Review: The Mountains Bow Down

Well, this was a disppointment!  I'd only give this one 2 stars, maybe 3 if I was feeling extra-generous.

The Mountains Bow Down: A Raleigh Harmon Novel is the first Raleigh Harmon book I've read (seems there are three before this one). So what I have to say may not be true if you've read the previous books.

Raleigh Harmon is an FBI agent who goes up to Alaska on a cruise with her mom, aunt and Claire the Clairvoyant on "vacation" only to get caught up in a suicide/murder and major gem theft. She is helped by Jack Stephanson, a man she worked with earlier when she was working in the Seattle FBI office. An added twist (or complication) is the fact that she is now back to working in the Richmond FBI office, newly engaged to a Southern aristocrat and her widowed mother is bordering on having a nervous breakdown.  This would probably make better sense if you'd read the earlier books ... but it SHOULD stand-alone and not be quite so confusing as this one is.

That's just the synopsis of the plot affecting Raleigh.  This doesn't include the sub-plots of ship-board crimes (including a rather graphic description of Turkish ship-workers who are also pornography-film makers), narcissistic Hollywood types and their issues and .... well, sex drugs and rock and roll pretty much sums it up. See what I think it's a bit convoluted?

That all said, the primary mystery is a very good mystery although I don't think the author, Sibella Giorello, plays fair in that the stolen rocks are a very rare, found-only-in-California, mineral that even Raleigh (who is supposed to be a geologist) has never seen before. The reader doesn't understand the point of the rocks as the key until right near the end ...

I also don't much care for Raleigh Harmon's character -- she is self-centered, a work-aholic, who says she loves her mentally ill mother but doesn't drop everything to help her, being caught up in the case instead. She lies to "protect" her mom but actually just makes it all worse.  She is engaged to an old sweetheart who she ignores when he repeatedly calls her and when she does finally talk to him is angry that he's partying with old school friends. She's supposed to be a "forensic geologist" and yet she spends more time being just a detective ... why have her constantly reminding other characters about her "geology education". A further irritating character-flaw with Raleigh is that she is supposed to be so smart and such a great agent and yet is very cynical and sarcastic and rude to people she's trying to get to help her.  Her former boss in the Seattle office is treated almost as a buffoon and yet he does everything he can to help her.

The other characters include Aunt Charlotte who is quite odd and hard to understand while her friend Claire the Clairvoyant is truly over-the-top weird but then she ends up helping Raleigh set up the bad guys. Very strange.  The character of special agent Stephanson is much better drawn and believable. And I love the character of the Dutch ship's captain, Geert! The victim's family and friends are not very sympathetic and the other cruise customers are ridiculed throughout the nove.

I also have to say that this particular book, although supposedly Christian fiction, is not that at all. The reference to Christianity and organized religion are all snide slurs including comments from the ship's chaplain of "well, it's ok that the Cross was ripped off the wall ... it's such a bummer for people" or Aunt Charlotte's new ageiness that has her saying that she used to be like Raleigh's mother until she stopped buying into the whole Episcopal thing. I don't know how the other Raleigh Harmon books read .. but this one is not a winner!

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Disclaimer: I received this book at part of Thomas Nelson's Book Sneeze program. The critique above is my honest reaction to this work of fiction.





 

Review: The Father Brown Reader II by Nancy Brown

I avoid adaptations, condensed novels and other “re-told by” books of the classics. If we have to wait to expose our children (or ourselves) to great works, so be it.  Adaptations are so ... "reader's digestish"!

That said I have made an exception on occasion. One such exception was Nancy Carpentier Brown’s The Father Brown Reader, published a few years ago and an excellent re-telling of some of Chesterton’s stories for the younger set. Today, I received the hard-copy of the sequel, The Father Brown Reader II: More Stories from Chesterton. Published by Hillside Education, Brown has done another phenomenal job of making Chesterton attainable for children, while keeping the rich imagery and language of the original.  I was fortunate to get an electronic copy for review a couple of weeks ago and so this review is based on that reading.

The difference between this second compilation is that Brown has chosen stories with murder as the theme. She is quick to point out (in the ‘note to parents’) that these stories are not “gratuitously graphic” and that she believes teaching children about life and death is important. I agree wholeheartedly. By choosing these stories to adapt, Brown has opened a world to children that allows them to see that untimely deaths and the finding of the culprit are a worthwhile endeavor that can be treated with dignity and avoid the voyeuristic themes of other books.

