Thomas Jane Books

This book offers a concise overview of (1) on scene procedures such as triage and decontamination, (2) general characteristics of weapon classes, (3) details of specific agents, and (4) treatments. It also describes precursor chemicals and 4 case histories. It is better written and more detailed than the comparable book "First responder chem-bio handbook".

and falls short. Jane's Chem-Bio Handbook is much improved over the freebie notepad version they gave out a few years back, but it suffers from a lack of focus. The small size, spiral binding, and tabs suggest it is intended as a first responder or incident commander handbook, but occasional topical discourses suggest that it is meant as a textbook. As a result, it is hard to find the information that would be needed on the scene (an index helps, but only slightly), while the coverage of the various topics is too uneven for it to be a good text. In some places, it seems to be simply a compilation of information from various (US) field manuals.

There are some good ideas, but they seem to be sabotaged by the execution. The checklist version of the "Agent Indicator Matrix" (based on the Defense Protective Service model) is a good idea, but it is spread over three pages (instead of being arranged to fit on two facing pages in a landscape presentation or provided as a foldout) so that it can neither be copied easily or used easily in the book. A section on the threat of stolen military munitions, after noting that stockpiles in other countries are not as well secured as those in the US, then proceeds to a description of US weapons without describing distinguishing characteristics of chemical munitions relative to conventional munitions or how the munitions described might relate to foreign munitions.

There are also some surprising errors in the hodgepodge of facts. The volume I purchased indicates that it is from the sixth printing, so I have to presume that most typos have been corrected. One particularly egregious error is in the characterization of liquid phosgene as "...not hazardous except as a source of vapor." This statement is highlighted in a little box with a finger pointing at it on page 106, and repeated on page 108. While certainly it is the vapor that kills, liquid phosgene splashed into the eyes is known to produce opacification. Subsequently, it is stated that "Phosgene [vapor] does not damage the eyes or skin..." Yet it is well known that concentrated phosgene vapor will irritate both the skin and eyes, and, while this would not be fatal, and is usually not permanent the downplaying of these risks is certainly inappropriate, to put it mildly.

To try to close on a positive note, this book does have some good information salted in various odd spots. If you are responsible for a training program, it would be a good book for you to look at, provided it is not the only reference you use. The table of emergency decontamination materials found at a K-Mart, for instance, suggests an obvious bit of homework for your trainees.

In summary, this handbook should not be your first or only purchase, but it probably has a place in a comprehensive library. Given the reputation of Jane's, a bit more proofreading would have been in order.

This is a wonderful book for any first responder to have.
It is very easy to use because not only does it come with on and off scene procedures, but it also has quick reference tables and charts. On a scale of 1 to 5 I give it a 10!

Among those involved with the planning and implementation of specialized, multi-casualty incident response, this book is quite useful. Field personnel, command staff, and planners - all will find it helpful. I found it to be concise, packable, and physically handy. About the only thing I'd change would be to laminate the pages for weather resistance.

R.D. Lopez, Emergency Medical Services and Disaster Specialist, Dept. of Public Health

I have continued to read Mr. Maybury's books and the first five have filled me with knowledge and wonder at how uninformed I have been in the past about simple and basic issues that touch, influence and determine the coarse of a persons life each and evey day.

I have learned a great deal from his obvious intellectual prowess and his all encompassing views on many subjects and how they mesh together to form, affect and manipulate this world we live in.

One gets a sense of awe at how little they can trust those in power but how immensly important is it is that those without it stick together and ensure we be ever vigilante in our observations of elected officials. Those people we used to call public servants but who hav become nothing but self-indulgent life lont politicians. In other words they have become exactly what our Constitution and Bill of Rights were designed to prevent.

In this book, "What Would Thomas Jefferson Think About This?" I have found yet another source of knowledge that I must thank Uncle Eric for. Yet after reading the great book "John Adams." I do not find that I have the awe and inspiration that allows me to make Jefferson my number one hero. Yes, he is a great man and I believe he was one of the greatest founders, however I find that I still place him behind George Washington and Adams on that account.

