To Reign in Hell by Greg Cox

   In the Star Trek original series, we were introduced to a genetically engineered “superman” named Khan Noonien Singh in an episode titled, “Space Seed.”  Khan tries to take over the Enterprise but our hero, James T. Kirk, wins in the end.  Kirk decides to maroon Khan and his band of 70 or so other super humans plus a ship’s officer who has fallen in love with Khan, on the remote planet of Ceti Alpha 5.  Khan’s last words are to quote John Milton where he wrote that Lucifer said he would rather reign in hell then serve in heaven.

   We jump ahead to the second Star Trek movie and see Kahn and his followers discovered by another ship which they take over and he sails forth to have revenge on Kirk.  He mentions that his planet was devastated by the explosion of a neighbor planet, and his wife was killed by a grotesque desert eel, but we really don’t know much else about the 15 years he spent in exile.  Until now.

   Greg Cox took the few known facts and framed a story to tell us what happened and how Kahn and his slowly dwindling tribe of super humans survived the 15 years of exile.  He has Kirk and his fellow senior officers visiting Ceti Alpha 5 to see if they could gather any clue about how Khan and his followers lived and survived there.  They discover Khan’s hidden sanctum where he has left a journal chronicling the story of what happened to them from when Kirk left them there until the USS Reliant accidentally found them and they were able to escape.

   The story is one of tragedy upon tragedy, and we see that Khan truly did reign in Ceti Alpha 5’s version of hell.  Khan and his genetically engineered followers endure constant setbacks and adversity.  First the local fauna are large and dangerous, and there are several attacks and casualties.  Then, just when there is a bright hope beginning to emerge from their settlement, the explosion that destroys the neighboring world causes heartbreaking hardships that nearly wipe out everyone.  Khan leads his people to a temporary sanctuary where they wait out the first frightening days until things begin to quiet down some, and then they spend the next 15 years living a marginal existence where their lives are only a hairsbreadth from death.  They live on too little food and too little water and have to be on the watch for the Ceti eels, which kill many of their numbers over the years.  The constant strain whittles away at Khan’s sanity.  Finally, the last blow to him comes when some dissenters among his followers cause the death of the Marla McIvers, the Starfleet officer who loves him and went into exile with him.  This is the start of a short and deadly civil war against his rule.

    The author absolutely captures Khan in this story and presents him to us is such a way that you hate him and admire him all at once.  You come to believe that only Kahn could have led his people through this series of incredible hardships and setbacks.  By the end of the book you might find yourself beginning to feel a little sorrow for Khan.  Rarely has a story been written that describes so completely and believably how an arrogant person with supreme belief in himself can be so thoroughly crushed and beaten down as this one does.  And yet, in the face of everything, Khan maintains his belief in his own superiority and his desire for revenge on Kirk.  You don’t have to be a Trekkie to appreciate this well written story about hardships meeting iron will.  - Steve Cram

Book Chatters’ Update

 

In April we viewed the movie WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.  We all enjoyed it very much!  We agreed that the spirit of the book was captured, even though some memorable characters and scenes were left out.  Both the movie and the book are highly recommended!

Our May selection is:

Unfinished Desires: A Novel by Gail Godwin

From Publishers Weekly

Bestselling author Godwin (Evensong; The Finishing School) brings readers back in time to the early 1950s in this endearing story of Catholic school girls and the nuns who oversee them. As Mother Suzanne Ravenel begins a memoir of her 60-plus years at Mount St. Gabriel's School in Mountain City, N.C., she's forced to re-examine the toxic year of 1951–1952, one of her worst at the school—beginning with the arrival of ninth-grade student Chloe Starnes, who's recently lost her mother, and Mother Malloy, a beautiful young nun assigned to the freshman class. Starnes and Malloy's arrivals presage a shift in the ranks of freshman Tildy Stratton's cruel clique, with significant consequences for all involved. Change, when it finally comes, stems from the girls' attempt to revive a play written years before by Ravenel. Godwin captures brilliantly the subtleties of friendships between teenage girls, their ambivalence toward religion and their momentous struggle to define people—especially themselves. Poignant and transporting, this faux memoir makes a convincing, satisfying novel.

One Last Breath by Laura Griffin

When pampered former cheerleader Feenie Malone takes a job writing fluff pieces for her South Texas paper, she has no idea she's about to stumble into a juicy news story that could launch her career -- if it doesn't get her killed first. Almost as soon as she breaks out her press pass, she crosses paths with Marco Juarez, the macho PI obsessed with solving his sister's murder. The information he has might be the perfect lead -- but his dangerously sexy looks could be a deadly distraction.
Juarez has zero patience for reporters, especially mouthy blond ones. But with the evidence pointing to Feenie's ex-husband, Marco thinks she could be useful. Confident he can keep her on a tight leash, he lets her in on his investigation. He quickly discovers he's underestimated his new partner.- Amazon


I enjoyed this romantic suspense and although it is a suspense I found myself laughing out loud at times.I am looking forward to reading the second in the series One Wrong Step. - Lori

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it. - AW Book Review

Coming together in an unlikely friendship, to solve a mystery involving both families, Willa and Paxton must meet head-on the obsessions and heartbreaking betrayals that severed their family ties, exposing truths of the past that go beyond the grave. The Peach Keeper is the representation of the unshakable bond of not only friendship but the bond of womanhood, enduring in good times and bad, from one generation to the next. i really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more of Allen's works- Lori Kaufman

Nemesis By Lindsey Davis

    It’s hard to describe the stories by Lindsey Davis featuring her detective hero, Marcus Didius Falco.  He’s a “gumshoe” type detective, (picture a mix of Lt. Columbo and Mike Hammer,) living in ancient Rome.  Nemesis is the 20^th installment of the Falco series of stories, and Davis is faithful to the storyline in each successive one.  We can watch him evolve from a slum neighborhood informer scratching out a miserable existence to a respected family man taking on cases from all walks of Roman life up to and including the Imperial palace.    

   Nemesis gives us a new look at Falco as he is hit with family tragedies and sudden wealth at the same time.  The story is named for the Roman goddess of divine retribution.  It was said that, "when a man receives more from Fortune than he should, Nemesis will come along and right the balance."  And we see Nemesis doing her work in Falco’s life throughout the book.

   The book contains Lindsey Davis's usual mix of ironic humor, glimpses of the society and politics of first century Rome, and an intriguing detective story, but this book has a darker undertone to the story.  Falco and his friend, Petro, become aware of a sinister crime and when they begin to investigate they stumble on evidence of a serial killer who appears to be protected by someone in the Imperial court.  They have to take the law into their own hands to try to uncover the killer at great personal risk.

   This book can be read on its own, although to really appreciate it you need to read the other books in sequence – a monumental task considering the number of stories – but well worth the effort.  Lindsey Davis has a rare writing ability, she writes historical fiction without digging through mounds of boring minutia. 

   I can’t wait to see what happens to Falco next.