From Indian Trail Library Team Leader, Diane Stone

I thoroughly enjoyed Chris Bohjalian’s new book, Skeletons at the Feast. His writing style continues to paint characters of depth in picturesque environments and in this case the story material was most interesting. Using an actual diary for his inspiration, Bohjalian tells of a family’s flight ahead of the Russians invading the Eastern front of Germany at the end of WWII. Some of the content is quite depressing, but the characters show great courage, grow in awareness and fall in love. I found it hard to put this book down.

James Patterson has been a disappointment lately. I usually find him a good storyteller; his mysteries have surprise twists and keep you turning the pages. His books are fast reads, with easy dialogue. For example, Beach Road was a legal thriller with a zinger at the end. Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas was a wonderful love story with heartfelt characters. On the other hand, I found The Quickie (co-authored with Michael Ledwidge) to be poorly written and predictable. Maybe giving other co-writers a chance is coming back to bite Patterson. His banter between characters has gotten sloppy and disjointed, and I find more editing errors than there used to be. Incorrect names and typos really distract from the reading experience. The intense drive to publish, publish, publish has hurt the quality of his novels.