Tag Archives: favourite authors

All the Wicked Girls – Chris Whitaker

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I discovered British author Chris Whitaker five years ago when everyone and their dog was buzzing about We Begin at the End. I love a bandwagon, especially when it comes to books, so I hopped on and thus began my love affair with this author. I tracked down a copy of his debut, Tall Oaks, from the UK and read that. Very different book, but enjoyable. Then when All the Colors of the Dark came out, I bought it and read it and LOVED it. That just left two books, All the Wicked Girls and The Leavers.

Summer and Raine Ryan are sisters growing up in Grace, Alabama, a backwater town where nothing much happens except for that one time when “Chief Black found a penis in the fall of 1985.” Of course, that was around the time of the Satanic Panic and now, in 1995, that’s just a story people tell their kids to keep them out of the woods.

Then Summer disappears. At first it appears that she’s run off of her own volition, but then the rumours start because “the land weren’t safe and hadn’t been for a long time. Not since the first girl was taken.”

Raine doesn’t trust Chief Black to find her sister, so aided by misfits Noah Wild and Purv Bowdoin, she starts an investigation of her own. The three teens fling themselves at danger like it’s an amusement park roller coaster. We are also privy to Summer’s first hand thoughts about her potential to get out of this rinky-dink town because she is a gifted musician. And there’s more to her story because of course there is.

There is a big cast of characters in this book and lots of tangled backstories. For example, Raine’s father, Joe, had spent almost a decade in jail and so none of the Ryans trust Black to do the right thing.

Bobby and Savannah have moved to Grace where Bobby has taken over as preacher from Pastor Lumen and Savannah offers Summer cello lessons. “…if Pastor Lumen was be-angry-and-do-not-sin Jesus, then Pastor Bobby was love-endures Jesus. […] By his second service the church was heavy with sweet perfume and flutterin’ hearts.” Lumen’s son, Samson, is an odd duck who works as a custodian at the church and the school. “Samson was afraid of his daddy, of the damnation the pastor said would visit them if Samson didn’t prove himself worthy.”

Purv’s father, Ray, is a drunken bully with “gold rings jutting from fists so big Purv didn’t ever stand a chance.”

Then there are the kids: Raine, Noah, and Purv. They are as delightful (and tough) a trio as you’d ever want to meet and if, at times, they seem too grown up well, considering the circumstances, it can be forgiven.

All the Wicked Girls is a mystery and it won the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award and was shortlisted for the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award. Of course I wanted to know what had happened to Summer and the other missing girls. There’s lots of misdirection in the book because people hold onto their secrets in this town. But truthfully, I was just happy to spend time with these characters. Writing characters is Whitaker’s strength as an author, and he does an unbelievable job of making you care about them.

I think We Begin at the End is a better book, but it’s a better book because Whitaker wrote this one first. And this one is pretty damn good.

Auto Buy Authors: Helen Dunmore

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British novelist, poet, and essayist Helen Dunmore (who sadly died in 2017) has been part of my reading diet for many years. What I like about her writing is its lyrical quality and also there is often a thread of unease running through her narratives, at least in my favourite books.

Of the thirteen adult novels she wrote before her death (she also wrote many books for children), I have read six plus her collection of short stories, Ice Cream. Thankfully, I have four more of her books on my tbr shelf.

The first book I read by Dunmore, With Your Crooked Heart, predates this blog.

Every day for a month now the sun has shone, and every morning you’ve brought the same things out into the garden.

The Times Literary Supplement said the book is “unites strong characterization and a rip-roaring plot with an archetypal quality somewhere between a fairy story and a Greek tragedy.

Thus began my love affair with Dunmore.

Your Blue-Eyed Boy

This is what I said: This is a novel about reconciling who you are now with who you were when. It’s easy enough to pretend that each section of your life is complete and separate, but this is a novel that asks us to question our past choices, our past loves and our place in the here and now.

A Spell of Winter

This is what I said: A Spell of Winter has many of the gothic hallmarks: the gloomy dwelling, a sense of mystery, a distressed heroine. As long as Cathy and Rob are isolated, they manage to sustain their relationship. But like winter, it can’t last. Eventually, the real world seeps in in ways both expected and unexpected.

The Greatcoat

This is what I said: The Greatcoat was published under the Hammer banner (horror aficionados will recognize Hammer as the British production company behind  films like The Woman in Black and Let Me In.  They’ve entered the world of publishing in partnership with Arrow, a subsidiary of Random House. It’s nice to read a “horror” story that is less about blood and guts and more about the kind of chills which prickle your skin and send a shiver up your back. There are no monsters here, but The Greatcoat is deliciously creepy nonetheless.

