Strangers in Budapest
by Jessica Keener
Hungary through differing eyes (11/5/2017)
The author presents us with a multifaceted plot starting with a wonderful look at Budapest, Hungary just after her Independence from Russia. We learn about her distrust of Americans but the love of the dollar and the still held bias of some of her citizens. I do plan on trying some of the sausages and liquor mentioned in the book. Any emotion you can think of is touched upon in the book, love, lust, anger, revenge, fear... Its peopled with a variety of characters, a WWII survivor seeking revenge, an American couple seeking to strike it rich and escape their past. I really enjoyed spending time getting to know everyone in this book. I just wish the author had an afterward on the current conditions in Hungary. A bit more on Hungarian food would have been appreciated too.
I See You
by Clare Mackintosh
Be prepared to be scared (10/28/2016)
This book is one of the scariest books I've ever read because it's not fantasy but a reality that could really happen to you and me. The way the author structured the book kept you turning pages; first victim, police, then perp.
I'm going out to buy my pepper spray now.
Lady Cop Makes Trouble: Girl Waits with Gun #2
by Amy Stewart
Constance Kopp returns (5/13/2016)
This is the second Kopp novel. It can be read alone but it would be better if read after Girl Waits With Gun, the first in the series which introduces the Kopp family and detail how and why Constance is determined to support her family and the difficulties she encountered living in a company town. In both books the author has "historically correctly" captured a time period. A time before women had the vote, a time when if a woman was a police woman she received no salary "but served out of a sense of duty". An enlightening look at life for working class women and the difficulties they faced at the beginning of the 20th century. And how with the help of one man, who is willing to risk it all, brought about some needed changes. This is an easy and fast read written for anyone who enjoys learning about a way of life happily long gone. The epilogue details fact from fiction in the book which is most helpful. I only wish a map of the towns in New Jersey where it takes place had been included.
