One of the Best Beach Book Novelists, Elin Hilderbrand Masters Her 1st Mystery THE PERFECT COUPLE

Elin Hilderbrand (b Amer 1950) has a long, successful career cranking out summer romance reads, a.k.a. beach books for their guilty pleasure without a lot of strain on the brain.  Perhaps, The PERFECT COUPLE stands out from the pack because it's her 1st mystery novel and the plot twists more complex.  The other ingredients that pour into her cocktail of summer thirst quenchers are mired in the sands of Nantucket, NYC hottest spots and lots of love connections that come unraveled like a flimsy stopper knot not moored solidly to the dock.  The romance in this novel heats up but not necessarily from the start except for dalliances you know will not go the distance.  Celeste is the blonde ingenue new to the NYC "it" scene but is taken under the wing by Merritt (like the freeway) an "influencer" on the internet.  Merritt's posts earn her a lot of followers and with that, lots of posh perks.  Celeste is an only child of parents who were high school sweethearts.  Lovin' may give a thrill, but lovin' don't pay the bills.  Celeste's humble background renders her like a doe in the headlights in the bright city lights.  Her guileless wiles pave the way to win Ben Winbury's heart.  The Winbury family originally from London are wealthy aristocrats with homes in London, NYC and Nantucket.  Ben's parents are Greer, a successful mystery writer and Tag, a financial wiz and womanizer.  Ben has a brother Thomas married to Abby.  They're expecting their first child.  Ben's best friend is the handsome adonis who adores Ben but lusts for Celeste.  Lest you get notions whose won Celeste's heart despite her being engaged and hours away from marrying Ben, SPOILER ALERT - it's Shooter.  Shoot!  Don't worry that's not the tantalizing twists.  Merritt, the maid of honor to Celeste is found floating face down along the shore by her on the morning of Celeste's & Ben's wedding.  How will this mystery become uncovered?  For whom will true love be discovered?  Hilderbrand's shrewd writing and topsy turvy timelines keep the novel clipping at a swift pace.  Here's a clueless insight - the novel reads like a screenplay for a chick flick.  Here's my check list for casting:  Celeste, Emma Stone, Ben (real life ex-boyfriend, Andrew Garfield), Greer, Robin Wright, Tag, Armie Hammer, Merritt, Kiley Jenner (it's a mystery if she can act) and Schooner, Ansel Elgort.  Hilderbrand even winks at the notion of making this into a film. "The film montage starts once more:  Here are Celeste and Shooter riding the current down the beach again and again whooping like rodeo cowboys."  Hilderbrand's far from subtle  hyperbole are not encrypted.  But she's scripted a swift mystery romance that's like to prove more than satisfactory.  After all, "Anyone would be able to plot a murder."  But, "Nothing as it turns out can take the place of love."  The PERFECT COUPLE is a guilty pleasure to treasure on the beach.

British Author Veronica Henry's HOW to FIND LOVE in a BOOK STORE is a Mawkish Bore

Veronica Henry (b UK 1963) is queen of the Harlequin romance genre which is a class beneath court jester.  I do not jest, HOW to FIND LOVE in a BOOK STORE will be thought the best or the worst read.  For those in the dunce division, this book will be right up your cozy nook corner.  For those who can't stomach  saccharine, simpleton mawkish storytelling - STOP!  Don't waste a moment on this pithy, pathetic waste of paper.  Julius, the owner of a quaint bookstore in a charming rural town outside London is quite beloved by all who've come to browse & banter in his Nightingale Book Store.  Rebecca, an American college student with flaming red hair is the impetuous temptress who chances to stop in Julius' store the day before returning to the States.  The two fall instantly & instinctively head over heals in love.  Rebecca refuses to return home with her wealthy indignant parents and before long Rebecca  becomes pregnant.  Much like a Disney plot, the mother dies in child birth and Julius raises their daughter Emilia as a single parent.  The novel quickly shifts forward to Emilia as a young woman returning home to bury her saintly father.  A complex, well written story this ain't!  This romance novel is trite and predictable, filled with silly sentiments meant for bibliophiles.  "There's a book for everyone, even if they don't think there is.  A book that reaches in and grabs your soul." "Books are more precious than jewels.  A diamond scintillates for a second; a boy could scintillate forever."  There's no mystery or intrigue whether true love will prevail.  Be assured all those meant for each other will find true happiness together.  There is sappiness soaking up each page.  To ad insult to preciousness ad nauseam, this is the pick for the local book store's book group.  Books after all are an escape, except when you feel trapped in a cloying concoction.  Culinary arts play a huge part of this puckish pastiche.  Emilia inherits the book store which is bordering on bankruptcy and literally falling apart.  But wait, Jackson, the assistant to the dastardly town villain has a sudden change of heart thanks to Emilia's suggestions on books to read to his son.  This leads Jackson to a major epiphany of life's priorities.  When Emilia admits defeat to Jackson (unbeknownst to his ploy to force her to sell) and submits to selling to his boss, Jackson is aghast and has an about face.  "But, what you do here changes people's lives for the better."  Emilia surprisingly responds, "Oh, don't romanticize." Anyone with common sense will not waste their time on this nonsense.

