The Mailman

 Welsh-Huggins, Andrewt. The Mailman. New York : Mysterious Press, 2025. Print.

 

First Sentences:

Rachel Stanfield paused, not sure she heard her husband correctly, but wanting as always to give him the benefit of the doubt. Grateful for the distraction of a sound outside, she peered through the kitchen window but saw nothing.  


Description:

But the sound Rachel Stanfield thought she heard in these opening sentences was not an animal nor any other natural cause. It was four thuggish men who break into her house, tie up her and her husband, and demand information from her, Unfortunately, she has no idea what the answers they want are. When one of the men pulls out some special tools to "help her remember," things look completely bleak.

 

Then her doorbell rings. 

 

Thus starts the new thriller by Andrew Welsh-Huggins, The Mailman. It is a whirlwind ride of twists and turns, threatening situations with narrow escapes, mysterious data which good guys and bad guys alike are seeking for differing reasons. And then there is an questionable sum of $20 million that seems to play a part in the adventure.

 

Welsh-Huggins introduces into this environment Mercury ("call me Merc") Carter, an independent delivery man with a packet he wants to deliver to the story's narrator, Rachel. He says he has never missed a delivery before to a client and, despite all obstacles, doggedly does not want Rachel's package to be his first failure. 

So after ringing Rachel's doorbell, he finds himself entering into the aforementioned delicate hostage situation. But Merc conducts himself unexpectedly well despite the dangers to everyone in the room, and the adventure begins.

 

I cannot reveal any more of the plot, but will say that it involves kidnapping, lottery payoffs, some very nasty people, mysteries galore, secret numbers, and some nifty MacGyver-like extractions of various people from some very tight situations. 

There is an overwhelming sense of urgency throughout the book, a foreboding threat of violence and crimes, and touched with a bit of ironic humor as well. But after all, it is a thriller, so if you are not into that kind of scenario, give this novel a pass.

 

But for those of us who enjoy tense encounters, good vs. evil face-offs, impending dire consequences, and impossible last-second escapes, this is definitely the book for you. A great read that will keep you flipping pages long into the night as it did me. It's now in my top 5 thrillers of all time, and that's saying a lot! 

 

Best of all, this is the first book in a new Mercury Carter series, with the next edition to come out later in 2026. Cannot wait to dive into that one as well. 

 

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

Andrew Welsh-Huggins. Fourth Down and Out.

Former Ohio State University quarterback, now turned private investigator, needs to recover a friend's laptop and erase a file. Easy enough, but the trail leads him throughout Columbus, Ohio and eventually Ohio State itself where the people there still won't forget the huge mistake he made decades ago in an important football game.

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 500 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

Mona's Eyes

Schlesser, Thomas. Mona's Eyes. New York : Europa. 2024. Print.

 

First Sentences:

Everything went dark. As funeral garb. Then, here and there, some flashes, like those bright spots that appear when you vainly stare at the sun from behind eyelids that are as tightly clenched as fists fighting pain or emotion.

Description:

If you are someone not particularly interested in artists, art history, or analysis of art pieces, I'm going to save you time and suggest you read no further in this recommendation for Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser.  While wrapped in a very interesting premise to its plot, Mona's Eyes fills most of its pages with wonderful descriptions of artworks, artists, and period history found in the Paris museums of the Louvre, Orsay, and Beaubourg (the Centre Pompidou).

 

One day, Mona. a ten-year-old Parisian girl, suddenly, inexplicable, goes blind. Her parents rush her to their family doctor who can find nothing wrong with her eyes. Fortunately, after one hour, her sight returns, but her family is left withl questions about why and how this happened, and if or when the blindness might recur. Despite multiple weekly medical tests, no answers emerge.

 

It is reasoned that there could be a psychological aftereffect on the girl from this brief condition, so Mona's parents decide she should see a psychologist. Hearing this, Mona's grandfather volunteers to take care of this need. The parents are relieved of the burden, thinking that he will find a qualified doctor for Mona.

 

But Henry, her grandfather, has other ideas apart from Mona's parents' expectations.

 

Every Wednesday, instead of sessions with a psychologist, Henry takes Mona to a museum to contemplate and discuss one art piece. Henry fears Mona, who has led a quiet, sheltered life, will not have any memories of beauty, color, people, artists, and the world should she ever go blind again. He wants to provide her with memories and images should the darkness descend on her unexpectedly.

