Monthly Archives: February 2010

by | February 26, 2010 · 10:24 am

Jennifer Niven. Velva Jean Learns to Drive. New York: Plume, 2009.

Rhinestones. High-heeled cowboy boots. Hawaiian steel guitars. Many people are drawn to the bright lights of Nashville, Tennessee, and Velva Jean Hart Bright is one of them. She is enthralled by the opportunities afforded by the city and consumed with her lifelong desire to be a famous Grand Ole Opry singer. When Velva Jean was a little girl on (fictional) Fair Mountain, North Carolina, her mother supported her dream by encouraging Velva Jean to write songs and to sing for her. After her mother dies and her father abruptly leaves the family to work on the Scenic (the Blue Ridge Parkway), Velva Jean quickly grows up and puts her wish for fame on hold. At age sixteen, she marries Harley Bright, a convict-turned-traveling preacher who grew up in nearby (fictional) Devil’s Kitchen.

Harley is initially a sweet and doting husband. However, his views of marriage are very traditional. He doesn’t allow Velva Jean to drive and he forbids her beloved pastime, singing. As she gets used to married life, Velva Jean realizes Nashville may be even further from her reach. However, she is headstrong, and when Harley turns cold, controlling, and fanatical in his opposition to the Parkway and the “outlanders” that have moved in to build it, Velva Jean refuses to be acquiescent. She realizes that her dream is too much to give up for a loveless marriage, and she leaves Devil’s Kitchen – driving and singing her way to a new life.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Historical, Mountains, Niven, Jennifer, Novels Set in Fictional Places

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by | · 10:22 am

George Ivey. Up River: A Novel of Attempted Restoration. Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, 2009.

Moving to a new place, especially a small town, without knowing anyone is difficult. People look at you inquisitively, and most people know everything about you even before a formal introduction. In Walnut Falls, North Carolina, Peter Bailey finds this to be true. However, he has the additional complication of being an “outlander” with a mission – a mission to save the Akwanee River. This water source is home to endangered fish and mussels, and Peter has joined with the controversial organization Global Alliance for River Defense (GARD), to protect it. Because GARD is known for suing localities to enforce better practices, his affiliation with the group complicates his task. As Peter works to find common ground with his new community, which is not always friendly to the newcomer, he reestablishes his dedication to environmentalism. Part of this, he learns, is working not only with diehard conservation-minded folks like him but also with other players, such as farmers, ministers, and bureaucrats. As the end of his two years comes up, Peter secures additional funds without the association with GARD, commits to continuing his work saving the Akwanee River, and feels like he is finally part of the Walnut Falls community.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Ivey, George, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places

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by | February 22, 2010 · 8:53 am

Keith Warren Lloyd. Cape Hatteras: A Novel. New York: iUniverse, 2008.

It’s common to think that the battle for the seas during World War II took place in distant locales like the South Pacific and the North Atlantic, but our own Outer Banks was the site of a dangerous cat-and-mouse game between American merchant and military vessels and German U-boats.  In this novel, the young commander of a U-boat makes it ashore after his boat sinks off Cape Hatteras.

Wolf Krugar is no gun-ho Nazi, but he serves loyally to uphold his class traditions and to protect his wife and daughter.  After his U-boat is destroyed by an American attack, Krugar clings to the debris of a tanker that he had earlier torpedoed.  He drifts on to Hatteras Island.  Harnessing his remaining strength, he walks to a remote cottage, home of Anne MacPherson, a local woman who has returned to the island to heal from the death of her young husband, who died in the Pacific Theater.  It is the classic setup for a tale of unexpected romance, but this novel is more sophisticated than that.  The reader is treated to a story of two damaged individuals who stay true to themselves while recognizing the humanity in the other.  The scenes with Kurt and Anne are interspersed with ones that show the local sheriff and military authorities closing in on Kurt.  These scenes ground the drama between Kurt and Anne in the larger conflict that includes the need to keep supplies flowing to Europe and the possibility of spies and double agents on each side of the conflict.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Coast, Dare, Lloyd, Keith Warren

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by | February 20, 2010 · 2:30 pm

Tom Lewis. Sons of Their Fathers. Swansboro, NC: Tease Publishing, 2008.

