Bloomland

Bloomland / John Englehardt, 195 pgs.

It is finals week at a fictional southern university when a shooting takes place in the library.  This book follows three characters who are affected by the shooting.  Rose is a freshman who is trying to shed her difficult childhood.  Eddie teaches English and is trying to save his marriage...or maybe just figure out his marriage.  Eli is also a student but he becomes the shooter.  The story moves forward and backward focusing on a different character each chapter.  I had some confusion trying to follow who was doing the talking as it bounced around from 2nd person POV.  But the overall story is interesting and the characters are memorable.  The shooter's story, is perhaps the most compelling.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick  273 pp.

On his eighteenth birthday Leonard Peacock plans to shoot his former best friend, Asher Beal, and then himself after giving gifts to his mother and the three people he considers his friends. Sounds depressing but, even though it's an examination of the thought processes of a highly intelligent but disturbed young man, it is an entertaining and engrossing story. Leonard is a Bogart and Shakespeare loving loner; a misfit with an absent father and a self-absorbed mother. Gradually the backstory emerges which explains Leonard's actions. It's been a long time since I stayed up late to finish a book (without falling asleep) but I couldn't put this one down.

Tapping into the Wire

Tapping into the Wire: The Real Urban Crisis by Peter Beilenson and Patrick McGuire, 214 pages.

Beilenson, the former Baltimore Public Health Commissioner, and McGuire, a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun, explore the connections between the issues raised in HBO's groundbreaking TV series The Wire and those found in many American Cities. Gun violence, the war on drugs, lack of needle exchanges or treatment options for drug abusers, and family and nutrition issues are all raised and discussed in this compelling book.
Christa's review can be found here.

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