BOOK & BLOG

June 3, 2010

Books of the Week

• Shadow’s Son, Jon Sprunk
• Scent of the Missing, Susannah Charleson
• 61 Hours, Lee Child

Jon Sprunk and I have the same agent, and he (my agent) occasionally tucks presents for me into the boxes of foreign language editions of the Sookie novels. Shadow’s Son was such a gift. The cover looked sort of young adult-ish, but there’s nothing on the cover to classify it, so I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. As it turns out, Sprunk’s book could be read by young adults but is also quite entertaining for older adults. Assassin Caim, in the city of Othir, finds that he himself is the subject of an insidious plot. The killer becomes the prey, as Caim is framed for a murder he didn’t commit. Caim forms an alliance with the daughter of the murdered man, but her own past is as much of a lie as Caim’s. This is a short but fast-moving novel with heartbreak and redemption both.

Susannah Charleson’s book about the way she worked with and trained her own Search and Rescue dog, Puzzle, would be a great gift for any dog-lover on your gift list. Though Charleson’s account of the hows and whys of training is a bit sketchy – the book’s not intended to be a how-to book, but more of personal memoir – Scent of the Missing makes it clear that participating in the search for the vanished and the dead is physically strenuous, dangerous, and sometimes terribly boring for both humans and canines. It’s also rewarding. 

I haven’t gotten to the big surprise ending of Lee Child’s 61 Hours, his latest Jack Reacher novel. I may have a different opinion after I get there. So far, this is Reacher at his usual peak performance; quick-thinking, far-seeing, and utterly ruthless. I love these books.

BLOG

Packing again, this time for a quick trip to Los Angeles to attend the “True Blood” premiere. It doesn’t really seem like two years since we last did this. I’m very excited this year, but not so nervous as I was for the first season’s party. I know a lot of members of the crew and the cast, and I know that the public is dying to see the latest installment in the HBO saga. Some of the fear and the doubt that plagued me two years ago have been laid to rest.

I look forward to seeing friendly acquaintances again. Those are the people you’re always glad to see and to talk to, even though you really don’t know them that well.

When I return, it’s back to full-tilt work on Sookie 11.

I’ve had fun talks with Oberon Media, and I’ve seen some of the art work for the game they’re producing featuring my own Dahlia Lynley-Chivers, the ancient vampire who loves fashion and kicking ass. I’ve written five or six short stories about Dahlia, and I’ve grown increasingly fond of her. I’m really looking forward to seeing the game in its entirety.

It’s fun to have so many different projects going, but I feel like I’m spinning plates with each hand and a foot, like one of the Chinese acrobats. Luckily, I have my agents, Paula, and other help in keeping all this going. I’m not as scared any more now that I’ve realized that even if I drop a plate, nothing too terrible will happen!

Charlaine Harris