Dysfunction Junction

The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless
2014
Reviewed by Diane K.M.
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 5


Reading this book was like pulling over on the Interstate to gawk at a 20-car pileup. You know you shouldn't be staring at the mess, but you can't look away.

Carine McCandless is the younger sister of Chris McCandless, who became famous after his story was published in Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild (which was also made into a movie, directed by Sean Penn). This summary is from Krakauer's Author's Note:

"In April 1992, a young man from a well-to-do East Coast family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. Mckinley. Four months later his decomposed body was found by a party of moose hunters ... His name turned out to be Christopher Johnson McCandless. He'd grown up, I learned, in an affluent suburb of Washington, D.C., where he'd excelled academically and had been an elite athlete. Immediately after graduating, with honors, from Emory University in the summer of 1990, McCandless dropped out of sight. He changed his name, gave the entire balance of a $24,000 savings account to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet. And then he invented a new life for himself, taking up residence at the ragged margin of our society, wandering across North America in search of raw, transcendent experience. His family had no idea where he was or what had become of him until his remains turned up in Alaska."

I have read Into the Wild many times and loved it. I had a strong, personal reaction to McCandless' story because he reminded me of a loved one. When I heard that Christopher's sister had written a book about him and their family, I knew I had to read it. While I am glad I did, the story now bothers even more.

Carine said she wanted to write this memoir to show why Christopher chose to leave his family. "I wanted to explain that going into the wild was far from crazy; it was the sanest thing he could have done." 

Her book does give some context to Chris' actions. The simplest explanation is that their parents, Walt and Billie, fought a lot, yelled a lot, and things often turned violent. When they were younger, Chris tried to protect Carine from the abuse, and he once told a friend he felt guilty for abandoning her when he left for college. 

A more complicated explanation is that in addition to the domestic abuse, Walt had another family. He had six children with his first wife, Marcia, and was still married to her when Chris was born. Walt split his time between the two homes, and he constructed elaborate excuses for his extended absences and the other children. (Walt's "fiery temper" and the marriage overlap are briefly mentioned in Krakauer's book, but Carine's memoir is much more explicit.)

It wasn't until Chris and Carine were much older that they learned the truth about Walt's first wife and their six half-siblings. Carine wrote that Walt's duplicity greatly upset Chris, and he fumed for years about it. 

"I believe Chris went into the wilderness in search of what was lacking in his childhood: peace, purity, honesty. And he understood there was nowhere better for him to find that than in nature."

I was fascinated by Carine's story, but also repelled by it. I liked learning more about Chris' life, but she spends a lot of time discussing her boyfriends and her failed marriages and her materialistic needs. It doesn't take a psych degree to see that Carine made the same mistakes as her mother, and some of those choices upset Chris. I would not recommend this book unless you really want to learn more about Christopher McCandless, or if you want to delve into a seriously dysfunctional family. 

P.S. One good thing that came out of reading this memoir is it prompted me to reread Into the Wild. Man, I love that book.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When a poor black woman dies of cervical cancer in 1951, her cancerous cells live on. But what happens when her biological material generates billions of dollars for the drug and pharmaceutical industry, leaving her dirt poor descendants in the lurch?

Yeah, I know I wrote that like the teaser for one of my mysteries but the only mystery here is how people who have profited from the diseased cells that killed a woman can sleep at night while her kids and grand kids don't have two nickels to rub together.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is really two stories. One of Henrietta Lacks and her cancer cells that lived decades beyond her years, and the other of Rebecca Skloot and the surviving members of the Lacks family.

Henrietta Lacks married her counsin, contracted multiple STD's due to his philandering ways, and died of misdiagnosed cervical cancer by the time she was 30. However, the cancer that killed her survives today in the form of HeLa cells, which have been taken to the moon, exposed to every manner of radiation and illness, and all sorts of other experiments.

While other people are raking in money due to the HeLa research, the surviving Lacks family doesn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of, bringing me to the real meat of the book: The pharmaceutical industry is a bunch of dickbags. Imagine having something removed that generated billions of dollars of revenue for people you've never met and still needing to watch your budget so you can pay your mortage. Fair? Shit no, but that's the way it is, apparently. It also seems illogical that you can patent things you didn't create but again, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an eye-opening look at someone most of us have never heard of but probably owe some sort of debt to. Also, it drags the big money pharma companies out in the sun. Sadly, they do not burst into flames like the vampires they are. Four out of five stars. I'm going to go read something happy now.

