'THE FERRYMAN' (RELEASE DATE 5/2/23......UTOPIA FOR THE "HAVES"....DYSTOPIA FOR THE "HAVE-NOTS" (***)

     The Ferryman by Justin Cronin (Release May 2nd, 2023

       Come May 2nd, you're likely to see towering stacks of this hefty-sized, instant bestseller prominently displayed on bookstore shelves......and thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books/Random House, I received an advance copy.......so here's the hot scoop on what's sure to become one of the big book events of the yea    

           I'm forever in awe of authors who take on the formidable task of world-building. And I knew Justin Cronin, whose 'Passage' trilogy thrilled me, would not disappoint in that daunting task.  

           His gorgeous, idyllic, utopian island of 'Prospera' I can only assume is all that's left in a post-apocalyptic world........ or is it?

           But like many other utopian never-neverlands, Prospera's a heaven-on-earth only for its wealthy upperclass residents. Toiling to support and service all their needs is an oppressed underclass of working stiffs. In that regard, it resembles the toxic class divisions Fritz Lang's classic silent film "Metropolis".

 
           The 'haves' live in Club Med luxury until their implanted monitors indicate they're old enough to expire. But that only entails a ferry ride to a mysterious neighboring island, where some new scientific miracles wipe their memories and physically reconstitute them as newly re-conceived adolescents, ready to start life over again. But meanwhile, the Prospera proletariat, fed up with their  impoverished,  enslaved lives as third-class citizens, are ripe for revolt and revolution. 

             The book's central figure Proctor Bennett, holds the exalted position of overseeing and calming Prosperans on their life-renewing ferry rides, But when his own father's passage goes strangely awry, deep dark impenetrable riddles about Prospera emerge. And Proctor finds himself plunged into uncovering long hidden truths while he's unknowingly enlisted by leaders of the lower class rebellion about to explode the island. 

              I did truly love this part of the story, which takes up about two thirds of the book......it throws in all the mystery, action and suspense of all those similar sci-fi/action-adventure Dystopias...(like 'Logan's Run', 'Soylent Green' and even 'The Time Machine'. 

                Even if you're tempted to guess the secrets behind Prospera, nothing can prepare you for the Double Whopper of a giant Twist that Justin Cronin detonates here.

                But this is where the book stopped being fun to read for me and turned into more of a laborious chore.
                As staggering as the reveal is (a mindblower, take my word for it), Cronin then audaciously attempts a parallel double-narrative structure, forcing you to keep track of his pre-Twist and post-Twist world building and characters. I'm sorry to say it developed into a sometimes confusing, tiresome slog for me and after awhile, seemed endless.

                 While I admire the sheer ambition on display, as well as Cronin's meditations on the nature of humanity,  the book's propulsive engine slows to a crawl after the reveal. And that results in turning "The Ferryman" from a  zippy, page-turning thriller into dense, hardcore science fiction.  (with much description and little dialogue interaction) 

               Thought provoking, yes.......but not written to make you stay up late, eager to find out what happens next. In fact, I couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief after finishing the long-time-in-coming epilogue. 

                 There's so much I enjoyed, thrilled to and stood in awe of here, that I can't help but give out 3 stars.  But the book's third-act voyage into....well, whatever, I wouldn't dare say........left me not engrossed, but reading it from a respectful distance.  It's a feast of a book, but every reader will make up their own minds about the courses served up.

 

MOOREWOOD FAMILY RULES......YOU GRIFT ME UP WHERE I BELONG....(***)

 Moorewood Family Rules by HelenKay Dimon (2023)

           If you can't resist a mystery thriller set amongst a pit-of-vipers family, all of whom are up to no good to varying degrees, welcome to the Moorewood clan. 

            As an extended shady gang of conniving grifters, these familial  sociopaths specialize in marrying wealthy heirs and heiresses, with a cold eye centered on their victims' bank accounts. Jillian, one of their few non-psychopathic members, made a futile demand for them to give up the grifts and go legit. For her troubles, one of them anonymously set her up for an FBI arrest, resulting in a grueling, miserable prison stretch of almost 3 years. 

             Out on parole, Jillian's back and seething with a vengeful agenda to thwart all the family's illegalities.....control their money, claim ownership of their mansion home and thwart their newest two grifts to marry into separate fabulously wealthy families. 

              But the Moorewoods  aren't likely to take Jillian's 'go-legit-or-or-else' demand sitting down. When mysterious, murderous 'accidents' begin to befall her, her few family allies supply Jillian with hunky bodyguard Beck.......and a predictable but still amusing  slow burn romance simmers while literally everybody's deepest family secrets start coming out.