 

The book consists of 52 short chapters, one for each Wednesday in a year, where Henry and Mona analyze an art piece. Mona is asked to stand alone in front of the piece and study it, then step back and discuss what impressions she has with her grandfather while he provides her with his in-depth information about the artists, the historical period of the piece, and an analysis of the work itself. 

 

Personally, I only knew a tiny bit about of few of these artists, such as da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Monet, Cezanne, Klimt, Van Gogh, and O'Keefe. Others were known but only vaguely to me, such as Goya, Gainsborough, Whistler, Kandinsky, Magritte, and Basquait. Most artists were unfamiliar (at least, to me), like Poussin, Friedrich, Cameron, Hoch, and Soulages. 

 

Although each piece is described, I looked up each unfamiliar image of the work ton the internet o better understand exactly what they were seeing. (Note: new copies of this book contain an insert folder with all the art pieces shown. My book was a library copy without the insert so I had to do an internet image search myself. Sigh)

 

There are several other background stories in Mona's Eyes revolving around her family, school, doctors, and friends. But predominately the novel focuses on the appreciation of one specific art piece in each chapter. Henry is a scholarly art historian who brings life to the subtleties of each artwork and its creator, and under his guidance Mona is soon able to provide her own insights.

 

I learned so much about art and the people who created pieces during their eras. Plus, I learned the value of carefully observing a museum piece, not just reading the labels attached nearby and moving on. Each art work contains a story, a symbol, a reflection of the artist's message, and even commentary of the issues of that age.

 

Thoroughly engrossing, hugely informative, and a wonderful introduction to famous art and their creators. 

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

 Cane, William and Gabrille, Anna. Every Picture Hides a Story.

Details the background and subliminal content to a huge number of famous paintings as well as the history of the artists. (Previously reviewed here.)

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 500 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

Over to You

Dahl, Roald. Over to You. London : Reynal & Hitchcock. 1946. Print.

First Sentences:

Oh, God, how I am frightened. Now that I am alone I don't have to hide it; I don't have to hide anything any longer. I can let my face go because no one can see me; because there's twenty-one thousand feet between me and them and because now that it's happening again I couldn't pretend any more even if I wanted to. 

Description:

Having recently read Roald Dahl's memoir, Going Solo about his World War II experiences flying for the RAF, I fell in love with his spare, honest writings about his thrilling adventures, and definitely wanted to read much more from him. Luckily among his numerous books for children, I found his Over to You, made up of ten more stories about the men who piloted Hurricane fighter planes in WWII in the desert.

 

These narrations were probably based on the people, locations, and situations from Dahl's own experiences. They certainly seemed, to me, to be realistic. But even if these tales were entirely fictionalized, each one rang true because they focused on the men themselves, not just the situations they faced, real and imagined. We lucky readers can see up close what these pilots were thinking. What were their plans? How did they to occupy their down time? What were their relationships with the local people near their air bases and with the enemy fighters?

 

Here's some examples of the captivating stories contained in Over to You: 

• A pilot, after four years of flying missions, is overcome with dread about having to fly again, a terror that seizes his every moment before and during his time in the air until he comes into combat at which time all his fear dissipates;

• Pilots save and adopt of very young girl whose family had been killed in enemy strafing of her tiny village;

• Pilots on an off-day decide to free several ordinary women who have been forced into prostitution;

• Crew and friends await the return from a mission of their fellow pilot. But when he eventually lands safely two days later, they find he has no memory of the time that has passed since he flew off;

•  A mother senses when her son is on a mission and feels she is in the cockpit with him.

• A pilot returns from a mission, quietly has a drink by himself in the airport bar, and only after much convincing by fellow pilots does he admit he had seen five enemy planes on his mission and shot them all down.

All these tales are narrated in Dahl's crisp prose. Each sentence conveys a picture of the feelings of the men, their situations, and their surroundings. Even their planes come to life under Dahl's words:

Our two Hurricanes were standing a few yards away, each with that patient, smug look which fighter planes have when the engine is not turning, and beyond them the thin black strip of the sloped down towards the beaches and towards the sea. 

 Dahl portrays the non-combatant civilians with the same intimacy:

It's always the same. As the bombers move south across the country at night, the people who hear them become strangely silent. For those women whose men are with the planes, the moment is not an easy on to bear.

