Roger's Reads – Page 47 – Author & Book Reviewer

Review of A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay

August 29, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

This novel follows Paul Davis, a college professor who, one evening while driving home and notices a car swerving all over the road. Moreover, he recognizes the car as belonging to a coworker and friend, Kenneth Hoffman. Paul, worried about Kenneth and fearing that he may need help, follows him, hoping that he’ll pull over. So Kenneth finally pulls over in a deserted area, and Paul does likewise.

But as it turns out, Paul is the one who ends up needing help because to Paul’s horror, he quickly learns that the reason Kenneth pulled over was to dispose of the bodies of two young women that were wrapped in plastic in the back of his car. Kenneth apologizes the Paul right before he hits him across the head with a shovel.

So fast forward several months later. As it turned out, a policeman arrived that night just before Kenneth was about to deliver a fatal shovel blow and was arrested for the murder of the women. Thus, Kenneth is in jail, and Paul did survive the head wound–but with some serious consequences: His mind is forgetful and frightening nightmares plague him as he tries to understand how his friend could be capable of such a brutal act.

Apparently suffering from PTSD, he’s currently being treated by a psychologist and together, they’re working on getting Paul’s life back on track so he can move forward. In fact, Paul decides to confront his demons head on, but we can’t help but wonder whether in doing so, he’s making the situation worse. I found it interesting that a good part of the action in the novel alternates between the interconnecting stories of Paul and those of his psychologist which helped coalesce the various plot threads at the end.

However, things turn worse for Paul when his wife Charlotte comes home one day with a vintage typewriter for Paul – so he could record all the traumatic events in a cathartic way, to help heal, an and maybe even turn it into a book. He wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of the typewriter’s keys tapping away, as though someone is typing on it – but when he goes downstairs to investigate, there was no one there. This happens again and again, but Charlotte doesn’t hear a thing. The situation becomes even more dire when the phantom typewriter begins to produce messages reminiscent of those that the murderer forced the two victims to type before killing them.

As the story moves forward, Paul appears to be losing ground, and he hangs on the very edge of his sanity.

So several questions remain: Has someone been breaking into his house at night? Are the typewriter noises a product of Paul’s damaged mind or is there something else going on here? Something perhaps even supernatural?

What I liked

I loved how creepy this story was. For many of us, the strange sounds that we hear once the lights are turned off are a source of consternation. I’ve gotten the willies more than once as I lay in bed after hearing what I’m positive was someone walking through the living room of my supposedly empty house. So Paul’s experience with the mysterious typing really hit a nerve.

That being said, it was such a fun story to read, as we wondered whether Paul was imagining things or whether there actually was an intruder coming in at night to torture Paul. And if so, why?

Towards the middle of the book, I thought I had it figured out and was a tad disappointed by that. But I was wrong in that assumption. The author threw out some clever red herrings and amazing twists and turns that threw me off the scent of what really is going on. When I was sure I knew what was going on, the author plopped down a twist that thrust me in a completely different direction. In fact, this book contains several mysteries which all come together in an explosive and surprising conclusion that had me on the edge of my seat. I especially enjoyed the fact that nothing is as it seems in this story, including the characters.

And I also really loved all the characters — very complicated characters, I might add — whose true motivations don’t become clear until later on in the book. I felt the author did an exquisite job with the characterization in this story and gave us an interconnected cast of believable, multi-layered and complex character characters many of whom were more than a tad dodgy in my opinion, which deepened the mystery even further.

What I didn’t Like

I didn’t have any significant niggles with the story except for perhaps the ending. It was kind of fantastical and maybe just a tad over the top, much like the ending of an Italian opera. After I closed the last page, I said to myself, “huh,” not quite sure how I felt about it. But upon reflection, it was mostly satisfying and masterfully plotted.

Verdict

A Noise Downstairs is a well-written domestic psychological thriller featuring an enthralling though bizarre plot with riveting characters. From start to finish the story held me in rapt attention until the jaw-dropping conclusion, and I’m so glad I picked up this novel.

All in all, the story was brilliantly paced, well-constructed, and cleverly executed, and I ended up loving it – although now I have to sleep with the light on. Recommended! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can check out the book here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

Review of A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

August 26, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

This is my first Fredrik Backman novel, and all I can say is: why did I wait so long?

