LEAVE NO TRACE....HOMEGROWN WACKOS TOPPLE LADY LIBERTY....BUT WHO CAN STOP THEM? (*****)

 Leave No Trace; A National Parks Thriller by A.J. Landau, Jeff Ayers and Jon Land (2024)

        Calling all armchair thrill seekers. This one's as good as it gets.

        Talk about monumental villainy......literally. How about toppling the Statue of Liberty by blowing the immortal Lady right off her perch, killing hundreds of innocent tourists.

         And the vile odious perpetrators are just getting started - with similar catastrophes planned for National P:arks all over the country, followed by an apocalyptic attack designed to kick off a civil war. A ;mad, mad General and an equally unhinged loon have managed to unite the various factions of right=wing militia groups into one massive army......and their convention of crazies stands assembled and ready.

         But these so called 'patriots' didn't count on the unstoppable Good Guys on our side....National Parks Special Agent Michael Walker and FBI Special Agent Gina Delgado.

        Resourceful and fearless in the face of the formidable enemies arrayed against them, this powerhouse duo separately brave and endure one spectacular, harrowing assault after the other. I don't want to spoil anybody's fun by over-detailing the lethal dangers put in their path, so let's just put it this way - you won't be able to turn the pages fast enough. And fair warning.....it's the kind of book if you start in the evening, you may find yourself greeting the dawn while racing through the final chapters.

        Believable? I'll admit the feats accomplished by Michael and Gina are dialed up to "Die Hard" cinematic levels, but the ripped-from-the-headlines villains and their warped ideologies sound all too real, current and terrifying.

        As much as I enjoyed 'Leave No Trace' as a breathless, mile-a-minute throwback to those 1980's and 90's action adventure films, I can only hope it's not a prescient preview of coming attractions. But since it's the first in a series I'll assume Agents Walker and Delgado will stay on duty to bring well deserved doom to those homegrown enemies of America. And that their feats remain fictitious only......5 stars (*****)  Try this one for your latest sit down adrenalin rush...

THE TROUBLE WITH YOU......A TALENTED, INDEPENDENT WOMAN AMID AN ERA WITH LITTLE REGARD FOR HER.....(*****)

 The Trouble With You by Ellen Feldman (2024)

      It took no time at all for this book to engross me fully and keep me flying though the pages until its end. While I've read any number of recent books that take a deservedly angry gaze at women diminished, patronized and marginalized by a patriarchal society, this one really hit home with its on-target historical context. 

       And the book accomplishes all this by placing its romantic triangle in the midst of post World War 2 America. It's an era when you can detect the beginnings, those inevitable tremors of societal change that will erupt into earthshaking changes for the decades to come. 

        Dutiful wife and young mother Florence 'Fanny' Fabricant suffers a cruel twist of fate when her doctor husband, who survived his war service, dies suddenly at home, leaving her a single mother to her toddler Chloe. Forced into a provider role she's unprepared for, Fanny takes a job re-typing soap opera scripts for a New York radio network. 

       Her work puts her in constant contact with the network's most prolific and talented writer, the brash, witty, devil-may-care rebel Charlie. But beneath his wisecracking cynicism, he silently rages at the vile 'red-baiting' of Senator Joseph McCarthy and the inquisitions of the House on Un-American Activities Committee, destroying lives and careers of writers and actors.

         It doesn't take long for Fanny to find herself  overwhelmed by the true events of the post war era.  Charlie and her actress friend Ava are blacklisted by so called patriotic investigators, making them unemployable.. In addition to Charlie's 'frenemy flirting (which Fanny matches with her own inherent wit), Chloe's alarming, but temporary health scare amid the rampant, Polio epidemic touches off  Fanny's  budding romance with Ezra, Chloe's pediatrician. 

           The dramatic stakes (and Fanny's own conflicting emotions over the two men in her life) take an even more urgent turn when she agrees to use her name as a 'front' on Charlie's scripts so he can sell them. By that time, she's gradually discovered she's as talented a scriptwriter as Charlie. But Fanny's emerging abilities,  self-worth and newly found independence do not sit well with Ezra, whose traditional view of marriage gender roles will consign her back to the job of full-time housewife. It's lucky Fanny relies on the bluntly direct, common sense mentoring and advice of her beloved Aunt Rose, a seamstress with a rebellious history of her own

           Everything going on around Fanny kept me glued to this book.....the triangle, the surge of history and Fanny's own self revelations, which put her among the vanguard of women determined to pursue lives and careers that at the time, were thought of as only the province of men.   There's real snap, crackle and pop in the dialogue exchanges, that would make this story a natural for any film or TV mini-series adaptation.  The wit and insight stays rooted in Fanny's journey right up the final, more than satisfying finale. 

       An absolute 5 star item,(*****) and among the fastest, most ambitiously entertaining reads I've enjoyed this year. Don't leave this one off your TBR list.