Talking to the Dead

This is what I said: …like all of the Dunmore novels I’ve read – as literary as they are – this one has an element of psychological suspense. The pace isn’t fast though; information is revealed slowly, like veils pulled back one at a time.

Zennor in Darkness

This was Dunmore’s first novel. This is what I said: Zennor in Darkness has a thread of the gothic and the forbidden running though it and this book is particularly melancholy because of the setting. Modern readers will have had no experience with the horrors of WW1 and what it did to communities and individuals, and although this book doesn’t take place in the trenches the book captures so much of that horrible period in history.

I had a lovely chat with Shawn Breathes Books about Zennor in Darkness a couple summers ago. You can watch that here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDu_cUSDY44

My segment starts at about the 7:22 mark

If you have never heard of Helen Dunmore, I can highly recommend her. My favourite book is A Spell of Winter.

Auto Buy Authors: Gabriel Tallent

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From his website: “Gabriel Tallent was born in New Mexico and raised on the Mendocino coast by two mothers. He studied English at Willamette University, with a focus on eighteenth-century cultural history. After graduation, he led trail crews, scrubbed toilets at Target, worked in the dining room at the Alta Lodge, and bussed tables at the Copper Onion. He now lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, Hattie, and their three rambunctious boys.”

I feel sort of like Gabriel Tallent is going to be the same sort of writer as Donna Tartt: everything he writes will be a masterpiece, but we’re going to have to wait a long-ass time between books.

Despite the fact that he only has two novels to his credit, this is how I know he’s an auto buy author for me. When Crux came out earlier this year, nine years after his debut My Absolute Darling, I bought and read it immediately. Such is the power of an auto buy author. Fingers crossed I don’t have to wait another decade for the next book.

I am not sure how My Absolute Darling ended up on my reading radar. It was named on The New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books list in 2017, but I didn’t discover it until 2019. I considered it for my book club pick, but said this in my review: “I highly recommend this book, although I understand that it won’t be palatable for many readers. It was on my short list as a potential selection for my book club, but I knew – even before I read it – that most of the women in my group would have a very difficult time with its subject matter. After reading it, I can say with certainty that I was right: they would have hated it. But I would argue that it’s compelling, intelligent and worthy of the copious praise it has received.”

I have often (selectively) recommended it, though, and virtually everyone who reads it agrees that it is amazing.

Crux was definitely an easier book to read subject-matter wise. It’s the story of teenage besties Dan and Tamma who spend their days rock climbing and dreaming of a different life. In my review I said “There is a lot of climbing jargon in this book and that might not be to everyone’s taste. I don’t know a dang thing about climbing, but by the end of it I was invested in their pursuit of “sending” each climb they attempted. I loved Crux. It’s my first five star read of 2026.”

Tallent is a talented writer. And he pulls no punches. And he has broken my heart twice now. So, obviously, he’s an auto buy author.

Auto Buy Authors: Lisa Reardon

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In my continuing series on the authors whose books I will always buy, this month’s featured auto buy author is Lisa Reardon. There is very little updated info about Reardon on the internet and that’s because she pretty much dropped off the face of the map in 2010 when she was incarcerated for the assault with the intent to commit murder of her father. Her sentence was four – seventeen years. There is very little information to be had about Reardon, but here is another account of the events surrounding this incident. I believe she only served a couple of years of that time and once she was released she sort of disappeared from the spotlight. As far as I know, she only wrote three novels and I have read all three. If by some miracle she wrote something else, I would hand over my money in a nanosecond.

I read Reardon’s novel Billy Dead at least 20 years ago and it is a book that has lodged itself in my heart for many years. My read of it predates this blog, but I reposted the NY Times review of it here.

“People lose people. I don’t know why we’re all so damned careless. Folks lose their kids, men lose their women, even friends get lost if you don’t keep an eye out.”

No question, Billy Dead is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I am a fan of gritty fiction and in Reardon’s capable hands, the story of siblings Ray, Jean, and Billy is a gut punch of a book. The dysfunction is a deep, dark well in this book and so is the abuse, but then so is the love. I think I really do need to read it again. I definitely became a fan of Reardon.

Next I read The Mercy Killers.

“It’s hard to think how different their lives would have been if it weren’t for the mess they got themselves into, if it weren’t for that war, if they hadn’t all been so young and stupid and scared.”