THE STORY

This book follows a Man named Ove who is the cantankerous, curmudgeonly, grumpy and unfriendly neighbor that many of us have. He complains about everything, and he’s the kind of angry man who puts up signs around is neighborhood warning other about what they can and can’t do. He loathes technology and misses the days gone by when people could fix their own cars and knew how to repair things around their house.

For him, everything is black and white, and there’s a proper place for everything. If you don’t follow Ove’s rules, you’re an idiot — and he won’t hesitate to tell you so.

Ove’s tale unfolds when a new family moves into his neighborhood: Parvaneh, a very pregnant Iranian woman, her inept and lanky husband Patrick, and their two little girls. On the day they moved in, not only did they drive in an area where the sign clearly states that parking in residential areas is prohibited, but they also flattened Ove’s mailbox. We can certainly imagine how this unfolds.

But there’s a lot more to Ove than meets the eye. You see, his wife — the love of his life and the only person who really understood him — passed away recently and it’s quite apparent that Ove his still quite stricken by grief.

Lonely and depressed, he has no friends and he we get the impression that feels as though he’s outlived his usefulness. In fact, all he wants is to be left alone so he can put his plan together about how to join his wife in the coming days.

But the neighbors aren’t going to make it easy for him. Despite Ove’s repeated attempts at pushing everyone away, Parvaneh ends us striking up an odd friendship with Ove, and a good part of this book focuses on that friendship. She is determined to pull Ove from his self-imposed isolation often with quite hilarious results. Hell, she even manages to talk Ove into giving her driving lessons which had me laughing out loud.

There are also numerous other neighbors who come to him for assistance, interrupting his quiet, lonely life. But he always helps them because he can’t stand to watch them making a mess of things. There’s even a mangy alley cat who decides to adopt Ove, which led to some very touching and amusing scenes.

WHAT I LIKED

First off, this book had me laughing hysterically one moment, and dabbing at tears the next. So in this way, it was a heart-warming, funny and touching story. The excellent characterization drew me right in, and it was only with the greatest of reluctance that I let go at the end.

All of the characters were wonderful. They were well-fleshed out and utterly relatable. These are unique, multi-faceted characters who all have very human faces – ordinary people we could see in any neighborhood of any town or city, and the way they related to one another was delightful.

It was also fun to watch Ove rage against the machine as it were — specifically against bureaucracy and “men in white shirts.” I mean who of us hasn’t been there? This made me think of Doctor Who and his dislike of “men with clipboards.”

Now you may think: why would I want to read a book about a crabby old man? The thing about this story is that as it progresses, Ove becomes more ingrained into the lives of others and them into his, and in that process, he becomes more human, a delightful process that we get to watch unfold. The story weaves back and forth between Ove’s past and present, and we learn, in quite an eye-opening way, what brought him to this point in his life and we discover why he is the way he is, leading to an understanding and empathy with this angry man who we may have disliked at the beginning of the book. This is a perfect example about how we can’t “judge a book by its cover” and how we can’t really know a person until we discover their past and the events they’ve gone through in their lives.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

There were no niggles nor anything else that I disliked about this book. The only thing I didn’t care for was the exhaustive list of every car that Ove and his neighbor owned throughout the years. I found this kind of unnecessary but then again, I’m not a car person so this part I found a tad boring.

MY VERDICT

A Man Called Ove was an inspirational laugh out loud masterpiece that touched my soul with a beautiful, satisfying ending. This story is as thought-provoking and hopeful as it is emotional and sobering and I enjoyed every single moment of it. This is such a smart story, an eye-opening account of letting go of prejudices, of seeing beyond what we think we know. I believe that Backman exhibits an uncanny insight into the human condition and in so doing, causes us to care deeply about this grumpy old curmudgeon who does everything in his power to render himself unlikeable.

This was a touching and somewhat bittersweet tale of a lonely man trying to live in a world that is a little bit beyond his understanding and definitely outside of his comfort zone. But this wasn’t merely a story about a crabby old man, but instead, it is about love, kindness, and most importantly friendship. Though Ove may not seem to be a likable and relatable character initially, if you give him a chance, this old grump will steal your heart. He did mine.

