Make Me by Lee Child

 

 Published in 2016, I started to read this on New Years day this year, but just now posting the review., months later,  April 24.    With the amazing success of the new Reacher movies on Amazon Prime I have been kicking myself for not keeping all the other editions which I have read and many of which were first edition hard covers.  So  finally I will keep the few that are remaining.  These books have become impossible to find at book sales locally too.  This was a used  one, paperback, 494 pages, it has been on my self to read for  about a year. On page 1, included below, there is a mention of use of drones.  Since the initial publication, in 2015 hardback, I did not think drones were as familiar back then, but maybe that is just me or not recalling correctly.  

 

Page 1  Make Me

 By page 3 we know it is nearly the end of summer and Reacher has just gotten off a train in front of grain elevators.  He is the only passenger to get off in this agricultural bump in the road, Mother's Rest.  When he saw it on a map he thought the name was interesting for a railroad stop and  wondered what had happened  likely long ago to give it this name.  He is intrigued by a worried woman., Michelle Chang,  a former FBI, now a private investigator looking   for  her missing partner. 

. Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, and there’s something about Chang . . . so he teams up with her and starts to ask around. He thinks: How bad can this thing be? But before long he’s plunged into a desperate race through LA, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco, and through the hidden parts of the internet, up against thugs and assassins every step of the way—right back to where he started, in Mother’s Rest, where he must confront the worst nightmare he could imagine.    Walking away would have been easier. But as always, Reacher’s rule is: If you want me to stop, you’re going to have to make me. 

This novel is filled with many Reacherisms, sayings one that I particularly noticed here repeatedly was "Hope for the best,  plan for the worst."

As every other Reacher novel this was a 5 **** read.  At the back of the novel is a short story featuring Reacher and Neagley, "Small Wars." 

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

 "Sold on a Monday was inspired by a photograph in a 1948 newspaper of four children sitting by a sign which read 4 children for sale. "  I read this historical fiction novel in September 2021 but set it aside to post here.  It has been a best seller but I waited to get it at the book sale.    A heart wrenching tale about life back in the Depression era told through  a young rookie reporter Ellis Reed. 

This is from the author's website and succinctly summarizes the story...'The sign is a last resort. It sits on a farmhouse porch in 1931, but could be found anywhere in an era of breadlines, bank runs, and broken dreams. It could have been written by any mother facing impossible choices.  or struggling reporter Ellis Reed, the gut-wrenching scene evokes memories of his family's dark past. He snaps a photograph of the children, not meant for publication. But when it leads to his big break, the consequences are more devastating than he ever imagined.  At the paper, Lillian Palmer is haunted by her role in all that happened. She is far too familiar with the heartbreak of children deemed unwanted. As the bonds of motherhood are tested, she and Ellis must decide how much they are willing to risk to mend a fractured family.   Inspired by an actual newspaper photograph that stunned the nation, Sold on a Monday is a powerful novel of love, redemption, and the unexpected paths that bring us home. "  https://www.kristinamcmorris.com/sold-on-a-monday

This is the original photo that inspired the novel. 
 It was in a Chicago newspaper in August 1948.  

Back cover of novel

This was a tale we  hear about, the times when people were forced to make awful decisions,  We might wonder how could they, yet hunger and  severe need force the situation.  I gave this book about 4 ****  It was haunting and yet a subject recently appearing in other novels.  I wish my now passed on relatives were around to tell me  similar tales, what they experienced growing up without anything. Rough times what would we  who are so accustomed to prosperity do? 

Here are the first 2 pages of chapter 1  actually pages 5 & 6 . Because of the length of time since I read this I cannot comment  more.

 

  

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

 

   I might be one of the last to read Where the Crawdads Sing,     a best seller published in 2018,, 368 pages and then more notes from the author.  I have so many books to read off my shelf from sales that I seldom buy new fiction but this is one I recently purchased.  Being a widow alone so much of the time I really related to this story about Kya, a young girl., abandoned who survives all alone in a North Carolina coastal marsh.  In the prologue the author explains that a marsh is not a swamp.  I  appreciated that because I do know the difference but many wouldn't.  After I read about the author's background I understood why she has introduced the story this way. I  copied the prologue first page below. 

in her letter to readers at the end of the book, author, Delia Owens shares "..we may long to be in a group, but we can find  unbelievable strength deep inside to survive, even thrive, when we are alone." While I do not long to be in a group, and find most big groups tedious, I have a group through my church, but I would like to have companionship, a widow's lament.  So I related to Kya although her circumstances as a young girl are very different.  

Reviews and excerpts abound online about this book, so I will not repost those here.  I did struggle along keeping interested through the middle of the book, but staying with the tale paid off.  It picks up and the story turns and twists.  It is part mystery, part love story, part nature, human nature, part courtroom drama, and above all affirmation that in spite of all, amidst human indifference and sometimes human cruelty, life goes on.   In the author's conversation with the readers at the end of the book she explains that "isolation affects human behavior."  "Instinctual behaviors born from isolation allow Kya to survive and protect herself.  But more....confidence she gains from self reliance permits her to soar with personal achievements beyond what she could imagine...."  Although fiction, but based on nature, a10 year old abandoned girl survives showing us  "what can we be when we have to be."  

In brief, they live in the marsh, poor family, the father is abusive and the mother leaves, abandoning the children, escaping...the siblings leave one by one and this leaves Kya with the father who stays until she is 10 and then leaves as well.  The only ones who truly show her kindness and care are old  Jumpin' and his wife Mabel, who are  blacks that  run an old bait shop and live rough lives as well. Mabel provides clothes for her but Kya determines to trade them smoked fish.   Tate is a local boy who teaches her to read but he ultimately leaves for college and Kya is alone again.  Ultimately she takes up with Chase Andrews, the young man about town and there the twist begins.  When Chase is found murdered and the sheriff is stumped but determined to find the killer  "the Marsh Girl" becomes the suspect and finally they arrest Kya.  The murder trial is suspenseful.  Meantime one brother, Jodie has returned for periodic visits, he has been in the Army and is now stationed at Ft Benning, GA.  Tghe mystery continues and not to spoil it but Kya triumphs , found not guilty and returns to her marsh.  But this time Tate soon follows, he is a biologist and employed by the University lab.  Kya becomes a published author about the marsh and is able to finally have electricity and running water  and renovate her shack.  She keeps the old woodstove though, just in case Ma returns.  Meantime, Ma, has passed away and Jodie  has  to share that news with her.  Ultimately Tate stays with Kya until the end.  

I give this 4 1/2 stars ****   the half because I did struggle to stay with the story as I mentioned.