A. Lovell

Riveting family drama

Reviewed: 11-18-23

I chose to review Last Place Seen because I am fascinated by missing persons as well as complicated family dynamics and this book promised both. The novel is written in third-person, past tense with alternating points of view between Tiana and Jay. I was immediately drawn into their lives by the clean, rhythmic flow of words. It seemed effortless.
Tiana and Jay are in their late twenties and have been married for four years. Jay is unemployed although he is putting in applications and making good showings at interviews. He can't get a break. He was incarcerated for 18 months and it has limited his prospects. Tiana works for a social media company, pulling as much overtime as she can to make ends meet. Tiana and Jay’s life together is oppressive, from the sweltering heat in their non-airconditioned apartment, to the financial strain, they are both stretched thin. Their young son, Markus, is four and rendered to perfection. Jay is the primary caregiver for Markus and their bond is strong. They have a strong family even if it is not perfect.
A local girl, Zoe Miller, was last seen at the local Wal-Mart and Jay admits that he was there when they were looking for her. He heard them calling her name over the intercom. When the police come knocking and take him in for questioning based on that simple coincidence, we begin to see how strangled Jay is in his life after incarceration. When a link is discovered between Tiana and the missing girl, the tension mounts.
The characters are written in full color, with flaws and all. They stepped off the page and walked into my day, making themselves to home as I listened to their lives unraveling. It was riveting. I rooted for each of the characters in turn. I yelled at Tiana time and again as she made reactive decisions that stretched the fragile fabric holding her family together. Her actions led to misunderstandings and frustrations and nearly tore Tiana and Jay’s world apart. The ever-present wildfire escalates the tension.
For me, the hero in this book was Jay. He was steadfast and even when he was at his most hopeless his decisions were about his family and how he could serve them best. The struggle of having a record hanging around his neck was subtle but led to his feelings of inadequacy and failure. The mystery of his crime is teased out through the book and when it is finally revealed it makes perfect sense. There was no other way he could have reacted in the moment. Jay works steadily to solve the mystery surrounding Zoe's disappearance, not just to clear his name, but to bring justice to those responsible. Jay risks his fragile security to bring information he has discovered to law enforcement even though he has a distrust of the police and they have already written him off as a guilty man.
This was a book about a missing girl, a complex family dynamic, misguided parents, and deception. It was about redemption, forgiveness, and hope. It was also about the black experience in America. I appreciated the deft skill of the writer weaving the web without losing any of the threads of the narrative. I listened to this book on Audible. The narrator was Trei Taylor who created a good balance between telling the story and acting it out.

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A self-sabateur with a breifcase full of secrets

Reviewed: 09-08-23

GA Anderson’s South of Happily checked all the boxes. Katy is relatable as a loveable, self-saboteur. We, who have shot ourselves in the foot by getting involved with that beautiful boy who we knew was a bet, is going to see ourselves in Katy.
At the start of the novel, Katy is seeking legal counsel to extricate herself form her truly terrible marriage. She didn’t just get involved, she got married to the train wreck. Jess, the lawyer, was Katy’s best friend through college, although they’ve lost touch since Katy fell in with the train wreck, aka Dylan. As a stipulation of Jess representing her, Katy must see a therapist.
From there we learn about Katy’s complicated family. Her parents are Hungarian by birth and have been US citizens for twenty-five years. They built a restaurant and now Katy is left to run it as they travel out of the country “before they die.”
This novel goes a long way around the family drama and at no point did I feel that I knew exactly where we were going. If this is written to some formula, I couldn’t see it, which, if you know me at all, you know that is high praise. The characters are full of personality and attitudes but not to the point of being caricatures. They read as authentic, people that I would love to sit down for a coffee with. All except for Dylan, who I probably already had coffee with at some other point in my life.
This is a story of self-evaluation, love, loss, family secrets, connections, friendship, and so much more. It is told with humor and subtlety.
I listened to this book via Audible and have to send a shoutout to the narrator, Lisa Bozek, who navigated a variety of accents and character tones with the perfect balance of animated but not overacted.
I enjoyed South of Happily so much the first time that I started it over. It’s even better the second time around.

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1 person found this helpful

Beautifully rendered

Reviewed: 06-09-23

The relationships make this book a treasure. Loss, disillusion, regret, and finally hope and redemption weave together to make a lovely tapestry.

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Stellar

Reviewed: 05-20-23

I laughed. I cried. I recognized myself and others. I finished it ten minutes ago and starting over from the first word to make sure I caught every one.

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Hoping it improves

Reviewed: 12-28-22

Ready to give it up in the first chapter. If the whole thing is poor little rich girl bemoaning her plight, I’ll give it a pass. I should have listened to the sample before I committed.

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Surprising and unexpected.

Reviewed: 09-11-22

Gripping tale of a man isolated in New York City during the first year of Covid-19. A story that will stay with me.

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A nicely woven plot

Reviewed: 01-16-22

I enjoyed this journey back through time as the mystery of a lost friend is unraveled. The writing was articulate and skilled, with enough description to set the scene but not to overwhelm the story. I enjoyed this one so much that I proceeded to listen to the rest of his work and am anticipating whatever he offers next. Christopher Swann is worth watching.

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May be the most beautifully written book I’ve ever read.

Reviewed: 03-27-19

Allan Corduner’s narration of Mark Zusak’s The Book Thief makes a brilliant book absolutely magical. It was a lyrical and delicate story told with compassion and love. The horror of the era is made more powerful by it being the background to Liezl’s life. This is a story about a girl growing up in war torn Germany during the height of Hitler’s reign, but it is not about Hitler. It is about a girl and her love of words and books and the people who guide her and help her become a woman who tells stories.
I loved this book so much that I bought the print edition as a personal birthday gift just so I can see the words on the page, as Liezl would want.

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I was surprised to meet a zombie with a soul

Reviewed: 11-16-18

Imagine my surprise when I started reading Brian White’s The Death Doll and discovered a zombie with a soul. Beyond that, I found a very well-thought-out and executed piece of apocalypse fiction. I was completely drawn into the much larger story White was creating, about faith and humanity and integrity. D.D. and Cody and their band of survivors have carved out a small piece of the world where humanity still exists. His characters are well rounded and complex and White does a nice job of leading us to discover his creations.

White has thought through the logistics of his band of survivors and provides enough descriptors for the camp to feel plausible and possible without making readers feel that he was explaining along the way. There were several things he handled in much the same way. The moral and faith-based underpinning of the novel was refreshingly easy to read as were his explanations of how the camp had managed to create energy, grow a food source, and ultimately, stay alive.

I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons, but it was the characters that kept me moving from one page to the next. The heroine, D.D., was a pleasant surprise and I enjoyed knowing her. This is fine apocalypse fiction that happens to have a side of zombiedom.

Becci Martin does an animated and articulate narration in the Audible version. Good work all around.

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2 people found this helpful

A book I keep coming back to

Reviewed: 05-15-18

The most amazing thing about Sara Gruen’s books is the character progression throughout. She captures the frivolous and vain society set and renders her characters with a fine tipped brush. I have enjoyed this book no less than ten times and each time through I catch some subtle note that I didn’t notice before. Nicely done. The narrator does a beautiful job as well.

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