Reader II includes four stories that are classic Chesterton: “The Invisible Man”, “The Mirror of the Magistrate”, “The Eye of Apollo”, and “The Perishing of the Pendragons”. The retellings are well done, tightly written and accessible for the younger readers – I am starting these as a read-aloud for my children so that we can talk through the events and messages Chesterton develops in each of these stories.

A bonus from the first set of stories and repeated in this volume is the artistry of Ted Schluenderfritz. Schluenderfritz helps children really see the humble parish priest Father Brown, the dapper and debonair Flambeau, the criminals as Chesterton describes them. These drawings, scattered throughout the volume, are a lesson in illustration from text-description and will make a great drawing unit for my children.  His sketches really bring to life the dumpy Fr. Brown, the tall, svelte Flambeau and the other characters scattered throughout.  The cover is just gorgeous ... well done, Ted and Margot!

Bottom line: for those who can, read the original Chesterton stories; for those who can’t, feel confident reading this (as well as the first) collection adapted by Brown. You will not regret reading these “re-told by” books!

 

Review: Bleeder -- a miracle? or a bloody murder?

I love reading about the Catholic faith. I love reading mysteries.  To be able to combine the two makes for a very happy person.  So when I saw a new mystery, titled Bleeder by John Desjarlais, I thought I should give it a try.

I'm glad I did. 

The author, a former producer of Wisconsin Public Radio, now teaches journalism and English at a small college in northern Illinois.  Although this is his first mystery, he has a couple of novels to his name and has written for a variety of Christian and secular periodicals.  All this writing experience comes to use in his first mystery novel with a very complex plot, multi-issue characters and an amazing climax scene when the mystery is solved.

The basic premise? 

Reed Stubblefield, a "sort of" Presbyterian (in other words, he went to the Presbyterian church when he was younger, but no longer believes in much of anything) and Artistotelian scholar heads to a small town in Illinois to recuperate from a gunshot wound which has left him with a shattered hip and the need for a cane, which he calls "Citizen Cane".  To further exacerbate Reed's health issues, his wife died of cancer two years earlier and so he has episodes of depression and grief.  On strong pain medications and anti-depressants, Reed is easily disoriented and his almost-50-year-old body is in pretty bad shape.  His older brother lends him a cabin in the Illinois woods in a small town where there is a priest who allegedly bears the signs of the stigmata -- the five wounds of Jesus -- and is credited with miraculous healings.  Reed knows nothing about the "healing Padre" and ends up limping into a hornet's nest of issues in this small town.

The writing is taut and well-researched, with appropriate quotes from Aristotle scattered throughout, tons of medical information, and well-defined characters.  The supporting cast of characters span the spectrum from heretical charlatans to well-meaning cynics to good Catholics trying to understand the events occuring in their little town. 

Desjarlais obviously spent much time and effort to build a mystery around the premise (stated by Fr. Ray Boudreau, the healing padre): 

There are no coincidences, Mr. Stubblefield.  Conincidences are just God's way of remaining anonymous. (pg 41)

That quote really sums up all that occurs in this many-threaded plot.  A plot that at times seems completely disjointed, until I turned the page and it came together again. 

I have a couple of small quibbles, though: Reed knows too many of the technical liturgical symbols, items, and traditions of the Catholic Church -- seemed far-fetched for a self-described "sort of Presbyterian".  I also thought the author tried too hard to include a budding romance; it just didn't read naturally.  Also, the text of the "newspaper" articles quoted in the book read like creative writing rather than fact-based (and usually quite terse) journalism.

The quibbles aside, I'd recommend this book for adults, especially those who like a good, fair mystery with lots of red herrings, plot twists, and side issues.  Bleeder is a mystery that plays fair with the reader by hiding-in-plain-sight the clues that lead to the solution.  I particularly love the last page ... wonderful!  Well-done, Mr. Desjarlais.

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This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Bleeder.

Desjarlais, John -- Bleeder: A miracle? Or bloody murder?. A Chisel and Cross Book (Sophia Institute Press) - Manchester, NH.  2009.  ISBN:  978-1933-184-562.  paperback (261 pages).