Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts

Book Review by Mauri Moore Shuler: While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

Monday, July 19, 2021

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

I bought this book because it sounded like something I would enjoy as a summer read and because I wanted to support the author, as a gesture of gratitude for her civic engagement and fight for voting rights.

Stacey Abrams, a lawyer, is known as a Georgia State Representative who ran for Governor and barely lost but helped turn Georgia into a swing state with a campaign for full and fair elections. 

But, unbeknownst to me, she was also writing books. Eight earlier books were all romances written under the name Selena Montgomery. She writes black women in roles of lawyers, sheriff, undercover agents, botanist… and, frankly, I didn’t even notice the race of the characters in her latest, this fast-paced political thriller, because I was simply caught up the in story.

She worked on While Justice Sleeps for 12 years. Aptly named, it revolves around a Supreme Court Justice who falls into a coma. How it happens and why is happens is unraveled in a tense international story of very high stakes intrigue. He leaves instructions that one of his law clerks is to have his Power of Attorney and Guardianship. This young woman then starts to unravel the full story.

Plot:
Sometimes I could not keep all the details straight, but it hardly mattered. Just keep reading if you get lost. You might be able to predict some twists, but I’ll bet you won’t be able to predict everything. And there is enough truth in the sinister plot of the villains to scare a reader.

Characters:
The hero is well drawn but others are flat. Again, it hardly matters in such a plot-driven story.

Style:
Abrams' style is very easy to read and there are occasional brilliant turns of phrase.

Footnote:
In the Acknowledgements, the reader will get a glimpse of the author’s very impressive family, all of whom helped her write this book.

Bottom line: A good read for political thriller fans.

--Review by Mauri Moore Shuler




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Book review by Aarene Storms: The Ride of Her Life: the true story of a woman, her horse, and their last-chance journey across America

Thursday, July 8, 2021

The Ride of Her Life : the true story of a woman, her horse, and their last-chance journey across America by Elizabeth Letts

In 1954, Annie Wilkins sold her Maine farm for the price of taxes owed on it, bought an ex-racehorse and loaded up her few worldly goods (including some warm socks), and set off with her little dog on the ultimate road trip: across America to California.

She had no Google, no Gore-Tex, and not very much money -- she didn't even have a map. What she did have was a sense of humor and a tremendous willingness to talk to strangers.

Author Elizabeth Letts draws on contemporary sources, including newspapers and Annie Wilkins' own journals, to tell the story of this great adventure with plenty of side-quests into historic Americana. 

As cars and trucks whizzed by on newly-constructed highways, Annie Wilkins experienced a version of America that most people will never know, by travelling across it one step at a time on the back of a good horse.

Highly recommended for ages 12 to adult.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net  



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Book review by Aarene Storms - Chance: escape from the Holocaust

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Chance: escape from the Holocaust  
by Uri Shulevitz

...if our Warsaw apartment hadn't had flowered wallpaper, I wouldn't have stared at the flowers and I wouldn't have been named Uri.

If my name hadn't been Uri, we would've gotten Soviet passports.

If we had Soviet passports, we would have remained in Belarus, where Father had work and we had an apartment.

By remaining in Belarus, we would have been swept away by the invading Nazis and sent back to Poland to die with the rest of our family....


Uri Shulevitz tells the story of his early childhood, from the time that German bombs started falling on Warsaw through years of hunger and fear, recounting the setbacks and lucky breaks that brought him, eventually, to his career as a Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator and author of books for children.

This is not a "normal" Holocaust book: the family avoided the horrors of concentration camps simply because of a bureaucratic snafu, but they didn't live in luxury while others suffered: they suffered from illness and starvation as refugees for more than eight years. 

Although the text is aimed at middle grade readers, I found myself drawn into this compelling narrative and unwilling to look at anything else until I had finished the book. Shulevitz tells his story as a child might have told it at the time, with simple reflections on the random chances that saved his family. The illustrations complement the text without drawing attention away from the events.  

Highly recommended memoir for ages 10 to adult. Uri Shulevitz has also published two picture book memoirs for younger children: How I Learned Geography (about a time his father couldn't find food to buy, and bought a beautiful map instead) and When I Wore My Sailor Suit (about life in pre-war Poland). 
----
Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net



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Book review by Aarene Storms: All Systems Red

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Murderbot Diaries #1)
audiobook read by Kevin R. Free

On a remote planet, a team of scientists are conducting routine tests when something goes terribly wrong. At the last moment, the team is saved by their security robot. All normal so far, right? Except that this security android has hacked its own governor module and doesn't have to answer to the corporate overlords anymore.

