Risk Management by Reid Winslow -- BOOK REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW

Risk Management by Reid Winslow

Reid Winslow's second thriller, Risk Management, explores a dark world of corruption and double (triple?) dealing. Larry Welk makes an almost anti-hero of a protagonist as a dry drunk, disbarred lawyer working as private detective. This time, he's working off the books after his former lover is shot by Chicago police and Larry is the main suspect. 

When Larry meets Birdie Thurmond, a whip smart but socially awkward state auditor, though a dating app, he wants her help with the case as much as he wants a little romance. Birdie is willing – on both counts – but it's quid pro quo because Birdie is working on her own mystery -- trying to figure out why so many people involved in a city water project keep turning up dead. The next one may be her.

There’s a lot to keep track of in these dual storylines, but Winslow does a good job of keeping both on track. The novel builds slowly, but once it hits its stride, it speeds right along to an exciting and satisfying ending.

NOTES

Risk Management is billed as the second book in Winslow's Narrow Track series. There is overlap, but both stand on their own just fine. In the first, The Dead Bell, the protagonist is a hardboiled Chicagoland cop named Tom Edison. In my review of The Dead Bell, I described Edison as having "an alcoholic wild man for a sidekick." That wild man is Larry Welk, sobered up but still wild in Risk Management. Edison makes a cameo, but isn't part of the story. Both books are good entertainment so I hope Winslow continues the series. 

I'm not wild about the cover. I find the red color and sightless stone head disturbing. But the image makes sense and ties in with the story. 

Reid Winslow is a pen name for former attorney turned countryman author George Mead. I know George and we even worked together for a brief time a long time ago. Now he is living the life so many lawyers dream of. Good work!

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Exiled from Texas, disbarred, and white-knuckling sobriety in the Midwest, criminal defense attorney Larry Welk has learned to manage risk the hard way: by living inside it.

A carefully curated dating profile lands Larry a date with Birdie Thurmond, a brilliant state auditor who believes risk is just a math problem waiting to be solved. Birdie has a spreadsheet for everything, and Larry can't shake the feeling he's already been reduced to a set of variables. The night ends awkwardly, and they part ways.

Then a late-night call detonates Larry's fragile new life.

His former lover Darlene Pepper has been shot eight times by police and is clinging to life in a Chicago hospital. Before Larry can even process the news, Darlene is dead and Larry is the prime suspect. The motive points to a fortune that vanished years ago: millions stolen by Darlene's ex-husband, Larry's former client, money that was never recovered.

Now Larry is trapped between the law he once practiced and the danger he can't outrun: federal investigators closing in, a killer who seems to know his every move, and secrets that don't stay buried. With nowhere left to turn, Larry makes one desperate play: trust Birdie, the one woman convinced every problem has a solution if you run the numbers long enough.

But Birdie's equations never accounted for a man like Larry.

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett and Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser -- BOOK REVIEW(S)

 

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett and Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser

BOOK REVIEW(S)

I recently read The Calamity Club and Mona's Eyes, both new, popular books, and they hit me entirely differently. Can you guess which of these I loved and which I didn’t finish? 

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett:

Well -- suspense over -- I loved this one. Absolutely loved it. I almost didn’t start it, despite getting a review copy from the publisher Spiegel & Grau. The description on the back about three misfit women bonding together to “claim what’s rightfully theirs” gave transgressive vibes that didn’t appeal to me. I just wasn’t in the mood for Thelma & Louise set in Depression-era Mississippi. But I gave it a go and could not have been more wrong in my interpretation of the cover description!

Stockett’s story is plot-driven historical fiction at its best. The POV switches between 10-year-old Meg, stuck in an orphanage with a cruel superintendent, and 25-year-old Birdie who is stuck solving the dire financial problems of her extended family. Their stories connect through Charlie, a woman whose tragic past drives her to an audacious plan to save all three of them. The characters are compelling, the setting authentic, and the plotting steadily builds to a satisfying conclusion. It’s exactly the sort of shaggy adventure I love.

Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser:

I made it through the first third then gave up. I only wish I hit the DNF button earlier! Mona's Eyes is the contemporary story of 10-year-old Mona who may or may not go blind following a medical scare. Her grandfather decides to teach her about art, so if she goes blind, she will have good images in her mind. Under the pretense of taking her to a child shrink, he takes her once a week to a museum to study one piece of art and discuss it with him. Every chapter is their viewing and discussing one work of art.

It’s like sitting through Art History 101, but without the slides and the laser pointer. Reading about someone else looking at art is as boring as it sounds. Unlike plot-dense Calamity Club, Mona’s Eyes has no plot, at least not in the first third that I read. There are little scenes interspersed between art lessons – Mona at school or with her friends, mom worrying about Mona’s health, dad drinking and running his vintage collectibles business into the ground. But those are just scenes, not story. Maybe they will tie together to suggest a plot at some point. There's a glimmer of something involving Mona finding a secret stash of valuable figurines in her father's storeroom -- maybe he can sell them and save his business. But that is two short scenes out of 150 pages. Otherwise, I feel like I’m sitting in class.

