Finished: The Mercies (Hargrave) A very good, chilling story based on real life events off the small coastal town of Vardo in the northernmost territory of Norway known as Finnmark. In 1617 a sudden, deadly storm breaks out on the seas, just outside the harbor of Vardo, killing all 40 of the men who lived in the town. Every woman in Vardo loses a husband, father, son or betrothed as the merciless storm takes them all down. Twenty year old Maren watches in shock, along with the other towns-women, as her father, her brother and her betrothed all go down with their boats. The women barely know what to do with their grief, much less how to survive in this world where the men had always provided the food and shelter. One brave woman, Kirsten, rallies the other women and tells them they must take over the duties of the men if they want to eat, to survive. Though the district has sent a male clergyman to guide them, he is very passive and doesn't believe the women should go out in fish, but depend on God's will for survival. Several of the women, Maren included, go with Kirsten as they catch fish enough for the town on their first outing, and continue to provide food for everyone...even those women who believe that by doing so they are close to performing sorcery. There is a divided belief in the town: those who believe in God and religiously attend the kirke (church), and those who believe more in the natural spirits of nature, for example, calling upon runes to bring a safe wind for their fishermen. Maren's sister-in-law, Dinna, is one of those women. She is from a group of people known as the Sami, and she is looked down upon by the other women as unholy. She has lost her husband, Maren's brother, in the storm and has just given birth to his son. She is a strong woman, but in despair without her husband. Still, she refuses to attend the kirke or to bond with the other women of the town. The women have begun to have a rhythm of survival and self-reliance when a commissioner is assigned to their town. He is to come and be the voice of reason and law. His name is Absalom Cornet and he brings with him a young Norwegian wife, Ursa, who he has just recently married and barely knows. Ursa is ripped from the only home she's ever known, and from her very ill sister and widowed father because her father thinks this will be a good marriage for her, and specifically, because he thinks it will bring the highborn family some much needed financial assistance since his own inadequate business dealings have left them nearly broke. As actually happened in the 1600's in Norway, Commissioner Cornet is really being sent to Vardo on a witch hunt. King Christian IV, having not much influence in the worldwide politics, set his sights on "cleaning up" his own country, starting with what he considered to be the untamed territory of Finnmark in the north. As the commissioner begins to wield his religious influence and power, the town's women further divide with the religious zealots reduced to actually accusing neighbors they have known all their lives of witchcraft. Maren and Kirsten are already close friends, but Maren worries for Kirsten's safety, and that of her sister-in-law, as the noose tightens around the necks of  "those who are named" by others. Ursa befriends Maren and they strike up a very deep bond, one that neither of them saw coming. They are comforted by each other and protective of each other. When Ursa tells Maren that Dinna has been "named" to her husband, Maren rushes to warn Dinna, and she escapes in the night with her young son just hours before Absalom and his men come for her. That doesn't slow him down, though. His next stop is Kirsten's house. :-( Maren insists on going to speak on behalf of Kirsten, but Ursa begs her not to, saying there is nothing that can stop the mob now and if she speaks on her behalf, she will endanger herself. It's an awful time of terror and disbelief for everyone in the town, to have not only lost their families, but to now be losing all control of their own lives. The book is so well written and the characters so vivid. I was emotionally attached to Kirsten and Maren and Ursa, and I was in horror of the women who had the ear of the commissioner and turned on the other women so easily. The book has a tragic ending as Kirsten and another woman are burned alive. Maren and Ursa have finally discovered a love they never knew could exist in each other, but then Maren is "named" and must flee the town. Before she can flee, Absalom realizes what is between his wife and Maren and, enraged, he storms to Maren's house and begins to drown Maren in a tub. Ursa hits him over the head (more the once lol) with a stone rolling pin and kills him! Ursa begs to go with Maren, but she convinces her to go home and report her husband missing the next morning. When they finally find him dead at Maren's, she will be long gone and will assume that Maren killed him. Ursa, now a widow, would be free to go home to her father and sister as she has truly always wanted. Though they have found love with each other, Ursa and Maren will be separated, but safe to live on. 

