Adult Read Pick: Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Only Love Can Break Your Heart
by Ed Tarkington
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2016
307 pages
ISBN: 9781616203825

Available January 5, 2016

Stunning, moody, rare, eccentric, and brimming with Southern gothic-ism and down home charm, Only Love Can Break Your Heart will leave readers stunned, amazed and gasping. Only a few days into January and the best adult read has appeared! You won't want to miss Ed Tarkington's love letter to the 1970's and an "easier" down to earth way of life.

Rocky (Richard) idolizes older brother Paul and reports the beginning of the story through eight year old eyes. It's easy to see why Paul plays a central role in Rocky's life. . Paul is sophisticated, cool, aloof, and sometimes downright dangerous. Rocky explains, " My brother Paul had a reputation around town as a 'bad kid.' This wasn't entirely undeserved..." but he goes on to inform the reader that in larger, more cosmopolitan cities Paul's hijinks wouldn't have raised an eyebrow. Paul's rebellious side was smoking endless packs of cigarettes, throwing back beers, breaking the speed limit, sneaking out at night and running around with other "nefarious" hoodlums. Typical teen boy behavior, but it sends their father, "the Old Man," into a rage at every turn. The "Old Man"  doesn't let it fester; he tends to look the other way when Paul misbehaves. Although not spoken aloud (ever!) there is a deep love between older boy and the Old Man. Paul's mother Ann left for Akron, Ohio, never looking back. The Old Man instructs his boys "never marry a Yankee!"

Ann does  make a brief appearance when she arrives for Paul's high school graduation. After embarrassing herself, her son and family, she returns to Ohio where it's all downhill from there. Paul's first love is beautiful, ethereal Leigh who as the novel progresses becomes more and more damaged. Most of the characters throughout the novel are damaged if not broken (that's life!). Rocky's mom is much younger than the "Old Man," and she married if not for love--for security and money. In those days in a small town, if a woman isn't married by age twenty five, she is considered an old maid--a fate that no girl can endure. The boys both attend a fancy and pricey private school where they can mingle with other wealthy students from "good" homes. There are class lines in Spencerville, and although Rocky's family  lives in a comfortable home and the "Old Man" earns a good living, he came from nothing. His family was dirt poor, therefor the privileged and snooty old wealth shuns him. No matter how successful or rich he becomes, he will never be accepted into their lofty ranks and it eats at him. Seeing a way to make a real "deal," he loses everything.

Twin Peaks (shades of Gone With the Wind meets To Kill a Mockingbird) has been abandoned and haunted for years. When Paul takes Rocky over to explore the old mansion, Paul is shot and the story soars. All the characters are now in place with a bone or two to pick with each other. This one kept me guessing until the ending. Even now, looking back, I have some unanswered questions, and I mean that in the best ways! A great novel really gets to you and bothers you to the bone and that's just what Only Love Can Break Your Heart does.

If you love Southern tradition, Ed Tarkington is your author. I would put him in the ranks of Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner. Only Love Can Break Your Heart may do just that! Bring your box of Kleenex because you'll need them! I will not likely forget Paul, Rocky or Leigh. The Old Man who is first seen as a grouchy ogre redeems himself and the reader will see the true man when he develops Alzheimer's. In fact, I respected the Old Man after I realized his life story. "Love can make people do terrible things..." is oh, so true!

Poignant yet promising, this is the BEST adult novel I've read in a very long time. It's right up there with my favorite all time novels: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Shadow of the Wind and Life Among Giants.

Highly, highly recommended. Order or grab a copy today. You won't be able to put down this book.
In fact, I finished reading it during the Broncos' game (and I'm a Broncos fanatic), but I couldn't stop reading. I found myself not even listening to the game. I was in Spencerville with Rocky and Paul.

Suitable adult title and recommended for all adult book clubs. Mature content, profanity, murder.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Summer Beach Read Pick: Luckiest Girl Alive

Luckiest Girl Alive
by Jessica Knoll
Simon & Schuster
2015
352 pages
ISBN: 9781476789637

Deeply engaging and complex, Luckiest Girl Alive is often compared to Gone Girl in the press. I'm not sure why this happens. Is it because both books have a woman who is good at manipulating situations, partners and even herself? Maybe. That being said, Luckiest Girl Alive is not Gone Girl; however, it is the perfect book for your lazy day at the beach under a colorful umbrella. It is reading for entertainment, not for enlightenment. If you expect to seek deep philosophical truths in these pages, you will be disappointed.

