March 2014 - Nightstand Book Reviews

“Haunted Ground” by Erin Hart

Erin Hart’s debut novel, "Haunted Ground," opens with Brendan McGann digging for peat to use as winter fuel, a ritual his ancestors have practiced in that very spot in East Galway as far back as anyone can remember. He is used to finding odd bits of pottery, but this day, he finds a woman’s head buried in the bog.

Cormac Maguire, a Dublin archeologist helping out the National Museum, is asked to oversee the excavation in order to preserve this rare find. Dr. Nora Gavin, an American lecturer with Irish roots, has a special interest in bog bodies and is also notified. And so are the police, who are looking for a missing woman married to a local landowner, Hugh Osborne.

The unique properties of the bogs have been known to preserve artifacts, bodies, and even food for centuries and they hold a fascination for archeologists. There is no sign of Osborne’s wife, but Maguire and Gavin get caught up in the mystery of discovering who the centuries old red-haired woman was and how only her perfectly preserved head came to be there. The policeman continues his own, mostly single-minded, investigation.

Yes, there is more than one puzzle to be solved. When asked to stay around in order to complete an archeological survey for Osborne, Maguire agrees and devastating secrets from the modern era are revealed. It seems as if everyone in "Haunted Ground" wrestles with family issues of one sort or another – a marriage in trouble, a lost love, a tragic disappearance, middle-age crisis, family shame, revenge, and more. The conflicts feel real and we want to see them resolved, as well as follow the mysteries to their conclusion.

The subplots reveal Hart’s love for Irish music, infusing the storyline through several characters. Maguire is a flutist in his free time and Nora, it turns out, has a hauntingly beautiful voice. Devaney, the policeman, plays a fine fiddle and uses his music to bond with his daughter. We learn of the small pubs where songs both old and new can be heard. Ah, to be there on a night when the locals play their hearts out, merely for the love of the tune and maybe a pint of Guinness.

In real-life, the entire bog system is under scrutiny by environmentalists because not only is peat a non-renewable resource, the bogs are wildlife habitats, home to species found nowhere else in Europe. There are factions that would have all bog digging banned for commercial use.

My own memories of the green hills of Ireland were stirred by Hart’s description of the lush countryside. I had not thought of the east to west differences in years, the shift from city to villages, the changes in terrain, language, music and even the pace of life. In "Haunted Ground," Hart gives us an insider’s view of the culture and wonderful history of the area. The reader will feel as if Hart is chatting about home.

"Haunted Ground" was nominated for the Anthony and Agatha awards, and won the Romantic Times Best First Mystery award. There have been three additional, very successful books in the series featuring Cormac and Nora.

Please visit www.erinhart.com to see what Hart is up to now. In addition to her writing, she conducts yearly tours in Ireland, with a select few readers. Check into this year’s itinerary for Hart of Ireland. There may still be time to sign up for the September trip.

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“Divergent” by Veronica Roth

Adventure, Bestselling Author, Dystopian, Young Adult/Teen

Dystopia: “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives” (Merriam-Webster) OR “a community or society that is in some important way undesirable or frightening.” (Wikipedia)

It used to be that everywhere I turned in the YA section of the bookstore, vampires were front and center. Now that the Hunger Games Trilogy has proven to be wildly successful, vampires seem to have been edged out – at least in product placement – by books with a Dystopian theme. Veronica Roth’s Divergent series is the latest of the genre to be a hit with teens and have a movie tie-in.

Beatrice Prior and her brother are 16 and they will soon take a test to see which faction in their society is a suitable match for their particular strengths. Each of them is in some way unhappy about the idea of staying with the family’s faction, Abnegation (a selfless group) and they seek out other factions (Dauntless=brave, Erudite=intelligent, Candor=honest, Amity=peaceful) after their test results come in.

The choice Beatrice makes in Divergent changes her in ways she doesn’t always understand or embrace, and may destroy her as she uncovers the truths behind the exciting hype of the Dauntless. And, when secrets are revealed about her test, she faces danger from the very faction she chose.

Beatrice renames herself Tris and is like many real-life teens – she doesn’t appreciate the support system that surrounds her until she needs it, she takes her parents for granted, she’s insecure in her physical appearance, she searches for something beyond the life she has in hand, she feels unworthy when in fact she’s better than her peers – in other words, she’s growing up painfully as most teens do.

