Lawrence Sanders - The Sixth Commandment

7. The Sixth Commandment by Lawrence Sanders (1978)
The Commandment Series Book 1
Length: 312 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 22 January 2015
Finished: 24 January 2015
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 14 August 2001
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

The Bingham Foundation is a corporation that assesses the grant applications of scientific researchers. Samuel Todd is the corporation's field investigator, tasked with finding out all he can about Gordon Telford Thorndecker, Nobel Prize-winning doctor and resident darling of Coburn, New York. The good doctor Thorndecker is the head of a combined research facility and rest home for the elderly, affluent, and infirm in Coburn, and has recently applied for a million-dollar research grant.

Dr. Thorndecker has impeccable scientific credentials; his project - to investigate the "cellular clock" that controls the normal life span of human beings - seems entirely credible and worthy of support; and despite the rumors and occasional rabid gossip-monger - the whole town of Coburn is rooting for its most famous resident. 

Samuel Todd's mission is basically to get background information about the eminent Dr. Thorndecker. Deep background information: Samuel has to "assess the intangibles, things known only to the applicant's priest, psychiatrist and/or mistress. As a suspicious romantic, Samuel is too young to have seen it all, but too old to expect the best of this world. 

But is it possible that his suspicions are getting the better of him? It's perhaps in the way the residents of Coburn stare past his shoulder while praising Dr. Thorndecker to the skies; or what he learns about the doctor's seductive young wife, Julie, and her not-so-secretive activities; or perhaps when he discovers that a patient at the rest home was buried rather suddenly in the dead of night, deceased, according to the death certificate, of simple heart failure. Whatever the cause, Samuel Todd is already mightily suspicious of this case, and his feelings only grow worse after he arrives at his hotel on a stormy night, and discovers a typed two-lined message waiting for him at the desk. The note is short, cryptic, and straight to the point: "Thorndecker Kills."

I really enjoyed this book and must say that I found it to be very indicative of Lawrence Sanders' work - incredibly suspenseful and quite dramatic. Mr. Sanders is perhaps one of my many favorite authors, and I have read quite a few of his books, although the first book from the Commandment Series that I've read. I would certainly give The Sixth Commandment by Lawrence Sanders a very strong A!

A! - (90-95%)
    
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Margot Livesey - The Missing World: A Novel

6. The Missing World: A Novel by Margot Livesey (1999) 
Length: 326 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 17 January 2015
Finished: 21 January 2015
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 8 December 2014
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

What if - by a seeming stroke of fortune - you could start again, could start afresh and wipe away that one catastrophic blunder in your past. Just how far would you go to establish that you had, in fact, done nothing wrong at all? After an accident causes Hazel to have amnesia, and she loses three years' worth of her memory, just such an opportunity is presented to her ex-boyfriend Jonathan. He is absolutely undone by his betrayal of this woman, whom he professes to love above all, and he is determined to do everything within his power to make it up to her; to earn her forgiveness.

While Jonathan begins to rewrite his and Hazel's history together, two other misfits - an American sojourner and an unlucky English actress - travel around London, each of them haunted by indelible memories which they would much rather forget. Eventually their hopes for redemption draw them toward Jonathan and Hazel, who has become a virtual prisoner of Jonathan's most cherished whims and desires. The story that follows is a brilliantly inverted love story: a story which chronicles one man's desperate attempts to realize and rationalize a lie, and a woman's harrowing attempts to recognize the truth.

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Margot Livesey is, in my opinion, a terrific writer, and she captures the essence of characters beautifully. As a matter of fact, the character of Charlotte is so like my sister-in-law, they could have been twins. I give The Missing World: A Novel by Margot Livesey a definite A!

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Dennis Lehane - Moonlight Mile

5. Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane (2010)
The Kenzie and Gennaro Series Book 6
Length: 324 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 15 January 2015
Finished: 16 January 2015
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 22 August 2013
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and have read and enjoyed Mystic River by the same author in the past.

Twelve years ago, private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro were brought in to investigate the disappearance of four-year-old Amanda McCready. The toddler had suddenly vanished from her Boston neighborhood late one night, and her family feared the worst. Desperate pleas for help from the child's aunt had led them to take on the case - one of the toughest of their careers - and despite risking everything, the pair finally found the little girl. Against their better judgement, the investigators had to return little Amanda to the custody of her neglectful mother and a broken home.

