The Conqueror's Wife: A Novel of Alexander the Great by Stephanie Thornton

The Conqueror’s Wife: A Novel of Alexander the Great.  Stephanie Thornton. Penguin Group (USA). December 2015. 512 pp.  ISBN#: 97800451472007.

What do we truly know about the man, Alexander the Great, who is known as the Macedonian soldier in Greece in the year 330 B.C who evolved into the hero who would “conquer the world?”  Although readers will discover different answers to this question, including the reality of his immense ego, his sexual proclivities, his tendency to over-the-top cruelty within this novel, the vivid depiction of his life is presented by the diverse woman he encountered. This is the unique, powerful and poignant essence of this remarkable novel!

Meet Thessalonike, Alexander’s sister, who wants to travel on campaign.  Her fascination with warfare is evident in the way she obsesses about becoming equal to any of Alexander’s soldiers.  Her Amazon-like sister, Cynnane, finally agrees to train her and succeeds as will be proven in later scenes.  Then there is Drypetis, the daughter of King Darius, who would love to be an engineer rather than someone’s wife.  There’s something noble and dignified in her bearing that demands respect and leads others to bypass her outrageously offensive quips to everyone she meets.  That may soften one iota, however, when she learns to love someone very close to Alexander.  Move on to Roxana, the daughter of a nobleman who beats her at every opportunity. She is determined to marry and possess Alexander.  Her goal eventually becomes maliciously misdirected in scenes that the reader could never have imagined, with dire consequences for everyone in this novel.

Alexander’s general, best friend since childhood, and lover, Hephaestion, is a captivating character who seems the only person who can elicit Alexander’s better self, even sometimes calming him before he can do something that Alexander’s soldiers will not forgive and forget.  He also falls in love with Drypetis but is constantly frustrated that she fails to realize his care and instead regales him with verbal abuse and questions.

Multiple scenes of battles in which Alexander’s genius wins the day are juxtaposed with other stories about tenderness, abominable cruelty, depravity, betrayal, and noble efforts at rebuilding conquered cities abound.  Some minor characters collaborate to effect major changes in both people and places.

This reviewer has the highest respect for Stephanie Thornton, who has graced us with novels about Theodora of Byzantium, the woman in the world of Genghis Khan and his family, and now the woman in Alexander the Great’s world.  The Conqueror’s Wife… is superb historical fiction written by a highly skilled historian/writer who knows her subjects well and excels at presenting intricate and intimate details, personalities, passions and conflicts.  Highly, highly recommended historical fiction meriting numerous accolades!

The Guise of Another by Allen Eskens

The Guise of Another.  Allen Eskens. Prometheus Books. October 2015. 269 pp.  ISBN#: 9781633880764.

Nothing is more embarrassing than being an excellent detective respected by your peers in Minnesota and now shunned.  Alexander Rupert hears kind words from his former peers but the conversation is always laced with the shadow of his awaiting a corruption hearing.  Now he’s working in the Fraud Division and at least he now has a case to sink his teeth into, one to distract him from the tension regarding the charges against him and wondering what his future holds – or doesn’t hold.

Even worse is the fact that his wife treats him like a stranger now, cold and avoiding him on a daily basis.  Is she fooling around with another man?  Rupert fears the worst which makes him even more forlorn. What ever happened to unconditional love and support? At first he spends his days replaying the past, both about the job and his wife. But now he’s got a chance to prove himself and he proceeds, as he always does, with everything he has in his powers and skills.

This then is the story of searching for who stole the identity of James Proctor and then wound up dead.  To say more would be to spoil one tension-riddled story that involves a hit man who seems to have killing in his genetic makeup.  It will be Rupert’s brother who is truly there for the search and then the grand finale of this mystery!

Criminal fiction is often predictable and stereotypical – not so here.  Allen Eskens knows exactly when to lay on the mystery and when to insert scenes of careful thought and planning.  Well done, Allen Eskens – great read for those who love mysteries, adventure and crime stories with a punch!

Dorothy Parker Drank Here: A Novel by Ellen Meister

Dorothy Parker Drank Here: A Novel.  Ellen Meister. Penguin Group (USA). February 2015. 336 pp.  ISBN#: 9780399166877.

