The Record Keeper by Charles Martin

This is the third book of a series and my favorite book of the series. The ending is not what I would have wanted, but all things considered, it's what had to happen. This story focuses on Bones, his childhood, and his history with his twin brother, Frank. We find out that Bones & Frank were abandoned at birth, but adopted by a loving couple. When their lives are interrupted by death, the boys are sent to live at a Monastery run by priests. They were young children when they arrived at the Monastery. For the next several years they are sexually abused by many priests, kept in dark dungeons, transferred to different sites to be abused by different priests. When they finally escaped their horrible lives, Bones was happy to be free and Frank had kept a record of all the men who had harmed him. At this point, Frank is "The Record Keeper". Franks goal was revenge and retaliation while Bones had a new mission to save others who were victims of sex trafficking. We get to see why Bones chose Murphy to work with him on this mission and how hard he trained Murphy so that Murphy would be able to handle any situation.

Since Murphy nearly died at the end of The Letter Keeper, he wasn't ready to get back to work with Bones. He wanted to stay in Freetown with his wife (Summer) and daughter (Ellie). He wanted to heal, both inside and out. He considered dropping out of Bones' mission altogether. Then Bones shares his story with Murphy and they are back at it. What's different about this story is that Bones & Murphy need to figure out a way to take down Frank and his organization. Frank had become the powerful leader of a worldwide sex trafficking organization. He had the intelligence, the power, the money, and the surveillance equipment to watch every corner of the earth basically. He actually knew what was happening in Freetown and he was always one or more steps ahead of Bones & Murphy. When Frank started attacking Freetown, Murphy & Bones assembled a team of hackers to figure out how Frank had so much control.

The beginning of the end was when Frank took Bones and Murphy couldn't find him. Frank continuously beat and tortured Bones. Bones wouldn't give Frank what he wanted: his birth certificate. Frank wanted to know where he came from. Frank then turned to Murphy, saying he would release Bones after Murphy found his birth certificate. When Murphy finds Bones, he finally understands that it's actually Bones who is "The Record Keeper". The life that Bones chose to live after his own childhood trauma demonstrates that, "From the beginning of time, light has shone into the darkness, and since that first spark, darkness - no matter how hard it tried, no matter what sword it wields or scheme it perpetrates - has not been able to overcome it. Ever." Bones was the light; Frank was the darkness. Bones held the flashlight for all those he had rescued, so they could see beyond the darkness. "Bones kept a record of hope imprinted on his heart."

This book was emotional and heart wrenching. Bones truly walked in the steps of Jesus, following his lead and sharing his message.

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith

This is my favorite detective series of all time and I am super sad that it's winding down. The Hallmarked Man is book 8 out of a series of 10 (from what I understand). Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott are my favorite "partners" couple, right behind Mulder & Scully! :)

Strike & Robin meet with a woman (Decima) who wants them to confirm that the unidentified - or misidentified - man found brutally murdered in the safe of a silver shop is her boyfriend and father or her baby. The silver shop specializes in Masonic silver and is located next to a Freemasons' Hall. The murdered man is missing all the parts of a body that could help authorities accurately identify him, which is part of the problem. Decima believes that the man murdered is her boyfriend because he had recently stolen a large piece of silver from her father, which is another story in and of itself. She doesn't believe that he would ever leave her or their child and can only believe that he must be dead. Strike & Robin reluctantly take on her case.

Meanwhile, the detective agency's latest hire, Kim, is causing a stir at the office. She's a player and she has her sights set on Strike. This actually bothers both Strike and Robin, but for different reasons of course. Robin's afraid that Strike will sleep with her and Strike simply finds her annoying. Robin doesn't understand that of course. Then there is Robin's kind, handsome boyfriend, Ryan Murphy, who loves Robin and wants to marry her, but also resents the time and energy that Robin spends with Strike. To add to all of these relationship "issues", Ryan makes a grave error in his own job which sends him spiraling down - which in turn affects Robin who doesn't want to abandon him.