It is my philosophy just like it was Reverend Johathan Mayhew's and John Adam's that "The people, are required to obey their government's law only when it is in agreement with Higher Law. And if the government violates that charge, it is our duty, and we are bound the fight it with every resourse at our disposal."

In a related topic Mayhew was a true Reverend, and it is unfortunate that the term has been turned into such a basphemous title today for those who use and claim the name are anything but Reverend.

In any case this 6th book in Mr. Maybury's series is yet another collectors item and gives the reader a sound foundation by which to judge the literature they choose to obsorb and contemplate in creating their own ideological awareness and positions of items of critical importance to our country and our people.

I have continued to read Mr. Maybury's books and the first five have filled me with knowledge and wonder at how uninformed I have been in the past about simple and basic issues that touch, influence and determine the coarse of a persons life each and evey day.

I have learned a great deal from his obvious intellectual prowess and his all encompassing views on many subjects and how they mesh together to form, affect and manipulate this world we live in.

One gets a sense of awe at how little they can trust those in power but how immensly important is it is that those without it stick together and ensure we be ever vigilante in our observations of elected officials. Those people we used to call public servants but who hav become nothing but self-indulgent life lont politicians. In other words they have become exactly what our Constitution and Bill of Rights were designed to prevent.

In this book, "What Would Thomas Jefferson Think About This?" I have found yet another source of knowledge that I must thank Uncle Eric for. Yet after reading the great book "John Adams." I do not find that I have the awe and inspiration that allows me to make Jefferson my number one hero. Yes, he is a great man and I believe he was one of the greatest founders, however I find that I still place him behing George Washington and Adams on that account.

It is my philosophy just like it was Reverend Johathan Mayhew's and John Adam's that "The people, are required to obey their government's law only when it is in agreement with Higher Law. And if the government violates that charge, it is our duty, and we are bound the fight it with every resourse at our disposal."

In a related topic Mayhew was a true Reverend, and it is unfortunate that the term has been turned into such a basphemous title today for those who use and claim the name are anything but Reverend.

In any case this 6th book in Mr. Maybury's series is yet another collectors item and gives the reader a sound foundation by which to judge the literature they choose to absorb and contemplate in creating their own ideological awareness and positions of items of critical importance to our country and our people.

First of all, I have read most of Richard Maybury's books and find them very valuable and enlightening. "Whatever Happened to Justice," is an excellent eye opener on democracy verses liberty and common law verses political law. His books on the economy, "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy," "Personal Finance," (I haven't read the "Clipper Ship Strategy" as of yet) and his books on WWI and WWII are some of the best I have read, exposing the "other side of the stories." He really is an excellent writer in both bringing out significant points relatively unknown by the majority and doing so with lucid simplicity. I also enjoyed very much his book on Rome and imperialistic influences on Western civilization and the 1000 year war of the Middle East. His book entitled, "Are you a Liberal, a Conservative or Confused," is also excellent. And so I recommend all his books, every one.

And now this book on Thomas Jefferson. This is also an excellent book and I think it's an accurate assessment on him and the founders and their political philosophy in forming the United States of America. I do not disagree here on their original intentions. However I am not an "enemy of Statism," as Jefferson and other founding fathers were. I do believe that such philosophy was of the times and must be contrasted in a country with a much higher population and secondly, subsequent the advent of the "corporation."

So I am speaking here as a "statist," and a liberal one at that, but not a statist without compromises depending on the nature of the particular issue. Now I admire both Maybury and this book, despite my personal differences. And I say this because I am rather convinced that BOTH the extreme statist views and the extreme nonstatist views are dangerous political ideologies when carried out.

Statism endorses large government which is deadly with burdens on free trade that destroy both the economy and the freedom and liberty rights of the individual, while nonstatism produces a "Wild West" free society with entrepreneur and corporate abuses that are abusively horrific.

However, statism in moderation both restrains the abuse of liberty of the entrepreneur and corporation from severe and ugly domination and yet allow them the liberty and freedom of free trade (within limits - there must be boundaries!), ownership and rewards for hard work.

