The Italian Divide: A Craig Page Thriller by Allan Topol

The Italian Divide: A Craig Page Thriller. Allan Topol. SelectBooks, Inc. March 16, 2016. 304 pp.  ISBN#: 9781590793411.

Former CIA Director Craig Page has reinvented his life after being involved with an international conflict that caused the death of a family member and also being responsible for the death of a Chinese leader’s brother.  Now Page, after undergoing drastic plastic surgery, is famous as an Italian racecar driver, Enrico Marino.  His love of the sport has made him happier than he has been in years. However, that new life is about to undergo a major disruption as a result of the death of a Florentine banker and friend, Frederico Castiglione. Page speaks to a friend of Castiglione, an Italian banker, Andrew Goldoni. The two bankers had been first politely sell a large percentage of their bank shares and then threatened with physical harm if they refused. 

The coercion is first carried out by Chinese agents and then Russian muscle men.  Page decides he owes it to Castiglione to prove that his death was not a jewelry heist gone awry.  His suspicions grow stronger after learning that an Italian politician, who is running on a ticket advocating that Northern and Southern Italy become separate independent states, is involved with strange bedfellows lending him money in return for ignoring Asian takeovers of Italian businesses.  It’s an unhappy and violent turn of events that Page is insistent on proving, coupled with an unspoken desire for revenge on Zhou Yun. 

Page is assisted by two CIA agents and a counter-terrorism director. The criminal elements underestimate Page’s perseverance in uncovering the crime with severe ramifications for the governments of Italy, America and eventually the world  To say more would spoil a phenomenal international thriller plot that twists and turns in unpredictable ways that leave the reader exhilarated and anxious to learn the end that could be a blessing or could be an international calamity.

Alan Topol writes with shades of style comparable with the old novels of Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsythe.  Just when the tension ratchets up to what feels like a climactic turn of events, the plot thickens even further.  The Italian Divide… is an international thriller of the highest order, one which this reviewer eagerly recommends for those who love this dynamic genre of writing.

Miller's Valley: A Novel by Anna Quindlen

Miller’s Valley: A Novel.  Anna Quindlen. Random House Publishing Group. April 2016. 272 pp.  ISBN#: 9780812996081.

Anna Quindlen is back in her best form! Roosevelt’s Dam is threatening to flood Miller’s Valley.  Speculators want to fix the situation but in the process they want to develop the area by building new homes and displacing residents who have lived here for generations.  Mimi’s family is determined not to sell but the pressure is intense.  However, the physical threat to Miller’s Valley is epitomized in the troubles within Mimi’s own family.  The story is narrated from an older woman, Mimi’s point of view but starts when she was only ten years old.  This is one spunky young girl who handles each difficulty with wise thinking and phenomenal endurance for one so young.

Mimi’s Dad stands by her through thick and thin but that changes after he has a debilitating stroke.  Her Mom favors one of the two brothers, one of whom marries and moves away and the other who is torn apart after serving in the military in the mid-60s.  Mimi’s Aunt Ruth has become a recluse.  In spite of all these problems, this story is told with a very real, human attitude that never falters, that never overwhelms the characters or readers.  No, the decisions aren’t always perfect but there are no perfect lives, which is why these characters move us so deeply.

The story continues as Mimi sets about to do research once she reaches high school on the dam and what it really means for Miller’s Valley to accept the proposed changes by strangers who are seeking to recreate their home territory. To say more would spoil a lovely story.  Even LaRhonda, Mimi’s supposed best friend, is very real in her selfishness and more.

Much like readers’ lives, these characters with their mixed motives and actions evolve from confusion to clarity, from distance to unquestionable loyalty.  Anna Quindlen is gifted in capturing and depicting the essence of people’s lives that really matter and this novel is another expression of that reality. In spite of its wrap-it-up ending, this story is definitely a memorable read that this reviewer highly recommends.

Between Black and White: McMurtrie and Dale Thrillers 2 by Robert Bailey

Between Black and White: McMurtrie and Dale Thrillers 2.  Robert Bailey. Thomas and Mercer. March 2016. 399 pp.  ASIN#: B013FS57KG. 

Pulaski, Tennessee was the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan between 1865 and 1866.  Bocephus Haynes saw his father murdered by the Klan one hundred years later, in 1966, in the most gruesome way one could imagine, a way that scarred Bo forever.  For years he returned to the place where his father died on every anniversary of the horrendous death.  For years he swore he would have revenge. 

