Review of Jill: A Biography of the First Lady

Authors: Julie Pace and Darlene Superville

Publish date: April 19, 2022

Publisher: Little Brown & Company

Buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jill-Biography-First-Julie-Pace/dp/0316377503/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2NLPI09YYQEDI&keywords=jill+a+biography+of+the+first+lady&qid=1651269692&sprefix=jill+a+birography%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-1

Dr. Jill Biden has been described as President Joe Biden’s greatest political asset. Like many women of her generation, she holds her commitments as wife, mother, and grandmother at the center of her life. She is a professor, earned a doctorate in educational leadership, and taught at Northern Virginia Community College. She broke barriers as First Lady as the first to hold a paying job outside the White House. Jill is the story of this accomplished American woman.

From her earliest days dating Senator Biden to her embrace of Biden’s young sons Beau and Hunter Biden and the birth of their daughter Ashley; her role by Joe Biden’s side through Senate reelection race after Senate reelection race; her years as Second Lady; to Joe’s successful third run for the Democratic presidential nomination, Jill has lived in the public eye.

Jill: A Biography of the First Lady by Julie Pace and Darlene Superville with Evelyn M. Duffy is an exceptionally researched and illuminating read. Pace and Superville of the Associated Press are veteran correspondents of the Washington DC political scene, and this new biography helps shed light on some the more intimate details of Jill Biden’s life. Through this exposé we are able to better understand her personality, which has been a bedrock for the Biden family through heartbreak and good fortune alike.

“She arrived hardened, and at times jaded, by the harsh realities of American politics and the personal tragedies her family has endured in the public eye. Yet she also stepped into a White House as a symbol of resilience and relatability—a woman fiercely protective of her family and her passions and ambitions.”

Skillfully constructed, this profile goes further than just summarizing the story of the Jill Biden most of us only know from news bites. The authors have carefully and expertly trimmed the narrative to the most important events, while still creating an interesting and poignant story. We all know of the heartbreaks that have struck President Biden, but this biography delivers critical understanding of the role Jill has played in his life. This book leaves the reader with not only a deeper understanding of who Jill Biden is, but also a clearer perception of Joe Biden, his children, and their inner circle.

A proper biography is one that shares the life of its subject, but an exceptional biography is one that goes above and beyond just their life story and leaves the reader feeling like they were at least for a short period of time, a part of their life. Jill: A Biography of the First Lady, does just that and more.

This review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on April 29, 2022 - https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/jill-biography-first-lady

Review of Fear No Evil by James Patterson

Author: James Patterson

Release Date: November 22, 2021

Publisher: Little Brown & Company

Buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fear-No-Evil-Alex-Cross/dp/0316499145/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=james+patterson&qid=1638212199&qsid=137-0792672-2832115&sr=8-2&sres=0316499145%2C0759554269%2CB08W529Q23%2C0316499374%2C0316276626%2C0316499870%2CB09L82GKQX%2C1538752832%2C1538718855%2CB08WRNPF3M%2C1538715457%2C0316499447%2C0316540714%2C1538703556%2C1529125871%2CB08Y8ND73G%2C1538703939%2C075955434X%2C0316499773%2C1538703548

Alex Cross ventures into the rugged Montana wilderness where he will be the prey. He's not on the job, but on a personal mission—until he's attacked by two rival teams of assassins, controlled by the same mastermind who has stalked Alex and his family for years. Darkness falls. The river churns into rapids. Shots ring out through the forest. No backup. No way out. Fear no evil.

“Someone had dipped a rolled-up section of that morning’s Los Angeles Times in the blood pooled on the floor and used it to scrawl these words on the wall . . . Las Familias Muertas No Cuentan Cuentos . . . Dead families tell no tales . . .”

This is the 29th installment of bestselling author James Patterson’s wildly successful Alex Cross thriller series. Patterson is known as the world’s bestselling author and has created more enduring fictional characters than any other novelist living today. The Alex Cross series was first published in 1993 with Along Came a Spider.

The main protagonist in the series, Alex Cross, is a highly intelligent and rational detective and specialist in forensic psychologist based in Washington, D.C. He started as a homicide detective but eventually becomes a senior agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During the series, he eventually returns to private psychology practice but continues to work with the local police department as needed. Each novel contains an entirely new plotline, however, there are references to prior narratives in each new novel.