The agency is busy with a variety of cases they are working on. The story is complex with a lot of different people, names, places, events to keep track of. It's not always easy to remember who everyone is and how they are connected. I think I've commented on this before but Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling must have a HUGE storyboard to keep track of everyone when she's writing. The main story is the murder in the silver shop, but that story alone leads Strike & Robin to several different people and groups of people, which in turn leads to several different theories of what really happened and why. Add in their "regular" cases of tracking cheating spouses; exposing the underbelly of the seedier parts of life; relationship issues; lack of upfront communication between Strike & Robin; the reappearance of Strike's past girlfriends, which always cause problems; the lies of the media; Strike's famous father; Robin's family; Robin's relationship with Ryan; and Strike & Robins unending "pining" for each other but not wanting to destroy their friendship; well, it's a lot. And I loved every single minute of it!

Wendy's Rating: *****

Nobody's Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

This may be the saddest book I have ever read. There are so many tragic events in Virginia's life that at times I simply had to put it down and breathe deeply. This book, and Virginia's life, is the result of early childhood betrayal trauma. Betrayal trauma is when someone that you love and trust, like a parent, violates the trust that they will take care of you. I cannot stop thinking about how Virginia's life could have turned out if she had not been betrayed by her parents. It makes me sick to my stomach. Her father started sexually abusing Virginia in the bathtub by the time she was 6 or 7 years old. (Both ages are mentioned in the book.) Her mother was completely aware of what was going on and she let it happen. They are both disgusting human beings. Her father then "swapped" her with another man's daughter. This "friend" of her fathers continued the sexual abuse. It sickens me. What's even worse, Virginia wanted to try to have a relationship with each of her parents (divorced) long into her adulthood. That's what betrayal trauma does to the brain. It changes the brain chemistry at such an early age that it can't ever be repaired.

It's this early childhood abuse/trauma that led Virginia to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She simply didn't think she deserved better. Epstein and Maxwell started sexually abusing Virginia at their first "massage" when she was a young teenager. They used her body; sold it; abused it; encouraged other men to use it and abuse it; while telling her how special she was. She was Epstein's "special girl" and Ghislaine was the "mother figure" in her life. All Virginia wanted is to be safe and loved. She wanted to be protected and feel like she had a place in this world. They gave her that, in her traumatized mind.

Now let's make Virginia's life even worse after she finally feels empowered enough (after years of therapy) to report what happened to her. She put herself out there to try to take down very powerful men and women so that they couldn't continue to harm the innocent. She was raked over the coals by lawyers, the media, and Epstein supporters. It's appalling. She was called a liar, a gold digger, an attention-seeker. What is WRONG with people. 

Finally, the "cherry on top" of this tragic life: her husband physically abused her. In the book, she talked about him like he was her hero. She couldn't say enough about how wonderful he was; what a great, supportive husband; what a wonderful father. This is the final proof that childhood betrayal trauma lasts a lifetime. She simply could not admit that after everything she had lived through; everything that she had suffered through; she was still an abused woman who believed that she didn't deserve more. Dead by suicide at age 41.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre: You. Deserved. More.

Wendy's Rating: *****

A Hymn to Life by Gisele Pelicot

The book is astounding in how disturbing it is. Gisele Pelicot is shockingly honest and bold when she talks about her upbringing and her life/marriage with her husband of 50 years, Dominique. I had heard about her court case of course, since it made the world news, but her personal narrative makes her final statement all the more powerful.

Gisele's wonderful, kind mother died young. Her father, who was also very supportive and kind, remarried a woman who was anything but. It definitely makes me wonder who Gisele would have been had her mother not died, or if her father had not remarried, or if he had remarried someone as kind as him. It would have changed the trajectory of her life - and her sights would not have fallen to Dominique.

Dominique had an awful childhood full of abuse: sexual (including the idea that incest was "normal"), physical, and emotional. When Gisele & Dominique meet each other and connect on a deeply personal level, she feels like the connection between them will allow them to escape their horrible pasts. And maybe they did for awhile. Dominique certainly must have loved his family (Gisele and their three children and eventually grandchildren) enough for them all to feel his love of them so deeply. No one who grows up in a loving household with two attentive parents would ever think of something so degrading and horrible as Dominique's depraved actions bubbling up beneath the surface. In hindsight of course, Gisele had signs along the way that Dominique's sexual preferences were changing. But nothing prepared her for the true horror of her life.

