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A fresh perspective: Not just formula
Reviewed by Brianna Crane SEE ME. By Nicholas Sparks. Grand Central. PAGES? $27.00 An unlikely couple looks out across the Atlantic, letting their thoughts drift gently with the tide; all is well. As the waves begin crashing, however, the couple is consumed by a wave of fear. The early plot of See Me is similar…
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A fresh perspective: Grisham’s lawyer pushes the limits
Here’s another review by a student in the opinion writing class at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism. Reviewed by John Thomas ROGUE LAWYER. By John Grisham. Doubleday. 344 pages. $28.95, hardcover. John Grisham’s latest legal thriller, Rogue Lawyer, follows the story of defense lawyer Sebastian Rudd, a self-described “lone gunman” who loves…
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Behind the lines
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson MADELEINE’S WAR. By Peter Watson. Nan A. Talese Doubleday. 366 pages. $26.95. World War II is grinding toward an end in Europe, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less dangerous to be a spy in occupied France. If anything, the Nazis, knowing an Allied invasion is imminent, have grown more…
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A delicious tale
Crime fiction, the lovely French countryside, a sense of history AND lavish meals – there’s a lot to like in the Bruno books, and Bob Moyer relishes the opportunity to review another book in the series. THE CHILDREN RETURN. By Martin Walker. Knopf. 320 pages. $24.95 ‘To Protect and To Serve.” Police forces around the…
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Afloat with love and literature
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE LITTLE PARIS BOOK SHOP. By Nina George. Read by Steve West and Emma Bering, with Cassandra Campbell. Random House Audio. 11 hours; 9 CDs. $46. Also available in print from Crown. Monsieur Perdu runs a floating bookshop, on a barge moored in the Seine in Paris. But he’s more…
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When the planes fell
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson I knew about Judy Blume, of course. She wrote all those children’s books. When my sons were early readers, they enjoyed the Fudge books, among others. Their childhood friends, the boys and especially the girls, read lots of Blume’s books. I did not know, however, that she’s also written books…
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Mixed results
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Frankly, my dear
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson A TOUCH OF STARDUST. By Kate Alcott. Random House Audio. Read by Cassandra Campbell. 11 hours; 9 CDs. $40. Also available in hardback from Doubleday. Kate Alcott has done it again. She’s written another historical novel that’s a romance – the adventures and travails of one fictional young woman –…
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Beware the “undid”
Victorian London, with its veneer of manners and morals and its dark realities of poverty and crime, is often depicted in fiction. In this first novel by a young English woman, the dark side of Victorian London is even darker – and more terrifying – than usual. THE QUICK. By Lauren Owen. Read by Simon…
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Those binding ties