From the Titan of Family Dysfunction Anne Tyler's CLOCK DANCE is Fleeting Sappy Storytelling

Anne Tyler is one of America's most highly honored novelist (b MN 1941).  Her novels have earned the Pulitzer Prize (BREATHING LESSONS)  in addition to several nominations for the Pulitzer, a Nat'l Book Award (The ACCIDENTAL TOURIST) the PEN/FAULKNER AWARD (DINNER at the HOMESICK RESTAURANT) and numerous Mann Booker Prize nominations (A SPOOL of BLUE THREAD). However, Tyler has not been without her critics for being overly sentimental and cloying.  I had taken issue with these critiques in the past. I found her writing fierce & disturbing.  I considered her the master of family dysfunction - until now.  CLOCK DANCE is precocious & sparse.  It reads  like an outline for which she never bothered to fill in with complexities and unexpected behaviors.  Willa is the heroine of this novel written in 3 parts; 20 year time span from her childhood home to her first marriage and finally, in her 2nd marriage in her early 60s.  Growing up, Willa & her younger sister lived with a narcissistic, bi-polar mother and a saintly but meek father.  Meek is the trait Willa  emulates in life.  She avoids all confrontations & subjugates herself to two demanding, self-centered husbands.  The 3rd part part of the novel exemplifies Willa as a willing participant to others as she has never figured out what to live for.  Willa gave birth 2 two sons Sean & Ian with her first husband Derek.  Derek was a short tempered, cocky bully.  He dies in a road rage incident with Willa in the passenger seat, an accident he initiated.  Now, in her 60s and at a loss as to how to fill her days with her sons gone and married to Peter, a much older man similar in disposition (irascible and captious) to Derek who spends his days on the golf course.  Willa receives a perplexing call from a woman telling her to come take care of her presumed granddaughter Cheryl as she can no longer be responsible.  Cheryl's mom, Denise is in the hospital recovering from a gunshot.  Denise was at one time Sean's live in boyfriend but not Cheryl's father.  Instead of correcting the woman who called she concurs and flies from AZ to MD to care for both the mother & daughter whom she's never even met.  The adjectives flung at Willa by Denise after Willa has gone to great lengths to help (which is asinine altogether) are pathetic and superficial.  Although Denise does call Willa out on her wishy washy ways.  Willa was hoping her son Sean would come get her for their one planned dinner while in town but she didn't come out and ask Sean.  Instead, Denise asks Willa, "Why just hope? Why pussyfoot around?  Why do you go slantwise?"  CLOCK DANCE is cloying and sentimental.  It's not on step with her previous prize winning novels and not worth the time reading.

THE ENSEMBLE a Debut Novel by Aja Gabel that Strings Along a Chamber Music Quartet for Too Long

THE ENSEMBLE is debut novel about the members of a string quartet.  Unfortunately, the musical metaphors over play the libretto with repetitious refrains.   Some movements soar but it's too often a diminuendo that slackens.  Aga Gabel has strung together a novel with 4 narratives; 2 women & 2 men who form a finely tuned chamber music group.  The two that set the pace are Jana, the leader of the quartet on 1st violin and Daniel, on cello.  The other two are Brit on 2nd violin who underscores the melody & underplays her needs and Henry, the youngest in the group.  Henry is acclaimed prodigy for whom everything seems to come easily.  How the 4 form a into a group is enigmatic and irrelevant.  What's key is how they form a family & how their lives ebb and flow while strumming their bows to create art & harmony.  Together, their tymphony becomes tiresome; an overly rehearsed piece devoid of enchantment.  The group span decades together but the tone becomes one long adagio  lacking nuance.  Their solo acts apart from the group exhibit more virtuosity than the ensemble combined.  Their reliance on one another goes through varying modules & tonal alignments.  They all arrive at the same resounding epiphany crescendo.  The quartet garnered from each other what most people get from their life partners; "consistency, obligation, non-verbal understanding and misunderstanding - a deformed ugly-pretty kind of love and knowledge that what was there wouldn't change, for better or worse."  Gabel has composed an impressive debut but one that would have benefitted with more rests and space between the notes.  Daniel, the oldest, most tempestuous and arguably driven of the group, scored the most reverberating note.  He didn't think it was terrible to get everything you wanted.  He thought it was terrible to not know what you want.

