Alex by Pierre Lemaitre (crime drama book review)

Alex

Author:  Pierre Lemaitre

Published:  2013

Publisher:  MacLehose Press

Distributed in US and Canada by Random House Publisher

Pages:  375 including A Note on the Translation and a Glossary

Genre:  Crime fiction/drama

Source:  borrowed

*Awards:  CWA International Daggar Award Winner: Best Crime Novel 2013

Alex Prevost--kidnapped, savagely beaten, suspended from the ceiling of an abandoned warehouse in a tiny wooden cage--is running out of time. Her abductor appears to want only to watch her die. Will hunger, thirst, or the rats get her first?

Apart from a shaky eyewitness report of the abduction, Police Commandant Camille Verhoeven has nothing to go on: no suspect, no leads, and no family or friends anxious to find a missing loved one. The diminutive and brilliant detective knows from bitter experience the urgency of finding the missing woman as quickly as possible--but first he must understand more about her. 

As he uncovers the details of the young woman's singular history, Camille is forced to acknowledge that the person he seeks is no ordinary victim. She is beautiful, yes, but also extremely tough and resourceful. Before long, saving Alex's life will be the least of Commandant Verhoeven's considerable challenges.

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This is the second book in a forecasted trilogy, the first book was titled Irene and was the introduction to Police Commandant Camille Verhoeven.  Alex is the first of Lemaitre's books to be translated to English.

When was the last time you read a crime drama/mystery that was so tumultuous that you didn't know the victim from the perpetrator?  For me, well, I cannot remember any such time.  Until I picked up Alex.

Alex begins with the kidnapping of a beautiful woman.  She is beaten, naked and left in a crudely constructed wooden crate strung from the ceiling in an abandoned warehouse of sort. The crate is too small to do anything but crouch in.  Left with kibble and small rations of water, her kidnapper returns to take photos, watching her slowly die.

Five men and one woman are brutally murdered in this book and it is quite graphic, the means with which they are killed and I actually turned my head away as I read, the images far too cruel and violent.  But I read on.

Alex is the story of the most brutal of crimes and of a police force in France charged with solving them.  One of the detectives on the case, Camille, has recently lost his wife and unborn child - kidnapped and murdered.  So this case is too close to home for him but he does his level best to remain professional.  Sometimes facing horrible truths in one form helps to heal pains of the past.  At least that is what his commander hopes.

Though brutal, the story behind it all, the revealing of truths, though graphic in themselves, answers everything so clearly and cleverly.  The story is fast-paced, the chapters short and it is difficult to put down.  Alex was recommended by a co-worker and now that I am finished I can understand why.  I am glad to not have given up on it because this is a crime drama that is intricately plotted, cleverly contrived, and has a deep mystery running through it.  Alex is the second book in a trilogy written by Pierre Lemaitre but the first to be translated to English.  I hope the first, Irene, will be translated as well.  I believe that story would offer great insight into Camille, the detective (police commandant) and background for this story.  Mind you, Alex can stand on its own very well.

Meet the Author:

Pierre Lemaitre has worked for many years as a teacher of literature. His novels to date have earned him exceptional critical and public acclaim as a master of the crime novel and have won him the Prix du Premier Roman de Cognac 2006, the Prix du Meilleur Polar Francophone 2009, and the Prix du Polar Europeen du Point 2010. Alex is his first novel to be translated into English, and won the presitigious 2013 Crime Writers Association International Dagger Award. In 2013 Lemaitre was the recipient of the prestigious Prix Goncourt, the highest literary honor in France, for Au revoir la-haut.

Frank Wynne has translated works by Michel Houellebecq, Boualem Sansal, and many more. He won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2005 for his translation of Frederic Beigbeder's Windows on the World.

The Giver - coming to theatres this August

Post by eOne Films.

