Books Set in the Middle East, Europe and the United States

The Black Widow, by Daniel Silva (2016)

The Black Widow follows the exploits of Gabriel Allon, Israeli spy and art restorer.  After ISIS took responsibility for an act of terrorism in Paris, which killed a friend of his, Allon is tapped to find the mastermind responsible.  The terrorist is called Saladin, like the Sultan of Egypt and Syria who faced the Crusaders in the 1100s.

Allon recruits Natalie Mizrahi, a young French-Israeli doctor.  Natalie is fluent in many languages, including Arabic.  She is transformed and trained to become a Palestinian doctor to infiltrate the ISIS community and become an ISIS recruit.  Her cover story is that she was from a Palestinian village and her fiancé was murdered by Israelis, thus she is out for revenge.  The plan is successful and she ultimately comes face-to-face to an injured Saladin.  She faces a moral dilemma to save him, or end his life and stop his continued acts of terror.

While the novel is a work of fiction, it is inspired by true acts of terrorism that have occurred throughout the world by ISIS.  In addition, the book emphasized the healing work of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.  Doctors and nurses treat and heal victims of terrorist acts as well as the terrorist themselves.

Read:

April 30, 2017

4 Stars

Books Set in the United States: Louisiana

Bayou, My Love, by Lauren Faulkenberry (2016)

It took me forever to read this book.  I started, then stopped and it was a while before I picked it up again.

From the title, you can tell that it takes place in Louisiana.  That was the hook that got me.

Enza Parker and her father have a successful real estate business flipping houses in North Carolina.  When her Louisiana grandmother dies, leaving her the house, Enza travels deep into the bayou of Louisiana to see the house.  She intends to fix it up and sell it.  He father has given her a budget and time frame within which he intends for her to flip the house.

When Enza sees the house, it brings back memories of summers she used to spend with her grandmother.  She is surprised, however, to find Jack Mayronne living in her house.  Jack, it seems, has been living rent-free in the grandmother’s home (grandma knew about this arrangement).  Enza intends to kick him out, but he convinces her to let him continue to stay.  In exchange, he agreed to help fix up the house.

At this point the Louisiana stereotypes kick in.  There is Miranda, Jack’s old girlfriend, who still pines for Jack.  There is Remy, who is just plain mean.  And don’t forget Duchess the voodoo queen.

Jack is a firefighter.  Fires mysteriously appear in the area, including some in Enza’s home as she tries to repair it for sale.  Is it voodoo?  Is it jealousy?  Who cares?

The book started off okay, but I got tired depiction of the life in the bayou.  There is a prequel to this novel, which provides some background into Enza’s psyche, and another book that continues with Enza’s saga.  I think I’ll pass on reading those.

Read: April 26, 2017

2 Stars

Books Set in Europe: Poland

Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly (2016)

Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly, is based on true events that took place during World War II.  Two of the main characters are actual historic figures ~ Caroline Ferriday was an American socialite who was involved in assisting refugees, raising funds and sending relief packages to war-torn France, and Herta Oberheuser was a Nazi physician at Ravensbrück, the women’s concentration camp.  The third main character, Kasia, is a fictional young Polish teen whose short-lived time in the Resistance landed her at Ravensbrück.

Herta, the Nazi doctor, was hired to perform experiments in the form of horrific surgeries all in the name of “research.”  Kasia became a victim of Herta’s surgery, which left her with horrible deformities in her legs.

The characters don't come together until the final few pages of this novel, and Caroline's contribution to saving the young women deformed by the events at Ravensbrück is not well defined.

I really wanted to like this book, but I was left with a feeling of something missing.  I wanted more background about the actual events.  As I read this book, I found myself researching certain events so I could better understand and clarify the events described by the author.

Read: April 25, 2017

3 Stars

Books Set in the United States

Three Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower's Final Mission, by Bret Baier (2017)

This book made the New York Times Best-Seller list in January 2017.  I read this only because it was the April book for the St. James reading group.

Although the book is entitled Three Days in January, these "three days" are actually not discussed until the final third of the book.  The first sections of the book provide background leading up to the final three days of Eisenhower's presidency as he prepare to leave the White House in the hands of John F. Kennedy.

The first portion of the book describes Eisenhower's early life and military life.  The second portion delves into his presidency, before finally reaching the final 3 days.

I grew up after this transition, and do not know a lot about the history of the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations.  This book, however, gives a rather slanted opinion of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy.  The author doesn't much care for Democrats.

Also, was this book fact checked?  As I noted, I do not know a lot about this time in history, but several small "facts" were clearly false.  The author stated that Oveta Culp Hobby was the first woman cabinet member.  While she was the first Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (a position created during the Eisenhower administration), Frances Perkins was the first woman cabinet member when she was appointed the Secretary of Labor during the Roosevelt administration.  Also, the author made reference to Eisenhower's displeasure at advertisements in the Smithsonian magazine.  The magazine was first published in 1970, a year after Eisenhower's death.  These are just a few of the incorrect "facts", that I noted.  What else did the author try to put forward that are not quite correct.

To learn about this era in history, I will definitely rely on other, more scholarly books.

Read:  April 9, 2017

2 Stars