I just finished Mary Higgins Clark's newest mystery, Two Little Girls in Blue. I've been a big Clark fan ever since I was a teenager, but lately I've found her stories very predictable and tame. Still, I like the fact that her books are clean - very little foul language, sex or outright violence. This new one is typical Clark fare - a quick, easy read that will keep you turning pages.

The story revolves around 3-year-old twin girls, Kathy and Kelly Frawley. One night, while their parents are out, the girls are snatched from their beds by a group of greedy thugs. Although the ransom is soon paid, only one of the girls (Kelly) is returned to her family. As the police scramble to find the missing twin, it becomes increasingly obvious to them that Kathy has been killed by her captors. Margaret, the girls' mother, refuses to believe the grim news, especially when Kelly insists that she is communicating with her sister. What follows is a tense race-against-the-clock hunt for the kidnappers, written in the taut, staccato chapters for which Clark is famous.

Like I said, the book is a bit tame and predictable, but worth the read nonetheless.

I'm probably the last person on Earth to read Olive Ann Burns' Cold Sassy Tree, but now that I have I can see why this novel has become such a classic. It's a book with a little bit of everything - humor, romance, tragedy and redemption. The story is told by Will Tweedy, a 14-year-old boy who finds himself smack dab in the middle of the biggest scandal the small town of Cold Sassy, Georgia, has ever witnessed. The buzz begans on July 5, 1906, when Will's grandfather, E. Rucker Blakeslee, elopes with the local milliner, a younger woman and a Yankee to boot. As if that isn't bad enough, Rucker's wife of several decades has been dead for less than three weeks! Scandalized, the townspeople shun Rucker's new wife as a low-class golddigger, and proceed to make her existence a miserable one. Both Rucker and Love have too much pride to let the town unrattle them, so they proceed to cause even more uproar by holding their own church services at home, buying a motorcar, and taking a luxurious trip to New York City. Will's caught in the middle, torn by loyalty to his outrageous grandfather and his obedience to his pious father and scandalized mother. To make matters worse, Will catches Love kissing a strange Texan, and then he finds himself in a similar situation with a no-count millworker. When tragedy strikes Will's family, he is forced to see his colorful grandpa in a different light.

Like I said, this book is laugh-out-loud hilarious, (mostly because of its zany characters and Will's own funny adventures) but it is also surprisingly poignant. Some of the situations are startling and heartbreaking. Overall, it is a vivid and colorful portrait of small-town Southern life that sparkles and shines. Don't miss it!

I just finished Peace Like A River by Leif Enger and, wow, what a book! Honestly, it's the best novel I've read in quite awhile. I loved it.

The story is told by Reuben Land, an 11-year-old asthmatic, whose life changes forever when his older brother, Davy, is jailed for murdering two boys who had been threatening the Land Family. Reuben and his colorful little sister Swede miss their brother terribly, as does their father whose worries take a toll on his health. When Davy's trial takes a turn for the worse, Swede decides it's time to break their big brother out of jail; their plan is foiled when both siblings fall asleep waiting for a chance to sneak out of the house. To their surprise and delight, the family discovers that Davy has broken himself out while they slept. Thus begins their journey to the Badlands in hot pursuit of their outlaw brother. With a federal agent tracking their every move, the Lands follow their hearts and their father's uncanny "inspiration" from the Lord to find their beloved brother.

What really sparkles in this story is the characters. Reuben is helplessly flawed; his cowardice weighs him down, but his honesty makes him true and noble. Swede absolutely sparkles as the imaginative, spunky little sister who can weave tales out of thin air and foil the "putrid fed" by sabotaging him with maple syrup. She is an incredible, irresistible character. Jeremiah Land provides an interesting twist to the story. He is a kind, wise father, who talks regularly with the Lord and reads his King James every morning. In fact, Reuben describes him as a literal miracle-worker, equating him with Jesus Christ Himself. As far-fetched as it sounds, you come to believe Reuben's view of his humble, steadfast father. The Lands are believable, likable and utterly impossible to forget.

If you're looking for a beautiful novel about family, faith, and innocence, pick up Peace Like A River - I promise you won't be able to put it down!

Like all good ghost stories, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, begans on a dark, stormy night. In this case, it is also a snowy night, a night when Norah Henry's ob/gyn is stranded by the weather, and her husband is forced to deliver their baby in his own clinic. While Norah sleeps under anesthesia, David discovers that his wife is pregnant with not one, but two babies. The first is a healthy boy, the next a girl obviously afflicted with Down's Syndrome. Shocked, David hands his daughter to a nurse, instructing her to give the child to a local home for the mentally retarded - a standard practice in 1964, but one that will haunt David for the rest of his life. He elects to tell Norah that their daughter died. What David doesn't realize is that the nurse, Caroline Gill, can't bear to leave the newborn baby at an institution. Instead, she takes the baby to Pittsburgh, where the two begin a new life.

Back in Kentucky, the Henrys are haunted by the ghost of their daughter. Despite her happiness with her baby boy, Norah can't get past the immense feeling of loss that seems to accompany her every waking moment. David's relunctance to talk abut the death creates a gulf between he and Norah, a fissure that widens with every passing day. As their son, Paul, grows up, he can feel the tension between them, and mistakenly construes it as his fault.

When a tragedy strikes, the past comes flying into the present, and the Henrys must face the mistake David made so many years ago.

This book is beautifully written, although in a very stark and haunting way. Even Caroline's story, which is supposed to provide a bright counterpoint to the Henrys sad story, is described in a sad, bleak way. The plot is very engrossing and fast-paced, but undeniably sad. Although the book is eventually about redemption, it is ultimately sad and depressing. I thought the book was interesting and very well-written - I just couldn't get over its incredibly bleak tone.