Cupidity by Patricia Wood

In a small town in the state of Washington, Tammy Louise Tyree is working herself to a frazzle. She provides for her erratic Uncle E. and her (maybe autistic) younger brother by working 4 jobs. She has to fend off her no-good cousin and annoying boss, balance her jobs, try to keep her uniform clean and arrive at work on time, and keep everyone fed. For Tammy and her family, there's no way but up. When she receives an email saying her missionary relatives in Africa have left her $5 million, she's ecstatic. But, there are conditions. She has to keep the news about the money to herself and turn over all sorts of information and fees. As she works feverishly to pay the fees that her new African friend is charging her and fill out the forms, the news slowly gets out that Tammy is about to receive a fortune. And, everyone wants in on it.

Only one person thinks Tammy is being scammed and Tammy's sure not going to listen to him. When Tammy suddenly has people all over the tiny hick town insisting on helping her out in the hopes that they can get in on the windfall, what will happen?

Highly recommended - I don't want to give away too much about Cupidity because it's far too fun experiencing the unfolding events but I found it absorbing, nervewracking, and funny. You can't help but admire Tammy Louise. At one point in the story, she asks someone what other jobs she holds and is shocked when the woman replies "This is my only job." Tammy is so accustomed to working 4 jobs that she has no idea it's actually possible to survive on a single income stream. She is the hardest-working, most likable character that you've ever worried about throughout a novel. I love her. Just as I still have not forgotten the names of the characters in Patricia Wood's first book, Lottery (that's extremelly unusual -- I never remember characters' names unless they're common knowledge like Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy), I doubt I'll forget Tammy, Uncle E., and Jar, anytime soon.


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Death Wish by Lindsey Menges

No Monday Malarkey, this week, but I'll try to throw some Tuesday Twaddle at you, tomorrow or maybe I'll just try to post another review.  I still have about a squillion reviews to catch up on although, honestly, I don't mind if NaNoWriMo gets in my way.  I'm having a great time.

Death Wish by Lindsey Menges is my niece's self-published first novel.  I didn't know what to expect (except that it was dystopian) because I like to skip reading the cover blurb so I'll be surprised, but naturally I was eager to read it and ordered a copy as soon as Lindsey announced that it was available via Amazon.

I was immediately swept into the story. Death Wish is the futuristic tale of a 24-year-old woman working as a "Fairy Godmother" fulfilling individual wishes for death in a world where imbedded chips have made humans immortal unless an individual's Life Chip is removed. When Eliza is told she must train new recruit Robin, she's disappointed that she must be separated from her partner in work and love, Harrison. Eliza is dedicated to the job, though, and does as she is told without question, feeling that it's a kindness to fulfill the last wishes of her clients.

****WARNING!  This paragraph may contain a spoilers (but doesn't give away everything - I'd never do that)! Skip to the final paragraph if you want the entire story to be a surprise!!!!*****

But, Robin is no ordinary recruit.  Because fulfilling death wishes is a permanent job, Robin knows she must do her job or face being forced to file her own death wish.  But, she's not handling the job as well as you'd expect of a person who has committed herself for life.  When Eliza finds out Robin has been planted in the organization to find out how the Life Chips work, she must decide whether to join the Revolutionaries who want to return citizens to living lives with natural death or turn Robin over to Security, sealing her fate.

*****END WARNING!!!******

I had a terrible time putting this book down.  On Friday night, when my eyes grew heavy I put the book aside with regret; and, after I finished my own writing for the day on Saturday, I was excited to pick it back up to finish.  It's the first in a series.  Argh!  I want the second book now!

Highly recommended - Wonderful, action-packed storytelling with a nice blend of characters, excellent pacing and a killer ending. I took off half a point due to the need for a bit of work on the editing but there was nothing that made the read uncomfortable enough to irritate me.

You can buy a paperback copy of Death Wish, here (where you can read the full cover blurb).  Or, it's also available for Kindle (link on the same page) or Nook.

In other news:

I'm still enjoying If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino.  That Calvino dude had a sly sense of humor. IOaWNaT is a fascinating book and, oh, his writing.  It's just stunning.  I've got at least two other Calvino titles I haven't read (probably bought at during some massively cheap book sale).  I knew of Calvino because the e-zine I used to write for was named after one of his books, t zero.

We went to the zoo, today!  This would have worked better if I knew how to adjust the aperture on my little point-and-shoot, but the idea was good, I think . . . a giraffe trying to tell you to stop and smell the roses, haha:

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.