The Intercept by Dick Wolf

Jeremy Fisk is a detective in the NYPD, on special assignment with the Joint Terrorism Task Force or JTTF. JTTF is a joint operation consisting of most of the government agencies involved in foiling plots against the United States. It has been live since 09/11 and is concentrated in NYC because everyone thinks NYC is Al-Queda’s main target. And this is how we are introduced to Jeremy Fisk in Dick Wolf’s literary debut, The Intercept. Many of you are familiar with Wolf as the creator of all the ‘Law & Order‘ programs on TV.

Initially, Jeremy and the task force stop a plot by one terrorist to set off a bomb in a NY subway. On his team is Krina Gersten, also a NYC police officer with some special skills that Fisk feels will aid his team. It is now several years later and events are breaking fast because of the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Bin Laden has been killed and the various agencies are trying to examine all the data that may have been hidden in his residence. Some of the computer experts discover what may be messages hidden in innocent looking pictures. The science of finding these messages is called Steganography. Now it becomes a race to decipher the hidden messages and perhaps prevent a new and larger attack.

An event aboard a SAS jet bound for NYC sets the team in motion. A single terrorist is foiled in his attempt to bring down the jet. The passengers and stewardess who helped stop the terrorist are being treated as celebrities in NYC, as well they should be. However, something doesn’t sit right with Fisk. The foiled incident was too easy and Fisk is sure that another passenger on the plane has bigger plans for NYC. He convinces the team that they must locate another passenger who has disappeared off the ‘grid.’

This fast paced novel created out of today’s headlines will keep your attention. Please enjoy The Intercept by Dick Wolf.

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Mannahatta: a Natural History of New York by Eric W. Sanderson

During the last ice age, tribes from present day Europe migrated westward and ended up in what today is known as North America. Many years later, in 1609 to be exact, Henry Hudson and his English-Dutch crew sailed up the river that would one day be named for him, and they came across an island with a splendid natural harbor – the Lenape living there called the island Mannahatta (often translated as “island of many hills”).

Soon enough, the Dutch established Nieuw Amsterdam on the island. The British changed the name to New York, but over the centuries Mannahatta more or less held on to its Lenape name. And that was not the only trace of ancient times that survived. When the British took over Manhattan, they renamed Breede weg Broadway, and Broadway followed a north-south path that the Lenape used. The Lenape in their turn followed the north-south corridor of animals that may have established the pathway when they arrived after the last ice age. In other words, “Broadway” may be thousands of years old.

Eric W. Sanderson is a landscape ecologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo, and he is also the director of the Mannahatta Project, the initiative that produced the remarkable book Mannahatta: a Natural History of New York.

The book’s premise is simple enough. What did Henry Hudson and the crew of Halve Maen see and hear when they passed along the long island known to the locals as Mannahatta? Who and what were there before them?

Like now, Manhattan 400 years ago was a diverse island. It was home to one of the most diverse ecosystems in North America, with over 50 different ecosystem types – a lush paradise. With the aid of “historical accounts, archival maps, ecological principles and [stunning] computer modeling,” Sanderson and his team show a splendid natural world that now is completely altered by mankind: Times Square was once the site of a beaver pond; Foley Square was the site of a freshwater pool that took care of most of Manhattan’s water needs for two centuries. As Sanderson writes: “If Mannahatta existed today as it did then, it would be a national park – it would be the crowning glory of American national parks.”

But contemporary Manhattan is not a place outside of nature, and “inside of New York a new way of thinking is emerging.” Beavers are actually returning to the New York City area, and – as it turns out – dense cities prove to be ecological places to live: “the average New Yorker emits 7.1. tons of [carbon dioxide] into the atmosphere each year; the average American 24.5 tons.”

The concrete jungle, then, may be closer to nature than it is often believed to be.

