Books Set in North America, Georgia, United States

When Crickets Cry, by Charles Martin (2006)

When seven-year-old Annie was hit by a vehicle and collapsed, Reese, a reclusive stranger, went to her rescue and a performed life-saving procedure on her.  He seemed to know far too much medical knowledge that the average person.  He passed it off as having been a first-responder when in college.  Unbeknownst to the town folks, he had been a gifted heart surgeon, but had given up the practice after his wife died of heard disease.

This book is heavy on medical descriptions of the heart, heart anatomy and heart transplant surgery.  It is also very heavy on Christian theology.  This book falls under Christian Fiction.  It was selected by a reader in my book club, hence how I came about to read it.  It was a fast read and I did enjoy it, although there were no surprises as the reader knew from the beginning how it would end.

4 Stars

Read:  September 17, 2026

Books Set in Europe and North America, Germany and New York, New York

The Girl Who Rode the White Lion, by Yishay Ishi Ron (2026)

This novel moves back and forth from the late 1930s in Germany to New York City in the late 1950s.  Mark Spence is a veterinarian for the Central Park Zoo in 1957.  When a rare white lion dies, he performs the autopsy.  He finds an SS Nazi silver ring in the lion's gut, which leads him on a hunt to find the story behind the ring.

The story then takes the reader to Nazi Germany on Kristallnacht, where a vicious SS officer used the violence to terrorize the family of a former Jewish friend.  He immediately sent his former friend to a concentration camp, but plays a cat-and-mouse with his friend's wife and young daughter.  The mother takes her daughter, Sarah Frank, to the circus, which is in town, hoping they can hide out in the crowd there.  Sarah is unofficially adopted by the circus manager and his wife.

Meanwhile, Mark Spence begins an international hunt to find clues as to the origin of the Nazi ring.

The mystery slowly unfolds with lots of twists and turns.  The story of young Sarah Frank is more interesting than that of Mark Spence.  Still, it was a fascinating novel that I read in one sitting.

Read:  September 16, 2026

4 Stars

Books Set in North America, Washington State, United States of America

Somewhere Out There, by Amy Hatvany (2016)

Jennifer was a 20-year-old woman with 2 children.  Her family had kicked her out and she was living in her car.  With basically no choice, she relinquished custody of her daughters.  She believed that they would be adopted together into a loving family.  Instead, the 6-month-old baby was quickly adopted, but the 4-year-old went through a number of foster homes until she aged out of the state system.

Thirty-five years later, both daughters independently seek information about their birth mother.  This novel is told in the voices of each daughter and their birth mother.  While not great literature, it was a compelling book that kept my interest.

Read:  September 14, 2026

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe; Croatia

The Hired Man, by Aminatta Forna (2013)

This novel takes place over the summer of 2007 and is narrated by Duro Kolak, a life-long resident of a small Croatian village.  An English woman and her two children suddenly appear and move into the "blue house", a house that holds memories for Duro.  The house had been empty for some time, so Duro approaches her and offers to help make repairs.

As Duro recounts the summer and his relationship with the English family, Laura and her teenaged son, Matthew, and daughter Grace, memories of the recent Balkan Wars come flooding back.  As a child, Duro and a close friendship with Fabjan, Kresimir and his younger sister, Anka.  Together, they would go hunting in the nearby woods.  Duro had a secret romance with Anka, but when it is discovered, he was forced to leave town.  When he returned to the village a decade later, life seemed to pick up where it had left off, except Anka was married and now lived in the Blue House.  Civil War has erupted in Croatia.  Who to trust?

As Duro and Grace work to repair a mosaic on the wall of the Blue House, she guesses that Duro is hiding dark secrets from an earlier time.  Slowly, the layers of Duro's past are peeled away, and we learn what keeps Duro and the other villagers attached to their small community.

This was a wonderfully written novel.

Read: September 3, 2026

5 Stars