Category Five

Category Five by Philip S. Donlay

Dr. Lauren McKenna, a meteorological scientist with the Defense Intelligence Agency, is responsible for the deployment and tracking of a Doppler Imager that detects global weather patterns that could affect military operations. The story begins in Bermuda where Lauren and her team are trying to evacuate the Island before a potential "Super Hurricane" hits.

Lauren is in constant peril and must be saved by the story's hero, Donavan Nash with whom Lauren has a somewhat torrid past. Donavan Nash is a pilot who owns EcoWatch, a privately funded Rescue and Recover operation. Mr. Nash has several secrets of his own and they are quickly revealed as the story unwinds.

Good book, with  a "good action" plot, character interactions and relationships, and lots of techno-gadgets. The downside was the overblown world-ending danger (everything was the worst, the biggest, the scariest) with highly unlikely solutions. But because our main characters only do things perfectly, expertly, and smarter and better than anyone else, everything works out in the end. Combine all off this and it just puts this book a little over the top. 

Amazon Review

Secrets She Kept

Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke

Wow, this was an amazing book! The author evenly balances dual storylines to draw in the reader. In the 1970s, Hannah embarks on a journey to learn more about her emotionally distant mother. Her plotline alternates with that of her mother, Lieselotte. Lieselotte's story is set 30 years earlier when she was a young teen in Germany. Unlike other dual storylines I've read where one is stronger than the other, both Hannah's and Lieselotte's stories were equally strong and compelling. The author creates well-paced tension that swells to a crescendo as Hannah learns the truth about Lieselotte at the same time that the reader learns the truth from Lieselotte's point of view. As one would expect from this time period in Germany's history, there are difficult passages to read and the claustrophobic atmosphere felt real and chilling. I thought what ultimately happened to Lieselotte was surprising because it revealed something unexpected about one character's actions. The fact that not everyone got a typical happy ending was heartbreaking. I loved how the author included a real historical figure to share a lesson about forgiveness. This story was heavy at times but ultimately filled with hope because of Hannah's journey. I highly recommend this book and this author!

Amazon Review

Luther and Katharina

Luther and Katharina by Jody Hedlund

We have probably heard of Martin Luther and his role in the Reformation. But few of us may know how it came about that he married Katharina. We learn how that marriage developed as well as much about the conditions of the day.

As the novel opens, Katharina had been in a convent and was escaping. Some of Luther's writings had been smuggled in and the woman there were becoming enlightened. I was surprised to find that some of the women had been in the convent from a young age, perhaps five years old. Many were held there against their will. Some were terribly mistreated by the abbot. It was a dark time for the church and some of the priests were violent and immoral men.

Women who managed to escape, like Katharina, would make it to a sympathetic abbey and then be assigned for marriage. Katharina and her group ended up at Luther's abbey. Kate, as she came to be called, was a feisty one and refused to marry whom she had been assigned. She ended up being the last unwed woman and Luther, who did not want to ever marry, finally did so. He had come to appreciate Kate and her medicinal training. She was able to help Luther in providing treatment for his stomach ailment.

Hedlund has provided lots of historical detail about the time. We learn about the peasant uprising against the monasteries. Palaces of bishops and castles of nobility were attacked and burned. Many innocent men and women were killed. Luther's life was frequently in danger. He made some decisions that may have alienated the peasants but allowed the Reformation movement to continue.

Amazon Review

The Invisible LIbrary

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

The first installment of an adventure featuring stolen books, secret agents and forbidden societies...Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from different realities.  Most recently she and her assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London.  Their mission: retrieve a particularly dangerous book.  The problem: by the time they get there it has already been stolen.  London's underground factions are prepared to fight to the very death to find the book before Irene and Kai do.

Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested - the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene's new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own.

Soon Irene is up to her eyebrows in a mix of danger, clues and secret societies!

What an interesting story, there is excitement, danger, and weirdness at the turn of every page.  Irene makes a strong heroine and refuses to give up her quest even when the dangers are overwhelming.

She never knows for sure who are trusted friends or adversaries, in this strange alternate universe. She is not only a librarian, but a trained spy.  Kai has been training in the invisible library for 5 years and is excited to be on his first mission as Irene's assistant.  He is a great assistant and trusts Irene's decisions and stands by her no matter what, I really liked that about him.

I do have many questions concerning the Invisible Library, how does one become a librarian there? Irene's parents were librarians, so that gave her an in, but how do other people qualify?  Why are they collecting all the important books, and how did all the alternate universes develop?  Anyway, maybe I will find out in the next installment, which I am looking forward to reading!

This book can be found in the adult fiction section of the library.

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The Secrets of Flight

The Secrets of Flight by Maggie Leffler

Estranged from her family since just after World War II, Mary Browning has spent her entire adult life hiding from her past. Now eighty-seven years old and a widow, she is still haunted by secrets and fading memories of the family she left behind. Her one outlet is the writing group she’s presided over for a decade, though she’s never written a word herself. When a new member walks in—a fifteen-year-old girl who reminds her so much of her beloved sister Sarah—Mary is certain fate delivered Elyse Strickler to her for a reason.

Mary hires the serious-eyed teenager to type her story about a daring female pilot who, during World War II, left home for the sky and gambled everything for her dreams—including her own identity.

As they begin to unravel the web of Mary’s past, Mary and Elyse form an unlikely friendship. Together they discover it’s never too late for second chances and that sometimes forgiveness is all it takes for life to take flight in the most unexpected ways.

Amazon Review