World of Trouble
Ben H. Winters
In World of Trouble, Detective Hank Palace has only 14 days to live and a mystery to solve — what happened to his younger sister, Nico?
Palace is not the only one with 14 days. An asteroid is going to strike the planet, causing mass devastation.
“Because these auburn midwestern trees are going to burst into flames in the first burning moments. Trees around the world will go up like dry tinder. In a short time the clouds of ash will block the sun, put a hard stop to photosynthesis, snuff out all lushness. … What is about to happen is not the reclaiming of Earth by a triumphant Mother Nature, a karmic repudiation of humanity’s arrogant ill stewardship.”
In the last book of Ben H. Winters’ Last Policeman trilogy, the ultimate hopes of mankind in technology and religion to save it from Armageddon are not faring well as the asteroid comes closer. Survivalists build bunkers, others try to empty their bucket lists and some try to find serenity before destruction.
The story could have been dark and dystopian but the character of Palace keeps you going. He and his companion, Cortez, are constantly foraging for food and gasoline, running down the abandoned roads and meeting desperate people who want to live but know they are going to die.
Palace will follow the elusive trail of Nico until it runs out or the world ends. Will he succeed? How will he face death? How would you?
— Tish Wells
McClatchy Washington Bureau
Trouble in Paradise
La Roux
Coming off an artistic hiatus after a widely acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning debut, La Roux returns in force with an off-beat, electrifying and synth-pop second album.
Trouble in Paradise showcases the new La Roux, singer-songwriter Elly Jackson minus producer Ben Langmaid, who left the duo during work on this follow-up to their 2009 self-titled debut. Jackson paired with producer Ian Sherwin to finish off the job and the result is a nine-track collection that, while retaining the band’s original sound and charisma, adds a sexy edge.
It starts off with a disco mirror ball of a tune, Uptight Downtown, a gentle dance session in the making. It moves into strum-friendly Cruel Sexuality and the light touch Sexotheque, where the instrumentals convey a childlike wonder in stark contrast to lyrics that tell the story of a couple where the man is a bit of a dog. Silent Partner turns from a Michael Jackson tribute to a nightmare scenario of an abusive relationship, while Kiss and Not Tell spins another tale of romantic woe. Slow burn Let Me Down Gently sounds so vintage that La Roux should be paying royalties to the 1980s.
However, Caribbean-sounding electro party-starter Tropical Chancer comes as the front runner — the perfect balance of rhythm appeal and sass, a bit like this entire endeavor.
— Cristina Jaleru
Associated Press
Wayfaring Stranger
James Lee Burke
Author James Lee Burke is a descendant of tough Texas lawmen. Although he’s most famous for hard-boiled crime novels featuring Louisiana lawman Dave Robicheaux, he has written seven fine novels inspired by the Hollan side of his family, changing the surname to Holland.
In Wayfaring Stranger, he introduces Weldon Avery Holland. It’s 1934, and Weldon, a teenager, is living on a hardscrabble Texas farm with his mentally ill mother and his grumpy grandfather, who had fought the likes of John Wesley Hardin, Bill Dalton and Pancho Villa. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker wander into their lives, hiding out on the edge of the Holland property. Unsure if they are evil thugs or the avenging angels popular culture made them out to be, Weldon is haunted by the encounter.
Later, Weldon and his sergeant, Hershel Pine, discover what true evil is when a Waffen SS Tiger tank nearly takes their lives. They accidentally wander into an abandoned Nazi death camp where Weldon saves a young woman who eventually agrees to be his wife.
After the war, Weldon and Hershel go into business together building pipelines. But rich and politically well-connected Texans are eager to destroy their business and acquire their unique welding process. The two friends soon discover that anti-Semitism is not foreign to American soil, and that rampant greed is just another form of evil.
The epic story is thick with tension to the very end. His characters, both heroes and villains, are superbly well drawn, and as in every Burke novel, the poetic descriptions of both urban and country settings bring Texas to life on the page.
— Bruce DeSilva
Associated Press