There you have it. It's a quietly passionate book full of fully-rounded, interesting people with questions, observations, bravery, and fears about the War, their surroundings, other people, and their own position in all of it. Each story, to me, was a gem written in precise prose, detailed enough that I felt I knew and even understood every individual character. What more could any reader ask for in a book? Highly recommended.  

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:] 

Roald Dahl. Going Solo.

Memoir of Roald Dahl's flying experiences with the RAF during World War II. Superb writing and adventures in every chapter. (Previously reviewed here.)

Happy reading.

 

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 500 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup

Carr, J.L. How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup. New York : Penguin 1975. Print.

First Sentences:

After the big Share-Out there was a thousand pounds left for an Official History. A top Sports Personality put the idea into our Chairman's head. His letter read, 'This most illustrious feat in modern Sporting Annals should -- and must -- be enshrined for posterity, and it will be my proud honour, sir, to perform this service for you and your gallant band, when suitable terms are agreed ..."

Description:

The first sentence above refers to the events occurring in the final pages of this dry, witty novel, How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup by J.L. Carr. It is the "history" of a small village in England, Steeple Sinderby, which in one year fielded a football (soccer) club from local players and went all the way to Wembley Stadium to win the prestigious FA Cup. (No spoiler here as this result is part of the novel's title.) The book's first sentence refers to how the winners' purse was to be divided, including leftover funds set aside to document this rise to fame. 

 

Enter the narrator and author of the book, Joe Gidner, a local greeting card writer. Gidner, accepts the position of the team's documentarian, carefully laying out the one-year run of the small-town Wanders' football team. He details the team's history that year based on newspaper articles, minutes from the team's governing committee, along with his own observations of the team, the townspeople of Steeple Sinderby, and the man who created the winning system, Dr. Kossuth.

 

Kossuth, the headmaster of the local school, had no previous interest or experience with football, However, he had developed a system for his school's students performance in educational tests which had dazzled the government examiners. He therefore was asked by the football Committee to develop a similarly unique system for their football team in achieve similar success. After attending only two games, Kossuth came up with seven Postulations to promote winning including:

• The only truly striking difference between the technical skills in amateur and professional players is the latter's control of a ball's movement when struck by his head.  Whenever possible, keep the ball close to the ground and select terrain disadvantageous to flighted passage of balls; 

• Every player except the centre-forward must defend his own goal, and every player except the goalkeeper must assault his opponents' goal;

• A Home team's only advantage is feeling at home. An away side should think itself at home, and then make the home side feel less at home.

These Postulations led the Wanders' Committee to create a home field in a marshy, uneven, rocky area where the team, through practices on it, could feel more comfortable than opponents. They implemented a game strategy where every single player attacked or defended on every play, creating mismatches based on overwhelming their opponents with numbers whether on offense or defense.

 

The rag-tag team which implemented these Postulations was made up of the local vicar, a milkman, a "wild man", and a faded football star who had given up the game for good as "pointless." Townspeople also contributed to the Postulations by cheering so loudly when the Wanders played in their opponents' territory that they drowned out any opponents' fan support. 

 

Implementing these ideas helped the Wanderers win their qualifying preliminary minor league games and move into the next level of competition where they faced more experienced players.

So the First Round Proper now was upon us and into the hat tumbled the survivors of the rough and tumble preliminary rounds of Free for All, battered and weary from too much football and staring wildly around like half drowned men cast up from the sea, amazed to find themselves still breathing though not likely to live.  

It's a serious-sounding book chock full of odd characters, unusual situations, and unexpected outcomes. The players' adventures implementing the Postulations and coming together as a team despite many unexpected setbacks are a wild ride from start to finish. The humor is very subtle, expressed in the narrator's quite serious language (all the more to hide the truly laugh-out-loud occurrences), presenting a highly-believable history of quirky characters and situations.

 

Recommended for lovers of wit, football/soccer competition and strategy, clever small stories and relationships, off-beat characters, and David vs. Goliath match-ups. I loved it.

I often wish that I could have known the end at the beginning, so that each detail could have been savoured as it happened. But then, life isn't a gramophone record one can play again and again till one feels one understands it. It is Now or Never for most of us, and we haven't the time. But we shall tomorrow ... 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

Jerome, Jerome K. Three Men in a Boat.

Three men (and a dog) set off for a river excursion in a rented boat, although none has any previous boating experience. Probably the closest book I could think of with the very dry, serious British sense of humor. Delightfully witty, unexpected, and funny.