In this the final volume in the Pea Island Trilogy, it is the late 1970s. Dieter Bach, a concert violinist, has been shot during a mugging.  Dieter’s hands have been so injured that he will not be able to resume his career. His manager, Sy, directs Dieter down a new path–that of conductor.  To prepare for that, Sy sends Dieter to his summer house on Roanoke Island where Dieter can study and practice.  Dieter soon meets the beautiful Susan Everette who is working as a waitress at a restaurant that Dieter frequents.  His attraction to her is instantaneous.

This is is story of Suzi and Dieter’s love. The couple move from the Outer Banks to Virginia as Dieter learns his new craft.  Dieter is undeterred by Suzi’s mixed race heritage, but when he meets Suzi’s parents he discovers an obstacle to their happiness that forces him to return to Germany, the land of his birth.  Characters from earlier novels in the trilogy–especially Horst von Hellenbach–figure in the plot, and remind the reader that the past is not really so far behind us.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Coast, Dare, Lewis, Tom, Novels in Series

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by | February 19, 2010 · 9:27 am

Doris Buchanan Smith. Moonshadow of Cherry Mountain. New York: Four Winds Press, 1982.

Greg and Moonshadow, his black Labrador Retriever, have lived on Cherry Mountain for six years, ever since they were adopted by the Rileys. They both love roaming the mountain, drinking from its crystal-clear streams and searching for wildlife. The two are inseparable. That is, until Clara is adopted into the family. Greg and Moonshadow are initially delighted to have another family member. However, when Clara’s allergies force Moonshadow from the house, both boy and dog must deal with their feelings of resentment toward the newcomer.

Just as Moonshadow’s familiar territory indoors has been taken away, she finds that parts of “her” mountain are now off-limits as well. New neighbors have moved in, building houses, altering the terrain, and bringing new dogs that threaten her space.

This novel shows both the human and the canine perspective of coping with alterations to a familiar way of life.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1980-1989, 1982, Children & Young Adults, Clay, Mountains, Smith, Doris Buchanan

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by | February 15, 2010 · 8:46 am

Tom Lewis. Sunday’s Child. Rocky Mount, NC: VP Publishing, 2006.

When Sunday’s mother dies in childbirth, she is handed over to a father who was unaware of her existence. Slick Everette is a gambling man, but a good cook, and he has been the cook for the surf men on Pea Island.  Sunday grows up among these men, nurtured by them, and learning to fish, hunt, swim, sail, cook, heal with herbs and roots, and see the beauty and dangers of the natural world.

The man-made world is something else.  In her teen years, as Sunday interacts with the white community on Roanoke Island and the mixed lot of men who do conservation work on Hatteras Island as part of the New Deal public works programs.  Sunday’s strength of character impresses everyone, but she is nonetheless victimized.  Her life takes an unexpected turn when German sailors on a special mission come ashore.

This is the first book in the Pea Island Trilogy.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2006, Coast, Dare, Lewis, Tom, Novels in Series

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by | · 8:15 am

Kenneth Butcher. The Middle of the Air. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, Publisher, 2009.

The Colebrook family is not your typical four-generation span of Hendersonville, NC residents. The patriarch, Pipo, is a talented but controversial painter. His son, Philip, has an active business account with a nuclear weapons facility, and Phillip’s wife Lilly heads an ecological watch group while running the local chocolate shop. Their three sons, Xavier, Charles, and Leon have built prototype unmanned spy planes, developed government satellites, and made breakthrough archaeological discoveries, while Leon’s 6-year-old daughter has a precocious knack for drawing and detecting ancient artifacts.

One day a truck full of nuclear fuel goes missing. The theft occurred suspiciously close to where Leon finds a downed unmarked surveillance plane on the Appalachian Trail. After he brings the fuselage of the plane to Xavier’s workshop, all of the Colebrook men fall under investigation by the FBI. It turns out that the higher-ups in Washington are trying to protect a government nuclear power project that doesn’t officially exist. As the FBI discovers, there is more to the entire Colebrook family than meets the eye in this novel of hiking, chocolate, politics and government intrigue.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Butcher, Kenneth, Henderson, Mountains

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by | · 8:14 am

George Curcio. The Road to New Hope. CreateSpace, 2009.