Nonstatism in the extreme is privatization and this can be ugly in its radical form. I have a book at home on early America with a photo of a 19th century American factory, young children all squatting, sorting grains with a proud and assuming entrepreneur standing over them boldly and blatantly stating "As soon as their old enough to stand, they are ready to work," Another picture is of a small boy, face covered in dirt and drained from a hard days (12, 14, 18 hours work?). Thank God for statism and child labor laws! Thank the creator, or the higher wisdom or the insight of the Common Law to environmental protection, child labor protection, workers rights and so forth. And Maybury in mentioning some of this makes much to light of the severity of the issues. These are crucial and absolutely necessary protections, protections that need to be enforced through statism.

Also, there are the lynchings of mobs from lack of security forces and people carrying guns. And while unlimited free trade and liberty sounds so fair it is not. Not when the players are unevenly matched, like a Little League Baseball team competing against the New York Yankees. And while it may be true that it was in reality the inflation created by the government to pay for WWII expenses, and not mainly the New Deal and Social Security Socialistic measures instituted by Roosevelt, I don't think, these can be simply written off as non beneficial. Balance consists in both socialism, capitalism and democracy, none swaying all in one direction. And yes, his foreign policy was brutal, but this is addressing the internal socialistic policies for the benefit of the "working" man the proletariat.

Statism in the extreme is government ownership of all, communism. Communism without the "Bill of Rights," as found in the United States, is despotism and authoritarian and secondly, creates lazy parasitic conditions, which removes the initiative of free trade and the work ethics and (healthy) ambitions that coincide producing positive growth and utility and productivity for both the individual and the society as a whole.

The Jurist Naturlist resembles the Libertarian, which are in reality are the old Classic Liberals - not the same as Liberals, but the inversion of the Moderates, that is, the moderate Conservatives and Liberals, those in between. (No controls verses limited controls in both social and economic areas) The moderates want in limited degrees that is, both social and economic government controls with moderation, while the Libertarian and Jurist Naturalist want the extreme in small portion, anotherwards very little controls at all. Now the liberal is against social controls and enforces economic - consumer protection, while the conservative want are against the economic controls, enforcing the social - morality codes and censorship. Again, the Jurist Naturalist - neither.

Even better than the recipes are the stories of Chicago, the cubs and Harry Caray.

I made this recipe for a dinner party and everyone loved it, but my husband and i thought the chicken was dry. I uesd boneless skinless chicken breasts. Has anyone else had this problem and does anyone have an answer for it? I will be making it again this week for a party. Thank you.

Great Chicago cookbook. Everything Chicago stands for in the form of great Italian recipes, great steak recommendations and the chicken Vesuvio can not be beat.

I love this book enough to search for a copy for my new grandson. I read it many times to my son, now 21, and we loved the way this book subtly acknowledges that kids don't always want to submit to to usual adult rules of hygiene. However, coaxed by a loving and knowing grandmother, and following a series of enjoyable activities she and her grandson share while delaying, the bath is eventually taken and its enormity defused.

This is a wonderful book of trickery your child may never notice. In this book a little boy tells of the woes of every little boys life, bumps and bruises with championed stories. However, these injuries impede the progress of his mother and father's wishes to rid him of his odorous battle scars. When grandmother steps in, with her tea leaf reading magic the boy is conned into a bath and the reliving of all of his adventures.

this book - picked up by my mother at a library giveaway sale - has been a huge hit with my 5 yr old. the theme - no bath tonight - really hits home with her - the prose is extremely witty and the pictures are just precious. we highly recommend this wonderful book at our house!

Although this book purports to tell the story of the domestic life of the Carlyles, it is really a book about Jane. This book is a pioneering work of social history, where the author set out to write a book about the woman behind the man: quite a revolutionary idea at the time!

It is well written and interesting, and tells a great deal about the running of an upper middle class home in the 19th century: details about hosuekeeping, servants, home repair, and other minor issues that factor into all of our lives but rarely get mentioned in biographies and histories.

This is a great book for anyone who is interested in domestic history or women's history. Nowadays it is a given that an interesting, educated woman might have a book dedicated to her... at the time it was quite a venture!

