Book Review Friday: The Burglar in the Library

 

The Burglar in the Library
By Lawrence Block

I never read Lawrence Block before and since he's so popular with my library patrons I thought I should give him a try.

This tale comes late in the Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery series.  Burglar and bookseller Bernie, his friend Carolyn, and Bernie's cat Raffles leave NYC for a weekend in the country at the very British Cuttleford House.  Bernie's just interested in tracking down a rare book, but when bodies start dropping like flies and the snow drifts have the house cut off from the outside world, it's up to Bernie to catch a killer.    This was fun twist on the classic locked room mystery.  Great characters and a few surprising twists and turns kept me turning the pages.  Metaphorically speaking, that is,since I downloaded the eBook from my library.

Although I jumped into the middle of the series and loved it, for a better picture of Bernie Rhodenbarr and what makes him tick, start with the first book in the series Burglars Can't be Choosers.  And if you decide you like Lawrence Block's style he's got a long list of titles to keep you reading for a while.  Check out the complete list on his page at Fantastic Fiction.

Book Review Friday: Saint's Gate

Saint's Gate: A Novel of Suspense
Bu Carla Neggers

Heron’s Cove is a beautiful, scenic town on the coast of Maine.  Home to scenic overlooks, trendy boutiques, and the Convent of the Sisters of the Joyful Heart.  It is also the longtime home of Emma Sharpe, whose family owns the world renowned Sharpe Fine Art Recovery firm, specializing in solving high end art thefts.  Emma was once a postulant at the convent, but left before taking her final vows.  Now she works for the FBI.  A call from Sister Joan at the convent draws Emma into a mystery surrounding a painting and then Sister Joan is murdered and the painting disappears.

Half an hour up the Maine coast is tiny village of Rock Point.  Lobstermen make their home here. And so do the Donovans, four rugged, independent brothers and their parents.   Colin Donovan is one of the FBI’s most valuable deep cover assets.  Home recuperating from a dangerous mission, Colin gets drawn into the mystery at the convent. 

Emma and Colin, highly trained, independent, and wary, must learn to trust one another as they work together to catch a killer and find the missing painting before anyone else dies.

Saint’s Gate is the first book in Carla Neggers’ FBI series, featuring Agents Sharpe and Donovan.  The sparks fly as these two strong, complicated characters solve crimes and fall in love.  Neggers’ narrative provides beautiful descriptions of the Maine coast as well as Ireland.  The mystery is intriguing and the suspense builds to a surprising twist of an ending.  The romance that blossoms between Emma and Colin is no surprise, but their complex pasts add just enough tension to keep the relationship interesting. 

I read Saint's Gate, but listened to Heron's Cove.  I recommend skipping the audio versions.  The narrator wasn't the best and Neggers' prose is not well suited to reading aloud. 

Hot as opposed to steamy, I could recommend this romantic suspense series to my mother without blushing. 

Other books in the Sharpe And Donovan Series
Heron’s Cove

Declan’s Cross

Harbor Island

Keeper’s Reach

If you like Carla Neggers’ Sharpe and Donovan Series you may like:

The Callahan & McLane series by Kendra Elliot

The Buchanan novels by Julie Garwood

The Nikki Heat series by Richard Castle

And books by:

J. D. Robb

Sandra Brown

Christine Feehan

Jennifer Crusie

Amanda Quick
Iris Johansen

Linda Howard

iPad course for librarians

Oh, do I wish I had an iPad.  For those of you who do check out this online course.  The Book as iPad App is taught by Nicole Hennig and helps librarians become familiar with specific book apps.  Sounds like a great course.

The War Over eBooks -- great articles at Forbes.com

David Vinjamuri at Forbes.com wrote a great article, "The Wrong War Over eBooks: Publishers Vs. Libraries." You can read it here.  In it he takes a fair look at both publishers and libraries and outlines their sides of the argument for access.  Then he posits that they are making the wrong arguments and suggests a different way to look at eBook access.  His first suggestion?  Instead of buying limited use licences for eBooks libraries could pay on a cost-per-circulation basis.  It's fair, easy to calculate, and both sides get value for the transaction ... more readers with more access.

In the second article in this two part series, "Why Public Libraries Matter: And How They Can Do More,"  ( found here) Vinjamuri points out that libraries are a gateway connecting readers and publishers.  Even in this ever changing world of eBook readers and tablets, libraries are the places where people are exposed to new authors and titles, book clubs abound, and reading is encouraged.  He warns publishers that they "limit public libraries' access to eBooks at their own peril." And warns libraries that by focusing on the best seller list they "risk missing the significant opportunity afforded by the explosion in the number of new books published each year."

Eventually libraries and publishers will come to terms that, hopefully, everyone can live with.  In the meantime it's the public that misses out.  Not everyone has access to an eReader.  Not all eReader owners can buy all the eBooks they want to read.  Libraries stand ready to fill the access gap, just as they always have.