Hope Rides Again

Book 43 of my 2020 Reading Challenge

read from June 3 - 10

Hope Rides Again
by Andrew Shaffer

Summary (via the book jacket)
published 2019

Former Vice President Joe Biden has been on the road non-stop since returning to public life, promoting his memoir and testing the waters for a presidential bid. He has one final stop before he can head home: Chicago, where his old pal Barack Obama has invited him to meet an activist whose endorsement could help him win his party's nomination in 2020.

When Obama's prized Blackberry is stolen, Joe puts his presidential aspirations on hold long enough to track down the thief...who winds up full of lead. The police are content to write it off as just another gangland shooting, but Joe and Obama smell a rat. Together they hit the streets to find the shooter, only to uncover a conspiracy that goes deeper than the waters of Lake Michigan - which is exactly where they'll spend the rest of their retirement if they're not careful.

My Opinion

3 stars

It was fine.  I didn't like it as much as the first one because the metaphor-heavy thoughts felt clunky at times, which I think it was an effort to really lean into Joe Biden's "folksy" conversational tone.  It didn't always land and got tiresome at times, usually when it was his inner monologues so there were no gaps for dialogue from others that would have broken it up a bit.

The mystery was unpredictable so I think I would enjoy the author's writing even without this fun "bromance" premise (assuming the metaphors were going with Biden's persona and not the author's actual writing style).

Witch Dust

Book 42 of my 2020 Reading Challenge

read from May 15 - June 4

Note: I read an ARC provided by NetGalley (full disclaimer in my review)

Witch Dust

by Marilyn Messik

Summary (via Goodreads)

published 2020

For Sandra, daughter of illusionists, Adam and Ophelia, life’s never been run of the mill! But when Adam’s wandering eye lights on yet another conquest, it proves a chorus girl too far, and Sandra’s caught in the reverberations of her parents acrimonious parting. Coerced into restoring her depressed Mother to the bosom of a family Sandra never knew existed, she’s sucked into a situation that even for her is unnerving.
From being without a single relative, she suddenly acquires several she’d rather do without, and learns a few home truths she’d prefer not to know. Ophelia, it appears, has not been entirely honest about any number of things. There’s no doubt in Sandra’s mind, the sooner she puts as much distance as possible between herself, her newly discovered nearest and dearest, their peculiar tendencies and their failing hotel business, the happier she’s going to be.
Dire straits call for desperate measures and Sandra reluctantly rises to the occasion. A hanged housemaid, a fly-on-the-wall documentary, The Psychic Society and a quasi co-operative journalist all handled correctly should, she reckons, get the family business up and running, which will allow her to do the same – as fast as she can, and in the opposite direction. Things unfortunately move swiftly from bad to farce and then get a hell of a lot darker. One moment Sandra’s struggling to save the family’s income, the next, she’s battling to save their lives.

My Opinion

4 stars

**I received an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley and would like to thank the author and/or publisher for the opportunity to read and honestly review it**

There was an interesting disclaimer at the beginning of the book that I'd never seen before.  Along with the usual 'work of fiction, any resemblance to people coincidental' stuff, it said, "The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any techniques as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly."  It definitely piqued my interest to see what kind of spells I'd be reading about!

The narrator had a philosophy of not asking questions about things.  When it first started to appear as she talked about her childhood, ignoring anything that might have led her to her family discovery earlier, I questioned the lack of details and wondered if it was going to lead to half-baked storytelling.  Then as the story went on the narrator specifically addressed this characteristic of hers so it cleared it up for me that it was a choice of the author for plot and not for writing style.  I still didn't like it at times, such as when the ending was wrapped up in a description to her after the fact (the character had a reason for hazy memories but I still don't love that plot device when authors do it), but overall it worked for the story.

I would continue reading about this family, especially now that the basic secrets are out of the way and it could be more about the adventures.