Title: Absolute Power
Author: David Baldacci
Pages: 480
Can the most powerful man in the United States, the President, get away with murder? As this story unfolds you being to wonder where the lines are drawn with the man who has everything at his fingertips.
This was Baldacci's first novel, and although I can tell a difference in his later writings, this book is still action packed, suspenseful, and character driven. It's kind of crazy to find yourself rooting for a thief, but compared to what he's up against it just feels right. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a good page turner.
**********************************************************************************
Title: Miles From Nowhere
Author: Nami Mun
Pages: 304
This was the original pick for our March Book Club, but after the hostess read the book, she felt awful and picked something different. I had already made it through this book but it was definitely not an easy or uplifting read.
The story is about a young Korean girl whose family has moved to the United States. Her father is very unhappy about being in New York and is often running off to be with the flavor of the week. Her mother, always in tears is begging Joon (the daughter) to go after him and bring him back. At the young age of 12, Joon, tired of all the fighting and craziness of her household, decides to run away. While on the streets, she meets up with an older girl named Knowledge and a young man, Wink who is a male prostitute.
I kept hoping this book would have some uplifting ending or that the story would just get better but sadly enough it did not happen. Although there were several very dark spots in this book that I had a hard time getting through, I can see where it would be a good pick for a book club, since there are definitely several things there to discuss.
**********************************************************************************
Title: In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis & the Extraordinary Story of It's Survivors
Author: Doug Stanton
Pages: 320
I happened upon this book in the library and have to say I was totally captured by the cover. I can honestly say I do not remember ever hearing this story and am shocked and appalled that it is not more known. I can see why the Navy would want to keep this under wraps, but I think it is more important that they learn from this mistakes in hopes that it never happens again.
The story is told through the eyes of 3 survivors, Captain McVay, Lewis Haynes (the ship's doctor) and Private Giles McCoy. After setting out from Guam on their way through unknown hazardous waters (since those in command did not feel the Captain was important enough to know what really lay ahead of him and his men) to join up with another unit in Okinawa. During the middle of the night, their ship was hit with a Japanese submarine's torpedo, killing 300 men instantly and sinking the ship within a matter of minutes. Those who survived, totalling 1,196 jumped into the water on the morning of July 30, 1945 and were left to fend for themselves for 5 days. During this time, hundreds of men were attacked and eaten by sharks, others developed symptoms from being in salt water for so long, which were quite gruesome.
After finally being spotted 5 days later only 321 men were still alive, 4 of whom died shortly after being rescued. To cover up their mistakes, the Navy blamed everything on the Captain and had him court martialed. Several of the men that survived fought long and hard to have Captain McVay's record expunged. At the time of the printing, they had made some significant steps in the court system, but sadly enough not before McVay took his own life after living for years with nightmares of what happened to him and his men that one awful night.
**********************************************************************************
Title: My Father's Secret War
Author: Lucinda Franks
Pages: 320
This book has gotten several bad reviews, and although I did find it interesting, it was definitely not one of my favorite memoirs. After believing for years that her father was a secret agent for the OSS she begins not only pushing her father to spill his secrets, but also begins snooping through his things to find proof. She does find a Nazi cap with the insignia and some other documents that do prove he was in Germany during the war. As the story progressed, I began to feel very badly for her father. Here was a person who proudly served his country and whatever the work he did may have been, he was strictly asked to never repeat any of it. As he gets older he developed dementia only to have his daughter who is a reporter for the New York Times interrogating him constantly and trying to pull from him secrets that he long ago buried.
Some things should just be kept in the past where they belong. Pulling whatever knowledge she did out of her father did nothing for him, but only served her own purposes. What does this teach the children of today??
