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3.22 AVERAGE
3.22 AVERAGE
I LOVED it! It made me cry alot, and laugh alot, and pretty much every other emotion.
This book was way too long. I liked it, but I might've loved it had it been edited better.
This novel tells the story of Annie Peregrine Goode, a young woman driven to fly. Annie was left at the home of her aunt in North Carolina by her con artists father when she was seven. He promised to come back, but only showed up a couple of times briefly in later years. Annie was raised by her aunt Sam and her housemate and friend Clark Goode, a pediatrician. But her father Jack had always told her she was a flyer, and from her first foray into the sky at the age of nine, she knew it was true. She took flying lessons and was accepted at Annapolis and became a pilot for the navy. This much we learn early in the novel as Annie is returning to the family home for her 26th birthday, trying to make it before a storm hits.
But this birthday has much more in store for her, setting Annie off on the journey of her life, on the trail of her father, and his latest escapade which involves danger, federal agents, a persistent Miami vice cop, and Cuban history. Annie only wants to know one thing, who was her mother, the one piece of information her father has consistently withheld from her. But the truth brings so much more for Annie, and changes the course of her life forever.
A story that will bring tears to your eyes, make you laugh out loud, and heave a sigh as the story closes. A story that has romance, thrill, and mystery. A story to thoroughly enjoy.
But this birthday has much more in store for her, setting Annie off on the journey of her life, on the trail of her father, and his latest escapade which involves danger, federal agents, a persistent Miami vice cop, and Cuban history. Annie only wants to know one thing, who was her mother, the one piece of information her father has consistently withheld from her. But the truth brings so much more for Annie, and changes the course of her life forever.
A story that will bring tears to your eyes, make you laugh out loud, and heave a sigh as the story closes. A story that has romance, thrill, and mystery. A story to thoroughly enjoy.
Malone has me from the first page - he makes every character, no matter how clueless or despicable, worthy of a tiny bit of affection, and often, unexpected empathy. From the start, readers will fall in love with Annie B. Goode (born Anne Samantha Peregrine), a little girl who travels with her con man father Jack Peregrine around the country who uses her fantastic memory and intelligence to get them into, and then out of, many hot spots. When she is 6, he decides a more normal life with his sister Sam and her best friend Clark in small town Emerald NC would be better for Annie. He leaves Annie and a single engine plane named the King of Sky, with a promise to come back with one million dollars. Jump ahead to now 26 year old Annie, Navy pilot extraordinaire, soon to be divorced, who suddenly gets a message from her father, apparently dying, that he needs her to bring the King of Sky to him as his final wish. From this point on, it is a wonderful wacky ride that Malone does so well that takes Annie from Emerald to St Louis to Key West and eventually Cuba, with flashbacks built in to fill in family ties, dark histories, and to introduce us to Annie's friends who helped to give her wings - Georgette, her best friend since 1st grade, and D.K. Destin, the Afro-American ex-Navy pilot who teachers her how to fly.
Malone knows how to make the ridiculous become believable, and the impossible attainable. The idiosyncrasies of his characters are so recognizable to those we see in ourselves and each other (Clark's unending puns, Sam's constant references to lines in movies, Rafael Rook's Shakespeare quotes)that readers can't help but be carried along as part of their story. This is wonderful story of an unconventional family that sticks together, no matter what.
Malone knows how to make the ridiculous become believable, and the impossible attainable. The idiosyncrasies of his characters are so recognizable to those we see in ourselves and each other (Clark's unending puns, Sam's constant references to lines in movies, Rafael Rook's Shakespeare quotes)that readers can't help but be carried along as part of their story. This is wonderful story of an unconventional family that sticks together, no matter what.
Young female Navy pilot deals with family, marriage and the chase of her con artist father's mysteries through North Carolina, St. Louis, Miami and Cuba before finding answers and peace with her identity.
Finally a new book by Michael Malone. I read this in a few days. I had a hard time putting it down. Malone understands how to develop characters who you relate to and these were no different. The story is part southern saga, part mystery and part love story without being too much of any one of these. The mystery adventure keeps the story moving and the rest gives the backstory and character development that makes you suffer as the characters suffer, feel happy when they do and generally feel like part of their lives. I was sorry when the book was finished. I hope it's not another 10 years before his next one.
I kept telling myself he's obviously not a realist and finally realized he's a Hollywoodist. It doesn't really work in a book without a movie's action and actors to blur the mismatch of behavior versus intention and motive.
Malone's complex, vivid characters are really what make this book. Jack's cons keep the reader constantly guessing, a good contrast to the more predictable (though still enjoyable) subplot of Annie's love life. Part mystery, part romance, and part family drama, Malone's story explores love, friendship, and what constitutes a "family" in a fast-paced and light-hearted manner. This was a great choice for the Big Library Read because it appeals to readers of many different genres and has elements to which all of us can relate.