THE NOBODY PEOPLE by Bob Proehl

 

I wanted to like Mr. Proehl's book THE NOBODY PEOPLE with its sort of superhero story line that is really more a tale of the struggle of being different, of otherness.  The book starts with a father and a daughter.  The father knows that his daughter is different, not just in small ways, but in large, startling, otherworldly ways that put his daughter, Emmeline, in danger.  Emmeline invariably meets her own kind.  

These gifted people are all craving for a degree of normalcy,  but it is not to be.  Their own own government is against them and has passed discriminatory laws.  There are mobs that are acting out in hatred against them.  The gifted group or nobody people, must risk everything and band together as one to fight against the discrimination, hatred and fear that has arisen against them or die trying.

It sounds good, but it is in want of more focus and more resolution even though it is part of a two part series.  

THE INVASION OF HEAVEN by Michael B. Koep

THE INVASION OF HEAVEN by Michael b. Koep is a wholly original read.  Because of this, it is hard to classify.  Loche Newirth, a psychologist, is being hunted for his life after he sees a mysterious painting that opens a window onto the after life.  There is a special, ancient order of men that want to control these art afterlife "windows" and they are willing and able to pursue Loche and those he cares about across the world, time and more.

This book is tightly wound and saturated with mystery, myth, betrayals of love and friendship, killings, madness and time travel.  You will have to pay attention and maybe even take notes to keep track of what's what!

Along the race for his life Loche loses a client to what he believes is suicide, but he is blamed for negligence, he discovers his unknown past and unearths the truth that ancients are walking amongst us.

Go on the journey with this creative author!  Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Michael B. Koep for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

A LADY IN THE SMOKE by Karen Goddard

A LADY IN THE SMOKE by Karen Odden is a solid, character driven Victorian murder mystery.  I understand that this is Karen Odden's debut novel.

I like the start of the novel with instant drama with Lady Elizabeth Fraser and her mother's train careening off the tracks and promptly bursting into flames.  Lady Fraser has spunk so she is injured yet able to pull her unconscious mother to safety.  A brilliant young railway surgeon, Paul Wilcox, comes to the scene and saves her mother's life.  She feels an immediate connection to the young surgeon, but of course in those days, one could never marry out of class.

The instantaneous romance was not very plausible, but the writing about the era was interesting.  

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

LILAC GIRLS by Martha Hall Kelly

LILAC GIRLS by Martha Hall Kelly is without question one of the most moving and well written books I have had the privilege of reading on this subject matter.  LILAC GIRLS has an innocuous enough title.  I thought it was a book about women during WWII and of course, lilacs are so fragrant so it must be fairly pleasant.  Great, interesting.  I was wholly unprepared to be plunged into the horrors of the Holocaust and one of the most disturbing aspects of the Holocaust in my opinion - the medical experiments.    There is a reason for lilacs I will get to later in the review.

The beauty of this book is in its truth.  It is based upon real people.  I think if I would have known this at the beginning of my read, I may not have been able to complete it.  The book is very realistic and graphic.  You truly feel the anguish of these women.  Having said that, I believe it is our duty to stay fresh and current on this subject matter and never forget the atrocities that occurred during that time as there is always more to learn and there is always something that we forget.

The story was easy to follow as it was told about three different women and would alternate between their different storylines and points of view each chapter.  Most of the story is centered around Ravensbruck, the all female concentration camp where many medical experiments were performed.

Kasia is a determind young Polish woman.  She was put in the camp because she was caught working with underground resistance in Poland, along with her mother and sister.  She was  imprisoned at Ravensbruck and she was one of almost 50 women who were operated on.  It is hard to write to much about her and her story without giving too much away.  You must learn of Kasia on your own.

At the beginning of the book, Caroline, is a New York socialite working with the French Consulate in New York. She is living on an allowance from a small inheritance so she is able to do her charitable work for free.  She is well known among the society people so she is a successful fund raiser.  She also puts together much needed boxes of clothes and other care items for the orphaned children in France.

As the story progressed, Caroline became directly involved with the rabbits.  She contributed by raising funds to help rehabilitate their withered limbs and increasing public awareness about the plight of the formerly imprisoned Polish women who survived. Caroline was able to get wealthy donors to bring a number of the women to the United States for costly operations to repair their limbs, effectively restoring physical balance.   The deep emotional scars were harder to remove.