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Another Very Good Addition to Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther Series

Reviewed by James L. Thane
Four out of five stars


The twenty-fourth entry in Archer Mayor's series featuring Joe Gunther of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation is among the best books in the series.

When Hurricane Irene blows through Vermont, it does millions of dollars worth of damage and causes enormous headaches for virtually all of the series' familiar cast of characters. Gunther's former love interest, Gail Zigman, is now the state's governor and has to deal with the mess and the political fallout that results. Gunther and his team must deal with a number of more specific issues.

As an example, the Vermont State Hospital is flooded and an elderly mental patient who has been confined there for years manages to escape. The woman, Carolyn Barber, is known as "The Governor" because forty years earlier, she was indeed the state's governor for a day as the result of a PR stunt that didn't turn out so well. Gunther and his team go looking for the woman but are unable to find any trace of her, save for a slipper that she lost while making her escape.

Meanwhile, the torrential rains have torn through a cemetery, exposing several coffins, one of which breaks open. The deceased who had been laid to rest in the coffin years earlier, turns out to be a pile of rocks, leaving Gunther's team to figure out what in the hell ever happened to the guy who was supposed to be in the coffin.

As if those weren't problems enough, a former state politician suddenly turns up dead at his very expensive retirement/nursing home. The doctor on the scene attributes the death to natural causes, but when Gunther learns that the former pol was connected to the missing "Governor for a Day," the coincidence seems just too great and he orders an autopsy and a full investigation.

From that point, the story proceeds along two tracks as the acerbic Willy Kunkle investigates the case of the missing body, which will turn out to have important ramifications for Willy himself. Meanwhile, the rest of the team tackles the case of the missing "Governor" and the death of the former politician. All in all, it's an interesting and entertaining read. By this point, for those who have followed this series for years, any new entry is like renewing old friendships and here, as is almost always the case, Archer Mayor never disappoints.

Colfer Dials Up Another

The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Action! Action! Action! That's the name of the game in Eoin Colfer's The Arctic Incident.

Child prodigy and criminal mastermind, Artemis Fowl is searching for his kidnapped father. He needs the help of the fairy police, and as it so happens, they need him. Law and lawbreakers work together in this fast-paced, humorous action-fantasy.

Eoin Colfer has created fun fairyland for the 21st century. It's a nice, soft blend of technology and fantasy, not too heavy on either count. The scope of his world is rather limited to Fowl's criminal human underworld and a sort of cartoonish MI5/police bomb squad fairy agency. We're talkin' smart pixies with fire-power!

Though the scope may be narrow, it helps to keep the plot super tight, and I ain't complaining about that. I could however complain that constant Go! GO! GO!!! can be just as bad as a book that goes nowhere. Much too of anything often dulls the senses. Later on in the book I found myself zoning out during the nonstop action.

This is book #2 in Colfer's Artemis Fowl series and many of the same characters reappear. That's understandable...to a point. For instance, the ground munching dwarf Mulch Diggums, a character I thought fresh and inventive when reading the first book, is used again and I felt it was unnecessary. You expect the main characters to return, but Diggums is not a principle player in the grand scheme of things. He's a fun character, but I think Colfer should've come up with something new there, otherwise it's like a comedian coming back for an encore and repeating the same jokes.

Perhaps I could've given this 4 stars for the fun factor, but aside from the complaints above, I also felt that the repetitious feel of the plot from book one to book two was too much. However, if you loved book one and are yearning for more of the same, you'll find it in spades in The Arctic Incident.




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Yorkshire Goes A Bit Dark

All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Shit gets real this time around, all too real.

I was not thrilled with the start of All Things Wise and Wonderful, because from the get-go we learn that James Herriot is going to be writing about his wartime experiences. Frankly, I wanted more of the same - warm and fuzzy stories with a bit of low-tension drama about life as a country vet in the north of England as dished out in the first two books of this series.


