Showing posts with label dementia - fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dementia - fiction. Show all posts

Monday, October 31, 2016

The Paris Librarian by Mark Pryor

The Paris Librarian: A Hugo Marston Novel by Mark Pryor --- 262 pages

Hugo Marston, an ex-FBI profiler, now works in Paris as head of security for the U.S. Embassy. But his job seems pretty flexible, as he always has time to conduct his own investigations on the side. In this sixth book in the series, Hugo discovers an acquaintance, Paul Rogers, the director of the American Library in Paris, dead, in a locked room in the basement of the library. The police and the medical examiner say Rogers died of a heart attack. But Hugo's getting that tingling sensation on the back of his neck that says otherwise.

But then another library employee nearly dies while on duty, his symptoms eerily similar to Rogers'. And Hugo discovers Paul's fiancee dead, an apparent suicide, just a few days later. If anything that tingling sensation is getting stronger and stronger.

As Hugo delves deeper into the lives of the employees at the library he begins to suspect that the roots of this case go further back than anyone else realizes. But to find the proof, Hugo must visit the scene of a decades-old tragedy, putting more than just his life in danger.

Mystery fans will enjoy the twists and turns of Pryor's tale; lovers of Paris will revel in the descriptions of the city and its neighborhoods, cafes and joie de vivre as the plot unfolds to its unexpected conclusion.

Click HERE to read the review in Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review in Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read an interview with Mark Pryor posted on the Bonjour Paris web site..

Sunday, June 15, 2014

My Real Children by Jo Walton

My Real Children by Jo Walton --- 317 pages

This is a hauntingly beautiful novel by an author I just stumbled across when I found her collection of essays, What Makes This Book So Great, on the new books shelf at my local library.

Ursula K. LeGuin invented the term "speculative fiction," and this is exactly the kind of story she meant by it. Walton begins with an old woman in a nursing home. Patricia is suffering from dementia; the notes on her chart often say she is "very confused." But she does remember people and places and events from the past --- only it seems as though she is remembering two different sets of people and places and events. At some point in time she made a choice --- either/or --- and her life and the world around her diverged down separate paths, but she remembers both: living, breathing, real.

Even if you don't read science fiction or fantasy, read this book. It will break your heart and fill you with wonder and pride in the sheer resilience of the human spirit.

Click HERE for a brief biographical entry on Jo Walton.

Click HERE to acess Jo Walton's web site.

Click HERE to access Jo Walton's blog on the Tor Book's web site.