The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore

The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Last Days of Night is a wonderfully written novel about the battle between AC (Alternating Current advocated by George Westinghouse) and DC (Direct Current advocated by Thomas Edison) at the time in America's history when our country was moving from gas lighting to electric. There was more to this fight than the science behind it. The winner would end up with contracts to electrify the nation and with the fortune that followed those contracts.

Here's a quote about the differences in the business philosophies of Edison and Westinghouse:

“Westinghouse was responsible for tremendous feats of manufacturing—extremely well-built devices made by a factory of hundreds, each one supplying a part. A chain of construction. Edison, on the other hand, had built himself a factory that did not produce machines, but rather ideas.”

The novel is written from the point of view of Paul Cravath, a young attorney who represented George Westinghouse. Cravath is brilliant in his own field, but has a limited knowledge of technology. His need to know provides a non-obtrusive way for Moore to describe the basics to his readers without disrupting the flow of the story.

The Last Days of Night is historical fiction with characters such as Agnes Huntington, Nikola Tesla and Alexander Graham Bell in addition to the three main characters: Edison, Westinghouse, and Cravath. It's also a story of ruthless business practices, of the early days of patent law, and has a love story woven in as well. It is a hard book to put down.

Steve Lindahl – author of Motherless Soul, White Horse Regressions, Hopatcong Vision Quest, and Under a Warped Cross




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Sadie by Courtney Summers

Sadie by Courtney Summers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sadie is a YA book about child abuse and pedophilia. I believe it is important for books to cover difficult subjects, especially when the audience is young. Overall, I felt Courtney Summers handled the material well. There were moments of great tension and I loved the idea of Sadie as a young vigilante, although there could be some parents who think otherwise.

I had a couple of issues with the novel. First of all, it started fast, with a murder, but after that it began to drag until the pace picked up about a third into the story. Secondly, the male characters are mostly immoral, with the exception of Javi, a teenager who finds Sadie attractive. Javi steps up, does the right thing and pays the price. The main character of West McCray is a caring and dedicated person, but may or may not be male. This brings me to my third issue, the podcast personality who follows Sadie. Here is a line from the Goodreads description of the book:

“When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl.”

This description uses the word “he,” yet Summers is not so clear about West's gender. About three quarters of the way through the book West delivers the line: “I married him.” When I read that I wondered if West was a woman or a gay man. Like most readers, I picture the characters while I'm reading, so it bothered me and I looked back.

I could not find a clear answer to this main character's gender. In either case, Summers should have made West's gender clear. West spoke about his or her daughter a few times throughout the story, but not in a way that would answer my question.

Overall, I found the subject material and the tension in the latter part of the novel to make this a worthwhile read.

Steve Lindahl – author of Motherless Soul, White Horse Regressions, Hopatcong Vision Quest, and Under a Warped Cross.


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