Vet/writer Alf Wight, aka James Herriot

However, instead of going fully into war stories, which would've been fine I suppose, what we get are remembrances of past vet calls mixed in with brief and mostly unsatisfactory tales of training for the Royal Air Force. The vet stories are told as flashbacks, which takes some of the steam out of them, while the RAF stories never really get off the ground.

Just the same, if you've read and enjoyed Herriot's work up to this point, don't let my complainy-pants squawking deter you from diving headlong into All Things Wise and Wonderful. You'll find plenty of enjoyment in the tales Herriot doles out for this volume. Warning though, the overall tone is more somber in this book compared with the first two. I guess that can't be helped, what with WWII being a focal point. But I must say I was blindsided by the story that ended (view spoiler)[in suicide (hide spoiler)]. That was a slap in the face after a lovely day out on the Dales!

Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson

JUNKYARD DOGS
Craig Johnson
Viking Adult 2010

Reviewed by carol
★    ★    ★    ★


The sixth book in the series featuring Sheriff Walt Longmire is a lot of fun, and brings life back into the Longmire series. It has to be hard being a mystery writer, immersing your characters in the dark side of human nature.  Junkyard Dogs goes back to the roots of the Longmire mysteries by focusing on the characters in small town in Wyoming, bringing their quirks and lifestyles to life. 

The story begins with a strong hook:

“I tried to get a straight answer from his grandson and granddaughter-in-law as to why their grandfather had been tied with a hundred feet of nylon rope to the rear bumper of the 1968 Oldsmobile Toronado.”

We begin with the misadventures of the Stewart clan, managers of the Municipal Solid Waste facility, aka Town Dump. As Walt is sorting through their latest mishap that ends at the emergency room, Doc discovers one of the Stewarts recently found a finger at the dump. Meanwhile Santiago Saizarbitoria, one of Walt’s deputies, is considering quitting after events in the prior book. Walt decides the missing appendage is the perfect way to ease Santiago back into action while giving him time to reconsider. As Walt gives a hand (har, har) to the Stewart clan, he discovers old man Geo is having a secret romance, and when tempers flare at the junkyard, Walt’s sure it is because the secret is out. It isn’t, but it won’t be long before it is.


The characterization brings a much-needed humor back to the series. I actually laughed out loud in chapter one, because the situation was so absurd–and yet plausible the way it developed, bad decision by bad decision. While amusing, the characters remained quite human, with their own logic, seriousness and tragedy in their lives that took them beyond mere comedic appearances (I’m looking at you, Stephanie Plum, Mooner and Sally Sweet).  I wish the same could be said of the relationship between Vic and Walt. Although tension between them continues to simmer, at this point it feels more forced, neither progressing organically nor cooling off. Flirtation between them often feels more awkward than entertaining, with the exception of some delightful police banter that’s prelude to an illegal but informative search. Luckily, those occasions aren’t the primary focus of Walt’s life right now, so it didn’t distract overmuch. Despite the comedy, Johnson still manages a respectful balance of character:


“There was an Indian air about Geo, or maybe it was a mountain man quality. Some people live on the high plains because they can’t live anywhere else, their antennae fixed to a frequency that is preset to offense. Once in a long while they venture into town and drink and argue too much. Like fine instruments of delicate temperament rarely played, they become untuned and discordant.”

Plotting is interesting. It’s a methodical pace with the beginning of the story focused more on character build and day-to-day policing, but eventually all the pieces come together and the action rockets forward. The ending felt a bit contrived and done to a Hollywood scale that didn’t quite match the Andy Griffith down-home beginning.  A final nod to the quality of the setting, which gives a hint of what those fierce mountain winters must be like.

Overall, enjoyable and a solid entry into the Longmire canon that’s renewed my inspiration to continue the series.

Tricks

Ellen Hopkins
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Reviewed by Nancy
5 out of 5 stars

Summary

Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching...for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don't expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words "I love you" are said for all the wrong reasons.

Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story -- a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, "Can I ever feel okay about myself?"

