Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag

"A first-rate thriller with an ending that will knock your socks off."

                                             -Booklist

This novel was a real page turner, in fact I could barely put it down. I've read several mysteries by Tami Hoag but not in a few years. I will definitely look for more.

The story begins with 4 kids literally stumbling over a dead body in a park. They are fifth grade students of main character, Anne Navarre, who immediately becomes involved with trying to help her students through the trauma and eventually getting involved in the murder case. I was grabbed immediately by the characters since I taught fifth grade for over 20 years and my name is Anne! Being a big fan of crime shows I was further intriqued by the search for the serial killer. The plot reminded me so much of "Criminal Minds" and with the character Vince Leone, of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit as a profiler, even more so. The story is set in 1985 before the supertechnology that aids in crime solving today. Agent Leone is a somewhat new breed since profiling was in its earliest days. The author tells us this was at a time when the BSU had offices at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA, that were 60 feet belowground---that is 10 times "deeper than the dead."

Add a little romance into all the suspense and you get a really great read! I'd give it a 5.  Enjoy the ride!

Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

"Let me tell you a little something about love.  It's different every time....I believe that you can fall in love many times with many different people. However I don't think that you can fall in love the same way twice. One type of relationship may be steady. Another may be fire and brimstone. Who is to say if one these is better than the other? The deciding factor is how it all fits together....The bottom line is: when your heart sets its sight on someone, it doesn't consult with your mind."
                                                     -Joley, page 336

I have read a number of Jodi Picoult's books and have enjoyed several but not this one. In fact it took me a while to finish it and at first I wasn't sure I wanted to. A friend recommended the book and loaned me a copy which was probably one reason I did get to the end. That and I finally got to a point where I wanted to know how it turned out. This was not a "page turner" as many of her novels have been for me.

First I found her style and the format of the story quite confusing. I didn't mind the alternating voices of the characters nearly as much as that some of the storytelling was backwards! This is how lost I was: I didn't even realize that the only character relating events backward chronologically was Rebecca, until I learned it in the first discussion question at the end of the novel!  I actually enjoyed the perspectives of the different characters as the plot continued.

Though Oliver, husband of Jane and father of Rebecca, the two main characters, was a scientist and expert on humpback whales, I never really understood how the title fit the plot. Again, in reading over the discussion questions it seems that whale songs may have been a metaphor for communication or lack of it. Perhaps I didn't read this novel deeply enough!

I try not to include "spoilers" in my reviews but I personally didn't care much for the ending. I would rate this one a 3.

The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo

"God is still good even when life is hard." (page 255)

"Forgiveness is the language of heaven."

This book was really not what I expected.  When I asked our book club members to suggest titles for a January book, The Devil in Pew Number Seven was mentioned.  I briefly perused the description online and somehow got the wrong impression.  I understood that the author was the daughter of a pastor who had faced a very challenging congregant, a man who always sat in the seventh pew and generally made life difficult for him.  What I absolutely didn't get was how difficult, dangerous actually, this real-life villain was to the devout and dedicated Christian couple and family, including the author as a young child.  I predicted the plot would involve a character change of the culprit but I was pretty far off the mark!
We all know truth can be stranger than fiction and in this book, truth is very intense!  I found it a "page turner" and read it fairly quickly. This probably had something to do with frequent foreshadowing, a technique I thought was a bit overused. The photos included in the book seemed to give me an even closer connection to the characters.  I didn't care for the final chapter where the author gets a little "preachy." I thought the message of redemption and forgiveness came through rather powerfully in the story itself.  

I am not the biggest fan of nonfiction but this book was a good one---both heartbreaking and inspiring. I'd rate it a 4.
***
Our Page Turners group met on the 31st and had a rousing discussion of this book, even though the group rating turned out a 2.9. Many in our group of 16 were incredulous that Pastor Nichols did not give up and get his family out of that place! Some were angry at the parents for allowing their children to remain in such danger along with being furious at Mr. Watts. We also couldn't understand why law enforcement, or at the very least members of the congregation, did not DO SOMETHING much sooner! We felt that the writing was not that good. In fact, I had the feeling if we had given our rating based only on the writing, it would have been lower. We were in agreement that it was a worthwhile read if only to inspire us to greater heights of forgiveness.

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg

" Hazel had always said, 'Don't give up before the miracle happens.' And if this wasn't a miracle, Maggie didn't know what was." from the novel, page 310

I have read several of Fannie Flagg's novels over the years and have enjoyed them all. This one is no exception. There is a lot to like about I Still Dream About You, including its combination of humor, mystery and charming characters. One of my favorite minor characters, Hazel, though dead 5 years at the start of the novel, struck me as someone I'd love to know in real life.

