Murderland (2025) by Caroline Fraser

 Audiobook Review

Murderland (2025)

by Caroline Fraser

  Murderland has an interesting and persuasive thesis: That the spike in serial killing in the 60's and 70's was directly related to industrial activity poisoning children with lead and other toxic substances.  Fraser combines this narrative with capsule biographies of famous American serial killers- Ted Bundy gets most of the ink in Murderland. Fraser also intertwines her own memories of a girlhood in the Tacoma era- the epicenter for factory pollution and serial killers.  The business part of the story is familiar- Mid 20th century capitalism pursues profit at the expense of the environment.  I presume those who are interested in serial killers will know much of that stuff to- I'm not, and I don't know much about Bundy, so I found that bit interesting- Bundy was an audacious killer- he kind of embodies every stereotype that parents fear and his targets were anything but women on the margin of society.   Fraser's memoir material didn't do much for me. 

Seascaper (2025) by Benjamin Wood

 Audiobook Review

Seascraper (2025)

 by Benjamin Wood

  I'm sure I only heard about Seascraper, by English novelist Benjamin Wood, because it was longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize.  It was a good pick for an Audiobook because it is set in seaside village in the English countryside, so you get some good regional accents.  There is also a strong musical element in the plot, and in the Audiobook you actually get to hear the song that the protagonist writes in a moment of inspiration.  The setting is literally atmospheric- with dense, wet fog playing a key role in the development of the plot.  And, winningly, Seascaper is brief enough to be considered a novella, thought personally I would go with short novel.

Run Away Home (1997) by Patricia C. McKissack

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America

Run Away Home (1997)

by Patricia C. McKissack

Mount Vernon, Alabama

Alabama: 20/20

   Run Away Home is an actual children's book, not a YA Novel, which is refreshing in the context of the 1,001 Novels: A Library of America.   The line between children's and adult fiction is actually thinner than the line between YA fiction and adult fiction.  Literature is filled with children's books that have reached canonical status in the adult lit world, whereas YA fiction has provided many films and television shows with material for adaptation.  Run Away Home is about an Apache boy who escapes from a train taking his people from Arizona to Florida, where they were held for several years in the late 19th century.

   The young African American girl who finds him becomes attached, and the story, about the girl's father struggling to maintain his piece of land in the face of white resistance, is a familiar one.