The story centers around "Stumbler" an American plan to orchestrate a regime change in Libya. Or is it the Americans enacting Stumbler? The prime characters: Emmett and Sophie Kohl, John Calhoun, Stan Bertolli, Zora Balasevic, Ali Busiri and Omar Halawi all appear to have something to hide and their own agendas. "Are you saying he was one of ours?" Quite a bit of cross and double cross which makes for a very entertaining book.

Overall this was a very well written and enjoyable book. I liked it because I'm fascinated with the volatility of the market. I was impressed with the plot development from Sophie's naïveté when she first arrives in NYC to her becoming a successful realist and taking charge of her own life and future. I liked her mentor's insightful comment of "don't go all Pollyanna on me". I'm not sure why she thought a high profile job of analyst wouldn't make huge demands on her time and, ultimately, cost her relationship with Will. The other thing that bothered me (and seemed out of place) was why a new hire would risk everything by rifling through co-workers' desk drawers (her boss included). It came across to me as "oh, it's after hours, I think I'll go see what I can find in Ethan and Vasu's desk drawer". It seemed like a more plausible way of snooping could have been developed, perhaps with an employee on the 'inside' feeding her the information she wanted. Every company has its share of 'loose lips' to be exploited.

The ending built to a surprising climax and yet managed to tie up the loose ends. Sophie seemed torn when it came to her loyalty between with Hutch or Ethan. Good to see that in the end she managed to survive the chaos and gain leverage and an upper hand on Ethan and ultimately get what she wanted. Sophie's naiveté seemed to evaporate a bit and be replaced with a healthy dose of reality and skepticism.

Looking at the author's background I always commend people for writing what they know about first hand, and Ms. Hemphill definitely succeeded. I'll look for her next work.

...that this book is being released on the heels of the three captive girls being found recently in Cleveland. This book does a good job of maintaining tension and interest to the very end. Is their one kidnapper or an accomplice? Several handlers involved? How and why were they specifically chosen? I liked the inclusion of a prior kidnapping victim, Reeve, called upon to aid the families and victims recover from their fears and anxieties. Reeve herself is still in the recovery stage. I thought the author was going to take the easy way out by going with the 'obvious' conclusion but keep reading to the end. There are sufficient twists and elements of surprise. Definitely worth the time. I found this to be one I couldn't put down for very long.

This wasn't at all my normal reading material but that's what I enjoy most about Book Browse. It affords me the opportunity to get out of my normal genres (mysteries and spies) and try something totally uncharacteristic and new to me. This book qualified. I enjoyed it because it didn't have an abundance of characters to keep track of and really did a nice job of character development and the girls learning to be accepting of one another. When you have two 'would-be' winners of a house giveaway you know there's going to be fireworks. One Janine Brown had a penchant for attracting abusive 'bad boys' and the other was dealing with the loss of her true love. Very divergent upbringing and lives but the author somehow made them tolerate each other (with Aunt Midge referring) and actually become fast friends and learn to take care of each other. While the ending is sad it seemed to be the fitting and the final piece to the girls emotional growth and development. As it turned out, Aunt Midge was probably the most positive influence on both of the girls. She definitely spoke her mind and you knew where you stood with her.

Because of the similarities, at first I thought it was just going to be a re-hash of the Chappaquiddick incident (Ted Kennedy) or the Martha Moxley case (Michael Skakel) but it differed enough to be interesting, hold my attention to the end the book. I felt the anguish of Heather's father and his doggedness to not let the case languish and die was a critical part of the plot and emotion of the story. Once Asst. DA George Becket realized the leads Heather's father was furnishing were not being followed up he became his ally and advocate. And always in the background was the earlier death of Kendrick Powell (and her equally determined and powerful father). George was there that night. Should he have done more to prevent what happened? Guilt is powerful. The privileged gentry has, well, privileges afforded to them. But don't underestimate a wronged, vengeful, grief-stricken parent who should never have to bury his child. The story had enough twists, dead end leads and cast of players to remain interesting. I'll definitely look for more of Mr. Walker's books.