ARGYLLE.....THE STRANGEST MOVIE TIE-IN EVER.....

 Argylle by Eli Conway (2024)

          Here's what would be far more fascinating and entertaining than either this book or the movie supposedly taken from it.......

           What in the freakin' world kind of strategy went into the marketing of this book?   It's a competent enough but generally unexceptional spy-commando-CIA action thriller. Loaded with fights, chases and a few twists but none of that stuff rendered at an urgent, fast pace. 

          The book's nothing that James Rollins and Greg Hurwitz haven't already been pumping out for years......and doing it, to be blunt, much better than author 'Eli Conway' who's been revealed as a pen name for a team of two writers of mystery thrillers. 

         So sorry for 'Swifties', but Taylor Swift did NOT write this as rumored on that monument of truth.....social media. Tay-tay did not take off from her packed schedule of concerts, albums and merchandise hawking to research Russian politics and assorted lethal CIA weaponry. 

        Which begs the question.....how does this book spawn the bloated, trainwreck CG-Eyesore movie.......a junky comic book concoction comprised of worn out tropes borrowed from 'Romancing The Stone', Bond and Marvel movies, stuffed with ridiculous 'twists' and action sequences that revel in their own stupidity.

         If anyone figured that out, please chime in. The only thing this book shares in common with the movie is the cover's graphic design and the 'Eli Conway' name used for the thriller author played by Bryce Dallas Howard.

         The movie's Aubrey Argylle is a spoofy imaginary Bond-like cartoon embodied by Henry Cavill. The book's Argylle is a quirky loner living off the grid who's recruited by the CIA to thwart a Russian Oligarch's plan to make life hell for the whole world. 

        For the full review of the movie, I'd refer you to our film-oriented blog, The Beached Quill at www.thebeachedquill.blogspot.com....

         As for the book?   Argylle and a crack CIA team spend a lot of time trying to keep Mr. Oligarch from finding precious treasures of Russian history, a P.R coup this reptile thinks will propel him into world domination.  And it surely doesn't help the CIA bunch that one of them's a traitor feeding their every move to you-know-who......

        For a book so loaded with breathless escapes and pitched firefights, it seemed to dawdle along........this is no up-all-nighter-can't-turn-the-pages-fast-enough kind of book.  It simply does not go any higher than a 2 star read. (**).  But if you can't pass up any commando-team adventure, well......there it is for you.

        One thing's certain.....don't even waste a second comparing it to the film, if you choose to suffer through it. The book and film exist in so completely different universes that even Dr. Strange hasn't come across them yet......

EVEN IF IT BREAKS YOUR HEART......AMID RODEO EVENTS, AND FAMILY STRIFE, TWO OPPOSITES FIND LOVE....(*****)

 Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn (2024)

          By the time I finished this, I felt the words, "Just please read this book...." should be printed directly in front of its title.

        An absolute heartbreaker, but also every bit a heart warmer that leaves you sighing and smiling along with the tears.

        Erin Hahn possesses a true gift for creating lead characters that immediately take hold of you and put you in their cheering section all the way through to the last sentence.

       So don't even try to resist the two troubled young Texans at the heart of this story. Case Michaels is a
champion rodeo bull rider whose life has come undone by the cancer death of Walker, his lifelong best friend and fellow rodeo star. He's also the son of the owner of a vast tourist ranch, .which puts him directly in the path of (and at odds with hard working ranch hand Winnie Sutton.

        Winnie, through no fault of her own, functions as the parental adult-in=the-room for her siblings, due to a long gone mom and a neglectful father with little to no interest in parenting. So in addition to working at the ranch and practicing barrel racing on one of the horses she tends to, she's also the main caregiver to her brilliant gifted 10 year old sister and her 14 year old brother who' s drifting into truancy and failing grades.

        While Case struggles to find his place in the world beyond staying 8 seconds atop a furious bull, Winnie's dream of champion barrel racing stays on hold as she cares for her siblings and mostly absent father. And then the two of them develop a friendship which, as you might have predicted, grows stronger every day and maybe into something more.

        Emotions run high and and as Winnie and Case's stories progress (and start to coalesce), you may feel the urge to always rush up to both of them for a group hug. Yes, prepare yourself, it's that kind of book.

        Let me not forget that besides the heart melting romance, author Hahn also includes some truly thrilling rodeo sequences, rendered with attention to the amazing skills, perseverance and courage required of the riders.

       That's quite a package for one single book, which, for me, put it firmly in 5 star territory.  (*****)  SQ says saddle up for a nice read to make you feel warm all over.

EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD.....SURVIVORS OF MULTIPLE MURDERS FACE THE REAL TRUTH ...(****)

 Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander (2024)

        When I first heard this terrific title I thought 'this sounds like either a psychological thriller or an Italian western that Clint Eastwood passed on.

