A UNPALATABLE MIX OF SILLINESS AND RACISM

 

Espresso Shot

A Coffeehouse Mystery, Book 7

By: Cleo Coyle

Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel

Series: The Coffeehouse Mysteries, Book 7

Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 02-06-13

Language: English

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

 

 

Natural law dictates that bad books die a quick death. While  Audible,  Amazon's outlet for audiobooks, promotes many well-written books by globally acclaimed authors. It also subverts natural law when it keeps indigestible nonfiction, and supremely  inane fiction on life support.  Espresso Shot, by Cleo Coyle, fits into the latter category. If that were its only flaw, perhaps it would deserve a whiff of oxygen. The trouble is that it goes beyond the inanity of so many cozy novels,  to propagate clichés that are no longer socially acceptable. There have been major cultural shifts since 2013, when it was first published and when it received stellar reviews on Amazon.  In principle, Claire Cosi, the main character in the novel, is believable. She is the successful manager of a New York coffeehouse, the mother of adult daughter from her failed marriage to Matteo Allegro.  She is also an amateur sleuth who has, at her disposal, the professional help of her lover,  policeman  Mike Quinn. She shares the apartment above the coffeehouse with her ex, she serves a  clientele made up of the sort of people who can pronounce  words such as doppio and macchiato effortlessly, she can tell Kona coffee from Colombian. It is all very cosmopolitan, very elitist, way too unanchored in verisimilitude.  While this sort of escapist fiction might have been of interest in 201, its silliness jars in 2021.

  Lavish weddings, a staple in so many cozies, typifies the ethos of the 1990s. Now, it seems to be no more than a literary straight jacket that evolved from fairy. Details such as designer clothes, designer coffee,  ultra-expensive food,  gem encrusted fountains that spew prosecco signaled faith in robust economy. Do they continue to be  a cherished fantasy in face of the seismic cultural and socioeconomic shifts of the post-pandemic era?  Who among those struggling  to survive really has the least interest in  Matteo's bride-to Breanna Summour's ersatz trials and tribulations? 

Breanna is nothing but  updated version of the bad witch in the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. No wonder there are so many suspects when someone tries to kill her.  The big question is, why should the reader care? There are other  big questions, as well, :How did this book ever get published? It has the flimsiest of plots, absurd dialogue, and stick figure characters, All the blather about coffee seems to be pure filler gleaned  from advertising brochures. What really damns this book, though, is that  it perpetuates the cliché of madly jealous mustachioed Latin men and ultra fertile, overweight Latin women. This kind of insensitivity is perniciously anachronistic, After all, Juan Valdez no longer trundles coffee sacks on a burro. He is now a NASA engineer. The fat woman teaches a Pilates class. Why is that so hard for the author to imagine? Perhaps a narrow world view and tons of fluff would have been tolerable if she had delivered about with dimension and wit. As it is, reading it is a waste of time.

Narration is ho-hum. The reader needs to work on West Virginian accents, of which there is more than one, hear?

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR WALTER ECHO-HAWK

       

Author Walter Echo-Hawk, Fulcrum Press.

       Q. If you could, would you change in the history of the Pawnee Nation?

        A. If a change in Pawnee history were possible, my wish would be: That the Pawnee were able          to remain in our Nebraska homeland.

       Q.What do you see as the future of the Pawnee Nation in the United States?

       A.  My crystal ball sees that in the future the Pawnee Nation will grown and flourish in the              United States as an integral part of our domestic political system, with all of its treaties,                 culture, language, and full measure of indigenous human rights intact. Our nation will not            perish from the face of the earth; and we shall remain in greatest grassland on earth--no              matter what.

        Q. How representative of First Nations is your family's post-Columbian experience?

      A.Though every Indian tribe has a unique culture, language and history, all suffered common          fates resulting from colonialism similar to that depicted in this book; and today all share                similar aspirations for cultural survival, self-determination, and well-being.

       Q. What can be done to promote the inclusion of Native American history in American  elementary  and  middle   schools?

      School curriculum should include unvarnished indigenous history of the United States; teachers should learn and teach Native American studies; and school or college libraries should provide students with books on our rich Native American history, culture and current issues. The lack of reliable information about Native America by the public at large and by government policymakers is a glaring information gap and the single biggest problem faced by Indian Tribes in the United States today.

