Wordhunter: A Novel by Stella Sands
Publication: August 6, 2024; Harper Paperbacks, NetGalley
Genre: adult fiction, police procedural
My review reprinted from Book Dilettante, Jan. 20, 2024
I was intrigued to find out how word forensics or forensic linguistics is used in crime solving, done by analyzing written evidence, papers, letters, email, etc. to find the authors suspected of being criminals. A genius with words, Maggie Moore has always been fascinated by words, and as a college student she was recommended by her prof to help the police track down a cyber stalker, by analyzing his emails and letters.
Paying attention to word choice, dialect, syntax, spelling, use or misuse of punctuation, writing style, and more, Maggie pored over his emails to find traits leading to the stalker and, with Detective Jackson, goes on to tackle another case - finding the kidnapper of the mayor's missing daughter, through his correspondence.
I liked how the relationship between the detective and insecure Maggie develops into one of trust and reliance during the events, some of them life threatening.
An interesting read with an unusual, quirky character Maggie, who also inally learns to stand up for herself with both a predatory boss and with in her personal life.
I was intrigued to find out how word forensics or forensic linguistics is used in crime solving, done by analyzing written evidence, papers, letters, email, etc. to find the authors suspected of being criminals. A genius with words, Maggie Moore has always been fascinated by words, and as a college student she was recommended by her prof to help the police track down a cyber stalker, by analyzing his emails and letters.
Paying attention to word choice, dialect, syntax, spelling, use or misuse of punctuation, writing style, and more, Maggie pored over his emails to find traits leading to the stalker and, with Detective Jackson, goes on to tackle another case - finding the kidnapper of the mayor's missing daughter, through his correspondence.
I liked how the relationship between the detective and insecure Maggie develops into one of trust and reliance during the events, some of them life threatening.
An interesting read with an unusual, quirky character Maggie, who also inally learns to stand up for herself with both a predatory boss and with in her personal life.
I'm not finding Codebreakers (Aug. 11, 2026; NetGalley) as exciting a novel as I did Wordhunter. But then I'm less of a numbers, symbol, or math person. In this book, Maggie and a detective "decode clues embedded in words and symbols" to uncover a criminal
Published Sept. 6, 2011, Berkley
Genre: historical novel, romance, WWII
I came across this book at a little free library and it's one of the best finds I've had. An historical novel set in Prague during WWII, it is excellently written. It's hard to realize this is a fictionalized history, as so much of it is based on the actual facts of the Nazis in Prague and their notorious Terezin ghetto there.
In the novel, a young art student, Lenka, falls in love with a medical student, Josef, and they marry, only to part when Josef's family leaves with him on a boat heading to Canada. Josef promises to send for Lenka and her family as soon as he can. When Josef's ship is torpedoed, however, many died and
The book takes you inside the ghetto in Prague, every shocking detail of what daily life was like described in this novel, their lives and deaths searing into the reader's consciousness.
I came across this book at a little free library and it's one of the best finds I've had. An historical novel set in Prague during WWII, it is excellently written. It's hard to realize this is a fictionalized history, as so much of it is based on the actual facts of the Nazis in Prague and their notorious Terezin ghetto there.
In the novel, a young art student, Lenka, falls in love with a medical student, Josef, and they marry, only to part when Josef's family leaves with him on a boat heading to Canada. Josef promises to send for Lenka and her family as soon as he can. When Josef's ship is torpedoed, however, many died and
Lenka thinks Josef was among those who didn't survive the boat trip.
She later lands up in the Terezin ghetto built by the Nazis, surviviving there while others, including her mother, were removed and sent to death camps like Auschwitz.
The book takes you inside the ghetto in Prague, every shocking detail of what daily life was like described in this novel, their lives and deaths searing into the reader's consciousness.
At a chance encounter at a wedding years later in New York City, Josef recognizes Lenka.
"Lenka, it's me. Josef. Your husband."
They realize they had lived all these years not knowing they had both survived the war and moved to America. The meeting brings an astonishing conclusion to their fateful life and romance.
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