In my review of this book I said “Lisa Reardon writes about characters who live in a world vastly different from my own. They are broken-down people whose lives are messy – filled with violence and alcohol and drugs and hopelessness.”

Although I wouldn’t have thought that I would like The Mercy Killers based on its synopsis, I did like it.

Then I read Blameless.

I said: “Blameless is a quiet novel where nothing much happens. Mary is often her own worst enemy, but as her story is pulled back layer by layer and you come to understand all the ways life has kicked her in the teeth, you just want something, anything, good to happen for her. Reardon has a particular gift when it comes to writing broken characters and I really enjoyed my time with Mary, even though, like her previous novels, the story is pretty grim.”

“Oh my God,” she cried. “Oh my God,” with heaving, gasping, snot-filled sobs.

“It’s all right, Sharon.” I pulled my visor down low over my face. People up and down the beach were looking at us. “It has a happy ending.”

Across the board, Reardon’s novels are compelling, dark, potentially triggering and definitely ‘go there’ in ways that might make many readers uncomfortable. But they are also really well-written, heart-wrenching, and compelling. Therefore, although I suspect I will never have the opportunity to buy another book by her, Lisa Reardon is an auto buy author.

Auto Buy Authors: Carolyn Slaughter

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My love affair with Carolyn Slaughter began in the 80s when I happened upon her novel The Banquet in a second-hand bookstore in Hamilton, Ontario. That book, which opens with the lines “I am waiting for them to come. I am not frightened at all”, was a sucker punch of a read and sent me on a treasure hunt for more of Ms. Slaughter’s books.

Slaughter was born in India in 1946, but the family moved soon after to the Kalahari Desert in what is now Botswana. She lived there until her family moved to London in 1961.

Every single book of Slaughter’s I have managed to find has felt like a stroke of luck because like Thomas H. Cook, you’re not picking up one of her books at the local big box book store. Sadly, everything I have read by Slaughter predates this blog with the exception of her memoir Before the Knife, which was published in 2002 and chronicles her childhood in Africa. It is the book she says she wrote to make sense of why she’d been driven to write about violence and murder up until that point. There’s a 12-year gap between The Widow and this memoir. Slaughter hasn’t published anything since 2007’s Dresden, Tennessee which, sadly I DNF. Although I suspect she may be retired, Slaughter became a psychotherapist in lives in (according to Wiki) New Jersey.

I have read and enjoyed several of her novels.

The Story of the Weasel (in North America it was called Relations), 1976

”This my third attempt to put my thoughts down on paper; in my mind they chafe mercilessly.”

This is the story of Christopher and Cathy, siblings in the late 1800s, whose relationship is, let’s just say, complicated. If you recall another set of siblings named Christopher and Cathy, you’ll have a clue as to why. This book floored me when I read it.

This was Slaughter’s debut and the second book I read. This is also the book that prompted me to write my first and only fan letter to an author and, miraculously, she responded!

Magdalene, 1978

”Today is my birthday, today I am thirty-seven. And look, here is my face floating in the polished silver mirror.”

This is the story of Mary Magdalene and her relationship with Christ. I remember this book as being as angsty as heck.

Dreams of the Kalahari, 1981

“The small girl sat on the sand under the thorn tree.”

An autobiographical novel of a young girl’s coming of age in the Kalahari.

The Banquet, 1983

This is the story of an architect called Harold who meets a young shopgirl called Blossom at a Marks & Spencer. She is the most beautiful woman Harold has ever seen and the two eventually fall in love. One of the most beautiful and horrifying books I have ever read.

A Perfect Woman, 1984

“A woman stood by her window looking out at the garden with the gaze of someone surveying the sea or a long sweep of hills and fields.”

The story of a love triangle.

The Innocents, 1986

“I’m being buried alive.”

A tale of South Africa during the Apartheid

My collection will be complete when I get my hands on Columba, 1977; Heart of the River, 1982; The Widow, 1989. I own, but have not yet read, A Black Englishman, 2004.

#31for65 – A month of books for my birthday

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I celebrated a milestone birthday in May and so I decided to share 31 influential reads with my friends on Litsy. I thought it might be nice to add those titles here as I think it offers a sense of who I am as a reader and what sorts of books shaped my reading life. In the order in which they appeared on Litsy:

Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery

It would be unCanadian not to love this character and this book and spending time with her on PEI is one of my earliest reading memories.

