Forty years after it was finished, the last work by Nobel Prize–winning novelist Pearl S. Buck has been discovered. It was published in 2013. "Rann falls for the beautiful and equally brilliant Stephanie Kung, who lives in Paris with her Chinese father and has no contact with her American mother, who abandoned the family when Stephanie was six years old. Both Rann and Stephanie yearn for a sense of genuine identity. Rann feels plagued by his voracious intellectual curiosity and strives to integrate his life of the mind with his experience in the world. Stephanie feels alienated from society by her mixed heritage and struggles to resolve the culture clash of her existence. Separated for long periods of time, their final reunion leads to a conclusion that even Rann, in all his hard-earned wisdom, could never have imagined." Amazon The Eternal Wonder by Pearl S. Buck 304 pages published by Open Road Media  "A hand-written Pearl S. Buck Manuscript was discovered in January of 2013, forty years after the 1938 Nobel Prize for Literature winner's death. Her son, Edgar Walsh, decided to have the novel edited and published even though his mother died before she was able to revise it. The novel can be enjoyed by young readers as well as adults." This was not her best book but she died before it could be revised and corrected. I remember reading The Good Earth at the age of ten or twelve and crying at the end. This book shows an obsession with people of mixed-race that would be deemed silly today. Even so, her writing had an elegance that is rarely seen in modern writers. I am glad that I read it.

I have a couple more books to add to my nightstand collection. I will get to them soon. 

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes 624 pages published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books I am a sucker for debut novels and this promises to be a good one. "It looks like the perfect murder: an unidentifiable victim—a young woman found in a low-rent Manhattan hotel, face down in a bathtub of acid, teeth removed, fingerprints and face gone, and a murder scene devoid of fingerprints, DNA, or any other identifiers. The homicide detective in charge, Ben Bradley, is a long time friend of Pilgrim, a retired CIA operative who has penned a textbook on criminal investigations that the murderer has apparently read. Pilgrim, retired and reclusive, is drawn into the case by Bradley and is quickly in the middle of an international manhunt moving through the United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan. This is more than just a murder mystery; there is also a biological threat against the U.S., which ties into the murder. The characters are skillfully brought to life in this action-packed worldwide adventure, and Pilgrim is a quick-witted and thoroughly fascinating protagonist. Growing up as the adopted son in a very wealthy family, he is a brilliant loner recruited by the Division, a top-secret black ops group that is eventually disbanded. His adversary here, another loner, nicknamed Saracen, grew up in Saudi Arabia, where his father was beheaded for criticizing the king; international politics makes for fascinating backstory. The novel is gruesome at times, but none of the violence is gratuitous, and unfortunately, it all feels quite real and believable. Don’t be put off by the length of this book. The story is tightly plotted, and the pages fly by ferociously fast. Simply unputdownable." Stacy Alesi It is a hard book to put down and it goes really fast. It is a debut novel but at the end I read the bio of the author. He was the screenwriter for the Mad Max movies and many other screen plays. And at the end of the book, that was part of the problem. The book was clearly written with the idea of making it into a movie. There were some meandering parts that were not necessary but would make good action sequences in a movie. All of the happy and unhappy endings for the characters are very Hollywood. It is not literature but it is a great thriller to read on the beach in the summer.

The Most Dangerous Animal of All by Gary L. Stewart 384 pages published by Harper "Soon after his birthmother contacted him for the first time at the age of thirty-nine, adoptee Gary L. Stewart decided to search for his biological father. His quest would lead him to a horrifying truth and force him to reconsider everything he thought he knew about himself and his world. Written with award-winning author and journalist Susan Mustafa, The Most Dangerous Animal of All tells the story of Stewart's decade-long hunt. While combing through government records and news reports and tracking down relatives and friends, Stewart turns up a host of clues—including forensic evidence—that conclusively identify his father as the Zodiac Killer, one of the most notorious and elusive serial murderers in history." The publisher spent almost one year checking the evidence before publishing the book. Fascinating!

Any Other Name: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson 336 pages published by Viking Adult "Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire’s eleventh case takes him out of his jurisdiction to Campbell County, near South Dakota. He’s investigating a lawman’s suicide as a favor to his friend, the crusty Lucian Connally, who’s along for the ride. Walt may be away from home, but when undersheriff and love interest Victoria Moretti and old friend Henry Standing Bear show up, he may as well have brought Absaroka County with him. Many of the elements here will seem familiar from previous novels, from the change of location (The Dark Horse), to the key role played by a vintage sidearm (The Cold Dish), to the touch of supernatural and visit from Walt’s spirit guide (Hell Is Empty), to the set piece in a snowstorm (take your pick). But while Johnson might be coasting just a little, all that means is that new readers referred by the popular TV show Longmire (the books have been appropriately rebranded) might be better served by starting at the beginning. Those who have followed the series all along will find no reason to stop now." Keir Graff  I have enjoyed all of the Longmire books. There is something like the Zane Grey westerns in the books. This one may not be one of his best books but it is still good and worth reading.