The Seventh Floor, by David McCloskey.

            

Typically, I have chanced upon #3 in David McCloskey’s series of Spy novels involving various colourful and driven members of the USA’s Central Intelligence Agency – why can’t I ever seem to start at #1!  He writes from experience, having worked for the CIA in another life – he knows how everything functions, especially the hierarchy on the seventh floor, Olympian home of Finn Armitage and Deborah Sweet, brand new leaders eager to make their mark on the organisation, which includes Artemis Proctor, a fearless – and tactless – leader of a subsection. The failure of an exercise against a Russian Source and the disappearance of handler Sam Joseph, captured and held by the Russians for three months until they swapped him for someone they needed more, provided Armitage and Sweet with the ammunition they need to boot her out of the only job she has ever really loved:  without her CIA job she is nothing:  ‘all your life you’re CIA.  Then you’re not.’

Working as an alligator wrangler at her cousin’s Florida theme park is no substitute, and the gators take exception to being rode twice a day;  they bite and will never be her pets.  Is this what her life will be like from now on?

Until Sam Joseph miraculously turns up bringing whiskey – and salvation in the form of explosive secret news that he hasn’t shared with anyone, including the various Psychologists and Medics he has seen since being released:  one of their number on the seventh floor has sold out and is providing the CIA’s most secret knowledge to the Russians.  A mole has been planted and that little critter is flourishing, absolutely bursting with information, and excellent at covering his tracks, having had so much training at doing just that at the CIA.

And how can a disgraced ex- section boss and an ex- undercover spy prisoner have any credibility with a leadership that wanted them gone anyway – no:  they will have to try to unravel and expose the traitor by themselves, the hard way, the dangerous, ‘they could kill-your-ass way.  Which is the only way.

David McCloskey’s superb prose takes no prisoners;  his character—building is second to none and, despite the demise of one of his main protagonists there are still enough great identities for the series to keep going, and going – and going!  Do you hear me, Mr McCloskey?!  SIX STARS. 

                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Riveter, by Jack Wang.

 

            After his father’s untimely accidental death, young Canadian forestry  worker Josiah Chang decides to enlist in the Canadian Army;  it is 1942 and Josiah wants to prove himself as a  loyal  citizen, ready to fight for his country in the Second World War.  The ‘only’ problem that he can see is that even though he was born and raised in Canada and has never been to  China, he cannot fight for Canada because of the possibility that he would demand Canadian Citizenship – which would not be tolerated.

            So!  Josiah does the next-best thing:  he finds a job as a riveter at Vancouver’s shipyards where shipbuilding is proceeding apace to make up for the many cargo ships being sunk by the Germans.  ‘Every Rivet A Bullet’ and, because he is strong, fit and healthy Josiah does well in his new position – except for those of his workmates who don’t believe that Chinamen know what they’re doing.  He proves them wrong many times but it still takes a long time to fit in, especially after he meets and with almost indecent haste, falls in love with Poppy, a girl named after Flanders Fields where her father was wounded in the First World War – she loves being a rebel and upsetting her staid, conventional parents but quickly finds that her feelings for Josiah become much more than just a casual liaison:  this is the real thing.

            Jack Wang leads us expertly through this love affair that was so unexpected and thrilling for both – and so forbidden, especially when Poppy’s father visits Josiah to inform him that if they decide to get married, Poppy will lose her Canadian Citizenship.  What’s a man to do against such Draconian policy?  Well, he’ll show them:  if he travels to Toronto he may have a chance to join up with the Canadian Parachute Battalion and this time, luck (?) is on his side:  with his fellow paratroopers he jumps into Normandy on D-Day 1944:  at last he will be able to prove his worth as a Canadian, a citizen and a man.

            Jack Wang’s battle scenes are thrilling, written with such verve that one would swear that he was with Josiah every step of the way, not to mention the friendships forged in valour and heartbreak, and the civilians – friends and enemies alike, who were all too human – and humane.  Yes, Josiah survives and returns home to a hero’s welcome, but nothing has changed; those laws are still the same:  Chinese are Aliens.  This is a beautiful story.  SIX STARS.    

                              

 

 

 

 

Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie, by James Lee Burke.

 

   

       James Lee Burke is very proud of this book.  He’s an old man now, but doesn’t care a bit, for his memories are of a Texas and real-life characters that dominated the landscape of his youth, and age (he is 89) cannot dim his wonderful artistry with words.  Burke has written several series, including those featuring fearless Texas Ranger Hackberry Holland;  now he would like to introduce us to Bessie Holland, Hackberry’s 14 year-old daughter when this story begins.  It is also the start of the 1914-1918 War, so world-wide trouble is brewing, even though America’s President has kept them out of it so far.