             While the set-up seemed to promise a deliciously dark comedy, I felt surprised to find  the book spent more time on the soap opera conniving and the all too serious drama of the Moorewoods'  dysfunctional family histories. True,  there a good amount of wit in many of the dialogue exchanges, but the 'Knives Out' type laughs, if that's what your expected, don't occur  with any frequency.   And Jillian, along with the storyline, both take an awful long time to finally get where they're  going. 

            Even with the dawdling plot, the chapters do zip along fast enough. Plus, I'm right there for any book that offers the fun of watching a sprawling household of toxic rascals meet their match.  Best saved for a warm lazy spring afternoon.....or even the beach.  3 stars (***)

WITH MY LITTLE EYE.....A STALK TO REMEMBER.....(*****)

With My Little Eye by Joshilyn Jackson (2023)

           I'm well aware of all the books, films and TV episodes that deal with that ever popular suspense generator - celebrities endangered and driven into fear-stricken anxiety by unhinged stalkers obsessed with them.

           What can I say? I'm a sucker for all of them, and like everyone else, I demand a seriously loathsome, psychotic stalker whose surprise identity, once revealed, will stun me.......and I also would ask for a hopefully sympathetic, vulnerable celebrity victim, somebody worth fearing for and rooting for.  While authors of stalker=thrillers usually never forget to dial up the psychosis on their villains, not all of these books present a celeb you can care about. 

             Joshilyn Jackson does well enough in that department. Her bedeviled celeb Meribel Mills is cleverly conceived as no giant superstar - she's only  a mid-level working actress, carving out a career of playing secondary, but unforgettable roles in TV shows and movies, achieving a moderate amount of fame. But unfortunately, it's enough fame to attract a murderous lunatic who's sending her creepy, threatening anonymous letters right out of the stalker handbook. Hoping to avoid this loon's attention and potential proximity, Meribel accepts a series role filmed in her home town Atlanta, taking along Honor, her adopted, autistic 12 year old daughter.

               And guess who hits the road to come right after them.....to make Miribel his and his alone.

               When the terrorizing and scary letters resume in Atlanta, there's no shortage of men popping up in Meribel's life to choose from as suspects -  a mysterious heavy-set guy in a raincoat on the street,  the friendly next door neighbor in her apartment building, the bodyguard=security expert who's an ex-boyfriend she still feels for, and her Atlanta-based, now remarried ex-husband....on whom Mirbel's practiced a bit of innocent, amateur stalking herself. 

                  As I'd expect and require in a thrill-ride like this, the pages fly by quickly, leading to the finale jaw-dropping reveals and excruciating nail-biting,  encounter between Meribel and her odious tormentor.  The genuine double-whammy of an extra twist that author Jackson throws into the finale comes a little too close to far-fetched overkill, but I couldn't help but admire the sheer audacity of it.  

                  Besides, I surely don't pick up stalk-o-ramas like "With My Little Eye" for their documentary-like reality. I'm looking for nothing less than a 5 star(*****) armchair theme-park ride with loads of hairpin turns.  And this one's just the ticket. 
                  
                   
                 
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THE SOULMATE.....A TROUBLED COUPLE, RIGHT ON CLIFF'S EDGE...(*****)

 

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth (2023)

Once again, domestic dysfunction goes plunging off a cliff......this time literally, right into the crashing surf of the ocean below. That's part of the unsettling price that loving soulmates Pippa and Gabe pay for moving into a beautiful cliffside house on the Australian coast. Their home sits in front of the area's most favored high cliff for potential suicides seeking to end it all.

            But not on Gabe's watch though. Movie star handsome and a dauntless good Samaritan,, he's become a neighborhood celeb by rushing out of the house to talk people out of taking that last fatal step.  Pippa couldn't be prouder of him........that is, until Gabe's calming voice and steady outstretched hands fail to prevent a bedeviled woman's terminal leap.  Even worse, from Pippa's vantage point of the incident, it looked more like Gabe's arms appeared in the "push" position rather than the life-saving  "I got you!" stance. Uh oh......

              And now let the twists commence, starting the first of a cascade of shockers that rock Pippa's world......Gabe and the unfortunate woman were not strangers to each other. (Let's all say it together now...."Uh oh..")

               More than that I wouldn't dream of revealing, since the nerve-wracking jollies of a domestic thriller like this come from the steady detonation of deep secrets and stunning surprises. And in that regard, Sally Hepworth delivers the goods over and over........in that everybody involved has something to hide and don't think you know for minute what's really going on until you race to the final pages. 

              The short, right-to-the-point chapters give the book a relentless, propulsive pace........a technique I wish more thriller authors would adopt.  And I can never get enough zippy 5 star, suspense laded tales like "The Soulmate"....even if they take me way past bedtime.  Well done, Ms. Hepworth.....can't wait for your next one already.  For suspense fans, "The Soulmate" makes for a fine book-mate,,,(*****)