So, why is it still saving humans from their own bad choices?

That's a question that the Murderbot never really answers -- it would rather be watching interstellar soap operas and complaining about stupid humans -- while it continues to keep people safe (mostly).

The adventures of a cynical, grouchy, socially-awkward security droid with a serious addiction to bad television are perfect escape stories for summer afternoons at the beach or a stuck-in-traffic-again audiobook. The books are quick and funny and I'm just as addicted to them as the Murderbot is addicted to "Sanctuary Moon."

Cussing, violence, blood, no sex (security droids don't have gender or sex), plus action, adventure and sarcasm. Recommended for teen and adult readers.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net



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Book review by Aarene Storms: What If We Were by Axelle Lenoir

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

What If We Were by Axelle Lenoir

17-year-old buddies Marie and Natalie battle boredom by playing a game called "What if we were ___" in which one player names a topic (Vikings! Superheros! Spies! Fruit!) and they both imagine their lives as that subject.

In between sessions of the game, the friends attend classes, cope with awkward parent conversations (SO AWKWARD!) and tease each other about love interests.

This is a sweet, slice-of-life comic and a fun excuse to let imaginations run wild. No explosions, no car chases (not even imaginary car chases) but lots of relatable stuff with diverse, likeable characters.

Recommended for readers ages 14 to adult.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net  



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Nubia

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Nubia by L.L. McKinney (graphic novel)

Nubia has always been special. She's strong. (She pushed over a tree to rescue a kitty when she was just a little kid). She's smart. Her moms have taught her how to fight, and how to avoid a fight. 

In fact, she has exactly the same powers as Wonder Woman...except that Nubia is Black. And when Nubia helps foil a robbery (by throwing an ATM at the bad guy!), she ends up in handcuffs!

Set firmly in 2020, this new superhero series offers everything a comic should have: an action-packed story, great artwork, sympathetic backstory for the main character(s), social commentary, and a promise of more stories to come.

Read it, share it, join me in waiting for the next issue!

Content alerts: violence, racism, bullying, social activism, excellent friendships, great parenting, diversity and epic gayness. Highly recommended for ages 12 to adult.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net



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Book review by Aarene Storms: The House in the Cerulean Sea

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

Linus Baker is a caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, embedded deeply in a grey, dystopic world where magic is registered, classified, and most of all: wrong. Linus trudges through his colorless job -- and his equally colorless life -- until he is sent on a classified and very strange assignment: to assess an orphanage on a distant island and determine the fate of the six magical children there.

Linus gradually learns more about each of the children, including Talia, a gnome with a fantastic talent for gardening, Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose great ambition is to be a bellhop, and most of all Lucy, who is the Antichrist. In the process, he also makes some gradual realizations about himself ... and about Arthur, the master of the orphanage.

Part 1984, part Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, plus small amounts of Peter Pan and Anne of Green Gables, this delightful story teases apart all the elements of "home" and "society" and "family" and weaves them back together into a cozy new thing that simultaneously encourages both smiles and deeper thought.

This book is marketed for adult readers, but I will happily hand it to my middle school-aged friends. Some minor cussing, bullying, and references to physical and verbal abuse of children, countered by some very affirming love.

Put this book at the top of your list, y'all. The audiobook was not narrated in a British accent, which surprised me -- although the story never explicitly says the locations, it feels very British. It was still enjoyable (but Jim Dale, narrator of the Harry Potter series) would have been a best choice.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net




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Book review by Aarene Storms: How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason

Sleeping Beauty's great-great-great-great-great granddaughter... in space.

Rory Thorne, princess of the Thorne Consortium, is the 6-time-great-granddaughter of the original sleeping princess in the tower. 

She is also the first girl-child born to the family since the time of the sleeping beauty and the 13 fairy godmothers. 

Young Rory is also "blessed/cursed" with thirteen magical gifts, and she will need all of them in this quick-paced fairy tale on a space station.

Fun, snide narration (reminiscent of The Princess Bride) and fairy tale elements smoothly integrated with minimal romance and detailed interstellar world building will appeal to fans of T. Kingfisher and Naomi Novik, plus a few literary Easter Eggs just for nerdish readers like me. 