NOTES: 

Have you read either of these? What did you think?

My book club is reading Mona's Eyes for our next meeting. I am dying to know what the other ladies think, although I won't be surprised if they loved it. Several of them are really into art and may love it just because it is a book about art. I like art as much as the next person, but if I want to learn about art, I'll read an art book or watch an art appreciation class on YouTube. I want my fiction to tell a story, not educate me. 

Birdbrains: A Lyrical Guide to Washington State Birds, edited by Susan Rich -- BOOK REVIEW

Birdbrains: A Lyrical Guide to Washington State Birds by Susan Rich (editor), Stephanie Delaney (author, bird notes), and Hiroko Seki (artist) (Raven Chronicles Press, 2025)

BOOK REVIEW

Birdbrains captivated me immediately, both in concept and execution. It’s not like any other bird guide (or poetry collection) you’ve ever seen. The birdbrained brainchild of editor Susan Rich, Seattle poet and novice birdwatcher, Birdbrains combines notes on 107 birds, accompanied by poems, short fiction, and memoir from 98 poets and writers, illustrated with ink sumi-e paintings by Hiroko Seki. For each bird, there is space left to note the dates and locations of your own sightings.

Stephanie Delaney’s bird notes are aimed at the beginner birder, which I appreciate. I knew from the first entry, on the Bufflehead Duck, that I would love this book because Delaney’s style is casual and friendly:

North America’s smallest diving duck, the Bufflehead is an eye catcher, with a black and white body and white head; their face appears iridescent green and purple in sunlight, black under clouds. With a small size and a plump body, the Bufflehead is a truly cute duck.

The notes all include a description of the bird, its voice, and its habitat, along with an “intriguing tidbit” about the bird, such as, “The diminutive Brown Creeper only burns 4-10 calories a day. Thus, one spider can fuel 200 feet of climbing.”

The poems and short prose pieces, including those by four Washington State Poet Laureates, celebrate each bird and make us reflect more thoughtfully on each one. A particular favorite of mine, by Katy T. Ellis, honors the Least Sandpiper:

To Say the Least

is to say the smallest –
is to say there’s no twitch of the eye.
It’s like saying there exists
in the world of peeps
some greater, faster shoreline, speedwalker.
To spot the leasts –
time-lapse stitchers of the strand
– to hear their pin-piped preet
is to count the least
among us.

Hiroko Seki’s ethereal ink drawings, many done outdoors, beautifully illustrate each bird. A visual aid is necessary for any kind of bird guide and Seki’s monochromatic images are perfect for this one.

Although Birdbrains is called A Lyrical Guide to Washington State Birds, it is a delight for bird and poetry lovers anywhere. These birds are common in the rest of the Pacific Northwest and most also live further afield. As Dr. Ursula Valdez wrote in her Foreword, “You don’t need to be an ornithologist or bird watcher to appreciate this book; it is for bird and art lovers of all forms, who want their curious eyes, hearts, and souls filled.”

NOTES

I was happy to receive a review copy of this book through Raven Chronicle Press because I truly love it. 

The four Washington State Poet Laureates featured in the book are Elizabeth Austen, Claudia Castro Luna, Kathleen Flenniken, and Derek Sheffield. Three Pulitzer Prize winners also included poems: Ray Armentrout, Ted Kooster, and Diane Seuss.

Rereadings, edited by Anne Fadiman -- BOOK REVIEW

 

Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love

BOOK REVIEW

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Anne Fadiman's collection of essays about books and reading, Ex Libris, was wonderful. Her book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, is some of the finest nonfiction writing I've ever encountered. I grabbed Rereadings off my shelf with those two experiences in mind. 

Only then did I catch the subtitle and realize that Fadiman didn't write the essays in this book. She is the editor of this collection of essays by 17 other writers. Specifically, these are essays originally published in a literary quarterly called The American Scholar, written on the theme of revisiting a book originally read prior to age 25. 

I was disappointed that Fadiman wasn't the author, but the premise still appealed to me. I'm a subscriber and big fan of Slightly Foxed, a literary journal dedicated to celebrating backlist books. The essays in Rereadings sounded like those I gobble up whenever a new issued of Slightly Foxed arrives. I didn't recognize any of the essay writers in Rereadings, but I don't recognize the essay writers in Slightly Foxed either, and that doesn't dampen my enthusiasm. 

What did dampen my enthusiasm -- and my spirits -- was the tone of most of the essays. In Slightly Foxed, people write about books they love and want you to read. Some are books they have reread many times, sometimes they only reread a book in order to write about it in Slightly Foxed. But they are excited to explain the joys of the book and encourage you to read it.  By the time I finish an issue of Slightly Foxed, my book wish list is noticeably longer. 

In Rereadings, most of the essays were about how a book the writer loved as a child, teen, or college student didn't stand up to reading again as an adult. Maybe the story seemed too simplistic when read with adult eyes, or the book hit wrong to current sensibilities, but for whatever reason, the magic was gone. Well, OK. But I'm an adult reading about these books now. I can't experience what it was like to read them as a teen ager so share their lessened appeal on rereading. Reading about why they are disappointing to an adult reader was a downer. I finished Rereadings with a list of books people no longer liked. 