Elizabeth is Missing - a hit debut novel by British author Emma Healey (review)

Elizabeth is Missing
Author:  Emma Healey
Published:  June 2014
Publisher:  Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Pages:  288
Genre:  fiction
Source:  borrowed


http://emmahealey.co.uk

Maud, an aging grandmother, is slowly losing her memory—and her grip on everyday life. Yet she refuses to forget her best friend Elizabeth, whom she is convinced is missing and in terrible danger.

But no one will listen to Maud—not her frustrated daughter, Helen, not her caretakers, not the police, and especially not Elizabeth’s mercurial son, Peter. Armed with handwritten notes she leaves for herself and an overwhelming feeling that Elizabeth needs her help, Maud resolves to discover the truth and save her beloved friend.

This singular obsession forms a cornerstone of Maud’s rapidly dissolving present. But the clues she discovers seem only to lead her deeper into her past, to another unsolved disappearance: her sister, Sukey, who vanished shortly after World War II.

As vivid memories of a tragedy that occurred more fifty years ago come flooding back, Maud discovers new momentum in her search for her friend. Could the mystery of Sukey’s disappearance hold the key to finding Elizabeth?

My Thoughts:

Maud is an elderly soul who is determined that her best friend Elizabeth is missing and must find her. No one listens though.    Not the police officer she has spoken to four times, not her daughter Helen, nor Elizabeth's own son Peter.  Her friend's house is empty; the furniture gone.  The notes in Maud's pocket remind her.  Elizabeth is missing.  Maud must solve the mystery of her disappearance.

Pinterest Random House

A debut novel by a young British author, Emma Healey; Elizabeth is Missing features an elderly protagonist who is so well written that the reader really knows her.  We feel her anxiety, her fears, acknowledge her intelligence and self-awareness, and cannot dismiss the turmoil she faces daily; though the author never admits in so many words to Maud's illness. It is what we decipher from the clues, the thought processes and the memories of Maud, that we understand her memory is slipping and getting worse. 

Elizabeth is Missing is a story of relationships.  Maud, the senior with memory lapses; her daughter Helen, who has the patience of a saint (but you can see it wears her thin sometimes), assisting her mother on a daily basis while she also works and raises her daughter, Katy who is coy, a bit rebellious but empathetic.  I quite enjoyed the dialogues Maud had with her granddaughter who didn't seem fazed by the sometimes perplexing situations her grandmother got into. The British wit and sense of humour are evident in the dialogues between these two.

Allow me to set the scene.  It is pouring rain and Maud, who has "escaped," is soaked to the skin.  Her granddaughter sees her on the street, wraps her jacket over her Maud's shoulders and ushers her into a cafe to get warm.

"It's such a shame, Katy," I say."I know Grandma.  I know."She's humouring me.  A wet lump of tissues folds into itself on the table.  It looks like that Plasticine stuff the children used to play with."I can't get hold of Mum," Katy says, holding something to the side of her face.  "She's probably on the phone to the police or something.""What's that you've got against your ear?  A shell? Who is it you're listening to?" I say. Douglas had a shell, I remember.  I watched him discover it in Sukey's case: he felt all around the edges and found it in the lining.  And then he held it to his ear and her voice came out and she told him how she'd met the man she was going to marry."Handy," Katy says. "But this is just a phone. I'm afraid.  And at the moment I'm listening to a woman telling me the number I have dialled is busy.  Never mind.  We'll go home in a minute.  After you've drunk your coffee.""Coffee is good for the memory," I say.  She smiles and sits back.  I think of telling her that I've forgotten why we're here.  But she looks so happy...." 

Helen is too close to the drama with her mother but Katy finds the humour in it. 

"Do you know, " I ask...."where is the best place to plant marrows?"There's a grin and a shrug.  "I don't know, you'd have to ask Mum.  Though probably you shouldn't.  That question winds her up like crazy.  It's almost better than asking where Elizabeth is."  She gives a squeal of delight at the thought and helps me to sit down for a minute.  We don't have to wait long for the bus and Helen, or whoever she is, finds my pass quite easily in my bag.