Fear No Evil is somewhat unusual in that Cross and his associates find themselves caught in the crosshairs of two warring drug cartels. They are pulled into a case where the body count rises precipitously. Cross, et al, soon become the targets for both groups, and they end up in the wilds of Montana.

“I want someone who can help me understand the situation enough to halt the needless killing. . . . You do know that you can never stop that kind of violence, Señor Cross. I’ve spent my whole life in it. Never once stopped. Oh, maybe a week here, a week there. But violence, fighting for what’s yours, building an empire, becoming as king—that is the natural course of life. How are you going to stop life doing its violent things?”

Throughout the entirety of the Alex Cross series, Patterson has consistently included the strong bond of friendship and love, and this continues with Fear No Evil. Cross is still the supportive husband to Bree and a good friend and longtime partner to John Sampson, always there in their times of need.

Kudos to Patterson for creating yet another exciting chapter in the Alex Cross saga. A master of his craft, Patterson slowly builds the plot with a series of set pieces, well-timed reveals, and a final twist that climaxes in a heart-pounding and tense ending. Fear No Evil is a compelling and captivating read. A sure-shot bestseller. An action-packed suspense-filled crime thriller that will have you racing through every page. A must-read for all James Patterson and Alex Cross fanatics.

This review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on November 28, 2021 - https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/fear-no-evil-alex

Review of Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom

Author: Mitch Albom

Release date: November 2, 2021

Publisher: HarperCollins

Buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Lifeboat-Novel-Mitch-Albom/dp/006288834X/ref=asc_df_006288834X?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80814219495561&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584413749017390&psc=1

Acclaimed author Mitch Albom has penned five consecutive #1 New York Times bestselling novels. His books have sold nearly 33 million copies and have been translated into 42 different languages worldwide. Known for finding spiritual meaning in everyday life with novels such The Five People You Meet in Heaven, The Next Person You Meet in Heaven, and The First Phone Call from Heaven, Albom in his writings often seeks to answer the meaning between the divine state and experiences bounded by physical reality.

“It’s been three days since the Galaxy sank. No one has come looking for us. I try to stay positive . . . I see surrender in the eyes of many . . . If this is to be, if this is indeed my end . . . I need to tell you something, and I need to tell the world as well.”

Albom’s new novel, The Stranger in the Lifeboat is deeply thought-provoking and asks the question: What would happen if we called on God for help and God actually appeared? An explosion on a yacht leaves ten desperate souls struggling to survive adrift in a lifeboat. Included among these are some very influential and wealthy people. Short on water, food, and hope, three days into the ordeal they spot a man floating in the waves. They pull him in, and he claims to be God. So begins Albom’s most captivating and inspirational novel to date, and for the first time in his fiction writing, he contemplates and explores what people might actually do, if after praying for divine intervention, God really appeared.

“He wore no lifejacket, nor was he holding on to anything when we spotted him bobbing in the waves . . . We waited for the stranger to respond, but he just looked at us doe-eyed . . . Nina touched his shoulder and said, ‘Well, thank the Lord we found you.’ Which is when the man spoke. ‘I am the Lord.’”

Throughout the tale, Albom as usual does a masterful job of keeping the reader engaged and speculating. Is this mysterious and serene man really who he claims to be? And what actually caused the boat to explode? Are the survivors already in heaven, or are they in hell? It is narrated by Benji, one of the passengers, who describes the events in a notebook that is discovered a year later when the empty life raft washes up ashore on the island of Montserrat. It then falls to the island’s chief detective, a man struggling with his own inner struggles, to solve the mystery of what really happened.

The story is divided into three sections with different timelines and points of view. Sea is told while the survivors are on the lifeboat; Land is told a year and a half after the yacht’s sinking; and News is told before the yacht set sail. Albom’s writing style as always is simplistic but effective. It allows the reader to look inward and reflect upon faith.

Fast-paced and compelling, The Stranger in the Lifeboat is thought-provoking, hope-filled, and inspirational. It makes you ponder your deepest spiritual beliefs, and although it does not deviate from the expected outcome, this does not detract from its overall inspirational effectiveness. Whether or not you are a spiritual person, Albom ultimately suggests that answers to our prayers may be found where we least expect them.