Herta Oberheuser is the devil of the trio.  She is a young German doctor and the sole female doctor at Ravensbruck. Herta is a full believer in the Final Solution.  She volunteers to be one of the doctors performing the monstrous experiments on the healthy prisoners.  Many were selected because they were such healthy specimens, then the "doctors" would introduce bacteria and other foreign objects into their legs and bodies to mimic battle wounds to theoretically better learn how to handle war injuries.

It is no surprise that the prisoners that were operated upon suffered unimaginable pain and did not even know what was happening to them.  In addition, they were given no medication for pain or treatment.  They were called rabbits because after the surgeries they hopped around camp like rabbits on their one good leg.  Another reason they earned this nickname was because they were the Reich's experimental rabbits.

The women who survived the experiments, the rabbits, were so strong and amazing.  A better name for them are the Lilac Girls because a lilac will only bloom after a freeze.  These women survived the heinous acts at Ravensbruck but also raised public awareness about this matter.  They also helped bring justice to those that harmed them but speaking out against the doctors that perpetrated these war crimes so that they were charged with crimes against humanity.

The book is heart wrenching and I encourage you to read it.

Many thanks to Martha Hall Kelly, Net Gally and the publisher for this ARC in exchnage for an honest and unbiased review.

THE GIRLS by Emma Cline

Emma Cline perfectly encapsulates all the wantoness and hubris that can be a 14 year old girl in her book, THE GIRLS.  I was not prepared for this trippy and disjointed journey that Cline takes the reader on with young Evie.

It all seems so harmless until we are catapulted from her simple childish musings to:
1. Evie developing her own snarky, self awareness as she becomes other than Motherher
2. Her idolization of the wrong older girl that breaks down what little defenses Evie has
3. Her fascination with the wrong community that cloaked itself in charisma and music
4. Her willingness to give herself to the wrong men (a cult leader) who ultimately sends her on the darkest of missions

It is a book you cannot put down once it ensnares you.  Evie goes back and forth between the now and 1969 and you can still sense her vulnerability and need for approval.  Perhaps that is what is the saddest of all.

Many thanks to Random House, NetGalley and Emma Cline for this advance copy in exhange for an honest and unbiased review.

THE LAST GIRL

THE LAST GIRL by Joe Hart has one of my favorite themes, dystopian life in the near future.  This book starts next year, with a precipitous drop in female babies born.  It is not long before rebels rise up to face the government and challenge the manner in which they are handling the dwindling birth rates.

We meet Zoey several years after the uprising.  She is a 20-year old woman who is kept in a secure facility with a few other women for the safety and protection of society.  Theoretically, they are the last of their kind and the hope is that they will survive the virus that killed the other women when they turned 21 years old.  If they are able to survive this special birthday, they will be led to a safe zone.  The setting for this protective area and initial safe zone is anything but.  The girls are treated terribly and are in turn hideous to one another.  I thought that this was a sad way to view such a dire situation and found it a negative springboard for the rest of the book.

I do not think that the book was really able to find its way from this initial dark place.  Dystopian stories are dark by nature, but this book did not make sense.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.  (Stars 2.5)

KILLING MAINE by Mike Bond

I enjoyed KILLING MAINE by Mike Bond, although a lot of the story was a little graphic for my taste with the gruesome flashbacks to the time the main character, Pono, spent in the war.   I thought I knew Maine as an ecological haven and was very surprised to learn Mr. Bond's take on the nefarious interplay between big wind power and government.

According to the story, most of the big players in the wind power industry got their start at another notable company, Enron.  Once the jig was up at Enron, those that were not arrested, made their way over to the next big energy scheme, big wind power.  Seems like a good energy alternative and appartently has the "greenies" in their back pocket, but in truth it is devastating to the surrounding environment both human and animal alike.  The mutilation and murder of the eagles was pretty unsettling.

Pono goes back to Maine from his relaxing existence in Hawaii to help the husband, Bucky, of his old girlfriend, Lexie, who has just been arrested for shooting out several wind turbines and potentially killing a man.  From here, the plot is pretty twisted and confusing with wind power as the enemy and the time Bucky and Pono spent in the Special Forces as the ultimate backdrop.  Although Pono despises Bucky for submitting testimony that put him in prison and for stealing his girlfriend, he finds he has no choice but to help prove his innocence.  Why?  Because at one point in the war, Bucky saved his life.    I am not sure this entirely plausible considering the circumstances and incredible risk this puts Pono at considering his criminal record, but I suspended disbelief.

It is an interesting story if you can wind (long i not short like in sit!)  your way through it.  I understood after I started reading it that it is the second book in a series.  I believe this book stands on it own.

Thanks to Net Galley, Mike Bond, and Mandevilla Press for the ARC for an honest review.