What You Wish For

Finished December 27

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

This novel is about second chances, finding joy in something every day, and giving yourself time to play. Samantha Casey is the librarian at a private school in Galveston, Texas. She has become close with the couple that founded the school, Max and Babette, and lives in the coach house on their property. It was Max that taught her to look for joy. Sam has changed from a woman who was smart but shy into one who delights in colour, who truly engages with the kids in her school because she pays attention to them, and yet also one who has still not allowed herself to dream all those dreams she has. 

When tragedy strikes, Duncan Carpenter is hired to be the new school principal, and Sam can't believe it. Duncan Carpenter is a man from her past, one that provided inspiration for who she is today, but the man who shows up is utterly changed from the one she knew. 

Duncan, and the man who hired him, seem focused on one thing and one thing only, and that focus threatens the heart of this very creative school. Sam, and the rest of the school community must rally together, despite their grief, and work to change Duncan back into the man she had a crush on years ago.

I really related to this second chance love story, and the two main characters. Samantha is a woman after my own heart, one who delights in being creative and fun, and listening to those she cares about to meet their needs in the best way she can. Duncan is a man who has endured a very traumatic event, and who is searching for a way forward, but not always making the best choices. One gets glimpses of his heart early on, but it takes a long time for his story to be revealed.

I also really loved this school, and the other teachers that are part of the story, from math nerd to phys ed teacher. If this school, or ones like it exist, the kids that go there are really lucky. 

A great read, one of my favourites of the year. 

Fair Warning

Finished December 7

Fair Warning by Michael Connelly

Jack McEvoy is a journalist who now writes for a consumer protection watchdog site called Fair Warning. When a woman that he had a brief liaison with a few months ago is found dead, he comes under suspicion. The police that come to see him are obviously aware of his past work, some of which put the police in a bad light and he finds later visits from them even more concerning. 

He, however, has had his curiosity piqued by what they tell him, and starts his own investigation into her death and others with similar body trauma. 

This is a story that proves dangerous, not only to Jack, but to his fellow reporters at Fair Warning, and to those with connections to the killer. 

One of the really interesting aspects to this novel is the involvement of DNA analysis organizations and the regulation, or lack thereof, around privacy, sharing of data (even when the organizations claim it is stripped of identifying data), and the reselling of such information on the dark web. This story definitely kept me interested. 

Crazy Stupid Bromance

Finished May 22

Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

I've really been enjoying this Nashville-based series. Here, Noah Logan who was introduced in the second book in the series, a tech security expert, is one of the main characters. We learn his back story, and how the loss of his father took him in a direction that was negative at first, but ended up propelling him into his successful career. 

The other main character, Alexis Carlisle, owner of the cat cafe ToeBeans, was mentioned in the first book and had a bigger role in the second book. Here, we also learn her backstory and how growing up the only child of a single mother gave her confidence and an independent spirit, but also made her long for family. Here, she is reconnected with her father's side of the family in an unusual, but meaningful way, and is pushed to take a risk in her romantic life. It was also interesting to see some of the ways her life had changed as a result of the revelations of the previous book. 

As usual, Noah is give a romance book by the members of the Bromance Book Club that they think will give him insight into his current situation and show him how to respect both his friendship with Alexis and his growing feelings for her. 

Again, I liked seeing more of these characters that we had peeks of before, giving us a fuller view of their characters and what brought them to this stage in their lives. I also enjoyed Alexis' cat Beefcake. 

I'll definitely be looking for the next book in the series, due out this summer.

The God's Eye View

Finished September 9
The God's Eye View by Barry Eisler, performed by the author

This thriller builds on the Snowden story. Theodore Anders is the director of the NSA and he wants to know everything about everyone, so he can "keep America safe". But he is so used to having control that when he finds he has lost it, he will take extreme measures to regain it.
Evelyn Gallagher works as a computer analyst at the NSA and has been the primary creator of a program that draws images from cameras around the work and applies biometrics to them to look for patterns and anomalies. When she sees two people together who shouldn't be in normal circumstances, she reports it. But when something happens to those two people shortly afterward, she begins to wonder if the director has taken steps beyond legal limits. She also wonders what she can do, and who she can tell, and if she herself is in danger. These are all good questions, She is a single mom, struggling to make a good life for her deaf son Dash. When she meets Manus, a kind man at a baseball game, and he is deaf, she finds herself drawn to him. Is she thinking of Dash or is something else attracting her.
Manus has his own issues, including an extremely difficult childhood, and an unswerving loyalty to the person who took him out of the negative trajectory he was on and sent him in a different direction. The feelings he begins to have for Evie and Dash are new to him, and he isn't sure how to interpret them.
As Anders grows more desperate and takes more and more extreme actions, we also learn just how much access he has to people's lives and their secrets. This is a scary view of the world of security and intelligence and one that seems increasingly possible.
This book offers scenarios that are terrifying, and there is lots of violence in the plot. But the people and their motivations are well drawn, and I was both mesmerized and horrified as I listened.

Future Crimes

Finished March 17
Future Crimes by Mark Goodman

This book covers a lot of issues around internet security and privacy, and I liked the apt quotes drawn from entertainers, writers, politicians, scientists, and other sources.
The author uses examples to illustrate many of the concepts given here, and that really shows the effect on real people of some of these vulnerabilities.
The book is divided into three sections.
The first section sets the stage by introducing the vulnerabilities, with aforementioned examples. The concepts here include cybercrime as it first appeared, malware, and security vulnerabilities. Goodman shows how the global connectivity we now enjoy is also a weakness. He discusses how Moore's law, which is about exponential growth in technological change also applies to criminal technology. He looks at many of the "free" sites and programs we use, such as social media and discusses the realities of "terms and conditions" we accept and how we and our information are really products to the companies that run them, rather than customers. He looks at how all the data we have out there about ourselves is used and how the data, while seemingly benign by individual piece, adds up to big vulnerabilities for us. He also refutes the notion that not creating online profiles is a protection. He takes a close look at apps and the information they gather about us from contacts to GPS location. He reveals the industry of "friends" in social media and just how many don't exist will likely surprise you. He talks about the manipulation of data and how this can plant false information about you from location to actions.
The second section of the book takes a closer look at the criminal world that exists in the online world, something he refers to as Crime, Inc. He reveals the cutting edge nature of the technologies involved and how criminals are often in the group of early adopters of new technology. He discusses the various criminal roles that exist in the hierarchy of organized crime in this world. He talks about the nature of funding and how money gets moved around. He discusses hacking, both software and hardware and how the growth in Internet of Things, technologically-tied home access and controls, medical technology devices, robots and drones all open us up to being left vulnerable in ways we never dreamed of. He includes a section on biotech and its vulnerabilities to our safety.
The third section is more hopeful. Entitled Surviving Progress, it looks at ways to mitigate the vulnerabilities discussed in the earlier sections, things the industry should be doing, things we can do as individuals, and suggestions for how we can come together to tackle these issues in a way where more heads mean more protection.
I found this book fascinating, the first couple sections stomach-churning at times, but the last section giving some positive thoughts about how we can overcome the vulnerabilities.