One finds a very special book in the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan in 2007.  The signatures of famous writers and artists are listed and those who sign it get to stick around their earthly life, in Spirit that is, as long as they wish until they yield to the “white light” awaiting their final entry and promising peace and love with those who have gone before them.  It’s hard to resist that light for most of those entered on that list, but Dorothy Parker has no problem with that.  She’s fiercely focused to stick around forever.  When the book is closed, no one can see her; when the book is open, she can be seen and even felt by the observer. Her signature in the book guarantees her permanent residence at the famous hotel and free drinks in the bargain.  Now, she’s on a mission!

Norah Wolfe is an assistant producer for a declining, actually failing, TV show, thinks if she can get an interview with Ted Shriver, a 1970s famous author who is now a recluse, the TV show will be saved.  Ted Shriver, however, is dying of a brain tumor and still punishing himself for his behavior that led his ex-wife to insert plagiarized paragraphs into Shriver’s last published novel, which all but destroyed his literary fame.  He knows Audrey Shriver did the dastardly deed out of pure, unadulterated hate because of his adultery but he refuses to make that information public.

This then is the plot line – to get Ted to expose Audrey in public, on air in Norah’s show.  He’s not buying.  It also turns out he could save himself with some risky brain surgery but he’s not buying that either. 

While the plot is simple, what really makes this novel funny and special are the multiple scenes with fanciful, ironic, and spirited dialogue between Dorothy, Ted, Norah, and later Audrey and her friend.  Dorothy’s sense of humor is droll but comic.  She’s a better investigator than Norah and Dorothy has a keen perception of what to say and do at just the right moment.  The outcome, however, is far from what is expected.  Intriguing indeed!

Dorothy Parker Drank Here: A Novel is a grand read created by a clever, talented writer, Ellen Meister, whose novel is, again, a reader’s delight!  Great read!

The Craigsmuir Affair by Jen Black

The Craigsmuir Affair.  Jen Black. Orchard Hill Books. July 2015. 259 pp.  ASIN#: B00XXOB7FC.

Daisy is an 18 year-old woman who lives in the aristocratic world of Victorian England.  She dreams of entering art school and developing her already adept skills, but this is a dream clearly frowned upon by almost everyone in her society.  It’s one thing to dabble in painting and drawing, quite another for a woman to have a career outside of being a wife, mother, teacher or governess.  Her dream is challenged by the appearance of Adam Grey, a successful mine owner, who has scrabbled his way upward after being desperately poor as a result of the failed family business.  Initially, he seems like a cold, calculating, even brash young man but he is almost immediately smitten by this out-spoken yet sensitive woman, Daisy. 

Into the mix a series of art and money thefts occurs.  The thief is not evident because so many members of the upper class are always visiting each other for days on end.  When Daisy is invited to paint an entire wall at the home of one of these aristocrats, danger explodes.  An accident in a newfangled elevator, a fall, and more are added to the intense stress.  Adam has taken on the job of detective, as he has nothing to do at the moment, to discover the thief and then the attacker of Daisy. 

Adam and Daisy, however, are definitely attracted to each other and yet their meetings socially and privately crackle with misunderstanding and snapping conversations.  Daisy, however, in spite of being cast in a manner far from her real personality, holds firm to her dream for the future and her dignity when insulted by many.  Her strength is challenged further when a powerful man, Maitland, accosts Daisy several times with clear intentions of sexually possessing her while in his disgustingly perpetually alcoholic state.

This reviewer posted a review of Jen Black’s first novel many years ago and is happy to say that the writing style and plot complexity have significantly grown in this latest novel.  Readers will relish the evolving love affair and the mystery radiating through every page of this pleasing Victorian novel.  Very nicely crafted, Jen Black!

Put a Ring On It by Beth Kendrick

Put A Ring On It.  Beth Kendrick. Penguin Group (USA). November 2015. 320 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451474186.

Brighton Smith has just had the shock of her life.  Her fiancé arrives to pick her up and take her to work and demands his ring back.  In seconds, after a fight over zipper merges and some flying comments about his inability to pass the bar exam for a legal career, Brighton is no longer engaged.  She’s so upset she leaves work and takes off to visit a friend, Kira, in a town that has breakups as its central theme.  Crazy?  Sure is but it’s an intensely funny kind of crazy!

Brighton then finds out that her ex-fiance just got married, five minutes after meeting someone else, a woman named Genevieve.  So after having several champagnes and venting to the sexiest-looking guy, Jake Sorenson and she fly off to Nevada to be married in a drive-by wedding chapel.

