the floor in front of the shelves, apparently yet to be newly shelved. I was keeping my eyes on the book spines and almost tripped over the pile ( I wear bifocals and have to tilt my head up to read close-up). So I literally stumbled over a previously unknown author (to me) that I will now put on my must-read list!
"Five Days in Summer" is Ms. Pepper's first entry into mysteries, and it is definitely worth a read! She writes in a way that makes you feel a part of the action; you are there sitting at the Parkers' kitchen table while the distracted father feeds the kids and is thinking about what action he will take next to find his missing wife. The story takes place on Cape Cod around Labor Day, and the story is so descriptive in its beach scenes that you can almost smell the salt air and hear the sea gulls cry. Emily Parker is wrapping up a family vacation trip with her three kids while her husband stays in NYC to keep working. They have been staying at her newly widowed mother's beachfront home and now Emily wants to make one more trip to the supermarket to get sandwiches and snacks for the long drive home. But Emily never makes it home that day. Emily's mother, Sarah, and husband, Will, must deal with the small town police department to launch a search. They know that Emily did not run away and something is very wrong. Will runs into a retired FBI profiler who is now living in town, and is convinced to recruit his help to solve the mystery of Emily's disappearance. Meanwhile, Emily's kids are bearing the brunt of a missing mother and understandable neglect from distracted relatives, and the oldest boy is intent of finding his mother himself.
When clues at the supermarket lead the new female detective and the retired FBI Special Agent on a lukewarm, confusing path toward Mrs. Parker there are red herrings galore, and you will change your opinion as to who took her hostage several times before the ending. There are more quirky characters than not, and you will have to read carefully to keep track. The retired special agent is able to link Emily's disappearance with a serial abductor/murdererer, whose M.O. is to kidnap a mother, then a couple of days later, kidnap her young son, and then within five days, release the mother and leave a body part of the boy somewhere to be discovered. He takes exactly five days from start to finish for his gruesome deeds, and Emily's family and the police are racing against the clock to find out who took her. You will stay tuned from Day 1 to Day 5 in this tale, and when you figure out who is the guilty party, the only complaint you might have is: would a troubled past really trigger a seemingly average peson to go to all this effort every seven years to carry out these kidnappings and murders? Is this too far-fetched? Well, unfortunately from what we read in the news, there are individuals out there who blend in with society, but harbor deep, troubling thoughts and plan unspeakable acts.
So, yes, this could happen, and you will be pleased with the way that the loose ends are wrapped up by the conclusion. Worth a read-- no overt violence except the discussion of the past murders, no sex scenes, no swearing, just a good old fashioned whodunit.
New review:
"Seven Minutes to Noon"
(307 pages) Signet Books c. May 2005
This is the second stand-alone mystery from Kate Pepper ( a third one will be published next summer). It starts with Alice Halpern, a pregnant, mid-thirties mother of two who is waiting in a Brooklyn park across from the kids' school, expecting her also pregnant friend, Lauren, to appear. She is left still clutching her friend's lukewarm latte, because Lauren is a no-show. Alice takes Lauren's son home with her and contacts her friend's husband, Tim, who is out of town on business. She also involves Maggie, her British pal who is co-owner of her upscale shoe store, and who is the third member of the "three sisters". Kate, Maggie and their husbands and kids, are two-thirds of the closely-knit extended group; that is, they share their lives as if they are family. Lauren's husband is naturally devastated, but Alice, who is six months pregnant with twins, is also suffering, from insomnia and delusions about someone stalking her. And how about her creepy landlord who is trying to evict her while she is dealing with Lauren's absence and her warm-weather pregnancy? Why is Alice's husband spending so much time at work when she needs his support, and what happened to her new real estate agent with whom she is frantically searching for a new home?
News resurfaces about another pregnant woman from the neighborhood who had gone missing
a few years back, and that her case might be linked with Lauren's disappearance. Alice hooks up with Frannie, a local police detective, to offer as much insight as she can into her friend's past few months to solve the mystery in time to save the baby girl Lauren is carrying. Now all of Lauren's friends and family are under suspicion, and no one knows who to trust anymore. As the police get closer to discovering the truth, Alice realizes her own life, and that of her unborn babies, may be in danger. A good solid story with several twists and turns to the plot, it will hold your interest. A big part of the story's appeal is the setting--a gentrified Brooklyn brownstone neighborhood near the bridge. It is part of New York City, but also has qualities of a small town. Ms. Pepper lives in Brooklyn and knows what she speaks of, which makes it that much more realistic. The characters are kept in the claustrophic setting of a small patch of the neighborhood area and it makes the story of an average mother: your neighbor, your friend, your student's parent, your customer, hit home hard. This book is worth your attention, and is a decent mystery read. You will be curious to find out what happened to the missing pregnant ladies, and how Lauren's disappearance affects everyone around her, particularly Alice. I personally preferred the other book "Five Days in Summer" a bit more, but this one certainly did not disappoint me, and I think you will not be disappointed by picking this one up. Ms. Pepper has done it again!
Books currently in my to-read pile:
"Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn" by Hannah Holmes (fun non-fiction ecology book)
"Lethal Lies" by Laurie Breton (new author for me, mystery that looks intriguing)
"The Things We Do For Love" by Kristin Hannah (for when I'm in the mood for something light)
"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown (okay, I'm late on the bandwagon with this one!)
Maybe I will be reviewing one of these shortly, or maybe whatever I pick up from the bookstore in the near future---as always, happy reading!!
posted by Riann @ 8:24 AM
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