Pulaski is a town that had a certain pride in the Ku Klux Klan but also a definite contemporary embarrassment about it all.  So on the night when Bo gets viciously drunk and goes to the infamous place for the awful anniversary visit, Andy Walton is found murdered.  Bo had believed Andy was the person whose voice Bo recognized the night his father was killed.  Now, after Bo has been heard raging about an “eye for an eye…”, he is accused of murdering Andy and  the prosecution is aiming for the death penalty.

But a crack lawyer, Rick McMurtrie, is determined to defend Bo, also a former successful lawyer, and sets about to prove Andy’s death was a framed killing.  The reader will be amazed at the facts that bit by bit are revealed, some that are utterly astonishing as to who was actually at Bo’s father’s death.  It also emerges that there’s a lot of pocket-to-pocket support and crime happening in Pulaski and those who get in the way are judged to be quickly and easily dispensable.

To say more would spoil a lot of twists and turns that keep this crime thriller dynamically vibrant and skillfully moving.  The reader is never sure as to how it will all, or if it will, be resolved on the final page.  McMurtrie is a skilled investigator whose inquiries make him a target as well from the involved ne’er-do-wells of Pulaski, Tennessee.  Hope lies in the few decent human beings who still believe in justice by legal means and not by individual action.  Fine novel that is a terrific read!

Lilac Girls: A Novel by Martha Hall Kelly

Lilac Girls: A Novel.  Martha Hall Kelly. Random House Publishing Group. April 2016. 496 pp.  ISBN#: 9781101883075.

Caroline Ferraday comes from a rich family and has no need to work.  However, she is a volunteer at the French consulate and is passionately dedicated to helping French refugees and especially raising money and clothing for French children without family or friends.  For the Germans under Hitler are ravaging Europe and is now headed for France, causing many to attempt to flee to America.  Caroline is about to become enamored with a married well-known actor, whose family will also become victims of Hitler’s aggressive policies.

The reader needs a very strong stomach for what follows.  Kasia Kuzmerick wants to act like a grown-up and begins to accept low-level jobs for the Polish resistance.  One admires her courage and tenacity and yet every move she makes seems to foreshadow eventual capture and imprisonment.

On the other hand, we meet a very young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, whose training has been limited to dermatology since female doctors are almost unheard of in Germany.  Desperate to use her knowledge and skills, especially as a surgeon, she signs up for government service and winds up in the Ravensbruck concentration camp for women.  At first she is appalled at the horrors she witnesses and is expected to perform herself.  Eventually she succumbs to cooperation because her own imprisonment is the only option left for refusing to obey orders.  What is fascinating about this story is the fact that both women must do things they abhor in order to survive.  The consequences of these choices, however, turn out quite different after the war eventually ends.  Being a survivor isn’t always enough of an excuse.

These women are outstanding heroines in their fierce belief in hope, hope they will come out of their experiences whole somehow and hope that justice will prevail.  Such an attitude is easy to blithely state when detached from intense suffering but indomitably brave when called to compromise or silently live in physical, mental and emotional agony.

Lilac Girls: A Novel is a novel every reader will never forget.  That, after all, is the purpose of recounting the realities of WWII and the Holocaust, including those non-Jews who bore the ferocious, tyrannical policies of Hitler carried out by his henchmen and women.  As painful as the story described hits the reader, it is a starkly told tale that must be told, lest we forget! Highly recommended historical fiction!

The Summer Before the War: A Novel by Helen Simonson

The Summer Before the War: A Novel.  Helen Simonson. Random House Publishing Group. March 2016. 496 pp.  ISBN#: 9780812993103.

Rye, East Sussex, is a lovely, quiet English town in 1914.  Beatrice Nash arrives to teach Latin at a small local school.  That wouldn’t shock anyone in contemporary times but it was highly unusual for a woman to teach, especially Latin. But Beatrice is being sponsored by a locally highbrow lady, Agatha Kent, a leader of the community who is of course always vying with other women for authority in all community affairs. 

Beatrice is desperate for this job as her academic father died, leaving her with no money.  But Beatrice’s got grit and peddles around on her bicycle, loving the country air and believing she can make a difference in the lives of the poor children she will be instructing.  It’s a huge charity move but her presence could make all the difference in the world for one or two lads with intelligence.  The rest of the community, however, doesn’t see past their own ego-inflated goodness in sponsoring this school.

