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Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life–not a mean bone in his body
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life
by Helen Fisher
Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life is the story of a neurodiverse young man whose mother’s goal is to support him into being a happy person able to live independently and hold down a job. He is a man of routines and anything that deviates from that routine or is out of place makes Joe very uncomfortable. Joe has a job at a grocery store called The Compass where his favorite activities are to stack items for display and to return mislaid items to where they belong. His mother is writing a book, a manual, for him in case he gets confused or forgets how to do something. He is quite literate, reading and retaining so many facts, but he can’t make the connections necessary for functioning easily in settings with other people. He has an understanding boss Hugo. Joe’s friend Chloe is a foul-mouthed co-worker who is not afraid to stand up to “Mean Charlie” who bullies Joe unmercifully.
The first part of Joe Nuthin’s Guide to Life is well-written, and I really cared about Joe and the other characters. There is a major event which happens in Joe’s life (spoiler if I included it) after which the book went downhill for me. The plot and the characters became more negative. Joe’s life goal is to prove his mom right that he “doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.” While that is a positive attribute, because Joe doesn’t understand anything that is not literal or is nuanced, he unintentionally causes a lot of physical pain in a relational situation. The reader has to cringe and inwardly say, “No, Joe! Stop!” several times.
Joe’s mother has beautiful handwriting. In this book the author quotes from the manual when Joe reads passages in it. This style and format (italics in place of cursive) are effective ways to demonstrate the difficulties faced by neurodivergent children and adults and how Joe’s mom clearly tries to address all of his present and future concerns. People who are neurodivergent are open to bullying, and their parents face huge challenges in preparing them for life as adults, especially after the parents have died.
Rating: 3/5
Category: Literary Fiction, Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. I am probably in the minority in not loving this book. I really liked the character of Joe, and I understood the author’s portrayal of him. I even both sympathized and empathized with Joe, but the negative events were too strong and outweighed the positives for me.
2. There was a lot of inappropriate language from Chloe who is actually one of my favorite characters because she is someone Joe can rely on and she has no agenda. Even Joe didn’t like her swearing; he made a box for her to put money in when she swore.
3. One of Joe’s favorite things to do with and without his mom was to watch episodes of the TV show “Friends.” It was part of his routine and relaxed him. I just don’t think that show has good role models and would have too many jokes and situations that Joe would not understand.
4. A minor detail: the author used a mask in a scene and the usage was OK in terms of the plot. Joe understandably doesn’t like masks because he can’t tell what expression the person has and match it up with the expressions he has learned from a chart. The mask in this case was worn by an insensitive bully and was the face of an American president. My problem with this scene is that the author slipped in a slur about the president. It was not funny and it did not further the plot in any way. It was clearly politically motivated and unnecessary, and I would not have appreciated it regardless of which president was depicted.
5. The book includes “Topics and Questions for Discussion” and a section of activities to “Enhance Your Book Club.” Both of these were well done.
Publication: May 28,2024—Gallery Books (Simon and Schuster)
Memorable Lines:
Making sure that her son had a secure job with a nice manager somewhere that was walking distance from home was one of the most important things on Janet’s list to help Joe-Nathan prepare for independent life.
Janet knew that assumptions were lazy; a simple way of filling in the blanks when there wasn’t enough information Assumptions were a way of connecting the dots to give you a picture that worked, but not necessarily the right picture. Not necessarily the truth.
He wished it was Monday morning so he could go to work and feel completely comfortable knowing how he fitted into the world.
The Lucky Shamrock–working together
The Lucky Shamrock
by Carolyn Brown
This contemporary romance is set in Shamrock located in west Texas. Nana Irene calls three cousins back to the town they couldn’t wait to get away from to work the summer in her flower shop The Lucky Shamrock when Irene’s best friend Ruby breaks her hip. The three cousins couldn’t be more different, but Nana Irene wants them to see the value of being united as a family. None of the girls are happy to work with each other and live together so it is interesting to watch what happens when they are put in situations that require them to cooperate with each other. Taryn is former Air Force and works with computers. Straight laced Jorja is a Kindergarten teacher in a Christian school. Anna Rose is looking for happiness in cowboy bars. All of their parents have relocated out of Shamrock.
