About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Ian Rankin
Positive The Associated Press The Rebus of A Song for the Dark Times is a slightly diminished one — he is drinking less, nor do we find him sparring with local Edinburgh gangster Ger Cafferty, though he does play a role in the drama. The retired detective is a wee bit less enjoyable to read, but he is a familiar character with whom the reader will feel comfortable ... Rebus is still the dogged investigator, able to make intuitive leaps about the dark places that inhabit the human soul and lead some to commit murder, whether in the distant past or in more recent times. Rankin will in time, likely retire Rebus for good, so we should appreciate him while we still have him.
John Le Carre
Positive The Associated Press ... with a style honed over 25 novels and more than 50 years, the author’s prose is crisp and compelling and the story is relevant to today’s turbulent times.
Lars Kepler
Positive AP News As gripping as it was disturbing ... The accounts of the killings are very explicit, written in vivid, sickening detail, and the first chapters felt excessively graphic. Once the hunt for the killer begins in earnest, I was happy to leave the horror of the early murders behind ... a wild ride ... The fast-paced chapters and devious plot twists left me hypnotized and eager to find the stalker’s identity. Now, I might just want to be hypnotized to have the images of the murders purged from my memory.
Lars Kepler, Trans. by Neil Smith
Rave The Associated Press Unlike the creature of myth by the same name, The Sandman by Lars Kepler will not put you to sleep. Quite to the contrary, you won’t want to put it down. And when you do finally try to go to sleep, you very likely will be afraid to close your eyes.
Zadie Smith
Rave The Chicago Tribune The subject matter of Zadie Smith\'s newest collection of essays, Feel Free, ranges wide. She addresses world issues from the perspective of Britain, her home, including climate change, Brexit and multiculturalism. She discusses the origin and use of Facebook ... The joy of this collection is Smith\'s straightforward phrasing, often summing up her thesis with a single thoughtful sentence. Her words are not overwritten; they do not distract from her purpose, nor are they a barrier to her argument; they are welcoming ... This collection fulfills many of our needs with its culture-spanning subject matter, and I for one was not left feeling despair. With rare exception (I\'m not enamored of book reviews for books I don\'t intend to read), Smith\'s essays left me feeling free to ponder her thoughts and her concerns, her passions and her cares.
Jo Nesbø, Trans. by Neil Smith
Rave The Washington Post The story is filled with enough side plots — a victimized child, a sick wife and a convicted murderer — to keep readers guessing about the serial killer’s identity and to keep Hole obsessed and afraid for his own family. The Thirst begins with the brutal killer sinking rusty metal teeth into a victim’s neck, and with that gruesome murder, you’ll want to sink your teeth into The Thirst and not let go.