Ani is the "typical" single white female in New York. She has clawed her way to the top, starving herself to fit into near perfect model size clothes. She has learned to cover up her modest upbringing and fit in with high society. Ani is an artful manipulator; she has to be. If she's not, her walls come crashing down and she will lose everything: the "perfect" fiancé, the high paying, fancy job, the beautiful apartment, the "friends," the entire façade of her perfectly fake life. If these people really knew her past, they would be horrified.

Ani is a difficult character to love; she is flawed but also mean. Her snarky nastiness comes off as not just a mean girl. She is evil girl, but readers will love that she is the perfect chameleon in a concrete jungle where survival is based on façade.  As the story progresses, I liked Ani more. Human beings are strange individuals and Ani proves that her past DOES indeed have everything to do with her present and her future. Buried secrets are not likely to stay buried forever no matter how much control the person with the secret has.

Ani's fiancé seemed nearly an afterthought. He has little to do with the story other than being a foil. Ani uses people for her own gains and it's difficult not to admire that in a creepily fascinating way. Everyone loves a great villain and Ani has the demeanor of Maleficent and  the chess master scheming of J.R. Ewing.

If you want to get lost in a book, Luckiest Girl Alive is your pick. I couldn't put it down and read it at breakneck pace and handed it over to my best friend. She, in turn, gave it to another friend.
This is a book that once you've read it, you will recommend it to anyone who likes an interesting and entertaining book.

NOT recommended for readers under 17.

Highly, highly recommended for adult readers and book clubs. I have a feeling this book will make the rounds at book clubs around the country.

FCC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Beach Read Pick: Monster's Chef

Monster's Chef
by Jervey Tervalon
Amistad
2014
224 pages
ISBN: 9780062316202

Available June 10, 2014

Monster's Chef is the perfect beach read. It has everything a reader could want: an out of work, down on his luck chef with a checkered past and a lost love, an aging rock star who harbors illegal habits and an illicit eye for young boys, wannabe hangers-on hoping for that lucky break or their first million, the unhappy, pregnant wife of the aging rocker, a grounds-keeper who looks the other way, and a security team who will shoot now and ask questions later--all set in a remote compound in the hills away from Hollywood.

Gibson takes the job as personal chef because he needs the money. Just released from the halfway house, there's not a lot of jobs lining up on his horizon. He needs clarity and peace, and takes the job at the quiet compound hoping for  a little of both. What he finds is a weird job. He rarely cooks since Monster likes to eat raw. Gibson soon wonders why Monster needs a chef at all.

Monster----as he proclaims himself is the king of the compound--he is everything the press loves in a celebrity--he is odd, different, eccentric bordering on maniacal. In his lair on the hill, he can stay up all night in his weird den of entertainment and sleep all day. He answers to no one. The laws do not pertain to him. He is untouchable and God-like in his realm. His servants don't dare ask questions; they lend a blind eye and hope to make their fortune quick and make a clean getaway. No one talks about what goes on at Monster's Lair.

When a dead body shows up on the property, the sheriff comes looking for answers. Gibson is strangely fascinated by the being who happens to be  Monster--as readers are likely to be. Monster is a true enigma--a tortured soul who is worshipped by hordes of fans in public but who is as alone as a person can be. He is pitiful but too strange and corrupted  to be pitied.

I enjoyed this book immensely but hoped for just a little more "chef -y-ness." While a few recipes were included, I suppose I was looking for a bit more cuisine since the word chef is in the title and various kitchen implements are featured on the cover. The cover also features weapons, a dollar sign,  a couple of thugs, and two women.

I found Monster a bit fascinating and he reminded me of the late Michael Jackson. Gibson, too, was an interesting character. Monster's Chef is a book that will stick with you. You are not likely to forget this one.

Recommended for mature and adult readers. Anyone who loves an "inside the lives of celebrities" book, will love this one. Celebrities, according to Monster's Chef, are not just like you and me.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the arc from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)