Potenza ‘Hearts of the Missing’ is a baffling mystery
Michelle Obama on book tour encourages girls at London school
By Bruce DeSilva
by
(Minotaur),
a Pueblo, New Mexico, police sergeant assigned as liaison to the Tsiba’ashi D’yini reservation’s police department, has a few things going for her. She’s smart and tenacious. She respects, and has gained the respect of, the native people. And she has so internalized their culture that she’s visited by ghosts who provide warnings and premonitions.
But she also has some things going against her. The reservation’s police chief, who thinks a woman’s place doesn’t include police work, undermines her at every turn. And her long-ago affair with an influential married man, is a constant source of trouble.
When Nicky suspects that an apparent suicide could be murder - and might be linked to a series of violent deaths and missing persons - her investigation is obstructed by her bosses and the elders who run the reservation.
“Hearts of the Missing,” Carol Potenza’s debut novel, is a yarn wrapped in Pueblo Indian mythology, forensic evidence, ancient rituals, DNA tests, evil spirits, greed and violence. The story involves so many characters and such a plethora of twists and turns that readers may find it difficult to keep track unless they pay close attention - and maybe even take notes along the way.
The author, a biochemistry professor at New Mexico State University, is the pre-publication winner of the annual Hillerman Prize for the best novel set in the Southwest. However, her prose, while better than workmanlike, falls short of the simple elegance of the late Tony Hillerman’s 18 novels about the exploits of a pair of Navajo police officers.
Potenza does a decent job of evoking the reservation’s stark natural landscape, but she peppers her narrative with granular, often irrelevant, physical descriptions of her characters, including many minor ones. And when they speak, nearly all of her characters sound alike regardless of age, gender and ethnicity.
Still, the baffling mystery and the frequent surprises along the way will reward readers who stick with this story to the end. All in all, “Hearts of the Missing” demonstrates enough promise to justify Potenza’s plan for a series of Nicky Matthews novels.
(Gallery Books), by
The story in “The Three Secret Cities” by picks up from the previous novel, “The Four Legendary Kingdoms,” and though Jack West Jr. emerged victorious from the Great Games, he’s created chaos from that surprise victory.
West has exposed a secret world and the rulers aren’t happy. They have put a price on his head and ordered the disposal of his friends and family. The bounty goes to a group known as the Golden Eight, known through history under other names including the Knights of the Round Table, and in over 2,000 years of existence, they have never failed on a mission. West has no chance.
The Games also lead to a horrifying truth that could potentially end the world. The only way to stop this disaster involves finding three secret cities, three immortal weapons and solving a complex puzzle at each location. West and his team have less than a week to save humanity. Ruthless assassins are stalking them, the weapons and cities have been missing for centuries and the Earth is doomed.
The villains are relentless, and even the slightest mistake could jeopardize everything. How can West and his allies find cities and items from ancient history fast enough while dodging the killers that are chasing them?
Reilly has crafted a fantastic follow-up to “The Four Legendary Kingdoms.” The clever mix of history, mythology and geography make this one of the best actionthrillers published in the past few years. For full enjoyment, read the previous book, but even picking up this one first will make a reader’s heart race. The ending also reveals the story isn’t over, and that’s a good thing. This novel is the perfect “beach read” for the upcoming winter months.
LONDON:
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on Monday returned to a London school she had visited as first lady encouraging students to “practice sisterhood” as she presented a new memoir of her life.
Obama is in the British capital to promote her hotly anticipated book, “Becoming”, which has already sold more copies than any other book published in the
this year. She told some 300 students – mostly girls aged between 11 and 18 – at a north London school that her past visit there as first lady in 2009 had inspired her to work for better education.
“I was moved, touched and inspired as I always am by young people I meet around the world,” said the 54-year-old mother of two and first African American first lady.
“You reminded me of me, all the fears, the challenges you face. You guys gave me a sense of comfort.”
Obama confessed to facing numerous hurdles and confronting teachers who “underestimated me at every step”.
“I was told: ‘I don’t think you are Princeton material’. My dreams were too high.”
But Obama graduated from the select Ivy League university and went on to Harvard Law School before joining a law firm where she met her future husband and president
She urged the London students to find strength in each other as they overcome their own doubters and naysayers.
“Practice that kind of sisterhood,” Michelle Obama said. “There are enough obstacles around.” (Agencies)