nice all read

Fiction Not one of those psychopaths DOMINIC By Mark Pryor 239 pp. Seventh Street Books Reviewed by Eric Petersen Mystery writer Mark Pryor, best known for his acclaimed and popular Hugo Marston   mystery series, is back with a flawed yet worthy sequel to his equally acclaimed 2015 standalone novel, Hollow Man , (also reviewed on this site) which introduced readers to the most charismatic literary antihero since Tom Ripley. Like the author who created him, Dominic is an Englishman living in Austin, Texas, where he works as a prosecutor by day and spends his nights playing guitar and singing at bars and clubs. Like most Texans, he wears jeans and cowboy boots and carries a pistol wherever he goes. One of the D.A.’s top prosecutors, Dominic has been reassigned from adult to juvenile prosecution – not as a punishment, but because the city is too cheap to hire more prosecutors. Working juvenile means having to accept a steep cut in pay. It also means going from prosecuting murderers a...

Marnie Salt has made so many mistakes in her life that she fears she will never get on the right track. But when she ‘meets’ an old lady on a baking chatroom and begins confiding in her, little does she know how her life will change. Arranging to see each other for lunch, Marnie finds discovers that Lilian is every bit as mad and delightful as she’d hoped – and that she owns a whole village in the Yorkshire Dales, which has been passed down through generations. And when Marnie needs a refuge after a crisis, she ups sticks and heads for Wychwell – a temporary measure, so she thinks. But soon Marnie finds that Wychwell has claimed her as its own and she is duty bound not to leave. Even if what she has to do makes her as unpopular as a force 12 gale in a confetti factory! But everyone has imperfections, as Marnie comes to realise, and that is not such a bad thing – after all, your flaws are perfect for the heart that is meant to love yo...

Fiction Ancient memoirs, ancient mysteries THE FORTUNE TELLER By Gwendolyn Womack 368 pp. Picador Reviewed by Madison Bush If you still get upset thinking about the Library of Alexandria, then read this book.   With the Fortune Teller , Gwendolyn Womack delivers a fast-paced, action-packed story following an ancient manuscript from mystical roots in Egypt to a modern-day estate sale. This will be a big hit with her fans.   Much like her previous work ( The Memory Painter ) this novel effortlessly blends history, romance, and high-stakes adventure.   The style and pacing are similar, but The Fortune Teller breathes new life into the historical fiction adventure novel. The story opens with the death of Marcel Bossard, a prestigious collector who dedicated his life to building an incomparable collection. The protagonist, Semele Cavnow, is the star manuscript appraiser for a well-renowned auction house based in New York. She comes by her talent naturally, having grown ...

Nonfiction Not a failure of the will UNBROKEN BRAIN: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction By Maia Szalavitz 336 pp. Da Capo Reviewed by David E. Hoekenga, M. D. This book indeed shows a new way to look at drug addiction. The author herself survived a long addiction to several dangerous drugs, and she claims that a learning disorder causes addiction – not a genetic abnormality, weakness of character, or a lack of will power. “I was sitting on the edge of Jerry Garcia’s bed in a nondescript and surprisingly unluxurious hotel room in New Haven,” she writes, “when he offered me a line of cocaine. I was 17; it was 1982. ‘Cocaine has some very some very weird karma behind it,’ Garcia told me in his fatherly nasal speaking voice. On coke I felt a smug sense of superiority, of being in on something, of being powerful and utterly desirable.” She also marshals an immense number of facts about “substance abuse.” For example, at least half of addicts have other serious mental disorde...

Welcome to Littlewood, a small town community with a big heart.  Abbie's  ex-boyfriend and colleague, Jack, has arrived back on the scene... Will she be lured back to London or has her heart taken root at Huntley Manor?  Louise  has promised to be kinder to herself, but after suffering one heartbreak too many, she isn't keen to try her luck again.... Can the handsome local vet convince her otherwise? Eszter , who is over from Hungary with her daughter for the summer, has been met with nothing but kindness since she arrived in Littlewood, and now she and her daughter Zoe are all set to return the favour as Eszter's mother-in-law Anne finds herself with nowhere to stay... Eszter is determined to help Anne get back involved in the community after being alone for so long, but do they belong in Littlewood or will the three of them remain outsiders?  As soon as I finished reading Part 1 of Random Acts of Kindness by Victoria Walters I instant...