My Review

When I went to pick this book up at the library, I was surprised at how small and fat it was. Great, just what I need…a 600+ page book and hardly enough time to read. When I opened up the book and glanced at the first few pages, I was delighted and shocked the margins were so wide and there were no more than seven words per line. Then I thought, “wait a minute, this is freakin’ poetry!” Since I read so little poetry and never developed an appreciation for it, I left the library slightly disappointed. Well, Tricks isn’t exactly poetry, but a novel written in verse. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put the book down. Dishes were piling up, dust bunnies were fighting back, and I was late to work.

Tricks is a story about five deeply troubled teenagers, all from different areas, backgrounds, and family situations who end up falling into prostitution.

Each character has a story to tell. These stories are brief, and jump from one character to the next and back again. At the beginning, I was a little frustrated at how short their stories were and was afraid that I would not be able to distinguish one character from the next. It turns out there was no need to worry. Hopkins does a brilliant job of infusing her characters with life, personality and emotions. As I continued to read, and the characters’ situations became more harrowing, I found the stories very intense and was relieved there was some separation. I was also surprised at how much I enjoyed the writing style. These stories told in verse allowed me to get into the minds and feelings of the characters without extraneous detail, and helped me feel a deeper connection with them.

Tricks broke my heart and made my stomach churn. The stories were gripping, painful, and honest. My own teenage years, painful memories, wrong choices, and difficulty with parents all came flooding back. I wish my own parents could have read a book like this, just to see how their own behavior and actions could irreparably damage a child’s life.

Ike: An American Hero by Michael Korda
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

”A man who has successfully commanded millions of men in battle, who has made the most difficult and far-reaching military decision of all time, and who accepted the formal surrender of Nazi Germany, must have a core of steel; a streak of ruthlessness; the ability to make cold, hard, objective decisions; and an imperial sense of command, however well disguised they may be by a big grin and a firm handshake.”



Dwight D. Eisenhower almost didn’t go to West Point. He wanted to go, but his best friend decided to go to Annapolis and Swede talked Dwight into applying with him. When the Senator was looking over their applications he decided that Dwight was going to replace a young man from Kansas who had just dropped out of West Point.

The fickleness of fate.

If Dwight D. Eisenhower had went to Annapolis he might have been Ike, but he never would have been IKE. He would have been successful, but he probably would have never been POTUS. His parents were both Mennonites. His mother later switched to Jehovah's Witness; regardless whatever their religious affiliation, they were appalled that their son wanted to be a soldier. It went against everything they believed. They were a poor family, held upright by the generosity of Ike’s grandfather.


The Eisenhower Family. Front row: Father David, Milton and Mother Ida. Back row: Dwight, Edgar, Earl, Arthur, and Roy.

All six Eisenhower brothers were successful, some even became wealthy. After the war when Dwight was touring Abilene, Kansas he saw a sign in front of his old house proclaiming it to be the birthplace of General Eisenhower. He became furious. He was famous for his volcanic temper. He demanded that the sign be changed to say Birthplace of the Eisenhower brothers. At the time he was one of the most famous men in the world. When it came to his brothers he never let his accomplishments overshadow theirs... at least not in his own mind.

During WW1 he was asked to train new recruits. Despite frequently requesting to be transferred overseas so he could command men in action his superiors felt he was much more useful getting men ready for war. One particular recruit by the name of F. Scott Fitzgerald was less than enthusiastic about Ike. In fact he slept through his lectures and disliked him with a burning intensity. Maybe it is a good thing that Fitzgerald’s Brooks Brothers suit never saw the mud of France.


Ike bored Fitzgerald. The young lad looked good in uniform though.

Ike worked for Douglas MacArthur for almost seven years as a key member of his staff in the Philippines. I think this turned out to be very fortunate posting because dealing with the ego of MacArthur prepared him for his eventual job as Supreme Commander when he had to contend with the massive egos of Montgomery, Churchill, De Gaulle, Patton, Roosevelt, and Stalin. Because MacArthur had a beautiful Eurasian mistress, who he went to see every afternoon for several hours, Ike had to cover for him. He also had to work until late into the night because that was when MacArthur liked to work best. Mamie was not amused.


The wooing Young Eisenhower.

When Ike was trying to win the hand of Mamie Doud he decided to show his worthiness by transferring to the burgeoning aviation division because they were paying flyers much more than what he could make in the Army. Her father told him that he could not marry Mamie if he became a flyer. Mr. Doud felt it was too dangerous a profession. Ike tore up the application papers and got married.

