Customer Reviews

I Shall Not Want, 12 Cds [Unabridged Library Edition]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Julia Spencer-Fleming has never disappointed me. Six Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mysteries have passed from her agile, witty and plot-rich mind into our eager, hooked ones; and I wouldn't have missed a single one for the world.

Of course, Spencer-Fleming stranded her inimitable Episcopalian rector and police chief in a devastating quandary at the end of book five, ALL MORTAL FLESH. Although I saw various ways to continue their story, I wondered whether the tragic twist was too much for love to overcome.

So, I waited on pins and needles for this newest offering, I SHALL NOT WANT. In it, Spencer-Fleming lays out with confidence the aftermath, the repercussions, of the previous book's tragedy. Guilt. Withdrawal. Frustration. These haunt our protagonists. But since they both continue to live in Millers Kill, unpracticed face-to-face moments can't be avoided. How do Russ and Clare cope? Can the love settled in them when they first met, the love that would not fall away during other testings, revive and strengthen now? These are the vital questions...and they are fearlessly answered.

I SHALL NOT WANT begins with a bang as the reader follows rookie female officer Hadley Knox and the rest of the Millers Kill police force as they desperately attempt to bring a hostage standoff to a bloodless end...but cannot. Then, the story rolls back about six months to trace the causes of and players in that fatal shootout. These include an accident with an overturned van from which injured undocumented foreign agricultural workers flee, a series of execution-style murders, an identity switch, an influx of big city gang members, millions of dollars in illegal pot, and a family of redneck farmers.

But back to Hadley Knox for a second. She is a substantial and pleasing additional to the Miller's Kill cast of characters. As a single mother struggling to make ends meet, her doubts about being able to cut it as the first female sworn officer on Russ' team seem very genuine. Since the youngest member of the force, Kevin Flynn, thinks she is the most beautiful woman around, she, amusingly, also has her hands full with him.

Indeed, no Clare/Russ book would be whole without Spencer-Fleming's gentle sense of humor. I SHALL NOT WANT includes several lovely laugh-out-loud bits. The most hilarious follows a scene of danger and uproar. I won't spoil it, but it is a wonderful tension-breaker.

Does I SHALL NOT WANT adequately come to terms with the stark situation in which ALL MORTAL FLESH left Russ and Clare? I think so, although arguably it skittered over some of the hard work. However, Spencer-Fleming knows that as long as we live, there is no ending, happy or otherwise. We keep moving from one feeling and circumstance to another. So, if Russ and Clare don't hyper-analyze their every doubt, isn't that a touch of realism rather than a lack of penetrating drama? Deputy Chief Lyle MacAuley tells Clare at one point, " 'We don't have near enough time on this earth, and what we do have, we fritter away acting like damn fools.' " Yup. Clare and Russ can't afford to stay stuck forever in any one moment, not matter how fateful. They can't let any one thing define them. They are the sum of their lives. Lives which keep moving along, whether they like it or not.

Kevin takes his chance to giddily espouse his feelings for Hadley: "That was love....love, love, love." Spencer-Fleming makes sure love has its day in the sun in I SHALL NOT WANT, but again, I won't spoil whether Clare and Russ get the same opportunity as Kevin. Whatever happens, love -- in all its manifestations, including lovemaking -- can't make happy endings, only happiness along the way. In this truth lies the bittersweet residue of the novel's poignant fade out.

Now, here's hoping for a seventh addition to this adroit and distinguished mystery series!

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* from publisher's comments on the back cover.

When I read the first book in Julia Spencer-Fleming's series--"In the Bleak Midwinter"--I was overwhelmed by how quickly she created two interesting and multi-dimensional characters about whom I immediately cared. Clare Ferguson and Russ Van Alstyne continue to to be the focus of this wonderful installment: "I Shall Not Want." Their relationship is realistic and complicated, full of angst but also full of the joy of learning to love another human being. The mystery plot in this book does take a back seat to the more interesting mystery of how these two are ever going to settle into their complicated lives together. As previous reviewers have suggested, start with the first book and watch how Spencer-Fleming makes us love these characters.

Another good sign in this book is her introduction of new characters in the town of Miller's Kill. The community is becoming a little more fleshed out and less like a stereotype of the small town. Spencer-Fleming also continues to experiment with structure. Each book is a little different--different points of view, plot structure, etc.

