News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

The Columbus affair : a novel / Steve Berry.
“Tom Sagan, a disgraced journalist of Jewish descent, is about to commit suicide when he is coerced into a plot to decipher secrets hidden in the coffin of his father. Sagan’s estranged daughter, Alle, has fallen into the hands of ruthless Zachariah Simon, a wealthy Orthodox Jew in search of a treasure supposedly hidden by Columbus somewhere in Jamaica. Simon has temporarily allied himself with Bene Rowe, a Jamaican Maroon, descendant of runaway slaves, who has his own reasons for finding the treasure. But does it exist and, if so, what exactly is it? Many will risk their lives to learn the truth.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)

In one person : a novel / John Irving.
“In Vermont lives fatherless Billy, whose lumberman-by-day, actor-by-night Grandpa Harry plays women’s roles with baffling authenticity. By the time Billy turns 13, he realizes that something sets him apart beyond his speech impediment and determination to become a writer, namely his crushes on the wrong people, including his future stepfather, teacher and Shakespeare scholar Richard, and Miss Frost, the tall, strong librarian who eventually proves to be the key to the truth about Billy’s bisexuality and his biological father.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)

The lower river / Paul Theroux.
“Ellis Hock’s wife has cut him loose, the family clothing store is obsolete, and his daughter only wants her inheritance. What keeps the 62-year-old sane are his memories of 40 years ago when he taught school in Malawi. A return to Africa might rekindle Ellis’s youthful idealism, but the atmosphere is menacing from the moment he arrives; smiling faces hide smoldering resentment, the school he helped build is a shambles, the people are emaciated and guarded. Provided with a hut, Ellis metes out money, bribes for necessities, until solitude and malaria strip him of the strength to fight what feels more like imprisonment than hospitality.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)

The Incal / Alexandro Jodorowsky, writer ; Moebius, penciller & inker.
“The first volume of this classic sci-fi adventure featuring John Difool, a private detective. With the great darkness attacking the galaxy, Difool races through the cosmos with his pet concrete bird, Deepo, and the Universe’s greatest warrior, the Metabaron, on a quest to face the great evil.” – (adapted from Amazon.com summary)

Drawing from memory / Allen Say.Drawing from Memory
“This is Allen Say’s own story of his path to becoming the renowned artist he is today. Shunned by his father, who didn’t understand his son’s artistic leanings, Allen was embraced by Noro Shinpei, Japan’s leading cartoonist and the man he came to love as his “spiritual father.” As WWII raged, Allen was further inspired to consider questions of his own heritage and the motivations of those around him. He worked hard in rigorous drawing classes, studied, trained and ultimately came to understand who he really is. Part memoir, part graphic novel, part narrative history, this story presents a complex look at the real-life relationship between a mentor and his student.” – (adapted from Amazon.com summary)

Green Wake. Volume one / Kurtis Wiebe, story ; Riley Rossmo, art and colors.
“This highly acclaimed series is a riveting tale of loss and horror. In the forgotten town of Green Wake, a string of grisly mutilations leads Morley Mack on the trail of a young woman named Ariel, who is the prime suspect. But when a stranger with startling connections to Ariel arrives under mysterious circumstances, Morley unravels a dark plot with a surprising link to his past.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)

The killing / David Hewson.
“This adaption of ‘The Killing’ is a huge success…So how does it survive this possibly awkward transmutation? The answer, in short, is extremely well. David Hewson – the author of more than a dozen detective novels set in Italy and with no need to stoop to anything too hurriedly commercial – has taken what was television gold and turned it into literary gold. Indeed he has done it so well that his book is now being translated and readied for publication in Danish….The publisher makes much of the fact that instead of sitting in front of his telly with one finger on the pause button and the other on his keyboard, Hewson went to Copenhagen and ‘constructed with’ Soren Sveistrupp, the series script writer. What has emerged from their meetings is really very interesting…His (Hewson’s) take is as valid as yours or mine. It creates an odd dynamic between author and reader which I rather liked…This is one of the most engrossing detective novels I’ve read in a long time’ –The Daily Telegraph, 5-Star Review…” (Description from Amazon.co.uk)

