Paraíso

June 20, 2016
Siblings Peter and Wendy haven't spoken in years. Once they were very close, even attempting to run away to Mexico together. However, as adolescence changes them, Wendy blames Peter for betraying a secret, and when their mother dies, the truth about the past vanishes with her. As adults, the two siblings live very different lives. Peter is a straitlaced book editor in New York, and Wendy is a reckless sports photographer who encounters trouble after her car breaks down in Paraiso, Mexico. When Peter heads south of the border to reconcile with his sister and save her from her vindictive ex-boyfriend, he doesn't realize he is completing the journey they started as teenagers. Chaplin (Full Fathom Five) sets the stage for a rowdy adventure story, but the siblings' alternating points of view make it difficult to connect with either character. Wendy's story is told in the third person while Peter's is in first, and the transition between the two feels abrupt. Nevertheless, readers may still enjoy the story for its fast-paced plot.

June 1, 2016
Peter Davis was two years old when his sister, Wendy, was born, and their sibling bond was tight into their teens, despite their mother's efforts to the contrary. But when Wendy believed that Peter had betrayed her, she banished him from her life, an estrangement lasting 20 years. Peter is now an editor for a New York publisher, while risk-taking Wendy, who's been going through men like a bowling ball, has a book of sports photographs coming out. The events of 9/11 convince Peter to reconnect and make peace with Wendy, who's heading for Los Cabos, Mexico, on assignment when her beloved 1956 Mercedes-Benz convertible breaks down in Paraiso, leaving her at the mercy of dangerous mechanic Marco Blanco. Wendy's best friend, Clare, serves as a bridge between the siblings and digs into their past, shedding light on the mother who is viewed so differently by her two children. Chaplin has written a genre-crossing novel based on family dysfunction that becomes darker and more compelling as Peter chases after Wendy and pages turn.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)