This may end up being one of my favorite reads of 2018, and now I want to read everything I can by this author. Needless to say, this is a 5 star read for me.

You can check out A Man Called Ove here at Amazon or at The Book Depository.

Review of The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

August 23, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

A Little Town Called Sparrow

The story follows our main character, Penny, who lives with her mother on a small island in a town called Sparrow. Now Sparrow could be just like any other little island town except that it has a rather dark history.

Introducing the Swan Sisters

Two centuries ago, the Swan sisters, Marguerite, Aurora, and Hazel were sentenced to death for witchcraft. Instead of being hanged or burned, the sisters’ hands were bound, rocks were tied to their ankles and they were drowned off the shore of the island.

When I first picked up this book, I thought that the sisters were actually witches but as it turns out, they really weren’t. They were all incredibly beautiful and alluring young women, and their only real crime was seducing the men of Sparrow (two of the sisters were especially fond of sex). So basically, what we have here is a vicious case of slut-shaming leading to the murders of three innocent girls.

Two Hundred Years of Revenge

But that was not the last the small town heard of the Swan sisters. As it turns out, every summer the sisters rise from their watery graves and return in order to take revenge on the town that wronged them.

Each of the sisters takes over and inhabits a body of a local girl. Once in human form, the sisters then each drown at least one boy between June 1 until June 21, the summer solstice. During that time, no boys — local or tourists — are safe.

You see, once a Swan sister has her sights on a boy, he is pretty much powerless to resist and will willingly follow the sister into the sea ultimately leading to his death.

Oh, and nobody knows which local girl is possessed because while living in their host’s body, the Swan sister is able to absorb the personality and all the memories and mannerisms of their host, so it’s nearly impossible to tell who has been possessed.

But despite the danger, tourists flock in from all over in the hopes of perhaps catching a glimpse of the infamous Swan sisters who have killed innocent boys every summer in the town for the past 200 years.

There’s a New Boy in Town

So back to our main characters, Penny. So on the eve of the sister’s yearly return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives in Sparrow, utterly oblivious to the dangers he has just walked into.

Now there was kind of an insta-love thing going on with Penny and Bo which annoyed me a bit, but the story was interesting enough that I was able to overlook it, especially when we learn that they both have secrets that they are keeping from each other.

But still, they moved to the lovey-dovey stage really quickly. So they get together romantically but as we can guess, one of the sisters sets her sights on Bo, and it’s up to Penny to protect him.

The Past and the Present

I enjoyed how the story weaved back and forth between present day and the past when the sisters were still human, and it slowly unfolds how things ended up turning so tragic for them and the town. It was nice to see the human side of the Swans and not only the raging, vengeful side, which helped the reader to kind of understand where they were coming from.

Everyone’s a Suspect

The town drama sucked me in as well. Once boys began drowning, mistrust spreads like wildfire as everyone, the reader included, tries to figure out which girls the sisters have possessed.

Everyone is a suspect which means that not only is any boy safe, neither is any girl as the town turns into a literal witch hunt. So the mystery aspect of it was kind of fun. There is also a mystery surrounding Penny’s absent father which gets revealed later on in the story.

I love a story with dark legends, curses, and revenge and in that regard, this book didn’t disappoint. The writing in this book was also quite beautiful and lyrical — almost magical — and the author is obviously quite adept at crafting beautiful prose.

Lack of Chemistry

I already mentioned disliking the insta-love trope, but even apart from that, the romance didn’t really work for me. In my opinion, this was the weakest aspect of the story. I dunno, I didn’t feel the intensity and chemistry between them, certainly not enough that they would risk their lives for each other after having only met a few days earlier.

A Slow Start

I also have to admit that I had a hell of a time getting into this book. Usually, when I start a novel, I finish it in a couple of days. I kept picking this up and putting it back down for several days at a time and even considered DNFing it a time or two.

So there was an incredibly slow buildup to the story, at least for me. The characters perhaps lacked depth initially, they most of them ended up being nicely-developed later on.

