Blacklands: A Novel / by Belinda Bauer

It's been eighteen years since 11-year-old Billy Peters disappeared from the small town of Shipcolt in Somerset (UK). Everyone believes Billy was murdered--after all, pedophile/serial killer Arnold Avery confessed to the crime along with murder of six other children, all of whom he disposed of in the desolate moor surrounding the village. It's just that the remains of the other six were found and the mystery of where Billy's corpse might be has always been a bit of a loose end, one that's had Billy's mother convinced he's still alive. Ever vigilant, she ("Poor Old Mrs. Peters") still stands guard at the same front window from which she last saw him, letting the world and time pass her by as whe waits for her son. Her remaining family, a son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons, quietly forebear with their Nan's issues even as their own lives suffer and break apart.

Twelve-year-old grandson Steven has seen the damage Billy's disappearance has done to his family and is determined to find some closure even if it means digging holes at random in the moor hoping to find something, anything, to bring about a resolution. He so desperately wants peace for his Nan that he secretly begins writing anonymous letters to Avery Arnold, currently doing life in prison, asking for help in finding the body. But little does Steven know how dangerous his little ploy is. As the correspondence between Steven and Avery becomes more familiar, Avery devises his own scheme, toying with his mysterious letter writer through misdirected hints and manipulative responses. When he finally realizes the identity of his little pen pal, Avery's own life suddenly gains and entirely new purpose, one far more dangerous and demented than anything Steven could have imagined.

Whoa. This is a really good debut novel, right up there with the best of them as psychological suspense goes. Like a master painter who skillfully employs every inch of canvas, Bauer writes with absolutely no 'wasted' words, sentences or paragraphs. Every description, each subtle bit of backstory and all of the characters are brilliantly and concisely elucidated, the author perpetually aware of the implications at each turn in the story. And while her superior economy of words will impress not a few seasoned mystery readers, it's her talent at storytelling, of illuminating the minds of the characters and molding the bits and pieces into a particularly alluring psychological game of cat-and-mouse which most bears witness her skill. Don't miss out on this book or this author. Her latest, Darkside, is also currently available for checkout. (MYS BAUER)

The Lovely Bones / by Alice Sebold

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One of the more interesting publishing stories of the decade was in 2002-2003 when The Lovely Bones by first-time novelist Alice Sebold staked a claim to the top spot. The book, in which a young girl's abduction and murder is retold by the victim (in spirit form), grabbed its fair share of attention and headlines from the more pedigreed works by Dan Brown (Da Vinci Code), James Patterson and Danielle Steel. Seven years later, the movie version starring Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz is set to debut, opening next month. Sebold is a former student of the University of Houston's M.F.A. program.
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"The events my death brought were merely the bones of a body that would become whole at some unpredictable time in the future. The price of what I came to see as this miraculous lifeless body had been my life." p. 363
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Susie Salmon is 14 on December 6, 1973, the last day of her life. The oldest daughter of Jack and Abigail Salmon of Norristown, Pennsylvania, Susie meets her fate walking home alone from school after a confrontation with her peculiar neighbor George Harvey sees her raped, murdered and concealed, her corpse dismembered and boxed up. It's a while before the Salmons--both Jack and Abigail along with Lindsey, Susie's younger sister by a year, and Buckley, the toddler son--accept that Susie is really dead, not just missing. Questions linger until an elbow (Susie's), a remnant of the dead girl mistakenly left behind, is found giving finality to the case. The years following death of their beloved daughter and sister hold some ill after-effects, the family steadily becoming unhinged under the weight of their distress. Abigail's withdrawal of affection from her children and husband, her foray into adultery and ultimate flight from the home, Lindsey's alienation, Buckley's resentment, Jack's assurance of Harvey's guilt and self-destructive fixation over the inability to see him brought to justice all push things toward a near-irreparable disarray.

But Susie's mortal death hasn't totally suspended her from contact with her family. Susie, now an amorphous spirit in her own personal heaven, observes their world perceiving their collective grief, sensing each's pain, misery and despair. The spirit Susie actively "accommodate" each of her family members, witnessing her mother's betrayal and abandonment of the family unit, observing her sister Lindsey's bitterness finding some solace with a loyal boyfriend, relating to her brother's sense of being forgotten and, perhaps most poignantly, understanding her father's grief and how it's medicated through his unending obsession for revenge and justice. Susie is even able to "see" George Harvey, the boy he once was, the torturous childhood he endured, his pathological need to kill, his previous and subsequent victims (Susie was neither his first nor his only girl) and the utter remorseless indifference towards his crimes.

The Lovely Bones' popularity is well-merited. There's a sort of absorbing voyeurism to the characters, their lives evocatively illuminated through Sebold's superior prose, engaging hold on the reader and clever arrangement of the narrative. Susie's presence and cognition in relation to each of her family's lives--their innermost thoughts, their reactions and convictions, frustrations and revelations is profoundly entrancing, the attraction of the novel and pursuit through the chapters not so much about seeking a resolution as to be immersed in the almost ethereal atmosphere of the story.

M (DVD) 1931 / a Fritz Lang film starring Peter Lorre

"Do you mean to say that you have to kill?"