Review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on November 2, 2021 - https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/stranger-lifeboat-novel

Review of The Devil's Harvest by Jessica Garrison

Author: Jessica Garrison

Release date: August 4, 2020

Publisher: Hachette

Buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Harvest-Terrorized-Community-Californias/dp/0316455687/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+devil%27s+harvest&qid=1598050204&sr=8-2

Jose Manuel Martínez was born and raised in California and blended in easily among the farm laborers of California’s San Joaquin Valley where he lived a modest and unassuming life. But in stark contrast to the adoring and dedicated family man he appeared to be, there was an evil flipside that allowed him to pursue a frightening line of work as a hitman and enforcer for a Mexican drug cartel—a wicked profession that he carried out with such precision and technique that he went undetected for decades and claimed the lives of dozens of victims.

Martinez tracked one victim to one of the wealthiest corners of America, a horse ranch in Santa Barbara, and shot him dead, setting off a decades-long manhunt. He shot another man, a farmer right in front of his young wife as they drove to work in the fields. The widow would wait decades for justice. Those were murders for hire. Others he killed for vengeance.

The Devil’s Harvest by Jessica Garrison is a captivating true crime story of unbelievable terror that shockingly spanned nearly four decades in California’s central coast and valley. Garrison is an investigative editor for Buzzfeed News and spent more than a decade as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times. This is her debut nonfiction work.

Garrison asked Martinez why he had murdered so many people and how he had gotten away with it for so long? How he could “kill without remorse” and sometimes “even relish” it, while at the same time be so kind and generous with his own family. Martinez “paused for a moment, and then he laughed ruefully. It’s a long story.”

In June 2013, Martinez was arrested for the murder of Jose Ruiz and eventually confessed to killing three dozen people in a murderous crime spree that crisscrossed numerous states between 1980 and 2011. In California, he pleaded guilty to nine counts of murder and was sentenced to life in prison and received similar sentences in other states. Most of his crimes were related for Mexican drug cartels, but he also killed out of revenge and pure anger. He claimed that all of his victims deserved to die because many of them had abused women or children.

So how did Jose Martinez manage to evade law enforcement for so long? According to Garrison, he was a sly, savvy character who knew how to circumvent a systemically prejudiced and often narrow-minded criminal justice system: If you killed the right people, people who were poor, non-white, and who didn’t have anyone to speak up for them, you could literally get away with murder. Well, almost get away with murder.

The Devil’s Harvest is a must-read for any true-crime aficionado and is a story that desperately needed to be told. It is well-researched and detailed—a riveting in-depth narrative that explores the complexities and failures of the criminal justice system. Jose Martinez murdered without consequence for decades. He left a trail of death and devastation within the migrant farm communities of California’s central valley, a community that was left reeling and pleading for justice that went unanswered for way too long.

“Year after year, Martinez operated with impunity. In Tulare County, where he lived for decades, officials suspected him of murder after murder and yet never charged him. Next door Kern County, where he also lived for a time and committed several murders, has one of the highest murder rates in California and one of the lowest murder-solve rates in the nation.”

Garrison’s years of investigative reporting adds credibility to the narrative and thoroughly details how law enforcement was able to track down and eventually capture Martinez, but she also controversially scrutinizes the failures that allowed the Mexican drug cartels and a psychopathic madman to roam free for decades: shockingly killing without most people ever hearing about it.

This review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on August 21, 2020 - https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/devils-harvest-ruthless-killer

Review of The Man I Knew by Jean Becker

Author: Jean Becker

Publisher: Twelve Books

Release Date: June 1, 2021

Buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Knew-Amazing-George-Post-Presidency/dp/153873530X/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=jean+becker&qid=1623103336&sr=8-2

George Herbert Walker Bush came into the US presidency as one of the most qualified candidates to assume office. But if presidential success is determined by winning reelection, Bush was unsuccessful because he failed to convince the American public to give him another four years in office. But if this narrow-minded definition of what constitutes a success is true, George Bush’s post-presidential legacy can only be labeled as a triumph.

As Bush’s post-presidency chief of staff, Jean Becker had a ringside seat to the never-dull story of the former president’s life after his years in the White House. After losing reelection in 1992 to Bill Clinton, Bush’s life “was filled with determination, courage, generosity, love, hope, humor fun, and always big ideas.”