The wheel of fate rolled back into the proper groove.

Even though he loathed professional politicians he was actually very good at politics. He mastered the art of being ambiguous. As President this evasiveness was sometimes misconstrued as dithering or vagueness or even incompetence when in reality Ike was unwilling to ever be badgered into giving an opinion that would restrict his decisions later. He was confident in his own judgments and would not allow anyone to force him into policies or military decisions that he was not comfortable with.

Ike would never lead men into battle, at least not the way he wanted to. His competency kept him away from the fields of war and strapped him to a desk. His superiors recognized him as a man who could see the big picture. He could keep proper perspective of the power that they would eventually be asking him to shoulder. As he surpassed his old boss MacArthur and his old friend Patton who both had what he craved, battle field experience, his loyalties to both men were severely tested as Ike needed them to be men who lead, but who could also follow. When a woman asked MacArthur years later if he knew Eisenhower he retorted: Best damn clerk I ever had.” There might be more than a tinge of bitterness in that statement, but also he was absolutely right.

Eisenhower turned out to be the best damn clerk of the whole damn war.

Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave.”---Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire


Kay Summersby was never far from Ike.


Ike had a British driver named Kay Summersby, a one time model who became his constant companion during the war. She became famous when she showed up in an article in Life Magazine. Mamie was not amused. It wasn’t unusual for Generals overseas to have pretty young women attached to their staff who did more for them than iron their uniform. Michael Korda is uncertain as to the relationship that Ike and Kay may have had. The history of lust will tell us that more than likely she was providing comfort to Ike above the neck and below the waist. If she was his lover she was someone more than just a bed warmer she was also someone he could trust who didn’t have an agenda.

Korda was reluctant to commit on this subject because there doesn’t seem to be the usual smoking gun of an inappropriate letter or a love child or a symbolic gift that could make a definitive case. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if he didn’t sleep with her? A nontraditional conclusion regarding most powerful men...well...men. Though if he did, frankly, with the stress and strain of his life it certainly would have been forgivable. Knowing Winston Churchill I like to think that he intentionally planted the beauty on Ike and she was feeding him information that Ike might have been reluctant to share with him.


The PINK LADY! Helen Gahagan Douglas.

The presidential chapters are just a few slender reeds compared to the chapters devoted to the war. It is interesting that given the way Ike despised career politicians that he was stuck with Richard Nixon as a running mate. When Ike was making out a list of potential vice presidents Nixon was on the second tier of candidates. Nixon at this point in time was most famous for his electoral victory over Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas in which he accused her of being a communist ”describing her memorably, if ungallantly, as ‘pink right down to her underwear.’” Brilliant, odious, but brilliant for not only does he get a laugh but he gets the titillating laugh of the nudge, nudge, wink, wink variety with the added bonus of reminding everyone, this is 1950 mind you, that she was a woman. (Nixon actually stole the line from her primary challenger Manchester Boddy.)

Nixon gave Eisenhower the willies. Hell, Nixon gave everyone the willies.


I’d like to think the caption is: Eisenhower has just made a joke at Nixon’s expense. Ike is thinking what a DICK and Nixon is thinking what a BALD BASTARD.

Eisenhower did accomplish some civil rights work as President though I think he could have done more. He had a famous showdown with an Arkansas governor over segregation in schools. Ike was convinced as were many white Americans that equal rights needed to come along slowly to keep the powder keg from exploding. He ended the Korean War. He kept the United States out of war for eight years.

Eisenhower’s presidency has been described as boring, but one thing I’ve found with reading presidential biographies is that no presidency is boring. So much happens within this country over a four or eight year span not to mention the world events that have an impact on American policies and politics.

”Never complain, never explain.”-- Disraeli Ike liked that quote and lived it.

