Jill Hedgecock

Fiction Writer

book review

Book Review: Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory

Review by Jill Hedgecock


Imagine having a daughter who can tell if you’re lying. Imagine your son, Buddy, can see the future, but not all the details. Imagine your other son, Frankie, can move things with his mind, but because he is a chronic failure as an entrepreneur, he has gotten involved with the mob to solve his business investment debts. These are just a few of the issues that the patriarch of the family, Teddy Telemachus, must grapple with in Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory (2017, Random House LLC, paperback, 416 pages $24.54).


Teddy, a card shark and con man who married Maureen – the real deal when it comes to supernatural powers – fathered three children with special gifts. His children’s unique talents are both a blessing and a curse. His daughter and eldest child, Irene, has also passed psychic traits on to her child (Teddy’s grandchild), Matt. Matt is 14, though his family seems to have forgotten a year and constantly calls him a 13 year-old, is a typical preteen boy in many ways. But when he accidentally discovers that his consciousness can travel outside his body and confides in his Uncle Frankie, he’s soon recruited into Frankie’s plot to steal mob money from a safe in a nearby tavern.


Meanwhile, Buddy, a grown man of few words, can’t see the whole future is trying to control the future to avoid a disastrous event called “The Zap.” As a widower, Teddy spends his free time trolling grocery stores for lady friends. Enter Graciella, a mob wife and object of Teddy’s latest infatuation. But it soon becomes apparent there’s more to this story—a lot more, and the reader soon discovers that Buddy’s visions and mobsters are inexplicably intertwined.


Amid exploring all these varied characters and their unusual lives, the backstory of how Teddy met his wife and how the government recruited her to spy on the Russians round out the story. Enormously creative and crafted, Spoonbenders, is a one-of-a-kind read filled with humor, and despite all its quirkiness manages to explore the depths of family bonds and the extraordinary resilience of humanity amid chaos.


Spoonbenders was a Nebula Award Finalist, one of NPR’s Best Books of the Year, and an Amazon Best Book. Paramount and Anonymous Content are developing it for television.


Daryl Gregory lives and writes full-time in Oakland. He is an award-winning writer of genre-mixing novels, stories, comics and even a video game. Some of his other works include a young adult novel Harrison Squared (Tor, March 2015), a Locus Award finalist, Afterparty which was an NPR and Kirkus Best Fiction book and Pandemonium, a finalist for the World Fantasy award. His novella, We are All Completely Fine, won the World Fantasy award and the Shirley Jackson award.

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Book Review: The Crossing by Michael Connelly


Review by Jill Hedgecock


The Crossing (2016, Little Brown Company, reprint, paperback, $10.22, 400 pages) by Michael Connelly exemplifies Connelly’s mastery at revealing interesting details of the law and crime investigation. In this latest suspense book, Connelly’s twenty-eighth novel, Mickey Haller, a defense lawyer, believes his client, Da’Quan Foster, is innocent. Foster is accused of brutally raping and murdering Lexi Parks. Odds are decidedly in the prosecutor’s favor on this case because the accused’s DNA has been found inside the woman’s body. Haller’s challenges don’t end there. His top-notch private investigator is in the hospital. With nowhere else to turn, Mickey strong-arms his reluctant half-brother, Harry Bosch, a newly retired homicide detective formerly with the Los Angeles Police Department, to help on the case.

Throughout the novel, Connelly’s sense of place adds yet another intriguing dimension. During a visit to Hollywood Forever, a cemetery for celebrities, readers learn a wonderful tidbit about the demise of Carl Switzer, best known for his portrayal of Alfalfa from Our Gang, a 1930s television show. On a more sobering note, the author weaves in disturbing aspects of the dark recesses of Los Angeles underworld.

Throughout the twists and turns of the Parks case, the “crossing” theme emerges. First described early on in the book as the point at which the perpetrator meets the victim, the nuances of crossings pop up again and again. For instance, Bosch, who has given testimony only for the prosecution, crosses over to the defense table. A doctor crosses a professional line and has a relationship with one of his patients. Several unethical cops collide with Haller and Bosch to thwart their quest for truth.

One of the great things about reading Connelly’s novels is his ability to create realistic characters. From to the irascible Bosch, to Cisco, the tattooed private investigator, to my personal favorite, Mickey Haller, played by Matthew McConaughey in the 2011 movie, The Lincoln Lawyer, the characters are memorable. With the launch of Season 2 of the television series, Bosch, which premiered on March 11, 2016, the transformation of Connelly’s characters from page to screen has occurred once again. But don’t let the lure of television keep you from picking up The Crossing, because there is one last crossing that must take place: the junction between readers and Bosch’s journey as he discovers the truth behind Lexi Park’s murder.

