The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens

Front Cover

Read this back in June,  the fourth novel by Eskens,  whom I met in April, see my previous reviews.  I reviewed this for Amazon and now will post here. It is another outstanding mystery, thriller novel.  The author has a knack for drawing the reader in and along and although I have enjoyed the 3 previous books, I agree that he keeps improving with each.  I have preordered his next one to be released in November, on my birthday and cannot wait.  This novel published in 2017 has 281 pages.  

Here is my review from Amazon, "  Another knock out thriller, mystery. I read this in June and just as with each one of Esken's novels, could not put it down. To me , it was helpful to have read his three previous novels for background in the formation of this story and how and why Max Rupert, the main character, does what he does. I was drawn along trying to second guess would Max or wouldn't he? I am not going to reveal what happens, do not want to be a spoiler. I enjoyed the reflection, page 8, of his" childhood notions of right and wrong, impressions as thin as tissue, but layered so thick in my memory that they have become walls of stone." This descriptive wording demonstrates what can stay with us through our lives despite our experiences and reflects the author's descriptive writing.style. Page 167 has another of my favorite passages, " we live in a world of gray. We are the ones in charge of the balancing. We are the reckoners." I think Eskens may have created that term, "reckoners", one unfamiliar to me before I read this mystery. And finally the consideration between justice and vengeance on pages 183-185. I am awaiting the release of Esken's 5th book soon. I became a fan of on Allen Eskens, after meeting him at our library event in La Crescent in April."  

Back cover

Not often do I eagerly await the next bpok, but Mr. Eskens told us he will not be writing quickly, a book a year might be all, this tells me he is not going to just crank out words. 

Others have commented that they are just as eager for the 5th book which will be different, as Mr Eskens revealed at his visit with us, "Max will be sitting and  contemplating.." Another reviewer addressed some negative comment about this book being written in first person, which did not bother me at all.  I agree with this review"There is one issue I want to address, however. An early review criticizes this book for being written in the first person. This book is all about Max Rupert and reveals details of his life growing up and the impact of losing his wife. It deals with his personal struggles and the questions he faces on a fateful night. This book needed to be written in the first person and is more impactful as a result."
 Another reviewer commented, "While the character of Max Rupert became increasingly important in Eskens's previous three works, the study of this police detective, clearly from this work ethical, moral, and dedicated, holds the reader grippingly throughout its relatively short span. The narrative is disturbing because quickly the reader comes to understand the deep-seated conflict Rupert faces - yes, there is a right way and a wrong way to do go about police business. And, yes, we've seen the experienced police operative driven to work off-the-books by the circumstances of the political bureaucracy that big-city police work has become. But Rupert's motivations lie deeper, more personal. And the best among us, I suspect, might quickly succumb to the dark sides of our souls given the stakes Rupert faces."

I believe it is the sign of a good read to generate so much discussion and thought.  Here is the last page, of what I consider  a 5 ***** novel   Read this novel if you like mysteries, but read the  previous first to better comprehend this character, Max. 

Still Life by Louise Penny

Finished this book, 312 pages  in a few nights as I battle off a coughing hacking cold that descended upon me.  An excellent read, published in 2005, proving yet again that there are many wonderful books, mysteries , not necessarily just current best sellers.  I am grateful to my friend who found it and sent it to me.  I will be passing it along now to another friend.  So many of the  great characters continue with Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Detective Beauvoir of the Surete du Quebec solving a murder back in the fictional village of Three Pines, outside of Montreal. The suspense and writing are every bit as intriguing as the first Louise Penny I read, in 2017,"The Brutal Feeling" and posted my review here finally January, 2018.  Louise Penny knows how to keep the mystery a secret up until the end as with the other book, I never correctly guessed  "who done it?" until she reveals it  near the end of the book, page 291 and with an almost dire outcome avoided by the detectives.  

It was a return to the familiar with many of the same characters in Three Pines, Gabri, Olivier, Ruth the eccentric,  Myrna, Clara and Peter and with new additions, Ben, Yolande, Timmer and  Nicole, a detective trainee whom Armande sends packing. This book I learned that Myrna is a black woman, something I had not gotten reading the other.  Fortunately the book stands on its own and one need not read any of these in sequence or from the beginning.   

