Title: The Fifth Servant
Author: Kenneth Wishnia
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition
Publication Date: February 8, 2011
Paperback: 416 pages
ISBN: 978-0061725388
Genre: Historical Fiction

From the Publisher:

In 1592, Prague is a relatively safe refuge for Jews who live within the gated walls of its ghetto. But the peace is threatened when a young Christian girl is found with her throat slashed in a Jewish shop on the eve of Passover. Charged with blood libel, the shopkeeper and his family are arrested, and all that stands in the way of a rabid Christian mob is a clever Talmudic scholar, newly arrived from Poland, named Benyamin Ben-Akiva. Granted just three days to bring the true killer to justice—hampered by rabbinic law, with no allies or connections, and only his wits, knowledge, and faith to guide him—Benyamin sets off on a desperate search for answers. Following a twisting trail from the streets to the shul, from the forbidden back rooms of a ghetto brothel to the emperor Rudolf II’s lavish palace, he will dare the impossible—and commit the unthinkable—to save the Jews of Prague . . . and himself.

My Review:

I must confess what first intrigued me about The Fifth Servant by Kenneth Wishnia was the setting.  I adore history and to this day I still have relatives living in Prague, but I knew little about the events that occurred in and around 1592 in Prague.  Wishnia has brilliantly crafted a multilayered historical and religious mystery, which occurs in the late 16th Century.  Wishnia gives his book further depth my expounding on the religious and historical events, thoughts and beliefs of the times.  While The Fifth Servant is indeed a murder mystery, Wishnia takes his book up a few notches to add in philosophical and theological debate.  This is not a light hearted book, rather it is a deeply complex novel with several prevailing threads seamlessly interwoven by Wishnia to create an intelligent and interesting historical fiction mystery.  There are a lot of characters and yet Wishnia manages to keep them all well organised and does not make it too difficult to follow.  As for using Czech, German, and Yiddish terms throughout the book, Wishnia offers up a glossary in the back for help with translating the foreign words.  I found the threads of several different narratives being woven into one was quite solid and proved to be enthralling.  Finally it is with exceptionally beautiful and lyrical prose that Wishnia brings his book to life.  While I enjoyed The Fifth Servant I must mention it is a deep novel, one must take time reading this to obtain the full effect, not just to follow the mystery, but rather the underlying currents.  It is my belief this book would best be read as a discussion group pick, as there are so very many important issues to be debated and discussed.  On a whole I would recommend The Fifth Servant to any reader who enjoys an intriguing mystery intertwined in a historical fiction book.

About the Author:

Kenneth Wishnia has a Ph.D. in comparative literature. His crime fiction has been nominated for the Edgar and Anthony awards. He teaches composition, literature, and creative writing at Suffolk Community College on Long Island, where he lives with his wife and children.

To learn more about Kenneth Wishnia please visit his website.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of The Fifth Servant by Kenneth Wishnia from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Title: The Devil’s Star: A Harry Hole Novel
Author: Jo Nesbø
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition
Publication Date: February 1, 2011
Paperback: 464 pages
ISBN: 78-0061133985
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

From the Publisher:

In the heat of a sweltering Oslo summer, a young woman is found murdered in her flat—with one of her fingers cut off and a tiny red star-shaped diamond placed under her eyelid. An off-the-rails alcoholic barely holding on to his job, Detective Harry Hole is assigned the case with Tom Waaler, a hated colleague whom Harry believes is responsible for the murder of his partner. When another woman is reported missing five days later, and her severed finger turns up adorned with a red star-shaped diamond ring, Harry fears a serial killer is at work. But Hole’s determination to capture a fiend and to expose Waaler’s crimes is leading him into shadowy places where both investigations merge in unexpected ways, forcing him to make difficult decisions about a future he may not live to see.