The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport – Laura Lee Hope

When I was a kid, my mom’s younger brother used to give me a couple Bobbsey Twins books for my birthday every year. Sadly, I don’t have all of them anymore, but I do have a couple really old copies that once belonged to my mom’s sister. I loved spending times with these mystery-solving siblings.

The Silver Sword – Ian Serraillier

I was in grade 7 when I read this book and it was one of those books that I thought a lot about over the years. I found a copy on Bookoutlet a few years ago and re-read it. Not as amazing as my 12-year-old self remembers it, but still an important part of my reading history.

A Little Princess – Frances Hodgson Burnett

This book might have been the first book to ever make me cry and I have read it a few times since I was a kid and I can confirm: still makes me cry. Sara Crew is one of my favourite protagonists ever: kind, resilient, and she understands the power of a good story.

The Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller

I mean, great literature this is not, but I distinctly remember reading it when I lived in the UK and sobbing my eyes out and then immediately mailing the book to my BFF so she could also sob her eyes out. I will never re-read this book because I know it’s schlock and I want the memories of that first experience to live in my heart forever.

Billy Dead – Lisa Reardon

I selected this book for my book club many years ago and everyone but me hated it. I get it, though. This is a dark, dark book but it is also so well-written and so unflinching. It remains one of the most visceral reading experiences of my life and I will definitely read it again at some point.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith

Francie Nolan is a friend of mine. She was when I first read this book when I was 12 or 13 and she was again when I reread this book a few years ago.

Flowers in the Attic – V.C.Andrews

I read this book in 1979, which is the year it came out and the year I graduated from high school. I mean, is there a person alive who came of age in the late 70s who didn’t read this book? It was shocking, scandalous even, at the time. Literature it is not, but it’s definitely a seminal book in my reading life.

The Book Thief – Marcus Zusak

I don’t think I will ever get over the experience of reading this book and spending time with Liesel, Max, Rudy and the Hubermans and, yes, our narrator, Death. It’s reading nirvana.

Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell

Not sure why this book has two different titles, but mine was called Hamnet & Judith. You could call it just about anything and it would still be an absolutely devasting novel about Shakespeare (unnamed) and his wife (called Agnes) and the loss of their son Hamnet which inspired the play Hamlet. The movie is also fantastic, if you haven’t yet seen it.

The Banquet – Carolyn Slaughter

Later this month, I will be talking about Carolyn Slaughter as part of my auto buy author series. I discovered this novel back in the 80s and it absolutely floored me. It’s about an intense love affair that culminates in a shocking and devastating event and, I gotta say, I had and have never read anything like it.

Our Daily Bread – Lauren B. Davis

This story about people in crisis and the sacrifices they make to save those they care about is absolutely phenomenal. I chose it for book club and we actually had a Twitter (back when Twitter was a thing) chat with the author, which was so awesome.

The Secret History – Donna Tartt

I read this book when it first came out, never stopped thinking about it, and then read it again a couple years ago. It absolutely stands the test of time and it’s hard to overstate how influential it is.

Atonement – Ian McEwan

Atonement, like most of McEwan’s novels, take a little bit of perseverance, but they are always, always worth it. This is, by far, my favourite (and I have read a few), and both of my adult children (who read the book in AP Lit in high school) would say that it is a perfect novel. Can’t say I disagree.

The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

I read this book 25 years ago and I remember bawling so hard I couldn’t see the pages. I know some people get all icked out by the fact that sometimes these characters were at vastly different points in their lives (and also ages) but I just saw a love story that could not be restrained by the restrictions of time and I was there for it!

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

This was one of the first ‘adult’ books I ever read and I fell I love with Jane and the moors and Rochester. This is definitely on my radar for a re-read.

The World of Winnie-the-Pooh – A.A. Milne

My mom read Pooh to my brothers and me when we were kids and the 100 Acre Wood has a special place in my heart. There are lessons in this book which we could all stand to relearn, I think.

Possession – A.S.Byatt

I read this years ago and I recall it being a tough book, but I also remember feeling really smart when I finished so there’s that. A book about desire, and poetry, and dedication and academia.

This Time Tomorrow – Emma Straub

This book made me feel all the feelings and any book that does that is an automatic winner.

We Begin at the End – Chris Whitaker

Duchess, the main character of this novel, will stay with me forever.

Velocity – Kristin McCloy

My most read book for reasons that are deeply personal. Man, I hate this cover, but also, man, do I ever love this book. I think my review does a pretty good job of explaining my feelings.

The Paper Palace – Miranda Cowley Heller

I have read this book three times, and I have loved it every single time.

