No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod

This is MacLeod’s first novel, published 13 years ago, when he was 62. A writer and long-time teacher, he uses his childhood and young adult experiences in Nova Scotia to craft his fiction. Familiar with the land and the sea, knowing the lives of fishermen and miners, his novel and short story collections present people whose lives are bound to the natural world and to their family history.

The narrator of the story, Alexander, lived and was brought up on Cape Breton, an island in Nova Scotia which was settled by many French and Scottish people. The narrator’s family is a Scottish clan, from the northern highlands of Scotland. These are the people who fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie against England, and who later were cleared off their land so that sheep could be raised there. In the book, Calum MacDonald, Alexander’s ancestor, emigrates in the late 1700’s to Canada. One of the great stories in the book is about their faithful family dog trying to swim after their boat as they are embarking from Scotland. And how Calum first inveighs against the dog, swearing at her to go back. When she persists, he starts to call encouragement, realizing she will drown if she cannot reach them. Stories and moments like these are what make up the book, about being faithful, and not giving up. MacLeod is not reaching for sentiment – he simply lets you hear the telling, and the retelling.

The book is made up of a series of flashbacks that follow his ancestor Calum’s story and tell us his own upbringing. Visiting his older brother who is a down and out alcoholic living in a seedy Toronto rooming house, Alexander has occasion to remember their childhood and early adulthood. We also catch glimpses of visits with his sister in her present life as the wife of a mining executive, living in affluence in western Canada, far from the robust and natural childhood they experienced on Cape Breton.

A lot of the book is about nostalgia and the good old days. Except in the good old days, people died or were drowned, or went to prison like his older brother, who killed a man in a miners’ brawl. When British General Wolfe’s army scaled the cliff in Quebec to defeat the French, back in 1759, Scottish Highlanders led the treacherous ascent. Wolfe mistrusted them (they had fought on opposite sides in Scotland) and wrote in a letter that if they were lost, it would be “no great mischief”.

These kinds of stark details run like a thread in the narratives. The dog was saved from drowning, but Calum’s wife died at sea. Highlanders were hardy and bold, but their lives could hang by a thread, if they trusted generals or armies or mining companies. There always seems to be a price to pay, and in the end Alexander values his brother Calum just for what he was and what he stands for. Like the sweetness of the spring water spilling out in the salty tide submerging it, there is goodness, but it can’t be held. The most that MacLeod has said about the book is that his characters are not regretting the past - they are only being thoughtful about it.

He leaves it to us, his readers, to realize afresh that this life of the wind and the water and the field is gone for most of us, and will never return. As the writer E.M. Forster put it, seeing the growth of the suburbs around London at the start of this century, “What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?” What good indeed.

A Prayer For Owen Meany / by John Irving

New England is one of those places where good writers seem to flourish. Not that there aren't other places in the country where literary prowess is concentrated, but the region's seemingly always had an endless supply of talented bards. John Irving is one of them. An Exeter, New Hampshire native where his stepfather and uncle were on the faculty of the local high-profile prep school, Irving grew up never knowing his biological father, an Army Air Corpsmen killed in WWII. After attending Exeter, he went on to the University of Pittsburgh with the hopes of continuing a successful amateur wrestling career but ultimately matriculated back home and the local state university. In the mid-sixties he attended several prestigious writers workshops including the noteworthy University of Iowa gig as well as one in Vienna, a location he would later tab for his first novel. By the 1970's he was writing moderately successful novels and teaching English at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. In 1978, The World According to Garp became a bestseller and an international sensation, initiating a decade of success for the writer whose 1980's novels (and one short story) were all either bestsellers or award winners--1985's The Cider House Rules would later net Irving an Oscar for best adapted screenplay. A Prayer For Owen Meany is likely the author's most autobiographical work and though not as wildly popular as 'Garp'--its subject matter is much tamer and more solemn by comparison--is still one of the most widely read books around.

By any standard, Owen Meany is small. It's not just his diminutive stature which distinguishes him from all his peers, or even his fawn-like build and bone structure which projects a alarmingly vulnerable quality. It's his voice. Always a bit of a high pitched squeal several octaves above normal, it's never changed with age, a damaged larynx responsible for the son of a New Hampshire granite mason's conspicuously awkward speech. His size or lack thereof and his quirky, atonal articulations aren't really what sets Owen apart though. It's something else altogether, something especially remarkable. For John Wheelwright, it's not really something about his best friend as something which is him, a fated and fatalistic phenomenon which underlies a particularly critical truth in both their lives. Owen possesses a prescient, almost clairvoyant insight into the future. But it's not so much a psychic power or mystical foreknowledge of things to come as it is an unmistakeable ability to gauge the nature of reality, to foresee a culmination of events based off calculations and intuitions made from an especially brilliant mind. And yet Owen's neither a cold intellectual nor a cynical forecaster of doom. There's a spiritual side to the boy, a very serious spiritual side.