 Finished: These Silent Woods (Grant) For eight years a father and daughter have lived alone in a remote cabin in the Appalachian Mountains. Cooper takes his daughter there when she's just an infant after his wife dies and her parents, an influential judge and his wealthy wife, try to take Finch away from him by invoking the PTSD he has struggled with since ending his 4th tour in Afghanistan. Cooper realizes that his inlaws will win and he will lose his daughter, so he takes drastic, illegal measures which then requires him to hide away with Finch for as long as he can. The only person who knows where Cooper and Finch are is Cooper's best friend and Army mate, Jake, who owns the cabin, and whose life Cooper saved in Afghanistan. Jake comes once a year and delivers groceries and supplies so that Cooper and Finch don't have to go into town to the store and risk being recognized. In addition, a mysterious, crusty man, Scotland, who lives nearby in the wilderness also knows that Cooper and Finch are there. Scotland always shows up so quietly that Cooper never sees him coming, but Scotland lets Cooper know that he knows what he's running from with clippings from the newspaper. However, Scotland adores Finch and so would really do whatever he can to protect them both, not expose them. Finch is smart as a whip and reads all the books in the cabin. She's an excellent little outdoors-woman, and an passionate animal lover. She and Cooper also have a signal and a plan for hiding in case any strangers drive up to the cabin. When Jake fails to arrive promptly on December 14, his designated annual date to come, Cooper fears the worst...that Jake has finally succumbed to the horrific injuries he suffered in Afghanistan. When Jake's sister, Marie, arrives with instructions from Jake to please fill the supply list and take it to the cabin, Cooper's and Finch's fears are realized. They are devastated at the loss of their friend, and quickly grow attached to Marie, and she to them. When an actual tragedy occurs with a teenager from the town and her body is discovered in the woods too close to the cabin, everything turns upside down. Soon the authorities are scouring the woods to figure out what happened to her. The prose in the book is beautifully written as we learn more and more about each character the further the story goes. We flashback to Cooper's time in Afghanistan when Jake is nearly mortally wounded but Cooper saves his life. Cooper feels terribly guilty and when the PTSD sets in once he's back home and he draws a gun in a diner, when he thinks he sees to "bad guys" come in the door, the town who has hailed him as a hero since he's been home, is now afraid of him. When Cindy, the girl he feels is way above his station, actually loves him back and they begin to live together when she becomes pregnant and her aforementioned parents won't accept the relationship, Cooper is the happiest he's ever been. Tragically, when Finch is 4 months old, Cindy grabs his arm when he's driving one day so he'll avoid a deer that has run into the road, and the car rolls, killing Cindy. Marie, is a lonely soul who discovers that her husband of several years has cheated on her, so they are newly divorced when she meets Cooper and Finch. She's not quite ready for another relationship, but as things turn dire with the search for the town girl, she and Cooper bond even closer and do end up together. And, we find out that Scotland, who Cooper is suspicious of for the eight years he knows them, is such a loner because he lost his own wife and daughter in a car accident when he was driving. He makes a huge sacrifice at the end of the story so Cooper and Finch can be safely together without having to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives. I kept waiting for some huge revelation because the book was touted as a thriller, but what it really was was the story of four broken people and an amazing little girl, all trying to make the best of their lives given the hands they were dealt. 