Now it is quite common to write biographies of the wives of great writers and thinkers of times past, but when Thea Holme, an actress living in 24 Cheyne Walk , wrote about the former mistress of the house Jane Carlyle it was very unusual. Yet the experiment was a success: Holme was a superior writer, and this short study of the Carlyles' lives at their home for over thirty years draws you thoroughly into its world of fighting with noisy neighbors, managing funds, and caring for small pets. Jane, the center of the book, emerges as hypochondriacal and at times overly sensitive, but paradoxically also intrepid and likeable. It would have been nice had Holme not taken Carlyle's career and the couple's courtship in Scotland for granted and provided more detail in these respectsm, but so much is given within here it is hard to complain. The book is ideally suited for its new edition through the marvelous Persephone Books; atypically, they chose not to use a period fabric for their endpaperes but instead wisely reproduce Roberrt Tait's famous 1857 "A Chelsea Interior," which shows the Carlyles among their beautifully wallpapered and richly upholstered library.

Fantastic reading of the book. The first chapter is slow due to detailed writing of scenic attributes but once the plot unfolds it is riveting. It is easy to feel for the characters due to the unbelievable job that Alan Rickman does narrating the story, He has the proper voice inflections for each character to really project the appropriate emotions meant by the author. I have listened to book narrations before that have failed miserably at that important aspect and subsequently ruined the experience. Rickman is a master at it. Although it is fairly long, it did not detract at all as I listened to it on the way to work each day. I actually found myself wishing it were longer! I would highly recommend "reading" this via the audio book.

Get the CD version just out .
When I had to read this book in High School I found it excruciatingly BORING. But Alan Rickman did such a good job, now I think this story is BETTER than Wuthering Heights.

From AudioFile
" The suffering that follows is mitigated somewhat by the ending, but more by the mastery of Alan Rickman's reading. At the start, Rickman senses the voice for each character in Hardy's fictional world, and he maintains each character's personality throughout. He even manages to project Hardy's subtle shadings of tone with the rhythm and tempo of his narration, throwing in a song here and there because, in spite of his gloom, there is a festive strain to Hardy, as well. If you have a hard time reading this classic English writer, this is how to do it. "P.E.F. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine.
Yes and he can even do the womens voices without doing falsetto ! Rickman won the Best Talking Book or Talkie thing for this and deservedly so.
I enjoy talking books and often use them as I drive long distances and this is the best one I have heard so far. I hope Alan Rickman , or another English actor, reads some more Thomas Hardy books for us in future.

Hardy is very good at descriptions. The language he uses makes the people and scenery come alive. While this is true I personally feel that I would have preferred to read other books over this one. A good book but nothing special.

This book has been taught in lit classes for years excellent but sad book.
Michael B Vye

First, let me confess that I bought this because I am a fan of Alan Rickman's wonderfully rich, mellifluous baritone and the idea of spending hours listening to him read one of the classics of English literature is was absolute heaven to me. And, I can honestly say, I was not disappointed; the recording is absolutely brilliant.

Using ever nuance and range of his distinctive Rickmans each character that poulates Egdon Heath his or her own distinctive voice and cosistantly applies it throughout from the beginning to the end of the story. When he reads the description of the wild and desolate heath, Rickman's voice turns Hardy' prose into sublime poetry.

Jane Whitefield, half-Seneca, all original, is a "guide" -- and not in the spiritual sense, either. She runs a sort of private Witness Protection Program, helping deserving individuals who are on the run to drop out of the world. Many of them are the wives of powerful and abusive men, or targets of gangland violence they don't deserve. John Felker is an ex-cop turned accountant who is being set up for reasons unknown by persons unknown, and he known enough about the way things work to understand that there's no way he's ever going to prove his innocence. He found out about Jane from one of her previous "clients" (though she doesn't actually charge for her services) and has come to her for help. She gets him squared away, after an interlude on a reservation in Canada (which is quite fascinating). But she's barely returned home when things begin to happen that make it clear she's made a dreadful error in judgment. Perry has done a great deal of research for this unusually, highly original novel and he develops his characters very well indeed. The closing section, which is brilliant and gripping, is set in the North Woods, and could have taken place two centuries ago. A marvelous book.