My Review:

It is with great delight that I am able to review The Devil’s Star by Jo Nesbø for a tour, as I am a huge fan of Nesbø’s works. I believe The Devil’s Star is the third in the Detective Harry Hole series to be published in the Untied States, the fifth in the series and while they do not need to be read in order, I do think once one has read a book by Jo Nesbø one will want to read them all. Only one other Scandinavian writer beats out Jo Nesbø for crafting together clever plots, dark, tortured protagonists, and exceptional prose and that writer would be Henning Mankell. I shall stop there as I could ramble on for an exceedingly long time praising the two authors for each has their own style. Sweden has Mankell and Norway has Nesbø. Let me simply state that The Devil’s Star is a exceptional book that hooks the reader in straightaway and does not let go. Oslo has a serial killer and in my opinion is one of the best yet. Nesbø’s protagonist, Detective Henry Hole, is as deeply troubled as ever, if not more so in this book and to add insult to a man down so very low, he is paired up with Detective Waaler. For those who are familiar with the series no explanation is necessary, for those not, I shall not spoil the reason for this pairing and the complications for all shall be revealed in the book. Nesbø has once again crafted a masterfully clever suspense novel that is dark, twisted, intelligent, and one exceedingly tough puzzle to solve. I devoured The Devil’s Star in one sitting and realise I am most likely rambling as I write this review, but the book truly is just that good. I would without hesitation recommend The Devil’s Star to anyone who enjoys suspenseful thrillers. I would also like to recommend Jo Nesbø’s previous two novels, The Redbreast and Nemesis, two of his books I am certain have been translated from Norwegian to English and are not to be missed.

About the Author:

A musician, songwriter, and economist, Jo Nesbo is also one of Europe’s most acclaimed crime writers. Nesbo is the winner of the Glass Key Award, northern Europe’s most prestigious crime-fiction prize, for his first novel featuring Police Detective Harry Hole. The author of The Redbreast and Nemesis, he lives in Oslo.

To learn more about Jo Nesbø please visit his website or like him on Facebook.

Listen to the author discuss his books (I promise it is in English).

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of The Devil’s Star by Jo Nesbø from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

Title: Stay With Me
Author: Sandra Rodriguez Barron
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: November 30, 2010
Paperback: 384 pages
ISBN: 978-0061650628
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

In 1979, five toddlers were found alone in a luxury boat tied to a dock in Puerto Rico after a devastating hurricane. No one knew who they were or where they came from. Raised by different families, they remained connected by a special bond—always considering themselves siblings, despite their unknown blood relations.

Now adults, Taina, Holly, Adrian, and Raymond have been summoned by the fifth, David, to an island off the coast of Connecticut and the family home of David’s ex-girlfriend, Julia. But along with the joy of reuniting comes the exposure of raw places, jealousy, and childhood sorrows. Having been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer—and experiencing flashbacks to the time before the hurricane—David believes that healing his relationship with Julia and discovering his origins will strengthen his ability to endure and survive. David pushes the people he loves the most to their emotional breaking points in order to uncover the truth about the mystery that both unites and divides them.

Intensely gripping and lyrically written, Stay with Me is a magnificent blend of romance, suspense, atmosphere, and intrigue that brilliantly explores the true meaning of family and the remarkable ways a personal history can paint a future.

My Review:

Family dynamics, drama, life challenges and the mystery of why these adults were left abandoned as toddlers on a ship in Puerto Rico are the main themes in Stay With Me by Sandra Rodriguez Barron.  The reader is swiftly drawn into the lives of David, Taina, Holly, Adrian, and Raymond who were found together abandoned as mere toddlers, raised by separate families and yet consider themselves family.  When tragedy strikes David, he begins having flashbacks and the reader is further drawn into the drama and intrigue around the lives of these five people.   Barron uses beautiful, flowing prose, vivid imagery, and detailed and realistic characters to draw the reader into her multi-facetted book of family, whether blood-related or not, and the struggles each of the five have endured since their abandonment.  Stay With Me is a beautiful story of love, mystery, family and interpersonal dynamics.   The family reunion is wonderful, bittersweet, and at times quite filled with drama, memories, and fairly well executed.   I truly enjoyed reading Stay With Me wanting to know what would be unearthed next, the stories and lives of David, Taina, Holly, Adrian and Raymond will stay with the reader long after the book has ended.  I highly recommend Stay With Me to my readers.

About the Author:

Sandra Rodriguez Barron is the author of The Heiress of Water, winner of the International Latino Book Award for debut fiction. The recipient of a Bread Loaf Fellowship and a National Association of Latino Arts and Culture Grant, she was born in Puerto Rico, lived in the Dominican Republic and El Salvador, and now lives with her family in Connecticut.

To learn more about Sandra Rodriguez Barron please visit her website.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of Stay With Me by Sandra Rodriguez Barron from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.