Lou Diamond Phillips Books

Bernardo writes a good novel that makes one aware of the cultural traits that make up one culture and are transmitted to another. Also, he writes about the need to hide our sexual orientation when the climate around is unforgiving. Overall a good read, Bernardo lives in New York and has had a chance to experience the Cuban American reality.

I loved this book. I was engrossed immediately into Maximiliano and Delores's love affair, and I too wanted to dance the danzon. Sure, the book was dripping with machismo, but at no point does it pretend to do otherwise.

The book set me on a beautiful dream, and I didn't want to wake up. If you were able to imagine the world of Like Water for Chocolate, and willing not to judge the characters based on any feminist belief system, then you'll enjoy this thoroughly romantic and enchanting family saga.

What does the 'Kirkus Review' know?

This is a story that encompasses the lives of a Cuban family, and during the reading and subsequent re-reading of the story a couple years later, I was struck repeatedly by the desire to be Cuban. Yeah, so the men are stuck in that machismo muck. And there are some phrases that make one squirm. But they're Cuban- an entirely different culture. And a culture that Jose Raul Bernardo brings to such vivid life that I actually felt Cuban while I read it. And for a sheltered little suburban girl, that's quite a feat. My biggest issue with the book was the abrupt and weak ending, but I forgive the author that shortcoming because the remainder of the story was so very entertaining.

From the beginning of the story, where a young Maximiliano and Dolores are described in photographs, I was pulled into the age and flavor of Cuba. I danced the danzon, ate the palomillas and visited the posada. After Dolores marries the butcher's son and is disowned by her father, the young couple is determined to make it on their own. They suffer one calamity after another, and end up moving to the bright lights of Havana, where the story really takes off. One daughter is desperate for love, one son is desperate to have the best wife in the neighborhood, and one son is desperate to be loved and accepted by his family, while Dolores is looking the away from her husband's wandering eye. The book is really about how little ripples in a pond cause big waves on the far shore. It is also about how we can't possibly know everything that the people closest to us are doing, thinking or feeling, that usually only half the story is revealed, usually the shiny half.

This book drips with the richness of Cuban culture, burns with the fiery passion of the characters, and dazzles with the vividly described beauty of the exotic locales.

You'll find yourself hooked from the prologue, as the author introduces his main characters, Maximiliano the butcher's son, and Delores, daughter of a wealthy landowner, and the love that ignites them from their very first meeting.

Turning her back on her family, Delores elopes with her one true love, standing by him through good times, fires and hurricanes, infidelity and adultery, bending like the royal palm trees and then rebounding tall and proud to hold her family together.

The story skillfully weaves its way between the lives of their children - Mani, heir apparent to the trade, who carries on his brawny shoulders the fears and mistakes of the past; Merced the eldest, headstrong and artistic; Gustavo the shy poet and Marguita the youngest. While Merced's marriage ends disastrously, and Gustavo fights to keep his together, Mani remains in awe of the fearsome animals that race down the Street of the Bulls in their last run before they end up on his slab, tenderly and skillfully converted to prime cuts for the waiting and appreciative customers.

Full of local culture, nosy neighbors, steamy seduction and time honored male rituals of honor, this story is never boring, but subtly brings out the strength of the Cuban woman and the importance of family.

Amanda Richards, July 2, 2005

How can one rate this book? What is higher than five stars? A firmament? Well then, this book deserves a firmament.

I have read The Secret of the Bulls not once, not twice, but three times; and each time I read it I find something new in it. I confess that I have been deeply moved by it every single time I have read it, and yet, I have been moved in different places, which I find it strange. I guess I bring the state of my own personal life into the reading.

I fell instantly in love with all the characters, particularly that of Mani, a young boy who is the son and the grandson of a butcher but who dreams of being an artist, something almost impossible in the macho society in which he lives. Like Mani, I also come from a very poor background and yet I am pursuing a life in the arts, so I thoroughly identified with him. We first meet Mani as a boy, and we last meet him when as a young man he discovers what the Secret of the Bulls is all about: Finding your own identity and living your life at your own speed, following your own way, whether other people like or not. You have to read the book to the very, very end to understand what I mean. So please, I beg you to read it, it may change your life. It has changed mine. It has given me a lot of hope, and I always feel great when I finish reading it. The book has made me laugh (I mean, I actually laughed aloud as I read it); it has made me cry several times; and let's face it, the sex scenesýwhich are indeed essential to the story for a changeýwere called steamy by Publisher's Weekly, and WOW! They were not kidding!