Now Amanda is sixteen - and gone again. A stellar student, brilliant but aloof, she had seemed destined to escape her troubled upbringing. Yet Amanda's aunt is once again knocking at Patrick Kenzie's door, once more fearing the worst for the little girl who has blossomed into a striking, clever young woman - a woman who apparently hasn't been seen in weeks.

Haunted by their memories of the past - and determined to do something to settle their consciences - Patrick and Angela revisit the case that has troubled them the most and which, even after all this time, has stayed with them. Their exhaustive investigation leads them into the darkest depths of the criminal underworld - a world of identity thieves, methamphetamine dealers, a mentally unstable crime boss and his equally demented wife, a priceless, thousand-year-old cross, and a happily homicidal Russian gangster. This is a world where motives and allegiances constantly shift and where the slightest mistake can prove, or most likely will prove, fatal.

In their desperate fight to confront the past and find Amanda McCready, Patrick and Angela will be forced to question if it's possible to do the wrong thing and still be right or to do the right thing and still be wrong. As they face an evil that reaches beyond broken families and broken dreams, they discover that the sins of yesterday don't always stay buried and the crimes of today are the ones that could end their lives.

Mareena had chosen this book for me at our August Library Book Sale jaunt because she knew how much I had enjoyed reading Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. In my opinion, this particular book just wasn't for me. While I certainly found it to be well-written, fast-paced and jam-packed with drama and action, I must say that the Russian Mob is really too much for me. I'm sure that there are some readers who enjoy reading that type of story; however, I am definitely not one of them. I would give this book a B+!

B+! - (89-94%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Rosa Guy - The Friends

4. The Friends by Rosa Guy (1973)
The Cathy Family Trilogy Book 1
Length: 185 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 13 January 2015
Finished: 14 January 2015
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 25 July 2001
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and Rosa Guy is a new author for me.

For fourteen-year-old Phyllisia Cathy, the problems that she has as well as her lifestyle have become increasingly overwhelming. Having recently arrived from an island in the sunlit West Indies - along with her mother, father and sixteen-year-old sister, Ruby - Phyllisia finds it a very difficult adjustment to live in New York. After growing up in such an idyllic paradise, she finds New York cold, cruel and filthy; nothing at all like her previous home. She is insulted daily and is constantly beaten up by her classmates. What Phyllisia desperately needs, as it seems divine intervention is currently unavailable, is a friend. 

When she first started out searching for a friend, Phyllisia would never have put fifteen-year-old Edith Jackson's name anywhere near her list of potential candidates. Edith's clothes are unpressed, her stockings worn and baggy with big holes. She is nothing but a ragamuffin in Phyllisia's mind. Edith's knowledge of school studies is essentially zero; she barely goes to class. She has no parents, she swears and she steals. But she is the only one kind enough to offer her friendship and protection to Phyllisia when she needs it most.

I must say that I found this to be a very intriguing book. In my opinion, it was a deeply thought-provoking and engaging story with a moral; told from a very different perspective. This is a story that I wasn't expecting to be as poignant as it was and I give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Jodi Picoult - Lone Wolf

3. Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult (2012)
Length: 429 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 6 January 2015
Finished: 13 January 2015
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 5 January 2015
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

For the Warrens, secrets have divided their family for so long, that it seems like they will never be able to come back together by their own choice. Then, on an icy winter night, a terrible accident forces them all to come together and make a fateful decision. It's a decision that will ultimately shake all of their lives to the foundations.

Seventeen-year-old Cara has always been her father, Luke's, little princess, protected by him, and confidently shielded by his love. What nobody realizes, however, is that Cara is tormented by a secret that she can't reveal - to anyone. Her older brother, Edward, has secrets of his own...ones that have kept him estranged from his family for the past six years. He has managed to keep them hidden rather well, but now they may come to light, and if they do, Cara will be devastated.

Their mother, Georgie, always felt like she was never able to compete with her ex-husband's life-long obsessions: wild wolves and their pack structure. This was a subject which Luke became completely immersed in; forsaking his own family in order to spend two years alone in the Canadian wilderness, following several wolf packs during that time - and subsequently running a wilderness sanctuary for wolves. And now, Luke's fate hangs in the balance and is held in the hands of her children; as the ex-wife, it seems as if Georgie has no further say in his personal matters.

