Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

Set in Lapland, Northern Finland during Kaamos, the time of year just before Christmas when temperatures plunge to -40° and night never gives way to day, Snow Angels marks the stunning English language debut of author James Thompson.

Inspector Kari Vaara knows he has a serious problem on his hands when he arrives at the scene of a horrific murder and finds that the victim is famous actress Sufia Elmi, who also happens to be a Somali immigrant.

Finland being a nation of closet xenophobes – We don’t talk about hatred, we hate in silence. It’s our way. We do everything in silence. – Vaara realizes the combination hate-crime / sex-crime the murder appears to be could make for explosive headlines if not solved quickly.

Unfortunately for Vaara, what initially appears to be a pretty decent lead on the vehicle that transported the body to the dump site ends up mushrooming into multiple suspects and scenarios, all of which seem possible. Further complicating things, Vaara has a personal connection to one of the prime suspects, the man for whom his ex-wife left him, causing some to speculate about the validity of the evidence Vaara has gathered. (more…)

- The Last Track: Book Trailer -

I thought I’d take this opportunity to ask a question about what you review and what you want to see when you visit other book blogs: new releases, back catalog titles or both?

Though I try to keep up with and review as many new releases as possible, I also enjoy sharing old favorites and books / authors that are new to me, even if they’ve been around forever. After all, I figure if I only just discovered someone there are undoubtedly other readers out there who’d also like an introduction as well.

What do you think? Do only new release reviews matter to you, or is it important to review old favorites and back catalog titles with an eye toward exposing them to readers who may not have encountered them before? Leave a comment with your thoughts and you’ll be entered to win the following prize pack (<= photo):

• An ARC of The Sky Is Everywhere by debut author Jandy Nelson (trade paperback)
• The Suspect, first in the Karl Alberg series by L.R. Wright (trade paperback)
• Dust to Dust, second in Tami Hoag’s Kovac & Liska series (paperback)
• Fang, sixth and most recent book in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson (hardcover)
• An ivory/brown striped canvas tote bag (new, just took it out of the wrapper for the photo)

As you can see, in the spirit of the new release vs. back catalog conversation I’ve included a little bit of everything on the spectrum, as well as a tote bag for you to carry your beach books in! Please be sure to include your email address or website link with your comment so I have a way to contact the winner. Contest is open to US/Canada.

Thanks for stopping by. Please have a look around Musings of an All Purpose Monkey, and then be sure to go visit another Got Books? event participating blog site!

In the wake of a horrific night of violence that leaves him without his parents or his voice, eight year-old Michael Smith finds comfort in drawing and playing with locks.

Though he has a natural talent for drawing, it soon becomes clear he has a preternatural talent for opening locks. At first just working with old combination padlocks, Michael eventually graduates to opening key locks with his own crude, homemade lock pick set.

It’s a talent that seventeen year-old Michael never considers the potential implications of until a high school prank gone wrong puts him in the position to meet the wrong people, and from that point on his life will never be the same.

Presented as the reflections of a 26 year-old Michael who has landed in jail and is contemplating the life that got him there, The Lock Artist is told in chapters that alternate between the distant past that set him on the path to becoming a safecracker and the job gone awry that led to his incarceration.

The two narratives unfold on slowly converging paths before ultimately colliding in a final reveal of the shocking night of events that stole both Michael’s parents and his voice from him. (more…)

Attorney Will Connelly has very little to comfort him in Reece Hirsch’s scorching debut novel, The Insider. Arriving at work early on the day he’s to learn the results of the firm’s partnership vote, Will sees his coworker Ben Fisher plummet to his death past Will’s thirty-eighth floor office window. The fact Will was the only one in the office at the time of Ben’s death, and that Will’s office access card is found next to Ben’s body, make for some uncomfortable questions from the San Francisco Police Department.

Will has barely seen the police out of his office when he’s visited by the firm’s senior partner, who informs Will that he did make partner. Further, he’s being put in charge of the project Ben had been working on, a major merger involving computer software company Jupiter Software. After putting in a full day on the new assignment, Will heads out to a local bar for a muted celebration of his new partnership. There he meets a beautiful Russian named Katya and goes home with her… and this is where Will’s troubles go from simply life altering to life threatening.

