Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

Trent Reedy was a member of the Iowa National Guard who intended to write books about growing up in Iowa once his service was over--then his unit was sent to Afghanistan on a peacekeeping mission. And that is where he found his inspiration for Words in the Dust, the story of a girl named Zulaikha growing up in rural Afghanistan.

Words in the Dust relates the everyday life--and the dreams--of a bright and lively girl who has the misfortune of having been born with a cleft lip. She fears her appearance will keep her from following the traditional path of marriage and motherhood. And she yearns for an education, which so many girls in Afghanistan are still denied.

It's interesting to learn more about daily life in a country that has been prominently featured in the news for so long. And it's disheartening to see how little women are valued, a point vividly made through the heartbreaking story of Zulaikha's older sister Zeynab.

Home Front by Kristin Hannah

When a parent goes off to war, the whole family suffers. And when it's the mother, the heart of the family, going off to war, the impact is even more profound. That is the basic premise of the engrossing new novel from Kristin Hannah, Home Front.

Jolene joined the army after her alcoholic parents died in a car crash. There she found her first real "family." With her lawyer husband, Michael, she formed a new family and is blissfully happy. Then her marriage hits a rocky patch--and her unit is deployed to Iraq. Michael, who has never been overly involved with child-raising and running the home,and never really liked his wife's career, is now in charge. He is resentful and their 2 daughters are angry and scared. Jolene tries to keep her family from finding out how dangerous her life on the front really is but soon a crisis throws them all into turmoil. And the whole family has to adapt to a new reality. This story is intertwined with a legal case Michael is handling involving a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder, which finally opens his eyes to what his wife might be going through.

Home Front is a timely tale that shows the rest of us what so many brave military families are going through as they pray for their loved ones to come home safe and sound--and how those families respond when their prayers aren't answered.

Bond Girl by Erin Duffy

Did you ever hear someone talk about their job and thank heaven that it wasn't yours?
That's how I felt as I was reading the very entertaining Bond Girl by Erin Duffy.

Duffy herself worked on Wall Street for years and in this, her first novel, she tells the story of bright-eyed and brilliant Wall Street newcomer, Alex Garrett.

Poor Alex has no idea what she's gotten herself into--insane hours, no personal life, wild bets with coworkers, a $1000 wheel of cheese, a misogynistic client who turns into a stalker--and that's all before the economy starts to tank and the whole country blames Wall Street.

Bond Girl is a fascinating look at life on Wall Street--and I have to say that Alex is a lot tougher than I would have been in her very fashionable shoes.

Murder in Burnt Orange by Jeanne M. Dams

Murder in Burnt Orange is the latest in the "Hilda Johansson" series by Jeanne Dams.
If you're a fan of historical mysteries, give this series a whirl. Hilda the heroine, a hardworking Swedish immigrant around 1900 in South Bend, becomes a maid for the wealthiest family in town, the Studebakers. She accidentally becomes involved in solving mysteries and turns out to be very good at it.

In this latest chapter, Hilda, now married and no longer a maid, is awaiting the birth of her first child during a very hot summer in South Bend. To distract her, her family suggests that she try to figure out what's behind a series of train crashes and fires that have occurred. Since she's in no condition to go out and uncover clues herself, Hilda taps into her network of family, friends, acquaintances, and servants to find out who's behind all the mayhem.

Clearly Jeanne Dams has done a lot of research about turn of the century South Bend. So the books are a fascinating look at life at that time. Plus the mysteries are good.

If you're new to this series, start at the beginning with Death in Lacquer Red.

The Forgotten Affairs of Youth by Alexander McCall Smith

The Forgotten Affairs of Youth is the next chapter in the life of Isabelle Dalhousie, editor, philosopher, denizen of Edinburgh. We learn more about Isabelle's relationship with her fiance, Jamie, and her prickly relationship with her niece, Cat. Isabelle also gets involved in helping an Australian philosopher named Jane track down her long-lost family in Scotland. Nothing earth-shaking happens in these books but they're a pleasant way to pass the weekend.

Better to Rest by Dana Stabenow

I've read all the Kate Shugak books by Dana Stabenow and loved them. So I thought I'd give the Liam Campbell series a whirl, especially since Stabenow's newest book, Restless in the Grave, features both Kate and Liam. I picked up Better to Rest, which was the only Liam Campbell book at my library.