        It's the first of those two choices and belongs in an ever growing sub-genre of thrillers........in which the survivors of bloody mass murders deal with the repercussions of the crime.....with the deaths usually happening a decade or so earlier during their college days.

        I've already read any number of such novels and it seems like they're piling up enough for librarians and booksellers to group them in special displays.....(possibly under the heading, "You thought YOU had it tough in college"

       The alumni of a prestigious journalism graduate school have done pretty well for themselves, especially 'Charlie' Colbert, a transplanted Brit who's become the editor of a celebrated supplement to a major newspaper. And not only that, she's engaged to the heir of powerful publishing empire.

       But Charlie's haunted with agonized guilt over the notoriously named "Scarlet Christmas", when those among her circle of collegiate friends were brutally murdered on Christmas Eve. Her memory's blocked out the worst parts of it and she fears if the whole truth is ever revealed, she'll somehow end up incriminated.
Her worst nightmare comes true when fellow survivor Steph, a formidable TV personality, plans to produce a movie of Scarlet Christmas.....a movie in which all the facts of what really happened that night (and who did what to whom) will be laid out for a worldwide audience.

        How could I ever resist a set up like that? As Charlie's carefully perfect life starts to come undone, author Jenny Hollander carefully rations out nuggets of clues about the murders......which naturally guarantees us to keep reading till we get the whole story.

       What I liked most.......unlike other books in this particular genre, it doesn't slip into that sinkhole of internal monologues that forces a reader to skim through the interminable blah-blah-blah of potentially unreliable narrators. It's a zippy read, filled with dialogue and the prose nails these characters with knowing observation. In other words a genuine page turner from beginning to end.

      But what I found myself going 'hmmm' about was the final big reveal and epilogue wrap-up. Satisfying for sure, but some of the motives and behavior struck me as unclear, not fully explained......and to be honest, maybe just a bit far-fetched and tough to swallow. For me, that's why I knocked it down from 5 stars to 4.

       I can't deny though that "Everyone Who Can Forgive Me' kept me riveted and entertained. It did have me swiping through the e-pages at maximum speed to see what happened and uncover the worst of those 'Scarlet Christmas' secrets.

      So I'd sincerely advise librarians and booksellers to not forget to include this one in your displays of books about multiple murder survivors trying to make sense of their trauma....and the elusive truth of it.    4 stars (****)

THE TAINTED CUP.....HORRIFIC MURDERS PLAGUE A FANTASY EMPIRE...(NOT TO MENTION MONSTERS, TOO) (****)

 The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet (2024)

       Now here's the first bit of honesty.....Fantasy is a category I only sometimes sample and only if the premise is intriguing, startling and promises a rip-roarin' good time for even casual readers of the genre
"The Tainted Cup" easily checked those boxes.....so for me, resistance was futile.

        First I was instantly reminded of how in awe I am of the world building required for these epics... all .the geography, history, and minute details of civilization required to bring a universe to life from scratch. Even more, I'm nodding my head in appreciation of the clever skill required to mirror this fantasy world with the foibles, politics, customs and events we're well familiar with in real life. Humans gotta be humans......no matter what universe they're parked in.

         But what really drew me to this book......the idea of an odd couple detective duo tasked with uncovering a horrific series of mass murders amid 'The Empire'. And this empire is no bowl of cherries to exist in to begin with, with its high walls protecting the populace from 'Titans'......giant Lovecraft-ian sea monster leviathans who, given half a chance, would rampage like Godzilla on a sugar high. (And every so often, they get half a chance....)

         Master sleuth and supreme solve of mysteries Ana Dolabra prefers to stay secluded with a blindfold on to sharpen her already razor-sharp instincts. Her young apprentice Dinios Kol, gets the legwork assignments - interrogating suspects, hunting down clues and stumbling upon corpses. All in a day's work.

       The crimes this pair must solve are the stuff of nightmares.......deploying a poison that results in spectacularly agonizing deaths right out of an unrated director's cut horror movie. And to catch the perpetrators, they must clash with the upper strata of The Empire food chain........and due to a breach in those walls, the empire's on the verge of another Leviathan whoop-de-doo.....for which humans stand at the bottom of the food chain.

         Even as a rare fantasy world tourist, I loved the mystery set up, the intricate creation of 'The Empire' and all the usual tropes of the genre......backstabbing conspiracies, swordfights, horrifying monsters, imperious nobles, rough-hewn stalwart warriors, surprising reveals and a breathless coming of age for a naive young hero. The only thing I wish the author seriously reconsidered was having Ana Dolabra spew out non-stop F-bombs as if Quentin Tarantino wrote her dialogue. Jarring, to say the least and kind of unnecessary.

       But overall, I had a fine time losing myself in this universe and by all means, I' can't wait for Ana And Din's next adventure in Empire crime solving.  (Bur maybe next time they can try Gorilla Clue on those high walls and Ana learns some alternative words to replace her reliance on you-know-what....) 4 stars ****)....A new SQ favorite of the year...