The Famous Five – Enid Blyton

Honestly, I don’t remember a single thing about these books other than the fact that they made me want to talk with a British accent and go to boarding school.

That Was Then, This Is Now – S.E. Hinton

Perhaps not as well known as her debut, The Outsiders, I liked this one more (and I loved The Outsiders).Kids still read and appreciate Hinton’s novels today, for reasons that are totally legit.

Sweet Savage Love – Rosemary Rogers

My mom loved historical boddice rippers back in the day and I think I read them because she read them. Authors like Rogers and Kathleen Woodiwiss definitely left their mark, though.

Forever – Judy Blume

I read this book as a teenager (it was published in 1975, so I was definitely the target audience) and I remember loving it for its realistic portrayal of young love. It’s probably pretty tame by today’s standards (YA has definitely gotten racier) but for the time it was quite graphic and also quite amazing.

IT – Stephen King

I have read a lot of Stephen King, but IT is my favourite. I was in NYC the summer this book came out and I carried it with me everywhere. The kids in this book are anything but losers and I loved them all. Say what you want, King can spin a yarn.

The Serpent King – Jeff Zentner

Not all YA is created equal, and Jeff Zentner is top of the heap for me. The characters in this book, three high school seniors – Dill, Travis, and Lydia – are some of the most vibrant, heartbreaking characters I have ever met.

The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

Whatever I knew about empathy at a young age, I learned from reading this book when I was 12.

Brother – Ania Ahlborn

Maybe this seems like an odd choice for a “most influential” books list, but I’ll tell you this: Michael, the main character of this extremely graphic and extremely heartbreaking horror novel, is someone I still think about.

Our Town – Thornton Wilder

If Robby Benson hadn’t starred in the1977 television adaptation of Wilder’s Pulitzer winning play, I might never have encountered it, but 1977 was my Benson era so…This play has meant so much to me over my life, including being the subject of my undergrad honours thesis.

So, there you have it, 31 book that have meant a lot to me over the course of my 65 years. There are so many books that might have made the list on a different day, but I think this one does a pretty good job of showing you where I have been and what I am reading now.

Feel free to tell me about some of your most influential reads. I would love to hear about them!

Auto Buy Authors: Thomas Christopher Greene

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I decided last month to take a look at my auto buy authors. You know the ones, your ride or die authors whose books you know will deliver. If you want to look at my criteria and read about my first auto buy author, Thomas H. Cook, you can visit that post here.

This month’s auto buy author is another Thomas: Thomas Christopher Greene.

Thomas Christopher Greene is an American writer and co-founder and past president of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. He’s the author of seven books, of which I have read four. There’s a great interview with him here.

My first experience with Greene was back in 2011 when I read his novel Envious Moon. About that book I said: “Love is the one emotion that drives people, especially young people, to reckless behaviour. Greene’s novel captures that love-fueled momentum and propels Anthony, Hannah and the reader on a journey that is both heart-felt and heart-breaking.”

Like I said in my review, I am a sucker for star-crossed lovers or any book that taps into angsty longing and Envious Moon had that in spades, so of course I was going to seek out more books by this author.

Here’s what I’ve read:

The Headmaster’s Wife: One of the delights of this books (if you can actually call a novel about grief ‘delightful’) is letting the pieces of this puzzle click together in their own time. This is a book that sort of reads like a mystery, but isn’t that what life is at the end of the day? An unfathomable mystery. I read it in one sitting.

The Perfect Liar: Max W. and Susannah meet at a fancy art party in New York City. They are drawn to each other almost immediately and soon after, they are married. Now they live in Vermont where Max has taken a job as a lecturer at a small liberal arts college. One morning, while Max is away giving a lecture at an art institute in Chicago, Susannah discovers a note pinned to their front door: I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. Couldn’t put it down.

If I Forget You: The novel opens in 2012. Henry, a poet and lecturer at NYU, sees Margot – for the first time in 20 years – on the street in Manhattan. When their eyes meet, “the face Henry sees travels to him from a lifetime ago.” Instead of speaking to him, though, she runs away. It is from this point that their story unspools – toggling between their college days and this point in the present. Lives lived and all that.

Greene seems to walk that line that I love so much between page turner and literature, often with a heaping helping of angst thrown in.

I still have some Greene books to look forward to: Mirror Lake, After the Rain, I’ll Never be Long Gone, and Notes from the Porch: Tiny True Stories to Make You Feel Better About the World. I can’t wait to track these books down.

