The Holver Alley Crew

 The Holver Alley Crew by Marshall Ryan Maresca, 352 pages.

The Rynax brothers were determined to give up their life of thievery to instead run an honest gadget shop. Then their home, their as yet unopened shop, and the whole of Holver Alley burn down in a fire overnight. And the more they look into it the more it looks like it wasn't an accident. So they gather a crew who all lost everything in the fire and plan a few heists, even as they are reminded of why they wanted out in the first place. Verci Rynax has a baby, and Asti Rynax is clinging to the scraps of his sanity after having a very traumatic time working in Druth Intelligence. 

This book had all of the components of a fun fantasy heist, but it never felt like they quite got enough momentum behind them to get off of the ground. The characters were fine, and the setting was a pretty standard city with a few fantasy elements at the periphery, but I very nearly stopped halfway through after the first heist was over because the story structure made it feel like the book should be over. A fine novel, but I don't know that I will read the sequels.

After the Fire

 

After the Fire by Henning Mankell translated by Marlaine Delargy  401 pp. 

This was the last novel written by Henning Mankell, author of the Kurt Wallender books, before his death in 2015. This novel is not part of the Wallender series. Fredrik Welin retired from his job as a surgeon under a cloud from a botched surgery. He moved into the family home on a small island in an archipelago off the Swedish coast. One night he wakes to a blinding light and discovers his home is on fire. He escapes with the clothes on his back, a raincoat, and two left boots. Soon he is under suspicion of burning the house for the insurance money. And Fredrik develops a love interest in a local journalist who was writing about the fire. However, while Fredrik is away in Paris, rescuing his daughter from jail, another island home burns to the ground in the same way. Fredrik is no longer a suspect but now there is an arsonist in this quiet, secluded part of Sweden. This is not Mankell's best work. It's a bit rambling and drags in spots. However, there is enough going on to make you want to continue reading to find out how it is going to end.

The Blaze

The Blaze by Chad Dundas, 374 pages

Iraq War veteran Matthew Rose was invalided out after an explosion damaged his memory. So when he's forced to return to his hometown of Missoula, Montana, after his estranged father's death, Matt isn't quite sure what to expect other than plenty of awkwardness at not remembering people from his childhood. He's certainly not prepared for a potential arson that sparks a bit of a memory about another fire from his youth. Assisting his old friend, a journalist for the local newspaper, Matt begins to investigate the recent fire, as well as the one from his past, in the hopes that he can track down his own past too.

All too often, amnesia is presented as a quick-to-come, quick-to-go condition, but Dundas does an excellent job of making the memory loss and recovery seem much more real. In fact, most of this slow-burning thriller seems very real, from the motivations of the characters to the setting, which is so dead-on authentic it's amazing. It's probably not the sort of book I'd pick up on my own, but I'm glad I read it. Well worth it.

The Library Book

The Library Book by Susan Orlean  317 pp.

Overshadowed in the news by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Los Angeles Public Library suffered a devastating fire that destroyed 400,000 books and damaged a further 700,000 in materials. Orlean examines the circumstances surrounding the fire, the possible intentional or unintentional arsonist, the history of the Los Angeles library system, and the recovery and rebuilding of the library. I was fascinated that there is the technology available to save water soaked books. It's obvious the author is a great lover of libraries and what they do. This book is a love letter to the library and libraries as institutions necessary to our society. Previously blogged by Kara and Linda.

The Library Book

The Library Book by Susan Orlean, 317 pages

In this fascinating book, Orlean simultaneously traces the history of the Los Angeles Public Library; provides insight into the fire (and most likely suspect in the arson) that devastated the central branch in 1986; and profiles the library system as it is today. What results is a love letter to not just the Los Angeles library system, but to all public libraries. This is simply a wonderful book, and I'd recommend it to everyone: library lovers, those who have no idea what librarians actually do, people interested in social issues, true crime fans, history buffs. It truly has something for everyone.

The Library Book

The Library Book / Susan Orlean, 317 p.

I can't imagine I have anything new to add to the wholly justified love that has already been heaped on this book.  How fantastic to read a work by someone who 'gets' libraries and librarians in all of our quirky wonderfulness.  I'd love to own a copy so that I could re-read a chapter or two at the end of a long day.