The reading radar

 

The Quiet Tenant

Author: Clémence Michallon

Publisher: Knopf

 

An achingly handsome widower, who charms women and then kidnaps and kills them swaggers through author Clémence Michallon’s fast-paced thriller, The Quiet Tenant. Aidan Thomas always helps people in his neighbourhood and at work. He is kind and never speaks ill about anyone. But looks are deceptive, Aidan has a dark secret. He is a kidnapper and serial killer. After his wife’s death Aidan and his teen daughter Cecilia move houses. Bartender Emily has the hots for him but is unaware of his darker side. Rachel, a “family friend” who has been living with him for five years (read held hostage) in a shed moves with him and his daughter in their new house. Rachel befriends Cecilia, who she thinks could be her ray of hope to escape. Aidan has murdered eight women and only time will tell who will be the ninth. Michallon’s writing is riveting. Her knack for creating powerful imagery is terrific. You are gripped with fear when Aidan screeches his truck outside the house and starts climbing the stairs vehemently. 

 

Friday I’m in Love

Author: Camryn Garrett

Publisher: Penguin

 

This coming-of-age YA novel is about loving yourself, falling in love, not buckling under peer pressure, and celebrating love with the colours of the rainbow. Lauded author Camryn Garrett’s Friday I’m in Love takes straight into Mahalia Harris’s teenage world. Mahalia has too many issues and wishes in her young life. She envies her best pal Naomi. She has the hots for cutie-pie Siobhan but is not sure if the feelings are mutual. She wants to be the centre of attraction. Hence, she thinks a belated sweet sixteen birthday bash or coming out party would be perfect. But she is bogged down by monthly bills, school assignments, and snide remarks from her jealous classmates.  The coming out part seems like a fabulous plan but with a thousand things spinning around her like a whirlwind, will Mahalia’s party be over before it’s even begun? To find out, you will have to read this witty Gen Z love story.

 

The First Ladies

Authors: Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

Publisher: Berkley

 

This much-awaited book is the story of two formidable women and close friends from different worlds, who fought for women’s rights, the power of education, and civil rights. The First Ladies talks in detail about the inseparable ties between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray takes the readers into the marches and packed auditoriums where these women gave speeches on civil rights, justice, and equality in the US. The two women confide their fears, secrets, hopes, and dreams to each other. Be it her outspokenness or heart-breaking discovery of her husband’s secret love affair, Eleanor carves a niche for herself despite all these upheavals in her life. Mary too becomes a force to reckon with. It is a story of the tragedies and triumphs and common values that these women shared in this book.

 

Fatherland

Author: Burkhard Bilger

Publisher: Random House

 

A gripping story of morality and painstaking investigation into a family secret and a Nazi Party chief (his grandfather) make for a spellbinding read in Burkhard Bilger’s Fatherland.  As a kid, Bilger had heard his parents talk about the Second World War and youth in Germany. His parents were born in 1935. Although his mother was a historian, she seldom spoke about her father’s work with the Nazis during the war. However, all hell broke loose when an old pack of letters arrived from Germany. Karl Gönner was a school teacher and father of four when the war began. He was a loyal Nazi but as the war progressed, his views changed. Some say he saved many from Nazi atrocities, yet some opine he was ruthless. Apparently, he had ordered the police to beat a local farmer. Bilger sets on a journey across villages in France and Germany to discover the truth about his grandfather in this book.

 

No Perfect Places

Author: Steven Salvatore

Publisher: Bloomsbury YA

 

Life is never perfect. It is an endless struggle against all odds for renowned author Steven Salvatore’s twins Alex and Olly in his latest YA novel, No Perfect Places. After their father dies in prison, Alex, Olly, and their mother are left to fend for themselves. The family loses everything, house, college funds, and even close pals. While their mother slogs from morning to night to make ends meet, Alex takes to drinking and drugs. Olly is struggling to keep his dad’s secret about their half-brother Tyler under wraps. When Tyler comes to spend his summer holidays in their lakeside town, Olly hides the truth from Alex. Tyler and Alex form a strong friendship. But if they can’t confront their father’s imperfect past, they run the risk of jeopardizing their future. This novel is an easy read.