            Such lofty worries are beyond Bessie’s experience or interest at the moment;  after her mother’s death her father Hackberry has hit the booze and owes money everywhere:  she is faced with problems she is too young and ill-equipped to handle – BUT!  She refuses to be daunted by the fact that her father is a drunk, her brother will run away from home, leaving her entirely alone, but not before White-trash Jubal Fowler wrecks one of his eyes with a slingshot.  No, her attempts to  gain an education at the tiny local school have been ruined because the gifted teacher whom she adores has been sacked ‘for lewd behaviour with another woman’.

            Bessie is outraged – women’s rights are non-existent anyway;  they are no more than servants in every capacity.  Well, she’ll follow her brother Cody’s example and leave home too:  she’ll follow him to New York and the Lower East Side (whatever that may be);  anything would be better than her current location.  She thinks.

            True to form, she finds that her good looks generate plenty of attention, even from a ‘gentleman’ by the name of Anthony Vale who, after courting her perfectly (he seems to have lots of money) rapes her most cruelly, then makes sure she loses her employment.  He likes playing with people, but he has reckoned without good Baptist Bessie’s outrage at her treatment, or her father Hackberry’s thirst for revenge.  Anthony Vale’s days are numbered.

            Father and daughter return to Texas and find that their 200 acres have lots of oil waiting to be pumped from the ground – which presents its own problems for a good Baptist and a Texas Ranger who has given up the Demon Drink;  the tension never lifts and the Baddies never stop coming, from corrupt sheriffs and old enemies like Mexican Joe, a sadist who cuts up people because ‘he feels like it’.  And he feels like getting rid of Bessie by the nastiest of means;  she’s in his way.

            Fortunately for us, Bessie narrates the story so she’s still there at the end of this brilliant, almost unbearably suspenseful chronicle of a young State in an old country.  James Lee Burke can be justifiably proud of his work, which teems with unforgettable and authentic characters.  He just better live forever!  SIX STARS.    

Julia's 2025 Top Reads

Once Again, I Have a Little List – and this time, it is so late I really must apologise!

 

Time has run away with me this Festive Season, but it won’t stop the Staff, Friends and Volunteers of our beautiful library Te Takeretanga o Kura-hau-po from wishing all of you Great Readers the very best New Year this worrisome world can offer us, with Goodwill to All a compulsory requirement – we hope!

 

1.    The Things We Didn’t Know, by Elba Iris Perez. 

2.    Sea Change, by Jenny Pattrick. 

3.    The Cracked Mirror, by Chris Brookmyre

4.    Frankie, by Graham Norton.

5.    Going to the Dogs, by Pierre le Maitre.

6.    Fangs for Nothing, by Steffie Holmes.

7.    In a Place of Darkness, by StuartMacBride.

8.    King of Ashes, by S. A. Cosby.

9.    A Beautiful Family, by JenniferTrevelyan.

10. Lucky Thing, by Tom Baragwanath.

11.   The Frozen People, by Elly Griffiths.

12.   An Impossible Fortune, by Richard Osman.

13.   The Spy Coast, by Tess Gerritsen.

14.    The Summer Guests, by Tess Gerritsen

15.   Three Days in June, by Anne Tyler

And there's the list, everyone - Te Takere's First Fifteen waiting for you to take your pick. 

Happy New Year to every dedicated reader in Aotearoa and around the globe.

 

 

Three Days in June, by Anne Tyler.

 

            Anne Tyler is a  treasure.  She has been nominated for or has received every prestigious literary prize the world has to offer, and her genius comes not from telling great sagas about world-shattering subjects, but the everyday dramas that beset us all – which is another reason why she’s so popular:  she writes about thee and me.

            Starting with Gail Baines, assistant headmistress at an elite Girls’ Private school in Baltimore, Maryland:  she is having a bad day because her Boss has just informed her that she will no longer be needed as her assistant for various reasons, not least of which is that her people-skills are lacking;  sometimes, telling a parent that ‘Good God, their daughter will never have the slightest chance of getting into Princeton on those marks’ is not what they want, or need to hear:  the Boss has found a replacement for Gail, necessitating in the last, desperate grand gesture from the person with no people-skills:  ‘I quit!’

            Which gives Gail a certain bitter satisfaction, but she’s 61 years old.  What’s she going to do for income?  And it is her daughter Debbie’s wedding rehearsal and dinner tonight, followed by the wedding and reception tomorrow – what should be Gail’s proudest day for her daughter has been blighted.

            And the situation does not improve with the arrival of her ex-husband Max, looking like a bundle of old clothes – he doesn’t even have a suit for his daughter’s wedding! – and a request to stay at her house for the three days of festivities.  He has also brought with him an elderly cat ‘which he thought she might like’ for he has been working in an animal shelter and the cat’s ancient owner has just died. Could this day get any worse?

