Dear Great Book Guru, My friends and I have decided to tackle reading the latest Booker Prize winners and I see that the group has just published their “short list” of winners.  Could you suggest a favorite of yours from this list?  Reader of Winners

Dear Reader of Winners, There are six books on this year’s list and all are great, but my favorite by far was Rachel Kushner’s CREATION LAKE. Kushner’s novel is a fascinating combination of mystery, humor, science, and spy antics.  Set in the present, it is the story of “Sadie Smith” a pseudonym for a thirty-four-year-old woman who has acted as a government agent for many years until a botched case involving a young man, five hundred pounds of explosives, and charges of entrapment cause her to be fired by the FBI.  She then sets out on a very lucrative career path as a spy-for-hire. Her first assignment is working for  a huge unnamed industrial complex that is eager to shut down an environmentalist farming commune with a long history of violence.  The mastermind/puppeteer is Bruno who had been involved in the May 1968 Paris riots. He subsequently disappeared from public view, communicating his radical ideas in emails from underground caves.  His messages are perhaps the most fascinating part of the book as he lays out his beliefs about human evolution and the superiority of the Neanderthals or Thals as he calls them. According to him, much of present-day discord and misery lies in the demise of the Thals and the ascension of the Sapiens.  Sadie finds herself rethinking her mission as she grapples with Bruno and his disciples.  A very different take on spy craft and highly recommended!