Volume 265
Issue 51
12/17/2018
In this month’s roundup of the best-reviewed BookLife titles, we highlight a techo-thriller, a murder mystery, a collection of stories about river guiding in the United States, and a lot more.
★ The Storm over Paris by William Ian Grubman
Synopsis: In Paris in 1942, art dealer Mori Rothstein finds himself in an awkward position when he is tasked with creating an art museum for Hitler.
PW’s Takeaway: Grubman is adept at crafting nail-biting scenes of suspense, building up to a tantalizingly inconclusive ending.
Comparable Title: Iain Pears’s The Raphael Affair
Sample Line: “Mori froze. Impossible. Across the room behind the grand desk stood the most feared man in Paris, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, the head of the Gestapo.”
★ Halfway to Halfway and Back edited by Dick Linford and Bob Volpert
Synopsis: This second assortment of stories from editors Linford and Volpert about river guiding in the U.S. and the people who do it for a living is both lighthearted and serious.
PW’s Takeaway: A raucous and delightful collection. Every story in the book is well worth one—or two—thoughtful reads.
Comparable Title: Kevin Fedarko’s The Emerald Mile
★Arcadia by Alexander Plansky
Synopsis: In this techno-thriller, a tech journalist must investigate the death a colleague.
PW’s Takeaway: Imaginative, pulse-pounding... smooth prose and relatable characters are a plus.”
Comparable Title: Michael Crichton’s Prey
The Best Possible Angle by Lloyd Johnson
Synopsis: Secrets, blackmail, and murder make for a tantalizing trifecta in Johnson’s edgy and entertaining novel.
PW’s Takeaway: The story features complex characters.
A sharp, suspenseful novel.
Comparable Title: Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl
Open Season by Alisa Schindler
Synopsis: A groundskeeper finds a corpse on the home plate of a baseball field belonging to the Fort Jefferson Youth Organization.
PW’s Takeaway: This twisty mystery will catch even veteran whodunit readers off guard.
Comparable Title: Tori Carrington’s Foul Play