But I did feel that there somewhat of a pacing problem in the story and it took a long time to get into it. But once the story picked up steam past the halfway point, my interest peaked as well, and I found myself utterly enjoying it.

An Easy-To-Guess Twist

Another niggle is that I figured out the twist pretty early on. I think maybe it could have been camouflaged a little better and not be so evident and easy to guess. But even though I figured it out, the story was still fun, and I enjoyed seeing it all play out.

And What’s with Those Festivals?

One aspect of the story that struck me as odd was the festivals and celebrations that the town would hold during Swan Season, complete with parties and various festivities. I mean every year during this time, several young men are murdered.

Were people so desensitized to these deaths that celebrating the Swan Sisters seemed okay to them? I can’t believe that people in a small town would act like this. You’d think they’d close off the town, shut down their shops and head for the hills during the month of June rather than engaging in merrymaking.

My Verdict

I liked the premise of this story, and The Wicked Deep ended up being a heavy tale about revenge, murder, betrayal, and forgiveness. In this way, it was a darker story, kind of spooky, and positively heartbreaking in places.

Once I got past the halfway point, I became more invested in what happened to the characters and the story enthralled me much more than it did initially.

But the plodding start and the predictability of the plot kind of dampened my enthusiasm for the book. I didn’t dislike it. On the contrary, I thought that the story was compelling and entertaining with interesting characters, and I am glad that I read it. I just didn’t love it quite as much as I hoped I would. And I ended up giving this 3 stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐.

You can purchase The Wicked Deep here at Amazon or at The Book Depository.

The Sumage Solution by G.L. Carriger

August 15, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I won this book in a Goodreads Drawing so first off, a big thank you to Ms. Carriger for providing me a copy of this book. Of course, the reason I entered into the drawing was that the blurb intrigued me and I’m glad I got a chance to read it.

Introducing Max

The Sumage Solution is an urban fantasy/LGBT romance that follows two characters: Max and Bryan AKA Biff and takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area. Max is a gay and hysterically snarky, foul-mouthed, somewhat grumpy sumage, which is a mage who can’t actually do any magic and is stuck in a crappy government job as a bureaucrat – basically doing paper-pushing drudge work pushing papers.

Max works at DURPS which is the supernatural equivalent of the DMV. I can’t remember what the acronym stands for but any supernatural being who comes into town has to register at and be approved by the DURPS. One of Max’s paper-pushing duties there is to process incoming supernaturals.

Enter the Werewolf

So enter Bryan — called Biff by his pack – who is an extraordinarily well-muscled and gruff beta werewolf with a heart of gold. But he’s also in the closet and is not even out to his pack.

So it’s worth mentioning that typically, werewolves can’t stand being around mages because mages smell horrible to them – they have kind of a chemical stench to them. What’s interesting is that Max actually smells good to Bryan. Bryan also finds the mage to be exceptionally good-looking and there’s a good chance that the hunky werewolf might be willing to leave the closet if he can only get the mage to go on a date.

Bryan/Biff is really a sweetheart of a character, and you can’t help but love him as the story progresses, especially once we figure out that he has somewhat of a White Knight complex – extremely protective of everyone in his life and willing to swoop into the rescue at a moment’s notice.

He basically fits as the caretaker archetype. Max, on the other hand, takes snark to a whole new level but he is laugh out loud funny. He becomes all the more endearing when we learn that a lot of his grumpy and snarky exteriors is basically a façade to hide the fact that he’s been very hurt in the past and as such, has deep relationship issues. Oh, and Daddy issues as well.

But There’s Trouble

Needless to say, Max and Bryan end up getting together, but it’s not smooth sailing for them. Max has many hangups that he has to get past and then there’s the whole reaction of Max’s pack who didn’t even know he was gay, much less dating a mage.

There’s also a mystery to solve surrounding Max’s dead father, his childhood homestead which is protected by strong magic and a powerful and dangerous codex — and ancient manuscript in book form that resides is Max’s father’s house.

Which is probably why there’s a steady stream of mages trying to get past the house’s magical barriers.

Impressive World-building

I really loved the world that the author has created here, giving us a modern day San Francisco but populated by all manner of shifters, magicians, and the enigmatic Kitsune, which are foxes who appear in Japanese folklore. There’s also the riveting history of the mages and magicians and the one event that lead to a whole new world and the death of thousands.