It looked like Spencer-Fleming had painted herself into a corner with the last book, but she has deftly managed the crisis "All Mortal Flesh" left us with. Now, however, much more is at stake. The ending of this novel will delight her fans but once again leave them anticipating the next novel with some trepidation.

Julia Spencer-Fleming's sixth installment in the Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne mystery series is a return to top form. If you haven't read this series, now is an excellent time to start with book #1, "In the Bleak Midwinter", which introduces Clare Fergusson, the new Episcopal priest to her small town upstate New York church and the inhabitants of Miller's Kill. Russ Van Alstyne is the police chief of Miller's Kill Police Department. Living in a marriage gone dry, Clare is an irresistible attraction to Russ and that attraction is very much mutual.

I Shall Not want opens with a bang that will leave you wondering who lives and who dies in this story and will make you remember that JSF once said that this was a six-book story arc. Just when your adrenaline hits "high", there's a flashback where we join Clare and Russ to find them estranged from each other after the tragic occurrences in "All Mortal Flesh", the fifth book in the series. Russ is living with his mother and Clare has joined the NY National Guard. Soon enough, the two are riding together in Russ' truck, working on the murder of an unidentified Hispanic man and dealing with their deep mutual attraction. When a migrant worker that Clare has sheltered at the church goes missing, she and Russ have all the excuse they need to spend as much time together as possible. It's a mystery story, but it's a whole lot more - action, romance and a focus on small-town life with recurring characters and their families. With topical themes like urban drug runners in small town America, illegal migrant workers, and the Iraq War, there's a lot here to keep you turning the page as you discover (or do you?) how the relationship between Clare and Russ turns out.

Fans of Julia Spencer-Fleming's Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series have been waiting to see what happened after the traumatic events in All Mortal Flesh. She takes us back to Millers Kill, New York in her latest book, I Shall Not Want, where the Episcopal priest and town police chief are still facing the repercussions of past events.

The new book captures the reader immediately, not with a scene that immediately involves her main characters, but with a scene in which a rookie cop is under fire. When the opening chapter erupts into gunfire, Spencer-Fleming leaves the reader hanging, and switches back to tell the story that leads up to the shoot-out.

As usual, Clare Fergusson innocently gets involved in events that lead to tragedy. When she offers to partner with a nun in assisting the year-round Hispanic workforce who are farmhands on the Washington County dairy farms, she has no idea there will be shootings, dead bodies, attacks in the church, and local confrontations with drug dealers. She and Russ still fight over her "good works," but she now has the outlet of her National Guard duty to get her out of town. And, when Russ confronts his sister and mother over their purchase of a dairy farm, he has no idea his family will be caught up in lies and cover-ups.

Once again, Spencer-Fleming embroils her two characters in events out of the headlines; drugs, problems with nonresident aliens, National Guard service during wartime. And, of course, they still face the problem of their attraction for each other. It's a powerful combination for what she calls a novel "of faith and murder for readers of literary suspense."

I Shall Not Want seems to place even more emphasis on the police procedural aspect of the series, following the Millers Kill Police Department in their investigations. The author introduces an interesting new character as well, Hadley Knox, a single mother of two who is hired as the police department's newest officer when she returns home to live with her grandfather. The problems of a single mother, trying to work, learn a new job, and cope with two generations, is another example of Spencer-Fleming's finger on the pulse of society.

Despite the serious tones of this latest mystery, there's always romance and humor in these books. After totalling another car, Clare thinks, "Her parishioners would start calling her the Reverend Stephanie Plum."

No one involves readers in current events, romance, and tragedy in the same way Julia Spencer-Fleming does. I Shall Not Want is another strong story that tortures Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne. Unlike other authors, though, Spencer-Fleming torments her readers as well, and leaves us longing for the next book in this award-winning series.

Julia Spencer-Fleming's done it again! As a younger female Episcopal priest myself, I appreciate Julia's ability to unpack the complexities of the life of a single, female priest, serving in a small town in the 'North Country.' 'I Shall Not Want' is a particularly satisfying addition to the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. Spencer-Fleming compellingly engages very timely topics such as immigration, the war on drugs and the war in Iraq, sexism in the workplace, and the gifts and challenges of generations of family negotiating life together. If that was not enough, the mystery is exhilarating, and the romance, hotter than August. And of course, she leaves us wanting more.