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Lucia,Lucia by Adriana Trigiani

Adriana Trigiani’s novel Lucia,Lucia opens with Kit, a young and ambitious playwright, accepting an invitation from her elegant, elderly neighbor for a cup of tea. Kit expects a dull and boring afternoon with Lucia Sartori, what unfolds is the story of “the most beautiful woman in Greenwich Village”.

It’s 1952 and Lucia has her own dreams for the future. She is the very talented apprentice to a couture designer at the famous B. Altman’s department store. Walking into the store each day brings Lucia great joy.  She has an eye for beauty and is surrounded at work by beautiful clothing and objects. New York City presents Lucia with many possibilities for career, love, and excitement.

Lucia,Lucia is the classic story of young women of the time who had to choose between career opportunities and traditional family obligations. Unlike now, this was not an era when you could have it all.

Adriana Trigiani’s writing has so many strengths which I adore. Her marvelous descriptions allow the reader to genuinely feel the story unfold. The smells of spicy prosciutto, the tastes of tangy Chianti and sweet sesame cookies combine with the sensuous touch of the silky fabrics and luxurious furs of Lucia’s world.

Trigiani’s characters are complex, but very human and charming, resulting in the reader having great empathy for them. She brings tears to your eyes with tales of heartbreak and loss. Yet, you laugh and smile at the joys of a large, loud and loving Italian family.

I strongly recommend this book to readers who enjoy the Miss Julia series, the Big Stone Gap series or Julie and Romeo. Reading Lucia, Lucia guarantees a very pleasant afternoon, especially, if you include a cup of espresso and a slice of coconut cake.

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Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress

This book is a collection of tales about the author’s experience of growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s with very eccentric parents. Susan Jane Gilman and her siblings were treated to some unusual family outings, such as when her mother signed up the whole family for a meditation class, or the week’s vacation they took at a Socialist retreat. But Gilman yearned to fit in with other children she met. She coveted the pretty white confirmation dresses worn by her Puerto Rican neighbors and at one point decided to “become Latino”. At her exclusive school, her family’s mix of liberalism, strangeness, and Jewishness, on top of her being a scholarship student, meant she would never quite be accepted.

Gilman spent her teenage years obsessing over Mick Jagger, finally managing to meet him in an awkward moment that didn’t live up to her fantasy. As she got older, Gilman struggled to find her “true self”, like most young adults. She wanted to be a strong independent feminist, but liked feeling pretty. She wanted to be anti-wedding, but when she tried on a wedding dress she realized she felt like a princess and wanted a big traditional wedding.

Like most books of essays, some chapters of this one are more entertaining than others. Some are also more introspective and a few a bit less believable. However, there are enough laugh out loud moments to keep you interested and make you like Gilman a lot by the end of the book. Fans of A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel, or I know I am, but what are you? by Samantha Bee will enjoy this book.

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Tabloid City by Pete Hamill

It’s Pete Hamill at his best … no one captures the sights and sounds of New York, the city that never sleeps, as well as Hamill. It will take a little patience to tie together all the threads of this story. He introduces you to so many characters that it will take you a little time to start to see how the characters will all play a role in this evolving tale. But in a short time, I promise you, it will all come together. Basically it is a murder mystery with a large cast of personalities that will all play a role in the story.

Some of the main characters are Sam Briscoe, editor of the World newspaper, fighting to save his beloved paper from the digital age.

There is socialite Cynthia Harding, fundraising for her beloved NY libraries. There is Mary Lou Watson, Cynthia’s secretary, who is married to Ali Watson, NYPD and attached to the Anti-Terrorist Unit.  And there is Malik Watson … Ali and Mary Lou’s son who has deserted the family to become a radical Muslim.  And these are only some of the characters you will meet and start to care for.  There is also Bobby Fonseca, who is just making his ‘bones’ as a reporter for the World. There are no chapters … the story is divided into day and night and the action swings back and forth from character to character.  After you have a feel for the characters, you will see how their paths cross once the bodies of Cynthia Harding and her secretary, Mary Lou Watson are discovered. Hamill’s story may well prove to you that in this world we live in, there really is only 6 degrees of separation.

