The Taking

 

By Dean Koontz

Climate change on a grand scale! Huge water spouts pumping water out of the oceans and sending back down over all the lands of the world in the form of torrential rains. But this is only the beginning of everything being turned upside down. It's a tale of a massive scale of death and destruction, but told from the prospective of a small resort town in America. 

The first intimation of the changes to come, beside a strangely scented, glowing downpour, was when Molly saw a pack of coyotes taking shelter under the overhang of her house. She looked out at them and sensed they meant her no harm and so she stepped out to stand among them. They simply ran off into the woods. Her spouse, Neil, woke up after having a terrible nightmare, unusual for him. He wasn't one to give in to irrationality. Together, Molly and Neil turned on the TV to discover the experiences they were having were occurring everywhere and that communications were becoming iffy. A feeling of doom and menace permeated the atmosphere and stories of monsters and murder began to filter through the static that was destroying the airwaves. 

Neil felt that their home was not a safe place for them to stay. So they packed up their car and headed into the nearest town, the small resort town of Black Lake. First they stopped at the home of their friend, Harry, which turned out not to be a good idea when they discovered Harry had killed himself and his reanimated corpse came after them. 

After fleeing from zombie Harry, they continued on to Black Lake but things were just as crazy there. The locals are in various stages of succumbing to whatever doom has fallen upon the world and the only allies Molly and Neil are able to find are the neighborhood dogs who have organized themselves into a troop to protect the local kids. Molly and Neil try to talk the adults into making a stand against the unknown menace but soon realize they are on their own. That's when they set off into town with the dogs to located and secure any children in the town. Doing so, they face the otherworldly horrors who will use all their tricks and attacks to thwart them in their quest, including sending Molly's criminally insane father to attack her.  

This was an OK read. Molly and Neil try to fight the horrors but mostly fail, barely escaping in time. The local people, except a very few, quickly fall under the malign influence and Molly and Neil are left alone to stand against the attackers. The ending was kind of lame, the attack just stops and the menace goes away, leaving everything in shambles and with a few people left alive to pick up the pieces. 

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.

The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw

 

By Patrick F. McManus

A short story collection, the title comes from one of his most famous stories of himself as a child, probably mostly not true, but very funny nonetheless. 

McManus's best stories are based (loosely, I am guessing) on his childhood. This collection also features stories based on his adult life as a writer and outdoorsman and they are amusing, to be sure, but not as outrageous and silly as stories he tells about his boyhood days of camping and fishing and having grand adventures. 

I enjoyed the stories but this collection is short on the kid-life stories which are the ones I enjoy the most of his stories.

Here is a review by Publishers Weekly.

Housekeeping

 

By Marilynne Robinson

The scene: a small rural railroad town. A terrible train crash occurs near the town that kills several people, including the spouse of Sylvia, leaving her to raise her three daughters alone. One daughter, Helen, leaves town and has two daughters of her own, Ruth and Lucille. She returns to her home town and to her mother, Sylvia, after her husband abandons her. Leaving the girls with her mother, she kills herself. 

Sylvia is an old lady and not the most affectionate of grandmothers. She drops dead and her dead husband's two elderly sisters move into the grandmother's house to take care of Ruth and Lucille. But they are spinsters and not used to children and so they send for Sylvia's nearest daughter, Sylvie. 

Sylvie is a vagrant. She never settles for long in one place and her preferred mode of transportation is to simply hop on a freight train. She's a bum, in other words. Probably not the best person to be in charge of two young children. Once she moves back into her childhood home, she sort of takes care of the two girls. But meals are irregular and the kids are pretty much in charge of themselves. It's obvious that Sylvie is disconnected from reality in a way that is a danger to the children. Ruth accepts this strange neglectful parenting but Lucille, who has her feet more firmly planted on the ground than her older sister, wants out. She eventually moves in with one of her teachers, leaving Ruth to the erratic attentions of their Aunt Sylvie. Over time Sylvie draws Ruth into her vagrant lifestyle and they leave town together to avoid Ruth being taken away for her own good. 