A couple of years ago, I read a novel called PURSUIT, which was one of the finest cat-and-mouse thrillers I've ever read. The author who wrote the book, Thomas Perry, is probably best known for his Jane Whitfield series, which involves a woman who helps people "disappear" from their enemies. VANISHING ACT is the first novel in that series, and I found it rather disappointing.

VANISHING ACT has a great concept, and a very strong beginning. Unfortunately, Perry's plot ultimately becomes quite convoluted, with so many digressions that it prevents the story from attaining any true narrative drive. Perry's a strong writer, but his writing style is long-winded, with too much exposition and detail in this book for its own good. The plot is also quite thin and predictable, with a twist that most readers will spot far in advance.

Many of Perry's fans seem to admire the Whitfield series, and Perry plans on producing another Whitfield novel in 2009, after a long hiatus. I'm guessing this series probably improves with later installments, but I'm in no hurry to try any new Jane Whitfield books after reading this one.

While learning some interesting facts ("Adirondacks" is Iroquois for "bark-eaters," a derogatory term for ineffective hunters, and George Washington ordered assorted massacres of Indian villages), I found this novel consistently engaging. The reviews suggesting the heroine's "gullibility" forget the difference between reading a novel and living an experience. Perry isn't interested in tricking his readers, but inviting them to see and experience the world as his heroine does. All in all, she's quicker to figure out the shape of a complex story than that reviewer would have been, and this novel's merits don't depend on "figuring it out" anyway. If a mythic heroince can be credible, this one is.

Perry manages to continiue to surprise you in the different ways he has Jane do some very tricky things to keep her friend and herself alive. Jane uses all her innate wisdom and makes use of most of her contacts to make everything turn out for the best.

Vanishing Act is the first in a series of five books about Jane Whitefield, an Indian guide who will take someone from where there are people who want to kill them -- to where they are safe. She provides people with a new identity and a new life. John Felker is looking for just that. He is a former cop turned accountant who is being set up as an embezzler. Someone is skimming money from the accounting firm's customers and depositing it into an account in John's name. There is also an open contract on his life, so he needs to disappear.

The book is written in two distinctly separate parts. The first part is about how Jane makes someone disappear. We follow Jane and John cross country as they are being chased by the men who are after John. We are introduced to people along the way who help make their escape possible by providing safe places to stay or creating fake documentation or getting them transportation. When Jane finally gets John safe, the story takes a new twist. The people we have met along their journey are being murdered. Someone has been tracking them and Jane fears for John's safety. She has to go back to save him before the killers find him too.

The Native American culture and history were very interesting. Jane uses her training and skills in tracking and in creating weapons from items she finds in the woods. I thought of a few questions along the way that I wanted answers to and was a bit disappointed when those answers, found late in the book, would have cleared everything up quite early. Surely Jane is better at this than I am and should have asked them herself. But then we wouldn't have had a story, right?

Armchair Interviews says: Definitely pick Vanishing Act and up the next one in this unique series.

A Jane Whitefield by Thomas Perry is always a delight. This time out even though she'd promised herself to remain at home, Jane has a teenager and a septuagenarian to help disappear.
Fiction reading entails a suspension of belief, for this one the flaw is five mafia families using the same accountant. But it makes for fun when said accountant fakes his own death and takes off with the money. Running from everyone around the country Jane and her "friends" launder the money and endow charities.
BLOOD MONEY by Thomas Perry keeps the reader guessing right through the surprise ending.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

Thomas Perry is a very imaginative writer. The character, indeed the whole concept of a guide who helps people hide is unique and therefore interesting to one who spends a lot of time reading suspense and mystery novels. My only complaint is that Jane is too good - the reader never doubts that she will get out of any jam, so the suspense is somewhat deflated. But the writing and the story more than make up for this.

As far as the presentation of the Mafia as a powerful, efficient machine, well, just suspend your disbelief and you'll do fine. It's certainly more interesting than the myth of the invincible US military we are subjected to in countless boring novels.

I'm looking for more Thomas Perry right now...

