Michael Dahlie

At the beginning of Finding Lubchenko we find out that the main character, Evan, is a wise-cracking teenager who is generally in trouble for doing something he shouldn't have. His father, who is usually his biggest critic, has been arrested for murder and accused of bioterrorism. Evan seeks to clear his father because his illegal business venture of stealing equipment from his father's business and selling it online has led him to taking a laptop that contains evidence that would probably clear his father's name. Evan can't just turn over the laptop because it would expose him to his father's anger and possibly get him arrested for theft. Evan talks his friends Ruben and Erika to taking a trip with him to Paris to find Lubchenko, who is the only clue that Evan has.

Evan is an interesting character who seems to have a some sense of right and wrong, but rarely follows the most logical course of action to achieve his goal. The mystery was pretty easy to figure out, but the obvious attraction to the story is the character of Evan with his quirks, flaws, and sarcastic nature.… (altro)

In the sequel to Finding Lubchenko, Evan Macalister is once again saving the world; this time from an Smallpox infestation that would kill millions. His stained relationship with his father has not improved, and he continues to be happily oblivious to the feelings of others. He and his friends, Rueben and Erika are off to Paris to stop his father's business partner from selling a strain of Smallpox that their company uses to research vaccinations and cures for the disease.

It is hard to like Evan. The author shows him thinking a lot about his feelings for family and friends, but it's really nothing more than self-serving emotions designed to make him more likeable to the audience. The book was well written, but there were no real revelations or twists to make it more than just an okay story about an unlikeable teen and the messes he creates for himself.… (altro)

A story about a meek, hapless man, particularly since it’s told in a fairly serious and not comic vein, doesn’t sound like fodder for a very entertaining novel. But amazingly Michael Dahlie pulls it off in BEST OF YOUTH. Henry is the object of one humiliation after the next here – the literary magazine he bankrolls won’t publish a story he’s written, a woman he’s been to bed with circulates an e-mail letting half of hipster Brooklyn know he’s a milquetoast and bore, and she doesn’t simply confess he’s bad in bed, she also lets his world know he makes funny face when he’s doing it. About all Henry has going for him is that he inherited $15 million when his parents died and that he does seem to have some writing talent, although curiously every story twenty-something Henry wants to tell has someone in their 80s or older as its protagonist. Henry does get involved in some interesting escapades. Without giving too much away, he gets in a mess when he’s first asked to watch over a million-dollar herd of goats and then later to ghost-write a young adult novel for a pompous actor, who thinks he has brilliant ideas about writing, with his most important rule being never to use parentheses. All the while Henry pines for a fourth cousin who has no romantic interest in him. About his only redeeming quality is that he genuinely cares for other people – a quality only his late father seemed to notice. In short order, you do start to root for Henry and the characters in his world are interesting enough and his adversaries rotten enough that you happily keep reading to see if Henry can finally score a few wins in his life.… (altro)

Read this on the recommendation of my 11-year-old, who told me, "Brett and I are a lot alike." without, I believe, understanding the implications of that statement. Brett is self-involved and spoiled, a one-time rich kid who's lost all his money, and the story involves the adult who comes along to teach him about life.

It's a bit of a story about redemption, a Secret Garden updated to the modern age, or a Thief Lord without the magic. I like that Brett doesn't actually have a complete, Scrooge-like change of heart - "From that time forward I became a better person" - but the changes in him are realistic.

The characters and scenario are quite realistic overall. A thoughtful, understated story of growing up in modern-day, upper-class California.… (altro)