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Reading Rescue, July 2008:
Relaxing with Beach Books
 By Anne Allen and Mary Anne Fulmer
Last month, the Reading Rescuers (no boring books here)
offered suggestions to help you plan a summer getaway, or books to read
about other people's travels. This month, we're happy to steer you
toward "beach books", either light and happy reads or books so thrilling
you won't even notice your flight has been delayed or the sun has gone
behind the clouds. Pick up a couple of these and enjoy!
In Washington, D.C. private detective Dana Cutler has
been hired by a mystery man to follow college student Charlotte Walsh.
What appears to be a routine job turns dangerous when Dana trails the
young woman to a clandestine meeting with the President of the United
States. After a violent run-in with the Secret Service, Cutler tells her
contact that she is through with the job. But when Walsh is found dead
the next day in a shopping mall parking lot, Dana goes on the run.
Meanwhile, a young attorney in Portland, Oregon has been assigned a pro
bono case by his law firm: to handle the appeal of a convicted serial
killer. In Philip Margolin's Executive Privilege these two
threads are woven into a thrill ride with a seriously scary serial
killer, political high jinks, and a series of murders closely touching
the President. Margolin keeps the action moving at a fast pace and there
are plenty of twists and turns before the final resolution.
We've recommended Hayward Smith's "Red Hat Club" novels
in the past. If you've enjoyed them, give Mary Kay Andrews' Savannah
Blues a try. Recently divorced, Eloise "Weezie" Foley is living in a
carriage house in the historic district of Savannah. Unfortunately for
her, it's in the back yard of the large house where her ex-husband is
living with his fiancée. The two women are far from friendly, and when
Weezie finds Caroline's dead body under incriminating circumstances, the
police haul her in for questioning. Andrews has a nice touch with humor
and uses the Savannah setting to good advantage. Weezie's job as a
picker, scouring garage and estate sales for salable items, is a lot of
fun and her friends and family are endearing. This book is a
light-hearted and enjoyable read that is sure to please.
If you haven't read April Smith's previous Ana Grey
thrillers, go right to the library and check out North of Montana
and Good Morning, Killer. If you have, you are in for a treat
with Smith's latest, Judas Horse. Ana is back on duty with the
FBI after a lengthy medical leave resulting from her previous case. When
a fellow agent's body is discovered in the Oregon woods, Ana volunteers
to go undercover to find out what happened. She goes first to the FBI
undercover training school and is then sent to infiltrate a radical
terrorist cell in the Pacific Northwest. As she penetrates deeper and
deeper, she realizes she may be only a pawn in a much larger game. You
won't be able to put this one down as, just like Ana, you try to figure
out who can and can't be trusted.
Gabriel Allon was one of Israeli intelligence's best
assassins until a car bomb planted by a Palestinian terrorist left his
son dead and his wife damaged both physically and mentally. Allon
himself has retired to a small fishing village in Cornwall to pursue a
career restoring artworks. That quiet life is left behind when his old
boss, desperate to redeem a troubled intelligence service, offers him a
chance for revenge. The action is international in The Kill Artist
by Daniel Silva, as Allon and an old friend work to penetrate terrorist
Tariq's circle and bring him down. This is the first book featuring
Allon, and while the books can be enjoyed in any order we highly
recommend beginning with this one.
While you are picking out books for yourself, don't
forget to get some for the teen in your family. Peaches, by Jodi
Lynn Anderson (in the young adult collection), is the perfect choice for
fans of Sarah Dessen and Ann Brashares. Troublemaker Murphy, fulfilling
a community service obligation, is sent to spend the summer working at
the Darlington peach orchard. Birdie Darlington, daughter of the owner,
is worried about financial problems and a mother who has abandoned her
family. Birdie's cousin, lovely Leeda, has come to spend the summer in
an act of rebellion against a family that ignores her. Anderson weaves
in dreamy scenes from the orchard's past and paints a vivid picture of
the girls as they work and grow together. There is a sleazy land
developer who wants the property, romance, and a strong sense of hot
sticky days in Georgia. (There is also a sequel, The Secrets of
Peaches.)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,
by Sherman Alexie (also a young adult book), tells the story of Junior
Spirit, growing up on the Spokane Reservation in Washington. His parents
are drunks, his older sister refuses to leave their basement, and Junior
himself is the boy everybody bullies. Desperate to escape life on the
reservation, he determines to transfer to the high school in Reardan,
where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Illustrated with
dynamite cartoons by Ellen Forney, this is a book about boys doing what
they do: roughhousing, picking on each other, thinking about girls,
beating each other up, playing sports, and growing up a little bit.
Diary was the surprise winner of the National Book Award, and adults
will enjoy it, too.
Don't forget to ask for an extended loan period if you
are going out of town and need a little extra time. Mark your calendars
for the Friends of the Library mini used book sale. It will be held
Friday, July 25 from noon to 5:00 pm and Saturday, July 26 from 10:00 am
to 5:00 pm. As always, please send suggestions and comments to
mfulmer@pennlib.org or phone
the library at 724-744-4414. Have a great summer!
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