This is the last-- and least-- of the Jane Whitefield novels. Enjoyable, but it becomes repetitive. The four novels that preceded this one are better: 5 star reads. And even better are the early Perrys, if you can track them down: Butcher's Boy, Metzger's Dog, Big Fish, and Island. So, by all means read this one, but don't start here: go to the front of the line.

As an avid Perry fan who's been reading the Jane Whitfield stories since the first came out, this is my first disappointment. It's still a decent light read, but somehow Perry loses his way.

The biggest flaw is that the lengthy discussions of intramural squabbling among Mafia families doesn't tie in well with the pursuit of Jane and her charges. Perry should have either had Jane take advantage of the mutual mistrust among the families, or made it the central thread of a separate book. Instead, we bounce from the usual cross country hide-and-seek with a series of scenes involving Mafia guys arguing.

Perry's shows his strengths in his descriptions of settings, and of some of the characters - notably Bernie Lupus (I can't get over the name) and the young girl Jane is protecting. But, for the first time, he makes the bad guys seem dull.

Having produced so many great stories, I'll forgive him for this one and hope that he returns to his usual form.

A good summer read. Or read it on a plane. Buy the paperback.

Jane Whitefield returns in what may be her last adventure. I will be sorry to see her go but I can understand what the author wants to accomplish. In this latest adventure, Jane is retired from the guide business and just wants to be a happy housewife with her husband, Dr. Carey McKinnon. She is a one-woman witness protection program who knows how to hide people permanently and lead them to work new lives. She is `retired' but just like in the Godfather movies just as she gets out she gets dragged back in. In this case it involves Rita Shelford, a former hotel cleaning lady who is now running from the mob.

Bernie "The Elephant" Lupus has just died. He worked as a mob banker who does not use paper. He relies on his expansive photographic and eidetic memory to remember bank accounts and passwords. The mob is panicky because the only person Bernie ever trusted was Rita and they want to know what she knows and try to get some of their money back. After some false starts, Rita finds Jane and asks for her help. Unfortunately so does Bernie. News of his demise was greatly exaggerated.

Jane travels all over the country trying to hide Bernie and Rita. They also came up with the plan to take all of the mob's money and give everything away to charity. Once the mob finds out they will do whatever it takes to protect their interests. There is a lot of suspense and action in this story. You do not have to read previous novels to understand this one but I guarantee that once you read BLOOD MONEY you will try to find her other adventures. Thomas Perry's other novels are just as good and I suggest you give them a shot.

I collect this series hungrily. There are always at least 10 stories that excite and amaze me, and I do feel they can honestly be called "the best" of each year. I also buy stacks of other genre anthologies, none of which demonstrate such consistent quality. How there came to be a gap on my shelf where this volume ought to be I'm not sure, but I did find out while shopping for its replacement what others have discovered: it is frustratingly difficult to get an accurate report of the contents of each of these volumes. Of the several well-written and helpful reader reviews, one refers to the 11th edition, another, while begging Amazon to represent it faithfully, nevertheless is clearly misfiled, describing the contents of the 14th. To be sure, even as I snarl and curse my way through the tangle of confusion I salute each reviewer's insights; I only wish their efforts could be properly represented. To help other benighted seekers, I'm suggesting a visit to this site, an extremely valuable and meticulously maintained resource.
locusmag.com/index/2002

I really can't be bothered doing my usual story-by-story review, since most of the stories stunk. I'm not a big Fantasy fan, so my distaste for the Fantasy side of the book shouldn't be a big surprise. I'll just reiterate my usual complaint about Fantasy Editor Terri Windling's half (More like 2/3rd's..) of the book: Waaaaayyy too much Fantasy, to the point where the Horror stories get short shrift. Ellen Datlow's Horror selections also leave a lot to be desired, as the truly distinctive voices of modern Horror fiction, like Bentley Little, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Richard Laymon, et al, continue to not be represented, while told-by-rote Victorian-era wannabes dominate the book.

(My original review was much longer, and I did single out particular stories/Authors for praise, and recommended some of the individual anthologies, but the review-censorship gang at Amazon saw fit to chop off four whole paragraphs of my review! Thanks, @ssholes!)

