Review of The Usual Santas

Authors: Peter Lovesey, et al
Publish Date : October 24, 2017
Publisher: Soho Press
Pages: 416
Buy from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Usual-Santas-Collection-Christmas-Capers/dp/1616957751/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508860908&sr=8-1&keywords=the+usual+santas

There's nothing like a good mix of crime and Christmas stories to get you in the holiday mood. Drawing from a remarkably diverse array of notable and celebrated authors, Soho Crime has delivered yet another brilliant Christmas-themed anthology with The Usual Santas. The subject matter differs significantly, ranging from carefree and whimsical to dark and foreboding. This enchanting and easy to read collection features 18 stories from bestselling and award-winning authors such as Martin Limón, Stephanie Barron, Gary Colby, Ed Lin, Mick Herron, and many others.

The foreword by Peter Lovesey, who also contributes to the collection, reminds the reader that crime is regrettably a part of the holiday season, and thus why this time of the year has inspired more short stories than any other theme.

“Crime statistics spike at this time of the year. The seasonal shopping spree provides rich pickings for thieves and fraudsters. Well stocked stores become tempting targets for stick-up men and shoplifters . . . Family feuds are revived by stressed-out, not-so-merry merrymakers . . . All of this is rich material for crime writers.”

For Lovesey, “one of the joys of the festive season is the opportunity to give and receive surprises” and in this anthology “there are shocks in plenty . . . to get your heart thumping.”

In this quirky assemblage of yuletide crime capers we read about nine mall Santas who must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Niccolò Machiavelli sets out to save an Italian city. Sherlock Holmes’ one-time nemesis, Irene Adler, finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough’s stolen diamonds.

These and other escapades will most certainly charm most readers and instantly transport them to exotic and faraway places such as a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat, from a palatial hotel in 1920s Bombay to a crumbling mansion in Havana, to the busy streets of Thailand.
The Usual Santas is assembled into three parts and begins with “Joy to the World: Various Acts of Kindness at Christmas,” which includes Mick Herron’s titled story “The Usual Santas,” where eight Santas customarily hired by a mega-shopping mall in the suburbs outside of London unexpectedly realize a ninth Santa in their midst. How they expose the imposter adds to the amusement of the story.

Things take a distinctly bleaker and sullen tone in the next segment entitled, “Silent Night: The Darkest of Holiday Noir.” In “Queen of The Hill,” by celebrated novelist Stuart Neville, Campbell Hunter, or Cam the Hun as he’s known on the streets, sets off for a Christmas party at the Northern Ireland house of an infamous but charming drug dealer. This story has some twists and turns in store for its lead character.

In “Blue Memories Start Calling” by Tod Goldberg, the bodies of a missing family are found in a grave near a Granite City ski resort. The grisly discovery just before Christmas and its repercussions cause the County Sheriff to seriously reevaluate his career and life.

In the third section, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus: And Other Holiday Secrets” the stories delve into historical and literary themes. In “The Prince (of Peace),” by Gary Corby, Niccolo Machiavelli saves an Italian city from Cesare Borgia, while pondering the meaning of Christmas. In Clara Black’s “Cabaret Aux Assassins,” Irene Adler, Sherlock Holmes’s past archrival, is in over her head in Paris while on her way to a spying mission and Jane Austen searches for a Dutchess’s missing diamonds in “Jane and the Midnight Clear,” by Stephanie Barron.

Overall, The Usual Santas will most certainly melt and captivate the hearts of the most hardened crime fiction reader. There’s plenty of humor and inspiring stories of the holiday season throughout the anthology, but be warned there are also some dark and suspense-filled tales as well. It’s a great book to take on your daily walk or commute to work. Just remember to keep it nearby for those times when you have a few extra minutes to escape. This delightful short story collection will not disappoint and will be the perfect stocking stuffer for any crime noir or mystery fiction fanatic on your holiday gift giving list.

Michael Thomas Barry's most recent book is In the Company of Evil: Thirty Years of California Crime, 1950–1980. He is the author of six other nonfiction books and is a columnist for CrimeMagazine.com.

Review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on October 23, 2017 - http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/usual-santas-soho

Review of Jane Austen: The Banker's Sister by E.J. Clery

Author: EJ Clery
Publish Date: 10/17/2017
Publisher: Biteback
Pages: 400
Buy the book from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Austen-Bankers-Sister-Clery/dp/1785901761/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1508264627&sr=8-2

Without a doubt, every fan of English literature has read at least one of Jane Austen's celebrated novels. Her works are inextricably linked to the Regency era of British history. All six of her finished novels were published during this period, making them representative Regency romances.

The Regency era lasted a mere nine years, from February 1811 until January 1820. It was marked by romance, style, and etiquette. In 1810, King George III was taken seriously ill and was declared unable to rule because of mental incapacity. The Regency Act was passed the following year making his son George Prince Regent to rule in his stead. The Regency lasted until George III’s death in 1820 when the Regent became King George IV and was able to rule in his own right.

Although Austen wrote her novels at a young age, her ideas were far beyond her years, which still hold true today. A master at taking conventional life and making it extraordinary, Austen began her most famous piece, Pride and Prejudice, at the early age of 20 which became an instant success almost immediately and continue to be very popular today.

“They were drawn together by temperament. Both of them quick and witty, while his boundless optimism and enthusiasm counterbalanced her occasional tendency to low spirits and irritability…His career was blighted by the bank failure but one could say that Jane’s genius redeemed his losses. We owe her novels to his speculative endeavors.”

