Don't Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino

October 17, 2023

Don't Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino

Returning home after her second year in college (which her father allowed her to attend primarily to find a husband), Marilyn Kleinman is confined to living under her father's rules again, which include attending services every Saturday. After being caught kissing their rabbi's son in front of the whole congregation, Marilyn finds herself shipped off to spend the summer with her great-aunt Ada who is the best-known matchmaker in Philadelphia. It's either that or marry the rabbi's son, who she barely knows. Marilyn isn't expecting much from the summer, but Ada turns out to be a lot different than she expected. In a good way.

Sweet and heart-warming, perfect for when you need something light and fun. This is a great choice for a beach or vacation read.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The Jersey Shore, circa 1960

Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith

January 26, 2023

Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith

Leo Demidov, former KGB agent, and his family are living in reduced circumstances in Moscow since Leo left his position as one of Stalin's agents. But they are happy: Leo is a factory manager, his wife Raisa is a teacher, and their two daughters are in high school. When Raisa and the girls are given the opportunity to visit the U.S. as part of a goodwill tour, Leo has a bad feeling in his gut about the whole enterprise. But there isn't any choice in the matter, so his family heads off to America while Leo remains behind in Russia. The tour starts off well, but then disaster strikes and Leo's family is shattered. Leo resolves to find out who is responsible, no matter what measures he has to take, even if it takes the rest of his life.

Third in the Demidov series, and probably the last one, since Leo is back in the USSR after defecting to the U.S., in prison and awaiting trial. I'm sure many readers were dissatisfied with the ending, and while it wasn't a happy ending, it was a logical conclusion. I don't remember a lot about the Cold War, but I do know there were no fairy tale or magical endings when someone committed what the Soviets considered to be a crime against the state. 

Lubyanka Prison, Moscow

The Unwilling by John Hart

February 23, 2021

The Unwilling by John Hart

The French family has had their share of sorrow: son Robert was killed in Vietnam, and his twin brother Jason came home drug-addicted with a serious case of PTSD that landed him in prison. His mother has disowned him and is pinning the family's hopes on youngest son Gibson, about to graduate from high school.

Jason encounters Gibby at the local quarry where everyone goes swimming, and wants to reconnect with him. He proposes spending a day of fun and adventure together, but he shows up with two skanky young women. One of the women taunts the inmates on a prison bus and later is found murdered in a horrific manner (even if you're a skank, you don't deserve to be murdered). With no suspects, the police focus on Jason (who has a criminal record). Jason disappears, and Gibby and his girlfriend are determined to find him and help him clear his name. Their search leads them through the underworld where they meet bad people and learn bad things.

John Hart is a great writer and I have really enjoyed his previous books. This one was somewhat flat for me, partially since some of the characters were like caricatures. Jason is a macho sort, almost too macho, the kind who would say "if you don't do this, you're not a man." Likewise, X the criminal is so bad that he's like a supervillain in a comic book.

If you haven't read John Hart before, I would suggest reading Down River instead.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

December 12, 2020

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

In the courtyard of a Brooklyn housing project, a middle-aged church deacon shoots one of the local drug dealers at point blank range.  Even though there are at least 16 witnesses, nobody sees nothing.  The balance of the story focuses on what led to this event and the overlapping lives connected to the neighborhood.

Heartfelt and humorous, characters include project residents, church ladies, prostitutes, local cops, drug dealers, mobsters, and even a ghost or two.  There is a mystery, a romance, a treasure hunt and plenty of secrets. The main themes are what makes up a family and a community.  

The plot is really hard to describe - suffice it to say that I loved it. This is one of the best books that I read in 2020.

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

August 23, 2019

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

The words secretary and secret have the same Latin root.  The women who work as secretaries for the CIA are expected to prepare necessary documents and immediately forget what they have typed.

At the height of the Cold War, Irina is hired by the CIA as a secretary.  But it isn't her secretarial skills that the agency is interested in - they are far more interested in her Russian background and ability to blend in without attracting attention.  Sally Forrester, a long-time operative, trains Irina on how to dress, how to act, how to perform a switch without anyone noticing.  At first, Irina works as a courier, picking up and dropping off information and documents.  One of her most important assignments is to meet a British agent and pick up two rolls of microfilm that contain the Russian text for the novel Dr. Zhivago, which has been smuggled out of Soviet Russia.

At his dacha outside Moscow, Boris Pasternak has completed one of the greatest novels ever written, yet he is unable to obtain permission to have the text published in the Soviet Union.  The Communist government feels that since the story is set against the backdrop of the 1918 Russian Revolution, it is critical of the Soviet government.  Pasternak makes the momentous decision to smuggle the text out of Russia to Western Europe, where it will be translated and published to world-wide acclaim.  But Pasternak's decision has dire consequences for himself and his lover Olga (the inspiration for Lara).

Dr. Zhivago has always been one of my favorite novels, so I was fascinated by the background on how it came to be published.  I knew that Pasternak had been awarded the Nobel Prize for the novel, but I had no idea about the controversy that ensued.  Well-researched and vibrantly told, The Secrets We Kept will appeal to readers of historical fiction as well as anyone interested in Soviet Russia during the Cold War, Boris Pasternak, or a legendary literary love story.

Boris Pasternak - very brooding Russian look

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in return for a review.