            Of course it could, with her daughter’s revelation in a phone call to her mum that a secret has been inadvertently been revealed by the Groom’s sister that very morning, necessitating in much soul-searching about cancelling the whole thing or bravely going ahead. What advice to give, and would anyone listen?  The only one seemingly unaffected is the cat, who has found Gail’s bed and is not giving it up.  She is silent on the subject, but she (and Max) are ever hopeful,

            Yet again Anne Tyler delights and charms us in this lovely little novella of relationships old and new, showing thee and me that face value sometimes doesn’t have that much worth, and that taking a risk (sometimes!) can achieve the contentment to which we all aspire.  FIVE STARS.

 

The Girl With Ice in her Veins, by Karin Smirnoff.

 

            Since the tragic and untimely death of Stieg  Larsson and his unforgettable protagonist Lisbeth Salander, many notable writers have attempted to further her story;  all, so far, have failed to keep up the momentum and suspense of their second foray into Lisbeth’s life, business and personal:  she’s a hard nut to crack and, despite Karin Smirnoff’s very creditable first attempt with ‘The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons’, an icy-veined Lisbeth doesn’t seem true to her life as all we millions of fans know it, BUT!

            It’s thrilling that she is still being recreated, even though in this case she’s not happy;  her most trusted – her only trusted friend, a brilliant hacker who goes by the name of Plague has disappeared.  And that’s a big ask, for he’s obese, with all the health problems that go with that condition:  why would anyone kidnap him?  Except to get at her? 

            Which proves to be the case, but who, and why?  She is even approached most innocently by a woman who wants to befriend her;  this woman is called Lo (the Lynx) and she has a spectacular set of burn scars from a dreadful childhood accident;  she’s definitely unforgettable so why use her as bait?

            An added complication is her niece Svala, barely fourteen and in protest mode with a group of other young people in the small northern town of Gasskas, which is in danger of being taken over by huge, greedy multi-nationals – ‘never mind the environment, think of all the jobs!’ (Sound familiar?) Naturally, nobody pays them any attention until one of their number ends up murdered by a slag-heap:  life is cheap when billions are at stake.  Svala vows revenge for her friend’s murder, but  it isn’t long before her uncles, reindeer herders with whom she lives, start finding dead animals everywhere – just as a warning, you understand.  Svala loves her uncles, so her heart and mind are understandably full of  hurt and hatred.  Who can she rely on?  Does anyone care at all?

            Mikael Blomquvist does.  He has just accepted a job as editor of Gasskas’s local paper;  his daughter is married to the mayor and everyone should be living happily ever after – you think?

            Of course they should, but every character, large and small has a back story here, which impedes the action and complicates the plot;  it’s hard to keep up with myriad nasty baddies who all present themselves on the last page, ready to carry on the series.  Having said that,  Lisbeth and Mikael, with Supergirl Svala, still have enough charisma to continue the tale.  FOUR STARS.

 

 

 

 

 

The Impossible Fortune, by Richard Osman.

 

            Hands up anyone who thinks the gang from the Thursday Murder Club has done its dash, grown a bit hackneyed and predictable – in short, can’t cut it any more:  Harrumph.  NO HANDS AT ALL!!   I should think so.

            It’s such a pleasure to meet these singular characters all again;  they are so dear to us that we would be happy to follow the most boring of their routines at Coopers Chase Retirement Village just to be part of their unique way of looking at the world, and at themselves – which as we know, can come up wanting.

            Joyce, former nurse, who sometimes employs a wildly different kind of logic to her friend Elizabeth (ex spy) to arrive at the same sharp conclusions is in raptures because her only daughter Joanna is marrying Paul, a Sociology Professor and at the reception Joyce is in 7^th Heaven because she can introduce him as ‘my Son-in-Law, Paul’ – which she does to tiresome effect.  Elizabeth (ex spy) is grieving terribly for her beloved husband who has recdently died, and is taking a break from the reception and its festivities, only to be approached by the Best Man, who asks for her help in finding out who has put a bomb under his car parked in the driveway of his home.  Grief in its many forms is forced to take a back seat as Elizabeth and Joyce embark on their latest mystery, ably assisted by the rest of the members of the Thursday Murder Club, including ex-eminent Psychologist Ibrahim and retired Firebrand Unionist Ron, who is having troubles of his own:  his daughter’s drop-kick violent husband has finally been given his marching orders by Ron’s daughter, but he doesn’t like being told what to do, so he hires a hit man to dispose of them all.  Big mistake! 

            Ron’s son foils the plot and ex-hubbie is forced to plan another hit by himself – which he is greedy enough to do because he has gotten wind of the fact that Ron has access to an enormous fortune in Bitcoin, left to gather value until it has reached a total that sounds like a multitude of phone numbers.  Shouldn’t be too hard to access;  that old Ron is way past his use-by date:  piece of cake!  Or not.

            Once again we are turning pages at breakneck speed and loving every minute;  new characters are introduced and minor characters have been given a dusting-off so thorough that I hope they will appear in the next book – yes, Richard Osman has done it again:  made us forget, however briefly,  what a worrying place our world is at this time.  FIVE STARS