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 500 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

A Month in the Country

 Carr, J. L.. A Month in the Country. New York : New York Review Books. 1980. Print.

First Sentences:

When the train stopped I stumbled out, nudging and kicking the kitbag before me. Back down the platform someone was calling despairingly, "Oxgodby...Oxgodby." No one offered a hand, so I climbed back into the compartment, stumbling over ankles and feet to get as the fish-bass {on the rack] and my folding camp-bed {under the seat). If this was a fair sample of northerners, then this was enemy country so I wasn't too careful where I put my books. 

Description:

In the early Post-World War I year of 1920, Thomas Birkin arrives in a remote village in Yorkshire, England to restore a newly-discovered Medieval mural in a local chapel. He is a man broken by what he has experienced in the War, with a facial tick and halting sentences. Meticulously restoring decaying art pieces, particularly in churches, had become his meager livelihood.

The marvelous thing was coming into this haven of calm water and, for a season, not having to worry my head with anything but uncovering their wall painting for them. And, afterwards, perhaps I could make a new start, forget what the War and the rows with Vinny had done to me and begin where I'd left off....and, afterwards, maybe I won't be a casualty anymore. 

He is not particularly welcomed by the vicar who feels the painting to be restored had been hidden over the years for a reason. He felt is was probably an apocryphal scene not to his liking, with devils, spirits, blood, and other off-putting, ungodly imagery. 

And that is how I first saw him [the priest], his precise businesslike letters made flesh, standing in the doorway below me, seeing by wet footprints that I had come. Like a tracker-dog he looked along their trail to the foot of the ladder and then up it. 

But Birkin is not to be put off, having been commissioned by the church committee over the vicar's protests to do the restoration. Birkin takes up a simple residence in the chapel's bell tower in the loft, careful to be away when the Sunday bells are rung. The wall concealing the mural is only steps from his room, and he allows no one to climb the ladder to view either his work or his lodgings.

 

But he is befriended by several people: two children, Kathy and Edgar, who bring a record player and music into the chapel, chatting constantly with him; Alice Keach, a young woman married to the dreaded vicar, a woman he becomes attracted to; and Moon, a fellow damaged War survivor camped out on the nearby grounds, commissioned to find an ancient burial tomb containing a former property owner. 

 

All these characters strike up their own version of friendship and attachment with Birkin as he toils away on the mural, restoring faces, colors, and images to their original freshness, all the while gleaning hints about the artist himself.

 

And when he finished, he had only a single thought, and it was about the original mural painter.

I knew that, whatever else had befallen me during those few weeks in the country, I had lived with a very great artist, my secret sharer of the long hours I'd labored in the half-light above the arch....And, standing before the great spread of color, I felt the old tingling excitement and  a sureness that the time would come when some stranger would stand there too and understand. 

The characters, the setting, the conversations, and most of all the gentle, smooth writing make A Month in the Country a highly pleasurable book to curl up with in a comfy chair in front of a fireplace, a warm blanket around you, and a hot beverage close at hand. A lovely book in every way.

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

Delderfield, R. To Serve Them All My Days.

The narrator, returning from World War I battlefield with sever trauma, joins a boys' school as a teacher, although he has never taught before. The headmaster recognizes the man's worth and mentors him throughout his new career. Probably the book I most often recommend to other readers. Absolutely wonderful characters on every page, especially the narrator. (Previously reviewed here.)

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 480 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

Shark Heart

Habeck, Emily. Shark Heart: A Love Story. New York : MarySue Rucci  2023. Print.

First Sentences:

Lewis: In the early days after I left New York, I would ruminate, doubt all my choices. But when I met you, I began to thank my failure. Maybe failing was a kind of miracle. Maybe everything happened just right. 

Description:

Please stick with me to read this review after I tell you the plot. It sounds wacky with a capital "W" I know, but I assure you that if you at least read this recommendation and then hopefully give this compelling novel a try, it will be very much worth your time and enjoyment.

 

Shark Heart by Emily Haback, is a love story between two young people, just as the book's subtitle announces. Wren ("like the bird") is a successful accountant satisfied with her "medium-sized life" of safe, ordinary choices. Lewis is an aspiring actor currently teaching junior high drama and directing his school's plays. They meet, court awkwardly, and eventually marry.

