The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Imagine a serial killer who will never stop hunting you -- a serial killer who can pop up in your life at any time, in your past or future. In The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, Kirby was attacked and almost killed by a man who left her with an antique lighter and a criss cross of scars on her stomach. Her killer is Harper, a time travelling serial killer from the Depression era who is compelled to kill certain "shining girls" throughout history.

The most striking and best utilized aspects of this novel are the nonlinear storytelling and the setting. Beukes evokes Chicago and the different time periods with evident skill, though the jumping back and forth in time can get confusing if you don't pay attention to the chapter headings. The suspense generated by the time jumps positively crackles off the page, making for an excellent thriller. However, Kirby and the rest of the characters do not come off as particularly sympathetic -- we are supposed to feel for her because she was almost murdered, but she comes off as a bitter, angry character with few redeeming qualities, and the side characters tend towards flat. Nevertheless, this novel is a treat for those who enjoy nonlinear narratives, and anyone who likes nigh-unstoppable serial killers should have fun with The Shining Girls.

Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

I have been a fan of  the wildly popular Divergent series since the first book, and I am sad to say that the third book is a disappointment. Allegiant by Veronica Roth takes all the potential of its predecessors and throws it away. I won't go into too much detail in terms of plot in case you haven't read the other books, but suffice to say Tris, Four, and their friends finally get outside the fence surrounding their city and discover what is on the other side.

The final book in the trilogy does not live up to promise of the first two, as it takes the central conflict of the previous novels and makes it completely unimportant. The plot stalls out halfway through the book, so that both the characters and the readers are stuck in one place. In addition, the alternating viewpoints between Tris and Four did not add to the experience, since their voices are so similar as to be completely indistinguishable. There were more than a few times that I had to skip back to the start of the chapter to figure out who was narrating. As I really enjoyed the first two books, I am disappointed in the overblown melodrama  that is the conclusion of this trilogy. Read this novel if you really must find out what happens to Tris and Four, but otherwise - skip it.

Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian

Join the discussion next Thursday for The Dog Stars!

Spice up your Thursday morning with a fun, energetic discussion of The Dog Stars by Peter Heller on November 7. The "Let's Talk" book club will meet at 10:30 a.m.  in the Junior Home room at T-SPL.

After the end of the world, all Hig wants to do is fish for trout. But the trout are all gone, along with much of the weaker flora and fauna of the world, including most of the humans. Hig now lives at an abandoned airport with his dog Jasper and another survivor named Bangley. One day Hig receives a radio transmission and flies to meet it in his plane. His destination is past the point of no return, so Hig must take a leap into the unknown to find what he is searching for.

To get your brain buzzing, here are a couple things to think about:

• The prose style of The Dog Stars is clipped, terse, often fragmented. Why would Heller choose this way of writing this particular story? In what ways is it fitting?
• What does the novel imply about human nature, after the constraints of civilization have been removed? What does it suggest about the possible consequences of the way we are living now?

Join us for light refreshments and fun discussion - we'd love to see you there!


Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian

Hypnotizing Sci-Fi Thriller by Max Barry

Wil and Emily live in a world where people can be controlled with words. Not just metaphorically - literally controlled by carefully selected strings of words. In Max Barry's Lexicon, a mysterious organization, the Academy, whose members are called Poets, determine personality type using a test of ten questions (linked here). Using the answers to these questions, they can find out the segment (personality type) of the person they are interviewing. Once a Poet discovers your segment, they can control you and command you to do anything. Wil is an outlier - he is immune to these words. Because of this, he is being hunted by a Poet named Woolf. In the second of the two storylines, Emily, sixteen and homeless, is recruited by the Academy to become one of their newest Poets.

If you want a fun summer read, this book will suck you in. A gripping thriller, the novel's fast-paced science fiction action has intriguing links to the Babel legend and other similar events. The characters of Emily and Wil are believable in that they have their own faults and act like regular people (no heroics here, at least at first). The science behind it is intriguing, even if somewhat unbelievable. The book explores the power of words and how we persuade others, even without special command words. Despite a rather slow third act, Lexicon will enthrall you from the second you see the first words on the page.

Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian