Hello dear readers. We don't have much in the way of a pithy introduction this week, and so we're going to dive right into the books and hope you don't notice. No. Shh. We didn't say anything. Look! Books!
First up is a new book from Isabel Allende. The Wind Knows My Name follows two narratives: one in Nazi-overrun Vienna in 1938, and the other takes place now, along the US-Mexico border. In both cases, families are separated during train rides to salvation, and they must navigate an increasingly hazardous and complicated labyrinth of danger and bureaucracy. Allende, of course, knows how to make these sorts of stories sing, and the entwined melody of both is an emotionally-rewarding read.
S. A. Cosby is back this week with All the Sinners Bleed, a new police procedural set in rural Virginia. Titus Crown is the first black sheriff in the history of Charon County, and for awhile, the job is real quiet. And then a schoolteacher is shot, and the perpetrator is shot by Titus's deputies. Naturally, the investigation uncovers a whole lot of secrets. This one is an atmospheric pressure-cooker! Recommended.
Now, this is a bit annoying. You know who died recently? No, not Stuart Woods. Even though he did, and he does have a book out this week. Pause for that.
Okay, so when an author dies and their series continues, typically we'll continue to see the author's name on the cover. Their estate is still generating IP with these characters, and writers are doing work for hire, creating names for themselves, yada yada yada. You know how this works.
Except. EXCEPT!
Look carefully. That's right. It's "CLIVE CUSSLER Fire Strike" by Mike Maden. Maden's previous Oregon Files novel was tagged "Clive Cussler's Hellburner." We see you dropping that apostrophe and that 's,' Putnam.
When you are standing in the bookstore, looking at this book, you probably won't notice that Clive ISN'T the author of this book. Seriously. He's no longer listed as the author in the metadata, which means if you are a fan of Clive's books, you can't search for them by his name anymore. You have to know that his name is now PART OF THE TITLE. And when you click on "see other books by this author," you're not going to see any of the new novels in the Cusslerverse.
On the one hand, we appreciate that the publisher is correctly noting that Clive is dead and is not writing new titles, but on the other hand, this is going to confuse some folks. At the very least, we're happy G. P. Putnam's Sons didn't subtitle this: "An explosive and death-defying novel that would have been written by Clive Cussler if he had, actually, defied death."
And speaking of dead authors continuing to write, our old friend William W. Johnstone is no longer the longest-dead writer who is publishing. That hat has been passed to J. R. R. Tolkien. Even though he's been gone for fifty years, somehow he managed to write not one, but two! books in the last few weeks. This week's release is The Battle of Maldon: Together with the Homecoming of Beorhtnoth, which is J. R. R.'s fan fiction reworking of The Battle of Maldon, a 10th century dramatic poem about a battle between Vikings and Anglo-Saxons along the Blackwater River.
We know it's about as scholarly a re-imagining of a 325-line poetic fragment that we're going to get, and yes, it's surely an influence on The Lord of the Rings, but it certainly started out as "Hey, I wonder if anyone would mind if I just touched up these bits here . . . ?" This is how it starts, dear readers: first you write a little bit for yourself, then you write a little bit for some friends, and then—before you know it—you're doing it for money.
Though, Molière may have been talking about something else . . .
And speaking of scandalous insights into the creative process, here is Nick de Semlyen's The Last Action Heroes: The Triumphs, Flops, and Feuds of Hollywood's Kings of Carnage. The '80s and early '90s were an era of larger-than-life action heroes, and as you can imagine, the behind-the-scenes stories are even wilder. Gloriously over-the-top.
We have used up our quota of hyphens in that paragraph. That may have been unwise.
Anyway, while we're talking about archetypes and widescreen action, here is Kelly Sue DeConnick's Wonder Woman Historia, the lavishly illustrated history of the DC's Amazons. Each section of this graphic novel is illustrated by Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, and Nicola Scott, which is a stunning list of creative talent. Highly recommended.
And speaking of mythological figures, the latest volume of Rachel Smythe's Lore Olympus is out this week. Hades and Persephone are definitely the hot couple that everyone is talking about, and the two decide to slow it down a bit so as to keep from burning the place down with their passion. Naturally, the rest of the Greek pantheon has other ideas, and hoo booy! is there drama. Romantic and radical. Recommended.
And speaking of too hot to handle, here is John Vaillant's Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, a recollection of May 2016 when a fire burned through Fort McMurray, Alberta. That fire began on May 1st. By the 3rd, it was chewing up residential neighborhoods, and ultimately displacing around 88,000 people. Holy smokes! Here's your apocalyptic non-fiction scorcher for the summer. Keep an ice bucket handy while you read.
And speaking of true stories, here is Josh Haven's The Siberia Job, which is the story of a couple of enterprising entrepreneurs who attempt to turn Russian vouchers into hard cash. It seems like a pretty simple process. Haul suitcases of cash to remote locations and trade with the locals. Take those vouchers to even more inaccessible locations and trade them back to the Russian government for more cash. Avoid the Russian Mafia and various Russian oligarchs. Easy peasy, right? Yeah, not so much.
And finally, there are lots of summer reads out in paperback this week. Stephen King's Fairy Tale. Taylor Jenkins Reid's Carrie Soto is Back. Javier Zamora's Solito: A Memoir. Ocean Vuong's Time is a Mother. Riley Sager's The House Across the Lake. Plan accordingly!
And don't forget that we're going to have Jim Erickson AND the Fisher Scone truck in downtown Sumner during Rhubarb Days. June 24th! In less than three weeks! Get excited!
