Helen's Book Reviews

DECEMBER 2010

The Midnight House
By Alex Berenson reviewed 12-5-10

John Wells is a fictional hero who has been shot twice and imprisoned in Beijing.  In Alex Berenson’s newest novel, “The Midnight House”, he is investigating why the interrogators of Task Force 673 are being murdered.  The actions of all the novel’s characters come straight from our nation’s headlines.  John Wells is a CIA agent who had taken a voluntary break from the agency.  He had chosen to live in a primitive cabin in Vermont with only his dog for company.  The author has portrayed him as suffering from post traumatic stress disorder due to the risky situations which he has been in while infiltrating the enemies of our country.  A convert to Islam, Wells has the capability to fit into the Arab world.

Task Force 673 ran the Midnight House, so named because it was a place that always had activity, even at midnight.  Prisoners were interrogated there, often using techniques that would not stand up to close scrutiny under the Geneva Convention.  The prisoners were some of the toughest jihadists so getting answers from these people was arguably necessary for national security.  Usually, they had not been captured unless it was assumed that they were a part of an imminent operation.  When public controversy forced the bosses to disband the Midnight House, the soldiers were given medals, but no recognition, support, or counseling.  They returned to civilian life with only there own skills to help them cope with their consciences.  When the murders of this group begin, it is disclosed that in addition to the torture that was committed at the Midnight House, there was also questionable financial dealings.  When an operation is covert very few accounting questions are asked.  No one keeps strict records of what it costs to transport prisoners.  John Wells becomes an investigator of murders and embezzlement instead of tracking jihadists.  It is possible that the members of Task Force 673 are being killed by Arabs as vengeance for the torture and humiliation that was inflicted on their comrades.  But, when major amounts of money are missing and have possibly been embezzled, there might be a motive for murder related to the division of the spoils.

The author has credentials which have given him a close look at situations which would have inspired this novel.  He has covered the invasion of Iraq for the New York Times and won the 2007 Edgar Award for best first novel, The Ghost War. [12-5-10]

Christmas gift suggestions
reviewed December 12, 2010
Books make the perfect Christmas present. This year there are so many appealing titles out there that it can make it possible to use a Michigan theme for your literary gift giving.

Bryan Gruley’s second book about Starvation Lake came out this summer.  “The Hanging Tree” revisits the small northern Michigan town where hockey is the most important game in town.  Gus Carpenter returned to the town where he starred in high school hockey after he had a spectacular failure at the big city newspaper in Detroit.  He is editing the small town newspaper and working for a younger man who places bottom line costs above journalistic integrity.  Grace is a young woman who had grown up in Starvation Lake, then returned and took a menial local job, leaving everyone wondering about her past.  When her body is found hanging in the local “shoe tree”, Gus tries to make some sense of the situation.  The unstable finances of local government may be part of the equation.

Joseph Heywood writes about Grady Service, a “woods cop” who works the Upper Peninsula for the DNR.  In “Shadow of the Wolf Tree”, Grady and a friend find eighty year old skeletal remains while out fishing.  Do these bones that are sprinkled with gold dust connect with the death of a trout fisherman on opening day?  A large tract of land is heavily fenced and is run by security that will allow no visitors.  Why?   Several story lines leave the reader wondering how these and other unusual events could be related.

Jaimy Gordon is the author of this year’s winner of The National Book Award.  Although “Lord of Misrule” is not set in Michigan, Ms. Gordon teaches creative writing at Western Michigan University.  The book’s action happens at a West Virginia horseracing track.  The desperation is portrayed as experienced by trainers, both the hopeful and the defeated.  Gamblers win and lose.

Is it possible that Henry Ford learned how to put together an assembly line from Santa Claus?  Matt Faulkner’s children’s book “The Night Henry Ford Met Santa” has little Edsel Ford telling his father to ask Santa Claus for advice when Henry needs a way to cheaply assemble his Model T in 1908.  Henry gets a road trip to the North Pole to watch how the elves assemble toys.  This book is both a fun Christmas story and a child’s introduction to the basic facts of Henry Ford’s work. [12-12-10]

Interred with Their Bones
By Jennifer Lee Carrell reviewed December 19, 2010  “Interred with Their Bones” by Jennifer Lee Carrell is the author’s debut novel about the search for the script of a play by Shakespeare that has never been in print.  Katherine Stanley is a historian who left academe to direct Shakespearean drama.  She is just beginning her dream job of directing Hamlet at the restored Globe Theatre in London.  Her previous mentor at Harvard, Rosalind Howard, comes to see Kate at the Globe during practice.  She gives Kate a wrapped gift and insists that they meet later in the day.  That evening, when Kate is on her way to meet Roz, she sees smoke in the area of the Globe.  Somehow the theatre had caught fire.  Roz’s murdered body was discovered there.  Kate knows that Roz was following an important piece of information and the only clue that she has is her gift.  It is a Victorian brooch made up of the flowers that Ophelia names in Hamlet.  Kate tries to solve the mystery of Roz’s murder and also discover what groundbreaking secret Roz had been trying to unearth.  She is helped by Roz’s nephew, Ben Pearl, who is a somewhat mysterious character.  Kate eventually learns that Ben owns a security company with contacts all over the world.  Kate becomes a possible suspect in Roz’s murder so she must evade Scotland Yard Inspector Sinclair while trying to follow Roz’s clues.  Kate attempts to retrace the steps that Roz had taken while searching for her elusive prize.  Only a serious student of Shakespearean trivia would have an inherent understanding of the obscure signposts on Roz’s trail.  Kate is helped by Sir Henry Lee, an aging star of the theatrical world.  Sir Henry’s knowledge of the nuances of the Shakespeare plays complements Kate’s academic knowledge.  Every step in the search is a threat to Kate.  First Folio copies of the plays vanish in destructive fires.  It seems to Kate that someone is following her progress, needing her expertise to unearth the clues, but the shadowy figure is sometimes ahead of Kate and Ben.  How is he or she getting the knowledge?

