A Thousand Cuts

This novel by Simon Lelic, is very well done, but there's no one I can recommend it to because it's so upsetting. It opens after a school shooting at a secondary school in England that left two students and a teacher dead, as well as the shooter. Every other chapter is a different monologue from a different speaker talking to Detective Inspector Lucia May about some aspect of the tragedy. The alternate chapters portray what is happening in May's life as she pieces together what led to the shooting. May's own life parallels the shooter's as she is bullied unmercifully in her workplace as the shooter was in his. This is Lelic's first novel and he does a great job. The different characters speak in different voices and are quickly and compellingly fleshed out. I will definitely be on the lookout for his next book.

Book reveiw by Jean

This book can be found at www.newberglibrary.org

The Swan Thieves

If you loved The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, you might enjoy The Swan Thieves. Like her first novel, Kostova’s second book is big, dense, and character-driven. It alternates between the present and the past with alternating narrators converging into a single mystery. Somehow I found the story of Dracula more believable and compelling than the story of an obsessed psychiatrist. Though rather long I did think The Swan Thieves was fun to read.

Reviewed by Jean

Another reviewer writes:

Though starting slow, The Swan Thieves is a wild exploration of the artist's universe, a journey deep into the heart of French Impressionism. The book crosses centuries & countries in its attempt to solve a present day mystery. Painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art. Dr. Marlow, assigned to Oliver, becomes frustrated with Oliver for his actions and his odd explanation. Dr Marlow embarks on an unconventional search for answers, however, the journey may reveal truths for Marlow as well as for Oliver. While The Swan Thieves is less accomplished than The Historian, it is a story worth reading and mystery worth solving.

Reviewed by Sue E

This book can be found on our web site: http://www.newberglibrary.org/