The main character, Maggie, would seem to have the perfect life but she feels very inadequate, to the point where she has given up on life. Strangely, the day before finishing the novel, I began to understand Maggie much more after seeing a podcast lecture presented by Brene` Brown, a sociologist. Ms. Brown was talking about her research into human feelings of self-worth and the lack of it. She found that people who felt worthy generally had the following characteristics in common: courage, compassion, connection (to others) and vulnerability. I found myself thinking of Maggie and saw her as an example of someone who had a poor sense of self-worth. She did seem to have friends and genuinely cared for them but she just couldn't forgive herself for mistakes in the past and accept her own imperfections, thus she was failing miserably in the vulnerability department.

The setting of Birmingham, Alabama, made the story even more personal for me, since my high school years were spent in North Alabama and many landmarks and historical and cultural references were quite familiar.

I loved the interweaving of the history of the Crocker family and the "dream house" into the timeline of Maggie's life, with its many flashbacks and an intriguing mystery to wonder about. I'd rate the novel a 4 plus!

Gypped by Carol Higgins Clark

I practically inhaled this one---a very fast-paced mystery! I read it in a couple of days and it may be forgotten almost as quickly.  A literature professor once said that good literature teaches life lessons. Nothing like that here---just an entertaining read!  It would certainly not be a good choice for our Page Turners group; not much "meat" to discuss.

The novel is one in a series involving private investigator, Regan Reilly.  Interestingly all have one word past tense titles similar to this one---Mobbed, Wrecked, Cursed, Zapped, and so on.  I've probably read at least a couple though I really couldn't say which.  In Gypped, Regan is visiting Los Angeles with her husband when she runs into Zelda, a former friend, and she very quickly becomes involved in some mysterious events in Zelda's life, even putting herself in harm's way.

Gypped is not memorable, just enjoyable. I give it a 3.

A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama

"Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend."
                                        -Mao Tse-Tung, China, 1956

This quote was seemingly the cause of a lot of trouble for political dissidents, including the family featured in this novel. Near the beginning, the father, Sheng, is accused of writing a letter of criticism to the government, arrested and sent far away to a labor camp for "reeducation." The plot involves how his wife, son and father deal with this trauma over a period of several months. There are a few other nonfamily characters who are affected, as well. Ms. Tsukiyama does a fine job of developing her very likeable characters. I found myself wanting to read on because I cared about them and wanted them to find happiness. One of the minor characters says toward the end of the book, "Sometimes the best lessons are in the journey, regardless of the outcome." Very profound, I think.

This is a new author for me and I will definitely read more of her work. A Hundred Flowers was a delightful novel, set in a time and place unfamiliar to me so it was a learning experience, too. I would rate the novel a 4.

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Our book club recently read Wally Lamb's Wishin' and Hopin' which according to reviews I read, was quite a departure from other of his novels. Certainly at 465 pages it was much longer. The themes were more intense and the plot spanned a great deal more time in the life of the main character---ages 4 to mid-30's for Delores in this novel as opposed to a few months in the life of Felix in Wishin' and Hopin'. It seemed that Felix had a rather lovely family life contrasted to the unfortunate life of Delores. Both novels could be categorized "coming of age" but with the process for Delores being much more painful.

Delores suffers a trauma at age 13 that leaves her literally "coming undone". I found her reactions believable and though she could be quite harsh to those around her, literally taking out her anger on them and on herself,  I found myself rooting for her to put herself back together! I thought it was interesting how whales kept figuring into this story; they seemed to symbolize more than one aspect of the plot.

Though it was not as much fun to read as Wishin and Hopin, I did find She's Come Undone to be a "page turner." I would rate it a 4 and will definitely read other novels by this author. I found both of these novels by Lamb to be nostalgia trips as they take place in the 50's to 70's mostly, with mentions of Woodstock, the first moon landing, Watergate, etc. Also both novels take their titles from popular songs of a similar span of time, in the case of this one "Undun" by The Guess Who, lyrics that could have been written by the fictional Delores herself, they describe her so well! The words go like this:

She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late
She's come undone
She found a mountain that was far too high
And when she found out she couldn't fly
It was too late
It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
She wanted truth
But all she got was lies
Came the time to realize
And it was too late
She's come undone
She didn't know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
Mama, it was too late
It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun
She's come undone
Too many mountains, and not enough stairs to climb
Too many churches and not enough truth
Too many people and not enough eyes to see
Too many lives to lead and not enough time

She's Come Undone was Wally Lamb's first novel and was chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection in 1992. It was also a New York Times Bestseller. One intriguing review states: "As you read She's Come Undone your entire life will flash before your eyes...It's a little bit like strolling down memory lane with Dick Clark on one arm, Jean-Paul Sartre on the other. It's scary, but Lord, it's wonderful!" (Cathie Pelletier, author of A Marriage Made at Woodstock)