On one of her solo excursions, Wren met a man in a yellow shirt who made her feel that the world was a good place, and the world was a good place because she was someone living in it. 

So far, so good, right?

 

But then Lewis begins to notice small changes in his body: a flattening of his nose, patches of scaly skin on his back, slight protuberances on his sides, and "colors losing their vibrancy." The doctor calmly gives him the diagnosis. Lewis has the carcharodon carcharias mutation.

 

He is turning into a great white shark. There is no cure. 

 

But odd as this premise sounds, the book triumphs in so many ways. The characters Wren and Lewis continue with their lives, adapting to the gradual changes due to his condition. Their relationship is strong, loving, and deep, which comes through on every page with their conversations, actions, and time spent with each other. 

They are wonderful characters with no quit in them, people whom author Habeck paints with an honest, sincere brush without being sappy or succumbing to a farcical approach to this situation. 

Wren became soft and young when she was learning [with Lewis about plays, books, etc.]. and in these moments, Lewis pretended they'd gone back in time together. On this imagined plane, Lewis and Wren were sixteen years old, discovering new music and spiraling into the sort of cloudless love that fears no consequences.  

The second half of the book details the life of Wren's mother, Angela, pregnant with Wren at 15, and then leading a difficult life raising a child on her own while dealing with her own medical problems. But there is always a deep affection between mother and child that glows throughout this narrative which brings new clarity to the figure of Wren and her life before Lewis:

Angela and Wren interpreted the night sky in their own way, drawing and naming constellations. It was their secret language, an orbiting, silent elegy. For example, the Big and Little Dippers were two kites flying next to each other. Angela and Wren pretended they held the kite strings, keeping the taut universe floating.

I cannot give away any more. But please trust me that this is a book worth reading, an unusual plot that somehow makes sense, and love stories between multiple characters that are satisfying and admirable. The impression readers are left with is one of hope, love, adaptability, and perseverance. 

Give it a try and I don't think you will be disappointed.

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis.

One day a man, Gregor Samson, awakes to find himself turned into a giant insect. A classic tale of horror, questions, and adaptations.

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 490 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

Wild Dark Shore - New First Sentence Reader recommendation

McConaghy, Charlotte. Wild Dark Shore. New York : Flatiron 2025. Print.

 

First Sentences:

I have hated my mother for most of my life but it is her face I see as I drown.

Description:

The setting of Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy is an isolated island near Antarctica, 1500 miles from the nearest landmass. It is the home of an international seed preservation vault along with an non-functioning lighthouse. A family of four lives on this bitterly cold island, hired to oversee the seed vault ("built to withstand anything the world could throw at it; it was meant to outlast humanity"). They regularly check the temperature, any water leakage, and make any repairs to the equipment needed to maintain the vault and its contents. 

They are joined occasionally on this island by scientists studying the environment, animals, weather, and of course, the seed vault. Then, too, there are thousands of seals, penguins, walruses, albatrosses, whales, and other marine animals who, due to their isolated separation from humans, have no fear of the other inhabitants of this lonely site. The family members can freely intermingle among this wildlife.

This is a strong family, with deep ties to each other and acceptance of their roles on their close-knit team to complete the daily tasks set by their stern father to keep the vault and their own lives thriving.

 

You are not meant to have favorites, but my youngest is that...Not because we are least alike; That is my daughter and me. Maybe it is because he is curious and kind and so smart it can make your eyes water. Maybe it's because he whispers to the wind and hears its voice in return. Most likely I don't know why. But it may also be because, for one brief moment long ago. I wished him dead. 

Into this world during a tremendous storm, they discover woman's body floating offshore amongst the rocks. When the body is retrieved, the family is astonished to find woman is somehow alive. What she is doing in this part of the ocean is a mystery she keeps to herself as she slowly recovers and eventually joins the family in maintaining their work and lifestyles.

 

But she is not the only one hiding secrets. Each of the family members is carefully guarding their own individual secrets as well as possibly a bigger family secret. And the scientists? They've all recently left the island rather suddenly. They have noticed the sea water rising on the island due to global warming, signaling the end of their living quarters, experiments, and even the seed vault itself. But they have mysteriously decided to leave before the precious seeds were prepared to be moved to a safer location via the next supply ship...which is not scheduled to come for eight weeks. 

