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In Silicon Valley, Mackenzie has worked her way up at a very successful start-up called Journy which distributes all manner of vehicles across the nation. She started modestly with a hard-won law degree, with her fierce, hard-scrabble mother urging her on. When Journy’s CEO is slain and the FBI gets involved, they rope Mackenzie into the investigation (supposedly) because she knows the culture and the lingo. It turns out to be a hall of mirrors with links way beyond the USA, and Mackenzie has to cut through the multiple layers to sort it out—and stay alive. There’s a fabulous denouement at Burning Man. All a little much, but very entertaining.
In Colorado there’s a murder that makes no sense. Why should Nora, 13, shoot her 14-year-old brother Nico point blank? They were very close—Irish twins. He was in the early stages of juvenile Huntington’s Disease. In desperation, Nora’s mother Angie turns to a local lawyer, Martine, who’s on the cusp of retirement. Martine calls on her son, Julius, also a lawyer, who’s better equipped to deal with such a case. A rabid DA facing election is determined to try Nora as an adult. The convoluted complexity: bad business between Angie and Julius in the past. Everyone is beset by guilt in this book. The underlying question: what is appropriate penitence? This novel is dark, sad, intense, and fascinating.
Shearwater is a very small, isolated island near Antarctica. It’s served as a research station and seed bank, but climate change threatens its existence. The island is also home to colonies of seals, birds, and penguins. Almost all the researchers but Domenic Salt and his three children remain, expecting to be picked up in two months. A woman, Rowan, washes ashore almost dead, and she’s nursed back to health. Rowan was on her way to the island in response to an urgent message from her researcher husband Hank, but the stormy sea destroyed the boat and its captain. There’s great distrust between Dom and Rowan for reasons that become clear later. The children are fascinating characters with talents and passions that add a complex dimension to the plot. This book works on many levels: atmospheric, scientific, and psychological. Wow!
Rome is besieged by Nazis in 1944, and The Choir, an underground resistance group, is doing what they can to move prison camp escapees to safety. It gets increasingly dangerous as Hauptman, under pressure from his boss, Hitler, launches more atrocities. Hauptman has moved into Contessa Landini’s mansion. She no longer lives there and is very active in the Choir. When a renegade Choir member scoops up a mysterious, grievously wounded Polish pilot off the street, the stakes increase. Rich character development, including that of Rome itself and the Vatican. I thoroughly enjoyed O’Connor’s My Father’s House which introduced me to the Choir. You might want to start with that.
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