Is this really Brighton the actuary who has plans for every occurrence in her life, who researches every situation one could possibly imagine? So not only is she married, but she’s also working at a jeweler’s shop which is something her family taught her years ago.  Turns out she’s very talented and knowledgeable about this field and she really cares about it, more so than her former actuary job at which she was also an ace.

The marriage apparently is for a thirty day trial period and here the fun continues – that is until Jake’s first wife shows up and a dog, Rory, becomes part of the challenging scenarios.

Put a Ring on It is hardly credible but it’s a cute read for those who want a hot romance story with a fairy tale ending.  The jewelry design/fix-it addition is interesting, especially the notion of a poison-ring.  Okay, fun story!

A Place We Knew Well: A Novel by Carol McCarthy

A Place We Knew Well: A Novel.  Carol McCarthy. Random House Publishing Group. September 2015.  272 pp.  ISBN#: 9780804176545.

Wes Avery is the owner of a Texaco gas station, happily married to Sarah and father to Charlotte.  Life has been moving along nicely, when Wes and his neighbors notice fighter jets flying overhead in massive groups along one of Florida’s busiest highways.  The military air traffic is much busier than normally occurs and then President John F. Kennedy announces that Cuba has nuclear missiles provided by Russia.  He is demanding their removal.  Avery’s assistant is a Cuban exile who is very upset by the ramped-up crisis situation as his mother is in the precise area where these missiles are located.

Charlotte is a typical teenager obsessed with friends and an upcoming dance for which she has no date.  When she accepts an offer from Avery’s assistant, her mother Sarah is completely undone.  She becomes obsessed with their home-made air raid shelter and is clearly mentally unraveling.

Here is the simple yet complex plot evolving in miniscule stages.  Russian ships approach Cuba with more nuclear arms.  Attempts are being made to negotiate a treaty with Turkey involved, promising equal removal of military arms that could destroy the world in seconds. 

The Avery family has its own secret that will threaten to be as devastating.  Avery’s former military experience knows more than the average Floridian that the increasing military build-up in Florida presages war-status action. 

By the time the chaos comes to the very brink of attack, the Avery family has completely come undone. 

A Place We Knew Well is a realistic account of the Cuban crisis that swept across America and Europe that is perfectly plotted, revealing the doubt, fear, anxiety, and psychic inability to cope that occurred in a very short time.  It was the first time that the existence of nuclear arms went beyond a contest of “Who’s got more toys?” to “This is for real, folks.” 

Nicely crafted fiction about all-too-real turmoil in American history, Carol McCarthy!

The Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe.

The Secret Life of Anna Blanc.  Jennifer Kincheloe. Prometheus Books. November 2015. 375 pp.  ISBN#: 9781633880801.

In 2015 Los Angeles one can be as outrageous as one wants and everyone usually takes it all in stride.  However, in 1907 Los Angeles, a woman was allowed to marry, raise children and help out in local charities.  If that’s your cup of tea, read no further.  But if you’ve got a bit of an imp loving to try new things and be a little crazy, then you’re going to find Anna Blanc lives what you may dream.  In the beginning of her story, we see her eloping with a young man who says between having a lot of money and her spunk, he’ll be a happy man and they’ll be a happy couple.  Right?  Not quite!

After this debacle ends, rich Daddy pretty much imprisons Anna and hires a series of chaperones to monitor Anna’s every move when she leaves home.  But Anna is no wimp and finally makes a deal with one of those chaperones to exchange clothes and jewelry for six days. So what does Anna really want to do that she needs to do in secret?  Actually Anna is not only vain and a shopaholic but also has dreams of making a difference.  She wants to be like a friend who works in social service at a police station in L.A. but very, very few positions like this are open to the likes of Anna Blanc.  Turns out that she’s in the right place at the right time, especially after getting arrested for marching in a suffragette parade and smoking a cigarette in public.

No spoilers here – Anna is going to become involved in investigating the deaths of several young girls who have been coerced into prostitution out of terrible poverty.  At first she’s viewed as a bothersome liberal but little by little as she proceeds with ruthless determination she becomes a highly respected member of the police force.  In between those purposeful activities, however, Anna collects fiancés but must wait for quite a while before she finds the one she can truly love, admire, and respect, someone who has got Anna’s back in a secret but protective role. 

The Secret Life of Anna Blanc seems very, very contrived but this novel is actually a delight coupled with some witty social satire, as well as good sleuth work.  Unusual, crafty and a very pleasant read, Jennifer Kincheloe