Sail of stone / êAke Edwardson ; translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles.
“In his sixth outing (after The Shadow Woman), Erik Winter investigates two missing-person cases in Gothenburg, Sweden. One involves the disappearance of an old girlfriend’s father, who traveled to Scotland to search for his own father, presumed to have died during World War II. When the missing man is found dead, Winter goes to Scotland to determine whether wartime smuggling activities played a part in this case. In an unrelated story line, Winter’s colleague Anetja Djanali investigates a case of possible domestic abuse. The more she tries to contact the possible victim, the more she is stonewalled by the woman’s family….Fans of Scandinavian mysteries, especially those who like Camilla Lackberg, Kjell Eriksson, and HAkan Nesser, will enjoy adding this award-winning author to their reading list…” (Adapted from Syndetics summary)

The drowning / Camilla Lackberg ; translated from the Swedish by Tiina Nunnally.
“Christian Thydell has been receiving anonymous threats since he began writing his novel THE MERMAID. When one message, secreted within a bouquet of flowers, causes Christian to collapse at the launch party, crime writer Erica Falck is compelled to investigate. Erica’s husband detective Patrik Hedstrom, meanwhile, is puzzled by the disappearance of Christian’s friend Magnus Kjellner four months previously. When a body is found frozen in the sea near Fjallbacka, he finds he has a murder enquiry on his hands…Clues in Christian’s debut novel THE MERMAID point to a horrific secret buried deep in his past…(Adapted from Syndetics summary)

In the lion’s mouth / Michael Flynn.In the Lion’s Mouth
“Donovan buigh, an amnesiac with multiple personalities, is en route to his lover and their daughter when assassin Ravn Olafsdottr kidnaps him. Ravn plans to make Donovan a rallying symbol in a secret rebellion undertaken by the assassins called Shadows against the Confederation oligarchy. Donovan reluctantly agrees, at first watching from the sidelines and then overturning all expectations in a glorious culminating firefight.” (adapted from Syndetics summary)

Final days / Gary Gibson.
“It’s 2235 and through the advent of wormhole technology more than a dozen interstellar colonies have been linked to Earth. But this new mode of transportation comes at a price and there are risks. Saul Dumont knows this better than anyone. He’s still trying to cope with the loss of the wormhole link to the Galileo system, which has stranded him on Earth far from his wife and child for the past several years.” (adapted from Syndetics summary)

The games / Ted Kosmatka.
“A new gladiatorial contest between genetically engineered monsters has proven to be a popular Olympic sport. For this year’s games, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) uses its most sophisticated AI computer to design the latest combatant. Felix demonstrates a precociously advanced intelligence coupled with an insatiable thirst for violence, seemingly an ideal candidate for Olympic gold. Despite disturbing signs that the program’s reclusive creator is losing touch with reality, the USOC clears Felix for competition. The stage is set for a catastrophic finale, with international repercussions.” (adapted from Syndetics summary)

Hello Kitty must die / Angela S. Choi.
“On the outside, twenty-eight-year-old Fiona Yu appears to be just another Hello Kitty, an educated, well-mannered Asian American woman. Secretly, she feels torn between the traditional Chinese values of her family and the social mores of being an American girl. To escape the burden of carrying her family’s honour, Fiona decides to take her own virginity. In the process, she makes a surprising discovery that reunites her with a long-lost friend, Sean Killroy. Sean introduces her to a dark world of excitement, danger, cunning, and cruelty, pushing her to the limits of her own morality. But Fiona’s father throws her new life into disarray when he dupes her into an overnight trip that results in a hasty engagement to Don Koo, the spoiled son of a wealthy chef.” – (adapted from Amazon.com summary)

Memoirs of an imaginary friend / Matthew Green.
“Budo is Max’s imaginary friend, but though only Max can see him, he is real. Budo and the other imaginary friends watch over their children until the day comes that the child stops imagining them. And then they’re gone. Budo has lasted a lot longer than most imaginary friends, four years, because Max needs him more. His parents argue about sending him to a special school. When Max mysteriously disappears from the school Budo knows he must find him and rescue him.” – (adapted from Syndetics summary)

The pink hotel / Anna Stothard.
“A seventeen-year-old London girl flies to Los Angeles for the funeral of her mother Lily, from whom she had been separated in her childhood. After stealing a suitcase of letters, clothes and photographs from her mum’s bedroom at the top of a hotel on Venice Beach, the girl spends her summer travelling around Los Angeles returning love letters and photographs to the men who had known her mother. As she discovers more about Mandy’s past and tries to re-enact her life, she comes to question the foundations of her own personality.” – (adapted from Amazon.co.uk summary)