 

Worst of all, the family has only recently found that the entire communication system for the island was intentionally destroyed beyond repair. Coupled with the fact that all the electricity was knocked out by the storm that brought the woman into their lives, they realize that they have to rely on batteries, chargers, and their wits to move prepare the seeds until the supply ship comes. And also survive.

 

And that is how this engrossing book starts. Each brief chapter focuses on one of the characters, delving into each mind to reveal their thoughts, musings over decisions, rationalizations for their actions, and how they envision their own and their family's future. We slowly learn their secrets, get insight into their personalities, and understand the histories that affect their individual decisions.

 

This is a story of the power of love, of family, of duty, and of survival. All characters face the challenges of isolation, weather, tragedy, and family members every day as they fight to preserve the historic seeds and address relationships with those on the island and from their past. 

 

I loved this book and give it my highest recommendation. It is absorbing, tautly challenging, and completely unpredictable right up to its very edge-of-your-seat ending. Un-put-down-able.

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out these two:]

 Stedman, M.L. The Light Between Oceans.

A young couple, caretakers for a working lighthouse, find washed ashore on their remote island a small boat containing a baby. Should they try to find its parents or remain quiet and keep the child as their own? (Previously reviewed here.)

Stonex, Emma. The Lamplighters.

A historic novel based on the sudden disappearance of all three lighthouse keepers from their isolated station. When searched, the lighthouse was found to be in immaculate condition. But the men left no trace of their fate and they were never found. (Previously reviewed here.)

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 490 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

 

Columbus Noir

 Welsh-Huggins, Andrew (ed). Columbus Noir. Brooklyn : Akashic 2020. Print.

First Sentences:

You can kill a lot more than time in Columbus these days. Gang slayings, fetanyl poisoning, murder-suicide: we have it all, soup to nuts. Yet it's not like the older, supposedly kinder and gentler Columbus had completely disappeared. 


Description:

I thought I had found a rare and unique gem in Columbus Noir (edited by Andrew Welsh-Huggins). What a great idea it presented: crime writings by authors from Columbus, Ohio, using their city as the backdrop for every one of their short stories. I revealed great writing from local authors of renown who allowed me to recognize landmark sites in Columbus along with familiar restaurants and neighborhoods on every page. 

 

Little did I know that Akashic Press, publishers of Columbus Noir, had created similar dark crime books from local authors for 123 different cities. So, while Colmbus Noir is not a unique concept, nonetheless it is well worth the time of any reader interested in this seedy mystery/detective/crime fiction, especially if you want to read offerings from authors you may not be familiar with which focus on Columbus.

 

Like all great noir fiction, this collection is full of tales of hardened men, gorgeous women, nefarious baddies, dark streets, and twisty plots. Always, one can never be certain which character is telling the truth, who is plotting a double cross, and who will come through (or run away) when the going gets tough, as it always does. 

 

The characters are clearly drawn, but full of complexities that are only revealed later. The plots are wildly compelling, offering no easy courses of action which will release the characters from threatening situations without engaging in some sort of evil or violent solutions. 

 

Here's a sampling of the crime stories you will find here:

• A college graduate assistant teacher who falls for a beautiful student, but soon needs to end the relationship without incriminating himself;

• A gossipy woman overhears the plans of a young woman and her fiance to marry without her parents' approval, then works behind the scenes to disrupt their future;

• A cop who has been stealing drugs from the police evidence storage is discovered by a ruthless criminal who threatens him with exposure;

• A beautiful real estate agent begins an affair with her ordinary-looking next door neighbor to start a house-flipping partnership;

• A young girl, seeking drugs for her abusive boyfriend, hides out in a cemetery where she meets an old man offering her shelter, wisdom, and maybe more. 

Needless to say, I devoured these tales quickly. Each story was gripping, full of questionable characters that I thought I knew and could predict their intentions and actions ... right up to the very end when everything always got turned on its head. A great read to curl up with and experience a darker side of Columbus and its inhabitants.

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

Welsh-Huggins. The Mailman.

The editor of Columbus Noir has written this wonderfully gripping, unpredictable thriller that I only recently discovered. One of the best I have ever read, and now highly recommend it. 

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 480 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe

Puertolas, Romain. The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe. New York : Knopf 2014. Print.

