Close to the Bone by Lisa Black ***

Theresa MacLean discovers a violent murder in the Medical Examiner’s office. One of the deskmen has been beaten to death and the other one is missing. While this murder and the subsequent ones appear to be the mystery, these deaths are solved, and a ten-year-old closed murder case replaces them as the real mystery. In the interim, Theresa is kidnapped and trapped in a car trunk while her assailant is himself murdered. Along the way, after a slow start, a steady stream of violence and plot twists keeps the story moving until Theresa unravels the mystery. Unfortunately, a long list of innocent corpses remains after the unmasking of the single guilty party who started it all.

Much of the plot depends on the failure or ineffectiveness of modern technology. The surveillance cameras do not record. A cell phone cannot be traced. DNA for the fetus is lost. Fingernail scrapings only contain the victim’s DNA. One suspect has someone else’s fingerprints in the personnel file. Those fingerprints cannot be traced. A key piece of evidence (a valuable ring) is lost and does not appear in the crime scene photos. Many of the important records are not computerized, requiring searching through old ledgers. Even a car trunk doesn’t have the ubiquitous internal release.

The general anti-technology tone is summed up, “The computer is a tool to narrow down possibilities and point us in the right direction. But if we’re already pointed in a direction, then there’s no need to go through the extra and pointless work involving the computer.”

Theresa is responsible for trace analysis, but she follows up on all clues regardless. She is attacked by several men, all characterized as being larger and stronger than she is. She defends herself with whatever is at hand: a steak knife, a glass jar. For the most part, she does not need to be rescued. She might appear even stronger if she didn’t periodically turn into a teenage girl with a crush.

Close to the Bone by Lisa Black is a forensic mystery with a high body count that depends more on detective work than forensics.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood ***

The Blind Assassin is Iris Chase Griffen’s story of her and her sister’s life. The life stories are interspersed with a novel written by Laura Chase and published by her sister Iris Chase Griffen following Laura’s suicide. Laura’s novel is also called The Blind Assassin and tells the story of two lovers. In turn, the male lover is a Science Fiction author who tells a third story about a blind assassin (a book within a book within a book). The Chase daughters are born into a well-to-do family, but with economic setbacks, they become victims of the Griffens.

Characters:

Iris Chase Griffen: The narrator and protagonist of the tale.

Laura Chase: Iris's sister, whose suicide opens the book and who is named as the author of the novel within.

Richard E. Griffen: Iris's ruthless, older husband with political ambitions.

Winifred Griffen Prior: Iris's fashionable, manipulative, and social-climbing sister-in-law.

Alex Thomas: A young author with Communist sympathies who has an affair with Iris and is one of the protagonists in the novel within.

Cpt. Norval Chase: The father of Iris and Laura. After being seriously injured in World War I and later widowed, he begrudgingly runs the family button business while descending into alcoholism and depression.

Reenie: The loyal Chase family housekeeper who becomes like a mother to Iris and Laura.

Myra Sturgess: Reenie's daughter (possibly by Cpt Chase), who aids Iris in her old age.

Aimee Adelia Griffen: Iris's daughter.

Sabrina Griffen: Iris's granddaughter.

Some of the story concerns marriage, inheritance, and the imbalance between powerful men and powerless women. In these cases, I was reminded of Jane Austen.

While this is a story of abuse, there is some retribution at the end. This is a difficult read and I’m not sure if it was worth the effort.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

The Stand by Stephen King *****

TheStand by Stephen King consists of three books. Book I explores the question: What happens if an apocalypse kills over 99% of the human population? Book II: How will the post-apocalyptic world be organized? Book III resolves the conflicts from Book II. This novel can be characterized as good versus evil but might be better thought of as the parallel chronicles of good and evil.

At one level, the book supports people with disabilities. Tom Cullen never got past third grade. He can not read or write. Nick Andros is a deaf-mute. Donald Merwin Elbert (Trashcan Man) is a schizophrenic pyromaniac. The other characters all have more typical insecurities and flaws. Regardless, everyone contributes regardless of their challenges.

At another level, the book concerns the environment. With most of humanity gone, the environment recovers. The wild animals return, and the air and water improve.

While most of the book adheres to known science, the plot occasionally depends on people communicating through dreams and/or common hallucinations. In Book II people migrate to Boulder or Las Vegas depending on their dreams. This is strangely reminiscent of the migrations to  Devil’s Tower in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Both works were in development at the same time. That itself might be credited to a common hallucination between the two pop culture giants: Steven Spielberg and Stephen King.

While the book frames much of the conflict as good versus evil, with references to Hitler and sin, I expect the real story lies elsewhere. “No, I can’t accept the idea that we’re all pawns in some port-Apocalypse game of good and evil, dreams or not. Goddammit, it’s irrational!”

Note: Depending on the printing, this book is between 1200 and 1500 pages. On a per-page basis, the Kindle edition is a real bargain.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

While the GOOD (Mother Abigail in Boulder Colorado) and the EVIL (Randall Flagg in Las Vegas Nevada) imagine they are in conflict (at war) with each other, the resolution is that EVIL self-destructs and GOOD prospers independently. A short postscript shows Randall Flagg in some primitive civilization starting over. This postscript could be interpreted in many ways, or it could have been left out entirely.

Stephen King’s optimistic view in this post-apocalyptic world can be summed up: “The effective half-life of evil is always relatively short.”