This latest edition contains useful discussions of fantasy and horror publications over the last year (2000-1). I've noticed that increasing attention is given to small press items which most readers will have trouble getting their hands on, as well as media, anime, etc. which are of less interest to me. It was disappointing to see that horror novels were just listed, not discussed. Still, the fantasy section described several works that I'll be seeking out.

Stories in this anthology have over the years become increasingly literary and perhaps are not the most accessible examples of the genre. Imagery and style take precedence over plot and character in most of the works reprinted here. Perhaps the best story in the volume was one about a boy who "swallows a faerie", an elegant metaphor for creativity and its repression--I regrettably forget the author but recommend the piece. Also, Norman Partridge contributed a strong work of historical fantasy.

Made it through another one!!! Once again, Fantasy Editor Terri Windling runs roughshod over Horror Editor Ellen Datlow- Windling weighs in with 26 stories, Datlow with 19. (Datlow continues to beat the drum for awful-poetry lovers everywhere, with no less than EIGHT poems...Yuck.)

As usual, the book opens with Windling's interminably long overview on The Year in Fantasy, which is really no more than a list of every book that's come out that year, along with her rambling on and on about "Magical Realism" for what seems like 5000 pages. I read one page, skimmed the rest, didn't miss a thing.

On to Datlow's Year in Horror- Slightly more interesting, but still WAAY too long. Skimmed once again...

Edward Bryant's Horror and Fantasy in the Media overview is interesting reading, but it seems as if Bryant just throws every movie he's seen into the mix. Does "In the Company of Men" really qualify as Fantasy or Horror...? Seth Johnson's Year in Comic Books overview is very interesting, and considering how much Windling drones on, I don't think it would kill them to let Johnson have a few more pages than he does.

On to the stories themselves....There are a LOT of stories that are bad, if not downright AWFUL, in this book, and most of them go on MUCH too long. Among the Awful/Overlong are: The meandering, pointless "The Skull of Charlotte Corday", "It Had To Be You", which would have been cute if had been 20 pages shorter; Charles Grant's head-scratching yawn-a-thon "Riding the Black", ... "In the Fields" was so bad I actually had to skip to the next story; I also couldn't finish Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Song of Sirit Byar"- It seemed like the song had no end.....

It's not ALL bad, though. Standout stories include "Gulliver at Home", which tells of Lemuel Gulliver's time at home between voyages; "I Am Infinite; I Contain Multitudes" has one of the nastiest scenes I've ever read, and packs a hell of a punch; Nicholas Royle's "Mbo" delivers a nasty spin on the Dracula legend; Gary A. Braunbeck's "Safe" is a moving tale of the aftermath of a gruesome mass-murder; "El Castillo De La Perseverancia" is THE weirdest story I've ever read...Mexican Wrestlers vs. Aztec monsters! It's like a Santos movie in print! "Residuals" tells the hidden history of Alien-abduction in America, and Michael Chabon delivers a ripping good H. P. Lovecraft pastiche "In the Black Mill". Christopher Fowler's "Spanky's Back!" is good sick fun, and Stephen Laws' "The Crawl" presents a far-fetched tale of road-rage that still manages to evoke a chill.

While there ARE some worthwhile reads here, the book is more pain than pleasure to read. Proceed at your own risk!

For some reason, the folks at Amazon keep posting my reviews for this series in the wrong place, so expecting that to happen again this time, let me clarify: The review is covering the FOURTEENTH edition.

Years ago, I made the mistake of taking "The Year's Best" title seriously, and rushed out and bought all the books in the series I could get my hands on. That turned out to be a BIG mistake, as Editors Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling seem to have very different ideas from me about what makes a good story. Luckily, this is the last volume I was unfortunate enough to purchase.

I'll skip the usual complaints this time out. I won't rant about the overlong year-in-review segments. I won't mention the fact that Windling's Fantasy selections monopolixe the book. I won't utter a word about Windling's bizarre penchant for poetry and rehashed versions of older-than-dirt fairy-tales. I'll concentrate on the stories that were actually readable.