Roth writes Tris as having a conflicted moral compass, and angst about doing the wrong thing. During training, her hands shake when faced with something new, but when protecting a friend, she performs unflinchingly. She is small for her age, so outdoes her competition by using her brain. She has an excellent trainer, a mysterious ‘Four’ who seems intimidating in his coldness and yet perfect in so many ways. Roth reveals the layers of the young man’s background as the relationship develops.

Divergent features an interesting mix of sixteen year olds with varied flaws and positive attributes, and their range of personalities and skills keep the plot moving and the action believable within the Dystopian world. There are loyal friends and nasty instructors, psycho initiates, desperate people who live outside the faction compounds, evil adults who plot and scheme for control, and, of course, a way for the teens to outsmart the evil adults. A few of the action scenes that involve incredibly difficult physical tasks, would lend themselves to great FX in the movie version if there is a big enough budget.

Young Adult fiction is a playground for vampires, martial arts experts, archers, unexpected heroes, magicians, and werewolves in the sci-fi/paranormal/fantasy realm. Partly because parents are curious about what their offspring are reading and partly because of all the media hype, full-fledged adults are now big fans of YA as well. I read the Twilight series, the Hunger Games trilogy, and now the Divergent series, and am happy to be numbered among the followers.

Please visit www.veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com to find out the latest about Roth and her projects.

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“The Conviction” by Robert Dugoni

Bestselling Author, Legal, Suspense, Thriller

Top Seattle attorney, David Sloane, may be at home in the courtroom and able to outsmart his opponents, but he is out of his element when dealing with his troubled stepson.

Sloane’s wife has died and he has relinquished custody of his stepson to Jake’s biological father who lives in California, a move that has confused and angered Jake. “The Conviction” opens with Jake’s future at stake after he has been arrested for public intoxication (for the second time) and property damage. The judge decides to give him one last chance to straighten himself out in rehab or else go to jail. She assigns responsibility for Jake’s attendance to Sloane and they head back to Seattle.

Rather than re-bonding with his stepfather, Jake remains sullen and resentful. He’s back in the house where he witnessed his mother being murdered and can’t get past his grief and rage. When Jake and David are invited to go on a camping trip with an old friend and detective, Tom Molia, and his son, T.J., it looks as if a week in the woods might be a great way to reconnect with this young stranger that David no longer understands.

But instead, Jake tries to buy beer and cigarettes with fake ID on the first day of the trip, and drags T.J. along with him. The storeowner confiscates the ID, but the boys return later and break in, taking liquor and a rifle along with the recovered ID. Of course, they get caught by the police soon after, but not before they get drunk and shoot up the woods close to town. Sounds like a mess, with T.J. a reluctant participant, driven by his need to be accepted.

The boys are tried, convicted and sentenced to time in a local juvenile detention center (Fresh Start) before their fathers even know they’re missing from their room. That’s only the beginning of the nightmare that ensues.

The fathers attempt to get Jake and T.J. retried and released, or at least moved to a facility closer to home, but are stymied by the cops and judge in this small California town that seem to skirt constitutional rights. Sloane and Molia suspect corruption, but with what motive, what payoff?

Dugoni delivers an alarming story of a juvenile legal system gone horribly wrong, with teenaged inmates working as virtual slaves in boot camps, rather than receiving the rehab and guidance advertised in the fancy brochures. He takes a look at teens who make poor choices despite the help available, and the serious consequences awaiting them. Dugoni never implies that Jake and T.J. should not be punished for their actions, merely that they be counseled on their rights and then sentenced appropriately.

At Fresh Start, Jake grows up quickly when he discovers that something more is going on at the camp beyond their re-education, and that knowledge could get him and T.J. killed before David can get them out. The parallel plotline of the fathers trying to free the boys, while working against the clock and being threatened themselves, is gripping.

“The Conviction” moves from legal suspense to thriller mode in this pulse-pounding, page-turning, sleep-robbing tale. I had several ‘gasp’ moments as Dugoni built tension and advanced the dramatic story.

There are no false notes. Jake’s ability to deal with whatever is thrown at him physically, is set up early on and the action involving the supporting characters is completely believable, given their backgrounds. Those supporting characters, whether adults who oppose (or side with) Sloane and Molia, or teens who battle (or help) Jake and T.J., are so clearly drawn that I kept casting them in a movie in my mind’s eye.

This is the fifth book in the David Sloane series and in my opinion, the best so far.

Read the review of "Wrongful Death" here. Go to www.robertdugoni.com for information about all of his projects and where you can catch his next terrific writing class.

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