Tuesday, February 21, 2006

BLACKFLY SEASON by Giles Blunt

Giles Blunt is an award-winning Toronto novelist who has written scripts for Law and Order. His most recent novel BLACKFLY SEASON is set in Ontario's north in the area around Algonquin Park. Detective John Cardinal is relaxing during an off-duty day when a disoriented 20-something woman crosses his path. She doesn't know who she is and when Cardinal takes her to hospital the attending physician discovers a bullet wound in her head, hidden under a tangle of red curls. She has been partially lobotomized by the bullet.

Cardinal suspects the local biker gang might be implicated in the attempted murder. However, questioning leads him to a charismatic character who calls himself "Red Bear" and claims to have Native status. A tale of corruption, greed and control, BLACKFLY SEASON will keep you flipping pages right through to the end.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

David Bergen's THE TIME IN BETWEEN

This year's Giller Prize winner weaves a tale of a man lost in place. When his ex-wife is killed in a car crash the protagonist attempts to raise his three small children in a remote area of northern B.C. His eldest daughter who hasn't reached double digits ends up doing most of the parenting. When their father takes a trip to Vietnam, two of the children decide to follow him. What they discover is frightening. THE TIME IN BETWEEN is profoundly moving and speaks to the demons that lurk in all of us.