Q. What can Pawnee elders teach young Americans?

A. Pawnee elders could share teachings about this land, the heavens above, and our indigenous history and heritage. All citizens must at some point become indigenous to North America.

Q. Your book, THE SEA OF GRASS, attests, movingly, to your family's resilience. Why do you think your ancestors were able to transcend their losses?

A. Our ancestors were a very strong and proud people, determined to stay in their homeland whatever the cost. And I believe their culture and our communal way of life sustained them during the trying times.

.Q. Has the American government done all it can to redress offenses committed against the First Nations?

A. The government began the task of restoring indigenous justice to the American Indian tribes in 1970, with President Nixon's "Indian Self-Determination" policy which seeks to invest the Indian Nations with decision-making power over their own destinies. Since that date, Native America worked to implement Indian self-determination across the land in one of America's great social movements, and we have witnessed the rise of modern Indian Nations as a result of that social movement, which is called the Tribal Sovereignty Movement. But the work toward restoring indigenous justice in our country must continue until it is done by coming to a national reconciliation with Native American about "what we did to the Indians" and according to Native America the full measure of "indigenous human rights" as that term is defined by modern international human rights law.  

Q. Do you think Pawnee language and cultural traditions will survive and why?

A. The Pawnee people work hard to preserve their language and culture to keep their heritage strong in the face of changing times. However, this is a difficult task. Only time will tell.

Q. How important for young Pawnees to preserve their culture and why?

A. Culture is carried-on by the whole community--and that legacy is handed down from one generation to the next. It cannot survive if the young generation turns its back on its heritage.

Q. What does the Pawnee Nation have to teach present-day America?

A. Here are six wise Golden Rules which seem to be the hallmark of traditional Indigenous Peoples worldwide: Place your trust in your Creator; love the land; respect all of creation; put your family and the people before yourself; listen to your elders and respect your ancestors; protect your homeland.community--and that legacy is handed down from one generation to the next. It cannot survive if the young generation turns its back on its heritage.

Q. Since the  1500s, the indigenous people of the Americas have had to make accommodations in order to survive. In the process, much of value was lost. How can the history of the Pawnee Nation inspire other indigenous people? 

A. Indigenous peoples share the share a common traumatic history of colonization, experienced a struggle to survive, and have similar aspirations for prosperity and self-determination. Pawnee history symbolizes humanity's strong will to survive that inspires the best in every human breast.

. 

Q. Do you think indigenous people are adequately represented in local, state and federal government? If not, what should be done to change that?

A.Indigenous peoples are a permanent, and often invisible, minority in their homelands that have been engulphed by immigrants; and Native peoples are normally underrepresented in modern democratic nations, such as the United States. They depend upon fair and independent courts to protect their interests from the tyranny of the majority; and need better representation in all branches of government--legislative, executive and judicial.

Q.The Pawnees are a matrilineal nation. How does that affect the future of young Pawnee women?

A. It is true that the Pawnee Nation is traditionally a matrilineal society, as are many American Indian tribal nations. Earth-Lodge-Women made life possible in the Central Plains during aboriginal times. But that part of Pawnee social fabric was weakened by non-Indian influence after the people were removed from their aboriginal homeland and placed onto individually-owned tracks of allotted Indian trust land on the Pawnee reservation in Oklahoma. Only bits and pieces of the matrilineal structure survive today that is seen, for examples, in ownership of sacred bundles, feasts for tribal ceremonies, and gardening practices. Today, women are reviving some of their traditional societies in the Pawnee community and defining their role in the community. In addition, young women are serving as elected tribal government leaders, becoming doctors, lawyers and other professionals, and even running for elected office in state and local government; and they serve on Pawnee Nation economic development and higher education boards of directors. The cultural foundation for modern Pawnee women remains ever important. 

Q. What would you like to say to the readers of THE SEA OF GRASS on behalf of your ancestors?

A. From this book, I hope that you will come to know America's Native peoples and see our humanity.

.

COMING UP

Interview with author Walter Echo-Hawk.

