Ben H. Winters
Available in print, eBook, and eAudiobook formats
In Underground
Airlines, author Ben H. Winters takes on the issue of slavery and racial
injustice in the context of a science fiction thriller. The book takes place in
an alternate history--a contemporary United States in which the Civil War was
never fought and slavery remains legal in four states named the “Hard
Four.”
The book’s narrator, Victor, is a former slave turned
bounty hunter who tracks escap
ed slaves.
He works to suppress memories of his forced servitude while infiltrating
the local cell of an abolitionist movement called the Underground Airlines. Victor
believes himself to be a good man doing bad work. Unwilling to give up the freedom he has
worked so hard to earn, he begins to learn of secrets that belie the country's
arrangement with the Hard Four.
Underground Airlines is an inventive and
imaginative thriller that provides a harsh reminder of our own history. It is smart and well-plotted with a terrific premise, building to satisfying
conclusion.
Emma Donaghue
Available in print, eBook, and eAudiobook formats
Emma Donaghue’s latest book is set in 19th century rural
Ireland. Having survived without food for months, 11-year-old Anna is
proclaimed a “wonder”, supposedly subsisting on manna from heaven. Elizabeth “Lib”
Wright is brought in to observe Anna for two weeks and testify as to whether
she’s truly subsisting without food- but is Lib’s very presence pushing Anna
towards death?
The reader follows Lib as she attends to Anna and searches
for clues that Anna and her family are misleading everyone. With each passing day that no evidence
is found, however, more and more questions arise. Despite her skepticism, she
cares deeply for Anna and begins to fear that her presence has forced Anna to go
without food while under scrutiny – with potentially deadly consequences.
Donaghue writes a convincing historical fiction and the
absorbing plot leads to an unexpected conclusion.
Tana French
Available in print and eBook formats
Tana French’s latest book in the "Dublin Murder
Squad" series is both a psychological mystery and character study. She has
a knack for discovering the vulnerabilities of almost every character—and the narrator
of this book is no exception.
Antoinette Conway is a detective without friends in the
Murder Squad. Conway, who is the lone female detective on the squad (and a
minority to boot), radiates bitterness and is made the victim of vicious
pranks and assigned cases too boring for the others to bother with.
Conway recounts the investigation of the death of a
young, attractive woman. At first glance, this woman seems to have been left
for dead by her nervous boyfriend, a timid man who owns a cash-strapped
bookstore and professes his innocence despite evidence to the contrary.
The novel is engaging with a compelling writing
style. The plot itself is fascinating
while the resolution is morally and
intellectually interesting because of its lack of finality.
No comments:
Post a Comment