Archives for February 2018

The Flight Attendant

Filed Under: Books Read

The Flight Attendant

The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
Published by Doubleday Books on March 13th 2018
Pages: 368
Format: arc_ebook
Genres: Fiction, Suspense
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She's a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, already counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police--she's a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home--Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it's too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did?

I was a little hesitant to request this arc from Netgalley cause I thought the premise of the book was strange. I like Chris Bohjalian’s books so I figured what’s the harm, I am so glad that I had the opportunity to read this book.

Cassie Bowden is not a particularly likable character, her life centers around drinking too much and getting laid. While she is able to hold on to her job, at just past 40, her life is slipping away from her. On a flight from New York to Dubai, she meets a younger businessman, whom she ends up spending the night with. The following morning Cassie wakes up in bed with a dead man. Cassie’s life is forever changed.

Upon her return to New York, Cassie lies to the FBI about her interlude with the young businessman. Cassie has come to a point in her life where she needs to decide which way to go, she finally admits that she was with the businessman the night he was murdered. As Cassie attempts to tone down her life she meets an actor whom she is drawn too. She also realizes that someone is following her and that her life may be in danger.

I enjoyed this book, the suspense that builds throughout the book is great, you just want to keep on reading. Chris Bohjalian is a master storyteller.

The Shadow District

Filed Under: Books Read

The Shadow District

The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indriðason
Published by Harvill Secker on May 18th 2017
Series: Reykjavik Wartime Mystery #1
Pages: 360
Format: hardback
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

A 90-year-old man is found dead in his bed, smothered with his own pillow.

On his desk the police find newspaper cuttings about a murder case dating from the Second World War, when a young woman was found strangled behind Reykjavík’s National Theatre.

Konrád, a former detective, is bored with retirement and remembers the crime. He grew up in ‘the shadow district’, a rough neighbourhood bordered by the National Theatre and an abattoir. Why would someone be interested in that crime now? He starts his own unofficial enquiry.

Alternating between Konrád’s investigation and the original police inquiry, we discover that two girls had been attacked in oddly similar circumstances. Did the police arrest the wrong man? How are these cases linked across the decades? And who is the old man?

A deeply compassionate story of old crimes and their consequences, The Man from Manitoba is the first in a thrilling new series of novels by the worldwide bestseller Arnaldur Indridason.

The Shadow District is the first book in a new series Reykjavik Wartime Mysteries by Arnaldur Indriðason.
Moving from past to present, the book explores the death of a 90-year-old man whom during World War II investigated the murder of a young woman. To add another layer to the story, Konrad, a retired policeman is looking into the death as he believes it was a murder, not just an old man who died peacefully in his sleep.
Indriðason weaves a compelling story of wartime Reykjavik, just on the verge of independence from Danish rule, dealing with the onset of American soldiers fraternizing with Icelanders.
While I noticed that in places the translation was “rough” I don’t believe that it detracted from the book.
I am very interested to see the direction Indriðason will take this new series.

White Houses

Filed Under: Books Read

White Houses

White Houses by Amy Bloom
Published by Random House on February 13th 2018
Pages: 240
Format: ebook
Genres: Fiction, Historical
See it @ Goodreads


Synopsis

The unexpected and forbidden affair between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok unfolds in a triumph of historical fiction from the New York Times bestselling author of Away and Lucky Us.

"I never envied a wife or a husband, until I met Eleanor. Then, I would have traded everything I ever had, every limo ride, every skinny dip, every byline and carefree stroll, for what Franklin had, polio and all."

Lorena Hickok meets Eleanor Roosevelt in 1932 while reporting on Franklin Roosevelt's first presidential campaign. Having grown up worse than poor in South Dakota and reinvented herself as the most prominent woman reporter in America, "Hick," as she's known to her friends and admirers, is not quite instantly charmed by the idealistic, patrician Eleanor. But then, as her connection with the future first lady deepens into intimacy, what begins as a powerful passion matures into a lasting love, and a life that Hick never expected to have. She moves into the White House, where her status as "first friend" is an open secret, as are FDR's own lovers. After she takes a job in the Roosevelt administration, promoting and protecting both Roosevelts, she comes to know Franklin not only as a great president but as a complicated rival and an irresistible friend, capable of changing lives even after his death. Through it all, even as Hick's bond with Eleanor is tested by forces both extraordinary and common, and as she grows as a woman and a writer, she never loses sight of the love of her life.

From Washington, D.C. to Hyde Park, from a little white house on Long Island to an apartment on Manhattan's Washington Square, Amy Bloom's new novel moves elegantly through fascinating places and times, written in compelling prose and with emotional depth, wit, and acuity.

"Amy Bloom knows the urgency of love," wrote The Washington Post about Bloom's acclaimed bestseller Away. The same could be said of White Houses, an unforgettable novel about the power of passion and the endurance of love.

Advance praise for White Houses

"Amy Bloom illuminates one of the most intriguing relationships in history. Lorena Hickok is a woman who found love with another lost soul, Eleanor Roosevelt. And love is what this book is all about: It suffuses every page, so that by the time you reach the end, you are simply stunned by the beauty of the world these two carved out for themselves."--Melanie Benjamin, author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue

"It seems a minor miracle, what Amy Bloom has done in White Houses. In Lorena Hickok's unforgettable voice, she brings an untold slice of history so dazzlingly and devastatingly to life, it took my breath away. Easily, the most intimate, crackling, and expansive rendering of Eleanor Roosevelt in print, and, more than this, a dizzyingly beautiful tale of what it means to be human, and what it is to love."--Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife

White Houses Is the story of the romance between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok. Both women in their own way had very sad lives. Eleanor because she lived in the shadow of FDR and Hickok because of her brutal early life.

While the romance was scandalous it was by no means extraordinary. Bloom characterizations of Eleanor and Lorena are lovely, they were devoted to each other.

Amy Bloom is a wonderful writer, she has written a thought-provoking book about two lost souls that find a bit of happiness with another.