not those hostages

Anxious People by Frederik Backman

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: One day someone decides to rob a bank.  The bank in question, however, is a cashless bank, which makes robbing it kind of pointless.  Flustered, the bank robber runs across the street and into an apartment building.  The first open door is an apartment where there's an open house, so the bank robber accidentally takes everyone there hostage.  The hostage situation is resolved with no loss of life, but the bank robber is nowhere to be found.  What happened to the bank robber?

First, this is not a riddle.  It's the plot of Frederik Backman's new book, and his hands, this story is funny, touching, sad, and generally un-put-downable.  

Second, lest you be like me, hear "hostage situation" and think Bel Canto, be warned: this book is not like Bel Canto.  It's just as good (Backman and Patchett are two of my absolute favorite authors), but the tone is very different, as is the story itself.

Told in shifting perspectives of the bank robber, various hostages, and two police officers, we get the unfolding story of the investigation in the bank robber's whereabouts, the story of the incident itself, and the backstory of some of the hostages.  Put together, it forms a beautiful tapestry of love, loneliness, and hope.

FTC Disclaimer: I recieved this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

master of her craft

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: Once again, Jodi Picoult has written a thoroughly compelling story that tackles a hot-button controversial social topic.  This time it's abortion, and told through multiple perspectives on both sides of the issue.  In contrast to many of her other books, I wasn't able to develop any sympathy or much empathy for those on the "other side" of my personal beliefs, despite the very well-developed characters.

Picoult also makes the very interesting choice to tell this story backward, beginning mere moments before the end of a hostage situation and rolling time back hour by hour to the morning of that day.  This technique both works and doesn't work for her.  The tension definitely rises as you find out more and more of what happened, but at the same time, because lives were left hanging in the balance at the end of the day, I reached a point where I just wanted to know who lived and who didn't, and stopped caring about all the backstories.

While not everything in this book worked for me, Jodi Picoult is a master of her craft, and has gifted readers again with a deftly told story.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.