Heat Warning!

Now this being a gay romance, there is sex in this book — a lot of it actually. But the majority of the sex scenes were relevant to the plot, and we learned a lot more about the characters from these scenes.

But it is quite steamy. So if you prefer your novels squeaky clean, then you might want to pass on this one.

My Verdict

Overall, the Sumage Solution was a fun, humorous madcap romp that was charming and intriguing, with lovable, quirky characters. This light-hearted character-driven story was a joy to read, especially with all of the witty banter between our two main characters. The author does snark and sass exceptionally well, and this book had me laughing out loud on several occasions.

This book also has quite a diverse, entertaining and lovable cast of secondary characters, many of them leaning towards the “sassy” side as well. I adored Bryan’s pack and loved how protective and loyal they are to each other. They were definitely a huge, messy and complicated family.

I do believe this is going to be a series and if so I’ll for sure be reading the next one. I loved this little gem of a novel, and I give it: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

You can check out The Sumage Solution here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

Review of Woof at the Door by Laura Morrigan

August 14, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Talking to the Animals

Woof at the Door is the first in a cozy mystery series revolving around Grace Wilde, an animal behaviorist or trainer who has an ability to converse telepathically with animals, both domestic animals and wildlife and she uses her skills to save animals from harm and help solve behavior issues for problem pets for her clients. Think Doctor Doolittle or Animal Whisperer.

But Grace keeps her abilities a secret from everyone except her sister. So her clients all just assume that she simply has a knack with animals.

There’s a murder and a witness

So the story starts when Grace is called out to aid the police with a traumatized and angry guard dog, a Doberman named Jax. Jax witnessed the murder of his owner, the star quarterback of the Florida Jaguars, Mark Richardson. Richardson is also the son of the current Governor, so he’s a relatively high profile person.

The poor dog is suffering from trauma and Grace knows that it’s going to take a while before the Jax’s mind allows him to fully remember who was responsible for the death of his owner. At the moment, all Grace can sense from him is his feelings of utter betrayal. So Grace takes Jax to her home to care for him – a home that she shares with her sidekick and best friend Moss, a wolf hybrid fiercely protective and loyal to Grace.

Being a veterinarian herself, Grace is able to calm the Doberman and hopes to find him a home. It’s interesting to note that the reason that Grace didn’t pursue a career in veterinary medicine, by the way, was because of constant chatter in her head from all the animals. It’s also worth mentioning that Grace’s “pet whispering” talent is handled in a realistic and entertaining way in the book, and the author does an excellent job of presenting her talent has believable.

Chatting with a Jaguar

So Grace hopes that the police will solve the case so she doesn’t have to get involved any further in such a high profile case but the crime just will not go away. In fact, Grace is next called back out to calm a Jaguar owned by a friend of hers. It just so happens that this friend also had an altercation with Richardson shortly before his murder, making him the primary suspect in the killing.

The jaguar, however, shows/tells Grace that her owner did not commit the crime and was home asleep on the couch when the murder took place. The problem is how does Grace inform the police sergeant in charge of the case without disclosing her abilities, and will he believe her?

Grace becomes an amateur sleuth

Now its up to Grace to figure out exactly what Jax has seen, so she takes it upon herself to find concrete evidence to give to the homicide detective in charge, the handsome Kai Duncan leading to some quite humorous situations, especially when giving obviously vague answers to the detectives questions, making her look guilty in the process. Not that Grace is in any hurry to let anyone else know about her ability. She was once burned pretty badly when she revealed her talents to a boyfriend, so she’s determined not to disclose her gifts to anyone else.

The Verdict

This was a lovely cozy mystery and a fun whodunnit, with plenty of suspects, along with numerous twists and surprises, that I didn’t see coming. It had a gripping multi-layered plot with a superb supporting cast of characters. I especially loved Grace’s character – she was feisty, independent and strong, an all-around lovable character. The story was also wrapped up nicely at the end with a satisfying conclusion.