In a 1930's-era German city, a series of brutal child murders has gripped citizens in the clutches of terror. Fully aware of a madman preying on children, parents take special care to guard their school-aged kids, exacting a strict curfew and other protective measures around the clock. Yet all their vigilant efforts prove useless when the killer strikes again, this time in broad daylight swiping a young girl off the streets, killing her and dumping her dead body in a city park. Uproarious with outrage, residents clamor for the murderer's capture coercing the police commissioner to approve the most intense level of law enforcement. Within hours multiple patrolmen are on every corner of the city, periodically interrogating residents on a more or less random basis and enhancing infiltration of the city's criminal element in a desperate attempt to corner the villain. Meanwhile the city's organized crime outfit, their operations stagnated by hypervigilant law officers, decide the situation must end; the killer must be caught in order to alleviate the heightened police presence. Employing lines of communication known only to members of the criminal underground and enlisting the aid of homeless street-dwellers, heads of the various racketeering factions throughout the city cooperate to seek out the identity of the murderer and ultimately remove him from the picture.

In what's predominately considered to be his greatest film, renowned German director Fritz Lang presents a masterpiece of a early auditory cinema in this harrowing portrayal of the frenzied atmosphere surrounding a chilling set of serial murders. Loosely based on the real case of serial killer Peter Kurten, the "Vampire of Dussledorf", whose string of murders and sexual assaults in 1929 set the entire country on edge, M is an enchanting, masterful artistic creation, hauntingly engaging with its dark subject matter, social commentary, psychological suspense and brilliant acting by a young Peter Lorre. (DVD M)

The Bright Forever / by Lee Martin

On a summer evening in a small midwestern town, nine-year-old Katie Mackey rides her bike to the library and doesn't come back. Katie being the darling daughter of town magnate Junior Mackey, everything is immediately committed to searching for the missing girl. But with few leads, fewer suspects and only marginal circumstantial evidence, the investigation soon grows cold, unable to net even the smallest details as the days go by. Yet while the authorities know very little, certain key individuals know all too much about the disappearance.

The real story is steadily revealed by a handful of loosely connected individuals, each offering their collective input, regrets, suspicions and secrets about the night in question. Gilley is Katie's sensitive older brother, so filled with remorse over his inability to keep his sister safe that he's willing to do anything (well, almost anything) to see things righted. Then there's Henry Dees. Welcomed into the Mackey home as Katie's tutor, Mister Dees may be a respected high school math teacher, but he's also a bit of a creepy loner whose voyeuristic habits haven't been so discrete as to go unnoticed. Lonely simpleton Claire Mains may not be a suspect, but her own suspicions about her n'er do-well husband Raymond R. can't be quelled, sentiments strongly echoed by more than a few others. Ultimately the fact that Raymond R. looks the part is enough to convince an indignant Junior Mackey who, ignoring all due process of law, subsequently takes justice into his own hands.

Readers will enjoy how Martin, author of River of Heaven, combines an omniscient narrative with multiple first-person perspectives, able to reveal the most intimate of intimate details about the story and surrounding context. The characters aren't so appealing though. Dees, with whom the most confidences are exchanged, is an irritatingly sensitive guy with little to do but mope about his lot as an outcast amid the splendor of the Mackeys, their charming home and vibrant children. Gilley is totally one-dimensional as the all-american older brother, never quite real enough to express anything but sentimental fondness for the world around him. And while the two villains, Raymond R and Junior Mackey, bring welcomed attitude and action, they do so in predictably flagrant fashion providing the story with little depth or substance. (FIC MARTIN)

In The Woods / by Tana French

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"Picture a summer stolen whole from some coming-of-age film set in small-town 1950's . . ." (p. 1)

Rob Ryan has a past to fit his profession. 20 years ago, in a harrowing event marking him for life, the homicide detective was witness to two child murders in a wood near his boyhood home. Now another case of uncanny resemblance has found its way to Ryan and partner Cassie Maddox. The victim, Katie Devlin, was a 12-year-old aspiring ballet dancer, already accepted to the Royal Academy, when she went missing one day in August. The impending search would end soon, however; her body discovered at an archaeological site only days following the disappearance. It's with eerie irony that Ryan must confront these circumstances as he and Cassie erect an investigation; himself having found remnants of the two children—Peter and Jaime—in the exact same location (more or less) only decades before.

Mirroring the now cold case from his past, Ryan’s current assignment is anything but open-shut, even as a more-than-normal collection of leads and motives intersect in the murky, beneath-the-surface exploration into Katie’s world. There’s her family for one, a visibly normal but quirky set with more than their share of ambiguities. For while its apparent that her loving--if tenacious--father cared deeply for his daughter, unselfishly supporting Katie's dancing ambitions alongside his reserved wife, it's also evident that various confidentialities are concealed behind both parents' curious demeanor. Then there's the sisters--the older Rosalind and Katie's twin, Jessica; their very manner and appearance bespeaking of deeper issues within the home. Other factors play into the drama. Not least among them is the archaeological dig itself and the political uproar aroused over the new expressway set to bypass it (tax dollars footing the bill).

In the Woods won the 2008 Edgar Award for best mystery novel but the book recommends itself. A psychological thriller of the old school, it will gratify those enjoying suspense as much as the more sinewy world of crime and detective fiction. Genreflecting aside, the writing is the real hook, a willowy style of revelation branded with a practiced air of authenticity. Irish author French must've done quite a bit of her own 'digging around' in researching for this exquisitely articulated work.