Clinton is a nice man who has been hired by Nana Irene to work in the shop when he is not busy counseling vets with PSTD. Local ladies have a contest going to try to snare him into marriage even though he has made it clear that he is not interested. He is supposed to be quite a catch as he comes from a rich family and is a war hero. As he lives in an apartment above The Lucky Shamrock, everyone at the shop benefits from the foods the ladies bring to try to win him over.
One of the vets Clinton is counseling has a baby, but is in no condition to care for her. Little Zoe is adorable. Clinton gets temporary custody of Zoe, and Taryn falls in love. But now she has to figure out if she is in love with Clinton or just Zoe.
Along the way in this romance there are some bombshells as the girls work through traumas they have experienced. Former “mean girls” who have not changed are after Clinton. Aging residents see what happened in the past and is recurring. They have ways of influencing those situations.
Although some serious subjects are addressed, the book in general is light. It would make a good summer read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Women’s Fiction, Romance
Notes: 1. The Lucky Shamrock includes humor and a sprinkling of swearing.
Publication: July 4, 2023—Montlake
Memorable Lines:
“You are right. Confidence is mostly bluff with a little ego and fear thrown into the mix.”
“Hey, we’ve all got a past,” Clinton said “But we have a million futures in front of us, and it’s up to us to choose which path is right.”
“We may fight and argue amongst ourselves, but Lord help anyone who tries to come between us.”
Hopefully Ever After–struggling against a past
Hopefully Ever After
by Beth Wiseman
This novel has a lot going for it:
- So many important themes including: forgiveness, faith, love, security, family, abuse, goals, healing, independence, maturity, drugs, love of books, respect.
- Interplay of Amish and Englisch characters with several experiencing one culture and considering or actually changing to the other.
- Temptations for both Amish and Englisch characters.
- Contrast of Amish lifestyles with Englisch lifestyles.
- View of how technology, especially cell phones, has affected the Amish.
- A great plot centered around a 16 year old girl, Eden, with a difficult upbringing who stays for a month with her Amish cousin and her husband. She discovers what a real family could be like.
- Lots of characters with their own difficulties—Samuel, a 17 year old with overly strict parents; Yvonne and Abraham who take in Eden for a month; Emma, a much older cousin who is Eden’s guardian; and Eden’s mom, a currently imprisoned drug addict.
- Emotional tale as Eden and Samuel struggle with their attraction to each other. Eden, who is determined to not be like her mother, has a past to overcome. Samuel is unsure of God’s will and is anxious to see the world outside his home community as it must be so exciting.
- The setting is described so well. Without air conditioning, beautiful Indiana farmland can be very hot in July. It was easy to imagine the characters with sweat pouring off them, trying to rehydrate and get a little cooling from battery operated fans.
- There are lots of twists along the way, and as the book moves toward its conclusion, a happily ever after seems out of reach. Thanks to some surprises, although problems are not magically solved, the ending is quite satisfying.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Christian, Romance, Religion, Fiction
Notes: #3 in the Amish Bookstore Novels, but the author fills in background quite well so it could be read as a standalone.
Publication: April 18, 2023—Zondervan
Memorable Lines:
Eden didn’t even try to make friends at school these days. What was the point? They’d eventually find out her mother was in prison—a fact that seemed to define Eden, whether it was fair or not.
She could either choose to be a victim—life surely hadn’t treated her fairly—or let go of the past and commit to being the best person she could be. Eden chose the latter, but it wasn’t without a struggle.
