Gallery Books | Book Chatter

Tuesday Nights in 1980
By Molly Prentiss
Gallery/Scout Press, Hardcover, 9781501121043, April 2016, 336pp.

The Short of It:

If a book can give you “feels” then this is the one to do it.

The Rest of It:

Synethesia: the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body.

James Bennett is an art critic but one unlike the ones you’ve read about in the past. James is synesthetic. He might experience a “taste” while looking at a painting, or he might “hear” a color, instead of just simply seeing a color. This gives him an edge in the art world but it also creates problems for him and his wife, as his obsession with certain pieces take over their lives.

This was such an interesting, and absorbing read. There are dual story lines in this novel and it is done so beautifully. It took me forever to read this one because nearly every other sentence was worthy of being highlighted. Prentiss does an amazing job capturing the New York art scene. It’s so vivid and full of life. Pulsing, really. There’s tragedy and hope and longing and it’s all so perfectly imperfect, if that makes any sense at all.

I adored this book. I need to own a copy in print just so I can hold it because fondling my Kindle copy is just not acceptable.

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

The Bullet
By Mary Louise Kelly
(Gallery Books, Hardcover, 9781476769813, March 17, 2015, 368pp.)

The Short of It:

Interesting premise but the execution was a little heavy-handed and the outcome, predictable.

The Rest of It:

Caroline Cashion is a 37-year-old professor at a university. She’s got a slew of brothers and is very close to her parents so she’s rather surprised to find out that the pain in her wrist is due to a bullet that is lodged in her neck. An MRI and CT scan reveal what is absolutely impossible for her to believe. Shot? How could she have been shot? There’s no scar to indicate an entry point and yet, there it is, the bullet, clear as day.

The bulk of the story centers around how this bullet managed to find its way to her neck. This alone, makes for an interesting read. It started off slow for me but mid-way through, I was pretty curious to know the scoop and the writing, which started off a little forced, seemed to even out and become more fluid. I enjoyed this middle section quite a bit.

By the last third of the story, I was bothered by the romantic interest. It seemed a little out-of-place, given Caroline’s preoccupation with discovering the truth. As for the ending, it was predictable but given where the story was going, I feel that the author did the best she could with the ending. I think for it to have been any different, something should have happened much earlier on to change the outcome.

I wanted it to be more suspenseful than it was and maybe include more forensics than it did but overall, it wasn’t a bad way to spend an evening.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher via Edelweiss
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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