I especially liked the way the author went back and forth between the issues of a forbidden inter-racial relationship in 1939 and Dorrie and Isabelle's present day trip to Cincinnati for a funeral. The closeness of the two women and their ability to bare their soul to each other was heartwarming. Everyone hopes to have at least one friend like that in their life. Their fondness and genuine love of each other removed all racial barriers that might have existed. Even right up to the last few pages new information and characters were introduced and had bearing on the story, so don't stop short of finishing. The final pages wrapped up all the loose ends and yet were very sad, but in a good way.

Living in FL I found this particularly fascinating, Prohibition and the effect it had on the Cuban enclave of Tampa, Ybor City. It had the right amount of pecking order/ power struggles going on from Boston to Tampa. This, of course, led to buying off police, unions and judges. Who paid the highest price for which officials loyalty? Joe Coughlin finds love (Emma Gould), thinks she's dead, marries Graciela, has a son. Realizing he won't ever move to the top of the Mafia management ("Irish need not apply" and he's deemed 'soft') he takes his family to Cuba to establish casinos. The alternative would be getting killed in Tampa for running his own business outside of the Mafia fold. Suspense builds when he discovers in a month old photo that Emma Gould lives in Havana. Will he leave Graciela and Tomas? Towards the end it's verging on, but not too, moralistic ....."good deeds can come from bad money".
I find Mr. Lehane's writing to be superb. I like the fact that he ties up all the loose ends. I haven't read any of his books that I didn't enjoy. Would love to see this made into a movie.

I enjoy books that don't stray too far from the 'point', and this succeeded in holding my attention. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

One minute your life is going along just fine and within 15 seconds it can all go horribly wrong. Timing in life is everything. I don't often find myself hurrying home from work so I can read a book, but this one was in that category. Not an overwhelming number of characters, which I sometimes enjoy. I don't like so many that I need to keep a roster. Plot twists were excellent. Could Dr. Steadman be running a nefarious 'pill mill'? Maybe he's not as he seems. Always kept a satisfying level of suspense. I was afraid the author tipped his hand too early in letting us figure out who was behind everything but that wasn't the case. The balance of the book was fine and the conclusion was satisfying. Sadly showed that the circumstances and twists of life can so easily put one over the edge of reason. A bit of similarity to The Fugitive but still an outstanding book. I couldn't help but think/hope that someone will purchase the film rights, if they haven't already. Properly done (don't slaughter the book) it would be up there with any Grisham or Ludlum movie. I'd kind of like to see John Cusack or Kevin Spacey play the Steadman lead.

I like select books to review from your First Impressions section because it allows me to get out of my normal spy, espionage, double agent, political genre and move into another arena I never would have explored otherwise.

I enjoyed The Kitchen House very much and I was very surprised that I did. I felt it provided a very accurate depiction of the caste system of plantation life in the late 1700's. The captain of the plantation was completely loyal and caring of the servants who worked in his house, as well as the field hands. Belle and Lavinia were very interesting contrasts to each other but experienced alot of similarities in their lives, loves, losses of family, etc. While their lives seemed to be hit by one catastrophe after another I think that was the norm for that particular period of our history. Definitely worth investing your time.

For me this book was very entertaining and had just the right amount of characters. I don't like having to maintain a roster. The story moved quickly with enough possible twists to keep it interesting. Kept you guessing between several possible murder suspects. Ending was well structured with good detail as to what motivated the murderer and led up to the emotional break. Worth the time. Only once or twice did I start to think "Let's wrap this up". All this AND a pot bellied pig....what more could you ask for.

Story line was interesting, going between the grifter (Janelle aka Margot), the victim (John Potash) and Lawrence Billings (the teacher of 'face stealing'). For me, the loose ends finale was not very satisfying. There was some closure, i.e. John finding a way to recoup his losses (although through sad circumstances), but not the vindication I was hoping for.