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Book Review: The Lake House by Kate Morton

Review by Jill Hedgecock

What happened to little Theo? Was the toddler kidnapped? Murdered? This is the major premise of The Lake House by Kate Morton (2016, Atria Books; Reprint edition, paperback, 512 pages $11.88). Theo had disappeared from the Edevane estate in Cornwall, England during their annual Midsummer party in June 1933. The case has remained unsolved for 70 years.


Fast forward to 2003 in London when Sarah, a former policewoman who has been put on leave and returned to Cornwall to stay with her grandfather, stumbles upon the abandoned Edevane property while out running. The derelict house intrigues Sarah because it appears that the former occupants up and left without packing a single possession. When Sarah learns about the tragedy of Theo’s disappearance, her detective skills kick in. She contacts one of Theo’s sisters, Alice. But Theo’s sister wants to bury the past, but through Sarah’s prodding, Alice learns that one of her assumptions about what happened on that fateful evening in 1933 has been wrong.


The story unfolds in pieces between Alice’s childhood and the Edevane family saga in 1933 and Sarah and Alice’s current lives. Red herrings tucked into this novel keep the reader guessing on Theo’s fate. Several nannies, a retired medical doctor, and a handsome young groundskeeper could have played a role in Theo’s disappearance. Then there’s the backstory of Theo’s and Alice’s parents. Eleanor, a fiercely devoted wife and Anthony, a nature lover, war veteran, and loving father.


The Lake House received a a Woman & Home Reader’s Choice Award for Best Historical Thriller (2016) and a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Historical Fiction (2015). Readers who enjoy a compelling mystery, learning about the effects of World War I on servicemen, and poetic prose will love this book. The mystery of what happened to Theo launches this otherwise quiet book into a page-turning frenzy.
Kate Morton is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author. Her five novels are published in over 40 countries, in 34 languages, and have all been number one bestsellers around the world. Kate grew up in Queensland and now splits her time between London and Australia. She has degrees in dramatic art and English literature with a focus in nineteenth-century tragedy and contemporary Gothic novels. Morton says of her experiences as a reader and novelist, “I fell deeply in love with books as a child and believe that reading is freedom; that to read is to live a thousand lives in one; that fiction is a magical conversation between two people – you and me – in which our minds meet across time and space.”

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Book Review: The Guest Room

The Guest Room

Review by Jill Hedgecock


The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian (2016, Doubleday, paperback, 336 pages, $6.79) is the story of the fallout after a happily married man, Richard Chapman, makes the unfortunate mistake of hosting his brother’s bachelor party. Things spiral out of control when the hired entertainment—two young Russian sex slave girls—rebel against their captors and kill the two thugs during the party. Bohjalian’s heart-wrenching story is told primarily from two perspectives: Richard and Alexandra, one of the Russian girls at the party. While Richard’s comfortable life as an investment banker is turned upside down because of the murders, his woes are less intense compared to Alexandra’s. Her tale of abduction and imprisonment into a life of whoring catapults this novel into an edge-of-your-seat page turner. Somehow Alexandra’s kind heart and indomitable spirit makes reading this difficult subject matter easier.

Bohjalian’s narrative goes beyond describing the post-party calamity for the two main characters. From Richard’s brother-in-law’s (Philip’s) fiancé, to Philip’s best friend, Spencer, to Richard’s wife and daughter, the bachelor party mayhem leaves loved ones and acquaintances with difficult choices. The theme of Barbie dolls, perhaps an ultimate symbol of objectifying women, serves to add a disquieting depth to this story.

The Guest Room is Bohjalian’s eighteenth and far from his only great read. He has a penchant for taking ordinary people going about their normal lives and shoving them into impossible situations. He has mastered the art of seducing readers to question how they might act in a similar situation. From the New York Times bestsellers, The Sandcastle Girls (Armenian genocide) to Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands (aftermath of a nuclear meltdown on a teen girl in Vermont), Bohjalian’s diversity of socially- and morally-engaging topics is impressive. Three of his books have been turned into movies (Secrets of Eden, Past the Bleachers and Midwives).

The accolades for The Guest Room go beyond being a New York Times Bestseller and include such honors as becoming A Publishers Weekly Bestseller, A USA Today Bestseller and a Los Angeles Times Bestseller. Although uncomfortable to read at times, the novel brings to light horrendous business practices and heinous crimes against women. Yet, Bohjalian writes with compassion. In his acknowledgements, Bohjalian applauds the Los Angeles-based Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (www.castla.org) for their work in assisting victims of sex slavery. He has humanized sex slave trafficking in a way that could act as an agent for change. Bravo!

