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The Fifth Petal: A Novel

February 17, 2017

fifth petal

  I carry no weight, no worth, no influence. I represent nothing. I do not exist…But remember this as you flee: You brought me into existence. I am not the cause, I am merely the effect.   The Fifth Petal is set in contemporary Salem, Massachusetts making it a heady concoction of witches, evil, superstition, murder, magic and tragedy. Rose Whelan, a local historian ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, Crown, mystery, New England, paranormal, suspense

Dead Wake

March 11, 2015

dead wake

When it comes to taking historic international events and looking behind the scenes there are few who do it as well as Erik Larson. Even when the event itself is substantial in its importance he is able to dig into it and find an aspect to make it even more momentous and, at the same time, personal. His newest work is Dead Wake and it’s about the last crossing of the Lusitania, ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Non-fiction Tagged: book clubs, Crown, history, World War I

2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas

December 24, 2014

2a.m. at the cat's pajamas

  Author Marie-Helene Bertino creates an unusual and charming story in 2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas in that while it takes place in the 24 hours before Christmas Eve the only thing Christmas-like about it is that it brings together a disparate group of travelers, all looking for salvation.  There is nine-year-old Madeleine; Lorca, the owner of The Cat’s ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, childhood, contemporary life, Crown, debut, magical realism

Mother Mother

September 20, 2013

mother mother

Koren Zailckas doesn’t waste any time. In her first novel Mother, Mother: A Novel she takes no more than one hundred pages to pull the mask off Josephine Hurst, a woman who believes she is the pinnacle of modern motherhood—raising two lovely daughters (one destined for Broadway) and a son so gifted she has to home school him. Whether this is true or not seems beside the point ... Read More...

3 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, Crown, debut, family, suspense

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