What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr

From the publisher: Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she's been committed to an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong. With the help of her computer hacker/recluse sister Marion, thirteen-year old granddaughter Mel, and Mel's friend Royal, Rose begins to gather her strength and fight back—to find out who is after her and take back control of her own life. But someone out there is still determined to kill Rose, and they're holding all the cards.

I love Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon books – they are one of the mystery series I recommend the most when people ask me for suggestions. Barr really has a gift for putting you where her characters are (in Anna’s case, left behind in a cave, sheltering in a fire tent during a raging wildfire, trapped in a sunken wreck and running out of air). What Rose Forgot is a standalone title.

I found it a little slow starting but very enjoyable once it got going. I did have to remind myself a few times that the main character of Rose isn’t Anna Pigeon, as she has a very Anna-Pigeon-like personality and a sister she turns to for advice and support.

Rose has a sweet relationship with her granddaughter-by-marriage and is a strong and capable woman at age 68, despite dealing with the issues of middle age. Parts of the mystery surprised me and parts of it did not, but the real fun is in the characters and their sometimes surprising interactions. I also enjoyed the use of technology and the fact that Rose does her sleuthing using Lyft drivers. This is a super fast read and would be great on the beach or a plane.

If you enjoy oddball mysteries with unusual protagonists, you may enjoy What Rose Forgot. I read an advance reader copy; it is scheduled to be published in September and will be available at the Galesburg Public Library in multiple formats.

The Warehouse by Rob Hart

Imagine a world ravaged by gun violence and environmental damage, where a huge corporation that sells everything to everyone and delivers the items by drone limits the choices of where you can live and work. In Rob Hart’s The Warehouse, the giant company Cloud has put other retailers out of business and become the only place to work. Paxton and Zinnia pass the test and start their jobs. Paxton ends up in security;  Zinnia works long days racing against the clock, picking items to mail to customers. They work at Cloud. They eat at Cloud. They sleep at Cloud. Zinnia puts up with sexual harassment from a manager; Paxton competes against others for the approval of his boss.

But neither Zinnia nor Paxton is who they seem. Each is keeping secrets, and each has an agenda. However, it’s not easy to stand up for yourself when you are a tiny cog in the Cloud.

The Warehouse is likely to be this year’s big, almost-there dystopian novel. And it all feels like it could come true next week.

Rob Hart dedicated his book to Maria Fernandes, a woman who worked part-time at several Dunkin’Donuts to make ends meet and who died from gas fumes while taking a nap in her car. In the meantime, Dunkin’ CEO Nigel Travis earned $10.2 million the year she died. The Warehouse is not a perfect book, but it will make you think hard about the relationship between corporations and their employees and about income inequality.

I read an advance reader copy of The Warehouse, which comes out on August 20. The Galesburg Public Library will have it in print and as an ebook.