Three Book Reviews from 2012

I found this in my Draft folder from 2012.  These books are still well worth reading. And if they qualify as "escapism," who among us does not need a bit of that these days?

Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen. Gerritsen is one of my favorite thriller writers, along with Kathy Reichs. I loved studying anatomy, loved human dissection, and so all the forensic blood'n'guts adds to the fascination. Usually, the books are predictable in the sense of I know ahead of time what kind of reading experience I'll have -- police procedural, forensic pathology, a murder mystery with consistent suspense and smart, savvy female protagonists. Every once in a while, a book will rise about the usual, and this is one. The core is the friendship between cop Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles, their belief in one another, their honesty and care. When Maura disappears after a medical conference and a badly burned body with her characteristics is discovered in a wrecked car, everyone concludes she's dead. Except Jane, who knows the body cannot possibly be Maura's because it wasn't wearing a seat belt. Noticing this kind of detail, and putting it together with Maura's obsessive safety habits is what makes Jane such a tenacious detective. It's a good thing, too, because Maura has stumbled into Nightmare-in-Jonestown. Woven in with the theme of friendship is that of loss -- of family, of a love affair, of hope, of safety. The ending was a surprise -- fair play but not at all what I expected -- but more than that, the resonant layers and fine touches stayed with me after I'd finished.


Due Date by Nancy Wood. This is a first published novel from a talented writer who received very poor editorial support from her publisher. The premise -- a down-on-her-luck student undertakes to become a surrogate mother, only to discover that the parents are baby brokers -- is interesting and refreshing, and the prose is smooth. (I also think it's a hoot that for the past few days, my Spam Box has been full of ads for surrogate mothers.) The characters are strongly drawn, with solid dialog. Yet although the overall story arc has a decent shape, the book feels flabby. The tension takes too long to escalate (for example, it isn't until very late in the book that we learn why selling babies is a horrific thing instead of an illegal way of giving them to loving parents who don't qualify for traditional adoption), too many details and incidents are unconnected or connected in the wrong way, and the protagonist appears either inappropriately suspicious or equally inappropriately gullible. I don't see these as faults of the author, but of a failure of editing. Even seasoned writers need that second pair of eyes, that professional perspective on how to pull it all together, to make every piece pull its weight at the right time in the right way. All the elements of a really good suspense novel are present, and as it is, Due Date offers an entertaining story with many strengths, worth reading. It could have been much more, and I'm hoping that future novels from Nancy Wood will do justice to her considerable potential.

The Glass Butterfly by Louise Marley. There's a special delight in picking up a new Louise Marley novel, akin to expecting the unexpected. Who else could write about Mozart's musical genius transmitted by a vampire's bite, or time travel to discover the mystery of Clara Schumann's passionate romance with Brahms? Music, as the jaded, time-worn vampires in Mozart's Blood know all too well, is the one joy that transcends the years, perhaps because it cannot exist outside of time.

Music, particularly the glorious operas of Puccini, is an abiding love of Victoria Lake, and the one thing she must renounce if her identity is to remain hidden as she goes on the run from a psychopathic killer. But music cannot be extricated from the soul, and Puccini's own life -- as seen through a servant girl -- soon begins unfolding in Victoria's dreams. It's never entirely clear whether this is a purely psychological phenomenon or whether there is some fantastical element, some bond or message across time. Are the lives of the two women parallel in the deadly risks they each face? Does music have the magical power to cross time as well as space? Or is this all happening in the highly-stressed mind of a woman who has already survived one attempted murder? It doesn't matter, because the metaphors and images and emotional responses are real, no matter how them come to us. Bottom line: an extraordinary book by a master storyteller. If you don't already love Puccini's operas, you will.

Book Review: A YA Stumbles

 Abeni's Song, by P. Djèlí Clark (Tor)

I requested an ARC of this book from NetGalley because I loved the author’s previous work. RING SHOUT and THE WAR OF THE DJINN engaged my imagination with compelling characters and gripping, freshly inventive stories. Alas, in my reading experience ABENI’S SONG fell far on all counts. It’s a YA fantasy set in a mythical African village and steeped in African folklore and customs. The first time I tried to read it, it was so tedious and slow-paced and its characters so stilted and bland that it regularly put me to sleep. Then I decided to give it another chance. I made it halfway through before I realized I was using one excuse after another to not read any further. All my previous problems were still there, plus more. I gave up halfway, at a point when I should have been eager to return to the story. Here’s a roundup of what didn’t work for me:

1.        First and foremost, the kids lack agency and competence. At twelve, most children—especially those in traditional societies—already have a wide range of skills. They contribute to their communities at adult or near-adult levels. Here, they have few responsibilities, they consistently behave in ways that are disrespectful and irresponsible, and they are utterly helpless in the face of a threat to their village. One of the joys of contemporary YA novels for both young and adult readers is the resourcefulness of the young characters.

2.       Abeni and some of her friends are annoying to the point that I lost all sympathy for them. Abeni, the viewpoint character, seems completely unaware, for example, of her mother’s fighting skill, something her mother would have practiced regularly to maintain. She’s a self-centered brat, and no one except the witch calls her on it.

3.       Despite bursts of action, the pacing is excruciatingly slow. Material is repeated, adding to the already excessive length for a YA novel. There’s little sense of dramatic shape, and the tension dissipates in the long gaps between action scenes. I perked up during the attack on the village and its aftermath, only to have all the dramatic momentum evaporate.

4.       The evil characters are two-dimensional, as if they woke up in the morning and went, “Evil! Evil! Rah-rah-rah!” This is in stark contrast to the nuanced complexity of the antagonists in Clark’s adult novels.