First Sentences:

The first word spoken by the Indian man Ajatashatru Oghast Rathod upon his arrival in France was, oddly enough, a Swedish word. Ikea

Description:

Well, I'm not going to tell you much of anything about this delightful book except the premise and the factors that send the ensuing actions in motion:

• First, Ajatashatru Oghast Rathod ("pronounced a-jar-of-rat-stew-oh-gosh"  or "a-cat-in-a-bat-suit" among other helpful tips from the author), arrives in Paris with one mission in mind: find the nearest IKEA store, buy a bed of nails for sale at this store which he plans to use in his professional life as an Indian street fakir/con-man/magician), and then take the flight home to India with his purchase the following day. Simple, huh?

• But he falls asleep underneath a bed in the IKEA store until after closing and, to avoid detection, hides in a large display cabinet.

• The cabinet is unexpectedly sealed in bubble wrap by these security men and loaded onto a plane for delivery, never noticing its hidden content, and thus sealed him in.

• The cabinet and he are unloaded in another foreign airport where Ajatashatru's adventure begins as he tries to return to IKEA, make his purchase, and return home. 

To add to his problems, he is pursued by the irate taxi driver who first transported him from the Paris airport to IKEA and found his passenger had paid him with a fake 100 Euro bill. He is out for blood and will follow Ajatashatru wherever he must to get his money and revenge.

 

That's all you get from me. This all happens in the first few pages. If you are still with me, you are a great candidate for this book. Quirky, unexpected, delightful, sympathetic, and romantic escapades follow our hero each one of which he narrowly escapes by luck, the kindness of strangers, or his own wits.

 

Give it a shot. It's a very short book, a good afternoon of reading during the inclement December weather while you recover from the stress of the holidays and the world around you. It's a fun romp, complete escapism, and I loved it.

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

 

Jonasson, Jonas. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.

Another book with a lengthy title that traces the travels, people, and experiences of a curious man fed up with his life in a retirement home and decides to seek adventure in the outside world, elephants and all. (Previously reviewed here.)

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 490 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

The Strange Case of Jane O

Walker, Karen Thompson. The Strange Case of Jane O. New York : Random House 2025. Print.

First Sentences:

Jane O. came to my office for the first time in the spring of that year. She was thirty-eight years old. Her medical history contained nothing unusual. This was her first visit, she said, to a psychiatrist....What I remember most about that first day is how lonely this woman seemed. I am not talking about ordinary loneliness. This was something else, a kind of loneliness of the soul.


Description:

Three days after that opening paragraph meeting, Dr. Byrd, the psychiatrist, received a call from the local emergency room. A woman had been found unconscious in a park by a maintenance worker who brought her to the ER. She had no wallet, no keys, no identification at all. She told the ER staff her name was Jane. She said her doctor's name was Dr. Byrd and thus he was contacted by the ER staff.

 

But strangely, this woman had no memory of anything that had happened to her in the previous 25-hour period of her life, nor how she arrived at the park where she had been found.

"The last thing I remember," she said, "is filling my teakettle with water." This was her habit, she said, to make a cup of tea right after dropping her infant son at his daycare.

She begins to see Dr. Byrd professionally to try to understand what caused her blackout and what had occurred in her life during those missing 25 hours. Turns out, she had already briefly met Dr. Byrd 20 years earlier, but she would not reveal to him why they had met. 

Through their new sessions, he learns she has hyperthymesia, a perfect memory that forgets nothing seen, heard, or experienced. He is astonished to learn she is able to recite the names of every book on his office shelves, the miscellaneous items on his desk, newspaper headlines, weather conditions...from their only session 20 years ago. 

Although her memory is faultless, she does relate to Dr. Byrd a few stories that he knows are untrue, such as Jane memory of discovering her upstairs neighbor dead in her apartment, seeing and talking with a man she knew was dead, or her fear about an unusual disease that was currently sweeping the country. Dr. Byrd had met her neighbor (in good health) and had no evidence that any disease currently in the world. Yet Jane swore these were true events she experienced.

[Jane thought] I guess I should consider whether [Dr. Byrd's] right, that my conviction that [my neighbor's death] is meaningless is evidence of its meaning. Once a mind begins to question itself, there is no bottom to its questioning. In one sense, I am conducting an investigation with a flawed instrument. 

With no medical abnormalities or injuries after being found in the park, Jane freely resumed to her life, her work as a librarian, and her sessions with Dr. Byrd. That is, until one day she misses her appointment with him. It is soon discovered that she and her son are missing, unable to be found anywhere.