In effort to impress Katya he lets slip about the big merger he’s working on. The next morning Will and Katya are confronted by two Russian thugs who force their way into Katya’s apartment, threaten Katya, and beat information about the Jupiter merger out of Will. Knowing he can’t go to the police without revealing that he’s committed malpractice by violating attorney-client privilege, as well as violated Securities and Exchange Commission regulations against insider trading, Will is on his own to extricate himself from the mess he’s gotten into. (more…)

Starting with 707, his first “big band” as he calls it, Tod’s impressive resume has also included touring stints with REO Speedwagon, Ted Nugent (for whom Tod also contributed backing vocals on Ted’s Penetrator album), Cheap Trick and, of course, the aforementioned Frehley’s Comet.

Tod has also produced some incredible work in his solo career including the albums Silhouette, Cobalt Parlor and West of Eight, which I reviewed and interviewed Tod about. With the release of his newest album, Opposite Gods, I’m happy once again to interview Tod and review his latest masterpiece.

Your last rock CD, West of Eight, was released in 2000. Why such a long time between it and Opposite Gods?

Tod Howarth: Life in general, really. The band that I put together to support Cobalt Parlor was to record all of the West of Eight CD, which we did, except for the then bass player who I had to let go during the recording and re-do all his parts. During this drought I recorded Winter, which is an ‘easy listening’ but haunting type solo CD that was to satisfy my creative needs.

I wanted to do more rock music right off the bat, but with a real solo effort it is just so time consuming. I had to find or create that time and it was hard. I am not the ‘rock star’ anymore that people may think I am – although I am flattered! – and my attention has been turned to the family business that I run now days. Plus, my adult kids have needed a lot of attention that required not only time but money as well. It is wild how ’stuff’ never ends. (more…)

A long time coming, Opposite Gods was truly a labor of love. Tomorrow I’ll be posting an interview I did with Tod about the album, but to give you an idea of the herculean task making Opposite Gods was here’s a quote from the liner notes: “Produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered under dire conditions by me… the variables took their toll.”

And he does mean by him. As with his prior releases, being the extremely talented musician that he is Tod once again is responsible for everything you hear coming from your speakers: guitars, drums, bass, keyboards, all vocals… the man is literally a one man band. And a damn good one at that!

Though the 13 track album is tip-top from start to finish, there are some songs that stand out to me for one reason or another. So, a few highlights:

“Drown” – As with any rock album worth its salt, Opposite Gods opens with an absolute burner. “Hello all you bitches, in your glossy magazines… you’re the entertainment for the feeble minded.” Hello, indeed! “Drown” is a scathing, yet lyrically playful, indictment of the cult of personality in America that makes celebrities of people whose only ‘talent’ is being famous: “Just icons, all image.” Yet despite the playfulness, there’s also an understandable sense of irony to the song; how could there not be when a song about the talentless famous is being performed by a man dripping with talent who literally plays every instrument, sings every vocal, and produced, mixed and mastered the song himself to boot. I’ve always thought you can tell a lot about how an album is going to go based on the opening track, and with that in mind “Drown” certainly sets the pace.

“Opposite Gods” – Two songs later in the album’s title track, however, Tod shows he’s more than capable of shifting gears from playful and sarcastic to tackle the always serious and charged topic of faith and religion. Given that most major religions have the same basic tenets at their core, Tod wonders how there can be so many different – and conflicting – paths one can supposedly take to get from Point A (leading a just life) to Point B (spiritual reward). Even more puzzling, how can any religion justify killing others in the name of its God? “The reasons they all fail me, regardless of faith, and with opposite gods there’s just no harmony.” Fitting for a song about conflict and multiple paths the lyrics are deeply layered, occasionally ’step’ on each other, and many are delivered via call and response. Definitely a heavy hitter.