A great story told with heart and passion.

A great read.

I just stumbled upon this book and I was absolutely blown away as I had never heard of this book before. I even got my father to read it and he loved it. This is a book for all ages and something for everyone to love and appreciate.

Like the majority of other reviewers, I was struck by the excitement and adventure of this story. While the exotic setting surely plays its part in drawing the reader deeper into the tale, it is also the underdog nature of the story's main character, Mafatu (Stout Heart). The reader will surely identify with the inner nature of all humans to challenge the personal fears that we hold within us. Mafatu actualizes these challenges in his conflicts with the sea, personified in the Tahitian sea god, Moana. With his two animal companions, Uri, the dog, and Kivi, the albatross, Mafatu sets out to overcome his fears, to grow into a new and mature person. Young and older readers will learn much about Polynesian cultures and even learn some Tahitian language. There is also a spiritual part of this story which has often been overlooked by others. Mafatu constantly prays to and gives thanks for his survival, well being, and growth to Maui, the Polynesian god of the fishermen, who like the Greek Prometheus is responsible for giving fire to humankind. In the end, with the help of his animal friends, he is able to courageously and ingeniously overcome all of the internal and external challenges and thereby rightfully claim his meaningful name.

One caveat is that the "eaters-of-men," i.e., cannibals, are made out to be black, irrational and dangerous. While the story is simply a story that was first published in 1940, some youngsters may come away from the story with a distorted view of race.

Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry is the story of a boy named Mafatu who was afraid of the sea. To prove his courage, he went on a journey to a foreign island (likely Tahiti), battling sharks and octopus to prove his worth. If you like suspense, this is the book for you. I only wish it could have been longer.

I'm just a coward. Mafatu heard the words turn over and over again in his head. He knew they had the ring of truth. Ever since he almost drowned at sea he hasn't been anywhere near the salted water. He is the Boy Who Was Afraid.

The book Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry is about a boy who longs to be just like every other hardworking man in the village- he wants to be a fisherman. How can he do that when he fears the ocean? He's useless to the village now, especially as the son of the chief, Tavana Nui. Finally the jeering of the other boys drives the Boy Who Was Afraid to his last option. He must face the ocean and its rhythmic, pulsing waves.

Will Mafatu survive the evil that lurks in the undersea world? What will he discover? Will he ever go back to his homeland? Follow as Armstrong Sperry spins a classic tale of a boy just trying to reach the one place in himself called courage.

The ocean is waiting....

This book, which was first copyrighted in 1940, is still a good coming-of-age adventure, except for ONE BIG PROBLEM: racist imagery. The people the young South Seas islander hero must outwit and outrun in order to return to his homeland are terrifying "blacks," "savages," "eaters-of-men." This stereotyped characterization might have been acceptable to some in 1940, but society has since come to realize the harm it can cause to Black children's self-image and other children's attitudes toward Black people. To ethically introduce this book to a child requires either blacking out offending words (!) or prefacing and interspersing the reading with lessons in sociology and history, and even then, there's no assurance that damage won't be done. Why take the chance when there are so many other good books out there?
Newberry-awarded books engender such trust. Isn't it time for the Newberry folks to reconsider their wisdom in granting this racist book a medal?

I enjoyed this book very much. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down until the end. The basic story: Wealthy man is told that he is "kidnapped," and then told that he will lead his life normally, but if money isn't put in investments owned by the kidnappers, the protagonist's friends and family will begin to die, one by one.

This is a truly frightening premise, and is well described. I was at first annoyed because the villains all seemed to be hispanic, but then I noted that one of the really good guys is a man named Garcia who lives in Mexico, who is a sort of "fixer" of these kinds of problems. I enjoyed all the characters and recommend this book for anyone that has an afternoon to kill reading a nice mystery/thriller.