In the Author’s Note at the end of the novel, Jennifer Carrell describes how she came across the four volume set of “The Elizabethan Stage” by E. K. Chambers, published in 1923.  She used these books as a part of her plot.  So much of the novel’s information is real, including different theories about who Shakespeare really was.  [12-19-10]

Shadow of the Wolf Tree By Joseph Haywood reviewed December 16, 2010 A wolf tree is a gruesome trap that can be set for a prowling, meat eating animal. A deer carcass is hung in tree, and then the tree is surrounded by traps. When an animal, usually a wolf, attempts to reach the deer, he is trapped. In "Shadow of the Wolf Tree" by Joseph Haywood a DNR officer in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is seriously injured when she gets caught in one of the traps. Grady Service is the DNR detective who investigates this crime and several other strange occurrences. The theory is that the wolf tree was erected by ecoterrorists opposed to the reintroduction of wolves to the Michigan forests. Then when Grady and a friend are out fishing on the first day of trout season, his dog unearths a pile of human remains. As is appropriate for a police officer, Grady calls in an investigative team that can determine the cause of death. The pile of bones is discovered to be two bodies that have been there for about eighty years. The surprise is the amount of fine gold that is found dusted over the bodies. These unusual events and a variety of very strange characters are an intriguing mix. This is Heywood's seventh novel about the "woods cop", Grady Service. Grady is a very realistic character with complicated family connections. Even though he is close to retirement age, he is still attractive to a variety of females. One of these women is Zhenya Leukonovich, an IRS agent who always refers to herself in the third person. Her financial skills and connections are very useful to Grady. Conversations between the two are flirtatious and flamboyant. She has an informed and suspicious viewpoint of a secretive compound that has aroused Grady's curiosity. It is a large tract of land that is owned by a conglomerate based in Chicago. This group has very deep pockets and the origin of its original funding is unsubstantiated. When suspects involved in seemingly unrelated violent acts are represented by the organization's very sharp lawyer, Grady knows he must make connections. His investigations use many different skills and contacts. The story follows several crimes that are eventually linked in surprising ways. Some extensive historical and geological research help Grady finally understand what is going on. This is a novel that will appeal to anyone who likes a complex mystery with the added appeal of a Michigan setting. [12-16-10]

Shadow of the Wolf Tree
By Joseph Haywood reviewed December 16, 2010
A wolf tree is a gruesome trap that can be set for a prowling, meat eating animal.  A deer carcass is hung in tree, and then the tree is surrounded by traps.  When an animal, usually a wolf, attempts to reach the deer, he is trapped.  In “Shadow of the Wolf Tree” by Joseph Haywood a DNR officer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is seriously injured when she gets caught in one of the traps.  Grady Service is the DNR detective who investigates this crime and several other strange occurrences.  The theory is that the wolf tree was erected by ecoterrorists opposed to the reintroduction of wolves to the Michigan forests.  Then when Grady and a friend are out fishing on the first day of trout season, his dog unearths a pile of human remains.  As is appropriate for a police officer, Grady calls in an investigative team that can determine the cause of death.  The pile of bones is discovered to be two bodies that have been there for about eighty years.  The surprise is the amount of fine gold that is found dusted over the bodies.

These unusual events and a variety of very strange characters are an intriguing mix. This is Heywood’s seventh novel about the “woods cop”, Grady Service.  Grady is a very realistic character with complicated family connections.  Even though he is close to retirement age, he is still attractive to a variety of females.  One of these women is Zhenya Leukonovich, an IRS agent who always refers to herself in the third person.  Her financial skills and connections are very useful to Grady.  Conversations between the two are flirtatious and flamboyant.  She has an informed and suspicious viewpoint of a secretive compound that has aroused Grady’s curiosity.  It is a large tract of land that is owned by a conglomerate based in Chicago.  This group has very deep pockets and the origin of its original funding is unsubstantiated.   When suspects involved in seemingly unrelated violent acts are represented by the organization’s very sharp lawyer, Grady knows he must make connections.  His investigations use many different skills and contacts.  The story follows several crimes that are eventually linked in surprising ways.  Some extensive historical and geological research help Grady finally understand what is going on.

This is a novel that will appeal to anyone who likes a complex mystery with the added appeal of a Michigan setting.  [12-16-10]