Charles de Lint contributes another Newford story, "Granny Weather"; As usual, it's a good read.
Ramsey Campbell offers up two creepy little gems, "No Strings", and "No Story In It".
Jack Dann's "Marilyn" turns a young boy's sexual fantasy into a waking nightmare.
Glen Hirschberg's "Mr. Dark's Carnival" is a great haunted house tale.
Ian Rodwell & Steve Duffy's "The Penny Drops" is waaayyy too long, but the knockout ending makes the suffering worthwhile.
Bret Lott's "The Train, The Lake, The Bridge" could almost be a true story, and it's all the creepier for that.
Jonathan Carroll's "The Heidelberg Cylinder" is a hilariously bizarre tale that needs to be read to be appreciated.
Jack Ketchum contributes "Gone", a short but excellent halloween tale.
Paul J. McAuley's "Bone Orchards" is a follow up to his tale from the previous Year's collection, "Naming The Dead"; It's a real treat, and I'd love to see more with the main character.

Search out the aforementioned Authors, by all means; Just don't waste your money on this stankass series....unless you have MUCH more patience than me.

This is the third novel about Jane Whitefield, half-Seneca "guide" who helps the hunted (who are not always "innocent") escape their pursuers and disappear into the cracks in modern society. Jane is recently married to a surgeon she's known all her life, and has promised him she would give up her escort activities (which he never knew about), but she has to renege somewhat when the casino executive who was supposed to be her last project has to holler for help a second time. The first two-thirds of the story really doesn't live up to Perry's previous work -- possibly because the two hunters/hitmen who are sent by the casino's owners to kill their errant executive are extremely unlikable. Many of Perry's professional killers (a frequent theme in his stories) are interesting characters, even sometimes sympathetic ones, as in "The Butcher's Boy." Not this time, though. Earl and Linda are psychopathic rednecks who train vicious attack dogs and who have to build themselves up to hate their quarry in order to get the job done. You can be evil and still interesting, but loathsome is just loathsome. More than that, Jane seems only semi-competent this time out, failing to foresee the methods the hunters will use and not really being aware of just how vulnerable her new husband is. However, once Jane and her charge head up into the rugged mountains of Glacier National Park at the beginning of the winter season, the tone of the narrative shifts somewhat and the author does a good job of building the tension and resolving the threads of the plot.

Native American (she's part Seneca) Jane Whitefield has stopped guiding people in danger to safe locations because of a promise she made her husband Dr. Carey McKinnon, who thinks what she does is much too dangerous. But Pete Hatcher, a Las Vegas casino executive she helped disappear because his bosses thought he was about to blow the whistle on their illegal activities, calls for help. His ex-employers have set an assassination team on his trail and he's made a couple of foolish mistakes that blew his cover. Jane feels responsible for him and goes on one last job, promising her husband this will the last one.

This thriller ranks right up there with all of Mr. Perry's fine books. Five stars from me.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

The book has a good story line, but is based on circumstances that just don't ring true. Who would take home a strange woman{a hit woman no less), give her a house key, his wife's clothes, allow her to make phone calls, search and bug his house, while he lies sleeping in the locked master bedroom? And the list goes on. Jane needs to shed that [individual] and get someone with a brain. I just didn't think the details supported the story line enough to make it believable.

I enjoyed the first two books in the Jane Whitefield series, but this, the third, was even better. Jane has helped a client "disappear" and now she thinks she's going to stop helping people get away and settle down with her new husband. But the client, Pete, is being hunted by some very clever, very persistent bad guys, and Jane finds herself having to help him elude them yet again. Meanwhile, someone is trying to find Jane by getting to know her husband . . . It's a good book and Jane is a very likeable heroine. I highly recommend it.

In the first few pages, Jane disables a very large bad guy in an elevator. He grabs her ankle as she exits (He's 'lying down.'). She says to him, "Think about it. Do you really want me alone with you in that elevator?" He lets go.

I'm in love.

Nobody outsmarts, outfights, or outlasts bad guys like Seneca adventurer Jane Whitefield. The first three books in Perry's wonderful series--Vanishing Act, Dance for the Dead, and this one--are the only books that can stand comparison to Tony Hillerman's "Navajo mysteries." And in some ways, Perry is the better writer. Don't miss these books.