Virginia Babcock

The best Sci-Fi novels are based on fascinating ideas. Let Me Die certainly fits that criteria. The novel's “what if” question is: What if a scientist figured out how to digitize a person's entire being, not only his memories but also his emotions and his capacity to create new emotions? Virginia Babcock's book has been compared to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein but this novel is more about relationships than the creation of a monster, especially the role of sex in relationships.

Nicoleta, the story's main character, experiences a relationship where sex is impossible, then moves on to other relationships where sex is tied to everything from love to sacrifice to rape. I could envision this book opening the door to some important questions in a book club. There are, however, some fairly graphic scenes. The book-club members should be aware of that before taking it on.

The title doesn't seem to fit the way the book plays out. It's as if the author chose a working title then, as novels often do, the story took off in an unexpected direction. However that happened, I'm glad it did. Let Me Die is better for its unexpected turns.… (mehr)

The beauty of Bum Lambs and Red Tractors is its slow, easygoing pace. It makes you feel as if you've been transported to rural Utah, where you get to watch the lives of some interesting and very real, people. It is a love story, but it's also packed with information about farm life and a world among some members of the Mormon church.

I enjoyed standing beside Leon and Marion, watching them fall in love. Leon was attracted to Marion as soon as he saw her and knew he wanted to get to know her better. But Marion reacted differently. She had been spending much of her life evaluating her situation. Did she want to stay on a farm like the one she'd been raised on? Did she want to go back to school? She had a been an engineering major, but hadn't finished her degree. What would she have to sacrifice if she tied her life to someone else's plans? And what would she give up if she didn't? Their romance was real, because they both recognized their needs and desires as separate people.

My father grew up on a Kansas farm and spent his college days working hard to get off that farm, but in his final years he seemed to miss the life he'd left. I saw some of him in both Marion and Leon, which meant a lot to me. I also enjoyed the way their lives were shaped by their church. I don't want to give the wrong impression here. Bum Lambs and Red Tractors is NOT a preachy novel, but it does show how a strong church family can affect someone's life. I loved that, too.

I recommend Bum Lambs and Red Tractors for anyone who enjoys books with lots of detail and well written characters.… (mehr)

Action-Laden Story that Could Use More Credible Threats to Life and Love

Madeline (Maddy) Quincy, the heroine of Hear Me, gets visions from her departed ancestors, a group she calls her ‘grannies’. Sometimes they take control of her body and reveal hard-truths that Maddy would rather avoid, like announcing a bride’s pregnancy with the best man in the midst of her wedding ceremony. Sometimes, the visions are just helpful. “She’d straightened her hair that morning so the images were warning her that a shampoo was necessary.” But often, the grannies warned of impending danger, visions that drove the story. There are both good and bad aspects of this plot mechanism. It was always a bit startling when, in the midst of an otherwise tranquil scene, Maddy would suddenly say, ‘Jacob, the bad guys are coming. Get your gun.’ But the downside is that this foreshadowing of both the threat and the solution reduced the drama. Then, in the aftermath, the events leading up to the incident are described as a flashback, e.g., the police “… informed him that eleven staff members had been shot, and four had died.” Letting the reader experience the threat as it unfolds would make Maddy’s pronouncements less startling, but overall, it would also render the situations more gut-wrenching.

I enjoyed the way author Babcock painted the story’s setting, tapping into what are common memes in the region (Idaho-Utah). For example, the two primary families involved, the Quincy’s and the Bronson’s, are divided along religious lines; one family is Catholic, the other Mormon. That difference, of course, produces inevitable difficulties in the children’s romantic interests that cross family lines. The pace of the book is also excellent. Our heroine and her love interest hardly have a moment of rest before the next vision and an attack, with Maddy often taking the brunt of them. Twice, she ends up in coma and a third incident leaves her severely beaten and bruised.

My engagement in both the action-adventure and the romantic aspects of the story suffered, however, because the threats to life and love didn’t seem credible. For example, the primary bad guys, a “Salt Lake-Provo burglary ring” (later described as robbers) sent a single sniper into a compound defended by three men with rifles and covered by a drone flying reconnaissance for them. Not smart. Once the burglars/robbers were identified, they wanted to “… take out any witnesses before they disappeared,” so they went after a police officer, her family, Maddy, and Jacob. Killing a police officer and her family is a questionable tactic, but none of these people had witnessed anything. Maddy had obtained DNA that matched some found at the scene of a burglary, but killing everyone wouldn’t destroy this lead. As for the romantic tension, Jacob’s reason for leaving Maddy was never clear to me. It’s difficult to feel the sting of lost love when the ‘why’ for the separation is vague.

Overall, Hear Me is loaded with action and contains some, sweet romantic moments. Both, however, suffer when the foe seems less than credible and the romance is on the rocks from unknown causes.
… (mehr)

September Summer is an interesting read about an FBI task force working to capture a terrorist who is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes' nemesis, Moriarty. This brilliant lunatic taunts the force perusing him and leaves clues concerning his next targets, appearing to enjoy the thrill of his bombing as part of a cat and mouse game. He kills many innocent people while pursuing his insane attempts to change world politics, but he also has legitimate rationalizations for his anger. Among these are America's “...addiction to fossil fuels and the way the entire nation polluted the world.” Combining real issues with berserk actions creates a complex, interesting villain.

The novel also includes a romance between Jenny, a young woman recruited to help the task force and one of the FBI agents. This relationship displays some very immature and thoughtless actions on both their parts, which make it seem real. Yet it also develops some unique and beautiful ways of connecting, including an intimate discussion during which they share their spiritual beliefs. That was one of my favorite parts of the novel.

I recommend September Summer for readers who enjoy romance and action with lots of detail and complex characters.

Steve Lindahl – author of Motherless Soul, White Horse Regressions, Hopatcong Vision Quest, and Under a Warped Cross… (mehr)