Ship of Dreams and Its Tragic End

The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era by Gareth Russell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Much as people have been recently captivated by Downton Abbey, generations before us and since have been captivated by the unthinkable sinking of the luxury liner, The Titanic, she who was thought unsinkable. In 1912, before the world was shaken by WW I life was slow and simple. The world was dominated by England, whose empire was the one on which the sun never set. Industry was booming on both sides of the Atlantic and the hereditary nobility of Europe with its societal rules and great wealth was being joined more and more by a new level of society, the rich industrialists and business barons of the world. The pathway through which these people intermingled and intermarried was the wide Atlantic Ocean and plying that pathway were ever larger and more elegant ships, almost palaces emulating in their splendor the opulence of those of the past, the Louis of France, the villas of Rome, the palaces of the Tudors and Stuarts.
The most ballyhooed of all, the most splendid, the fastest and largest --Titanic. She never finished her maiden voyage and the loss of her in an ice field of the North Atlantic on a calm, starry night in 1912 made her, if not, unsinkable, then, unforgettable. Her discovery at the bottom of the sea in 1985 renewed her story which at the time, after great mourning on both sides of the Atlantic, had been eclipsed by the outbreak of WW I.
Here her story is told once more. And while there is a great deal of time spent on the history of the great ships, the competition among the countries of Europe and the US to outdo each other in their construction, an equal amount of time is spent on us getting to know several of her passengers in First and Second Class. Sadly, there is no member of Third Class given this insight but perhaps there were no records of these immigrants detailed enough to share. Certainly, we come to know many of the crew as well as the valets and ladies' maids of the others. By the time the ship encounters the ice berg that sank her so many of these people were so well described that as a reader you felt as though you at least knew them as acquaintance and as the time of the berg grew nearer ones heart began to ache, wondering which of them would survive and which die. The actual time of moving people into the lifeboats and the sacrifices made by many for the sake of others is anguishing.
The aftermath is also discussed-the false stories that arose and became almost fact, the distain shown the men who survived the sinking, the heartbreak of those who lost friends and family.
As much as any movie ever made about the wreck, this book brings the tragedy to life because these people are real and the story is gleaned from the memories of those who lived through it. Even after more than a hundred years, when all of the survivors are gone, the story of them and those who perished is still able to fascinate and horrify the reader. This is a review of an Uncorrected Proof provided by Goodreads for that purpose.

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To The Lions by Holly Watt

To the Lions by Holly Watt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Human hunting--not a new concept in literature or movies. In 1924 Richard Cornell wrote a short story called The Most Dangerous Game upon which many movies such as The Naked Man, The Running Man and, even to some extent, The Hunger Games are based. In 2016, a leading tourism expert predicted in a UK newspaper that hunting humans may well be big business in about 100years. It could be used at stag dos, tourist offerings, professional community building or even as a televised reality program!

In this book, Watt combines these concepts with the story of the lives of people such as Marie Colvin, an American war correspondent killed in Syria, about whom a documentary has recently been made. Here are two women journalists working for the London Post who lie and manipulate others to track down big stories about world issues. One, I'd say the main character of the piece, Casey, is incognito as a glitzy playgirl, tracking down a tale, when she overhears from the neighboring booth, an American, quite drunkenly regaling his fellow high rollers with a story of picking off a human with a sniper rifle for kicks. Although she cannot believe it possible she takes the tidbit to her editor and she and fellow journalistic detective, Miranda, decide to pursue the story.
They are, at first, pounding the pavement, hitting the phones and internet only in England but soon the trail leads to the deserts of Libya and the refugee camps there. The women head to Northern Africa in the company of Casey's former love, a retired soldier who seems to have PTSD though it is never quite spelled out.
Unlike the movies and stories that began this review, the prey here is a single person residing in a fenced in camp miles into the desert. Unsuspecting, so not running, like a fish in a bowl, with no place to run if they knew of the danger. Sort of like those ritzy nature preserves in which animals are kept safe and fed for the sole purchase of being shot by a rich " hunter ". Only here the game is human, but the " hunter " is still rich and seeking to mark off the thrill of the kill on the bucket list.
Unlike Marie Colvin, Miranda and Casey are not heavy smokers, drinkers or involved in serial, short lived sexual relations. Miranda is married, but we never meet her husband and he certainly isn't of any importance to either her or the story or the reader. Casey, on the other hand, is portrayed as being hopelessly in love with Ed, the retired soldier, although he uses and manipulates him despite his obvious fragility. She pushes him on and on, even though she knows one of the hunters became so despondent after a kill that he committed suicide. To be honest, Ed was the only human and humane character in the entire book. Miranda wanted the story, Casey proclaims she wanted to end the business of human killing through the story. Miranda is the most honest but both are relentless and uncaring in their pursuit of it and in the revelations once the whole is known, without any consideration at all about what is now carelessly referred to as Collateral Damage.
Callous, empty, unfeeling, arrogant, manipulative, not worthy of admiration--Casey and Miranda.