Henry Thomas Austen (1771–1850) was Jane’s favorite brother and was the sibling most like her in looks and temperament. He was witty and enthusiastic in whatever he did; the eternal optimist, though success did not always find him. He was most influential in allowing Jane to publish her works. Not only was his home available for her to stay in during her trips to London to work with her publisher, these visits also gave her an insight into society life that she would not otherwise have had, furnishing settings, events, and characters for her novels to come. It was Henry who saw to the publication of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey after her death, and it was Henry who wrote the brief, but loving biographical notice which prefaced these two novels and provided the world with their first glimpse into the life of this author.

When it was announced that Jane Austin would appear on the new ten pound note in 2017, few were aware that a ten pound Austen banknote already exited—issued by her favorite brother. Handsome, clever and enterprising, Henry Austen founded a bank business and charmed his way into the top rank of aristocratic society before going spectacularly bust in the financial crisis of 1816. He left an enduring legacy, however, for it was Henry who supported Jane’s dream of becoming a published author.

 “. . . in all this critical commentary, the figure of Henry Austen, Jane’s most important and direct link with the economic transformations of her time, has been almost entirely absent.”

In E. J. Clery’s new book,  Jane Austen: The Banker’s Sister, the distinguished literary critic, professor and cultural historian explores new methodology to the study of the celebrated novelist, revealing a tantalizing look into how Austen’s classic works were shaped by her close relationship with her brother, as well as the financial scandals and disasters of the Regency era.

Despite the fact that there are a plethora of biographies on Jane Austen, there are some noteworthy gaps in what is known about her life and works. Clery’s masterful and scholarly interpretation of Austen’s family dynamics, political links, and financial successes and failures provides an interesting and fresh approach to the study of this illustrious novelist’s life and legacy.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of seven nonfiction books that includes Literary Legends of the British Isles and America’s Literary Legends.

Review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on 10/16/2017 - http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/austen

Review of Between a Wolf and a Dog by Georgia Blain

Author: Georgia Blain
Publish Date: October 10, 2017
Publisher: Scribe
Pages: 272
Buy from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Between-Wolf-Dog-Georgia-Blain/dp/1925321118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507731881&sr=8-1&keywords=georgia+blain

On December 9, 2016 Australian writer Georgia Blain died from a brain tumor. Her life contained more than its share of tragedies and disappointments. In her award winning writings she examined the mundane and often over looked moments of everyday life with brilliant style, keen insight and tenderness.

Between a Wolf and a Dog, Blain’s eighth and final novel, takes its title from a French phrase for twilight, (L’heure entre chien et loup), the hazy and often murky hour between day and night which makes seeing and interpreting objects very difficult. In heartbreaking irony, the novel begins with a scene in which Hilary, the mother of Esther and April, reveals that she has cancer and that the tumor has spread to her brain.

Esther is a family therapist with an appointment book that catalogues the anxieties of the middle class: loneliness, relationships, death. She spends her days helping others find happiness, but her own family relationships are tense and frayed. Estranged from both her sister, April, and her ex-husband, Lawrence, Esther wants to fall in love again.

Meanwhile, April is struggling through her own directionless life; Lawrence’s reckless past decisions are catching up with him; and Esther and April’s mother; Hilary, is about to make a choice that will profoundly affect them all. The scenes of the book take place over one seemly ordinary rainy day in Sydney, and poignantly reveal the voices of the troubled and heartbroken, that seem to echo Esther’s own concerns, fears, and hopefulness.

Rendered with haunting and powerful prose this is a stylish, clever and moving novel from a writer at the height of her writing abilities. The experience of reading Between a Wolf and a Dog, though, is larger and more profound than its pages.

“We have to stay ignorant of our blessings. Perhaps we can only carry our good fortune with us if we don’t know that we are doing it—otherwise we would be overwhelmed by anxiety at the possibility of its loss.”

What is significant about this novel is the way it seamlessly balances unhappiness and sorrow, and its inevitable sense of heartbreak with optimism. Blain writes of Hilary’s struggles with her diagnosis and mortality: “. . . loosening herself, trying to unpick the grip of life from her limbs, aware of how quickly time has been pushing her forward, shoving her now, relentless and sure, into this tiny space, the last moments, where she needs more strength than she has ever needed before,” any expectation of serious indifference ceases to exist.

Whittled down to its most elementary points, Between a Wolf and a Dog is basically a novel about love and understanding. It is essentially an homage to the glory of being alive and its message will resonate long after its final pages have been read.

It is a painfully truthful depiction of family and the complexities of interpersonal relationships. But it is also a celebration of what’s good in all of us—our ability to live in the face of everyday worries and disappointments, and to draw power and positivity from its transformative control.

“Like all of her works,” Blain writes, of Hilary’s final film, “it demands trust from the audience, that this seemingly random scatter of images will find a narrative order.” In this way, a work of art is similar to a life. This brilliant and thought provoking novel has thus become an incredibly powerful statement and significant story, which Blain has graciously gifted to all of us.

On a whole, Blain’s entire body of writings are emotionally driven with an honesty that requires the reader to be courageous in the face of pain. They make us profoundly aware of how we experience our own life and how we ought to live. The characters of her novels are often distressed, indecisive, but never faultless. They are, like all of us, inconsistent and flawed. Her narratives never give us the false hope of living happily ever after, but instead, overflow with the understanding that life does not always deliver security and comfort. What Georgia Blain’s works give us is the simple knowledge that life—whether long or short, complex or simple—most certainly always goes on.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of seven nonfiction books that includes Literary Legends of the British Isles and America’s Literary Legends.

Review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on October 9, 2017 - http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/wolfanddog