Book Reviews

(1) All about the 'Roots of Style'

• Title: 'Roots of Style: Weaving Together Life, Love, and Fashion'
  
• Publishers: Celebra
  
• Author: Isabel Toledo

Isabel Toledo's 'Roots of Style' is a very well-dressed little book. That will come as no surprise to fans of the Cuban-American fashion designer who rose to national prominence when Michelle Obama chose one of Toledo's dresses to wear on Inauguration Day.

Looking like she's ready to be painted by Goya, Toledo graces the book's cover wearing her hair tightly in a pair of buns and dressed in an elaborately constructed black-and-white dress of her own design.

Inside, spry illustrations by Ruben Toledo, her husband and longtime collaborator, dance jauntily around the text, providing an added bounce to the story of the young girl from Camajuani, Cuba, who went on to become one of America's pre-eminent clothing designers.

Effortless transformation

In Toledo's telling, the transformation seems almost effortless.

One moment she's playing with the family sewing machine, the next, she's a preternaturally talented seamstress for whom doors exist to be opened.

As an added bonus, she's also a very talented dancer, coming of age in the late '70s New York City disco scene rubbing shoulders with the likes of Halston and Thierry Mugler at places like Xenon and Studio 54.

Toledo's unconventional rise has an almost fairy tale quality while providing fascinating glimpses of fashion luminaries like Diana Vreeland and over-the-top eccentrics like Joey Arias and Klaus Nomi along the way.

But designing clothing - which often succeeds more through suggestion than revelation - requires slightly different skills than storytelling, and the book often seems to lack a narrative arc: Where is the conflict when Toledo calmly overcomes any obstacle thrown her way?

She can also be maddeningly obscure, as when she casually tosses off that Karl Lagerfeld was the first person to call her a "couturier." The reader is left to wonder whether the older designer said this after carefully examining her work or merely upon glancing at one of her early self-made outfits.

Great info

The book is filled with observations and advice, most of which rings true but also comes perilously close to sounding like platitudes.

"What most people don't realise is that time really is on your side if you stop watching the clock," she offers at one point.

"Spending time on the things you love and that are important to you defines not only your work, but your personality as well," she says at another.

Sometimes Toledo seems almost naive, too sweet to have ever made it in the cut-throat world of high fashion, and the reader begins to suspect that - along with some of the awkward English constructions that crop up occasionally - this may be calculated.

At one point Toledo, speaking of one her dresses, explains: "The result looks deceptively simple and graceful, hiding its inner mathematical equation."

She could also be talking about her book.

(2) 'Clawback' is worth the investment

• Title: 'Clawback'
  
• Publishers; Viking
  
• Author: Mike Cooper

Wall Street greed and revenge collide in Clawback, an intriguing thriller from Mike Cooper.

Silas Cade lives off the grid as much as possible. With his background in military ops and accounting, he has become the perfect man for getting the job done when it comes to large amounts of money. He constantly changes his identity after each mission so he's free from retribution. He receives an assignment to retrieve almost $10 million as clawback, a guaranteed sanctioned payout, and he's quick to get the funds back. When he visits his client to tell him the news, however, Cade finds that he's been murdered.

Cade's life turns sour fast. Investment bankers are being assassinated, and Cade watches both friends and enemies take bullets. With the help of a young blogger named Clara Dawson, Cade begins to unravel a shocking conspiracy. As Cade tries to stop the murders, he breaks a cardinal rule in his profession: He falls in love with Dawson.

Abuse by greedy Wall Street bankers will resonate with many readers. Cade, though enigmatic in his life and profession, proves to be a perfect protagonist to follow on an action-packed and thrilling journey. The romance adds to the realistic feel of a novel that could have easily gone over the line into campiness or satire.

Clawback is definitely worth the investment.

(3) Strong characters propel 'The Last Good Man'

• Title: 'The Last Good Man'
  
• Publishers: Scribner
  
• Author: A.J. Kazinski

'The Last Good Man', a collaboration of film-maker Anders Ronnow Klarlund and author Jacob Weinreich under the pseudonym A.J. Kazinski, delivers an intense read.

This translation of the award-winning book from Denmark will appeal to readers who love international intrigue and suspense. Detective Niels Bentzon is afflicted with a phobia that prevents him from leaving Copenhagen. Every time Bentzon attempts to leave the city limits, his body begins to shake and he almost passes out. His wife works far away. She demands that he visit her before their marriage is destroyed. He tries, but needs to be escorted off an airplane after he has another reaction.

Bentzon decides that a murder case will be the perfect distraction.

A police detective in Florence begins to unravel an unusual string of murders around the world. He enlists Bentzon's help. Bentzon recruits mathematician Hannah Lund, who has scars of her own, to help with the investigation. She quickly deciphers a pattern, noting that each of the 34 victims has a unique number in the sequence of murders burned in code on their backs. Jewish prophecy proclaims that 36 righteous people protect the Earth. They don't know who they are or what their role is. Only two people are left before the end of the world.

The authors spin a story that unfolds slowly but has moments of rapid-fire suspense. The characters are strong, and they help propel The Last Good Man to a truly compelling and worthwhile journey.