Nevermore: Geiger, Ten Steps to Nanette, Cross Country, Monsoon Mansion

 

Nevermore August 16, 2022

Reported by Garry

Geiger by Gustaf Skördeman is a thriller all the way according to our reader. Agneta is a happily married Swedish grandmother who answers the phone and hears the word “Geiger”. Setting down the phone, she retrieves a silenced pistol from her drawer, kills her husband, and then vanishes. Sara Nowak is a detective who grew up knowing Agneta’s family and now takes on the investigation, one that will upturn everything she knew about the family and unlock secrets buried for over forty years.  ML

Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby is the intensely funny memoir by the Tasmanian stand-up comic, and it packs a gut-punch. Gadsby is gay, has ADHD, and is on the autism spectrum. Our reader says that this book was absolutely fascinating in that it allowed her to get into Gadsby’s mind and see the way she puts the world together – an experience she has never before had in her many years of dealing with people on the spectrum.  NH

Cross Country by James Patterson is so engrossing it is a “burn the chicken” book according to our reader. The 14^th book in the Alex Cross series by Patterson, this thriller finds Alex investigating the gruesome deaths of an ex-girlfriend and her family in an upscale Washington suburb. Quickly becoming entangled in the brutal Nigerian underworld of D.C., Alex realizes he has to go to Africa to track down the powerful and diabolical “Tiger”, a warlord who employs an army of children to do his bidding. Fast paced and riveting, our reader definitely recommends this book for a thrilling, escapist read.  MS

Monsoon Mansion is a rags-to-riches-to-rags memoir by Cinelle Barnes, who grew up in the Philippines. When she was three, Barnes’ family moved into the Mansion Royale, a sprawling, decadent ten-room home in the Philippines. A few years later, a monsoon devastated large swaths of the country, Barnes’ father’s business collapsed, and he disappeared. Her mother’s lover took the reins of the family and tyranny descended, turning Barnes’ fairy-tale childhood into a nightmare. This tale of survival, told with grace and heart, really grabbed at our reader who praised Barnes’ honesty and extraordinary writing style.  CD

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