What and who to believe? Jane is so sane, so calm. Yet she has seemingly told lies about her life and now is somewhere unknown, moving with an infant son and occasionally briefly caught on surveillance cameras in stores and restaurants in scattered places.

Gripping, puzzling, sympathetic, solid, and full of hidden secrets leading to unexplainable behaviors pulls readers along page after page. Narrated alternately by Jane and Dr. Byrd, we glimpse their inner thoughts and questions as we slowly unravel who they are and what causes their actions. 

And best of all, readers will not know the final outcome until the final sentences. What is better in a story that that? Highly recommended.

What might it mean for a life, [Dr. Byrd] wondered, if one's memories were never subject to alteration or decay, if one's most precious experiences glowed permanently in the mind, always intact, forever whole?....[But] a mind like Jane's would preserve not only the treasured memories but also the loathed ones. Every old joy would remain forever at hand -- but every sadness, too, every terror, every shame. 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

 Watson,S.J.. Before I Go to Sleep.

The narrator has a memory that lasts only one day, then forgets everything about herself and life by the next day. But she has doggedly determined that someone may be trying to kill her. So she must figure out a way to remember who is to be trusted and who to be suspicious of. (Previously reviewed here.)

 Happy reading.

 

Fred

Click here to browse over 480 more book recommendations by subject or title (and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader).

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964

Silverberg, Robert ed.. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964s. New York : Tom Doherty Associates 1970. Print.

 

First Sentences:

This is as nearly definitive an anthology of modern science fiction stories as is likely to be compiled for quite some time. Its contents were chosen by vote of the membership of the Science Fiction Writers of America, an organization of some three hundred professional writers whose roster includes virtually everyone now living who has ever has science fiction published in the United States.


Description:

For science fiction fans like me, you probably got hooked on the genre in your youth and in school classes, reading short stories by the great writers of the previous and current eras: Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Heinlein,Keyes, Leiber, van Vogt, and many others.

 

Well, here in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964 (edited by Robert Silverberg) you can read the best of the best of these great writers. These were selected by chosen by the National Science Fiction Writers of America from stories published in America during that period. This era was before the SF Nebula Awards for science fiction were started, so this book preserves what SF writers felt were the stories and authors which should be honored. 

 

Sure, the book is 560 pages long, but you don't have to read it cover to cover (although I did). Chronologically arranged with selected stories first published in 1934 and ending 1963, you can wallow in the visions of these writers of what the future might look like.

 

Here is a sampling of the stories offered in this wonderful collection:

• Nightfall (Isaac Asimov) - A planet with multiple suns has never seen a darkened sky....until scientists predict a coming total eclipse. It is said that if Asimov had never written anything after this, one of his first short stories, he and his reputation would be lauded forever;

• Mars Is Heaven (Ray Bradbury) - The third expedition to Mars, after the first two were mysteriously lost, reveals to crewmen that their families and hometowns are now located on this planet;

•  Mimsy Were the Borogoves (Lewis Padgett) - A box of toys transported from the distant future falls into the hands of two children, and their lives, and the lives of their parents, are changed dramatically;

• Arena (Fredric Brown) - A lone space traveler, scouting ahead of Earth battleships facing an equally-strong alien fleet about to do battle in the far reaches of space, suddenly finds himself trapped in a large sandy enclosure and facing an unknown alien. Their one-on-one duel to the death will determine the fate of both fleets of ships overhead as well as that of the civilizations of the winners and losers; 

• The Nine Billion Names of God (Arthur C. Clarke) - A remote lamasery of monks, working for three centuries on a complete list of possible names for God, now employs a computer to reach their goal ...but what will happen then?

• Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes) - Probably everyone has heard of but not actually read this wonderfully-written story of a mentally retarded man who undergoes an experiment which makes him super-intelligent.  

Each story captures a vision of the future along with its machines and people who attempt to reconcile themselves to their landscape, government, society, and dreams. Each is a unique vision full of challenges, questions, humanity, technology, and just plain old interesting situations and characters.

 

You will not be disappointed by any of these tales. If you don't like one, just skip to the next. There are many choices for any reader's tastes and dreams of the future. Well worth your time to experience these creative stories for the first time or re-visit old favorites by the masters.

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

 Silverbert, Robert ed. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two A and B

Expansion of the original Volume One short stories, now featuring novellas (short novels) during the same period, and equally great for any science fiction lover.

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 480 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]