Auto Buy Authors: Thomas H. Cook

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At last count, I have 500 unread books on my bookshelves. I wish I could say that I am mortified by that number, but I am not. I am a mood reader and I like to be prepared for all contingencies. I also love buying books because books as objects just make me happy. Who knows what I am going to feel like reading on any given day, and it gives me a lot of pleasure to shop my shelves.

But then there are those tried and true authors whose books somehow make it to the tip top of that pesky TBR pile. Somehow, these authors always seem to move to the front of the line and even though I have many (many) books that have been languishing on my shelves waiting to be read, when these authors have a new book out–or in the case of today’s featured author, I stumble across a new-to-me book by them–I somehow forget my shelf and read the book straight away. (Alternatively, as is also true in the case of today’s featured author, I squirrel the book away for a rainy day when nothing else is floating my boat, and I need a guaranteed winner.)

What makes someone an auto buy author? That’s what I would like to write about today because I have several writers who meet my own very subjective criteria, my drop-everything-and-read-their-latest-book-asap crew.

  1. Writing. I love it when a book is well written. Sometimes the writing doesn’t have to be stellar for me to enjoy a book’s plot or characters, but when the writing is excellent, that is definitely a bonus. Auto buy authors always have, at the very least, prose that isn’t clunky.
  2. Plot. There are certain types of plots that I really enjoy. I love books that keep me guessing. I love angst. I love dark academia. I love it when the writer alludes to things that have yet to be revealed to the reader. I love to be surprised.
  3. Characters. I love it when I love the characters, when they feel as though they could be a friend of mine. When I root for their success (or sometimes their demise). I love characters that feel like real people.
  4. The feels. I love a book that punches me in the gut, makes my eyes burn with unshed tears, or a book that makes me sob. I love a book that grabs me by the throat and shakes me until my teeth rattle, a book that makes me read way past my bedtime, until my eyes are burning.
  5. The unexpected. I love a twist, especially when it’s not contrived. I love it when a book breaks my heart.

Somehow, auto buy authors always have the perfect combination of these things and there’s something about that first encounter that makes me want to dive into another book. When that book also turns out to be great, then they make my auto buy list. I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of the authors whose work I have enjoyed and whose books I will always buy.

I thought it might be fun to share these authors with you and, of course, I would love to hear which writers would make your list!

First up: Thomas H. Cook

Thomas H. Cook is an American writer of mysteries with over 30 titles to his name. It doesn’t look like he’s had anything published since 2018. He has won many awards over the years, including an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

I discovered Cook in 2007 when I happened upon his 1995 novel Breakheart Hill in a second hand bookstore. I knew nothing about Cook, but I was totally intrigued by the novel’s opening lines: “This is the darkest story that I have ever heard, and all my life I have labored not to tell it.”

Thus began my love affair with Cook.

Turns out, though, his books are not that easy to find. I can’t just head to Indigo and grab one of his books off the shelf. Tracking Cook books (haha) down is a bit like going on a treasure hunt. I was delighted when I went to a huge second hand book sale in Moncton (about 90 minutes from me) last summer and happened upon a title I didn’t own. If I am in a second hand book store, he’s the first author I look for. Over the years, I have managed to get my hands on 16 of his novels (two of which I am saving for that rainy book day).

Here’s why I love him.

First of all, he’s a brilliant writer. His writing is astute, and often lyrical (but not overly fussy.) He (mostly) writes what I would classify as literary mysteries. They are never just straight-up whodunnits. His characters are complicated and many of his novels deal with father/son dynamics. In virtually every book I have ever read by Cook, there has been some sort of mind-blowing/wait, what? twist that has made me want to go back and start again to see what I missed. While I have not loved every single book I have read, every single book I have read has been well worth the time and effort and has been heads and tails better than much of the dreck out there.

So, here’s what I have read:

Breakheart Hill – a leisurely southern gothic novel, filled with a real sense of place and time. The characters are interesting and flawed and I was 100% surprised by the ending, which wasn’t a cheat even though it felt like it should have been.

The Chatham School Affair – a richly realized mystery which unfolds as the book’s narrator, an elderly lawyer named Henry Griswald, recalls the events which transpired the year he was 15.

Places in the Dark – The story concerns brothers William and Cal who grow up in an idyllic seaside town in Maine in the 1930s. They are as different as night and day: William an energetic dreamer who rushes through life filled with hope and enthusiasm and Cal, the older more pragmatic brother. Still, despite their differences, they are close. Then Dora March comes to town.