Review of RIOT DAYS, by Maria Alyohina

CHILDREN OF THE STARS

I confess that, much to my shame, I knew zero about the Pawnee Nation until I came across Walter Echo-Hawk's THE SEA OF GRASS: A FAMILY TALE FROM THE AMERICA HEARTLAND. An attorney, writer, and activist, Echo-Hawk is one of the rare Americans who can rightly claim that his ancestral roots in the New World reach back to 1250. The fictionalized history of his Pawnee family's presence in America, is an inspiring exploration of these roots. It is an account that begins with a meeting between a lost, starving Pawnee boy and a wolf. Separated from his companions, the boy is near death when the wolf rescues him and blesses him with the power to live,

"Wherever you go, you will never get lost or starve. Like a wolf, you will always find something to eat and find your way back home. This is the power to survive. Your people will need it in the years ahead. Remember me—and you will be taken care of, no matter what. "

 That power was greatly needed by the Pawnee as war with larger tribes such as the Lakota, famine, and invasions by Europeans who wantonly destroyed buffalo herds and who brought with them deadly infectious diseases so reduced their numbers that by 1850 a population of 10 000 had dwindled to  4000. Forced dislocation to Oklahoma from the Loup, Republican and south Platte river areas, in Nebraska and Kansas,  further reduced that number to 2 700.

Although the journey the reader takes under Echo-Hawk's deft guidance is not free of sorrow, as the Pawnee have their land taken away, their traditions fractured, their children subjected to enforced acculturation, what shines through is the strength and faith that make survival possible. But this is not a grim story. It is a story that includes lyricism,  cosmology, humor, feminism, subtle political jabs, a compact between human and nature, faith, tradition, and the hard-earned pride of a people who served their country well in war and peace. While reading it, I learned that the Pawnee is a matrilineal nation-- its first chapter honors Echo-Hawk's ancestor Calico Woman--and I loved the charming Pawnee legend of how horses came into being. The heavenly legend about the origin of the Pawnee, who call themselves Children of the Stars,  moved me and made me wish more people would learn Echo-Hawk's people.

There are only a couple of minor quibbles I have about the text--two or three typos and the lack of a Pawnee glossary. Neither limits the pleasure of reading this long overdue contribution to the history of Native Americans.

1822 portrait of Sharitahrish by Charles Bird King, on display in the Library of the White House

NOTE--Today, the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma has 3, 600 members. The Pawnee language lives.

A NEW BEGINNING

After a long pause, Rich Text returns to exciting work of reviewing books and interviewing authors and artists. Please stay tuned. Albert Camus,  Leon Wirth, Sujata Massey, and Khaled Husseini are the authors whose works are on this blogger's bedside table, at the moment.

COMING UP--A review of THE SEA OF GRASS,  by Walter R. Echo-Hawk, a book  ''Inspired by real people and events, "The Sea of Grass" is the story of the Pawnee Nation, which was shaped by the land, animals, and plants of the Central Plains. The long sweep of indigenous history in the grasslands of North America comes alive through the folklore of a single family. Major events are told from a Pawnee perspective, and capture the oral tradition of ten generations of Echo-Hawk's family. This historical novel tells the stories of the spiritual side of Native life, and gives voice to the rich culture and cosmology of the Pawnee Nation."

COOKING ISTANBUL

Jason Goodwin, author of the delightful series that features Ottoman detectiveYashim, has published COOKING ISTANBUL, a collection of recipes from the Yashim novels. It is a beautifully designed  volume with such lush photographs it could become a coffee table book if it were not for its clearly written recipes for delicious dishes.

Please click on the link below for NPR's interview with Jason and some of the recipes included in his book.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/11/15/501588281/assassins-steak-tartare-popular-detective-series-gets-its-own-cookbook

Click on the link belowto order COOKING ISTANBUL, which is also available at Amazon.

http://www.npr.org/books/titles/498690082/yashim-cooks-istanbul-culinary-adventures-in-the-ottoman-kitchen

JASON GOODWIN'S YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL

I am reposting Jason Goodwin's announcement of his Yashim cookbook. I have pre-ordered my copy. I recommend that readers consider it as a magnificennt Holiday--or any time--present.

  

Dear Yashimite (if I may), Last week we took delivery of the first copies of Yashim Cooks Istanbul, the book designed to take you deeper into the world of Yashim's Ottoman adventures. I'm writing because you have enjoyed the novels, from The Janissary Tree to The Baklava Club, and might wish to hear more about this unique celebration of 19thcentury Istanbul’s leading gourmet sleuth.

