As
Russia shakes
off the torpor of the ’90s and resumes its place as an economic power, a new
thriller by
Brent Ghelfi returns
readers to the seedy underbelly of post-Soviet society. In
Volk’s Shadow—a sequel to Ghelfi’s 2007 book
Volk’s Game—the grim, battle-hardened anti-hero of the first story
returns, this time in search of a Faberg egg that turns out to be a red
herring in a deeper plot concerning atrocities carried out in Russia’s war in
Chechnya. Again Volk nimbly serves two masters—a shady, pint-sized general and
a mafia kingpin—blithely walking the line between crime and military to reveal
the corruption and betrayal endemic to Russian society and politics of the
time. Ghelfi comes to Mystery One on July 17 at 7 p.m.
Also
coming to Milwaukee this week is New York Times best-selling author Christina Schwarz, who hails from Wisconsin. Once again
she uses the region’s landscape as an evocative backdrop in her new book, So Long at the Fair. Moving between a
fateful day in 1963 and the present time, she describes the intricate
complexities of human relationships; the excitement of new love pitted against
the reassurance of long-established affections; the desire to pull away from
obligation competing with the need to maintain the status quo. Schwarz comes to
the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop in Mequon
on July 22 at 7 pm.
Finally,
Meg WaiteClayton’s new book looks at the bonds that tie together five women
of diverse personalities. In The
Wednesday Sisters she tells the story of a group of women living in California during the
late ’60s whose shared love for literature helps them look beyond their quiet,
diminutive lives. As life throws them curveballs and history passes before
their eyes—the Vietnam War, the space race, the rise of feminism—each is forced
to assess the values in which their lives are grounded. Clayton comes to the
Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop in Brookfield
on July 23 at 7 p.m.
Comments