Cover art indicates that this is first in a duology, but the book stands sturdily alone.

Recommended for fans of fractured fairy tales, ages 13 to adult.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages.  She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net  



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Book review by Aarene Storms: The Blackthorn Key

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands

The year is 1665, the controversial Charles II is King of England, and Christopher Rowe is happy in his life as an apprentice apothecary. 

The work is hard and the hours are long, but Master Blackthorne is a good boss, who treats Christopher well, especially considering the boy's propensity for poor choices involving saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal.

Then, things go terribly wrong, and Christopher is accused of murder. There's a tremendous tangle of allies and enemies before the story comes to the final page... which is only the beginning of the series!

Fun read for history buffs, mystery fans, and those who love science. The characters are delightful and the setting unusual. I'm eager to read book #2 in the series. Ray Panthaki's audiobook narration is fun and engaging.

No sex, minimal cussing, some violence and betrayals, and many bad choices which often (but not always) lead to explosions.

Recommended for readers and listeners ages 10 to adult.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net  



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Book review by Aarene Storms: The Enigma Game

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein

Louisa is a 15-year-old mixed-race girl living in WWII London ... and, thanks to German bombs, she is suddenly an orphan who needs to make a living.

Jobs for "colored" girls are scarce, so Louisa ends up in Scotland as the companion to an elderly woman who is hiding a secret: she was born in Germany.

The potential outcasts keep adding to their ranks: first with Ellen, a Traveller ("tinker / Gypsy") girl and later a German defector who leaves them with a tool that can save England: an Enigma code-breaking device.

Readers of this author's previous books will recognize many returning characters, including Ellen (Pearl Thief) and Julie Beaufort-Stewart (Code Name Verity), as well as Julie's charming older brother Jamie.

This book, while not as edge-of-chair suspenseful as Code Name Verity, stands alone well as a tale of powerful friendships and strength against adversity.

Some cussing, no sex, minimal blood and violence (especially considering this book is about the RAF fliers during WWII), plenty of bullying, prejudice, and a bit of sexual harassment, especially from the obnoxious American.

Recommended for readers ages 14 to adult.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages.  She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net 



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Book review by Aarene Storms:

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein

Louisa is a 15-year-old mixed-race girl living in WWII London... and, thanks to German bombs, she is suddenly an orphan who needs to make a living. Jobs for "colored" girls are scarce, so Louisa ends up in Scotland as the companion to an elderly woman who is hiding a secret: she was born in Germany.

The potential outcasts keep adding to their ranks: first with Ellen, a Traveller ("tinker/Gypsy") girl and later a German defector who leaves them with a tool that can save England: an Enigma code-breaking device.

Readers of this author's previous books will recognize many returning characters, including Ellen (Pearl Thief) and Julie Beaufort-Stewart (Code Name Verity), as well as Julie's charming older brother Jamie. This book, while not as edge-of-chair suspenseful as Code Name Verity, stands alone well as a tale of powerful friendships and strength against adversity.

Some cussing, no sex, minimal blood and violence (especially considering this book is about the RAF fliers during WWII), plenty of bullying, prejudice, and a bit of sexual harassment, especially from the obnoxious American.

Recommended for readers ages 14 to adult.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net



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Book review by Aarene Storms: A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

Mona isn't a powerful wizard who can set cities on fire or use puddles of water as a walkie-talkie. Mona's little magic is all about baking. 

Her familiar is a gingerbread cookie, and she maintains a magically carnivorous, semi-sentient sourdough starter called "Bob."

When the city is threatened by invaders, and wizards of all levels are targeted by assassins, Mona draws on her friendship with a street urchin and her affinity with baked goods to survive.

Ridiculous? Yes: delightfully ridiculous, as befits a work by T. Kingfisher. Magical tropes are turned upside down, inside out, and then kneaded well before being shoved into the oven to bake until golden brown.

If you like fractured fairy tales and light, funny stories, make this your next read. It's fluffy, it's fun, and it's even gluten-free. But if there is malice in your heart, be sure to watch out for Bob the Sourdough.

No sex, no cussing. Some blood, a few (non-gory) dead bodies, plus an army of re-animated dead horses that arrives in the nick of time.