A particularly odd and tragic accident has inadvertently illuminated this fact: the death of John's cherished mother from a foul ball which Owen hit--the only connection the boy ever made with a baseball--during their last little league game. The death is very sad of course. But instead of driving the boys apart, the tragedy actually brings the 12-year-olds closer. After all, Owen loved John's mother as much as John did. The event marks an almost cathartic transformation in Owen who senses a hidden destiny behind the oddly peculiar incident. As the two transition from childhood to adulthood amid a world going from bad to worse in the 1960's, what's already becoming clear to Owen is slowly revealed in tragic and devastating fashion before John's eyes. Although by the time it manifests in full, it just may be too late for John to salvage the life and legacy of his best friend.

Not everyone likes John Irving. Need it be said that he doesn't care for a few of his peers either. His plots are rather atypical and complex, many of them more than a little 'all over the place' with characters demonstrating a propensity towards odd choices and peculiar behaviors. More than a few critics have called his novels Dickensian marking the author's twisting narrative style, quizzical personalities and multiple settings. He writes well though, with a style that's very engaging and accessible to readers. 'Owen Meany' isn't quite as outlandish a plot as 'Garp' or Hotel New Hampshire in which some truly oddball characters cross paths in small town America and Central Europe. John Wheelwright and Owen Meany are relative down to earth types, John a somewhat lazy New Englander descended from founding fathers and Owen an unusually intelligent, especially dynamic product of the working class. That the story is especially grounded in spiritual principles, fervent Protestantism at that, is rather uncharacteristic of Irving. This is after all the same guy who wrote the characters of 'Roberta' Muldoon, the transsexual ex-football star, and radical feminist Jenny Fields into the same story ('Garp'). 'Owen Meany' has nothing so eccentric which may be why it's one of the author's most universally accessible novels. At the same time it's hard to see the story working as well in another's hands. Written by someone else, Owen might come off as something of nerdy outcast or a fledgling sidekick. He's neither of these, really not anywhere close though to call him a hero in a realistic sense wouldn't be too far off. No, the character of Owen is likely one of Irving's greatest achievements, a "small wonder" who's very much the classic visionary as well as an imperturbable charismatic, a cherished friend and magnanimous martyr and, penultimately, every bit a human being. Because of him, the book is a truly captivating work. (FIC IRVING)

The Cottagers: A Novel / by Marshall N. Klimasewiski

For 19-year-old Cyrus Collingwood, having to live in East Sooke, Vancouver Island, BC is its own punishment. A year-round resident of this mostly vacation destination, he's always held something of a permanent grudge against the summer people who rent out the neighboring cottages. It's a grudge born of envy of course, and Cyrus can't help his voyeuristic habit of monitoring the lives of the cottagers, noting the various distinguishing habits which mark the weekly renters from the seasonal inhabitants. A bit of of a burglar as well as a peeping tom, Cyrus sees no reason why he shouldn't help himself to a few unguarded possessions his temporary neighbors carelessly leave lying around ("cottagers treated possessions as if they half hoped they might be stolen"). But when a group of five individuals--two couples and a small child--arrive late one summer, there's something a little off about the situation and Cyrus can't help but tugged by the allure of the oddly arranged party, this time not so eager to take advantage of the situation as to become a part of it.
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An English Professor on sabbatical, Nicholas has driven his wife Simena and their three-year-old daughter Hilda all the way to East Sooke from New York City for an extended stay in a cottage they've rented out for several months. Coincidentally, their friends Greg and Laurel, also academics, are available and have agreed to join them. Upon arrival, the group finds they're not as chummy as they used to be. Time has changed relationships between everyone, something the spouses already know and something four friends can't hide from each other for long. Cyrus, noticing the odd predicament, crosses his own boundaries this time, steadily insinuating himself personally into the group, feigning genuine friendship and comradery as he intermingles with them and shows them various special parts of his home. But when Nicholas goes missing one late summer evening, suspicions become intermingled with shared animosity among the remaining friends and Cyrus causing a whirlwind of commotion and bad blood to seep in and sieze control of the atmosphere.
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The words 'spooky' and 'eerie' come to mind almost upon first glancing at the cover of this fine debut novel by the author who's previous literary efforts have been mostly short fiction and essays. But what makes it even more creepy is how well-realized the characters are. Cyrus is as ordinary as Greg or Nicholas, just bored with an uneventful life which becomes more amusing through observing the lives of others. The themes of privacy and confidentialities between friends are heavily engaged in alternating chapters of Cyrus and then the families showing Cyrus' own inhibitions (or lack there of) and the plaguing difficulties of the cottagers simultaneously, a motif giving the story a solid pacing and suspense driven narrative. At times the writing becomes a bit too introspective and aspects of Cyrus' behavior and antics are a bit overanalyzed. But the book succeeds anyway and is a satisfactory read, craftily interweaving elements of trust, betrayal and identity into a fun read. (FIC KLIMASEW)

