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2012: #25 – The Most Dangerous Thing (Laura Lippman)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, general fiction; Tagged with ; July 13th, 2012

Title: The Most Dangerous Thing
Author: Laura Lippman
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 352 (2012 total – 6,185)
Approx. Word Count: 105,600 (2012 total – 1,726,214)
Release Date: August 23, 2011
Publisher: Avon
Categories: general fiction
Source: ARC from LibraryThing
Rating: 2 out of 5

Back of the book:

Some secrets can’t be kept…

Years ago, they were all the best of friends. But as time passed and circumstances changed, they grew apart, became adults with families of their own, and began to forget about the past—and the terrible lie they all shared. But now Gordon, the youngest and wildest of the five, has died and the others are thrown together for the first time in years.

And then the revelations start.

Could their long-ago lie be the reason for their troubles today? Is it more dangerous to admit to what they’ve done or is it the strain of keeping the secret that is beginning to wear on them and everyone close to them? Each one of these old friends has to wonder if their secret has been discovered—and if someone within the circle is out to destroy them.

My thoughts:

I did not like this book anywhere near as much as I’ve liked Lippman’s other novels. She states that this is the most personal book she’s written, setting it in the area she grew up in, and I think the plot suffers for it.

The story follows the adult versions of childhood friends Gwen, McKey (nee Mickey), Tim, and Sean, awkwardly brought together after the death of the boys’ younger brother, Gordon. They are all keeping a terrible secret, which is supposed to be revealed to us in drips and drabs along the way, both through the present and the past.

The point of view jumps from character to character, which does not bother me at all. However, during the parts from the point of view of the children, the point of view is an unspecified “we”. It’s not like it’s one of the children and it’s a simple switch to first person – it’s apparent that it’s not any particular one of them. Those sections drove me crazy, and completely distracted me from the story.

The plot meanders along, and really struggled. By the end, it was difficult to muster any strong emotions about the “big” secret.  It felt like Lippman really wanted to use this setting, but had a hard time finding a story to go along with it. I think she was too close to it.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Once you start, you will want to make sure you have time to devote to it, because you’re not going to be able to put it down until the very end.” — Life in Review
  • “It’s an intriguing contemporary fiction read, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re looking for something quick and gripping.“ – S. Krishna’s Books
  • “The book moved really slow for me, but did pick up steam by the end . . . only to really annoy me.” – Laura’s Reviews

Past reviews:

2011: The Complaints (Ian Rankin)
2010: The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove (Christopher Moore)
2009: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)
2008: One Mississippi (Mark Childress)
2007: Deal Breaker (Harlan Coben)
2006: Witness in Death (J.D. Robb)
2005: Ceremony in Death (J.D. Robb)

2012: #11 – Hardly Knew Her (Laura Lippman)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in audio, featured reviews, general fiction; Tagged with ; April 2nd, 2012

Title: Hardly Knew Her
Author: Laura Lippman
Format: Audio
Length: 9 hrs 25 min
Release Date: October 7, 2008
Publisher: William Morrow
Categories: general fiction, short stories
Source: personal copy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Back of the book:

New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman has been hailed as one of the best crime fiction writers in America today, winning virtually every major award in the genre. The author of the enormously popular series featuring Baltimore P.I. Tess Monaghan as well as three critically lauded stand-alone novels, Lippman now turns her attention to short stories—and reveals another level of mastery.

Lippman sets many of the stories in this sterling anthology, Hardly Knew Her, in familiar territory: her beloved Baltimore, from downtown to its affluent suburbs, where successful businessmen go to shocking lengths to protect what they have or ruthlessly expand their holdings, while dissatisfied wives find murderous ways to escape their lives. But Lippman is also unafraid to travel—to New Orleans, to an unnamed southwestern city, and even to Dublin, the backdrop for the lethal clash of two not-so-innocents abroad. Tess Monaghan is here, in two stories and a profile, aligning herself with various underdogs. And in her extraordinary, never-before-published novella, Scratch a Woman, Lippman takes us deep into the private world of a high-priced call girl/madam and devoted soccer mom, exploring the mystery of what may, in fact, be written in the blood.

Each of these ingenious tales is a gem—sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, always filled with delightfully unanticipated twists and reversals. For people who have yet to read Lippman, get ready to experience the spellbinding power of “one of today’s most pleasing storytellers, hailed for her keen psychological insights and her compelling characterizations,” (San Diego Union-Tribune), who has “invigorated the crime fiction arena with smart, innovative, and exciting work” (George Pelecanos). As for longtime devotees of her multiple award-winning novels, you’ll discover that you hardly know her.

My thoughts:

This short story collection could have been subtitled “Women Who Kill”, because that is essentially what most of the stories revolve around. It’s a very strong collection, with only a few duds. Strangely, one of those duds was a Tess Monaghan story (Lippman’s most well-known character).

It’s difficult to narrow down exactly which stories were my favorites. The first story, The Crack Cocaine Diet, is fabulous just for its voice. I really enjoyed The Accidental Detective, a newspaper-style piece on Tess Monaghan that gives nice insight into the character, even if you haven’t read any books in that series. Easy as A-B-C was also quite entertaining — one of the few in the collection from a male point of view. And I thought the novella, Scratch a Woman, was very good.

Lippman is an excellent weaver of stories. Even when you think you know where a story is going, she can surprise you. If you enjoy crime fiction or short story collections, I think this is a must-read.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble  | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

  • “Short-story collections from established novelists are not usually good introductions to their work. But here again, Lippman is an exception to the rule.” — Bookgasm
  • “I highly recommend this awesome collection of dark-side stories to anyone who enjoys reading mysteries or thrillers.” — The Babbling Brunette

Past reviews:

2011: The Pickup (Nadine Gordimer)
2010: Kitty Takes a Holiday (Carrie Vaughn)
2009: The Brass Verdict (Michael Connelly)
2008: The Bone Garden (Tess Gerritsen)
2007: Prince of Fire (Daniel Silva)
2006: L is for Lawless (Sue Grafton)
2005: The Wide Window (Lemony Snicket)

2011: #34 – Every Secret Thing (Laura Lippman)

2 comments By Jaime Filed in audio, featured reviews, general fiction, mystery; Tagged with ; June 6th, 2011

everysecretthingBook #34 was Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman. The back of the book reads:

Two little girls banished from a neighborhood birthday party take a wrong turn down an unfamiliar Baltimore street—and encounter an abandoned stroller with an infant inside. What happens next is shocking and terrible, and three families are irreparably destroyed.

Seven years later, Alice Manning and Ronnie Fuller, now eighteen, are released from "kid prison" to begin their lives over again. But the secrets swirling around the original crime continue to haunt the parents, the lawyers, the police—all the adults in Alice and Ronnie’s lives. And now another child has disappeared, under freakishly similar circumstances …

This was Laura Lippman’s first stand-alone mystery, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a slow-building, sneaky mystery. We know from the start that something terrible happens to baby Olivia Barnes and that Alice and Ronnie were responsible, but the details leak out slowly, drip by drip. The best part of the book is that you’re never quite sure whose side you should be on. Is Alice as innocent as she seemed? Is Ronnie the sociopath she first seemed to be? What did Alice’s mother have to do with it? Why is the public defender so invested? Even the victim’s mother, Cynthia Barnes, isn’t particularly likeable. In fact, she’s quite bitchy throughout most of the book. You want to excuse her behavior, but is there a point where enough is enough?

There are some quite surprising twists in the story, and that’s what makes it extra special for me. It’s hard for me to find a book with a plot that surprises me. This just cements Lippman’s place on my "Damn, She’s Good" list.

Other reviews:

Book Review: Every Secret Thing « ReviewsbyLola’s Blog

Audiobook length: 12 hrs 16 min | Word count: 101,558 (’11 total: 3,304,360)

2010: A Lesson Before Dying (Ernest J. Gaines)
2009: The Uncommon Reader (Alan Bennett)
2008: A Dirty Job (Christopher Moore)
2007: The Lucky Ones (Rachel Cusk)
2006: Memory in Death (J.D. Robb)
2005: Dead Wrong (Mariah Stewart)

Used in these Challenges: 2011 Audiobook Challenge; Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2011;

2011: #9 – Charm City (Laura Lippman)

1 comment By Jaime Filed in featured reviews, hard-boiled, mystery; Tagged with ; February 4th, 2011

charmcity Book #9 was Charm City, the second book in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series.  The back of the book reads:

