I have read and reviewed more of Chris Bohjalian's books than any other author. Midwives, The Flight Attendant, The Plot, The Night Strangers, The Guest Room, and Hour of the Witch, just to name a few. Why? Because he's an excellent writer.
And he doesn't disappoint with his latest work, The Lioness (Doubleday, ISBN: 978-03855-4482-5).
What hasn't been written about Nikola Tesla in the past century? Books and documentaries abound around the genius of the inventor, and even Marc J. Seifer, the writer of this non-fiction tome had published a previous book in 1999, Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla. But this book, Wizard at War (Kensington Publishing Corp. ISBN 978-8065-4096-2) to be released at the end of August 2022, takes on a narrower subject, as it chronicles the inventions that interested the military of more than one country.
Occasionally a book comes along that captures and holds my interest until it's finished. Whether it is story or plot or writing skill, I'm pulled in and all other activities I'm doing fade away because I'm hooked into the book.
Booth (Random House, ISBN 978-0-593-55649-8) is Karen Joy Fowler's 2022 release, and her second novel. (Her first novel is We are All Completely Besides Ourselves). The well-written story is a meticulous glimpse into the past before Abraham Lincoln was killed in cold blood by John Wilkes Booth.
When a monster solar coronal mass ejection (CME) strikes the Earth it destroys all of the power grids in the world, leaving our Earth in the literal dark as the electricity disappears worldwide. This is what occurs in David Koepp's second book titled Aurora (ISBN 978-0-06-291647-1). Koepp is the screenwriter of many popular movies, including the first two Jurassic Park releases, Mission: Impossible, and War of the Worlds, plus many more, some of which he also directed.
Welcome to the new Old West and a colorful cowboy and sometime deputy.
Life in Toussaint, Montana is all but disappeared. The Me'tis Indian people cling to their old ways while outsiders move into the area by the Wolf Mountains and bring their own problems to the town of five hundred survivors in this modern world.
I reviewed this book once before, but felt the need to look again at this very complex novel. Some readers will not like it for its complexity and length. All I can say is that it’s worth the investment of time and thought it takes. I hope you give it a chance and become a fan of Doerr’s twists and turns.