Gisele was deeply worried about her own health for a number of years, and that seemed to be her focus. She was experiencing blackouts, memory loss, dental issues, and other health issues. She thought she was dying at times, but no doctor she visited could identify what was going on with her. Why would she ever think that her husband of 40-50 years would be drugging her, and for what purpose? When she gets that life shattering phone call from the police department - the one that tears apart her life and the life of her adult children - she is stunned. The man she loved so deeply; the man that she shared her life with for 50 years; was a deeply disturbed sexual predator, rapist, and suspected murderer. Dominique had been drugging her for over 10 years so that her lifeless body could be raped repeatedly over 200 times by Dominique himself and the strange men that he brought into their home.

Gisele has to process her happy memories with Dominique and see how they fit into the monster she finds out that he is. Her emotional evolution is remarkable. In the four years since that original phone call, she becomes a strong, brave advocate for women against sexual violence. She forces herself to look at the photos and videos of her being raped vaginally and orally and being brutally sodomized; she sits in court every day during her four month trial and listens to over 50 rapists try to "prove" that she was a willing participant; she fights back against the idea that she "knew" what was happening to her; she fights for her daughter's sanity (who believes that she was also raped by her father when pictures turn up of her sleeping soundly in her bed, although he adamantly denied that he did anything to his children & grandchildren). The depravity of some human beings sickens me to no end.

I hope Gisele finds her happy ending. She deserves it.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

This is a debut novel about a family living in the Chicago area. David & Marilyn Sorenson have four adult daughters: Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace. The writing style is very fluid and it was an easy read. I was also invested in each of the characters to some degree, but I certainly didn't like some of them at times. What I love about character novels, however, is seeing the growth in each character as the story unfolds.

David & Marilyn have one of these amazing marriages based on unconditional love and affection. They have their problems over the years for sure, but they really don't believe that anything is more important than their relationship. They are very demonstrative in their affection for each other, which I think is sweet. Their daughters seem to always view it as a negative thing however. There is an underlying vibe throughout the book that these family members perceive each other with a slant toward the negative. This really bothered me and it's the reason I'm giving it 4 stars (for the writing style and character development) rather than 5 stars. I don't mind reading about beautifully flawed people, but I hated how they were always undercutting each other - and they were really hard on Marilyn. Even the title of the book refers to a comment made in jest by David & Marilyn about raising their daughters ("The most fun we ever had.") Of course when all is said and done, and their daughters are adults and finally finding their own way despite their individual hardships, David says the same phrase to Marilyn and means it. So, there's that.

Wendy is the oldest daughter and marries an extremely wealthy man who ends up dying way too young. Their only child is born sleeping. So, she has to deal with a lot. I don't think her sisters give her enough grace as she grieves for her lost "life". She's not exactly warm and fuzzy though. Violet is her "Irish twin" and while they were close as children, they aren't as adults. It's pretty sad. They seem to be jealous of each other and certainly find ways to sabotage their sisterhood. Violet got pregnant as a teenager and Wendy took her in so she could have the baby and put it up for adoption without their parents even knowing about it. (Why?) But then Wendy tracks the child (now a 15 year old teenager named Jonah) and brings him into their lives, which throws Violet, her husband and young children into a tailspin. (Why?) Liza's boyfriend suffers from severe depression, which she just seems to suffer through. Then she finds out she's pregnant and suddenly has an affair, which her boyfriend finds out about and leaves her. (Ok?) Finally there is Grace, the "baby" of the family, who is pretending to be attending school but is really failing out of life.

I can't pretend to know what it's like to have even one sister, so maybe sisters can really be like this to each other. I hope not though. In the end, each character has grown and apparently decided that telling the truth isn't as bad as it once seemed to them. And all of them accept Jonah into their midst. All's well that ends well.