I am left wondering if this was either a trunk (early, unsuccessful) novel or an attempt at YA by someone who never reads it. The prose, annoyingly peppered with exclamation marks and juvenile (in the worst sense) worldview, is what one might expect if unfamiliar with the genre. All that said, I liked Clark’s adult novels enough to give future work a try and hope there will be more of them.

 

 

Reprint: Is My Brain Wired to Never See a Ghost?

 

Is my brain wired to never see a ghost? A psychologist on three factors that make a paranormal experience more likely

When you experience something that can’t easily be explained, do you think of the supernatural? Zeferli/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Melissa Maffeo, Wake Forest University

Around 1 in 5 Americans say they’ve seen a ghost. I’m not one of them, and I probably never will be. I blame my brain.

Let me explain. No one can say definitively that ghosts exist, but many people believe they do. Roughly three-quarters of Americans believe in some form of paranormal activity – not only ghosts, but psychic abilities, precognitive dreams, mediums and anything else that conventional explanations can’t account for.

As a psychology professor, I often think about the subjectivity people use when interpreting experiences. I wonder, then, if there are perfectly ordinary explanations for seemingly extraordinary experiences. Maybe a perfect storm of everyday factors can converge and trigger the sensation of a paranormal experience.

In my new book, “Science of the Supernatural,” I explore the idea that the human brain might be creating an experience of the supernatural by misinterpreting the external world. Here are three factors that might trick your brain into creating a fake ghost:

Haunted factor #1: Environmental stimuli

Anyone who’s ever watched a ghost hunting show has seen the paranormal investigator mutter something like “The EMF’s going crazy” when there’s purported supernatural activity afoot. Electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, are invisible areas of energy created by electrically charged particles.

At present, there is no direct evidence that humans can consciously sense EMF the same way we can touch, see or hear things in our environment. But with a handheld device purchased at a local hardware store, you can measure them anywhere. An EMF detector picks up electrical or magnetic activity, whether human-made or otherworldly. But do EMF fluctuations relate to paranormal activity?

The scientific method might help answer this question. In one study, conducted in the South Street vaults underneath Edinburgh, Scotland, EMFs fluctuated more in areas with a history of ghostly happenings. Another study found greater variability of EMFs in the more “haunted” areas of Hampton Court Palace in England.

People might unknowingly be detecting changes in environmental stimuli, like electromagnetic fields. The question then becomes: Did the ghost cause the EMF, or did the EMF cause the ghost?

To date, only one research group has attempted to experimentally manipulate environmental factors, including complex EMF, and measure subsequent perceptions of the paranormal.

Participants did report many peculiarities, ranging from feeling dizzy to feeling like they were detached from their bodies and even sensing a presence – but these experiences didn’t correspond to how the researchers varied environmental conditions, like EMF intensity. Interestingly, the people who described anomalous experiences were the same people who believed more strongly in the paranormal.

Do environmental factors like EMF lead to perceptions of the paranormal? On the one hand, there is a correlation between reportedly haunted places and EMF variability. And there are some indications that humans can detect magnetism. On the other hand, experimental manipulation of EMF did not relate to weird perceptions in a lab setting.

I think we need to look into other haunted factors.

Haunted factor #2: Neurological mix-ups

Kindness, Fishtanks, and Getting Banned - June's Newsletter is Here!

Kindness, Fishtanks, and Getting Banned by Facebook!

I just sent out my newsletter for June 2026! Among other things, it's the story of how my cat, Freya, rescued me from being kicked off Facebook. It also features Freya in her very own action-adventure film as she stalks the Denizens of the Fishtank.

You can read the whole thing here:

Don't miss an issue! If you enjoyed Freya's adventures  (and my books) please subscribe here.

[ARCHIVES] Do Not Murder In My Name: The Rush to Federal Executions

This post first appeared in 2020. 

Now, in the waning days of 2020, the criminal in the White House has pushed through a string of murders. I realize I have used inflammatory language, but nothing less conveys the intensity of my outrage and revulsion. Simply put, someone who initiates and demands the ending of a human life is a criminal. The deliberate, calculated, cold-blooded taking of a human life is murder. 

From the BBC: 

As President Donald Trump's days in the White House wane, his administration is racing through a string of federal executions.

Five executions are scheduled before President-elect Joe Biden's 20 January inauguration - breaking with an 130-year-old precedent of pausing executions amid a presidential transition.

And if all five take place, Mr Trump will be the country's most prolific execution president in more than a century, overseeing the executions of 13 death row inmates since July of this year.

The five executions began this week, starting with convicted killer 40-year-old Brandon Bernard who was put to death at a penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. The execution of 56-year-old Alfred Bourgeois will take place on the evening of 11 December.

I am the family member of a murder victim, and I speak from personal experience of the impulse to revenge the taking of my mother's life. I also know that this is a natural expression of grief, and that with healing, it passes. To me it is essential that those left behind be given the support and time to process that loss and to re-engage with their lives. To focus on killing someone else freezes us in retaliation mode. 

Over the years, I have spoken out against the death penalty, telling my story to groups as diverse as city councils, law students, death penalty abolition activists, and state legislators. In 2012, I was invited to participate in an international conference put on by Murder Victim Families For Human Rights. Then I met others like me, who had lost a single family member to violence, those whose loved ones had been executed or were on death row, and those who experienced both. Every single person who had experienced both was Black. There is no escaping the racial injustice in the way the death penalty is applied (or the way crimes are investigated and prosecuted). Yet the most moving part of that weekend was listening with an open heart to mothers weeping for their executed sons -- and realizing their grief and loss was no less than mine. 

If you, who are reading this, take away nothing else, remember this: every person who is put to death is or has been loved by someone, and is grieved by someone, and missed like an aching hole in the heart by someone.

In 2019, I penned a blog for Death Penalty Focus, called "When we focus on revenge instead of healing, we never heal." You can read it below.