Highly recommended for readers 12 to adult.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net  



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Charming as a Verb

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe

Henri Haltiwanger is a good student at a prestigious prep school, runs his own dog-walking business for wealthy New York neighbors, and desperately wants to be admitted to Columbia University so his Haitian-immigrant dad will be proud of him. 

Henri is also a little bit of a con-man, but he is, seriously, a nice kid who makes a point of charming almost everybody he meets.

Only one person seems immune to his charm, and readers will immediately spot the chemistry between Henri and uber-smart (and kind of spectrum-y) Corinne Troy. 

Their friendship and tiny romance seems like such a good thing... until Henri's ambition pushes him a little bit too far.

This is a fun, own-voices book with relatable characters. Henri's need-to-succeed is obviously bound to fail, but it's the process of reassembling his life that proves his worthiness-- and his fascination with sneaker fashion is pretty adorable, too.

Some cussing, some smooching on the page, and a near-miss sexual situation with extra points for condom-preparedness. Recommended for readers 12 to adult.

Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Deep River

Thursday, April 8, 2021

Deep River by Karl Marlantes
 
I grew up in a place that Annie Dillard described thusly:
God might have created such a plunging shore as this before He thought of making people, and then when He thought of making people, He mercifully softened up the land in the palms of his hands, wherever He expected them to live, which did not include here.  (Annie Dillard, The Living)
 
Now, Karl Marlantes takes a swing at a story of life in the rough-and-tumble of early Washington State.  His story centers on three immigrant siblings from Finland: Ilmari, Aino and Matti.  
 
Ilmari comes to America before the others, builds a home and works to survive and make a living. He, alone of the family, befriends Vasutäti, a Chinook tribal woman (who seems to be all alone in the world, her children having died of measles and the rest of the tribe... just gone... for some reason... also, she can maybe do magic or something?) and he stays as separate as possible from the rapidly-changing modern world.
 
Ilmari is eventually joined by younger brother Matti who seeks financial stability with Scarlet O'Hara-esque fervor, and sister Aino, an ardent Marxist, whose political beliefs and actions led to imprisonment and torture in Finland. Aino soon becomes the focus of the story as she waves her socialist ideals in the faces of logger barons, rum-runners, and fish-cannery owners, with varying degrees of success.  
 
As anyone who knows local history could have predicted, things go terribly wrong for our Finnish friends. There are logging accidents, fishing accidents, and several "massacres" between local capitalists and the union organizers. Medical science is primitive at best, and death is always nearby.  
 
I grew up hearing stories such as these from the fishing families of my classmates, seeing pictures of tiny loggers cutting down gargantuan trees, learning about the early days of white settlement in my home state. This book tells some stories I already knew, and some that I didn't. 

To this day, when I ride my horse through the forest near my home, I see stumps bearing springboard cuts: remnants of the days when trees were cut by hand by a couple of guys with a cross-cut saw, hauled out of the woods on skid roads by oxen or horses instead of trucks.
 
It's not a perfect book, but book groups will enjoy discussing and arguing over many of the points.  
 
Cussing, bleeding, death, sexual situations, torture, happiness, sadness, and fishing.
---
Aarene Storms is a librarian who reads and reviews books for all ages. She can be reached at aarenex@haikufarm.net 


 

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Book review by Aarene Storms: Leave Me Alone!

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol

Once there was an old woman who lived in a little house with a big family and a big stack of knitting.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she shouts, as she leaves home for the forest, then leaves the forest for the mountains, the moon, and finally moves to the void on the far side of a wormhole -- which is a nice quiet spot to knit without distractions.

Share this fun picture book with kiddos ages 3 and up ... or with other adults who wouldn't mind going to the void just to get some peace and quiet.

Aarene Storms 
Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System 



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Book review by Aarene Storms: The Night Raven

Monday, January 4, 2021

The Night Raven (Crow Investigations #1) 
by Sarah Painter

Lydia Crow was raised apart from her magic-using-mafiosa-esque family, but when she needs a place to go, her uncle invites her to "help him with a project" in London ... and she accepts. 

The project turns out to be finding Madeleine Crow, who is missing. Or is she?

Harry Dresden in London?
Stephanie Plum, but with magic?
Or Peter Grant if he were a woman ... and the niece of a Family don?

Actually, it doesn't really matter. The mystery is light, the writing is fun, the setting is familiar-but-different, and the magic in the world is intriguing. 

