STAY CLOSE by Harlan Coben

This is an exciting whodunnit by a master of the genre. Harlan Coben has over twenty mysteries to his credit and the last four or five made it to the top of the NY TIMES best-seller list. Our detective Broome is on a case that dates back seventeen years. Each year a man disappears; nobody hears from him again and no bodies are found. As Broome works through the evidence, he begins to suspect the same person has something to do with all the disappearances. His partner is also his ex-wife for whom he still has romantic feelings, though she is now happily married and has children. Mixed up in the fast-paced book are dancers from a seedy Gentleman's Club, Mardi Gras, a man in prison who may be there unjustly, and from the same club a barmaid who is dying with cancer. No spoilers here, but if you want to read a good book with plenty of twists and turns to keep you turning the pages, this is it. I'm ashamed to say this is the first I'd heard of Coben. I'll be attacking his list vigorously now that I've found him. I give this STAY CLOSE four bright stars.

Love it or Hate it

THE COLDEST NIGHT by Robert Olmstead is like no other book I've ever read. There is no other about which I can say, "This reminds me...."
I love the style of writing. I hate the subject matter yet I couldn't stop reading.
I did stop twice but just long enough to let the tears subside so I could get back to the matter at hand.
Most of the book is about the battle of the Chosin Reservoir, the decisive battle of the Korean War. Never have I read such a vivid battle scene; I don't know if I could survive another. It bolstered my hate of war and what it does to the young people who give their all for the good of the machine. It highlights the friendships bonded in war.
Before Henry went to Korea, he had a passionate love affair with a girl, Mercy, from the good side of the tracks. Her family disapproved and sent Henry running for his life. He left his mother, whom he loved dearly. He knew nothing of his father. He was seventeen years old. Way too young to face the horrors of war.
He came home a year later scarred in body and spirit and unable to settle down. I kept wanting him to see Mercy again.
I'll give nothing away.
This book will wring you dry.

COMFORT by Ann Hood

Anyone who has read Ann Hood's works knows she's excellent at her trade.
COMFORT is not her usual offering, but it's a must read, especially for anyone who has lost a child.
Grief following the death of a child is said to be the ultimate grief and Hood testifies to that in this precious book.
In 2002, her five-year-old daughter contracted a virulent strain of strep and within 48 hours, little Grace died. For a long time Hood couldn't write and understandably so.
At someone's suggestion she started knitting and joined a knitting group. The mindlessness involved when knitting seemed to comfort her.
Her first work after the horror was a novel THE KNITTING CIRCLE in which a group of women come together to knit and they each reveal their grief. (Next on my to-read list.)
It was followed by this memoir, subtitled A Journey Through Grief.
Even if it weren't well written (which it is), I'd still have to give it five stars if only for the courage it took to write. By writing COMFORT, Hood had to pick at the places that were healing, make them raw again, and allow us to watch her bleed.
When her son expressed the need of wanting the family to be happy again, the family made a huge decision which you'll find in this story.
Nobody will forget Grace, least of all her mother, but, hopefully the awful pain has eased.