That's not to say the essays were poorly written. They weren't. They were all polished and well-argued. But they didn't inspire me to read more, certainly not to reread. 

NOTE

Rereadings was one of the books from my TBR 26 in '26 list. I'm glad the challenge got me to finally read this one, but I won't be rereading it, that's for sure! 

So Much Serendipity in Two Recently Read Novels -- STORYLINE SERENDIPITY

SO MUCH SERENDIPITY

IN TWO RECENTLY READ NOVELS

Have you had the experience of something coming up in a book -- an event, place, idea, historical character, or even an unusual word -- and then shortly after, the same thing comes up in a different book completely by coincidence? I call this Storyline Serendipity.

Last month, I read two books that have so many similarities, it's uncanny. 

First I read The Severed Wasp by Madeleine L'Engle, famous for her children’s classic A Wrinkle in Time. The Severed Wasp is a novel for adults. It is the story of a woman in her 70s who recently retired from a career as a concert pianist. While she has a quiet demeanor, she is strong willed and can be prickly. As the story unfolds, we learn of her personal history going back to when she was a young bride of 19 living in Europe on the brink of WWII. She had a long but unconventional marriage, her son died in an accident when he was seven years old, and she has a difficult relationship with her daughter. 

Then I read the current buzz book, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. It is the story of a woman in her 70s who recently retired from a career as a lawyer. She also has a quiet demeanor but is strong willed and definitely prickly. Through a series of letters spanning several years, we learn her history going back to when she was a young wife and mother focused on her career. She had a long marriage that ended in divorce after her son died in an accident when he was eight years old. She has a difficult relationship with her daughter. 

Both books explore themes of grief and guilt, aging, mother/daughter relationships, and friendship. 

How crazy is all that overlap? 

I highly recommend both The Correspondent and A Severed Wasp. The writing in both is first rate, the stories engaging. As I approach my 60th birthday, I greatly appreciate novels that center older women. These books are a reminder that old ladies don't have to solve mysteries to be interesting. 

WHAT IS STORYLINE SERENDIPITY?

A ONCE-IN-A-WHILE BLOG EVENT

Storyline Serendipity is more than simply reading two similar books. I don't mean like when you take a class in Russian history and read two books about the Tsar. Or when you read two mysteries and there are dead bodies in each.

I mean random coincidence between two books. I like it when this happens because it makes me slow down and pay more attention to how the event or idea, place or character was treated in each book. I get a little more out of each book than I would have if the universe hadn't paired them on my reading list.

If you experience Storyline Serendipity, feel free to grab the button and play along. If you want to, please leave the link to your post in a comment. Or leave the link to your post on the Rose City Reader facebook page. If you want to participate but don't have a blog or don't feel like posting, please share your serendipity in a comment.

This is a once-in-a-while blog event that I'll post as I come across Storyline Serendipity. If you want to participate, post whenever you want and leave a comment back here on my latest Storyline Serendipity post. If it ever catches on, we can make it a monthly event.

Afterward by Brisol Vaudrin -- BOOK REVIEW

 

BOOK REVIEW

Afterward by Brisol Vaudrin

Imagine you’re fairly young, living in a cool city, with a tedious starter job, but plenty of good friends, a serious boyfriend, fun times, and big plans. What happens if tragedy strikes? How would you handle it? That’s the premise of Afterward, Bristol Vaudrin’s debut novel. Lauren is living the life she wanted when she comes home to her new apartment and a medical emergency that turns her plans on their head.

While we don’t know exactly what went wrong until the end, hints about the events of that day roll out early, when Lauren’s boyfriend Kyle is still in the hospital, and steadily build to the finale. We watch as Lauren navigates the situation, sometimes making good decisions, often foundering in indecision. Her next months are filled with trying to get back to normal, even if that involves avoiding work, ignoring her mother, bristling at Kyle’s mother, honing her passive-aggressive anger at Kyle, and more than a little day drinking. Would any of us do better under the same circumstances?

Vaudrin writes well, with a light touch, and her pacing is impeccable. I found myself routing for Lauren, laughing with her and brooding with her, even when I wanted to take her aside and shake her. She is an engaging modern heroine, right down to the final revealing, surprising, and satisfying ending. I highly recommend Afterward for anyone looking for fresh storytelling and entertaining literary fiction.

NOTES

Read my Book Beginnings on Friday Post about Afterward here for more information and teasers from Bristol Vaudrin's new book. 

I was fortunate to get a review copy of Afterward. Have you read it? What did you think? Please leave a comment with a link to your review if you posted one. You can find more reviews online where books are sold and on Bristol’s website.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (FROM HER WEBSITE)

Bristol was born in Alaska, and named after Bristol Bay, where her parents fished commercially. Later, she was raised in Southcentral Alaska, splitting time between her family’s off-the-grid homestead at Flat Horn Lake, and attending school in Anchorage.

She now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, dog, and way too many books.