Siblings enjoy unique relationships. Their bonds can be messy, complicated affairs or deep, joyful friendships, but no matter what, brothers and sisters always share permanent connections with one another. For Charlie and Harley Odel, their childhood was centered on their close companionship. However, once the men reached adulthood, they endured a paralyzing falling-out that resulted in them losing touch for a nearly a decade. Although the brothers would like to reconcile, neither can bring himself to make the first step. When Harley’s girlfriend encourages him to go home to Harmony Corner, North Carolina, he is unsure of how he will be received. As the couple arrives at the evening service of the Harmony Corner Baptist Church, they hear Charlie’s sermon on the prodigal son. The two men make up, forgiving each other for past mistakes, and life imitates the parable – with both brothers being welcomed home.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Curcio, George, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Religious/Inspirational

by | February 12, 2010 · 10:39 am

Cotton Ketchie. Little Did They Know. Davidson, NC: Lorimer Press, 2009.

Many women like being part of a group–the monthly book club, the weekly dinner group, the daily walking crew.  But how well do we know the women we spend time with?  The once five, now four, women of the Wednesday Night Club always eat at the same restaurant in Mooresville, but when Carmen suggests that the group go to a winery in the Yadkin Valley for dinner, the other women go along.  Carmen is the newest member of the group and a bit of a hard-charger, but Joanie and Gail have no reason to question Carmen’s plans. Debbie knows what a dirty-dealer Carmen is since Carmen is carrying on with her husband, but Debbie Seacrest has not shared that sorrow with her friends.

Carmen has met her match in Kevin Seacrest–they are two people with a thirst  for the good life and a ruthless streak.  Together they hatch a plan to kidnap the other women in the dinner group and then demand ransom from Gail’s wealthy husband, James Caldwell.  James suspects trouble right away and enlist the help of his friend, Jake McLeod, whose late wife Kitt was once part of the dinner group.  Although James and Jake push the authorities to act quickly, they are no vigilantes.  They work closely with the police, including Iredell County detective Marci Meredith.

Even though Kevin Seacrest’s behavior leads the authorities in the right direction, Gail, Joanie, and Debbie spend several harrowing days on the run from Carmen and a fierce and murderous accomplice.  During that time the women depend on each other for their very lives. The women draw closer, and each woman comes out of the experience with a clearer sense of what is important in her life.  During the days of searching Jake and Detective Meredith are attracted to each other, and this plot line is merged with the capture of the last kidnapper in a satisfying ending.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Iredell, Ketchie, Cotton, Piedmont, Wilkes, Yadkin

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by | · 10:33 am

Ginny Aiken. Someone to Trust. New York: Steeple Hill Books, 2009.

The otherwise peaceful (fictional) town of Loganton, North Carolina, has been turned upside down with a recent rash of crimes. First, the beloved historic theater goes up in flames, hurting not only the owner but the fire chief, Joe Caldwell. An investigation finds that the blaze was caused by an explosion in the basement, which was the site of a hidden crystal meth lab. As Cate Caldwell, heartbroken over her father’s serious injuries and this new side of Loganton, attempts an inspection of her own, she puts herself in danger. The perpetrator is angered by Cate’s meddling, and he attacks her multiple times to try to get his point across to her. When otherwise good high school students begin overdosing on ecstasy-like drugs, resulting in the death of one student, Cate refuses to sit by and watch. Mixed in with Cate’s concern for her safety and the good of the community is the romantic tension she shares with Rand Mason, the fire investigator. Rand has suspicions of his own when it comes to Cate, who was a wild child in high school. The two make an odd couple as they investigate the underground drug scene in Loganton, but they find the person behind the terror and see that he meets justice. Cate and Rand discover that they work well together in other ways, too.

Someone to Trust is the third book in Ginny Aiken’s Carolina Justice series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Aiken, Ginny, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller

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