AND it's the first in a series that includes five titles already. I read it in a day, and eagerly await my turn with book #2 The Silver Mark. It's the perfect read for a rainy winter night.

Some cussing, some sexual situations (on- and off-page), some violence, plus magic.

Aarene Storms
Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System
astorms@kcls.org



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Gunslinger Girl

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely

Serendipity (Pity) has got to get out of the agricultural commune -- right now. But on her way to the city, things go terribly wrong and Pity ends up in the dead-end, last-ditch town of Cessation instead.

There, she finds both refuge and a good job as a sharpshooter for the local Chatauqua ... until a stranger with bad intentions arrives.

Dystopic Future meets Wild Wild West in this fast-moving adventure story. Strong characters, some gender diversity, a sweet romance, a bit of cussing, some sexual situations, several bullet wounds and really a lot of snakes.

Highly recommended in print or audiobook edition, ages 14 to adult.


Aarene Storms Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System
astorms@kcls.org



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Book review by Aarene Storms: A Game of Fox and Squirrels

Sunday, December 20, 2020

A Game of Fox and Squirrels by Jenn Reese

11-year-old Samantha and her older sister Caitlin have abruptly left their home in Los Angeles to live in Oregon with an aunt they've never met. 

Sam just wants to go back -- back home, to her parents, to her friends, and to the way her life was before she said something that changed everything.

When Aunt Vicky gives Sam a mysterious card game, Sam falls in love with the beautiful animal characters in the game: the clever squirrels, and especially the charming fox Ashander.

Ashander promises her an adventure and a reward, and Sam accepts the challenge. But somehow, the rules keep changing, and Sam isn't sure she can ever win this game.

Thinly-veiled metaphor often puts my teeth on edge, but this story was so deftly written that I kept turning pages and hoping that Sam and Caitlin would get the happy ending and safe home that every child deserves.

I won't spoil the ending for you, but I will say that it pleased me very much. The author's note at the back of the book is beautiful, and her website contains not only extra resources for those facing domestic abuse, but also rules for the actual card game -- including ideas for winning.

References to physical and emotional abuse, but no violence towards children on the page. This book may upset some readers; it might reassure others. Recommended for ages 10 to adult.

Aarene Storms Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System
astorms@kcls.org



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Estranged by Ethan M. Aldridge

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Estranged by Ethan M. Aldridge

The Human Childe was changed with the son of the King and Queen of the Fae when both were very young. In the World Above, the elvish heir to the throne lives with parents and an older sister in modern Brooklyn. 

In the World Below, the boy doesn't even have a name. Then things go terribly wrong, and the Human Childe goes up into our world to seek the aid of the changeling who was swapped.

A modern changeling story? In graphic novel format? And there's a high-speed chase through the subway with a DRAGON?

Where do I sign up?

Really nice character-based story that touches base with traditional folklore before spinning off in new directions. The relationships remind me of the friends and family in the Mighty Jack and Zita the Space Girl books by Ben Hatke, written for a slightly older audience. 

This book is cataloged for the juvenile collection at my library, but I would comfortably hand it to readers ages ten to adult.

Sword fighting, political betrayals, dysfunctional families as well as functional and "found" family, magic, epic gayness and non-binary characters, fun artwork and a DRAGON. No cussing. Kissing, but no nekkidness or sex.

Aarene Storms Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System
astorms@kcls.org




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Book review by Aarene Storms: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

Sunday, November 29, 2020

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

18-year-old Susan Arkshaw figures it's time to find out who her dad really is. Her mom has always been a bit ... fae ... about the topic. How hard could it be, really?

Well, first there is the "uncle" who isn't quite a vampire, and then there's a (left-handed) bookseller named "Merlin" who has skills that a secret agent would envy, and there's also his (right-handed) bookseller sister who has a different but equally freaky set of skills, and then also it's entirely possible that Susan's dad is a mountain....

If Sir Terry Pratchett had wanted to write a police procedural for Ben Aaronovich's "Rivers of London" series, it might turn out a lot like this. And, if you like that kind of thing, you'll probably like this.

Action, adventure, car chases, magic, death, minor cussing, creepy weird stuff, fancy tea, and a distinct possibility of sequels.

Recommended for ages 14 to adult.

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS astorms@kcls.org

Previous reviews by Aarene Storms HERE



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