One thing I can promise is that once you are caught up in this tale of intrigue and yet, the normalcy of everyday existence, you won’t put it down until you have finished it.  Pete Hamill does it again.

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Roast Mortem by Cleo Coyle

Roast Mortem is one of my favorite books in Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mystery Series. This is not the usual frothy cozy which you might expect from the clever title and artsy cover. Coyle’s trademark prologue will have your heart pounding as you follow the arsonist down a dark, cold alley in Queens.

The bomb activated fire that destroys Caffe Lucia coffehouse and nearly kills Clare Cosi, her former mother-in-law and fellow barista, is the first in a streak of random fires. Clare is determined to find the connection between the arsons to prevent further death and damage.

Clare has a steamy romance with NYPD detective Mike Quinn which hits a rough patch with the entrance of his mirror image cousin and firefighter Michael Quinn. The conflict between the two men runs deeper than just professional jealousy.

Coyle is the master of clever patter between coffeehouse manager Clare and her quirky hip New York baristas. You’ll want to run out and open your own coffeehouse so you can pull the perfect espresso and bake up some hazelnut biscotti. By the way, you’ll find those recipes and hints in the back of the book.
This book will appeal to readers of cozy mysteries, romance, suspense and New York City aficionados. On What Grounds is the first in the series.

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North River by Pete Hamill

James Delaney is a struggling physician, practicing on Manhattan’s West Side, in the middle of America’s worst depression. He is a veteran of WWI and has the scars to prove it. He lives in the ethnic boiling pot that made the West Side of Manhattan famous. He is a doctor to all who seek his help, whether they can afford to pay or not. However, he was apparently no help to his wife, Molly, or his daughter, Grace.

They have both left him. Molly, because she was angry with his going off to war and Grace because he never seemed to have time for her. Grace is an artist but has run off to Mexico with someone she met in New York. Even though his world is not what he dreamed of, Delaney is about to have his life become even more complicated. He comes home one night to find a little boy on his stoop with a note attached to his clothing. The boy is Carlos, Grace’s 3 year old son and Grace wants her father to take him in and care for him. It seems Grace is off to Russia to find the husband who has deserted her.

Delaney knows he must care for his grandson and through friends he is able to obtain the services of an Italian woman named Rosa, who will become Carlito’s nanny. Hamill’s story is the story of the Depression Era of the mid-thirties in the heart of New York. And you will meet all the characters one might expect to find in a Damon Runyon tale but Hamill is adept in his own right at carving out his own scenarios and you can feel the living breathing streets of Manhattan.
You will meet the good guys and the bad guys that can effect anyone’s life in this melting pot of the Big Apple, the hoodlums, the police, the homeless and the politicians. All will play a role as Delaney accepts the responsibility of raising his grandson. He has no idea if he will ever see either his wife or his daughter ever again. His new family will consist of Carlos and Rosa and all the characters of the lower West Side of Manhattan in the mid-thirties. Hamill will make you feel like you are right in the middle of this melting pot, that New Yorkers will easily recognize, and non-New Yorkers can easily imagine.

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Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Remember how we all learned how freaky the world of professional ballet is when Black Swan came out a couple of years ago? Well, Bunheads is a mixture of Black Swan and some teen dance movie. Maybe Save the Last Dance? Or Girls Just Want To Have Fun? You know you watched those. Oh, you didn’t? Then this might not be the book for you.

Hannah Ward is 19 years old and in the Manhattan Ballet Company, and she’s not even one of the youngest there. Despite having worked all her life toward a solo with the company it never seems to be enough. When Hannah meets Jacob, a normal college student with no connection to the world of dance, she starts to see how her life could turn out differently, but only if she casts aside everything she has worked toward for as long as she can remember.

