Identical, by Scott Turow

Turow hasn't disappointed me yet. This is an involved, compact mystery that features identical twins, one of the great basic mystery mechanisms, in my opinion.

In this story, one twin confesses to murder, the other has a successful political career in Kindle County. As the political brother prepares for a major election, his brother is getting out of prison, and things begin to fall apart.

There is an interesting under-current of Greek-American culture in this novel that I don't recall finding in Turow's work before, though I may simply be forgetting.

Sandy Stern makes an appearance in this book as do other Kindle County characters that Turow has introduced in the past. What a fabulously entertaining and thoughtful body of work Turow has given us; I hope there will be much more.

Gods of Guilt, by Michael Connelly

This is a recent Mickey Haller (The "Lincoln Lawyer") novel, set some time after his appearance in Reversal. Apparently since that novel, Haller has run for election as DA, and lost, largely due to having defended an unpopular person. At the tail end of this political and personal (his first ex-wife and daughter will have almost nothing to do with him) disaster, he finds himself representing a "digital pimp" accused of murdering a prostitute.

In typical fashion, as this story unfolds, the plot becomes very complicated. There are suspicious characters in law enforcement, including a DEA agent named Marco, as well as organized crime figures. A lawyer in prison reaches out through his son, an apparently incompetent lawyer with the same name as his disgraced father.

The novel goes at full speed right up to the end. There are only a few pages of denouement.

Harry Bosch doesn't really figure in the plot, but makes a cameo appearance.

Prudence, by David Treuer

This novel is set from about 1942 - 1952, mostly in northern Minnesota. The Washburns, Emma and Jonathan, own a summer house--"The Pines"--on a lake. Jonathan, a physician, spends only a little time there, but Emma goes for the whole summer. They employ a caretaker named Felix, who is a Native American. Several other Native Americans are among the characters, including Prudence, of the title.  (Mr. Treuer is a member of the Ojibwe tribe.)

The Washburn's only son, Frankie, comes to visit just before he is about to ship out with the Army Air Force as a bombardier. Just before his arrival, a prisoner escapes from the newly-constructed prison camp not far from The Pines. Local people have formed search parties, and Frankie is eager to search for "The German." 

The tragic accident that occurs at this point is the focus of the novel, which gives a good picture of what life might have been like in this area during World War II and the years right afterward. There is also an unavoidable comparison between the Holocaust and the genocide perpetrated against Native Americans by the European invaders of America.

Review and audio from NPR's Fresh Air

Washington Post Review

More than once it has occurred to me just how often the firing of a gun determines the course, outcome, or resolution of a piece of fiction. This novel is no exception.

Someday, Someday Maybe, by Lauren Graham

This was an entertaining, engaging, well done novel. Lauren Graham is a well-known actress, but obviously has other talent.

The novel is a first-person account of a young woman in New York City trying to find work as an actress. It's written with humor as well as down-to-earth realism, but is not sentimental or overly cute. Characters were well-drawn and believable. I read this book quickly and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Here's a review from the Washington Post.

Left for Dead, by J.A. Jance

An audio book.

I've read (and listened to) many novels by Jance, back to her old J. P. Beaumont series set in Seattle. I enjoyed the Beaumonts, and read some of the Joanna Brady series. I think this is the first one in the Ali Reynolds series, set in the Southwest.

This book isn't too great. There's far too much exposition into character's back-stories. I will put some of the blame on the narrator, who I found to be just a little annoying. The plot, however, is keeping me interested enough to (maybe) finish listening to it. [Update: I did finish listening.]

This is probably a book that I would not read. As a way to relieve commuter boredom, it's marginal. I have found myself punching the radio button more than once to relieve my frustration with it. This is an ironic contrast to Rushdie's Satanic Verses, which I recently finished listening to. That was a book that I probably would have given up on reading due to its complexity and inaccessibility, but having listened to the text, I now look forward to reading it in print some day.

Maybe Jance has just gone on too long. I don't know.

jajance.com is a frustrating web site. I was trying to find a bibliography there, but grew tired of 404 errors and Flash book advertisements. Sigh. I did actually find what I was looking for by searching from outside the web site, which led me to this page, contained within it.

The Confabulist, by Steven Galloway

In this novel, a principle character is Harry Houdini, the magician and escape artist of the early 20th century. There are other actual people in the cast, such as Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. In his post-Holmes life, Doyle was very interested in spiritualism. Houdini was very interested in the debunking of spiritualism. He saw it as a tragic confidence game, taking advantage of bereaved people.

The narrator is Martin Strauss. Strauss is fictional, as far as I know.

There is a good review and plot summary here. [New York Times] I can do no better.

I understand that Galloway is a young writer. I look forward to reading more by him. This novel was particularly entertaining.

Memory Loss -- a couple of books to read, maybe....

This review is about two books that deal with memory loss.

Find Me, by Laura Van den Berg, is a novel. I haven't read Van den Berg before, as I recall. The review mentions a short-story collection written before this novel, Isle of Youth, that sounds worth reading as well.

I have read one book by Kazuo Ishiguro, and attempted another. This review announces the publication of The Buried Giant, by Mr. Ishiguro. The book that I read, and greatly enjoyed, was Remains of the Day. I don't think that book appears in this journal, I think I read it before I started this project. The book that I attempted was The Unconsoled.  A copy of this sits on a shelf at home. Every time I see it I wonder if I should try it again. Previous forays have been unsuccessful.

Hmm. This just in (4 March 2015). I noticed a Tweet from NPR Books about  The Buried Giant, which doesn't make it sound tempting. "Lost in its own fog" kinda reminds me of how I felt about The Unconsoled.  Some day maybe we should have a talk about who reads certain books. Here's the NPR Books Review.