The reader is just starting to get to know the people of Rye well.  Their beliefs are quite stringent, against anything that smacks of modernity like feminism, homosexuality, pregnancy of unwed mothers, and moving out of one’s class.  One of two brothers, Dan and Hugh, is increasingly attracted to Beatrice.  The one brother Hugh is submerged in his future career of medicine, and the other brother Dan is a poet who wonders what his future holds. Such a blasé attitude to life is about to undergo a shocking shift as World War I looms in the near horizon.

The remainder of the novel concerns how these village residents with petty concerns are brought up short by the war and quickly are stripped of their pride to do their part for the war.  There are more shocks to come, a little romance, and tenderness within each connection to grip the reader until the very last page.

The Summer Before the War… is lovely historical fiction which this reviewer highly recommends.

Rain Dogs: A Detective Sean Duffy Novel by Adrian McKinty

Rain Dogs: A Detective Sean Duffy Novel. Adrian McKinty. Seventh Street Books/Prometheus Books. March 2016. 315 pp.  ISBN#: 9781633881303.

Sean Duffy has nothing going right these days.  He’s just been dumped by his girlfriend, Beth, who is ten years younger than he is.  He’s just been assigned to the protective unit for a Muhammed Ali visit to Ireland. 

The story takes place in Carrickfergus which is close to Belfast.  It’s the time of the Irish Troubles when the IRA is dropping bombs left and right as a protest method to gain Irish independence.  It’s a bit of a far stretch to imagine how these bombs could be an asset in their goal but for now it is what it is.  So for now Detectives like Duffy check under their cars for bombs every time they set out to travel somewhere.  Ali during his tour actually turns around and confronts protestors, winning them over with his charm and panache.

But the day isn’t done before there are two problems, one minor and one major.  A Finnish delegation has come to the area to check it out as a potential site for a large new business and of course the town officials want and English government want everything to proceed ultra-smoothly.  However, one of the Finnish delegation member’s wallet is declared missing and a young woman is found dead from a possible suicide in Carrickfergus Castle. The first is a joke; the second turns out to be a complex mystery.  Why did this young journalist kill herself?  Why did the night guard not know she was still in the Castle after closing hours? 

The plot becomes quite complex when it turns out that the Finnish delegation was not as innocent as it appeared to the public.  Add to that another policeman is killed from a bomb under the car and of course everyone assumes it’s just another IRA plot, nothing new.  It turns out that’s not so either.

Duffy for a long time keeps receiving false leads but if it’s one thing Duffy has a reputation for, it’s persistence, relentless.

Rain Dogs… has many other twists and turns that keep the reader flipping the pages and rapidly reading.  This is my first Sean Duffy mystery, and I am looking forward to read the other novels in which he is the sleuth solving crimes in tumultuous Ireland!  Very nicely done, Adrian McKinty and recommended reading for all who love a good mystery!

Deadly Alliance by Kathleen Rowland

Deadly Alliance. Kathleen Rowland. Tirgearr Publishing/Smashwords. February 2016. 180 pp. ISBN# 9781310588310.  

Amy Kintyre has a chance to design her own clothes, has interviewed with someone to carry her label but needs time to finish her full presentation.  So she’s planning on quitting her taxi cab job and applies as a bookkeeper for Finbar Donahue, ex-Army Ranger.  Amy’s not in the hunt for a date these days as she’s got enough on her plate; but when she meets with Finn, all bets are off and it’s instant hot zone trying to tone down.  It won’t be long until both are doing the same and more.

Finn’s got a huge problem, however.  His partner has been killed but it seems his partner or someone else was siphoning funds out of the business.  It’s not so easy to track which makes it all smell like some very shady money laundering. So Finn’s asked for some police help and the case becomes a larger nightmare when it appears that the local Irish Mafia is tangled up with some ISIS fundraisers assisted by some ragtag Mexican hoods.  When Finn’s account is frozen, all hell breaks out!

Deadly Alliance is a crime thriller and serious hot and heavy romance novel.  Rowland’s plot is complex enough to keep the reader engaged with wondering how it will all end. At the same time, the sparks are flying between Finn and Amy and Finn’s former skittishness around women appears to be undergoing a very gradual transformation.  Amy, a woman who knows her own mind and has no need for a dependent relationship, is a feisty character who may ramp up Finn’s testosterone but knows how to cool his fiery temper and Army Ranger force that doesn’t want to wait for someone else to handle what he clearly sees is family betrayal.

Very good read and highly recommended for romance and thriller fans!