Author Sophie Flack knows her stuff – the book could be considered semi-autobiographical. By the age of 17, Flack was apprenticing with the New York City Ballet after having been in training for ten years. I won’t tell you how her story ends because it will spoil how Hannah’s does. This was an enjoyable and fairly quick read that I’d recommend to anyone who wants a behind-the-scenes look at competitive dance.

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The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld

It’s New York City, the year is 1920. The Great War is over and people are trying to get their lives back to normal. The economy is extremely  weak, when two old friends meet. They are Dr.  Strathan Younger and Captain James Littlemore. Dr.  Younger has just returned from the war and has brought with him a French refugee by the name of Colette Rousseau and her young brother, Luc.  Littlemore  is a Captain in the NYPD.

But all their lives are about to drastically change in a matter of  moments , when a tremendous bomb goes off in Wall Street. The damage is terrific, many lives are lost as Strathan attempts to treat the injured and Littlemore tries to get the police to regain control of the situation. In the  middle  of the chaos, Colette goes off for more supplies for the wounded but doesn’t return. By the time some order is restored , Littlemore and Younger go to find Colette but she has vanished…..and so has Luc. A clue to the disappearance may lie in the explanation that Younger gives to Littlemore.

Younger and Rousseau’s history starts back in Europe during the war.  Younger is treating the wounded when he meets Colette who is traveling to the front with one of Madame Curie’s latest inventions…..the X-ray machine. Working together, they are  more  quickly able to diagnose injuries and therefore improve the survival rate of the wounded soldiers. Colette has been studying with Madame Curie at the Sorbonne in Paris. Colette lost both her parents in the war and the only other family  survivor is her 10 year old brother, Luc.

It is this developing friendship that brought Colette, Luc and Strathan to New York, but there is one more factor that may be at play in her disappearance. Rousseau brought to New York a small amount of radium that she obtained before leaving Europe…….and this may be the key factor in her disappearance!! Someone is after the radium, plus two strange  red-headed women are also pursuing Colette. Come along  for  an exciting trip of historical fiction in  Jed Rubenfeld’s  latest thriller.

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Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

I am always attracted to stories about immigrants moving to a new country and trying to fit in, so I am surprised that I somehow missed this book when it was first released.  I was really intrigued when a friend recommended it and it did not disappoint!

When Kimberly Chang and her mother arrive in New York City after the death of her father, they are grateful for the help given to them by her mother’s sister. Kim’s aunt and uncle paid for the trip from Hong Kong and gave them money to pay Kim’s mother’s medical bills. They had also promised to help them find an apartment and give her mother a job.  What happened when they arrived was shocking, however.  The apartment they were given was in a building that had been condemned.  It was full of roaches, mice, and had no working heat.  Her mother was put to work in her sister’s sewing factory, but was paid only pennies for each piece of work completed.  Money was taken out to pay back her sister for their trip out of Hong Kong and for rent.  Kim had to help her work after school and evenings every day just so her mother would make her quota and have a little money left for them to eat on.

At the same time, Kim was working very hard to make it through school.  In Hong Kong she had always been top of her class. Now she struggled to understand enough English to pass.  Over the next few years, Kim managed to not only pass, but to get accepted at an exclusive Prep school in the city. Every day she is amazed at the privileged lives of her classmates and struggles to hide her living conditions from her teachers and her friends.

Kwok’s description of a modern day sweatshop is both shocking and familiar.  The hard part is realizing that she is talking about modern day, not 100 years ago.  The author does a wonderful job of conveying Kimberly’s initial struggles to understand the language by writing what Kimberly thinks she hears, instead of what the person actually says.  As the book goes on, the translations become less frequent because her English has improved.   The book also gives an accurate portrayal of what many immigrant children go through, living a duel life between school and home, and frequently being responsible for all of the paperwork necessary for life.   It is hard on the child to be the only person who speaks English. In this book, it sometimes feels like Kim is protecting her mother, while other times she seems to manipulate her. In spite of all that, the book is not depressing.  It is a wonderful story about a little girl of amazing personal strength.

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