I had foot surgery, so I have really been knocking out the books — several of these I would consider some of the best I’ve read in a long time. Enjoy! 

ALL THE BROKEN PLACES by John Boyne. If you weren’t aware, one of this author’s books is THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS. This newer book will be especially meaningful to you if you’ve also read THE BOY… but it is also a standalone book if you haven’t. A young girl, whose father held a high position in the Third Reich, and her mother, escaped Germany in 1946. Her father had been tried at Nuremberg and executed for his crimes. This book follows the tortured life of this young woman through her nineties as she struggles to come to terms with her own guilt. This one blew me away! 

PRESUMED GUILTY by Scott Turow. This one is a bit of a follow-up book, too, but easily read as a standalone. Former prosecutor and judge Rusty Sabich has retired from his legal career. After his tumultuous marriage to Barbara (PRESUMED INNOCENT), he’s been reluctant to get serious with another woman until he met Bea. They are seemingly perfectly matched. Her son, from another relationship, was led into drug use by a troubled young woman he thinks is the love of his life, only to be suddenly accused of his lover’s murder. Rusty is reluctantly pulled back into the courtroom to defend himself. Excellent courtroom intrigue. 

FORTY AUTUMNS by Nina Willner. A former American military intelligence officer goes beyond traditional Cold War espionage tales to tell the true story of her family — of five women separated by the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall — for more than 40 years. This one culminates with their reunion after the dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall. 

THE FISHERMAN by Vaughn C. Hardacker. This book was a great little “off the path” find in a used book store. It is evidently the second in a series of two, the first being THE SNIPER. After reading the second one, I already plan to read the first. A serial killer who makes his living as a commercial fisherman is abducting women from Boston. He toys with them until he tires of the foreplay and then uses them to make chum for his fishing forays. Yep. You read it right. Pretty gruesome. Luckily, that fact is only briefly mentioned, so you can enjoy the intrigue of the chase to find the killer without that gruesome fact staring you in your face the whole time. The writer also lets you know right up front who the killer is, so you can enjoy the chase to find him, written from both sides of the story.