A Thread of Grace by Mary Dora Russell

Loading...

Loading...

A Thread of Grace {Unabridged Audio}

by Mary Doria Russell

A Thread of Grace {Unabridged Audio} 

Set in Italy during the dramatic finale of World War II, this new novel is the first in seven years by the bestselling author of The Sparrow and Children of God.
It is September 8, 1943, and fourteen-year-old Claudette Blum is learning Italian with a suitcase in her hand. She and her father are among the thousands of Jewish refugees scrambling over the Alps toward Ita
...more Set in Italy during the dramatic finale of World War II, this new novel is the first in seven years by the bestselling author of The Sparrow and Children of God.
It is September 8, 1943, and fourteen-year-old Claudette Blum is learning Italian with a suitcase in her hand. She and her father are among the thousands of Jewish refugees scrambling over the Alps toward Italy, where they hope to be safe at last, now that the Italians have broken with Germany and made a separate peace with the Allies. The Blums will soon discover that Italy is anything but peaceful, as it becomes overnight an open battleground among the Nazis, the Allies, resistance fighters, Jews in hiding, and ordinary Italian civilians trying to survive.
Mary Doria Russell sets her first historical novel against this dramatic background, tracing the lives of a handful of fascinating characters. Through them, she tells the little-known but true story of the network of Italian citizens who saved the lives of forty-three thousand Jews during the war's final phase. The result of five years of meticulous research, A Thread of Grace is an ambitious, engrossing novel of ideas, history, and marvelous characters that will please Russell's many fans and earn her even more.

My Review:
This was a wonderful book, I loved it, the narrator was terrific, did a great job of doing the different voices and accents of the large cast of characters in this book.

It is a heartbreaking and beautiful story and I finished listening to it on Thanksgiving, which was perfect because after listening to all the hardships the characters had to endure in this book because of the war and the horrific losses they suffered it just made me so grateful for my family, freedom, my country and friends!

I thought that all the different plots going on were very interesting and suspenseful and her characters were very well drawn, I would find myself thinking about them after listening to the tapes at different times in my days, they seemed very real to me.

I give the book 5 stars!

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova / with my review

The Historian

by Elizabeth Kostova

In 1972, a 16-year-old American living in Amsterdam finds a mysterious book in her diplomat father's library. The book is ancient, blank except for a sinister woodcut of a dragon and the word "Drakulya," but it's the letters tucked inside, dated 1930 and addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," that really pique her curiosity.

Her widowed father, Paul, reluctantly provides pieces of a chilling story; it seems this ominous little book has a way of forcing itself on its owners, with terrifying results. Paul's former adviser at Oxford, Professor Rossi, became obsessed with researching Dracula and was convinced that he remained alive. When Rossi disappeared, Paul continued his quest with the help of another scholar, Helen, who had her own reasons for seeking the truth. As Paul relates these stories to his daughter, she secretly begins her own research.

Kostova builds suspense by revealing the threads of her story as the narrator discovers them: what she's told, what she reads in old letters and, of course, what she discovers directly when the legendary threat of Dracula looms. Along with all the fascinating historical information, there's also a mounting casualty count, and the big showdown amps up the drama by pulling at the heartstrings at the same time it revels in the gruesome.

Exotic locales, tantalizing history, a family legacy and a love of the bloodthirsty: it's hard to imagine that readers won't be bitten, too

reprinted from Goodreads site.

My Review;

Five stars for this book! I LOVED it!! The characters are so well drawn and from the author's excellent descriptions of the places the characters visited, I felt as if I could actually see the lovely countryside, the castles, monasteries, temples and old libraries, etc.

This book has a lot of suspense and was never boring. It is one of the best vampire books I've read in a long time and definitely deals very well with the Dracula legend. No Sparkling vampires in this book!

The ending was a bit of a wicked twist and I have learned never, ever to pick up and keep an old, dusty  book that does not belong to me, no matter how tempting it may be, it is a far better idea to leave sleeping dragons (or books) lay!

.

The Third Victim by Lisa Gardner

Loading...

Loading...

The Third Victim (Quincy & Rainie #2)

by Lisa Gardner

The Third Victim (Quincy & Rainie, #2) 

The past isn't over....

An unspeakable act has ripped apart the idyllic town of Bakersville, Oregon, and its once-peaceful residents are demanding quick justice. But though a boy has confessed to the horrific crime, evidence shows he may not be guilty.

Officer Rainie Conner, leading her first homicide investigation, stands at the center of the controversy. It's hitting too ...more The past isn't over....

An unspeakable act has ripped apart the idyllic town of Bakersville, Oregon, and its once-peaceful residents are demanding quick justice. But though a boy has confessed to the horrific crime, evidence shows he may not be guilty.

Officer Rainie Conner, leading her first homicide investigation, stands at the center of the controversy. It's hitting too close to home, bringing back her worst nightmares, threatening to expose her secret sins. But with the boy's life at stake, she won't let anything stop her from finding the real killer.

With the help of FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, Rainie comes closer to a deadly truth than she can imagine. Because out there in the shadows a man watches her and plots his next move. He knows her secrets. He kills for sport. He's already brought death to Bakersville and forever shattered the community. But what he has really come for is Rainie -- and he won't leave until he has destroyed her....

My review - 5 stars

Great book, excellent character development, I love the team and Quincy & Raine, and I can't wait to read the other books in this series! Very tense page turner, and some interesting twists in this story. I read this book in two days and the characters became very real to me, to the point of wanting to know what happens to them after the book is finished. I highly recommend this book if you like murder mystery thrillers.