Arctic Drift: A Dirk Pitt Novel / by Clive Kussler & Dirk Cussler

Clive Cussler has lived a lifestyle almost to match his adventure-seeking, thrill-getting protagonist Dirk Pitt. Currently the chairman of NUMA (National Underwater & Marine Agency), Cussler has been searching for sunken and buried treasure for about as long as he's been writing bestselling novels--he holds the record for discovered shipwrecks at over 60. He collects rare antiques and custom-made automobiles, has lead gold mining expeditions and is on the board of both the Royal Geographic Society and the American Society of Oceanographers. His latest Dirk Pitt caper (the 20th in the series) places the hero in the midst of an environmental caper where some dastardly deeds are threatening the future of the planet.
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As global warming threatens to doom planet earth, a new research discovery near the North Pole is being looked at which could actually help put a stop to the problem. But Canadian oil tycoon Mitchell Goyette has a very vested interest in the Arctic region currently under scrutiny and cares nothing for such environmental concerns. It's strongly hinted that he may be at the bottom of a current pollution epidemic, some contaminated water samples recently having been found in British Columbia by none other than Dirk Pitt Jr. and sister Summer. Goyette could also be linked to a series of unexplained deaths which has sparked something of an international incident of late, the heated war of words between the US and Canadian delegates in Washington reaching powers that be who call upon Dirk Pitt Sr. to intervene on the situation. But when a deadly explosion catches him off guard at his own D.C. post, obviously intended to dissuaed any plans he may have, Dirk knows he needs to find answers and soon.

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One thing which may be linking everything together is a mysterious, unidentified metallic mineral substance recently unearthed, thought to have been originally discovered on a 19th century Arctic voyage in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. Only that expedition never reached its destination, never even got close as every last man perished in cryptic fashion. Pitt and his loyal sidekick and lifelong colleague Al Giordino set off on their deadliest voyage yet to search for answers hopefully concealed within the tundra region near the Arctic circle. But they'll have to weather more than just frigid temperatures and glaciers as Goyette is firm with his own sly, treacherous maneuvers and will do everything to see his interests sustained. Does the same destiny await Dirk and his gang which doomed the ill-fated voyage over a century ago? Cussler's latest won't disappoint his loyal fans with this thriller which features the author's trademark suspense and breakneck pace. As adventure novels go, it's win-win all the way. (FIC CUSSLER)

Killshot / by Elmore Leonard

A resident-native of Detroit, Elmore Leonard began his career writing westerns before expanding into crime and mystery thrillers. Killshot follows a veteran assassin and his ex-con partner after their shakedown scheme is foiled by a middle-aged ironworker and his wife.

Armand Degas, a.k.a.“Blackbird”, knows stealth. Even if he weren’t half-Indian, he’d be aware of the indiscretions which get you caught or dead in this line of work. So how'd he end up next to this trigger-happy punk, fleeing the scene of a botched extortion scam with two witnesses left still breathing? The punk is none other than 30-year-old Richie Nix, a dumb-crazy sociopath who's somehow walking around free despite numerous arrest warrants. When a routine carjacking lands him a new cohort and some unlicensed firearms, it’s all he needs to collect on his $10,000 ‘insurance’ from a local realtor. Even when things get a little hairy—it’s OK; Richie’s never hesitated to take anyone out.

All her mother’s warnings about ironworkers couldn’t keep Carmen from wedding Wayne Colson. It wouldn’t be the last thing her mom was wrong about; eighteen years and her only complaint is Wayne’s seasonal devotion to hunting. Yet when a run-in with some bad guys furnishes their way into the witness protection program (and out of their house), even Carmen’s steady trust that Wayne will do the right thing can’t quiet her deepest fears, fears only heightened after meeting the dimwit US Marshal assigned to them.

No one writes dialogue like Elmore Leonard. If there's a literary equivalent to Quentin Tarantino, it's the veteran master, a man who pairs humor and violence as well as anyone. Not much on themes or symbolism, Leonard's concerned more with who's doing it and how rather than what's happening and why. Still there's an authenticity to Killshot however subtle, flowing through characters and dialogue as much as the third-person narrative. As tediously cautious as Armand is, it's easy to see how Richie's heedless, off-the-cuff attitude grabs his attention while for Richie, who rarely thought once--but never twice--about anything, it's Armand's cool demeanor and professionalism. Together they form a lethal if offbeat tandem of cold-blooded killers out to tie-up their loose ends. (MYS LEONARD)