“I know that everything changed for me once I found a relationship with God. At first it was like having a new friend, someone I could talk to about anything. And the more I talked, the more I knew God was listening.” She didn’t verbalize the last thought in her mind, probably the biggest change in her life since she had found God: she was no longer alone.
Everything Sad is Untrue–memories are culture carriers
Everything Sad is Untrue
by Daniel Nayeri
Daniel Nayeri’s Everything Sad is Untrue is part memoir and part storytelling where he fills in the things he doesn’t remember exactly from his childhood. The first part of the book is a mixture of three kinds of stories—myth, legend, and history—that attempt to place the reader in Daniel’s past and his ancestry as it happened and as he imagined it might have happened. He relates “story” in this way to help the reader understand the very different Persian culture he started his life in and which formed his beliefs and attitudes.
Although there are no chapters in this book, the reader can clearly tell when the story pivots from providing background to relating the events from the time his mother became a Christian on a visit to the West. She embraced Jesus and her faith in Him wholeheartedly. Christianity in Iran is a capital offense, so she had to take her children and flee. She traded a comfortable life as a respected physician married to a successful dentist for the life of an impoverished refugee, looked down on because of her language, menial job, and poverty. But she had Jesus, and no one could take that away from her.
Some of the book tells about the year they spent in a refugee camp in Italy. It was not actually a camp with tents, but a concrete building with small rooms and a bathroom. The residents were refugees from many countries, all waiting for the U.N. to find a place that would accept them. They had nothing and there was no access to books, media or recreation. It was made even harder by the refugees’ inability to converse with each other and by impatient workers who processed each refugee’s mound of paperwork.
A lot of Daniel’s story tells what life was like for him as a child in Edmond, Oklahoma, where they eventually settled. He experienced bullying, but came up with tricks for avoiding the worst of it. There was culture shock around every corner as he tried to fit into a very different mindset. Fortunately, he had an outstanding teacher in Mrs. Miller who encouraged him without babying him. The librarian in Edmond was kind too, and so Daniel spent many Saturdays there devouring books. His mom ended up in the emergency room several times thanks to his stepfather Ray, a black belt. Despite lots of difficult times, Daniel never seems to plead for sympathy from the reader and always points to his mother as the strongest person he knows.
Everything Sad is Untrue is a book I recommend. It is a challenging read as the author’s life is presented through the eyes of a child, but with some of the understanding of an adult. Memories are an important theme of this book as Daniel says, “Memories are always partly untrue.” and “A patchwork story is the shame of a refugee.” This is a book ripe with principles and beliefs worth pondering and a story and characters who will remain in the reader’s thoughts long after the last page is turned.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Autobiographical novel/fictionalized memoir
Notes: 1. This is a hard book to categorize which may, in part, be a critical factor in making it a very good book.
2. It has been rated for children 12+ on Amazon. Some readers refer to it as a Young Adult book. To me, it is probably more appropriate for adults. Some of the fascination with “poop,” however, in Daniel’s childhood classroom would attract the attention of middle school boys.
3. This book has won many awards.
4. I thought not having chapters would be a negative for me, but it does fit the style of Everything Sad is Untrue.
Publication: 2020—Levine Querido
Memorable Lines:
Memories are tricky things. They can fade or fester. You have to seal them up tight like pickles and keep out impurities like how hurt you feel when you open them. Or they’ll ferment and poison your brain.
And here is the part that gets hard to believe: Sima, my mom, read about him and became a Christian too. Not just a regular one, who keeps it in their pocket. She fell in love. She wanted everybody to have what she had, to be free, to realize that in other religions you have rules and codes and obligations to follow to earn good things, but all you had to do with Jesus was believe he was the one who died for you. And she believed.
Imagine you’re in a refugee camp and you know it’ll be a tough year. But for the person who thinks, “At the end of this year, I’m going somewhere to be free, a place without secret police, free to believe whatever I want and teach my children.” And you believe it’ll be hard, but eventually, you’ll build a whole new life….But if you’re thinking every place is the same, and there will always be people who abuse you, and about how poor you’ll be at first, the sadness overtakes you….But what you believe about the future will change how you live in the present.
