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This sprawling, intense historical novel moves back and forth from WWII in various Balkan and European countries, to 1982 where the story focuses on tracking down Lichtblau, a vicious SS officer. A few prisoners in his camp who survived are determined to take revenge. Now bearing the name Huberman, Lichtblau's running drugs in Honduras. It was sometimes difficult for me to track the large cast of characters and very well-drawn but horrifying scenes, but I came away with a disquieting sense of the meanness, greed, and denial that plays out in the story, as reflected in the political machinations and endless skirmishes of today.
Brilliant Alice is a devoted student of Professor Grimes. Their subject: Magick. Her mentor is charming, quixotic, and manipulative. In an experiment he devised, she draws a pentagram in chalk around him but accidentally leaves a tiny gap and he explodes. Off she goes to Hades to bring back his soul, accompanied by his other prize student, Peter. Their adventures into the circles of Hell are bizarre and terrifying. I was gob smacked by the author's grasp of arcane philosophy and literature, and even if some of her explanations of complex paradoxes left me in the dust, I eagerly followed their Escher-like twists and turns with fascination. A giddy, stimulating journey.
Lorelei is a MacArthur fellow, renowned for her work with AI. She also has an anxiety disorder. To keep her family safe, she chooses a self-driving vehicle. On a family trip, it crashes into another car. Who's at fault? Seventeen-year-old Charlie who at the wheel but texting? The sister who texted him? His father on his laptop? The vehicle itself? The family comes through relatively unscathed, but the couple they hit dies in the collision. Survivors’ guilt and confusion plague them. All their devices, including the car, provide forensic evidence, but the results are inconclusive. Then Charlie faces another serious accident that may imperil his previously golden future. This book tackles the complex subject of AI accountability, as well as the manipulative power of money and prestige. It's a gripping story that gave me a lot to think about.
In this novel, Kolkata is in bad shape; food supplies are scarce, and the government is in chaos. Ma, her little daughter, and her father are ready to fly to Michigan to join her husband. She procures their passports, and then they are stolen. She tracks down the thief, but there's a significant complication. The thief stayed at the shelter she managed and watched her steal food from it to feed her family. As these two crafty antagonists spar, it's heartbreaking to witness because they each are driven to provide for their own families. The characters are very well drawn, with humor amid the desperation.
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