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Norwegian Murder--Dark and Deep : Knife by Jo Nesbo

Knife by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My first encounter with Harry Hole ! Not my first Scandinavian mystery books, however. There are certainly many alcoholic, tortured, mixed -up cops running around that part of the world . It must be the long, cold, dark winters. But, for as many defective policemen there are an equal number of warped, murderous rapists to keep them busy. In this permutation of the genre, Harry's wife has been brutally murdered in her home by an unknown assailant who used one of her kitchen knives to kill her. She and Harry have parted ways, she having asked him to leave for some reason, as yet unrevealed. Harry appears to have an alibi--drunk as a skunk and taken home to sleep it off by a fellow lawman and good friend. Nevertheless, the only thing Harry remembers about the night in question is that he was drinking, got into a fight with the bar owner and was tossed out of the place and barred for life. The owner called his buddy to take him away.
In the meantime, roaming the countryside is a despicable old man, filthy and lecherous, who enjoys raping young women in order to impregnate them. He then stalks them and protects them, threatening to kill them if they abort the child or if they haven't conceived. His weapon of choice? A knife. His name is Svein Finne and he hates Harry since Harry, in the line of duty, killed Finne's son.
Did Finne kill Hole's wife in retribution? Being the husband of the victim, Harry is suspended and forbidden to work the case. In short order, his alibi is verified and he is no longer a suspect. Still, he is not allowed to formally investigate, but being a long time crack detective, well respected for his skills, he has many friends who will help him search for answers subrosa. The tale is long and convoluted, involves characters , fighting PTSD,forensic scientists, fellow detectives both local and governmental and the evidence swings in many directions. It is a book that requires thought and delves into the psychology of the killing of another human being, motivations for murder, permutations of relationships, It is not an easy, breezy read but, like its very human characters it is somehow gratifying with enough twists to keep the reader returning for more.
Like most of the Scandinavian TV murder series and the various authors from Scandinavia, the subject matter is dark and deep and not something I could binge on but definitely something to read in between lighter fare.
Harry and I will meet again. This is review of an uncorrected proof provided by goodreads in exchange for a review.


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Heart Racing ,Pulse Driving Chase to the Death

The Time to Kill by Mason Cross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Darn--thought this was the second book in the series but it is the third!! Doesn't matter, read the first and just had the read the rest. Will read the second one next, even though I will know the final chapter in Carter Blake's story. In this one, he is being run to ground by his former employers, a super deep black ops group call Winterlong. He'd gone AWOL but struck a deal with the former director--let him alone and he wouldn't release the secret info he'd stolen on a thumb drive and hidden.

Now, the old boss is dead and former colleagues not only want the incriminating thumb drive, they also want him silenced forever. An edge of the seat chase so real at times your heartbeat races. Terrific series of books.

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The Linen Queen

The Linen Queen by Patricia Falvey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Life has not been kind to Sheila McGee in her Northern Irish home which overlooks The Irish State across the Lough. Her father left her and her mother forcing them to move in with a sour minded aunt and her drunken husband. Sheila is a mill girl and she dreams of leaving all of this behind and escaping to England. When she wins the contest that makes her the Linen Queen, picked from a gaggle of girls from linen mills across the land, she sees the prize money as the first step to freedom. But one needs papers to leave the country and she has none. It is the first days of WW II and her second chance at freedom arrives in the influx of Yank troops from America.
Despite her close friend, Gavin a resident of the free State and his obvious love for her, Sheila decides that an attachment to a Yank officer might be her ticket to America. She finds him in Joel Solomon, a Jewish captain. Through Joel and the involvement of Gavin with the IRA --a association he made to help her and a placement child from the slums of Belfast--Sheila begins to grow and mature from a flighty, self-centered teen to a mature, caring woman.
Her transition and the story of the Neutral Irish State and the British Northern Island in the face of Hitler's assault on the world, the story of the Catholic Church's reign over its faithful, the involvement of the Yanks and the young women whose town they now occupy intertwine to produce an engrossing historical novel. One in which the characters and the place come to life and draw in the reader who, with Sheila, learns that wherever you go and with whomever you find yourself, the person you always bring along is yourself. Sometimes when you change, the place and people you've always known, somehow are the things you most cherish.

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The Wily O'Reilly in Short Bursts--humorous short stories from the local newspaper

The Wily O'Reilly: Irish Country Stories by Patrick Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before he started to write the Irish Country novels starring Dr Final O'Reilly, the town of Ballybucklebo and its various denizens, Patrick Taylor wrote monthly articles about them in his local newspaper. This book contains those monthly columns--each about two and a half pages long and each short story told focuses on an event or character in the town. Most are laugh out loud amusing, all of them reek of human warmth and folly. I took my time getting through the book, reading one or two whenever I needed a laugh or chuckle or just wanted to take a break and go to Ireland for a bit.
Included, also, is an ebook Taylor wrote about O'Reilly's return home from duty in the Royal Navy, called Home is the Sailor.

Now, to move on to the next novel which follows O'Reilly's life as a small town doctor.

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To Be a Family Requires More Than Blood

The Sometimes Sisters by Carolyn Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It Takes Work To Be Family

Blood makes people family but sometimes it is not enough. Dana, Harper and Tawney are half sisters whose lives diverged ten years ago. The death of their grandmother brings them back together physically. It takes Granny Annie's will and Uncle Zed to reconnect them emotionally. While not a very deep book, the characters are likeable, the interactions sometimes warm, sometimes funny,the relationships realistic. A good beach book--a couple of lazy summer day's worth of reading.

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