Fiction Pick of the Week: Saving Max

Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten 2010

Attorney Danielle Parkman knows that her teenage son Max is having mental health issues that seem to be getting worse. She places him in the Maitland Institute which is a renowned psychiatric facility in Des Moines. Once Max is admitted to Maitland, his behaviour becomes very violent and he is accused of murdering a fellow patient, Jonas.

Appeal factors of this book are a fast-paced plot with lots of twists and turns. There are many subplots going on in the story that keep up the interest of the reader. The courtroom setting and writing style are similar to John Grisham. A very good thriller for this debut author.

For your consideration: Graphic descriptions of child abuse and the mindset of a serial killer.

Fiction Pick of the Week: Started Early, Took My Dog

Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson

Set in Leeds, England this is the fourth book in what has become a series of literary crime novels featuring, Jackson Brodie a “semi-retired” private detective. His current client is an adoptee, Hope McMaster, who hires him to search for her roots, as it seems she has sprung from nowhere. Crimes and murders committed in the 1970s flip to the present where Tracy Waterhouse, who like Brodie is a former police officer, finds herself entangled in the web of intrigue that ensues.

Tracy makes a snap decision that in one rash moment places her on the other side of the law and consequently on the run. Brodie likewise makes a snap decision that is quite out of character when a small dog crosses his path.

Atkinson knits together the plots and subplots with extraordinary style, and her sense of humour lurks around the darkness of her themes. Her characters will chill you and thrill you. As a former winner of the Whitbread Award for Behind the Scenes at the Museum Atkinson has triumphed yet again. You really must read this book.

Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Priceless

Priceless: how I went undercover to rescue the world's stolen treasures by Robert K. Wittman
  
In the world of North American crime, art theft does not rank high on the list of priorities for the FBI. For one man, however, stopping the theft of cultural artifacts is as important as stopping the sale of drugs or solving violent crime cases. Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures is the story of Robert K. Wittman’s FBI career and how he spent years travelling around the globe reclaiming works of art for both museums and personal collections.

Wittman makes a convincing argument for the importance of pursuing the recovery of paintings, sculptures, historic flags, swords, items from archeology sites, and other culturally relevant objects. He notes that their disappearance robs us all of our history, culture, and sense of identity. Wittman details a number of his undercover exploits as he ingratiates himself with members of the criminal underworld to recover works by Rodin, Goya, Rembrandt, and objects such as Geronimo’s eagle feather war bonnet and a crystal ball originally from Beijing’s Forbidden City. He tracks the growth of the fledgling art crime unit within the FBI and its eventual dissolution, while outlining both its successes as well as its failures.