Reporter-turned-PI Tess Monaghan loves every inch of her native Baltimore—a quirky city where baseball reigns and homicide seems to be the second most popular sport. Business tycoon "Wink" Wynkowski wants to change all that by bringing pro basketball back to town—a laudable mission that’s greeted with widespread cheers . . . until a muckraking front-page exposé of his past appears in the Beacon-Light. The Blight‘s surprised editors are sure they killed the piece. Instead, the piece kills Wynkowski, who’s discovered asphyxiated in his garage with his car’s engine running. Now the paper wants former newshound Tess to track down the rogue computer hacker whose prank took a human life. But there’s more than cyber-crime involved here—and Tess is about to discover firsthand that trying to stay alive in Charm City is murder these days.

This second book in the series made yet another enjoyable listen.  Lippman manages to make Baltimore just as much a character as Tess or her Aunt Kitty. And Deborah Hazlett’s narration doesn’t hurt — her Baltimore accent is spot-on. Tess herself isn’t the greatest private investigator, which I guess is to be expected, since she hasn’t been one for very long.  A lot of what she discovers is happenstance. But where she does excel is in talking to people, and it’s this ability to talk to everyone from an old lady in a poor part of town to a mafia thug to the rich (and more than a little crazy) ex-wife of the victim that pulls her forward. I liked the addition of Esskay, the greyhound that she takes custody of for her injured "uncle".  Tess needed a little unconditional love in her life, especially since her love life remains a bit of a mess.

The only thing that was confusing to me was the game of Botticelli that Tess plays in an attempt to get her out of a jam. Not only did I not understand it based on the description in the book, I don’t even understand it after reading the Wikipedia article!

Other reviews:

S. Krishna’s Books: Book Review: Charm City – Laura Lippman
Beth Fish Reads: Review: Charm City by Laura Lippman

Audiobook length: 9hrs 32min | Approximate word count: 80,000 (’11 total: 834,873)

2010: Forbidden Falls (Robyn Carr)
2009: Amelia Peabody’s Egypt (Elizabeth Peters)
2008: The Copenhagen Connection (Elizabeth Peters)
2007: Birthright (Nora Roberts)
2006: Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
2005: E is for Evidence (Sue Grafton)

Used in these Challenges: 2011 Audiobook Challenge; Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2011; What’s in a Name 4 Challenge;

2010: #83 – Baltimore Blues (Laura Lippman)

2 comments By Jaime Filed in amateur sleuth, audio, featured reviews, suspense; Tagged with ; October 8th, 2010

baltimoreblues Book #83 was Baltimore Blues, the first book in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series.  The back of the book reads:

Until her paper, the BALTIMORE STAR, crashed and burned, Tess Monaghan was a damn good reporter who knew her hometown intimately–from historic Fort McHenry to the crumbling projects of Cherry Hill. Now gainfully unemployed at twenty-nine, she’s willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent–including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton.

In a city where someone is murdered almost everyday, attorney Michael Abramowitz’s death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer’s notoriety–and his noontime trysts with Rock’s fiancée–make the case front page news…and points to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend’s innocence could prove costly to Tess–and add her name to that infamous ever-growing list.

This is a series I’m glad I started.  Tess is a little bit lost in her life, seemingly content to get by working here and there and rowing every morning. She finally finds her purpose again when her rowing friend, Rock, asks her to follow his fiancée. This is one of those mysteries that starts out looking like it will go in one direction, but ends up somewhere completely different.  We also find out that Lippman isn’t an author who’s afraid to make some hard decisions. The setting adds a little bit of extra charm for me personally, because my husband is from the Baltimore area and we go there often. I listened to it on audio, and narrator Deborah Hazlett did a great job of illustrating the native Baltimore accent without being cartoonish about it. I can’t believe this is my first Laura Lippman book! She writes right up my alley.

Other reviews:

S. Krishna’s Books: Book Review: Baltimore Blues – Laura Lippman
Beth Fish Reads: Review: Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman

Audiobook length: 9 hrs 55 min | Word count: 91,483

2009: Suzanna’s Surrender (Nora Roberts)
2008: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon)
2007: The Legacy (Steven Frey)
2006: The Eighth Commandment (Lawrence Sanders)

Used in these Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; 2010 Reading From My Shelves Project; 1st in a Series Challenge; Audiobook Challenge;

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