Back cover

This tale focuses on the death of Jane Neal, an elderly village lady, at first it is assumed to be accidental but quickly turns to murder by bow and arrow, yet.  Page 1 begins"  Miss Jane Neal met her maker in the early morning mist of Thanksgiving Sunday.  It was pretty much a surprise all round.  Miss Neal's was not a natural death, unless you're of the belief everything happens as its supposed to.  If so, for her seventy six years Jane Neal had been walking toward this final moment when death met her in the brilliant maple woods on the verge of the village of Three Pines.  She'd fallen spread-eagled, as though making angels in the bright and brittle leaves."    Descriptive writing, and the scene is set.  

Pg 20, Clara and Ben are talking,  "Oscar Wilde said that conscience and cowardice are the same thing.  What stops us from doing horrible things isn't our conscience but the fear of getting caught."  

Pg 24, "Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table," Jane said almost under her breath.  

Looking back now after finishing this I can see just how the author  draws the reader in, with clues that do not seem more than part of the conversation.  I did not get this until I began writing this.review, yet they wqere quotes I had identified as ones I would include here.  

Pg. 47 Gamache is reflecting, , "And the pall of grief that settled on this little community was worn with dignity and sadness and a certain familiarity.  This village was old and you don't get to be old without knowing grief.  And loss.."  

Pg. 140, Myrna is discussing choices, faults, quoting Shakespeare , "The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings.....  "The vast majority of troubled people don't get it, the fault is here but so is the solution.  That's the grace." 

Pg. 279, Gamache is marveling "at the people who chose to live in this area.  Was Margaret Atwood a garbage collector perhaps?.......No one was who they seemed.  Everyone was more And one person in this room was very much more."  

Pg 303, "This is what comes of trust and friendship, loyalty and love, thought Peter.  You get screwed.  Betrayed.  You get wounded so deeply you can barely breathe and sometimes it kills you.  ......."

A 5 ***** read thoroughly enjoyed and savored it.   

Somebody Else's Music by Jane Haddam

A real murder mystery, a bit on the bloody side but since I could not figure out "who dunnit" I read right  along.  Published in 2003, 483 pages, it was a bargain, a paperback, at the book sale and being unfamiliar with Jane Haddam I  bought it.  It was a fast read, and  the setting  between New York and a northwestern very small town in Pennsylvania, where  there is a high school reunion  gathering is planned intrigued me.  I plan to share this with a friend in PA who likes mysteries.   Near the end the author weaves her own name into the story, a surprise.  I am not certain whether this author  has a chip on her shoulder about her own high school experiences or whether she dwelled on the fantasy of 'what if's' excessively.  In the introduction she states "This is the longest book I have ever written....."  Several characters weave around but the focus is Liz Toliver  who is a professor at Columbia, a widow, mother of two sons, successful writer, who has overcome life tragedies,  moved on and engaged to  Jimmy Card, a rock star heart throb.  She has adopted and provided for Maris Coleman, who was with her in school but who is a drunken, vituperative person. and someone who might be on the streets were it not for Liz's generosity even to providing a semblance of employment.  Liz was  the  ugly duckling in high school, and was seriously tormented by others or bullied in today's  lingo.  Emma, Belinda, Nancy, Chris, and Peggy are other former classmates who  all remained in their small town and who are astir about Liz's arrival.  

Gregor Demarkian is a famous retired detective living in Philadelphia who is called in by Jimmy to determine who is  feeding trash about Liz to the  Enquirer publication.  Apparently the author has used him in another mystery as the title  shows "A Gregor Demarkian Mystery." The action escalates as they all arrive in  Hollman, PA  where Liz's aging mother needs care and a long  ago unsolved murder raises many questions.  I thought this was worth reading as a mystery.  Some of the writing borders between sarcasm and  comedy and is  nicely written.