Before We Were Yours–stealing and selling children
Before We Were Yours
by Lisa Wingate
This tale is based on actual events at the Memphis Tennessee Children’s Home Society in 1939 where Georgia Tann collected babies and sold them to adoptive parents. Sometimes she had police round them up from the streets. Other times she scammed unsuspecting parents when the groggy mothers of newborns were asked to sign papers which in fact turned the babies over to the state.
In this story, Rill (later renamed May), is 12 years old and given responsibility for her siblings when her mother has to go to the hospital for a difficult delivery. Scary men show up to their shanty boat telling the children lies and forcing them to go to the children’s home where as “swamp rats” they were treated despicably.
This is a dual timeline book, and the protagonist in the present time is Avery, a lawyer from the prominent Stafford political family in South Carolina. She is being groomed to take over her father’s political office if he succumbs to cancer.
In a chance meeting, May takes Avery’s bracelet, a dragonfly bracelet that is a family heirloom given to Avery by her Grandma Judy. In recovering the jewelry, Avery discovers a mysterious connection. Despite Judy’s gradually succumbing to Alzheimer’s, Avery pursues the relationship between the two women.
Before We Were Yours reveals a very sad series of events in U.S. history. Georgia Tann was a ruthless woman who took advantage of poor families during the Depression as well as families hurting from childlessness. The book is complex but Lisa Wingate tells the story with compassion. She researched her topic well and created a fictional tale that is substantiated by reported events and melds the facts into a compelling story.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction
Notes: Random House has an online book club kit that has resources that any reader would find beneficial, whether reading the book individually or with a group.
Publication: 2017—Ballentine
Memorable Lines:
She stops short of repeating the woman’s naughty words. Camellia’s eaten enough soap to clean up the inside of a whale in her ten years. She’s practically been raised on it. It’s a wonder bubbles don’t pour out her ears.
There’s no denying that Magnolia Manor is more upscale than the nursing home May Crandall lives in, but both places face the same underlying challenge—how to provide dignity, care, and comfort as life turns difficult corners.
“A woman’s past need not predict her future. She can dance to new music if she chooses. Her own music. To hear the tune, she must only stop talking. To herself, I mean. We’re always trying to persuade ourselves of things.”
Marriage Can Be Mischief–cold case surfaces
Marriage Can Be Mischief
by Amanda Flower
Millie, a widowed member of the Amish community in Harvest, Ohio, supports her modest lifestyle by making quilts. Her extra talents are matchmaker and sleuth. Lois, her Englisch best friend from childhood who loves being her sidekick, calls her the Amish Marple. The two have some wild and sometimes dangerous adventures in the pursuit of truth.
In Marriage Can Be Mischief, a human skull is found at the bottom of a ravine. This discovery leads to the reopening of a cold case in which forty years ago Samuel Zook, a disagreeable buggy maker, was found dead at the top of that same ravine in his buggy. His wife Galilee had disappeared. As Millie and Lois investigate, they find several people with strong motives for wanting Samuel dead. The sheriff closes the case again when the skull is identified, but Deputy Little and Millie think it is important to pursue it to give justice to the victim.
There is a lot of humor mixed into the story as Phillip and Peter, Millie’s two pet goats, continue their mischievous antics. When Lois inserts references to media in conversations (e.g. James Bond), Millie is totally lost as to the meanings. Media is just not a part of the Amish lifestyle.
Ruth Yoder, the bishop’s very particular and exacting wife, plays a recurring important role in the story. When Millie matches up Phoebe, Ruth’s granddaughter, with Lad Zook who will one day inherit his family’s buggy business, Ruth must insert herself into the relationship. Millie has a love interest of her own when an old flame moves to the area. She has to decide if she is ready for a new relationship. Her husband Kip has been dead for twenty years, but she still loves him.
