Review: The Dinner

The Dinner by Herman Koch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For the first time I wanted to give 3 1/2 stars. I didn't feel right about giving it four stars.

A very complex situation between two brothers, their wives and their children. An extreme moral dilemma arises in the behaviour and actions of their children and the question, although never actually spoken out loud, is whether to "turn the children in" or allow them to get away with a terrible crime. Granted, the children are only 15, but they know right from wrong perfectly well at that age.

This book gave me food for thought and I won't forget it any time soon.



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Review: Broken Promise

Broken Promise by Linwood Barclay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The story takes place over a period of a couple of days and is fast paced. Marla was told that she lost her baby at birth and that it was a girl. This was not the case and there was a conspiracy that nobody would have guessed.

An excellent read and I am looking forward to the next installment.

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The High Road by Terry Fallis

The High Road by Terry Fallis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the conclusion of the first book, The Best Laid Plans. Angus and Daniel are now properly elected to the federal government and have been given the task of discovering why a bridge that crosses from Ottawa to Hull has collapsed. Angus, ever the engineer, takes the task very seriously.

A thoroughly enjoyable read.

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A Memory of Violets by Hazel Gaynor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A story about the little flower sellers in London at Covent Garden. A pair of orphaned sisters are separated from each other and the elder of the two spends the rest of her life searching for her little sister.

I was very excited about reading this book because it takes place in many of the places that I have been including Covent Gardens and Grasmere, Preston and most of the Lake District in England. It was a "nice" story, but I felt that it failed to reach its potential. It was too "clean" and mapped out, hardly touching on the real nitty gritty streets of London and failing to teach the true atmosphere surrounding London in the late 1800's.



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Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had never heard of the eugenics program and I am so appalled at this that it is hard for me to write a review.

It is a story of the very poor in South Carolina. The government had a program to sterilize the young, poor and what they call mentally infirm.

A new social worker arrives on the scene to discover this program and she disagrees with it entirely and tries to change it, putting herself into serious trouble, and even landing in jail.

An interesting read, a good fictional story based on true policies.

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The Burning Room by Michael Connelly

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Of course I like to give every Harry Bosch novel five stars, but this story was good, but not as good as some others. An interesting twist in that one cold case was never solved, but the victim lived for ten more years. When he did die, they recovered the bullet from his spine, which they could not do previously. Meanwhile Harry and his new, young partner were working another cold case "on the side" which involved a fire where nine people including children had died. In the end Harry is suspended from duty for some minor infraction and you have to wonder if it was all a set up. Will Harry be back?

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Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens

Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A beautiful first novel for Ms. Lansens. The story starts with heartbreaking episode where a toddler baby girl is abused by her too young mother. You might think that the story is not for you at this point, but read on. Its a lovely story which moves between the present and the past of Addy, a lady who had a very hard life but seemingly took it all in stride.



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