Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

 This story follows the adventures of a scarred black slave from Barbados. After being present at the suicide of a white cousin of his Master, he knows that he faces death. When the master’s brother offers him an escape, they flee in a hot-air balloon. The adventure takes them through America through to the Artic. When he loses his newfound friend and mentor, he is set adrift in Nova Scotia, where slavery doesn’t exist, but neither is he treated an equal.

The story tells of the inequality of the black people in a white man’s world, regardless of his accomplishments or superior mind. It is also a hunt for the one white man who took a chance on him.

The story is beautifully written and tells the tale from the perspective of a black slave. I personally did not find the ending satisfying, though. I prefer a more solid closure, and this allows multiple interpretations. Other might disagree, which is fine. I would definitely read something else offered by the same author, as I have said, she is very talented.

Home Front by Kristin Hannah

 Home Front tells the story of a woman who goes off to war as a helicopter pilot in Iraq. Prior to her leaving, her husband, a lawyer, tells her that he no longer loves her. Dealing with the absence of her two children and her lost love, she goes to war. The father, who has never played an active role in the family, must learn how to deal with two children who are trying to live without their mother while growing up.

This story, which is commonplace in military families, is turned on its head, because instead of the father heading to war, it is the mother. In today’s makeup of the military, this is becoming more common, but has never been explored in literature. The author does a tremendous job of examining the sacrifice of military families both at home and at war. The aftermath of war is also explored, and it is important to note that those who ask their soldiers to make the ultimate sacrifice are unwilling to support them when they come home broken and scared.

This is a tremendous, yet heartbreaking story of love, commitment, responsibility, and sacrifice. Kristin Hannah is becoming one of my favorite authors.

Kingdom of Bones by James Rollins

When a strange illness is shows up in the Congo interior that puts people in a near comatic state yet turns animals into rabid aggressors. Sigma is called in. Following clues from a early missionary, Gray tries to get to the origin of the virus while the rest of the team investigate an evil billionaire who wants to use the pandemic to steal more resources from the country.

As with all of Rollin’s stories, the pages turn themselves with blistering speed and are filled with both historic and scientific facts in understandable terms. Very satisfying read!

Dream Town (Aloysius Archer #3) by David Baldacci

 Archer is back and takes on the Hollywood scene. While attending a New Years Eve party with his friend and rising actress, Liberty Callahan, Archer is approached by a woman who believes someone is trying to killer and hires Archer to find out who’s after her. When the woman disappears and a dead man is found in her home, Archer begins digging in a town that has multiple faces and alliances.

This is the third story set in the 1950s and Baldacci has mastered the feel of the era. It has a feel of a Bogart mystery but with much more thrills and danger. Fans of action and who-done-it stories will love this series.

Highly recommended.