This is a very busy book, but the parts tie together nicely. I felt like I was in the middle of the community, and I cared about the characters. The contrast of the Amish and Englisch ways, without passing judgement on either, is well done.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery, Christian
Notes: This is #3 in the Amish Matchmaker Mystery Series. It would be OK to read this book as a standalone, but it would be worth your time to read the first two for character backgrounds and humor. This also ties in with another Amish mystery series by Amanda Flower which is also set in Harvest, but although some characters from that series make cameo appearances in this one, the two series are independent.
Publication: November 30, 2021—Kensington
Memorable Lines:
…the light was breaking through the trees. I let out a breath. Sunrise was my very favorite part of the day. Each morning offered new opportunity and ways to give thanks to Gott for this life.
She sniffed and patted the white prayer cap on the back of her head as if to be sure it was perfectly in place. Of course it was; a prayer cap would know better than to move on Ruth Yoder.
“Who is your wife’s cousin?” “The sheriff. He’s no friend of the Amish, I can tell you that. If he knew we had an Amish man living on our farm, he would be fit to be tied. Honestly, we don’t talk to him much. He’s a sour person. Life is too short to be around people like that.”
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine–healing for the traumatized
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
by Gail Honeyman
I had heard lots of chatter about Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine since before it was published. I found it to be one of those books that stays with you past the last page: the characters are unforgettable. It is Gail Honeyman’s debut novel, but it is so well written that you would think her an experienced author.
This is the tale of Eleanor Oliphant who clearly had a difficult childhood and then was shuttled off to a series of foster homes. She is very smart, but awkward socially. She endures her workweek in the accounting department at a graphic arts business, relieving her pain on the weekends with several bottles of vodka. Friendless, she decides to change her life by having a relationship with a singer she has a crush on from afar. Meanwhile, reality intervenes when she meets Raymond from the IT department. He is slightly unkempt, chews with his mouth open, and wears trainers (sneakers) all the time, but is also kind, understanding, and patient. Through Raymond and with help from a counselor, Eleanor learns what it can be like to have unconditional love and the physical touch of another human being.
She is tormented by weekly calls from “Mummy” who continues the verbal abuse and threats that Eleanor suffered during her childhood. The last part of the book centers around Eleanor facing the demons of her past. I was not expecting the ending in the way the story played out. It made me mentally revisit the plot and the trauma Eleanor had endured in a new light. In summary, it is a good book, but made for bad bedtime reading.
Rating: 5/5
Notes: 1. Blurbs about the book included “incredibly funny” and “hilarious.” I would label it “dark and sprinkled with humor.”
- If child abuse is a trigger for you, you might want to give this one a pass. Thankfully, there are not a lot of graphic descriptions, but it is an essential thread that runs through the book.
- Includes obscenities.
- This is a good book club read as there is so much to discuss. Penguin Books includes a Readers Guide comprised of an introduction, questions for discussion, and a conversation with the author.
Category: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Publication: 2017—Penguin Books
Memorable Lines:
His mother was still talking. “Denise was eleven when Raymond came along—a wee surprise and a blessing, so he was.” She looked at him with so much love that I had to turn away. At least I know what love looks like, I told myself. That’s something. No one had ever looked at me like that, but I’d be able to recognize it if they ever did.
It was halfway to dark by then, with both a moon and a sun sitting high in a sky that was sugar almond pink and shot with gold. The birds were singing valiantly against the coming night, swooping over the greens in long, drunken loops. The air was grassy, with a hint of flowers and earth, and the warm sweet outbreath of the day sighed gently into our hair and over our skin.
Was this how it worked, then, successful social integration? Was it really that simple? Wear some lipstick, go to the hairdressers and alternate the clothes you wear? Someone ought to write a book, or at least an explanatory pamphlet, and pass this information on.
