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Mike Nichols is a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Waking is his first novel.
The Waking
When newspaper reporter Will Dunby comes home one evening, he's surprised to find that his lawyer wife, Sandy, isn't there. A few hours tick by, and Will calls his old pal Deiter, a cop in their small Minnesota town, who doesn't have good news. Sandy's car careened off a bridge and caught fire; fortunately, Sandy was thrown from the vehicle prior to impact and was found, alive but seriously injured, in the snowy banks of the river. Having detected no skid marks or other telling signs, Deiter suspects that Sandy attempted suicide. Will is astonished. Sure, as a couple they had their problems--namely Will's detachment and Sandy's brief affair--but nothing that would lead to suicide. As Sandy lies in a coma, Will uses his reporter's skills to uncover the full story as suspicion mounts about his involvement, especially after Sandy's ex-lover is found dead. With a likable hero surrounded by believable characters and compelling courtroom scenes, Nichols delivers an accomplished first novel.
Mike Nichols's Summer Reading List
A Drink Before the War
by Dennis Lehane
I just read Mystic River and was looking for another Lehane
novel. A friend who owns a bookstore suggested this one, Lehane's
first. I am told it is very different than Mystic River, but equally
as good.
Grand Opening
by Jon Hassler
I've admired Hassler for a long time, and finally got a chance
to meet him (at a wedding reception in Minnesota) just a couple days
ago. Grand Opening is one of his older ones, and was given to me by
a mutual friend.
Unless
by Carol Shields
This is Carol Shield's final novel. My wife is reading it right
now and I get it next. I've only read the first paragraph, and it
is enough - already - to convince me that I need to read this.
A Cold Day in Paradise
by Steve Hamilton
It's a few years old now, but when it came out it won both
the Edgar and Shamus Awards for best first novel. I have a copy of
it sitting on my bookshelf and haven't read it. This summer, I plan
to.
The Sweet Season: A Sportswriter Rediscovers
Football, Family, and a Bit of Faith at Minnesota's St. John's University
by Austin Murphy
This is billed as "a sportswriter rediscover(ing) football,
family and a bit of faith at Minnesota's St. Johns's University."
I 'm from Minnesota and have a lot of ties to St.John's (couple brothers
and a lot of friends who went there). I'm almost finished with it
and there's less football – and more humor – than I expected.
Back to Authors'
Summer Reading Lists
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