You Go First - Y/A novel: 2 Outsiders Connect on the Internet Playing Scrabble - I Gobbled it Up

YOU GO FIRST by Erin Estrada Kelly is a first rate coming of age novel.  It's timely, universal &  delivers a welcomed message for those who feel they don't fit in.  The inspirational tale is when you feel lonely or despondent, try being observant and open & you'll be more than likely to find someone to befriend.  Many pre-teen & high school stories deal with feelings of awkwardness, alienation and the cruelty systemic within the pains of growing up.  YOU GO FIRST is a delightful read for young and old alike.  The story is told by 12 year old Charlotte and 12 year old Ben.  The two have found each other on the internet in an ongoing game of Scrabble.  Charlotte thinks of herself as the girl from the puzzle who doesn't fit in anywhere.  Her one friend Bridgette whom she thought she'd be best friends forever has harshly abandoned her to join a popular clique.  Charlotte is a prodigy with an insatiable interest in science & information.  Her consuming pursuit of knowledge has a down side - sending her down a rabbit hole; internalizing information & dissociating her from the present.  Ben also possesses a brilliant & precocious mind but his preoccupation on the internet & with his studies pushes him into an unpopular social stratosphere.  Charlotte is internalizing the pain of her father's recent heart attack.  Ben's world is upheavaled by the shocking announcement of his parents divorce.  He never saw that one coming.  Neither Charlotte or Ben have siblings or a friend in which to seek solace.  Charlotte feels the hurt of being an outcast.  She tells herself, life is difficult for lone wolves but their self-reliance often makes them stronger than average.  Ben is constantly being humiliated at school but "he would not be defeated.  He would not relinquish control over his own emotional well-being."  These two characters are irresistible & indefatigable.  You can't help rooting for them.   Ben realizes "our language has devolved in recent years because we rely too much on digital devices to communicate, like social media and phones."  Ben yearns to connect.  When the two decide to speak via telephone they still withhold their inner turmoils.  "He only knew that he wanted to say something to somebody about something."  It's not giving anything away to say these two who felt friendless and that their worlds were crumbling find themselves coming up from their devolving dark holes into the warm sunshine.  Kelly is a skillful award winning author.  Her novel HELLO UNIVERSE received the Newberry Medal & her short stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.  YOU GO FIRST is a rewarding read.  "Scrabble is both strategy and luck.  If you know how to use what you're dealt, you can triumph."

Rage Against the Night: High Honors for Horror Story Collection by Several Writers including Stephen King

RAGE AGAINST the NIGHT might not appeal to the squeamish.  But the breadth of scary stories span the genres of sci-fi, fantasy, apocalyptic futures, good v. evil, demons, monsters, magic and have the mystifying power to get under one's skiing & spark one's imagination.  This varied collection covers the gambit of ghouls, and spine chilling, hair raising visceral responses.  There is so much to be said for stories make the reader feel terrified, unanchored with heart a fluttered.  Writers able to create a world with supernatural occurrences, instill magic in the air that dances like static electricity are writers with phenomenal creative prowess.   Having attested to my high regard for the supernatural, bizarre, metaphysical and yes, horror genre, I submit not all stories in RAGE AGAINST the NIGHT are sublime.  My favorite niche within tales of evil & doom are those that rail against the dark night.  The combined stories here attest to courage, sacrifice and the majesty of life which many consider mundane; perhaps until it's too late.  Skillful "horror" writers possess a magical craft that causes us to pay attention to the things that may have gone unnoticed but now imprint a haunting impact.  My favorite pick within this inventive & unnerving collection is "Constitution" by Scott Nicholson.  Randall has a loving wife, Demora (a play on the word morte?)  Randall has recently passed away but somehow has remained tethered to life (much as in the film GHOST) and his beloved, Demora.  Unlike GHOST, Randall's body is decomposing and rigor mortis setting in although Demora seems oblivious.  Regardless, Randall is all to aware of what bounties he will miss.  "He never before noticed the breadth and depth of reality.  So much detail, every bit of mica in the sidewalk glistening in the sun…People flush with health, cheeks blushed with blood, all hearts racing, pounding, pouring, pumping life.  So alive.  Such a treasure it was to breath.  The living knew not their wealth."  Perhaps some people are unaware that what constitutes a horror story is the fear of death our frail mortality.  RAGE AGAINST the NIGHT should be bring a wider audience in  to appreciate - before it's too late - oops, you've made a fatal mistake!  Do not slight tales from the dark side.  Good horror stories make us feel alive!  "We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."  (T Wilder "Our Town")