https://account.venmo.com/u/Stephanie-Loomis-2
Delaney, Hanna. The Ring: A Victorian Gothic Crime Thriller. Book 2 of Muldoon Mysteries, Advanced Reader Copy, forthcoming in 2025.
This is the second of the Muldoon mysteries by Hanna Delaney. Set in Liverpool in the 1890s, mysterious deaths begin when a circus comes to town. Old transients whose internal organs are those of much younger people, youthful people dying of old age, inexplicable falls from high places, and suspicious deep scratches add to the air of the macabre. Only Detective Muldoon, with his ability to see the supernatural, has the tools to trace the evidence to dark magic and an ancient curse.
What works:
Delaney is a master wordsmith.
The story is vaguely familiar--but not like anything else. Shades maybe of Shangri-La.
Mostly well paced (except for the part that doesn't work below).
What doesn't work:
The "explanation" for the events is more convoluted than necessary
Quotes of note:
The sad, filthy window could have harboured a thousand faces, none of whom he'd be able to see watching him through the glaze of soot (16).
The beggar's bouquet--poverty, decay, and gin (19).
He looked at her, seeing her as she really was, for the first time. Beauty disguised the beast. She'd violated him. She'd siphoned off his power and used it to her own advantage. He hated her, for the price he had paid in pride (89).
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Children of Húrin. Narrated by Christopher Lee, unabridged audiobook, HarperCollins Publishers Limited, 2006.
Tolkien's Middle Earth is its own universe of imaginative depth and breadth. The Children of Húrin , begun by Tolkien and completely posthumously by his son, Christopher, takes place several thousand years before the more familiar Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books. It follows the story of Túrin,whose family was cursed by Morgoth. Sent away to live in the Elf-realm, Túrin grows up to be an outlaw who ultimately repents and rejoins the Elves in fighting the Orcs. Along the way, Túrin falls in love with and marries Niënor, not knowing that she is his sister. It's Romeo and Juliet meets Oedipus meets Arthurian legend with a battle life like that of King David. All is not well for the children of Húrin.
What works:
The narrator is exceptional.
As a morality tale, sin is always punished--often violently.
What doesn't work:
Not that it doesn't work, but this story is dark and mostly without hope. Túrin may be living under a familial curse, but he makes his own trouble by less-than-wise choices throughout. mostly based on his arrogance.
Because it was not completed by Tolkien, there are places where the writing feels stilted.
Quotes of note:
"So most men teach, and few men learn. Let the unseen days be. Today is more than enough."
"Give with a free hand, but give of your own."
"And there I got my hurt; man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it."
Smith, Kimberly L. Passport through Darkness: A True Story of Danger and Second Chances. Kindle ed., David C Cook, 2011.
I could not put this book down. How is it possible to see God's goodness in the midst of what may be the most evil place on earth? Kimberly Smith tells her story of working in Darfur, Sudan, where civil war meets extreme Islam in a bid to determine who can commit the most horrific atrocities against women, children, and Christians. She spares no details in her ministry to the orphans, most of whom have been mangled, burned, and raped by military men who gods revel in destruction. At the same time, Smith's marriage comes under enemy fire as her husband endures debilitating diabetes holding down the ministry home front. It's a story of unrelenting persistence in the face of the impossible--and a decade later, little has changed in the nation regarding sex trafficking and rape as a combat strategy. The orphanages do as much as they can, but there is no end in sight to the need.
What works:
Interspersing her own fears with the stories of others adds to the sense of urgency
Finding God's mercy in that awful place seems impossible, but she shows His hand
What doesn't work:
Her husband's role is minimized and might have been included in an epilogue. I tried to look up information about him, but found nothing. Smith has remarried, so I assume Milton died from diabetes sometime after 2014?
Quotes of note
When I dared to look closely at how Jesus spent His time on earth—and the fact that He called me to follow Him—I began to face the fact that most of what I’d been living for—comfort, status, even good things like church buildings or who won the next presidential election—didn’t really matter. The only life that mattered was one that beat from the same rhythm as His (110).
The more I survived this wild country, the more I believed it was they who understood a higher calling and we who sank to primitive thinking, focused on ourselves. Our service, our giving, was conditional upon having excess (125).
“Mama, in Kenya we think being a Christian means to go to church on Sunday and trying to be good through the week. Now I see it means suffering, being willing to let the hard things happen to you, so that God can use us to do His work on this earth!”(126).
With his steadfast and simple theology, Tonj replied, “Allah isn’t God, so how could I worship him?” Tonj told me that he’d never owned a Bible and could not read it if he had. He was introduced to Jesus through word of mouth and explained, “I know Jesus is the Son of God and that same Jesus died on the cross for me and my family. Why would I betray Him because of evil men?” (136).
Skye, Evelyn. The Crown's Game. Kindle ed., HarperCollins, 2017.
Imperial Russian can only have one Enchanter to serve the Tzar's pleasure. When two are born and trained, they must battle over a course of five magical rounds in a deadly game. Only one can survive. This is a tale of magic, friendship, rivalry, and loyalty. Skye's writing is ebullient and free, charming and easy to enjoy.
What works:
Definitely YA lit., girls ages 11-15 or so
Good pacing and spectacular descriptions
Romance and friendship both.
A fair amount of Russian history and language-but not too much
What doesn't work:
A character of convenience doesn't ring true to the rest of the story
Quotes of note
The gleam in her eyes was one part gloat and ninety-nine parts mischief (p 123).
But alcohol made his words clumsy, like lumbering giants attempting to construct a glass dollhouse (p.133).
Taylor, Dennis E. The Singularity Trap. Narrated by Ray Porter, unabridged, Audible Originals, 2018. Audiobook.
With a tone that mimics The Martian, this book enters a realm of what if extraterrestrial civilizations functioned without a sense of self, but only as a collective? Less frightening than the Borg ("resistance is futile"), the nanites making up an expeditionary force for the Makers choose an unusual way to develop communication with a human mining force hunting rare materials to improve life on Earth.
What works:
The humor works.
The narrator is fantastic
In spite of the world's end scenario, it's light and fun.
What doesn't work:
Could have done without the jabs at religion.
Quotes of note
“Bureaucracy. Turned out there was a hell, and it was behind a desk.”
Thank you so much for getting around to it so quickly! Great review. I did wonder how the explanation would go but you could also just be really, really clever and didn't need it to be explained in such a way 🤪 But seriously, I looked to you because you provide the best critical review and you did not disappoint!