Love in Plain Sight–learning to trust again
Love in Plain Sight
by Kathleen Fuller
Although Love in Plain Sight is an Amish romance, it is not a sugar coated love story. It addresses two cases of physical and verbal abuse in two different Amish communities—how it affected the victims and how they reacted to it. Along the way though, the reader meets some noble and likable characters. They are people with standards, people you would want to meet. The book does not address abuse from a community standpoint, but from an individual one. The abusers have other character flaws or sins that are intertwined with their abuse—a hunger for money and power. They abound in self-interest and don’t care who gets hurt.
The plot is complex as Katharine decides to flee her abusing fiancée and lies to everyone to protect herself and her parents. She is Amish and finds a job at an Amish inn in a distant town where she is surrounded by loving people. One of them was abused by her husband who has been missing for nine years and is presumed dead. The two women recognize the backgrounds they see in each other. It is difficult for both to move on with their lives. Rhoda is still legally married, and Katharine has major self-esteem issues compounded by the stress of never being able to do anything the way her fiancée wants it done. As a result, she gains weight and her acne worsens causing even more criticism from him.
I started the book one evening and couldn’t wait to resume it the next day. The plot moves quickly, and both plot lines have dramatic conclusions. One of the major themes is forgiveness. Another is trusting God to work out things for good.
There is an amusing thread in the story. An ad has appeared in a number of Amish newspapers inviting young Amish women looking for bachelors to come to the little town of Birch Creek. Katharine chooses to “disappear” in that town, not because she wants a husband, but because there will be so many Amish women arriving that no one will question why she is there. The big question locally is the identity of the ad writer, and the surprising answer emerges at the end of the book.
Kathleen Fuller is not a new author, but this book is a first of her works for me. I recommend this book and look forward to reading more in this series and others by this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance, Christian
Notes: 1. #3 in the Amish Mail-Order Brides of Birch Creek Series. Although I have not read the first books in the series, I had no problem reading this as a standalone.
- The abuse is not described graphically.
Publication: May 3, 2022—Zondervan Fiction
Memorable Lines:
Despite decades of practice stuffing down her thoughts and feelings to the point where she was numb, fighting the bitterness edging her heart was getting harder.
To cope with his verbal abuse she disappeared into herself until there was nothing but silence in her head replacing his voice. Blissful silence—
“Make sure that the man you marry is gut, kind, and true. Don’t let love blind you to his faults, and don’t compromise yourself to please him. If you do, you’ll lose the person you are, and you’ll live to regret it.”
A Dream Called Home–search for happiness
A Dream Called Home
by Reyna Grande
Torn between two countries, immigrant Reyna Grande seeks to find herself. Is she Mexican or American? Will she ever fit into either culture? Is she destined to metaphorically straddle the border for a lifetime? When her first book was published in 2006, one of her dreams had come true and she had begun “a lifelong quest to advocate for the Mexican immigrant community by sharing our stories with the world.” What she found in the aftermath of its publication, however, is that her story resonates with other immigrant communities as well and even with Native Americans who feel the same struggles to maintain a dual identity, language, and culture.
Reyna’s difficult, abusive childhood is discussed at various points in her memoir A Dream Called Home as it plays a strong and recurrent role in her efforts to work through the emotions of her turbulent past through her writing. She makes mistakes along the way as a college student and as a young adult, but she learns from them and decides to experience them as a part of the growth that shaped her into “a unique individual with a unique voice.”
The memoir is filled with stories of her personal relationships. She realizes that she is subconsciously seeking out the love of her father that she never felt under his roof or when he left his family in poverty to earn money in the United States. Reyna and her siblings wrestle with so many decisions in the U.S., and Reyna has to accept that the pathway to healing and success for her is not the right one for them. Fortunately, she has Chicana professors that become lifelong mentors. Even though Reyna is a talented writer, she also has to learn the difficult business end of publication.