 Finished: Labyrinth (Mosse) In 2005, during an archaeological in the Pyrenees Mountains in France, a volunteer named Alice uncovers a hidden cave which contains a mysterious labyrinth, two graves, an ancient ring, and a pouch that is thought to have contained one of the three sacred books (The Book of Words, The Book of Numbers, and The Book of Potions). The startling discovery leads Alice on a dangerous adventure where she meets all the descendants of the people who have been looking for the books for centuries. Some want them for good, and some want them for nefarious reasons. The books, when used together, hold hieroglyphic codes that will apparently lead to the Holy Grail. Alice is also haunted by vivid dreams that take her back to another place and time where she is almost reliving the experiences of another person. In 1209, seventeen year old Alais, the daughter of the right hand man of the viscount of the same area in France, is on an adventure of her own. The Crusades have begun. The "host", army, created by the Catholic priests and the wealthy landowners, has been created to rid the world of all the religious heretics. As the wars move closer to her town, Carcassonne, Alais is told by her father of the three books, their importance, and how he is one of five official keepers of the books. He's got the Book of Words in his possession and he knows who safeguards the other two. He fears the books will be lost in the wars so Alais volunteers to be the next generation of guardians for The Book of Words. The story goes back and forth between current day and the 1200's as both Alice and Alais, obviously distant relatives, take their dangerous journeys to either find and protect (in present day) or hide and protect (centuries ago) the books. In the end, we find out who wins the ultimate battle of the good guys or the bad guys, who the skeletons in the cave belonged to, and the location of the missing book from the cave. A really good book given to me by my son for Christmas. He knows how to pick a good story for me! :-) 

 Finished: 56 Days (Howard) A very good, page-turning book about two Dubliners who meet in a food mart line just days before the country goes into lockdown due to the first round of Covid. They have two dates before the announcement and they spontaneously decide to move in together for the two week lockdown. What better way to get to know each other? Ciera is 25 and seems to be very unsure of herself. Oliver, 29, is more outgoing, but is guarded for his own reasons. One of them is hiding a murderous past! What transpires during the lockdown is told from their perspectives counting down from 56 days prior to the present day, AND from the perspective of a detective who is called to the scene of an apartment where a body is found decomposing. Not just an apartment...the one they were sharing. The story is fast-paced with information revealed at each turn. One huge twist caught me by surprise in the end, just when I thought I'd figured things out. :-) Also, having the story occur during the pandemic was very surreal, but also very interesting to see it spelled out in story form...exactly what we all went through at the beginning, and many continue to go through even now. Great book!! 

 Finished: Never (Follett) A haunting story about just how easy it would be for World War III to begin with the launching of nuclear weapons. A myriad of characters are intertwined in the story in various parts of the world, trying to prevent the "smaller" skirmishes that could potentially lead to nuclear war. Tamara is a CIA agent stationed in Chad, along with her French counterpart, Tab. Their current mission is to keep track of their American spy, Abdul, who is trying to infiltrate the jihadists in north Africa to determine the hiding place of the current number one terrorist. Abdul sets off on a bus full of terrified local citizens who have put their trust in an unscrupulous man who has promised to smuggle them to the Mediterranean where they then hope to flee to Europe. On this dangerous journey, not only does Abdul track a shipment of cocaine that they assume is headed to the jihadist leader, he also falls for the newly widowed local mother, Kiah who, with her toddler son, has put all her trust in the people smuggler. Tamara and Tab must also  deal with mounting tensions between Chad and Sudan. Meanwhile, China's top spy and close presidential advisor, Chang Kai, is embroiled in his own political doings, mainly trying to keep the old guard of the communist Chinese at bay, as they constantly want to use their nuclear weapons at the slightest provocation. Kai is in contact with fellow spies in America, North Korea and South Korea as he is constantly stomping out fires and making more neutral, yet firm, suggestions for the president to follow. China is committed to North Korea and the United States is committed to South Korea. Any invasion of either of those countries by the other would almost require the two super powers to get involved, and then lead to the more dangerous war between them. So, of course, a rebel group begins to take over the bases in North Korea that host North Korea's nuclear weapons. Emboldened by that success, the South Korean president takes advantage and launches her own attack on North Korea. Meanwhile, in America, President Pauline Green is also trying her hardest to prevent the next World War. She's even-minded, but tough, as she tries to make the best decisions. When the rebels in North Korea send a nuclear missile to level a city in Japan, President Green finally has to retaliate despite a promise to China not to get American fire power involved in the war between North and South Korea. As the book progresses, the story shows how America goes from DEFCON 5 all the way to DEFCON 1. President Green uses nuclear weapons to wipe out all the remaining nuclear bases in North Korea, which prompts China to retaliate by sending a nuclear bomb to Hawaii. The books ends there before we actually see the total devastation of the human race. One of the few brights spots is that Abdul, Kiah and her son make it to France where they become a family, for whatever amount of time the world has left. :-( It's not my favorite Follett book, but did keep me reading until the end, thinking surely all those characters were going to prevent the nuclear war, and leaving me pretty shocked when they didn't.