After having been disappointed in David Lindsey's last book, Animosity, I approached The Rules of Silence with at least some trepidation. Was Animosity a fluke or an indicator of a downward trend in Lindsey's writing? The answer was hard to say: on the one hand, The Rules of Silence is a far better book, but it also suffers from some of the same flaws as the earlier book.

In this novel, Titus Cain, a wealthy software entrepreneur, is targeted for extortion by a vicious and very well-organized thug. While Cain seeks help from a mysterious anti-terrorism expert named Burden, his friends start dying. As Burden takes over, Cain is caught in the middle, manipulated by both sides: even as the extortionist makes him jump through hoops, Burden - a do-gooder willing to kill innocents if it means elimination a major terrorist - has Cain doing things that grate on the businessman's conscience.

Interestingly, the big problem with this book is exactly the same as in Animosity: the protagonist is not a man of action but rather reaction. Cain rarely takes any initiative but merely reacts to the situation. As a reader, I want to see Cain actually do something; instead, it is Burden who is called in to save the day, and Cain is just along for the ride. In a suspense novel, we may expect the main character to try and depend on an authority figure, but we also anticipate that in the end, it'll be the hero who will succeed or fail, not his substitutes.

The story itself is pretty exciting although there are very few plot twists. The principal villain is a nasty piece of work, and is probably the most interesting character in the whole novel. The fact that this is a generally fun and fast read goes a long way to offset its critical flaws, and overall, I'd have to rate this as a good, but not great book...a weak four stars. For fans of Lindsey, this is a mixed success, but it is generally an improvement and should encourage readers to try another of his books in the future.

Within the confines of its genre, this book is fantastic. It scared the daylights out of me so patiently, so quietly, that I didn't even realize I was gripping it so tightly until I became worried about library fines. We meet a character, get to know enough of him to find him okay and basically likable, and then we watch him react to his life falling apart. His heroic response wins us over. The rest of the book is not as much fast-paced as it is unrelenting, and while this isn't literature, it is an efficient use of language and scene that is admirable in any genre. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to get completely lost in a book, and find it the best of its genre so far. I hope Mr Lindsey hits the bestseller list alongside guys like Michael Connelly and Lee Childs, as both write similar mysteries that are not quite as intense or psychological as this one.

I won't bore you with a synopsis of the book, let me just say that as someone who has read all of Lindsey's books this is one if his best. It's fast paced and is taunt. I have read very few writers who can describe places like Lindsey, you can almost smell the dank Mexico City air. If you love thrillers and enjoy great writing then you will love Lindsey and this book. Other books from David Lindsey I recommend: A Cold Mind, In the Lake of the Moon, Body of Truth, and Requiem for a Glass Heart.

I've always had the feeling that David Lindsey was the "thinking man's" mystery/thriller writer. The reader was impressed at the writing skill and depth of the writer - the book HAD to be read slowly to appreciate the nuances he brought to the story, however gruesome the topic. Now he goes and writes something completely out of style: a book that grabs you from the first chapter and doesn't let you go until the final page. Great writing, as usual, but much more fast-paced than in the past. Terrific book.

I am an advent watcher of this show. I find it very interesting to watch and to learn alittle bit about how Math relates to everything. ALso, the backline story with the charcters seem more realistic than many other law stories. You end up watching a really good suspense show and you get a feel for who the characters are.

This was a great season. One detail that was missed was in episode 22, where the ranks on the id's being made were for navy petty officers PO2 e5 and not marines, so they would have been Corpsman to be able to where marine cami's. Otherwise a great season.

I downloaded on the same day a Stargate episode, this episode and then another Stargate episode. Both Stargate episodes worked fine. This one, when I hit "Play" it froze my player and I had to hit control,alt,delete to get it to close. I tried it several times and had the same result. I then deleted the video and re-downloaded it only to have the exact same result. I ran a troubleshoot on my player and it said it was fine. I then checked the other two videos and they too continued to play just fine. It would appear there may be something wrong with this actual file, otherwise I don't understand why it would be the only one of the three to refuse to play on my player even when I downloaded it two separate times to try and get it to work. Definitely disappointed, I'd really been looking forward to seeing this episode after missing it when it originally aired.