Through seemingly insignificant situations, Maud's memories of the past are revealed.  A can of peaches reminds her of her mother and we are privy to glimpses of Maud's youth in post-war Britain.  Maud fixates on things, like melons, where is the best place to plant melons?  Toast, she would like toast and tea though she had some earlier, she doesn't remember.  Elizabeth is missing.  Seemingly random threads of thought string together.  One thought can trigger a memory.

The reader can envision the mystery surrounding Sukie, Maud's sister, who disappeared one day; never to be heard from again. While Maud goes about her day, items and conversations bring back memories as seamlessly as a poem and she remembers the past, focusing on the disappearance of her sister.  Possible suspicions are played out as Maud remembers Sukie's husband Frank, the family's lodger Douglas, and a serial killer who now resides in jail.  Elizabeth's disappearance prompts memories of Maud's sister's years before.  

For such a young author to grasp and portray the dynamics of a family of three women, an elderly woman with declining memory, her daughter who visits daily and assists the carer with her needs, and the granddaughter who at 15 or so, displays great empathy while keeping a sense of humour; is just amazing. Emma Healey is able to portray all three as distinct individuals at different points in their lives; keeping them authentic in their respective roles while telling the story all from the perspective of an aging woman.

Elizabeth is Missing is ideal for a book club discussion.  The story between the lines that is picked up bit by bit, clues skillfully hidden for later reveal; all excellent discussion points, as a co-worker and I have discovered while sharing our thoughts over this debut novel that has everyone talking. I borrowed my copy but I want to purchase one now so I can re-read it.   This is a tale not soon to be forgotten, nor would I want to forget it.  

Who would I recommend Elizabeth is Missing to?  Healthcare workers, book clubs, women (young and mature alike), people caring for those with declining memory, caregivers of the elderly, mystery lovers, readers of fiction with substance.  Emma Healey's novel has wide appeal.

Emma Healey grew up in London where she completed her first degree in bookbinding (learning how to put books together but not how to write them). She graduated from the MA in Creative Writing: Prose at UEA in 2011. Elizabeth is Missing is her first novel.

#2014bestreads  #ElizabethisMissing  #bookswithbuzz

Books in the Arts

Reading:  It's an enduring pastime.

This sculpture of a young boy reading

 was discovered in a local bookstore.

Movie Trailer Release: Mockingjay, Part I

#Mockingjay  #bookstomovies #SuzanneCollins

Official Movie Trailer Has Been Released for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

#TheHobbit  #BattleoftheFiveArmies  #bookstomovies  #movietrailer

Press Release: Terminal City by Mystery Author Linda Fairstein

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:

Marissa Curnutte

347.574.3136

marissa@jkscommunications.com

BookGirlTV informs, inspires readers with top quality new reads

Newest interviews with BEST-SELLING authors Linda Fairstein, Adam Braun

NEW YORK CITY – Tessa Smith McGovern finds the best new books to read for BookGirlTV so you don’t have to and takes you behind the scenes with today’s top authors.

With BookGirlTV, McGovern cuts through the advertising and hype to find what books you should be reading right now. She aims to save people time and money by only highlighting exceptional books that readers will want to finish and to provide readers with an interactive, entertaining and life-enhancing monthly video book club that fits anyone’s schedule. BookGirlTV also works to shine a light on under-recognized female writers, both emerging and best-selling, and can help new authors learn strategies and wisdom from successful authors.

The most recent edition of BookGirlTV’s author interview show, ‘Just Books with Tessa Smith McGovern’ features an interview with Linda Fairstein about her book “Terminal City,” which reveals the “dark side” of New York City’s Grand Central Station. McGovern’s upcoming interviews include Adam Braun, founder of Pencils of Promise and author of The Promise of a Pencil, and author and journalist Anna Quindlen.

