Reviews: fantasy, mystery, graphic novel

Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets by Rosemary Simpson. 2/5
A thriller with rather cardboard characters and a not-terribly-thrilling plot. Set in New York, the plot involves a man killing his wives for their fortunes, a post-mortem photographer and his sister trying to capture an image of a soul leaving a body, an ex-Pinkerton detective, a woman investigator, and a cast of other flat and boring characters including Jacob Riis, who is included because apparently you have to have a real-life figure in a book like this? The author doesn’t seem to know how problematic it is to hold the Pinkertons up as examples of good detectives or people in general; nor that it is equally problematic to describe addiction as something overcome by strength of will. The plot was not tightly constructed and repeated instances of “intuition,” easily overcome challenges, and coincidences led to a predictable end.

Watersnakes by Tony Sandoval. 5/5
A beautiful, macabre, enigmatic, myth-making graphic novel, telling the story of two supernatural young women who find one another, become close, fight dead wolves, are watched by foxes and dogs, save an octopus (the king of the sea), and make unusual and beguiling magic.

The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky. 5/5
This is an original and imaginative novel that follows Omat, a shaman of the Inuk people, from birth to parenthood. Freely speculating on encounters between First Nations peoples and the Norse explorers of North America, Brodsky weaves a powerful story of identity, survival, rivalry, and enduring bonds among ice-sea hunters and the men and women of the Norse expeditions, delving into shamanic powers, the spread of religions, and the desires of the gods. Well-researched and written, The Wolf in the Whale is a powerful and gripping book.

The Nowhere Child by Christian White. 2/5
The concept is intriguing: an Australian woman is presented with evidence that she is actually an American child who was kidnapped when she was very young. On a journey to find out what happened to her, she travels to the US, where she discovers that her mother was involved in an evangelical snake-handling cult, that her father was in the closet and having a affair with the man who became the prime suspect in her kidnapping, and that numerous old family friends were all involved to some extent. But Kim, the protagonist and sometimes narrator, doesn’t seem to have a lick of common sense or critical thinking skills. She takes people at their word, abruptly leaves her job to to to America, and sneaks around trying to figure out who dunnit. While none of the book’s characters are particularly deep, Kim’s narrated sections are painful to read because of the character’s flat aspect and lack of brains. If I hadn’t gotten this from netgalley and committed to review it, I’d never have read the whole thing. Overall it both lacks depth and nuance and still manages to be wordy and move slowly.

The Very Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan by Caitlin R. Kiernan. 3/5
Fans of Kiernan’s writing will want this, even though many if not all of the stories included in it have been anthologized already. Overall I found this particular collection uneven, perhaps because of the mix of genres represented within. Kiernan’s dark fantasies are often gems, but her noir pastiches are so over the top as to be unreadable expect as satire. Nonetheless, this collection will help new readers figure out what of her writing they’ll enjoy and what to avoid as they look for further works by her.