I'll start by saying it was a decent story. A hand is found out near a glacier which leads to the discovery of a WWII plane that crashed in 1941. That is one thread line of the book--which I didn't think was very well resolved at all. (There is a bag full of gold on the plane and it wasn't clear to me why. And if there was a spy on the plane, who was it?) The other thread line involved the murder of a feisty grandma named Lydia, which was better resolved.

Stabenow gives you a good view of life in Alaska and intersperses a lot of interesting tidbits about the history of Alaska in all of her books. And the character of Liam is appealing enough. But I prefer the Kate Shugak series. She just seems like a more three-dimensional character to me.

The Shadow Patrol by Alex Berenson

For a real knuckle-biting page-turner, you can't beat Alex Berenson's Shadow Patrol, the newest installment in his riveting John Wells series.

The story starts with a Jordanian doctor showing up and offering his services to the CIA in Afghanistan. But is he what he seems? His handler isn't so sure he can be trusted but she can't get anyone to listen to her. What happens next sets off a domino chain of events that leads to John Wells being called in by his old boss at the CIA and sent undercover to Afghanistan to find out whether there is a mole at work. He stumbles upon a group of soldiers behaving badly and has to race against the clock to save the life of one good soldier all the while trying to uncover the identity of the mole.

If you haven't read this spellbinding series, start at the beginning with The Faithful Spy.

A Dark and Lonely Place by Edna Buchanan

Edna Buchanan said she had been wanting to write this book for years. She took the true story of a man named John Ashley and speculated what life would be like for his descendant, also named John Ashley.

The original John is accused of murder (which he said he wasn't guilty of) in Florida in the early 1900s. He gets thrown in jail, escapes, and ends up becoming a bank/ train robber, bootlegger and smuggler of some notoriety. All the while, his true love, Laura, is by his side. This part of the book I liked less than the story involving modern John, seemingly the only honest cop in Miami, who becomes the subject of a mass manhunt for killing someone (in what was clearly self-defense). He also falls for a woman named Laura, who is a witness in a case he's working on.

While Buchanan tries to make original John seem like a Florida version of Robin Hood, he was robbing and killing, which makes him less than sympathetic even though you do feel bad that he got so screwed over by the system. Modern John, on the other hand, is a genuinely good guy who stumbles into some heavy-duty police corruption, which almost gets him killed. I also liked modern Laura more than original Laura (who seemed like kind of a flake at times). The novel keeps bouncing between the two time periods, so you really have to pay attention since there are so many characters in each story with the same or similar names that it's easy to lose track of whose story you're reading.

It's a decent book but not my favorite Edna Buchanan. And I have to say, it made me really not want to live in Miami, which was probably not her intention at all.

Restless in the Grave by Dana Stabenow

In Restless in the Grave, Dana Stabenow brings together the main characters from both of her Alaska-based series, PI Kate Shugak and state trooper Liam Campbell. Liam is investigating the possible murder of the rich and ruthless Finn Grant. Unfortunately, his wife Wyanet is one of the suspects. Kate is asked to come in as an undercover investigator. She discovers that pretty much everyone who knew him had a motive for killing Finn Grant. Soon, she and her faithful companion, Mutt, (who's only half-wolf) are in danger as they get too close to uncovering some very dark secrets.

While Kate is out of town, her old nemesis Erland Bannister comes back into the picture. Which I'm sure is setting the scene for the next installment in this great series.

I personally have read only one of the Liam Campbell stories, so I can't really comment on those. But I do love the Kate Shugak series because she is so feisty, independent and intelligent. If you haven't read any of them--with their fascinating view of life in Alaska--start at the beginning with A Cold Day For Murder.

Adrenaline by Jeff Abbott

Sam Capra is a CIA agent based in London, happily married to fellow CIA agent the very pregnant Lucy. He goes to a meeting, gets a frantic message from Lucy to meet her outside. He rushes outside just in time to see her being kidnapped--and the building he just left explode. The CIA is convinced he and/or Lucy are traitors. So begins the knuckle-biter Adrenaline by Jeff Abbott.

Sam has to prove his innocence while trying to track down his missing wife and baby.
But he doesn't know who to trust. Worst of all, he's not sure he really knows his wife as well as he thought he did.

I'll admit that in the middle of the book, it kind of strained credulity that Sam managed to survive everything he did--and pretty much singlehandedly unravel as much of the mystery as he did. But he's a likable main character and you can't help but cheer him on.

The book ends without resolving all the story lines. So I'm hoping there's a sequel in the works.