BookGirlTV also produces a series called BookGirlBUZZes, 1-2 minute book reviews that tell you what a book’s about (don’t worry, no spoilers here!) and whether those 5 star Amazon ratings are accurate – think of it as the mobile version of your local bookstore clerk.

BookGirlTV airs Thursdays at 4 p.m. on YouTube and BookGirl.TV and after on Facebook, Twitter, BlipTV, Dailymotion, iTunes, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Reddit, Roku and all connected TVs. The BookGirlBUZZ mobile app for Android and iOS allows people to stay up-to-date and watch BookGirlTV on their favorite mobile device. The email newsletter also keeps people in the know about new episodes of BookGirlTV and offers the chance to win free books, many of them signed.

About the BookGirl: Tessa Smith McGovern, originally from England, published her first short story in 1996 and has continued to publish work while also founding eChook Digital Publishing and hosting and producing BookGirl.TV. McGovern’s linked short story collection, “London Road: Linked Stories,” has earned high praise, including being the Gold Medal Winner in the 2012 eLit Awards. McGovern also teaches at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, NY.

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If I Stay Movie Trailer

Tonight I saw the movie trailer for Gayle Forman's book "If I Stay."  Now that's just great.  Another YA novel I HAVE to add to my TBR list!!!  I have rarely read YA in the past but it all started with Harry Potter, then Twilight, then the Lunar Chronicles...... I have to admit there are a lot of impressive YA novels out there!  My children are all young adults (in their twenties) and here I am.  Is this what it's like to have a midlife crisis?

Conquering Shame and Codependency by Darlene Lancer - book review

Conquering Shame and Codependency

8 Steps to Freeing the True You

Author:  Darlene Lancer

Published:  July 2014

Publisher:  Hazelden Publishing

Pages:  180

Genre:  Self-help

Source:  A complimentary copy was provided by TLC Book Tours and the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Codependency Expert Uncovers Fundamental Causes and Effects of Shame and a

Simple Path to a Healthier Life

Shame is an emotion that can be buried in a person’s psyche so deep that one does not realize how much he is affected by it.  From the publisher that popularized the topics of shame and codependency with such publications as Brene Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection and Melody Beattie’s Codependent No More, Hazelden Publishing releases CONQUERING SHAME AND CODEPENDENCY: 8 Steps to Freeing the True You (Hazelden Publishing; July 14; $14.95), by nationally-recognized author, codependency expert and family therapist, Darlene Lancer.  This essential guide explores the powerful emotion of shame, what can happen if it is not addressed, and provides practical advice on how to break deep-rooted patterns.

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In the book, Lancer begins by explaining the difference between guilt and shame: “Guilt results from violating rules or moral precepts, while shame emanates from breaching accepted group norms.  We’re guilty if we do something bad.  With shame, we believe that we ourselves are bad or inadequate in some way.”  Understanding these definitions shows how incredibly deep and profound feelings of shame can be, and as a result, how difficult it can be to change how you feel about yourself.

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She then delves into the link between shame and codependency, explaining how they prevent us from living life as our “true selves”.  As the result of a combination of personality, parenting, and life experience, we may develop an “inner critic” who is constantly questioning our motives and putting us down for our actions.  We become victims of our own negativity which then leads to codependency, which is the disease of a lost self where one organizes his or her thinking and behavior around another person, process, or substance. Before we know it we may be engaged in abusive or inappropriate relationships.  For example, we may be working in a career we felt we “had” to take on in order to please a parent.  We may be living as if we were someone else, unable to make our own decisions out of fear of hurtful repercussions left over from living with an abusive partner.  These and other similar situations can cause us to spiral down into an unhealthy state such as severe anxiety or depression, substance abuse, or other serious issues.

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In CONQUERING SHAME AND CODEPENDENCY Lancer outlines 8 Steps that will help us develop more healthy attitudes about ourselves:

1. Find Your True Self
2. Uncover Your Shame
3. Find Your Shame’s Roots
4. Disarm Your Shame
5. Confront Your Shame
6. Share Your Shame
7. Build Your Self-Esteem
8. Love Yourself

By working through these steps you will be able to better identify and understand the root source of negative feelings and what course of action to take in order to let it go and free yourself to a life confident in being your true self. Drawing on thirty years of experience as a therapist, Lancer has made an immense contribution by writing CONQUERING SHAME AND CODEPENDENCY.  For anyone who has been in therapy or has never knocked on a Ph.D.’s door, this book will break down a wall and open an entirely new path for you to begin living a true and authentic life.

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Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

My Thoughts:

Classmates make fun, a sibling belittles, a parent scorns, a teacher chastises.  All part of growing up or can be.  Is there one among us who hasn't at some point in our lives felt ashamed or embarrassed?  Has it altered how we see ourselves...our self-esteem?

To begin, author and therapist Darlene Lancer explores how shame happens and the types of shame: existential, situational, class,  and narcissistic. Using tables, the author shows the difference between guilt and shame and how guilt can be healthy while shame leads to negative self-image.

After exploring how people deal with shame and attempt to escape it, we then learn how shame can cause feelings of emptiness and inadequacy.  From there author Darlene Lancer explores relationships and how a person feeling subject to shame may do anything in return to feel wanted and loved.  This is where the codependency comes in.

Once shame, its sources and effects have been identified, the reader is given 8 steps to freedom.  These steps are intended to help the reader overcome feelings of shame and learn self-love.  With exercises to help accomplish this last and final goal; the reader will be empowered to make positive changes in their lives.

Conquering Shame and Codependency is written in easy to understand terms, with clearly defined segments so you can easily select what applies.  From an author who works as a family therapist and lectures about self esteem, co-dependency and addictions; this reference guide makes available to a wide audience what she teaches in smaller environments. Teachers, family therapists. and school counsellors will find this a good reference in identifying factors and solutions for those they may be concerned with assisting; and for anyone who has experienced the negative effects shame can produce, this book is  recommended reading.

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Note:  this reviewer is not a trained therapist.  The thoughts I've shared here are my opinion in relation to how I and how I feel others may respond to Conquering Shame and Codependency.

Meet the Author:

About Darlene Lancer, JD, LMFT

Darlene Lancer, JD, LMFT, is a licensed family therapist with over twenty years of experience working with individuals and couples.  She regularly lectures on self-esteem, codependency, and addiction.  Author ofCodependency for Dummies and 10 Steps to Self-Esteem, she has also published numerous articles.

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson - book review

Before I Go to Sleep
Author:  S.J. Watson
Published:  June 2011
Publisher:  Harper Collins
Pages:  340
Genre:  Fiction/suspense
Edition:  Trade paperback
Source:  borrowed

'As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me...' 

Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love — all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story. 

Welcome to Christine's life. (from Goodreads)

My Thoughts:

From the opening paragraph, S.J. Watson had me hooked.  "The bedroom is strange.  Unfamiliar.  I don't know where I am, how I came to be here.  I don't know how I'm going to get home."

Before I Go to Sleep is the thrilling, can't put down suspenseful novel of a woman who can't remember things day to day because of an accident she was in years earlier.  Each morning she wakes up not knowing where she is or who she's in bed with.  The mirror shows a significantly older woman than the one she remembers herself to be.  She cannot form new memories.

Daily her doctor calls to remind Christine to get her journal from the closet and to read it.  At day's end, she writes about her day and the journal, though it's not been written in for very long, slowly begins to reveal certain truths about her life.  The curious thing, which really keeps you reading to know why, is at the very beginning of the journal she has written "Don't trust Ben."  

Although I am itching to tell more,  I don't want to ruin the story for you.  Cleverly plotted and written; it's enough to say it's a real page-turner that I hated to put down!  Breaks were not long enough and days too short, as I squeezed in reading time for this thriller!!  I can't wait for the movie!  Wowza!!!

Warning for sensitive viewers:  some language and sexual references.