Her stint as an untrained middle school teacher in Los Angeles is both sad and predictable for those familiar with teaching in that climate. She experiences unsupportive parents, disrespectful students, and ever changing assignments and curriculum. A bright light for Reyna is her introduction to folklórico. It revives her own interest in her Mexican heritage and renews an enthusiasm in Mexican culture for her students, many of whom, like Reyna, feel displaced and unsettled.
Reyna’s story can not be summarized in a review. My job is to tell you that A Dream Called Home is a book you should read; it should be a part of your mental catalogue. Regardless of your position on the influx of immigrants currently overwhelming the U.S. and its broken political system, you will find Reyna Grande’s perspective both informative and enlightening if you want to understand the struggles of people desperate to emerge from poverty who are clinging to the hope of the American dream.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Memoir
Notes: Includes pictures that personalize Grande and her experiences
Publication: 2018—Atria
Memorable Lines:
My biggest virtue and my biggest flaw was the tenacity with which I clung to my dreams, no matter how futile they might seem to others. The dream of having a true relationship with my parents was the one I had clung to the most because it was the first dream I’d had, and the farthest from my reach.
“Being in a new country, learning a new language, a new culture, takes time. You will learn. It doesn’t feel that way now, but one day you will be just as comfortable speaking English as you are speaking Spanish. But no matter what, don’t ever forget where you came from, and don’t ever be ashamed of who you are.”
I was finally beginning to understand that it takes as much courage to leave as it does to stay, and that being a parent was way more complicated than I had ever imagined.
The Suicide House–psychological puzzler
The Suicide House
by Charlie Donlea
Thrillers are not generally my cup of tea, but Charlie Donlea’s books are good examples of the fine line between thrillers and classic mysteries. His The Suicide House is a solid mystery with multiple murders, many possibilities of felons, quirky investigators, and threads crossing each other at odd angles. The Suicide House also has a psychological edge, journal writings that will send chills up your spine, and spooky settings, thus moving it along the continuum with a thriller bent.
Upper grade students at the renowned Westmont Preparatory School all know something about the school’s secretive, selective society whose initiates undergo dangerous rites of admission involving The Man in the Mirror. Dangerous turns gruesomely deadly in 2019, followed by several student suicides, but no one is talking. Eventually Rory, an autistic forensic deconstructionist, is invited to conduct an unofficial investigation at the same time her partner Lane, a forensic psychologist, is persuaded to consult with a podcaster who is producing shows that garner a wide following. Neither Mack, the show’s producer, nor anyone else who has investigated, is totally convinced that the accused teacher, Charles Gorman, committed the crimes. There is no physical evidence that he did, and there also is blood from a fourth unidentified person at the crime scene.
My favorite character is Rory who channels her various quirks into finding solutions to cold cases by identifying with those involved and by making connections garnered from the evidence she finds. She is highly intelligent, but her special abilities and what the author calls her “afflictions” make life difficult for her. She finds relief in the details of her work and through reconstructing antique dolls. Her main social contact is Lane who knows her well and goes the extra mile to adjust circumstances to meet her needs.
I recommend this book as an exciting and complex mystery and a bit of a thriller. It goes back and forth by chapter in time frame, setting and perspective. Not particularly good for bedtime reading, The Suicide House will keep you puzzling, guessing, and turning those pages up to an exciting revelation. Four more chapters will bring closure and leave you with a satisfied smile.
I would like to extend my thanks to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery and Thriller
Publication: July 28, 2020—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
Every day brought a funneling twister of emotions. It was how her brain waves fired. If she wasn’t worrying, she was obsessing. And if she was’t obsessing, she was planning. Her mind never really settled down. There was always a low hum of activity going on in her head.
As they made their way through the forest, their steps were fueled by a steady dose of trepidation and curiosity. They had only the seniors to deal with, the summer to get through, and initiation to conquer.
The files represented the case that had woken him up at three in the morning the previous summer. He hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep since.
education pathways 