Peachy Reads

Near the Arc de Triomphe where the elegant Parisian boulevards radiate out from the traffic circle known as l'Etoile, a greasy black smoke billows out of a chimney and infiltrates the residences along the rue le Sueur.   When police are called they discover a grisly scene of mass murder inside. In the chaos of occupied Paris, a serial murderer is able to pursue a diabolical scheme of offering a path to freedom in South America.   Instead, he kills his unsuspecting victims and collects the money and valuables they planned to carry to the new world.   This is one of France’s most harrowing cases of mass murder, the story of Marcel Petiot.   Readalike:   The Devil in the White City .

The 1936 Olympics are probably best remembered by Americans for the singular accomplishment of Jesse Owens, his athletic prowess totally debunking the notion of Aryan supremacy at the “Nazi Olympics”.   The Americans also bested the Germans in the eight-man crew competition, and The Boys in the Boat tells of their quest to win gold. The backstory mainly focuses on Joe Rantz and his hard-luck upbringing as a de facto orphan in depression era Washington. Rowing was his ticket to education at the University of W, and his place on crew, though never assured and always fought for, was a path to betterment and an improved station in life.   I was really taken by his hard-knocks life and marveled at all the hardships that he overcame. The book also focuses on George Pocock, the Englishman whose skill at boat-building (known in crew as “shells”) set the standard in the 1930s. There are other characters such as Al Ulbrickson, the indomitable coach, who badgers and shepherds the bo...