Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

Years ago, I had all my parent's slides, they took gobs of photos.  The slides were starting to degrade and were hard to look at without setting up a lot of equipment.  Despite it being more overwhelming than cooking Thanksgiving dinner for a family of twenty with a picky Aunt Sue and cranky Uncle Hank, I scanned all the slides into my computer.  Within those family slides is an engineering drawing that I have no idea what it is.  When I was a kid, I was convinced my dad was a spy due to his wearing sunglasses, hey I was little and I'm quite certain that all spies covet an extensive sunglass wardrobe (they probably have cameras in them).  Of course, my dad was a regular person, but that miscellaneous slide had me wondering about him and his job that took him to top secret sites.

I recently read Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn.  This is the story of four aging women, spies, well assassins is more accurate.  The group these ladies work for has sent them on a fantastic all expenses paid cruise to mark their retirement. While trying to enjoy their relaxing gift they realize that someone is on the cruise that shouldn't be, in fact, it is someone they work with...a fellow assassin.  The four women quickly realize that this time they aren't the killers but the targets.   Why would an organization they have been so loyal to suddenly turn on them?  How do they come out alive when those after them are as well trained as they are?

This book is smart, fun, quick moving, interesting and laugh out loud funny.  Anyone will enjoy this book but if you are forty or older you will start to recognize some of their aches and pains, along with other "hormonal things" going on with their bodies.  All of this commentary on aging and the actual story of hunting assassins is told with so much humor, if was a pleasure to read.  My only regret is that this book isn't the beginning of a series, as I could do with a whole lot more of these wise-cracking ladies.

Hey, my dad went on a cruise once...hmmmmm...

Churchill's Secret Messenger by Alan Hlad

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

I recently received a book in the mail and before I could even get the package fully open my husband announced it was his.  Was it his? No, but something about this book intrigued him.  He loves most things spy related....hmmm....maybe I should start wondering about HIM!  Anyway, he is not a big pleasure reader so when he wants to read something, I encourage it.  Turns out he was quite mesmerized by this story, which he says is haunting.  I asked him to tell you about it.  His review follows.

I recently read Churchill's Secret Messenger by Alan Hlad. Set in the early days of World War II, it's about a young English woman who's recruited into a clandestine service to pose as a typical French citizen. Armed with her training, a few tools of the spy trade, and her prior familiarity with Paris, she finds herself parachuting into occupied France to courier coded communications between British Intelligence and the French Resistance. Having had a general interest in spies and cryptology, several books of the genre have made their way to my shelves. 

I now find myself with a difficult task. Without revealing any more of the plot, I wish to highly recommend this work. I realize it's a great deal to ask, to advise readers to avoid any other reviews, and not even to read the jacket blurbs, just to dive in and read it. Simply put, this book transcends the usual spy novel, and will not be one forgotten by the reader.   

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

Hello everyone,

Have you noticed a change in the air lately? No, I haven't stopped cooking fish. We love fish and it is good for you, not to mention we live near the ocean. Nope, it's not the spring flowers starting to bloom. At our house the skies have parted and the book Gods have shined upon us once again. Oh yeah, you guessed it...hubby has started reading! All those years of me telling him endlessly about the books I've read and nah...he'd rather not read. I start burdening you, dear internet, with the books I MUST discuss and don't tell hubby...BINGO now he wants to read. Sure, he read a couple of thrillers last year just so he could see if he could spot the twists I missed. I am not talking about that. I am talking about bona fide, "Hey, that book sounds interesting, think I'll buy it and read it" kind of reading! Yes, I realize my purchases are increasing because he is now buying books, but this does give me the chance to  grab one for him, then tell him that while I was there I cleared just a "few" things off my wish list and chuck some books in the cart for myself. Tricky huh? I'm telling you, if you try you can justify anything to yourself (or sneak past hubby without leaving purchases in the trunk of the car).

So, I know you're curious as to what has drawn my non-reader into the world of ink and wonder. Well, for one think he loves how books smell, the older the better. I thought it was a wacko thing (although I like old book smell especially when combined with coffee) but I asked around and lots of people like the smell. It was actually spy novels. Now I love action books that often have some spy or a little military edge to them, like Green Zone Jack or my endless supply of James Rollins. I adore those kinds. No, he likes more hardcore spy stories, especially those that have to do with WWII and women. He says that women in France did a lot of spying at that time. Who knew? Course, if I read more spy stuff I guess I would. Anyway, I asked him to write just a paragraph about two of his recent reads. He is a much better writer than I am so please, do not get used to it. Here is the first one, it is The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff.

Risky shortcuts often take their toll, and postwar Manhattan is no exception. The romantic notion of American women returning to suburban homes from factory jobs has yet to be realized as citizens and an influx of immigrants maneuver for new lives in the melting pot. Widowed and set adrift in an unplanned existence, Grace inexplicably finds herself obsessed with solving a mystery. The reader is not left without the back stories, and is given an intimate look at the wartime lives of two women intertwined in the conflict across the Atlantic . The suspense builds, and the tale of survival and betrayal shines light on a less familiar but no less admirable group of women. Is Grace’s trust in the handsome friend helping her justified? This story of the British women’s effort in the French resistance keeps the reader intrigued to the last chapter.

Yep, hubby really liked it. He was "intrigued" which means he often asked to turn off the TV to read! If that isn't the sign of hubby enamored with a book I don't know what is.