John Grisham, The Associate

John Grisham hits again with another satisfying legal thriller. This new tale has the decided flavor of his early hit, The Firm, though it is certainly no worse for this—if you liked that tale of big-firm politics and heavy-handed tactics, this one will be a hit as well. Kyle McAvoy, a promising young law student, gets caught up in a blackmail scheme and is being forced to steal corporate secrets from his new employer. Caught between the unknown implications of some past trouble and the morally dubious choice to steal from his employer and their client, McAvoy is forced to make some tough decisions. It's a real page turner, and I finished it in only a couple of sittings. Vintage Grisham.

Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City

In this fascinating piece of "popular history," Larson makes the past come alive. The city of Chicago in all of its turn-of-the-century glory, with its vistas and its smells, as well as its aspirations, takes center stage. Larson tells the intertwining tales of two men: one, Daniel Burnham, the primary architect behind the planning and construction of the worlds fair; and, two, H. H. Holmes, the psychopathic mastermind behind innumerable disappearances of women from around the time of the fair.

Larson's tale is well worth reading. It is full of historical detail and gives a fascinating sense of what it would have been like to live in the Midwest near the turn of the century. It also sheds light on the aspirations, in this case specifically of Chicago and Burnham, for cosmopolitan prominence. As the two stories unfold, there are innumerable defeats and victories, that catch up the reader in the sense of doom that shrouds the whole affair.