“The Apollo Murders” by Chris Hadfield

 I found this book almost unreadable and skipped 90% of it. To me, it’s written from the point of view of a slightly arrogant robot. Too much fact, not enough substance.

“The Hunter” by Tana French

 Some errors in the writing style near the beginning of the book turned me off the author, even though I was enjoying the book itself. However, as the book progressed, she stopped using cheap American colloquialisms in her descriptions, and her frequent mention of a yellow plant fell to the background, so I ended up quite enjoying the story. It consisted of a missing youth, a retired cop from Chicago, and an apparently ‘sweet’  village in Ireland. The characters were quite well developed and I liked the greyness of their moral decisions. It seemed true to life.

“Lullabies for Little Criminals” by Heather O’Neill

This book is an amazingly realistic account of a 12 year old street child, Baby, with a drug-taking and irrational but loving father, Jules. She is very bright, but due to decisions by adults, becomes a drug taking prostitute living with her pimp. Some parts were so difficult to read that I had to skim them.

As in most Heather O’Neill novels, the story takes place in Montreal, a setting which I enjoy. And as in all the Heather O’Neill novels I have read, there is an uplifting ending. Thank god for cousin Janine in Val de Loups.