The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

If you have not yet picked up this bestseller, then you must as soon as possible. I will guarantee that you will not be able to put it down. Not only that, but after you finish this first novel in the Millenium trilogy, you will immediately run out and purchase the second in the series, The Girl Who Played With Fire. I just started reading this second in the trilogy. Larsson's third in the series is entitled, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

To echo some reviewers, this is the quintessential page turner. But it is much more than your run of the mill mystery. This novel has everything, from mystery, political intrigue, industrial espionage, spies, computer hacking, murder, suspense, romance, good old fashioned revenge and two, well developed main characters that you will come to respect, enjoy and care for. In fact all of the major characters are well developed. Larsson writes in such a way that it makes you feel like you are seeing what that person is thinking.

It has been awhile since I have read a book that is this engrossing. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Get it and read it!!

Sunflowers: a novel of Vincent Van Gogh

Sunflowers: a novel of Vincent Van Gogh
by Sheramy Bundrick

Much has been written about Vincent Van Gogh, his life, his mental condition and his paintings. But no one has attempted to weave a historical novel around the facts, the paintings and documents that survive this artistic genius who took his own life at the age of 37.

First of all, Sheramy Bundrick is an art historian and professor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. While she has written a couple of scholarly works dealing with classical Greek images and Roman portraiture, this is her first novel. Bundrick does a masterful job of infusing well-known historical moments (like Van Gogh's infamous self-mutilation) with vivid details, while humanizing Van Gogh and putting his famous works in context. Bundrick generates a very believable scenario of what the last two years of Van Gogh's life might have been like if he had developed a relationship with the young woman, to whom he delivered his severed ear. The young "fille de maison's" name was Rachel, and surviving historical sources reveal nothing of the real Rachel. This enables Professor Bundrick to fully develop and breath life into this character.

The way Bundrick skillfully weaves several of Van Gogh's paintings into the narrative, will have you seeking a book of his paintings to compare how each painting is described, discussed or presented in the novel. Bundrick, as an art historian, naturally has conducted extensive research into the last two years of Van Gogh's life, pulling from his letters to his brother Theo and other works, to recreate Van Gogh's experiences in the the town of Arles, the asylum of Saint Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy, and his death in Auvers-Sur-Oise.

As a long time admirer of Van Gogh's paintings and having stood, literally within, awe inspiring inches of many of his masterpieces, this novel brings the artist and his paintings to life. Vincent Van Gogh was well known for corresponding with his brother Theo. Here is the link to a digital edition of the complete collection of his letters. http://www.vangoghletters.org/vg/

This fascinating collection was created by the Van Gogh Museum and the Huygens Institute. On the site, visitors can view 902 letters from and to Van Gogh, complete with detailed annotations and illustrations from the master himself. First-time visitors should definitely click on the"Quick Guide" to get an overview of the site’s holdings, and then they should also take a look at the sections "Van Gogh as a letter-writer","Correspondents", "Biographical & historical context", and "Publication History". The letters include those from many of his contemporaries, including Paul Gauguin, and of course, those lovely pieces of writing from his brother, Theo. Users can also use the search engine here to look around by keyword.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

by Laurie R. King

A retired Sherlock Holmes takes on a young, female apprentice. While this scenario is quite plausible, and lends itself to a unique twist on the Sherlock Holmes genre. The one area I would question is the age at which King introduces her protagonist, Mary Russell. Mary Russell is just 15 years old, when she comes across a gaunt, elderly man sitting on the ground, "watching bees.'' This gentleman turns out to be Sherlock Holmes, and the resulting acquaintance evolves into a mentoring experience for the young woman. As a Sherlockian, I had difficulty accepting the premise that Holmes would have too much to do with a 15 year old with a smart mouth on her. I believe King should have made her protagonist a couple years older to make it more plausible.

However, the novel quickly ages Mary Russell and has her attending Oxford and coming of age for her inheritance. I will add that as the relationship between Russell and Holmes matures, you will find yourself naturally buying into the apprenticeship and the crime solving partnership. King has created an original and entertaining series for any Sherlock Holmes fans. The story is funny, heartwarming, and full of intrigue, with Holmes and his young apprentice, Mary Russell, matching wits with some of the finer criminal minds of the times.

The novel flows well and the suspense is building appropriately, until suddenly, King chooses to have her two main characters flee England for Palestine to escape an unknown assassin. This one chapter slows down the narrative and does nothing to carry the story forward. It is almost as if the author, King, wanted to find a way to comment on Palestine and Jerusalem and the future Jewish homeland.

Everything else about this book rings true, from the ambience of World War I England to the intriguing relationship between Holmes and Mary Russell...enough for me to seek out the second in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes partnership.