It's going to be tough to top this episode. Trust Metric is the conclusion of last season's cliff hanger "The Janus List." Tony Scott and John Behring (4400, Charmed, Roswell) step in to direct once more. It looks like Matthew Jensen's (CSI) hand behind the camera. Whoever it was, there was some stunning camerawork and editing. Kudos to Ken Sanzel for finishing the script.

This is about as close as you're going to get to "The Bourne Identity" type thriller on TV so I'm not going to reveal any spoilers. Trust Metric opens with a "prevously on Num3ers," but it would be better so see the Janus List first. Great TV.

I liked the book, Last of the Mohicans. I notice that many reviewers who gave it one or two stars are kids who had to read the book for an advanced English class or who saw the movie and decided to read the book. It is NOT an easy read (which is probably why many kids did not like the book), but I thought it was worth the effort. It was a little difficult keeping the characters straight at first because Cooper has several names for the key characters and switches between them freely.

My favorite character was actually one that I would guess is an outlier - David Gamut. His manhood is often insulted by Hawkeye, (Hawkeye calls David's pitch pipe his "tooting weapon" and he pokes fun of his useless profession of psalmody) yet David's bravery is no less than the heroes of the tale. Sure he can't shoot a gun (it would be against his principles anyway), but he sticks with the sisters when they are kidnapped by Magua and is able to come and go freely among the Indians as he is viewed by them as not having all of his mental faculties. He saves Uncas' life by secretly switching places with him and tells Hawkeye not to avenge his death should he die for the ruse. His moral character is higher, I believe, than the vengeful Indians and Hawkeye. While Hawkeye tolerates or even disdains David at the beginning of the book, I think he grows to like and even admire David by the end.

The plot was interesting to me and sure some of the language is convoluted and Cooper's vocabulary is admittedly far superior to mine. However, if you keep a dictionary nearby, you'll learn several new words and enjoy an exciting tale.

"The Last of the Mohicans" is a novel for the ages and its hero Hawkeye is a man who teaches life lessons with each page you turn. Many people believe that this novel has outlived its worthiness but once turn of the pages will reveal to the reader a world that is both savage and young, characters that are both civilized and savage, and a story that harkens back to the beginnings of the new world. Cooper's language is hard to swallow sometimes, and the movie is easier to watch, but the reader who settles into the pages of Hawkeye's life and world is rewarded with lessons about friendship, love, survival and the rite of passage that all people go through. It is a definite must read for both English and History classes as it explores the beginnings of this great country in which we live.

Since there are already over 100 reviews of this book and probably thousands have been written over the years, I'll do this one without benefit of book in hand, from memory and without a lot of details. It took me many years to get over the antiquated language barrier and to finally read the book. The classics are always harder to read than contemporary fiction, but sometimes it's worth the effort.

What tipped the scales for me and piqued my curiosity was watching the recent movie with Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, and Eric Schweig, and realizing that this was a good story. Also, I'm very familiar with the setting in upstate NY: Lake George, Balston Spa, Glenns Falls, Scroon Lake, and surrounding area--at least as it is now, and it was fun imagining what it would have been like in those days, when the land was virgin, settlers could lose their scalps if they weren't careful, and the France contested with Britain for supremacy of the land.

The book wasn't a romance--at least not in the modern sense of the word--with love scenes and the like. But it was a romance in the old sense in that the three main characters; Hawk-eye, and the two Mohicans, were larger than life heroes; in the moral, physical, and spiritual meanings of the term. The elder sister Cora was also a well developed, strong willed and heroic character, which surprised me a little considering the age in which the book was written.

For me the most interesting character of the novel was Chingachgook's son, Uncas, who was the "last of the Mohicans," a noble race of American Indians, which formerly occupied the lands by the "salt lake," (i.e., the Atlantic Ocean), and were dispossessed and robbed of their lands and heritage by the original Dutch settlers and others. Uncas was a tracker extraordinaire, even better than the indomitable Hawk-eye in this respect. But he was young, inexperienced, and impetuous, which was eventually his undoing when he came up against the evil, and formidable Magua. But before he died, he was recognized as a king or great chief of his people, an heir apparent. So decreed the venerable Tamenund, a 100 year old patriarch and judge of the Delaware peoples, a related tribe to the Mohicans. This episode would have been difficult to write into an action movie, but it would have been great if it had been.