I didn't like this book. My sympathies were totally with Lucille and I found Sylvie creepy and selfish. The same with Helen who kills herself rather than try to raise her two daughters on her own. About the only thing I will remember about this book was how much I didn't like it. 

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.

Never Eat Your Heart Out

 

By Judith Moore

Moore reminisces about her childhood and adulthood and her marriage and about food. The first two thirds of the book were very interesting but after her marriage ends, the rest of it was pretty boring.  

Here is a review by Publishers Weekly. 

Beautiful People

 

By Wendy Holden

Belle Murphy is only 25, blonde, wealthy and beautiful. But it's been a year since she had a hit movie, and Hollywood considers her a has-been. As does her current lover, Christian, your typical Hollywood hunk. But since he doesn't really love Belle, or anyone other than himself, it isn't a struggle for him to walk away and find some other woman to help him on his way to becoming a star.

Belle has fallen so low, given her wild ways and drunken displays, that in order to rehabilitate her image, she has adopted an orphan baby from Africa and has moved to England to star in a Shakespeare play, a role she got mainly for her star power and her willingness to perform nude. She meets an aspiring actor who quickly latches on to her, Niall. Niall is all about the classics and about the working class struggle and yet he finds himself quite enamored of Belle and her wild ways. 

Which is bad news for his girl friend, fellow actor Darcy Prince. Darcy has been with Niall for quite some time and both have been failing to achieve the success they both desire. But Darcy has suddenly been offered a starring role in a new science fiction epic and is off first to Hollywood and then to Italy to prepare for the role, with all that entails: dieting, exercising, publicity shoots, product endorsements and the usual folderol. While in Hollywood, she notices Christian and instantly falls for him. And he knows she has landed a big role and he is not adverse to wooing someone who is set to become the next big thing. Then he also gets a part in the new epic and will be in Italy with his his new girlfriend, Darcy. 

Things become even more complicated when Belle also lands a co-starring role in the movie and she too is going to be in Italy. Indeed, she and Darcy are staying at the same villa. Although neither of them know that they are both involved with Christian who "reconnected" with Belle on the set while he was wearing an alien costume that disguised his face. 

And then there is Emma. Who ends tangled up in this drama simply because she is a nanny and is taking care of Belle's adopted orphan. Emma is probably the only regular person in the bunch, the only one who is just doing her job and who actually loves doing her job, taking care of children.

This was a fun and fast read and I liked it a lot. It's pretty silly and but it is fun and lively and I was well pleased with it. 

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.

Bookends

 

By Jane Green

Friends from college and ten years later, still friends. Except for one: lovely Portia who turned out to be lovelier on the outside than on the inside. After graduation, the gang lost contact with Portia. The other members of the gang are still very close and see each other virtually every day. Catherine and Si are single. Si is still looking for Mr. Right but Catherine pretty much gave up after a sad affair with a married man. Josh got married to newcomer Lucy and his wife is the now the fourth and much loved member of the gang. Portia is just an afterthought. Until a friend of Si's mention her. Turns out Portia is doing very well for herself and is the power behind a popular TV show. Which the three original gang members, thinking back on it, now realize is based on them! Which then leads them to considering getting back in touch with Portia. Meanwhile Catherine and Lucy have decided to open a bookstore together, with Catherine doing the bookselling and Lucy doing the snacks and beverages. And this is about when Portia comes back into their lives and brings up old feelings and old questions and new drama when it appears she is up to her old tricks.

This was an interesting story, although the Portia drama doesn't amount to much. Almost everyone gets their happy ending, even the villain, Portia. Except for poor Si, who gets diagnosed with a serious illness. The revelation of his illness to Josh and Lucy is the final chapter of the book so maybe the author felt she needed the added drama. I think the story would have been fine without that part though. 

Here is a review by Publishers Weekly.