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Book Review: The One Man


Review by Jill Hedgecock


The One Man (2018, Minotaur Books, paperback, 448 pages, $14.76) by Andrew Gross is the riveting tale of a Jewish Polish immigrant named Nathan Bloom who escapes the ghetto roundup during the cusp of World War II only to take on a dangerous mission. His impossible task for the U.S. requires him to sneak into one of the most notorious of all the Nazi death camps, and to smuggle out a physicist, Alfred Mendl—a man with critical information needed to construct a nuclear bomb. The premise of the book alone promises a high-stakes tale, but Gross masterfully escalates the suspense with each turn of the page. The novel truly has it all, historical details of wartime 1940s, glimpses into the sacrifices made by military and underground heroes, family love and drama, and even a bit of coming-of-age romance.
Gross takes readers across the globe from U.S. military offices in Washington D.C. to a back wood drop point in Germany, to the most compelling of all places, Auschwitz. It is here where the author doesn’t hold back when describing the vile conditions in the Jewish prison camp or the cruelty of the German soldiers keeping watch over the beleaguered men and women they oversee.


It isn’t really surprising that the characters are both believable and have depth. Among the interviews Gross conducted during his research for the novel was his 95-year-old father-in-law who escaped from Warsaw just months before the war. The main character’s (Nathan Bloom’s) likability, his tragic history, as well as his bravery, provide an intriguing lens for the reader. Yet, from Leo, an extraordinary chess player who falls hard for the wrong woman, and becomes Mendl’s protégé, to “Wild” Bill Donovan, head of Bloom’s secret mission, to other ancillary characters such as Bloom’s sister, a talented musician, Gross manages to make their personalities radiate off the page. It is because of these characters that the story stands above the many other novels that recount World War II atrocities. The One Man was originally released in 2016 and received starred reviews in Booklist, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly.

Andrew Gross is the author of New York Times and international bestsellers including The Blue Zone, Don’t Look Twice, and The Dark Tide. Button Man is another of his compelling historical thrillers. He has also coauthored several #1 bestsellers with James Patterson. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages. He and his wife live in Westchester County, New York. The audio book narrated by Edoardo Ballerini brings a depth to the characters that makes the story shine. Regardless of how it’s consumed, this historical thriller delivers a wild ride with ample twists and turns that will grip readers until the last page.

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Book Review: Stolen Things by R. H. Herron


Stolen Things (2020, Dutton, paperback, 368 pages, $13.97) by R.H. Herron starts with a bang. Imagine going to your job as a 911 dispatcher and receiving a call from your distraught daughter. This is what happens to Laurie Ahmadi, a former cop, who quickly uses her detective skills to track down the location of her drugged teen daughter, Jojo. Laurie is livid when she discovers that Jojo has been assaulted. It seems incomprehensible to Laurie how her daughter would be anywhere near the home of the former pro football player, Kevin Leeds. When she arrives at Leeds’ home, Laurie soon discovers that Jojo’s best friend, Harper, is missing. Jojo has no idea where Harper might be and she can’t remember the events that led her to be inside Leeds’ house. Worse, the police discover a dead body on the scene. Determined to bring the perpetrator who has harmed her daughter to justice at all costs, Laurie isn’t willing to let the police handle the situation and launches her own investigation.


After her husband, Omid, the Police Chief, collapses under pressure, Laurie decides it is up to her alone to find the missing teen girl. As the hours tick by and Harper isn’t found, Laurie becomes reckless. And as she delves into the events of the night she begins to understand that she doesn’t know her daughter as well as she thought. Among other things, Jojo. is involved in an organization called Citizens Against Police Brutality. Jojo, who longs to be a cop herself, and who is desperate to find her friend, starts meddling in the investigation and uncovers things she never knew about Harper. Jojo understands, just like her mother, that the longer Harper remains missing, the less likely that she’ll be found alive.
Beyond being a page turner, Stolen Things tackles a variety of social issues from racism against Arabs, to gay rights, to police brutality and corruption. The fact that it is set in a Northern California town also adds local interest.

Stolen Things is on par with other novels filled with twists and turns like The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

R. H. Herron has worked as a 911 dispatcher, and it shows in her deft handling of the subject material in Stolen Things. She is an internationally bestselling author of more than two dozen books, including thrillers (under R.H. Herron), mainstream fiction, feminist romance, memoir, and nonfiction about writing. She received her MFA in writing from Mills College in Oakland, and has taught writing extension workshops at both U.C. Berkeley and Stanford. She lives in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand with her partner and way too much yarn. According to Publishers Weekly, Stolen Things is “Riveting… Herron is definitely a writer to watch.” I couldn’t agree more.

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