#59: Mad Shadows by Marie-Claire Blais

The disturbing family dynamics between a mother and her two troubled children, and eventually the lovers they draw into their whirlpool, is at the center of Marie-Claire Blais' debut novel Mad Shadows.

I read an article about Quebec author Blais and then decided to seek out her acclaimed debut novel, released in 1959. 

Mad Shadows is a dense allegory with underpinnings of child abuse, incest, and mental illness, and emotions running high throughout.  I could see why it made a splash when it debuted, and can still evoke strong emotions in a reader today.

I am glad I learned about Blais and read this novel, and would recommend it with some reservations.  I may seek out more of her work at some point, but would like to leave a little space between novels. 

I checked this out from the Henry County-New Castle Public Library in New Castle, Indiana and read it quickly.

#58: The Sun on My Head by Geovani Martins

Brazilian author Geovani Martins presents a slice of life from the poor side of Rio in The Sun on My Head.

Martins offers roughly a dozen short stories featuring low-level drug dealers, street hustlers, troubled youths, and crooked cops, set against a vibrant neighborhood background.  It is written from a culture and set of experiences I was unfamiliar with, but is written with energy and wit and is engaging throughout.

This debut collection from Martins has already made a big splash for the author, and I am interested to see what he comes up with next.  I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read it quickly.

#57: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

A varied collection of necromancers, from rival houses, gather in a rotting old castle to vie for the attentions of their immortal emperor in Tamsyn Muir's irreverent, genre-breaking debut novel Gideon the Ninth.

Muir throws supernatural horror, locked-room mystery, and a little far-future space opera into a blender and comes out with something unlike anything I've read in a while, all written in a hip, contemporary style.

I had to keep flipping to the character list, and list of rival houses, at the beginning of the book to keep everyone straight, but the storytelling just cooks along, right to the point where it wants to jump off into a sequel, which I am eager to read as soon as it comes out.

This was a genuinely fresh novel, and recommended for horror or science fiction readers.

I checked this out from the Henry County-New Castle Public Library in New Castle, Indiana and read it quickly.

#56: Under the Cold Bright Lights by Barry Disher

A retired cop comes back to the Cold Case Squad, and uses some unorthodox methods to close some files, in Barry Disher's Under the Cold Bright Lights.

Disher is a well-established Australian crime writer, but this is the first of his novels I have come across.  I enjoyed the characters especially, and the storytelling was interesting. 

Our lead detective has complex relationships with his ex-wife and daughter, and has a big, rambling old house where several people from all walks of life have ended up, and interact.

The cases include an old body found under a concrete slab, a doctor who may or may not have killed several ex-wives, and an accident which might have been a murder.  Another storyline follows a lodger at the cop's house who has an abusive husband. 

And more than one of these storylines are resolved in surprising ways.

This was a very solid police procedural with above-average characterization and plotting.  I would look for more from Disher.

I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read it quickly.