Book Review | Book Chatter

Exiles
By Jane Harper
Flatiron Books, 9781250235350, January 31, 2023, 368pp.

The Short of It:

This is a light, enjoyable mystery.

The Rest of It:

Federal Investigator Aaron Falk is on his way to a small town deep in Southern Australian wine country for the christening of an old friend’s baby. But mystery follows him, even on vacation. ~ Indiebound

In this mystery, the baby doesn’t go missing, but her mother does. As Investigator Falk is visiting with friends one year after the disappearance, the details of Kim’s disappearance continue to plague both Falk and those who knew Kim, particularly her grown daughter. Kim would never leave the baby like that, parked in stroller at a summer festival, unsupervised and alone. It was completely out of character for her, and yet no one witnessed anything or can remember seeing her that night.

As the family gathers for the child’s christening, they decide to use the time together to try to re-enact what happened that night. They are all desperate for answers and something feels off to Falk. The memories from a year ago are vague but as they all talk through that night, new details come to light.

This is a sleepy little mystery. It’s not fast paced but the characters are likable and the setting of a wine festival was rather enjoyable. I’ve read one other book where Investigator Falk was featured and it was quite enjoyable as well. I’d say that there aren’t any big revelations in this one, but somehow it all comes together nicely. I liked it.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

The Deluge
By Stephen Markley
Simon & Schuster, 9781982123093, January 10, 2023, 896pp.

The Short of It:

This book left me feeling very frustrated and honestly, a little sick to my stomach. Climate change is terrifying.

The Rest of It:

In the first decades of the 21st century, the world is convulsing, its governments mired in gridlock while a patient but unrelenting ecological crisis looms. ~ Indiebound

In 2013, Tony is a scientist studying the effects of undersea methane. His discoveries are not welcome and result in death threats. As he continues with his studies, which take him into the mid-2030s, we are introduced to a cast of characters. Some broken, some desperate, some so driven that they are oblivious to their paths of destruction.

This is an ambitious and terrifying read because it gives us a glimpse of where we are headed. We are experiencing the effects of climate change now, but reading about what our lives could be 15 years from now is especially terrifying because I’m not sure we can do much about it at this point. So much damage has already been done. Is this our fate? Temps so hot that life cannot be sustained?

The Deluge is not a fun book to read but it is an important read. It’s nearly 900 pages but I plowed through it, hopeful that I’d find some glimmer of good somewhere in the text. That was not to be. This book will shake you up and leave you very unsettled. If that was Markley’s intent, then he succeeded.

Why read it? Because it’s important to consider how our actions affect life as we know it. Environmentally, rising temps, drought, poisonous gasses, and really, waste in general can do us in. Holing up in the safety of our homemade cocoons won’t save future generations.

Markley paints a very scary picture of the future. Do with that what you will.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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