Julia Spencer-Fleming has done it again. Another 5 Star novel featuring Episcopal Priest Clare Fergusson and the town's police chief, Russ Van Alstyne. This is the sixth in the series and Spencer-Fleming weaves the story together sensitively and with enough mystery to keep the reader on edge to the very end. It is a love story in many ways involving a member of the clergy and a civil officer, of the love of people who suffer from injustice--in this case the migrant community, of love of Latinos and Gringoes, and woven throughout with attempting to solve the injustices of murder and prejudice. As an Episcopal Priest and I believe that Spencer-Fleming understands the issues that confront contemporary religious communities and secular society in a beautifully woven novel that transcend any religion or religious boundaries. I look forward to many more by Spencer-Fleming.

I have loved all of the other Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mysteries. This one disappointed me because Clare and Russ didn't seem to be in it as much as some of the others. Hadley is an interesting new character, and, as others have mentioned, some interesting and current topics come up... But I missed the interactions between Clare and Russ that seemed more limited in this book. As a stand alone book, I would give it 4 stars, but compared to the others in the series, I give it 3 stars.

I SHALL NOT WANT, number six in the series is a winner!! The back-cover blurb sets the scene: "Town cop Russ Van Alstyne and Episcopal priest Clare Fergusseon are separated by guilt and grief over Russ's wife's death. While these emotions keep them from being together, intense desire for each other continues to grow. When a Latino man is murdered, Clare is drawn into Russ's investigation through her good works in the migrant community. The discovery of two more bodies ignites fears that a serial killer is loose. As the tensions escalate, Russ and Clare's emotions are mixed. But bodies in love know only one direction."

In my opinion, the publisher's blurb focuses unfairly on the physical relationship and might turn readers away. The author sees a true sweetness between the two: "That's what she missed the most: talking. Serious, silly, bone-deep, flippant, all their words and thoughts like gifts to each other, the only gifts they, with their hobbled hearts, could give." (Large Print Edition, pages 322-323).

Spencer-Fleming's prose is powerful: "He saw the flat green leaves and the star-burst clusters of tiny white flowers. He saw the pale birch saplings trembling in the mountain's exhaltation. He saw the dead thing. He saw the bloat, and the burst skin, and the white bone and the gray brain. He saw the place where an animal had chewn off the cloth and started to--- He turned away." (page 185).

And, as always, there is the touch of humor, possibly to allow the reader to breathe in and out: "As he pulled in, he saw the old bumper stickers, TTHE EPISCOPAL CHURCH WELCOMES YOU and MY OTHER CAR IS AN OH-58 had been joined by JESUS IS COMING: LOOK BUSY."

(page 198).

I am a retired librarian and was happy to see Spencer-Fleming's following dedication: "To the librarians and libraries who have taught me, shaped me, befriended me, and recommended me, including . . ." and the list of over 40 libraries throughout the country. Nice touch. Thank you from librarians everywhere!

You will be thrilled to know that number seven ONE WAS A SOLDIER is due out next April and is available for pre-order at Amazon. But, start with the first in the series: In the Bleak Midwinter (A Rev. Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery).

Added note: Though I purchased this book from Amazon in LARGE PRINT I put the review here, so it could be found and possibly read.

I won't discuss the plot of this excellent addition to the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series, because others have done so ably. I just would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written, well-plotted mystery with a wonderful cast of characters. My only caveat would be that the books in this series should be read in order to fully appreciate how Julia Spencer-Fleming has developed the story arc of these two very decent and likable people and their fellow inhabitants of Miller's Kill, New York. The end of the book is another cliffhanger, leaving us hoping all will be well with Clare who goes off into harm's way. After finishing "I Shall Not Want," I actually wanted more. So, I went back and listened to the recordings of each book in the series so far. Great mysteries; great characters; great setting.

I love this series! The last 2 books have been my favorites. If you are new to the series, I would start at the begining and work my way up to this one. The books are well crafted, very smart, have funny moments, and characters that you truly come to love. I don't know why these books are not more widely known.

As for the review that complained of "very explict sex" and gave it a XXX rating? Not sure what in the world they are talking about.