"The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt

    Okay, this novel won the Pulitzer prize for literature; is the favored child of book critics all over and is considered to be one of the finest examples of "literature" (yes, there is a reason I used parentheses) written in the past several years.
  It's not. It's definitely not. It's not even a good book, let alone literature. "The Goldfinch" is a hot mess and I'm guessing the great and grand and vaunted critics of the NYT's, VOGUE, Atlantic Monthly, etc. etc just collectively drank the damn koolaid. They probably didn't even attempt to read it.
  It so reminds me of fashion designers who create the most ridiculous, ugly and truly heinous designs; smack an exorbitant price on their clothes and then sit back and watch as a bunch of naive fools buy into the whole hype.
  I have no clue as to who started the tsunami of reviews,word of mouth, lit. specs., whathaveyou that propelled this book into the literary stratosphere. But, if I ever do find out who started this adulation and adoration of a book not worthy of any said praise I'm going to send them the entire oeuvre of James Lee Burke, a nice collection of John D. MacDonald, Dennis Lehane and I'll toss in the short stories of F.Scott and P.G. Wodehouse just for good measure.
  So. Yeah, I'm panning the book. Don't bother. It's smug dreck and not worth anyone's time.

STAY DEAD by Anne Fraiser

Now I have not been critiquing books lately; life just changed dramatically and I became remiss in reviewing books. However I was fortunate enough to connect with the author Anne Fraiser who kindly asked me to give her book a read and a review. (Thank you Anne for getting me back into a business that I love.)

STAY DEAD is not normally a type of book I would read….. the genre is somewhat indefinable. Is it a mystery, suspense, paranormal, romance……what? I have decided it fits into each and every category. While this might not appeal to readers who like their genres totally separate and defined, it worked for me.

Fair warning to readers: If you are thinking vampires, so passé, you won't like this book. I liked it because there were no vampires and no weak-minded, namby pamby female protagonists. Elise Sandburg is a helluva protagonist; with twisted and convoluted backstory, a spine of steel and a soft spot for her partner, Detective David Gould. Honestly, I kept seeing the character Olivia Benson from L&O SVU when reading Elise's story and that's definitely a good thing. Who doesn't love a strong and resilient female lead?

Serial killer novels, I also do not love. Too often the authors use the device as an excuse for poorly executed plot lines. Not here, not this book. Ms. Fraiser manages to take a tired, time worn, lazy excuse for a plot (serial killers) and make it fresh and interesting. That in itself is a rare feat these days. And the surrounding elements; location, side characters, characters on the periphery….. ? Ms. Fraiser obviously does not stint on fleshing out those characters.She manages to give even the most minor characters in her book a certain heft; an intricate portrait, a sense of who they are and what may or not be their motivation in regards to the plot line.  Add to that her evocative description of a city, Savannah, that has been described over and over and used as a backdrop ad nauseum for countless novels and you have a story that can captivate.

I like this book, I kind of like it a lot. I would probably give it a higher rating had it not been for several discrepencies in the timeline of certain events. I caught those mistakes quite quickly and they were highly confusing but I'm going to lay the blame on the copy editor.

I still cannot come up with an accurate description as to genre but I can say this; if you loved the books of Phyllis Whitney you are going to enjoy this novel. If you are a Stephanie Meyer fan, don't bother. This novel is probably too well written for you.