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Courage and care under fire
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson ANGELS OF THE PACIFIC. By Elise Hooper. William Morrow. 358 pages. $16.99, paperback. Maybe it’s just coincidence, or maybe there’s renewed interest among Americans in World War II. Whatever the reason, this is the second historical novel about Americans in World War II that I’ve read in as many months.…
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Flag waving, patriotism and spies
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE HOLLYWOOD SPY: A Maggie Hope Mystery. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Bantam. 352 pages. $27. If you believe the inspiring old stories about how patriotism united America during World War II, Susan Elia MacNeal’s latest Maggie Hope suspense novel will be an eye-opener. When we last spent time with Maggie,…
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The ticking bombs…
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE KING’S JUSTICE. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Bantam Books. $17, paperback. Over the course of eight previous novels, Maggie Hope has been an assistant to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a code breaker, a spy, a prisoner…. She’s come way too close for comfort to a serial killer trying to emulate…
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The courage to love
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson WE MUST BE BRAVE. By Frances Liardet. Penguin Audio. Read by Jayne Entwistle and Juliet Mills. 16 hours; 13 CDs. $66. Also available in print from G. P. Putnam’s Sons. This beautiful, moving novel is the first to be published in America by Frances Liardet, a British writer and translator,…
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Mystery and history, with a nod to Agatha Christie
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE PRISONER IN THE CASTLE. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Books on Tape. Read by Susan Duerden. 10 hours; 8 CDs. Available in print from Bantam. 300 pages. Through eight novels now, Maggie Hope’s adventures have given readers a thoroughly enjoyable World War II history lesson wrapped up in lively mysteries…
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“Jack is back,” and fortunately, so is Maggie Hope
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE QUEEN’S ACCOMPLICE. By Susan Elia MacNeal. Read by Susan Duerden. Books on Tape. 10 ½ hours; 9 CDs. Also available in paperback from Bantam Books, $16. Maggie Hope, intrepid spy, code-breaker and all-around spunky young woman, is at it again, in the thick of World War II action and…
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From dark times, brilliant fiction
Two novels, both set in France during World War II, provide Paul O’Connor with a feast of outstanding fiction. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE NIGHTINGALE. By Kristin Hannah. St. Martin’s Press. 440 pages. $27.99. ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE. By Anthony Doerr. Scribner. 531 pages. $27. It’s early summer. We’re in the family…
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Portrait of the artist as a young resistance fighter
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson A COUNTRY ROAD, A TREE. By Jo Baker. Read by David Rintoul. Random House Audio. 10 ½ hours; 9 CDS. $40. Also available in print from Knopf. Ah, what a heady thing to be an aspiring young writer in Paris – until the Nazis come goose-stepping in. In her new novel,…
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Sleuthing for the Nazis
Bob Moyer has a wide range of reading favorites that includes mystery/thrillers and books about the Holocaust. Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series deftly combines these two interests. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE LADY FROM ZAGREB. By Philip Kerr. Putnam. 421 pages. $26.95. It’s 1942, the beginning of the end, the Soviet Union has not…