The Crazy School July 18, 2008

Kyla says:

I read The Crazy School by Cornelia Read. This book was about a group of kids that lived in a boarding home for behaviorally challenged teens and the teachers that taught them.  I really enjoyed reading about how the teachers interacted with the kids living at the boarding home. The book started off a little slow but got more exciting as I read. In the book there is a major incident that affects everyone at the home. I wasn’t able to put the book down until I had discovered who was involved in the incident. I liked that the book kept me guessing.

Samaritan July 15, 2008

Regan, Lynden Library manager, says:

Just enough mystery binds together a lot of great characters hanging out in the New Jersey projects in this well written novel.  Ray Mitchell, a former project kid himself, has made some money writing for TV and returns to the community to volunteer at the local high school.  Well, we all know that even good intentions can have bad results.  The stand out character is Detective Nerese Ammons, a childhood pal from Ray’s past. Ready for retirement she relentlessly and with a clear vision pursues truth.

Samaritan by Richard Price

Touchstone May 22, 2008

Christine says:

I just finished Touchstone by Laurie R. King.  It’s a departure from her Mary Russell series (about Sherlock Holmes) and her stand-alone thrillers set in the San Juan islands.  It’s about Harris Stuyvesant, an American agent in the pre-cursor to the FBI, who heads to England on the trail of a terrorist who has planted bombs in the U.S.  His investigations lead him to Aldous Carstairs, a shady quasi-governmental figure with information about a prominent union activist who is Stuyvesant’s main suspect.  Carstairs has plans to quelch a General Strike and solidify his place in British history–and will to go any lengths to carry out his vision.  Stuyvesant must carefully outwit Carstairs, insinuate himself into British society and gain the sympathies of the union organizers before any bombs go off on British soil.  King does an excellent job sustaining tension and crafting complex, sympathetic characters.  It’s an interesting period in world
history and one that is not written about frequently.  Stuyvesant is a compelling hero and it’s very possible there will be a sequel.