Red Leaves – the story of the Moore family: Eric (owner of a camera shop), Meredith (teacher at a small community college) and Keith (their teenage son). They live in a small New England town and live, what Eric believes, is a perfect life. That is until eight-year-old Amy Giordano goes missing and the last person to have seen her is Keith, who’d been babysitting her that evening.

Instruments of the Night – the story of writer Paul Graves, a man who has spent his career writing about the horrible dance between serial killer and sadist Kessler (and his accomplice, Sykes) and the man who has spent his career chasing him, Detective Slovak. This might be my favourite novel by Cook.

The Cloud of Unknowing – David and Diana Sears were raised by their brilliant but schizophrenic father. Now they are adults and they carry all the baggage from that often difficult childhood. I have lukewarm feelings about this one.

Evidence of Blood – Jackson Kinley is a true-crime writer. His career has brought him close to unimaginable horrors: rapists and murderers and people who torture others for pleasure. Kinley (as he is most often called) seems somehow immune to these horrors. His armor is breached, however, when he gets the call that his childhood friend, Ray Tindall, has been found dead.

Master of the Delta – a book about fathers and sons, about the part luck plays in how our lives turn out, about kindness and cruelty.

The Fate of Katherine Carr – George Gates is a former travel writer who now writes features for the local paper and spends his evenings drinking scotch at his neighbourhood bar. He’s a broken man, but no wonder: his eight year old son, Teddy, had been taken off the street on his way home from school, murdered and the murderer had never been caught.

The Interrogation – the story of two cops, Norman Cohen and Jack Pierce. Each man has a heart full of demons (Cohen is haunted by his experiences in war; Pierce’s young daughter was a murder victim), but they are tenacious and accomplished interrogators. Since the story is set in 1952 they have to rely on the evidence they gather the old-fashioned way: visiting crime scenes, talking to people, chasing leads.

Mortal Memory – a story that begins when narrator Stevie Farris discovers, at age 9, that his father has shot and killed his mother, Marie, older brother, Jamie and sister, Laura. The knowledge of this horrific act tortures Stevie, mostly because he doesn’t understand why his father committed such a horrible crime. Wasn’t his family happy?

Peril – like a noir film, peopled with shadowy gangsters in crumpled hats, a beautiful, fragile heroine who earns the good will of the men she meets, and a bunch of guys who ultimately, turn out to be loyal and decent.

Blood Innocents – the story of NYC police detective John Reardon who, returning to work after the death of his wife, is given a strange case involving the slaughter of two deer in the Children’s Zoo in Central Park.

Into the Web – Roy Slater’s acrimonious relationship with his father isn’t the only difficult thing about returning to his childhood home. Just a few weeks before he was about to leave for college, Roy’s brother Archie was arrested for the murders of Lavenia and Horace Kellogg. Now he’s back in a town filled with ghosts – and then another dead body turns up.

And the two books I am saving for a rainy day: Flesh and Blood & Night Secrets.

I am on a mission to find all the remaining Thomas H. Cook titles that exist.

Crux – Gabriel Tallent

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According to Merriam-Webster, crux is “a puzzling or difficult problem: an unsolved question; an essential point requiring resolution or resolving an outcome; a main or central feature”.

Gabriel Tallent’s novel, Crux, comes nine years after his debut, the much lauded My Absolute Darling. Crux landed on the top of my must read pile based on my love for his debut and now that I have read it, it cements Tallent’s place in my auto buy list. (I hope I won’t have to wait another nine years for is next book!)

For Tamma and Dan, seventeen-year-old besties, a crux is a metaphor for the difficulties and decisions they face in their everyday lives, but also the very real problems they encounter every time they head out into the Mojave to climb boulders.

These kids live next door to each other in the middle of nowhere. Their mothers, Alexandra and Kendra, used to be best friends until they had a falling out and now no longer speak. Alexandra wrote a best-selling novel when she was eighteen. She married Lawrence, a construction worker, and had Dan. Kendra is a diner waitress and, besides Tamma, is mother to Sierra (who has three kids of her own) and Colin. She lives with a dirtbag drug dealer ten years younger than her in a ratchety trailer. Neither Dan nor Tamma’s home lives are particular stellar. Dan and his father don’t really have much to say to each other; Alexandra barely comes out of her room. She had heart valve replacement surgery years ago, and the valve is now deteriorating. Although she did write a second novel, she’s been blocked ever since. Kendra is deplorable. Whether it’s the circumstances of her own life or she’s just an awful person, she is not kind to Tamma. On the rare occasions Tamma would be in Dan’s house, Dan would “catch Tamma eating orange peels. Chewing steak bones from the night before. She’d nab butter off the stick. […] “Dude,” he’d whisper, meaning, That bread is moldy, and “Dude,” she’d say back, meaning, Don’t worry, I scraped the mold off.”