With conflicting motivations and emotions, what will this family ultimately decide? And will they be able to live with that decision, after the truth has been revealed? What happens when the hope that should sustain a family in crisis, is the very thing tearing it apart?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. In my opinion, it was very well-written, and while I found the discussion of the hierarchies within wolf packs to be incredibly detailed; I appreciated how accurately such discussions described the dynamics within the Warren family. I give Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult an A+! I think Ms. Picoult does a tremendous job of getting the reader to care about these characters and about the difficult situation in which they find themselves.

A+! (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg - The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer

2.The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer by Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg (1987) 
Length: 301 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 3 January 2015
Finished: 6 January 2015
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap 
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 3 January 2015
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg are relatively new authors for me.

Charles William Yukl was the eldest of two sons born to Czech parents - pianist and conductor Dorothea Freitag Yukl, and trumpeter Charles W. Yukl. Charles Yukl claimed that his parents were often abusive to him as a child, attributing severe beatings and other random cruelty to his "perfectionist, demanding" parents. As a young child, Charles was fascinated by fire and was accused of setting several fires by the age of nine.

He held a variety of jobs as an adult, and was soon urged by his mother to become a professional ragtime pianist. He was rather successful and played in Manhattan, Union City, New Jersey and in the Catskills, often using the stage name Yogi Freitag. He married a German photography student named Enken in 1961 and subsequently became a voice and piano teacher.

The real Charles Yukl was nothing at all like the facade he portrayed to the world. Behind the well-mannered musical prodigy with the choirboy looks dwelt a twisted psychotic misogynist. A reclusive, eccentric man whose dreams of perverse sexual fulfillment lived - and died - only in his fertile imagination. 

Then on Monday, October 24, 1966, Charles Yukl brought his perverted fantasies to vivid life when he brutally murdered twenty-five year old Suzanne Reynolds. Suzanne was an aspiring actress who had been taking voice lessons for three months from the thirty-one year old ragtime pianist, and she had absolutely no idea of his true nature. Then, eight years later - on Tuesday, August 20, 1974 - due to a shocking series of legal errors that granted him the freedom to kill again, he lured a twenty-three year old aspiring model named Karin Schlegel to a Greenwich Village rooftop and savagely strangled her to death.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I had never heard of Charles Yukl or of the murders he committed. I found this story incredibly sad, and the fact that due to a bureaucratic oversight, he was allowed to kill again really made me angry. I will say that I found this book to be rather slow in places, and I really would have appreciated a deeper investigation of the wife's personality; other than mentioning that she was disturbing, very little else was explained about her, or their strange relationship. I would give The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer by Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg a B+!

B+! - (89-94%)
  
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Laura Moriarty - The Center of Everything

1. The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty (2003)
Length: 339 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 1 January 2015
Finished: 3 January 2015
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch 
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 29 December 2014
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and have read and enjoyed The Rest of Her Life: A Novel by the same author in the past.

In The Center of Everything, Laura Moriarty's stunning debut novel, a young girl tries to make sense of the unruly world around her. Ten-year-old Evelyn Brucknow has never really had much of a childhood, having been forced to pretty much take care of herself for most of her life. She lives with her single mother, Tina, in a small apartment in Kansas and just can't help dreaming of more for herself.

Though she is warm and loving, and values her daughter more than anything else in the world, Tina is nevertheless young, immature, and prone to making rash financial decisions. This personality type often leaves Evelyn feeling as if she is the rational adult in their troubled relationship. Growing up with a chronically out of work mother, whose most recent romance with her married boss has failed and left her jobless and desperate, Evelyn feels more and more anxious about their increasingly precarious financial situation. She resolves to distance herself from her mother's irresponsibility as much as she can.

However, Evelyn just can not escape the claustrophobic feeling of being stuck where she is - somewhere in the middle of Kansas - between her best friends, and in the midst of her mother's love...right in the center of everything. The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty is an extraordinary and affecting portrayal of a troubled mother/daughter relationship, as well as an eye-opening look at life in a small midwestern town. All this is experienced and seen through the eyes of a teenage girl; who also must come to terms with the heartbreaking lesson of first love - that not all loves are meant to be - and determine who she is and who she wants to be.

I absolutely loved this book and found myself completely immersed in the story right away. This book held my attention from beginning to end, and was one of those books that I never wanted to end. Although the plot wasn't all that action-packed - it was basically about living life in a small town, and the various trials and tribulations faced by the struggling residents - it still moved along at a leisurely pace and was a thoroughly enjoyable read for me. I give this book a definite A+! 

I think that Ms. Moriarty is a terrific writer and I am eagerly awaiting her next book - what ever it might be.

A+! - (96-100%)
  
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight