The Shining Fragments
by
Robin Blackburn McBride

The Shining Fragments, is an adult general fiction account of the trials and tribulations of the Irish immigrating to Canada in the late 1800’s.    The protagonist Joseph Conlon, a resilient 8 year-old lad, boards a ship in Northern Ireland with his mother and sister but ends up growing up on his own in Toronto, Canada. The Shining Fragments is Robin Blackburn MacBride’s first novel, which she adds to her previously published self-help ebook (Birdlight) and poetry book (In Green).

“Mam died on the third day of the crossing.  After that Joseph stayed in the dark…”

Joseph is left with his sister Coleen on the first line of Chapter 1.  Soon after this he is separated from Coleen and spends his life growing up in an environment that is inhospitable for both his nationality and his religion.  Through the help of his friends and the people he loves he learns to survive and to find his place.  With age he even starts to understand the influences that make him the man he becomes.

McBride does an excellent job of portraying Joseph Conlon.  I have to admit that I don’t like him.  He continually makes himself a victim.  When given opportunities he walks away from them.  He focuses on himself primarily and does not treat those closest to him very well.  He is very much a follower and is extremely lucky that the people around him lead him down the right path.  McBride receives my accolades because she managed to make me really dislike Joseph without overtly making him out to be the bad guy.

There is an overall sadness about the book that I feel doesn’t break even as the book closes.  Again McBride does an excellent job of leading one toward this feeling without dwelling on tearful events that make it obvious why one should feel depressed.

I recommend this book to people who like emotional stories.  Life can be hard for some and they still do alright.  I want to thank NetGalley and Guernica Editions for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Singularity

by
Eldon Farrell

Singularity, a futuristic suspense novel, chronicles the adventures of an unconventional policeman through the decaying streets, of Union City, Virginia.  The protagonist Nathan Miller, a tough cop, claims to be cleaning up the streets of the city, but has a hard time staying clean himself.  Singularity is the first instalment of a series by Eldon Farrell who also wrote the Descent series of suspense novels.

The story starts with mass murder during a church service.  People are gruesomely murdered in the pews without apparently seeing it coming.  Nathan Miller, a decorated policeman, quickly sees it as a cover up for a targeted murder and the chase begins.   In the meantime, Alexis King begins maligning Miller and maintaining on her influential blog site that Miller is a corrupt policeman and a drug trafficker.  Of course, finding out the truth makes the story.

Farrell does a great job of describing the people and the emotions they go through.  However, I missed getting more background.  Why is there a wall in the city?  Why does Miller live on the bad side of the wall while Quinn, his partner lives on the good side?  Who is Quinn and where did he come from?  How did Miller get to be who he is today?  There are many questions that need to be answered in the first book of this series so that we can better follow what comes up next and why. 

 “How we ever allowed Americans to be refugees in our own land. ... Shameful.”
“Call me sweetheart one more time…”
“You are making my skin crawl being this close to your filth.”
“Keep you heads down, shit’s about to get real.”

There are many one-liners like the above that feel like they come from the script of a B-grade movie.  In my opinion most of them are unnecessary and detract from the seriousness of the storyline.

It also struck me as strange that the novel jumped genre from suspense thriller to science fiction near the end.  Readers will have to read it to see what I mean.

I recommend this book to people who like suspense novels because Eldon Farrell writes a good story.  However, because of the inconsistencies noted above, it is not one of the best I have read, so I give it a 3 on 5. 

I want to thank NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

We The Jury

By
Robert Rotstein

We The Jury, a fascinating work of fiction with a real twist, follows the deliberations 8 members of a jury who are expected to rule on a particularly gruesome murder.  The protagonists are jury members from the community with highly varied backgrounds, which ultimately steer their decisions. We the Jury is a departure for Robert Rotstein from his immensely popular Parker Stern series of 3 books.

The fact that David Sullinger has killed his wife Amanda is undisputed.  When the police arrive Mrs. Sullinger is dead, killed by a blow to head with an axe.  Mr. Sullinger claims self-defense and indicates that his wife had been abusing him for years.  Mr. Sullinger has a high-powered lawyer who has never lost a trial.  Meanwhile the public defender Jack Cranston is considered to be a bumbling fool.  The Jury’s choice seems obvious, but is it?  This story centers on the jury and how they reach their conclusions.  All is not what it seems.

Robert Rotstein is a master at character development.  Everything we learn about the people in that room relates to the conclusions they finally reach.  I particularly liked the interactions between the jurors.  Their relationships deteriorate because they are stuck together trying to solve a difficult issue.

The messenger says it best:  “I know I have no friends in this room.  I know you think I’m just a momma’s boy, . . . We don’t have to like each other.  A jury is supposed to be a cross-section of the community and that’s what we are.  Maybe it’s better if we don’t like each other, because maybe that means we’re diverse like we’re supposed to be.  I say let’s do the best we can to cooperate, so we can reach a verdict.”

I am a bit confused by all the time spent on the judge and her health issues.  I am not sure I understand whether or not her issues contribute to the final result.  Regardless, as with the other characters, Rotstein helps us really get to know her.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in human behavior and what drives people.  I give it a 5 on 5.  I want to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

The Smiling Man

By 

Joseph Knox

The Smiling Man, a rather convoluted detective mystery novel, follows Detective Constable Aiden Waits, a seasoned detective through a series of big city crimes including harassment, assault, and even murder.  Waits, an emotionally disturbed individual, with a sordid past, struggles to develop a future in the police department in spite being hated by his superiors and colleagues.  This is Detective Waits second appearance with his first being in Joseph Knox’s debut novel Sirens.

A reported break-in at the closed Palace Hotel turns out to be much more than it first appears.  A body sporting a grotesque smile is found in room 431.  A security guard is found unconscious in the hallway and a shadowy figure exits through the fire escape.  The hotel owners are not cooperative.  The lead lawyer has taken an unexpected holiday for health reasons.  And to make matters worse no one can identify the body.  On top of this Waits is distracted by a sexual harassment case that his superiors want him to forget and by an old enemy reappears but won’t say why.

Aiden Waits is a very complex character.  Knox does a very good job of letting the circumstances surrounding his violent tendencies and drug problems unfold carefully as the story proceeds.  This for me is a highlight of the novel.

Compared to other books in this genre, I find this story very cumbersome.  There are at least three major stories going on at once.  All three can become books on their own.  One has to try to hold on to the multiple characters believing that the stories are linked in the end, but unfortunately this is not the case.  I believe that the multiple storylines and the multitude of characters lead to confusion rather than an intriguing story.   One line of investigation with a handful of suspects is in my opinion plenty.  I lost count of the important characters in this novel.

I do not recommend this book to those who enjoy detective novels, but again want to emphasize that the character of Aiden Waits is interesting.  I give it a 2 on 5.

I want to thank NetGalley and Crown Publishing for providing me with this digital copy in exchange for a fair review.

Us Against You

by

Fredrik Backman

Us Against You, a refreshing piece of contemporary fiction, sees the return of the people of Beartown in their continuing battle to save their town, their hockey and even their lives in this emotionally charged description of life in a small community in rural Sweden.  Maya, an emotionally destroyed teenager, Benji a star player with a secret, and “the Pack” are just of few of the protagonists we have missed since they were first introduced to us in Fredrik Backman’s Beartown.

Beartown is in peril.  The hockey team is bankrupt and the town council has decided to support another team.  The local factory is shutting down and jobs are being lost.  People are divided over whether or not the team should be supported.  An unknown sponsor buys the factory and supports the team, but not without conditions that put many people at odds with each other. 

Backman sums it up best.  “This has been a story about ice rinks and all the hearts that beat in and around them.  About people and sports and how they sometimes take it in turns to carry each other.  About us, dreaming and fighting.  Some have fallen in love and some have been destroyed, we’ve had good days and some very bad days.” 
The story is also so much more than this.  It is emotionally draining and at the same time uplifting.  It gives you faith in people and their resiliency in the face of adversity.

Backman is a master at Character development.  He gives you so much detail about each person that you begin to know them personally and develop a vested interest in how well they do.  Even Vidal, who is a boy bound for prison, is a person you can’t help but love.

 “Have you ever seen a town fall?  Ours did.”

Backman uses foreshadowing often and effectively.  He creates a sense of anticipation that makes the book a real page-turner.  Sometimes the event turns out to be anti-climatic but you still race to get there expecting something else.  For example at one point someone dies of cancer when you have hurried to get to that point in the story thinking there was going to be a murder. 

I highly recommend this book, but suggest that Beartown is a must read before you dive into Us Against You.  I would give the pair of books a 10 out of 5 if possible. Five stars for sure for Us Against You

I want to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with this book in exchange for a fair review.