Uncharted

Angela Hunt is an author who likes to play with your mind. The cover of Uncharted says "expect the unexpected" and that could be said of any of her novels. The stories aren't always pretty, and you won't necessarily agree with her theology/worldview, but that's part of the attraction.

There are authors I read for their luscious writing, and others I read when I want to spend some time in someone else's head. Some are good for a laugh, some make history come alive, and some play games with you. Angela Hunt is definitely a game player.

I started Uncharted, thinking I knew where this story was going, but discovered that my ending was really just the introduction for the real story. Basically some 25 years after college, a formerly inseparable group of friends re-united. The cast includes your typical prom-queen, a jock, an over-achiever, a rebel, Mr. Ambition, and the peacemaker who held the group together. The friends went out on a boat and ended up in trouble on an island...but the similarity to Gilligan's Island ends there.

I can't tell you a whole lot more about the plot without ruining it for you. I can tell you that I've seen people get mad reading this book, and I've seen people who loved it. I haven't met anyone who read it without reacting to it. You won't be blown away by her writing style or her characterizations, but if you want to play head games, Angela Hunt is an author for you.

Uncharted by Angela Hunt. Published in 2006 by West Bow. ISBN: 0-8499-4484-8.

Some lighter reading

I like stories that feature real people in true to life situations. The people can be fictional as long as they come across as real. Cookie cutter characters with interchangeable names frustrate and confuse me. (How do you tell them apart from one book to the next?)

Sometimes, though, I look for something much lighter. I don't want cardboard but I don't want the weight of someone else's struggles on my shoulders either. That's when I go looking for diversionary reading and one of the top series on my diversionary list is Elizabeth Peters' series about Amelia Peabody, Victorian feminist, Egyptologist, and amateur detective rolled into one.

Amelia was first introduced in 1975 in Crocodile on the sandbank. Set in 1884, Amelia decides to spend her recent inheritance on travel and ends up rescuing a young woman from kidnapping. The women also participate in some excavating much to the frustration of men who are working in the same area. Amelia is as opinionated and bull-headed as her friend, Evelyn, is gentle so the two work well together while infuriating the men.

18 books later, Amelia is still going strong. The cast of regular characters has grown and the characters themselves have grown and matured over time. While each story stands on its own as a mystery, the stories combined provide a wonderful (though somewhat unbelievable) family narrative. (How many dead bodies can one family deal with before the local authorities start asking new questions?)

Most, if not all, of the series is available on audiobook. Barbara Rosenblatt is narrator par excellence. Her voices are wonderfully done and they don't get in the way of the story. Some of the audiobooks have conversations with the narrator at the end. Those are well worth listening to.

Elizabeth Peters herself has a PhD in Egyptology and has received awards for her mystery writing so you know the background information is solid and the writing is well done. Peters' other mystery series stars modern day art gallery curator, Vicky Bliss.

For a full listing of the Amelia Peabody series, check out http://www.ameliapeabody.com/bookshelf.htm