Following Yashim’s adventures in his kitchen, Yashim Cooks Istanbul contains all sorts of easy, traditional recipes from the Ottoman capital and its hinterlands. There are simple and delicious family dishes like a Greek fisherman’s stew, pumpkin soup or eggplant chicken wraps, alongside more unusual recipes for feasts, from stuffed mackerel, to hazelnut and lemon pilaf, or fish poached in paper. There are lots of recipes for vegetarians and pescatarians, interwoven with illustrations, photos and descriptions which evoke the world of 19th century Istanbul, including extracts from the novels which you may enjoy. Those of you who kindly volunteered to test one will find the finished recipe here, along with your name in the acknowledgements, because the book could not have happened without your thoughtful input. My favourite combination of recipe and extract is The Assassin’s Steak Tartare, a classic recipe accompanied by the passage in which Yashim struggles with a Tartar assassin at the window of a Venetian palazzo... The book has a distinctive cover, appropriate for the themes of crime, cooking and Istanbul, but also rather suitable for Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving. It’s a beautiful hardback with 224 colour pages and an index to the extracts and recipes. You might find a signed copy would make a good Christmas present!

Yashim Cooks Istanbul goes on sale in the bookshops and bookstores on October 27th in the UK, and November 15th in the USA. If you have already ordered your copy or copies, thank you: they’ll be sent out to you right away. If you’d still like to order an early copy or two, signed and free of postage charges, you can do so here. If any of your friends would be interested, please share this email with them - and do get in touch if you think of anyone I ought to contact. It is, after all, a small world. best wishes, Jason

Copyright © 2016 Jason Goodwin, All rights reserved.

DANIEL SILVA SHARES THE FIRST CHAPTER OF BLACK WIDOW

Click on the link to read the compelling first chapter of Daniel Silva's new novel, THE BLACK WIDOW. The book will be out on 12 July 2016. Mark your calendars. This promises to be an amazing read.

Daniel's Silva's new novel

LOVE AND WAR

If I boil down my list of what makes a good book, I am left with the following: clear, precise language, a well-designed plot, a memorable sense of place, engaging characters. Alan Furst’s A HERO OF FRANCE meets these standards. It is a story of French Resistance agents who help downed British pilots to return to Britain. That the salient characters are ordinary people whose bravery is devoid of hubris makes their story all the more touching. Presented with the choice of joining les colabos who aid and abet the Nazis, Mathieu, aristocratic Annemarie, elegant Chantal, bar owner Jules, a few others prefer to risk their lives in order to liberate their country.

Furst tells the story of these heroes without adding any unnecessary frills. He writes in crisply precise language that is as elegant in its apparent simplicity a glass of the best French wine. Dive into this book and, as it happens when you sip good French wine, a rich complexity is your reward. The reminders that France is, for the moment, a conquered country are present in streetlamps painted blue, in the sounds of police patrol, in the reek of old uniforms in the flea market, at the smell of putrefying on the floor of a boucherie chevaline, in the smell of coffee made with chicory, and nuts, in the way tired Parisians shift from foot to foot as they wait in longer and longer lines. But expect no tugging at your heartstrings. Furst is above that. He builds characters who do what they must because that is the right thing. There is no dithering, no hesitation, no hand wringing. Who would not love to meet such people? I found them all so real, so  decent I feel honored to have met them, if only  in print.

Ex-tank commander Mathieu, who leads a Resistance cell, is no D’Artagnan. His story does not call for flourishes. He is a patriot without speeches, without slogans. If he thinks, briefly, about what he has had to give up in order to lead his group of Resistants, he does not s indulge in self-pity. There is a point, where Furst flashes his amazing understanding of French character, “He’s French—not so much afraid of dying as afraid of doing wrong.” That makes me  think of knights, paladins, of D’Artagnan minus the braggadocio. This is the kind of person needed to defeat monsters. This the kind of person who returns to an everyday metier--skip the political office. On his war work is done, he goes on with his life. Please note the implied  emphasis on the word life, for this is at the heart of Furst’s writing. This is a book about difficult choices and difficult times. But ultimately, it is praise  song to life. This is the reason its characters leap off the page and stay with you long after you closed the book. The ability to write such a book is the mark of a master.

THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR

THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR begins gently, the way good stories and good music do. Its opening paragraph situates young doctor Hugh Grange, one of its main characters, in the lovely English landscape, “The town of Rye rose from the flat marshes like an island, its tumbled pyramids of red-tiled roofs glowing in the slanting evening light.” Such an introduction is at odds with rules designed to confine contemporary fiction to a straight jacket dreamt up by academics with too much leisure and not much imagination. According to these rules, contemporary readers must be hit between the eyes with an opening sentence that dazzles them to the point of disorientation. Place and time are  vague. Readers must  work for entertainment. Sentences must be short, adjectives and adverbs must vanish and nouns that have the vaguest etymological association with Latin are forbidden. Passive voice is taboo and so the gerund. Hemingway’s clipped journalistic style trumps Dickens and Trollope's.

Fortunately, Simonson rises above such silly directives. She renders the town of Rye and people as  timeless and universal. There is a special alchemy in that. There is magic firmly rooted in British literary tradition. Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austen, had the gift to tell stories that transcend time and place. So does Simonson. Her characters range from those burdened with the prejudices of their place to those ho can break free from parochial morality and outdated conventions. Well-traveled, well educated, forward thinking Beatrice Nash, is one of the latter. Eager to escape the humiliating confines of the aristocratic household of a domineering relative, she accepts a teaching job at Rye. There she meets Hugh Grange, who has been tutoring underprivileged boys while he spends his summer vacation at the home of his aunt Agatha Kent. She also meets Hugh’s cousin, poet Daniel Bookham, an effete poet who is the perfect foil for the level headed young doctor. The three become Beatrice’s friends and supporters.

Beatrice moves into Mrs. Turber’s house, a woman of Dickensian narrow mindedness. In time, she meets the local social leaders, the wannabe social leaders, and the local outcasts, personified by a Roma family. Add Belgian war refugees to that mix and the sweet Sussex summer acquires an entirely different flavor. This is a change that Simonson handles with exquisite deftness. What seems,  at first, no more than a good read in the style of Barbara Pym, deepens into a study of social conditions and their effect on the life of minorities—the Roma—and the powerless—women. But this is done without preachy condescension. As the story moves from tense peacetime to war, Simonson’s theme darkens. Effete Daniel’s sexuality comes into question, solicitor Poot, another Dickensian character, reveals his ambitions, a newly arrived couple of writers hits Rye’s brick wall of prudery, Agatha Kent discovers the limits of her tolerance. The Roma boy for whom Beatrice has such hopes  learns that the scholarly life to which he aspires is barred to him. A Belgian refugee whose beauty initially gains her the approval of townspeople soon confronts a crisis that nearly turns her into an outcast.

ut these are nothing but the bones of the story. The real thing is richer and far more enjoyable. It is well constructed and enlightening though it never attempts to bludgeon  the reader. Rather, it relies on unaffected simplicity.  This is superior writing by a gifted author. It is a work I want to keep close  as I keep those of Dickens and Trollope. It is work to which I will return after I recover from having my heart wrung by sadness of the awful war that sundered Hugh, his cousin, and so many Sussex boys from their golden landscape where, in summer, “...the bluffs were a massive unbroken line of shadow from east to west, the fields breathed out the heat of the day, and the sea was a slate silk dress.”

THE UNREADABLE

In my opinion,  fiction writers rarely choose stories.  I believe that more often than not, stories that demand to be told choose someone to  tell them.  Surely neither Andrew Vachs,  Patricia Cornwell, nor other novelists whose works ooze blood and gore derive much pleasure from imagining vicious killers and their deeds. Publishers do derive pleasure from profits and readers there are who enjoy putting money into the pockets of writers and publishers of gory novels. This seems to be a symbiotically cozy arrangement for those involved.