“The Artist” – A message from Tod to his artist son, this hauntingly beautiful song explores the frustration that a deeply passionate artist can experience looking for a life partner who feels the passion for life and art as deeply as they do. “Life keeps you waiting for the memories worth the while and worth the time.” A floating, airy keyboard acts as the song’s subtle road map allowing the guitars to wander and explore, like the artist, yet always providing the anchor for their return. An absolutely sublime acoustic guitar solo is the perfect compliment to the aching, yet hopeful lyrics. Easily my favorite song on the album.

“Alfi’s Torment” – An all vocal track consisting of only two words, “Alfi’s Torment” nevertheless manages to pack quite a punch. That’s because those two words are delivered via 8 layered vocal tracks from Tod, which were then double tracked for an end result 16 part harmony that sounds like an eerie, slightly malevolent Gregorian chant. Originally to be called “Infidel Chant,” how the song got its final name is a funny story:

“While I was singing every track Alfi, our dog, was lying on a blanket near the console seemingly sleeping until I would hit the way freaking high notes or the hauntingly strange midrange and low note melodies, whereupon he would lift his head and look at me as if to say “Just what in the fuck are you doing?” and then of course lay his head back down. This happened so often that I would start to laugh during the tracking and have to start over again. Thus the name change.”

Funny how such a heavy track has such a lighthearted story behind it.

“October Son” – Epic. There is simply no other way to describe the transcendental splendor that is the 10:24 long instrumental track “October Son.” Even without words “October Son” still tells more of a story than 90% of today’s disposable bands could ever hope to with an entire album of lyrics. At times gentle and soothing, then driving and insistent, this atmospheric keyboard driven song is a pulsing, live thing. Fittingly enough, trying to describe it in words just can’t fully do this instrumental track justice. So, buy the CD, cue up the track, grab a glass of wine, turn down the lights and immerse yourself in one of the lushest music experiences you will ever encounter.

Other notable tracks include “Jimbos Bunk” (Tod’s tribute to his best friend, who was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident), “Layne” (a tip of the cap from one musician to another, the late Layne Staley of Alice in Chains: “No ordinary songs ’cause you did, you broke the chains. And now you’re so far gone, but what you sang it still remains.”), “On Your Own” (another offering of fatherly advice, this time for his daughter Tara, the song showcases exquisite acoustic guitar work), and “Veterans” (a wonderful tribute to veterans of the United States armed forces: “Forever in my heart you remain, forever with a scar but never shame. Forever in my heart.”).

With Opposite Gods Tod demonstrates in no uncertain terms that while one hit wonders and flavors-of-the-month will always flame out, true talent will burn brightly forever. Now, let’s just hope he doesn’t make us wait another 10 years to get the next incendiary CD to stoke the fire.

- Opposite Gods: CD Preview -

Josh White is the victim of what may be the worst case of mistaken identity in history. Arriving home one day to find a severed human nose on his kitchen table Josh does what any reasonable person would do… freak out. Of course once the initial, understandable freak out passes Josh proceeds to make the first in what will end up being a comically tragic series of bad decisions.

Instead of immediately calling the police, Josh decides to store the nose in his refrigerator – after carefully wrapping it in paper towels and sealing it in a plastic baggie – to keep it from rotting while he puzzles out whose nose it could be and why it was on his table. After much deliberation he… falls asleep.

When he returns home from work the following day – no, he didn’t call the police when he woke up – Josh finds an ear on his table. Apparently having reached his tipping point on finding severed body parts in his apartment, Josh calls 911 to report his gruesome discoveries. When the police haven’t shown up by bedtime, despite a follow up call from Josh, he puts the ear in the baggie with the nose and decides to… go to sleep.

Arriving home from work yet again Josh finds… nothing. Which is good, right? Wrong. Because the people who’ve been leaving the fleshy calling cards for Josh decide to pay him a visit to find out why he’s not responded to their none to subtle overtures. The body parts, it turns out, were left as part of a kidnapping and ransom demand directed at Josh White… another Josh White. Not sure whether or not they should kill him, the two gangsters who show up at his apartment kidnap Josh and take him back to the big boss for his decision on the matter. What unfolds from there could only happen in a Jeff Strand novel. (more…)