Ike was proud of his card playing prowess. He understood concealment, secrecy, and most importantly the ability to bluff. He was not the tactician that Montgomery or MacArthur were. He didn’t have the audacity of Patton or the assured arrogance of De Gaulle. He was not the orator that Churchill or Roosevelt were. But if I had to pick a man to run a war or the man to be president on the verge of WW3 I’d pick Ike every day of the week and twice on Sunday over all these very talented men. His hubris never exceeded his ability to control it. He was a man who knew how to listen, ponder,and make a decision that would steer a course through the gunsmoke of bombastic rhetoric. He was also a man who knew how to be heard over the rattling of sabers. I agree with another Eisenhower biographer, Evan Thomas, that his greatest victories were the wars he did not fight.”


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Midwife Crisis

Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth
2009
Reviewed by Diane K.M.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Blimey, this memoir was bleak. 

Jennifer Worth's third book about her years serving as a midwife in London's East End in the 1950s was much darker than the first two. It was well-written and the stories were all compelling, but it covered some serious stuff, including babies who died during delivery, botched abortions, children killed by tuberculosis, a father who prostituted his daughter on a ship, and the Contagious Diseases Acts.

I need to pause here to explain how horrified I was to hear about the Contagious Diseases Acts, which was passed by British Parliament in the 1860s. It allowed police officers to arrest any girl or woman they suspected of being a prostitute and to check her for venereal disease. Reportedly some officers took full advantage of this and basically raped the women while doing their "exam." There is such a story in this book, and it is dark, man.

"Any woman of any age could be subjected to this horrifying treatment. At the time the age of consent was thirteen, so a child of that age could legally be regarded as a woman. The Contagious Diseases Act affected only working-class women, because upper-class women never walked in the streets alone, but would be accompanied or in a carriage. Men of any age or class were exempt from arrest and examination, even if caught in the act of soliciting, because the Act of 1864 was specifically designed for the control of women."

The Acts galvanized the women's movement in England, and mercifully the CDA was repealed in 1886.

The case of the sea captain who encouraged his daughter to sleep with every man on ship, including himself, was also shocking. The midwives learned about her because the girl had become pregnant, and good ol' Chummy was the one who helped deliver the baby on board the vessel. The story had a nice coda because that night Chummy met an officer she eventually married. 

There are also lively stories of Sister Monica Joan, who discovered the joys of taking a cab ride instead of the bus, and we learn about the woman who runs the local pub. The end of the book discusses how the neighborhood changed in the 1960s, and why the midwives and nuns eventually closed their practice. 

"One by one the docks closed; air freight had replaced the old cargo boats, and the dockers became redundant. At the same time demolition of bomb-damaged and slum property started, and people were rehoused out of London in the new towns. For many this was life-shattering, particularly for the older generation who had lived their entire lives within a radius of two or three streets, close to their children and grandchildren. The rehousing programme tore apart the extended family, which had provided the unity and been the strength of East End life for generations."

I listened to all three of Jennifer Worth's Midwife memoirs on audio, read by Nicola Barber, who was an excellent narrator. This third book is filled with a lot of history and social issues of the day, which was interesting, but I had hoped for a little lighter fare. I would still recommend it, just be prepared for some sad tales.

Faithful Place

Faithful Place by Tana French
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Frank Mackey was 19, he planned to run away to London with his sweetheart, only she never showed up. Everyone assumed she ran away on her own, including Frank. Decades later, when her suitcase turns up in the chimney of a building being renovated, Frank returns to his old neighborhood to confront the possibility that Rosie Daly never left at all...

What would you be willing to die for? That's the question Frank Mackey's father asks him in his youth that sets the tone for most of the book. Another of the running themes is "no one can mess you up like your family can."

Faithful Place brings undercover cop Frank Mackey back to his old neighborhood and reunites him with the family he hasn't spoken to in decades. It didn't long for me to figure out why Frank is such a manipulative asshole. It runs in the blood.

The poor Dublin neighborhood Frank grew up in is one of the better-developed settings I've ever encountered. You can almost smell the desperation wafting off the pages. Frank's family is a well drawn bunch, all seeming like real people, warts and all.

The mystery itself was much easier to crack than in the previous two volumes. I guessed the killer based on a line he uttered somewhere in the first 30% of the story. Frank catching up with me was quite a ride. By the time I was finished, I was glad the sadness parade was over.

The third book in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series maintains the standard set by the previous two volumes. Tana French is quickly earning a place in my favorite authors list. Four out of five stars.

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