Wendy's Rating: ****

You With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate

I know I shouldn't be shocked about how many artists/actors/musicians come from trauma-filled childhoods anymore, but it almost seems like the bigger the star, the bigger the trauma they have experienced in their life. It's crazy. Christina Applegate, who started her acting career earlier than most, was already being sexually abused by the age of 5. Her father abandoned her and her mother; her mother's significant other, who lived with Christina and her mother, introduced Christina's mother to heroin, which quickly became an addiction. Once addicted, Christina was pretty much left in the care of other drug-users/addicts. Her mother eventually kicked her habit (which is actually quite remarkable since she did it on her own), but the early childhood trauma had already made a significant impact on Christina and her life choices.

One thing Christina says early in this book is that research has shown that people who develop MS often have a trauma history. Basically, that MS can be brought on by trauma. I had never heard that before, but I have wondered why so many artists seem to suffer from a variety of debilitating illnesses. Maybe there is something to that. In Christina's case, she certainly hasn't had it easy. She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer - which resulted in a double mastectomy - years before her MS diagnosis in her 50s. Now she lives with daily debilitating pain and has lost her ability to do two things she loves: dance and act.

Not having a role model in her life representing a "healthy relationship", Christina made some really awful choices in men. She was involved in an abusive relationship (name unknown, but she tended to go for musicians) for years. She just kept going back. She explains how difficult it is to get out of these type of relationships when you have low self-worth, in addition to feeling like you can help other people. Like many in the acting world, she experiences body dysmorphia and was anorexic. I am always amazed that people with so many issues, whether it's addiction, depression, dysmorphia, low self-esteem, bi-polar disorder, or any other number of issues, can consistently show up at their acting jobs every day, work 14-16 hour days, and portray their on-screen characters in such a way that the viewer has no idea what they are going through in the real life. It's pretty remarkable. It makes me wonder how far they would have gone without the traumatic childhoods. 

Christina is open and honest about her life now - and she calls herself to the carpet for interviews she did when she wasn't honest about how she was really feeling as she was going through her breast cancer and first diagnosed with MS. She is a fighter for sure.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Searcher by Tana French

It's been many years since I have read a Tana French novel. Apparently, I have been missing out. I really enjoyed this book and I love the writing style. The Searcher is book one of a series of three. Cal Hooper is a retired Chicago cop who moves to a small Irish village to escape from life. He leaves behind an ex-wife and an adult daughter. We don't really find out too much in this book about what he is escaping from, except we know his divorce was not particularly amicable. He also seems to have a fairly strained relationship with his daughter, who he calls faithfully once a week, but doesn't always reach her. He buys a rundown "cottage" in Ireland, which needs a lot of work. It doesn't take long for word to spread in this small village that he is a retired cop.

One day a young teenager (13 years old) arrives on his doorstep and pretty much begs Cal to find their missing brother. Cal doesn't want to initially. After all, he is retired. But the teenager, Trey Reddy, is highly persuasive. Cal develops almost a father/child relationship with Trey, teaching Trey to fire a weapon, hunt rabbits for dinner, fish for dinner, and refurbish furniture in his house. The problem with Cal tracking down Trey's brother is that no one else in town wants him to. Pretty soon sheep are getting brutally murdered in the fields; Trey is beaten up; Cal is savagely beaten by three unknown men, who only stopped when Trey tried to shoot them with Cal's rifle; and a woman in town, Lena, is having to stay at Cal's house with Trey to assist with all the injuries. The men in the village are big into "sending messages" through brute force. Some of these messages were a bit obscure to me, but fortunately Cal explains them to the reader by musing to himself about the messages sent! Ha!

Most of the characters in this book are rough around the edges, to put it lightly. Even the people that are outwardly friendly (like Cal's neighbor) have an undercurrent of hostility about them. It would be difficult to know who to trust - or simply who to take at face value - in this village. Cal learns a lot about the villagers as he continues to search for Trey's brother. During his search, he uncovers the element of crime running through the village. I found myself engaged in the story and I really like Tana French's story-telling techniques, especially the humor. I will definitely be finishing this series.

Wendy's Rating: ****