Trouble is that some readers lack whatever it is that makes reading gory stories enjoyable. I am one of those. My view of the world is sufficiently dark--what with ISIS and other mad people creating mayhem globally--that  do not I find side trips into the minds of imaginary psychopaths all that entertaining. That is why I see M.J. Arlidge's THE DOLL'S HOUSE and Fiona Barton's THE WIDOW  as fiction to avoid. The former follows the ghastly doings of a criminal who abducts and starves young women. The later deals with a poisoner and a policewoman who likes to be brutalized.  I cannot go into details. I stopped reading both books after the first few chapters.That no doubt disqualifies me from judging them fairly.But the problem is not the writing. Rather, it is the topic I find unapproachable. all masterfully crafted, Having read Nabokov's LOLITA, John Fowler's THE COLLECTOR,  and Emile Zola's THERESE RAQUIN,  I lean into the universal privilege of readers, that which allows me to refrain from diving  into the garbage pit of  fictional criminals' mind. I feel no compulsion to read pedestrian writing about fictional killers just so that I can  say  with satisfaction that there but for the grace of god go all of us.  Writers may abdicate the responsibility of choosing their topics. I, as a reader, cannot.  My time is finite, unlike the activity of writers and publishers. No, I will leave these two novels to those who are capable of appreciating them. I certainly cannot

MAKE PASSIONATE YOUR SENSE OF HEARING

Kobi Hagoel is a percussionist  I hope to interview on this blog. Listen to his music and I think you will agree that it is lovely.

Click on the link hear samples from  Kobi's album. 

KOBI HAGOEL & KAV HATEFER

TEN QUESTIONS FOR SUSANNAH EANES

1.Which of the characters in LUCKY SOUTHERN WOMEN resembles you most?

There are elements of myself in both Phoebe and Sophie. Like Sophie, I'm a writer but I'm definitely not the crafty daredevil she is. Phoebe's thoughtful level-headedness is really more like me. At least I hope it is! When I was younger I was a little afraid to be alone, like Sophie, and I tended to think I needed a man around. But as I've grown older and hopefully wiser, again it's Phoebe's independence that is definitely more like me. Give me a book and a cup of tea (or nice glass of wine) and I'm perfectly content to spend a weekend at home, all by myself!

2.If you were to choose the ideal reader, what would you imagine him to be?

Anyone who likes a good story and can put aside his or her everyday thoughts and opinions to allow the story to unfold without judgment.

3. For whom do you write? I definitely write because there's a story inside – but in the case of Lucky Southern Women, I was hopeful that the story would give some hope to women in abusive relationships.

4. You a creative person many talents. Is writing the most important of them? Why? If I don't write, I can't think. It helps me to process things. In addition, I can return to what I wrote even years earlier, and remember what I knew then – be it a lesson or some hard-won knowledge that I'd forgotten.
5.Does your training in classical dance influence your writing? How? Dancers must concentrate and focus in order to execute movement and not fall down or lose their balance and run into someone. I learned to concentrate and tune out distractions in dance class, and this is definitely helpful when crafting a story.
6. You grew up speaking French. Does being bilingual affect your southern voice? Maybe? My father was insistent that we learn French – or at least one second language. He believed it was more important to speak correctly than to write or read a language, because speaking is our primary way of communicating. You could get into serious trouble if someone didn't understand what you say. So we would repeat, repeat, listen and repeat until it was exactly like the native speakers on the recordings we had. We listened to every nuance and inflection in the native's voice and Papa wasn't satisfied until it was echoed perfectly. I think because of that I became a bit of a social chameleon. I tend to speak exactly the way the person I'm speaking with talks. When I was in Chicago studying dance, and came home for holidays, my friends laughed at my “northern” accent. When I spoke to my mother on the phone, my friends in college tended to mimic my speech that sounded like hers. My children can always tell when I've been talking to someone from the Carolinas. So yes, in the sense that I listen and mimic, I think being bilingual has affected my southern voice a great deal.
7.What would ask your favorite writer during an interview? How do you begin? How do you know when it's done?
8. If you could only write one paragraph, what would it say? Be good to one another. Life isn't practice.
9.How important is commercial success? It isn't.
10. What would like to add to these questions? Why am I writing a sequel? The characters literally kept talking in my head and it was months after I believed I'd finished. So I had to listen and write it down. However, the sequel is written differently than the first novel. It is entirely in third person, and there are some rather serious and controversial issues that arise in the story. We find out things about Phoebe we probably didn't suspect. Other characters also reveal interesting secrets. It's a bit darker, but in my opinion much more riveting than the first book, and hopefully a bit easier to follow without the different points-of-view and changing styles with the journals, first person narrative, and flashbacks.