The Lost Island
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
The Lost Island, the third novel to feature master thief and brilliant scientist Gideon Crew, is another clever and compelling tale from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
Gideon has a rare condition that will kill him within a year unless he finds a cure. He works for Eli Glinn, a mysterious man with unlimited wealth, who asks Gideon to steal one page from the priceless Book of Kells, an Irish tome on display at a New York library. The security system is beyond impenetrable, and it becomes the ultimate challenge for Gideon.
Through deceit, trickery and sleight of hand, Gideon grabs the page, which shows a strange map that promises treasure and a possible cure. He reluctantly teams up with Amy, one of Eli’s assistants, and together they embark on a journey across the Caribbean. What they discover will shatter every belief they had about the history of North America and may kill both of them before they can discover where the treasure and cure are hidden.
Readers might be divided since regular series character Aloysius Pendergast is nowhere to be found. But the stellar writing that readers expect from Preston and Child is still in abundance, and they balance the line between page-turning suspense and ancient history. When it gets a bit fantastical, they make it completely plausible.
— Jeff Ayers
Associated Press
No Safe House
Linwood Barclay
A family finds it impossible to move on with their lives in Linwood Barclay’s latest suburban thriller, No Safe House.
Cynthia Archer still remembers a tragedy in her upbringing, and she promised herself that her husband, Terry, and her daughter, Grace, would be trauma-free. That hope was shattered seven years ago when her past came back with a vengeance. Now the three of them are trying to go on with their lives.
Grace’s teenage angst has created a rift between mother and daughter. In a moment of anger, Cynthia makes a mistake, and the guilt forces her to move out.
One night, Grace decides to be a bit dangerous with an older boy, and the events that unfold seem to indicate she shot someone. While a father searches for answers, he also tries to keep the incident from his wife, whom he desperately wants back in his life. He knows that if she learns about what happened with Grace, Cynthia will be gone forever.
While this is a sequel to No Time for Goodbye, familiarity with that earlier thriller isn’t required to enjoy this. What makes the story work is the depth and strength of the Archer family and their love for each other as bad things happen.
Parents will be hugging their kids after turning the last page.
— Jeff Ayers
Associated Press
I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss
Sinead O’Connor
After a rough few years, as she dealt with a 16-day marriage and canceled a tour due to mental illness, it’s heartening to see Sinead O’Connor’s confident image on the cover of I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss. She wears a black wig and sexy latex dress, hugging an electric guitar to her chest.
O’Connor, 47, seemed like a strong woman in control of her life and work in her younger years, even while singing about heartbreak or acting a little nutty. What’s striking is how needy, even forlorn, she sounds here.
She yearns openly for a strong man to “take me, make a fool of me all night.” She dreams about another: “I’d give anything to be the one who kisses you.” She dubs herself “special forces,” called in “after divorces” due to her kissing ability, but warns a guy that she’s not the keeping kind. She sings about being seduced by a married man and bemoans that she looks like a wooden chair. “Take me to church,” she pleads. “I’ve done so many bad things it hurts.” She writes of contemplating suicide.
Only O’Connor truly knows where autobiography ends and art begins, but the material here could keep a psychiatrist at work for months.
The emotion overwhelms the music, and her once-distinctive sound is now mostly generic. The exciting exception is the crashing climax in Harbour.
Her love for music is evident, and she still has considerable talent. But O’Connor here sounds less like a boss and more like a broken woman.
— David Bauder
Associated Press