  Pg 79 where the restaurant menus are  described as "Banana Republic catalogue of restaurant menus, every offering had a story and every story had a wry, whimsical, pixie-sophisticated tone to it."  

Pg. 323 " Not all small towns are alike.  Some are small because they are kept that way, deliberately by  residents whose lives are really in a city not too far away, by people who know very well that a modern and efficient police force is indispensable even if it seems not to be on a day-to-day basis.  Other small towns are really small towns.  They exist naturally.  The people in those live in a bubble that allows them to think that they are immune from the disease of violence that infects every other place and has infected even small towns from the beginning of time."   

Page 379...".the point of the story is that  nobody gets to be successful at anything without something driving them and hat for a lot of us, it was being what I was at this place thirty years ago.  There's an awful lot of people out there who are still playing the In Crowd...." 

Page 381  has a clever line  working the title of the mystery into a summary of life.  

Over all I give this **** 

Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante

I am catching up after our snowbird expedition to the south, so although these posts appear in 2013, I  read "Turn of Mind in December, then lent it to a friend who is caretaker for he spouse in the mid stages of dementia.  This Debut novel published in 2011 by Grove press is only 305 pages, much in dialogue form.  It was a NY Times Bestseller and received several best book of the year awards including the Kirkus Reviews and the Washington Post. 
It is a thriller and one I read in a couple spurts because it intrigued me and sustained a feeling of  what's going to happen  now, always good when reading  a mystery.  I just had to keep reading and yes the shocking revelation  is a surprise coupled with wondering "how could that be and yet, perhaps. The turmoil of dementia is portrayed with some lyrical writing in parts. 
 
 Quoting another review by Mark Athitakis in AARP Magazine where I learned of this book, "..What lingers in the reader's mind is not so much the resolution of the plot  as the resilience of Jennifer's character.   Alzheimer's patients reshape those around  them in ways that transcend anguish and frustration.  ...the best parts..reveal, the disease opens us to the very things that make us human."    And another review by Jose Bernard,  "...an incisive humane exploration of how we can rail against our need for close relationships with others, feeling that they  undermine our independence, even as we keep going back for more..." 

Back cover

This is the story of Jennifer, a former surgeon;  her care taker Magdalena; Fiona, her daughter and Mark,her son and the murder of Amanda, neighbor and Jennifer's best friend. The family dynamics are not that of endearing siblings but life like, a family  at odds, culmination of years at odds.  The tale begins with Jennifer flashing in and out of lucidity.  Ultimately Jennifer must be institutionalized something she protests while the family  realizes keeping her in her own home is not an option. What's with the children, which one is looking out for their mother and which one just wants  the money, the leavings?  As Jennifer's dementia increases which sibling will prevail? What can Amanda do to help?

Pg. 8 Jennifer's  thoughts..."The half state.  Life in the shadows.  As the neurofibrillary tangles proliferate, as the neuritic plaques harden, as synapses cease to fire and my mind rots out, I remain aware.  An unanesthetized patient."    Yikes, her brilliant mind grasps,  resents yet realizes what is happening to her as deterioration accelerates.

Pg. 9 More of Jennifer's thoughts on a meeting of the Alzheimer;'s support group at the Methodist church ....."A motley crew, perhaps half a dozen of us, our minds in varying states of undress."

Pg.  68  Amanda talks to Jennifer...."episodes of aggression are getting worse. I haven't seen one yet.  ....I know better than to think I've got some secret power, I've read enough about this disease to know you can't predict the future by the past."

Pg.95 Jennifer wanders and wonders..."The room is full of faces I recognize, and if I don't love them, at least I know their names, and that is more than enough.  Perhaps this is my revelation?  Perhaps this is heaven?  To wander among a multitude and have a name for each."
  .... 
pg 203   Detective Lutton, "People think it's just forgetting your keys, ..or the words for things.  But there are personality changes.  The mood swings.  The hostility and even violence.  Even from the gentlest person in the world.    You love the person you love.  And you are left with the shell."

 I cannot reveal  too  much  or it would spoil the mystery, but I recommend this as a good mystery read.  I rate it 4 stars ****,  clearly it is not for everyone.