In Cold Blood

Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. 1994. 363p. ISBN 9780679745587.

Nothing interesting ever happened in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The 300 people who lived here knew each other, went to church on Sundays, and lived normal lives. The Clutter family owned several hundred acres. Herb Clutter was a deeply religious man who did not tolerate drinking, and who never carried cash. He was a fair employer, and had four children, two of whom still lived at home. His wife had an undiagnosed mental illness, while his daughter Nancy was a senior in high school who was appreciated by all, and his son Kenyon was a musician and athlete.

On November 15, 1959, the four members of the Clutter family were slaughtered, shot at point blank range after a robbery. Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, two criminals who had done time together, had planned the "perfect" score. Based on information from another inmate that Herb Clutter had a safe in the house that had at least $10,000, they constructed an alibi, then drove 400 miles to rob the house. When they were unable to find the safe, they tortured and killed Herb, and then killed his wife, Nancy, and Kenyon to eliminate any witnesses.

At first the police could not find any evidence. Nothing but a small radio seemed to have been taken. Nancy's boyfriend was an early suspect, as was a man who believed himself wronged by Herb. The fact that Herb had just taken out a life insurance policy the day before was also suspicious. But through a lucky photograph that revealed boot prints, and through investigative work, the police were soon on the trail of Hickock and Smith, who  thought they had gotten away with the perfect murders, even if they found no money.

Reconstructed from newspaper and court records, and from investigation reports and witness interviews, In Cold Blood reconstructs the sequence of events that led to one of the most violent and senseless crime to take place in the United States.

Love and First Sight

SundQuist, Josh. Love and First Sight. 2017. 281p. 382 mins. ISBN 9780316305358. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Will Porter is excited about starting his junior year in high school. This is the first time he will be attending a public high school. He has spent his entire school career away from home, at a school for blind students. Will is completely blind. He has never seen colors, movies, or his own face. Being blind from birth means he can’t even imagine what darkness looks like, because he has no contrast to draw on. Wishing to gain independence, Will made the decision to step away from the comfortable environment he went to, and now looks forward to typical high school experiences.

His first day starts on the wrong foot when he accidentally gropes a girl while climbing stairs. Guided by the vice principal, who is uncomfortable with Will but attempts not to show it, Will locates all of his classrooms and memorizes the directions. In journalism, he makes a girl names Cecily cry because he was accidentally staring at her. His teacher informs the class that Will is blind, marking him as different. During lunch, Will finds what he thinks is an empty table but he ends up sitting on Nick.

Soon, however, Will becomes friends with a group of kids, including Cecily and Nick. As their relationship deepens, Will worries that having a girlfriend will undercut his independence. When his mother returns home one day with an incredible possibility, Will is torn. The hospital where his father works is conducting trials where stem cells are implanted in the eye along with new cornea, providing the blind the possibility to see for the first time. If Will accepts this opportunity, his entire life will change. He may never see very well, for his mind will not have a frame of reference for everything he sees. But he might see colors, shapes, and a general glimpse of the world. There is the danger that the operation could fail, however, leaving him blind again.

In a world dominated by the sighted, however, there is a lot of information that is visually acquired and that is never shared orally. What do his friends really look like? What visual signals do they send each other that Will cannot see? And is Cecily really as gorgeous as his fingers tell him she is? Being able to see will change his life, but it may not be as perfect as he imagined ...

Midnight at the Electric

Anderson, Jody Lynn. Midnight at the Electric. 2017. 227p. ISBN 978-0-06-239354-8. Available at FIC AND on the library shelves.

In 2065, climate change has now irreversibly impacted Earth, and governments everywhere have pooled their resources to build a successful colony on Mars. Only a select few are sent on this one-way trip, hoping to create a new world and restore hope for humanity. Adri is one such lucky person. A teenager from Florida who lost her only family, Adri has no ties left with Earth, and is eager and ready to go. She will complete a grueling training program in Kansas, then head up to Mars with a small team. When she is informed that she will be staying with a relative during her stay in Kansas, Adri is surprised. She didn’t think she had any of them left.

Now living with her great aunt while she trains, Adri discovers a journal in the large farmhouse. In it, Catherine, a girl who lived over a hundred years ago, describes her hopes and fears during the Dust Bowl of 1934, a period that wiped many farms and towns in the middle of the country. Catherine is worried for her sister, who is sick from all the dust she has been breathing. When the Midnight Electric comes to town and promises eternal life, Catherine is desperate enough to spend money she doesn’t have and attempt it for her sister’s sake. Catherine is also intrigued by postcards her mother received decades ago, written by one of her mother’s friend, Lenore, from England.

In 1919, Lenore writes many letters to her best friend who has departed England for Kansas, relating her life and the impact that her brother’s death during World War I had on her family. Lenore describes her hopes and fears, and talks about the man she has met who lives in a run-down cottage on her family’s estate. Lenore missed her chance to immigrate with her friend, but is still hoping to travel to Kansas and be reunited.

The lives of three girls, in three distinct time periods, are about to meet through journals and postcards, showing that eternal life is indeed possible.

Told from three different points of view, each girl's journey is a product of her time, yet remains eerily similar. Fans of light mysteries and of introspective reading will appreciate how the girls' situations are deftly handled and nicely tie in together.