Well, it looks like I'm going to come up just shy of my 2017 goal to read 90 books, but I'm going to come mighty close! Here's what's been keeping me occupied these last few weeks.
Artemis, by Andy Weir. Okay, this was a book that I was really looking forward to this year. Andy Weir, if you'll remember, was the bestselling author of the debut smash The Martian, which was then made into a very popular movie starring Matt Damon. This, his follow-up, did not disappoint in the slightest. Jazz lives in Artemis, the only city on the moon, working as a porter and making ends meet by doing a little (a lot of) smuggling for the city's elite. Strapped for cash and always on the lookout for opportunities, Jazz pauses only briefly before accepting a top-secret job for one of her clients: put one of her client's competitors out of business. The job is highly dangerous to begin with but becomes deadly in short order, leaving Jazz to alternate between hiding to stay alive and working out a plan to keep her that way. This is definitely not The Martian, part 2, but it keeps with Weir's style of MacGyver in space, plenty of suspense and thrills, fast-paced plotting, vivid characters. Expect in theaters probably in 2020. The audiobook, read by actress Rosario Dawson, is exceptional and I very highly recommend it.
Grave Suspicion, by Aaron Mahnke. Aaron Mahnke is the creator of one of my very favorite podcasts, Lore, and I wanted to check out one of his novels. I got to do so via a free trial at Audible.com. Unfortunately, I think Lore might have spoiled me, as it's very well researched and brilliantly executed. Grave Suspicion is the tale of an extraordinary man, Sam Hawthorne, trying to keep a low profile and pass as ordinary as he leads a nomadic existence traveling from town to town in the midwest in an attempt to keep ahead of someone, or something, who seems to be hunting him. The unfortunate part, for me, is that the novel reads a bit like an early, unfinished draft, lacking the polish and tight storytelling of Lore to which I've become accustomed. Ah well, can't win them all.
The Obsidian Chamber, by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. In preparation for the next installment in the writing team's FBI Special Agent Pendergast series, City of Endless Night, due out next month, I finally caught up with the published titles. Following the deadly confrontation at the end of The Crimson Shore, Pendergast has gone missing and is presumed dead. His ward, Constance Greene, intends to retreat into mourning, but is kidnapped before this can happen. Pendergast's longtime bodyguard, Proctor, is in hot pursuit to rescue Constance, only to be led on a wild goose chase of global proportions. Our heroes are scattered to the four winds, each in his or her own special brand of danger, their outcomes uncertain. Can each find their way home again safely? A slight change of pace for the series, but the story was no less thrilling for it. An excellent addition, and I look forward to the next installment.
The Silent Corner, by Dean Koontz. This is the first novel in Koontz's new series featuring suspended FBI Agent Jane Hawk (the second in the series, The Whispering Room, came out earlier in December and the third, The Crooked Staircase, is slated for release in May 2018). Jane's husband, Nick, had everything to live for, but took his own life, leaving behind only a chilling, brief note reading: "I very much need to be dead." Jane begins to dig for the truth, certain that Nick would never have committed suicide, and what she finds puts her life, and that of her son, in peril. People with no history of depression or suicidal thoughts are taking their lives in record numbers, and Jane's queries instantly make her a target. Driven by righteous rage, Jane pursues the truth, no matter the cost. Classic Koontz, full of paranoia and suspenseful vigilance.
Northern Lights, by Nora Roberts. Published more than a dozen years ago, Northern Lights is a re-read for me, but I'm counting the re-read. This is a favorite of mine, the story of a grieving man running from his past only to stumble headlong into an...unusual situation that, against all odds, becomes home for him. Nate Burke was a Baltimore cop who needed a change of scene after losing his partner. Haunted by guilt, he took a job as far away as he could, in Lunacy, Alaska. But the city cop is just what the Lunatics need, and Nate finds purpose in his work and his life...and love. Character is king in this book, and I loved it all over again.
This makes 86 books for me in 2017, and while I might squeeze in one or two more between now and January 1, I'm not banking on it. In the meantime, wishing all of my fellow readers a Happy and healthy New Year, and I'll see you again in January!
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