He developed the odd habit of jumping out of airplanes; and learned how to adjust to life in a wheelchair, after having lived most of his life as a high-energy athlete. He enthusiastically saw two sons become governors of their states, one of whom would also become President of the United States. But one odd and highly unlikely development stands out among his post-presidency achievements. 

Through the ages, the President's Club has seen its share of rivalries, alliances, even some true friendships, but on December 26, 2004, Bush and Clinton’s relationship changed forever when a catastrophic tsunami struck Indonesia. In Washington, President George W. Bush and his advisors searched for an appropriate way to coordinate and direct the outpouring of aid from private sources. It was the younger Bush who came up with the idea of asking his father and Clinton to work together. Both were proven fund-raisers and had deep-rooted contacts. Bush and Clinton have been described many times as the odd couple of American politics, but in the years following this tragedy the two former political foes developed a close bond and connection that surprised both men and many of their longtime aides.

The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush’s Post-Presidency by Jean Becker is a wonderfully poignant and intimate behind-the-scenes portrayal of George Bush’s post-presidential life and accomplishments. Becker served as chief of staff during this period and had unique and unparalleled access to the personal and public life of the former president. Based on her personal recollections, Becker details the ups and downs of running the office of a former president from the perspective of someone who knew him best.

“When he left office on January 20, 1993, he moved back to Houston . . . with every intention of staying out of the public eye. That was not to be.”

The Man I Knew is a delightfully touching narrative and worthwhile read, but Becker admits that the narrative is not objective. She confesses to being one of Bush’s greatest fans. So if you are expecting secrets and gossip about Bush’s personal life this is not the book for you.

As Becker writes, “He lived what he preached: Any definition of a successful life must include serving others.” She goes on to describe how Bush “rebuilt his life” and “found a way to continue making a difference.” This is the story of Bush’s modest journey from president to a man of the people and how, after his emotionally draining and heartbreaking defeat to Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election, he found a way to make a difference. By the time of his death in November 2018, he was one of the most admired, respected, and beloved former statesmen.

This review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on June 7, 2021: https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/man-i-knew-amazing

Review of Murder at the Mission by Blaine Harden

Author: Blaine Harden

Release date: April 27, 2021

Publisher: Viking

Buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mission-Frontier-Killing-American/dp/0525561668/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=blaine+harden&qid=1619541516&sr=8-2

In 1836, Marcus Whitman, along with a ragtag band of fellow missionaries and fur traders joined a wagon train to the Oregon Territory. He and his wife, Narcissa, along with Reverend Henry Spalding and his wife, Eliza, and William Gray, founded a mission at present-day Walla Walla, Washington. They had come to the area to convert local Indians to Christianity. For the next ten years, their efforts at conversion were met with only limited success and as more white settlers descended upon the region and intruded upon sacred Cayuses lands tensions between the settlers and tribal leaders began to arise.

Following the deaths of a large number of natives from an outbreak of measles (which was brought to the area by the white settlers), some of the tribal leaders accused Whitman of murder and in retaliation, a renegade group killed Whitman and 11 others on November 29, 1847, an event that came to be known as the Whitman Massacre. This event led to continuing warfare between settlers and native people for several years and reduced the indigenous population even further.

This massacre is known as one of the most notorious episodes in the US settlement of the Pacific Northwest and its shock and horror directly led to Congress establishing the Oregon Territory. The tragedy remains controversial and Whitman and other missionaries are regarded by some as heroes, while others view them as liars, cheats, and interlopers who attempted to impose their religious beliefs on unwilling Native Americans.

“If you think fake news started in 2016, think again. Alternative facts, self-mythologizing, and outright lies have long played a starring role in American history, nowhere more so than the expansion west in the 19th century.”

In Blaine Harden’s new book, Murder at the Mission: A Frontier Killing, It's Legacy of Lies, and the Taking of the American West, he takes a closer look at the Whitman Massacre and its enduring impact on the region and on the Native American tribe, it helped to destroy. Harden is a contributing editor for The Economist, PBS Frontline, and former bureau chief for the Washington Post. He is a New York Times bestselling author who has penned several works that include A River Lost (1997), Escape from Camp 14 (2012), and The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot (2015).