Tamma and Dan spend as much time out in the desert as they can. They don’t have the right gear, but they climb anyway, spotting each other and egging each other on and challenging each other to climb more difficult rocks. “On the ground, Tamma was the clumsiest person he had ever met, but on the wall, she was breathtaking. […] Everyone he knew seemed to think Tamma was trash, but he thought she was some kind of genius.”

The teens have a dream, and that is to graduate from high school (although it is highly unlikely Tamma will graduate, Dan is a whipsmart scholar) and head to Indian Creek, “the last place on earth you can still dirtbag, the way the old-school climbers did.” The friends dream about perhaps going pro, making a living doing the thing that they love the best of all.

But life seems to have other plans for them.

Dan’s mother has a life-threatening medical issue. Tamma’s baby nephew, River, has a traumatic brain injury. Suddenly the pair find themselves having to reassess their lives and priorities. Their choices will have a profound impact on their lives.

Tamma couldn’t say that she’d never despair. All she could do was think, Not today. All her hope felt terribly insecure. And she could get to where she had this feeling of rage. I don’t want to be strong. I don’t want to have to try and find joy when it all feels so scary. And then she’d think: You can do this. You are a rad climber and people like you. You can show up every day and be an indomitable force for joy and hope and you can let everyone else fall apart without falling apart yourself.

Dan has his own struggles, but he knows that his parents “believed that it was possible for [him] to go out into the world and succeed. That belief was built into [his] worldview. No one had ever believed that about Tamma.”

Boulders aren’t the only things Tamma and Dan have to climb; life is going to shoot the motherlode of obstacles their way. How they ultimately handle these trials is what makes these characters people you want to root for. Their friendship is genuine and refreshing; their conversations often laugh-out-loud funny; their love and admiration for each other is real and beautiful.

There is a lot of climbing jargon in this book and that might not be to everyone’s taste. I don’t know a dang thing about climbing, but by the end of it I was invested in their pursuit of “sending” each climb they attempted. I loved Crux. It’s my first five star read of 2026.

Highly recommended.

In the Wild Light – Jeff Zentner

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Well, that’s three 5 star books for Jeff Zentner. There’s just something about the way he writes characters that breaks my heart and Cash Pruitt, the sixteen-year-old protagonist of In the Wild Light now joins the ranks of Dill (The Serpent King) and Carver (Goodbye Days) as one of my all-time favourites.

Cash lives with his Papaw and Mamaw in Sawyer, Tennessee. It’s a backwater town and Cash doesn’t imagine much of a future for himself even though it is a place he loves. His mother died of a drug overdose; he never knew his father, but his grandparents are just salt of the earth people.

Cash’s best friend is Delaney Doyle. They met at a support group for people with family members who are addicts. Delaney is a genius, and that’s not an overstatement. For Cash, trying to understand how her mind works “is like trying to form a coherent thought in a dream.”

When Delaney makes an important scientific discovery, it earns her a full ride at Middleford Academy, a fancy private school in Connecticut. Delaney has no reason to stay in Sawyer – and every reason to go – but she isn’t going without Cash. Cash isn’t sure he wants to leave his grandfather who has end stage emphysema.

Cash agrees to go with Delaney and it is a decision that changes his life. First of all, he makes friends with a Alex, a boy he meets on the rowing team. He develops a crush on Delaney’s roommate, Vi, and he takes a poetry class, and this experience (and the teacher, Dr. Adkins) blow his world wide open. She tells him:

“I have two intuitions about you. The first is that you’ve got in your hear that poetry has to be elaborate, and that’s what’s fueling your hesitancy.

[…]

Number two: that you’re someone who pays attention to the world around him.”

Dr. Adkins is not wrong. Cash notices everything: the way people smell, the way Delaney worries the skin on her thumbs, the way water looks. “Ever since I first became aware that the world contains mysteries and incomprehensible wonders, I’ve tried to live as a witness to them.”

In the Wild Light is a coming-of-age story about a kid who has had to grow up way too fast, who feels out of his depth, but who learns to trust himself. Like every Zentner book I’ve read, this one made me cry on more than one occasion.

Highly recommended.