The Wicked Wives by Gus Pelagatti

When Reggie Stoner is found dead in Great Depression era Philadelphia, his death is ruled as caused by pneumonia. However, First Assistant DA Tom Rossi notices that Stoner exhibited more symptoms of arsenic poisoning rather than the illness. After Stoner’s widow, Lillian, receives a large sum in insurance money, Rossi becomes obsessed with the idea that Stoner’s death was a murder. He soon spies Lillian having an affair with an Italian lothario, Giorgio DiSipio. Ready to swoop in and arrest her, Rossi is stopped by her uncle, the corrupt Deputy Mayor Bill Evans, who Rossi suspects is exchanging sex for money with his niece. Soon numerous other suspicious deaths occur, all leading the wives to collect their deceased husband’s insurance money. Giorgio DiSipio, Rossi realizes, is more than just a wannabe mobster and petty criminal; he has supplied seventeen women with poison, leading them to believe that if they murder their husbands, he will run away and be with them. Each one believes DiSipio is their one true love, and each is unaware of the other lovers.

The fast pace keeps readers on the edge of their seats, wondering how Rossi will possibly get past Evans’ influence in the police department. With excellent dialogue, this deeply-researched and well-written novel offers both a gritty crime conspiracy and an intriguing look into the minds of the desperate people living in Philadelphia during the Great Depression. While the novel explores dark topics such as lust, greed, infidelity, and incest, its tone is light, never disturbing the reader too much. The characters are fully developed, the protagonists likeable, and the antagonists menacing. It is the characters in particular that keep the reader hooked. Rossi is a typical good guy, though he is willing to go to the edge of the law in order to solve the serial murders, and Evans and DiSipio are both gritty antagonists in their own right. DiSipio is fairly light-hearted, almost playful in his love affairs, while Evans is a darker creature who elicits a deeper hatred from readers and illuminates the corruption of greedy higher-ups in government systems. The women are at the heart of the story, their lust and cunning both making the reader cringe and intriguing them, making them want to know more about their motives.

Only a few grammatical and punctuation errors appear throughout the book, but they rarely distract.

Author Gus Pelagatti has over forty years of experience in Philadelphia’s courts as a lawyer and has obviously put a lot of time, effort, and passion into The Wicked Wives. A novel of time and place, those who enjoy either historical fiction or true crime books will surely devour this novel. 

The 5 Moons of Tiiana by Paul T. Harry

When the planet Melela is overtaken by the brutal Relcor, the royal family is sentenced to death. The day before their execution, the queen calls upon military man Rez Cantor to help her young daughter, the princess, escape. Rez manages to grab the princess and run, but as they attempt to leave the planet, they are sucked into a portal and flung to the opposite side of the galaxy to the planet Tiiana and its five moons: Urlena, Boutal, Zin, Aura, and Vashia. Landing on Urlena with no princess in sight, Rez is kidnapped and enslaved, just the beginning of his long journey to saving Melela from the Reclor.

From the gargoyle-like Brata on Boutal to the water-breathing Aquella and Dolla on Urlena to the menacing insect-like Zecla on Zin, dozens of species inhabit the five moons. As Rez meets, befriends, and fights these creatures, he learns more about them, how they live, and how they each contribute to the mysterious circumstances surrounding Tiiana. Though there seem at first to be an unnecessarily large number of species, each plays a central part in the way the society has come to work. And while the Aquella, Rez’s captors and the first inhabitants he meets, appear to be evil and controlling, they are in fact simply the middle-man, the bourgeois of Tiiana. Though Rez is the novel’s protagonist, the Aquella are perhaps the most human of the novel’s characters. They enslave and brutalize the childlike Dolla, as well as Rez, forcing them to mine for metal in an underwater cave, but in truth, this metal is meant to feed the enormous, insatiable enemy hovering over their moon, sent there by the Zecla in an attempt to destroy the moon so the Zecla could take over. The Aquella’s efforts to save their planet mirror that of humanity’s survival methods: sacrificing some morals when in dire circumstances.

Rez, the novel’s first-person narrator, acts as the typical heroic figure, saving the princess and the galaxy, befriending the “good guys,” and causing irritation to the “bad guys.” The other characters that Rez comes to befriend or to distrust each have distinctive and consistent personalities, creating an intricate and realistic society. Each of the five moons as well has a specific atmosphere and, along with its inhabitants, portrays a complex system in balance. Paul T. Harry’s world-building skills are superb.

Some grammar and punctuation errors are scattered throughout this 500 page epic, but not enough to distract from the story, which has the reader clutching the book in their firm grasp, unable to put it down. And while the main characters — namely Rez, the princess, and the Relcor — are quite archetypical, they are never clichés. The only issue that may create some uncertainty is the time frame of the story. Rez in enslaved by the Aquella for two years while he is separated from the princess and his home planet of Melela is overtaken by the Relcor. It takes him at least five years to travel between the five moons and to discover the simple truth behind this complex system of cohabitating creatures. The fast pace of the action at times contradicts the time frame of the story, leading the reader to feel as though the action has only taken Rez across the galaxy in a matter a few weeks, though in truth he has been in Tiiana for almost ten years. This matter, however, is the novel’s only distraction.

The 5 Moons of Tiiana is an excellent specimen of the science fiction genre. It is a gripping adventure with characters that come alive on the page and fast-paced action that will keep readers turning the pages to discover how Rez will save his love, his friends, and his galaxy.

Books I Read This Month - June 2012

The Great Night by Chris Adrian

I posted an individual review on this book here.

The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey

Claiming to be the book that sparked the environmental movement in the 1970s, this novel traces the journey of four misfits across the barren south-western United States as they attempt to demolish dams and bridges that are being constructed and are interfering with the nature in the area. The characters, a doctor, an ex-army man, a young woman, and a hobo Mormon, are very well developed, so much so that in the long sections where there are no dialogue tags it is easy to discern who is speaking. An anarchic novel with a solid message and many notable quirks, The Monkey Wrench Gang is an enjoyable and fun read.

Cubop City Blues by Pablo Medina

Hoping to ease the pain of his dying parents, a blind young man tells stories to them at their bedside. Buzzing with the jazz culture of New York City, these stories are all interconnected by The Storyteller’s, as he calls himself, passion for words and his deep understanding of human nature. This novel reveals that the world we inhabit is only as big as our imaginations will let it.

The Sea Is My Brother by Jack Kerouac

The lost manuscript of the first novel Jack Kerouac ever wrote, The Sea Is My Brother is an intriguing read with classic Kerouac style and themes, and though it is reminiscent of his later works, it is not as well-written. It should be remembered that he wrote this when he was only twenty-one years old, and considering the fame and respect he would later earn, I can see how this book could have been a launching pad for his career if it had been published when it was written. The story follows a young man named Wes who is about to embark on a journey on a naval ship, but before he goes, he goes on a drunken escapade, similar to those of Kerouac’s other novels. Unlike his other works, this book has a more conventional writing style, and I find it fascinating to read something he wrote so early in his career and to see how his talent developed over time. Even though it is not as well-written as his more well-known works, I would still recommend to Kerouac fans that they read this book. 

Peace, Aimee