“They traveled west into . . . the thick darkness of heathenism . . . during a peak season of godliness in the United States. Called the Second Great Awakening . . . Their quest, as they described it, was to convert the benighted Indians to Christianity and civilize them so that they might survive a looming stampede of westbound white people.”

In this fascinating well-written exposé, Harden has done a brilliant job of not only looking at the life and legacy of Marcus Whitman but also examining the context in which his tragic death begot “one of the great hoaxes in the history of the American West.” A lie that led directly to the ruin of the Native Americans of the Columbia River Plateau. For nearly 175 years the Whitman massacre victims were celebrated as martyrs, but Harden reveals that this was all just an elaborate tale spun to raise money and found a college.

In Murder at the Mission, Harden skillfully brings to life the collision of myth and reality. He has managed to write a fittingly timely book that fits well into the post-Donald Trump era of false narratives, conspiracy theories, and cries of fake news in which a large segment of the Naïve American population was deceived into believing utter nonsense by destroying others in order to make themselves feel good about themselves.

This review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on April 27, 2021 - https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/murder-mission-frontier

Review of Fires in Our Lives by Kathleen Cushman

Authors: Kathleen Cushman, Kristien Zenkov, and Meagan Call-Cummings

Release date: March 2, 2021

Publisher: The New Press

Buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fires-Our-Lives-Teachers-Students/dp/1620975432/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=fire+in+our+lives&qid=1615846075&sr=8-1

In 2003’s Fires in the Bathroom Kathleen Cushman shed light on what children needed most from education. In this perennial bestseller, students from across the country provided perceptive and gave realistic answers to questions of how their teachers could go beyond the barriers of adolescent identity and culture to reach an urban setting of rapidly expanding diversity within schools. It provided a fresh and articulate view of challenging subjects such as increasing engagement and motivation, teaching difficult academic material, and at the same time creating a classroom culture of respect and success.

Eighteen years since its publication the environment in which young people are learning has shifted radically. Their world is changing at an alarming pace, and classrooms are simmering with unease and concern. To address these changes, Kathleen Cushman, along with co-authors Kristien Zenkov and Megan Call-Cummings, has written a sequel in which high school students again offer their blunt advice to teachers on how to expand bonds.

Cushman is a co-founder of the nonprofit What Kids Can Do and has written numerous articles that raise the voices of adolescents. Kristien Zenkov is a professor of education at George Mason University and his many writing have focused on teacher education, literacy training, and social justice instruction. Megan Call-Cummings is an assistant professor of qualitative methods at George Mason University specializing in participatory action research.

Fires in Our Lives is a carefully crafted and concisely arranged assortment of diverse interviews of high school students in which they attempt to explain the challenges of circumnavigating a rapidly transforming world where unimaginable change, socioeconomic inequalities, and cultural barriers are causing them extreme anxiety and how their teachers can better help.

Reinforced by classroom examples and supplemented with helpful conclusions, Fires in Our Lives is divided into two parts. The first area of discussion explores student interviews of “What Makes School Matter.” Each chapter is organized on themes of individual and group strength, identity and purpose, expectations for the future, and current challenges. These interviews are followed by an in-depth discussion of what teachers can do to better implement these types of ideas into their classrooms.

“As tectonic changes—political, cultural, social and personal—alter the trajectories of their lives, these young people are finding ways to take action in the larger world.”

The second part, “What Youth Can Do,” examines how students can improve their own engagement on issues such as climate change, violence in their communities, gender identity, and immigration. These chapters include both case studies which feature effective student activism and how to incorporate these type of themes into lectures.

“Recognizing . . . in their students’ lives, teachers rightly ask how they can make a difference . . . every school has good teachers doing good work—both in their content areas and in social and emotional areas. By integrating behavioral and academic skills, they are fostering the connection and self-reflection on which deeper learning depends.”

Fires in Our Lives is not simply a compilation of interviews and if the reader only gets one thing out of it, that should be that students have a lot to say about what can better serve them in education. Within its pages are contained straightforward and common-sense approaches to concepts of how teachers can improve navigation within a rapidly changing classroom that involves challenging outside environmental factors. In its simplest form teachers can best serve their students with interpersonal relationships that help them find passion and purpose in the modern world.

This review first appeared at the New York Journal of Books on March 15, 2021 - https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/fires-our-lives