Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Book club discusses "The Seventh Sense"

This month the book club used an older title (1999) for the book discussion--T.J. MacGregor's The Seventh Sense. This is a stand-alone fiction title by MacGregor, who has written under other versions of her name, the "Tango Key" series and astrology books. And here's a pix of Trish MacGregor from her website.

The setup for the Seventh Sense is a sudden and lethal case of road rage resulting in the death of a driver and shake up of the passenger, his pregnant wife. The enraged driver, attorney Frank Benedict, panics and drives away from the scene later consoling himself with the notion that bad things happen to people (that is, that's the G-rated version of his thinking). That pregnant passenger is FBI agent Charlotte "Charlie"Calloway, who has a tragic miscarriage and quietly vows revenge against the driver.

Meanwhile, Frank enlists the aid of his wife, Anita, to get rid of the damaged
vehicle and to cover up any signs of criminal activity. The results strain the relationship and the mistrust takes its toll.

And Charlie gets assistance from a co-worker who enlists the help of an old
friend, former agent Doug Logan, to figure the case out. Logan, it turns out, possess unique psychic powers which include visions from touching another person.

Our book club discussion including the topics:
  • the actions of Frank Benedict and his redeeming qualities
  • a lawyer as a good criminal
  • Anita Benedict's response to Frank's actions and her family background
  • the possible relationship between Doug and Charlie (and her possible growing supernatural power)
  • a surprise ending with a violent confrontation
  • favorite characters from the novel (including a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease)
  • good pacing and writing of the book by the author (I disagreed on the pacing
    and thought the book rushed the ending but no one else said so)
  • good tale of revenge for greatly wronged heroine Charlie (of course, Charlie is wronged but naked blood lust for Frank left me oddly cool too)
  • the seventh sense itself.

    No had read MacGregor but a few looked up and started to read other books written by her.
  • Monday, December 22, 2008

    Book series comes to HBO in 2009--

    I have HBO at home and aside from a few destinated shows, I don't watch it too much. And yet, I had it on between shows recently and got sucked into watched a long commercial segment with the networks' upcoming shows when I was surprised to see one new show. For just a split-second, the TV screen shows that Alexander McCall Smith's "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series is coming soon.

    I'm impressed that Botswana's fictional folksy detective, Precious Ramotswe, is bound for the screen although it is not brand new entertainment news (thanks, Variety). Oh well, good news is good news.

    Wednesday, December 17, 2008

    A Good Read in Advance of the Inauguration--

    After the presidential election, you'd expect a lull in the all things political scene but recent news stories dictate otherwise. And I think you regular news readers (or radio listeners for NPR) would agree with me.

    In that vein with an inauguration of a new president coming soon, I noticed this new paperback mystery which should have genuine appeal with all the fanfare of the upcoming presidential inauguration. The paperback is the second of the series featuring the most unlikeliest of heroines--a White House chef. Julie Hyzy writes about ambitious chef Ollie Paras with her new adventures in Hail to the Chef (a White House Chef Mystery). In this book, Ollie is quite busy when two strange deaths occur close to her and she feels drawn to follow her suspicions about them. The first death is of a careful electrician who is electrocuted to death and the second is of the First Lady's nephew who just hours before had worked with Ollie preparing food.

    Hail to the Chef, also professes to include "recipes for a complete presidential meal" on the book cover.

    Hyzy does show strong creative promise with this series. The first book is State of the Onion which my library system does not have.

    Tuesday, December 16, 2008

    The Recession and book publishing

    Bad news just doesn't escape most of us and the book world is not immune I heard a recent radio news story about a major book publisher cutting back its work force and looking today, I found related stories on the Web. In particular, an AP news story says book publisher Macmillian (which includes [popular mystery] writer Janet Evanovich according to the article) is reducing its work force.

    And yet, the book budget is unfazed as Macmillian CEO John Sargent says there will not be a change in the budget for acquiring books. So, that's good news. Still, you have to expect this would economy impact the book industry in negative ways. You just have to hope the good stories keep finding their way into print.

    Tuesday, December 09, 2008

    Book Club discusses "Still Life"

    In November, the book club read and discussed the first Louise Penny book of the "Three Pines" mysteries Still Life. A few in the group had already read this book and moved through the three books of the series while the fourth book, A Rule Against Murder (an Armand Gamache Novel) arrives on bookshelves in January according to Amazon.

    Here's a photo of Ms. Penny from her website. I also marveled at her busy schedule for her book tour including America (she lives in Canada). At the same day and time our book club met, she had a book signing scheduled for the Royal St. George's College in Toronto.

    One book attendee said the series can read like a 900-page novel with the first three books running together. It certainly appears to make good sense as the same characters (mostly) appear in book after book. The series features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache from Quebec with a team of investigators called to handle homicide cases in the Three Pines village. In this story, Armand visits Three Pines for the first time to investigate the death of an old resident shot and killed by a hunting bow and arrow.

    Some of the discussion focused on the following:
  • one character named "Ruth" who's a notable resident--a poet--and very blunt and harsh
  • the even temperament of Chief Inspector Gamache with his squad and the public in a noisy investigation
  • an expected climax when the police confront the murderer
  • how the relationship between one central couple in the story changes and sours
  • how Gamache works with a difficult young investigator on his squad (another very blunt-speaking character)
  • the appeal of the Three Pines village to the reader, the sense of community and humor.

    The book was well-received and the group (all who attended began and finished the book) and some expressed interest in going through the series. I added additional information about the writer's background (working with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and the multiple awards that Still Life received (including the New Blood Dagger for best first Mystery by the Crime Writers Association in Great Britain and the Arthur Ellis for best first Mystery by the Crime Writers of Canada).
  • Saturday, December 06, 2008

    Those cutesy book titles--

    When moving the library's paperback mystery books collection recently, I noticed a book with a title that made me smile and shake my head. That book, Deader Than Disco by David Hiltbrand, was sitting at the end of the shelf and I had to smile while I caught myself (disco is fine with me--except the silly stuff). Oh well, if you can't catch the potential reader by the cover--at least go for the title, huh?

    Looking over those paperbacks (and some others), I noticed a few other titles like Chili Con Corpses by J. B. Stanley, Monkey See, Monkey Die by Cynthia Baxter and Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned by Kinky Friedman. You have to know that a good murder mystery can use good humor to keep the reader going.

    In fact, during some book club discussions I ask "why does the book have its title?" Some titles are self-evident while many are a mystery saved til the last chapters of the book (or the results of the book publisher and marketing one attendee said once).

    In any case, you have to sell your goods to succeed.