If you’re an animal lover and a mystery buff then you might want to check out Woof at the Door. I give this 5 stars, and I can’t wait to read more books in this series. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

You can check out Woof at the Door here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

Review of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan

August 9, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I love me a book about bookstores and other bookish things, so I was happy when this little gem crossed my path. Judging by the bright, happy-looking cover, I guessed that this might be a cozy mystery with lovable characters and a gentle plot line. Well, there was nothing cozy about this book. It just goes to show you one indeed cannot judge a book by its cover.

DEATH AT THE BOOKSTORE

So this follows Lydia Smith who lives a quiet life with her handsome boyfriend with whom she’s been living for the past five years and is an employee at — you guessed it — The Bright Ideas Bookstore. There’s a group of eccentric, unemployed and lonely regulars who frequent the bookstore to read, nap, play chess and lose themselves amongst the shelves and whom the bookstore’s employees lovingly refer to as The BookFrogs. A couple of these Bookfrogs play a pivotal part in this story.

One night while Lydia is working her shift, Joey Molina, the youngest and more sensitive of the BookFrogs, hangs himself in the bookstore’s upper room. Lydia is the one who finds him and is devastated by Joey’s death, as Joey was one of Lydia’s favorite of the Bookfrogs.

THE END OF CALM

But Lydia’s quiet life becomes unglued when she discovers a picture in Joey’s pocket — a picture of her and her best friend Raj at her 10th birthday party — a picture nobody should have or even know about. Because you see, Lydia is on the run and has been ever since she was a child, now living her life using a fake name after having severed all her past connections. Throughout the majority of her childhood, she lived in isolation in the mountains with her father after a horrible event drove them to leave town. Now twenty years later, she has started a new life with a clean slate and has done her best to forget about the past. But the existence of this picture taunts her and is a harsh reminder that we cannot always escape our past.

Her life unravels even further when a reporter takes her picture at the suicide scene and, to Lydia’s utter horror, it ends up in the newspaper where anyone could see it. Anyone.

BOOK BEQUEATHAL

As it turns out Lydia was Joey’s favorite bookseller, and as such, he bequeathed his meager worldly possessions to her, mostly books that she herself had sold him.

But Joey had defaced every book in a strange, disconcerting way, cutting words and parts of words out of the page. Lydia eventually discovers that the books which Joey defaced was actually a puzzle and contained hidden coded messages meant especially for Lydia. As Lydia slowly deciphers Joey’s strange messages, the story begins to transform into somewhat of a darker and much more unsettling tale of a heinous unsolved murder as Lydia connects and links the contents of Joeys messages to her own troubled past.

A VIOLENT CHILDHOOD RESURFACES

As Lydia untangles the mystery of the defaced books and of Joey’s suicide, in so doing she unearths long-buried memories from her own violent childhood, namely those of The Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia’s life long ago and she now finds herself reliving an experience that still chills her to the bone.

Her nerves are further frayed by several other events: First, there’s the reappearance Raj, her childhood friend who she hasn’t seen in twenty years; then a postcard from the police detective from the unsolved murder case; and finally there are the numerous telephone calls from her estranged father.

Now she can’t help but wonder whether Joey’s cryptic messages might help her to solve a crime that nobody else ever could and she takes it upon herself to find answers to the questions that have haunted her ever since she was little.

THE VERDICT

I ended up loving this imaginative literary mystery story because what bibliophile doesn’t love a book about books? In fact, most of the characters in the story were readers, so books were mentioned quite often in the story.

But this was actually quite a complex, incredibly well thought out and somewhat disturbing mystery — a tale of murder, suicide and coming to terms with one’s past. I loved how this suspenseful story unraveled ever so slowly, feeding us bits of information only a little at a time which kept me glued to the book as the puzzle pieces slowly came together.

So as such, this clever book had layers upon layers weaving in and out of both past and present events and really, kept guessing and engaged until the very end. And the characters were not only totally human and relatable, but they were quite multi-faceted with distinctive and well fleshed out personalities.

This was one of those novels where various seeming minor events and plot threads are tied back into the main storyline in extremely intriguing ways. And the ending was immensely satisfying.

All in all, I loved this book and gave it 5 stars.

You can check out Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore here at Amazon or at The Book Depository.