Another interesting character completely eliminated from both the 1934 and 1992 movies was David Gamut, a preacher psalmist, whose moral presence and as a comic relief, was an integral part of the novel.

All in all, this is still a book worth reading, if only to get a glimse of the way things were then and might be again.

it is a very good book but the english that it is written in is different from the way we speak today. I enjoy the book and will recommend it to everyone looking for something that is good to read and to all children for their classes that require reading books.

Nathanial Bumppo, otherwise known as Leatherstocking, Deerslayer, and Long Rifle, is without a doubt the quintessential American version of Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan. To be sure, Cooper's frontier character saw print long before Burrough's creation did in 1912. This in no way invalidates the creation of ERB, but it does give more literary impact to a wholly American character who appears in what can only be defined, if one is truthful, as wholly flawed novels.

The five novels which feature Bumppo were written by Cooper out of sequence. This doesn't necessarily impair the fictive underpinnings of the stories themselves, but it does give rise to certain elements which writhe like a murky thread throughout the main arc.

We will, as expected, consider the best known, at least as far as the general public goes, work of Cooper, that being "The Last of the Mohicans" and examine just what makes this novel tick, and why you should read it.

Cooper believed that Indian culture must needs be crushed by the Anglo Saxon wheels of religion and technology. He saw no other way around this inevitability. Though he wasn't himself racist by the definitions which we adhere to today, he did have certain beliefs of superiority of his own culture which "dark-skinned" individuals had to bow down to. "Mohicans", with its poignant idea that there will come a time the "last" of this noble race will pass from the ken of men (that is to say the ken of White Men), has through this very self-same literary device carved for itself a spot of prominence withing American literature.

Not everyone liked Cooper's work. He was always viewed much more favorably in Europe than by home-grown American authors. Mark Twain famously savaged Cooper's work and the savagery resonates even to this day. Yet, something about the novels, especially "Mohicans" endures. Perhaps it is the idea of a race of men passing, the thread of virgin forests and pure lakes, the savagery of life on the frontier, the fog of war, the blood-curdling violence. Whatever the reason for its longevity, and Twain notwithstanding, this book endures. Thank God.

As one might expect there is very little of this book that is recognizable in the 1992 film remake of the same name. In fact, the film stole much of the story line which was rewritten in the 1920 silent film. In the modern film Hawk-eye, at the height of his powers, is taciturn to a fault but still capable of a normal sexual relationship. In the novel Natty Bumppo is not only naive sexually, he won't shut up, period. He discourses on everything, even to the halt of the action being described around him. Leaning on his rifle he has no problem detailing, to exhaustion, his opinion on events around him.

Another big difference, aside from the often awkward descriptions, stereotypes of women and just plain ignorance of Native American ethnicities, is the fact a major character dies in the novel yet is allowed to survive in film. I suppose this would come as a shock to someone who saw the movie first, but there it is. Cooper has no problem dispatching that which, if allowed to live, would intercede in the future life of Hawk-eye. Natty Bumppo must remain pure. He must be allowed to view and accept nature as a powerful motivation than the love of another human being. It is his past, it is his destiny. He is akin to the figure of Greek tragedy in this way. He has a duty to perform and he will accomplish it, but he himself cannot lose the connection he has to the pristine land he loves and calls home.

I highly recommend this book, though the new reader must approach it with a few caveats and not a little caution. Cooper is simply not that great a writer. I am not the first to say that nor will I be the last. Many of the passages go on far too long and the long-winded philosophies of Bumppo grate. Nevertheless, there is power here, along with pathos, grandeur, and yes, love -- though it's love on Bumppo's, and Cooper's, own terms.

Despite its many flaws this is a major American novel by any definition. If you like adventure, and don't mind a little (okay, a lot) lagging, I think you will enjoy reading "The Last of the Mohicans."

This was the first book that I have read by this author and I liked it very much. I would have rated it five stars except that I felt that the characters needed a tad bit more depth. I loved the twists and turns that the story line gave me. It kept me guessing right until the very end.

After reading Where the Heart Is, I knew that Billie Letts was a special author. Happily, I enjoyed Shoot the Moon nearly as much. So much so that I devoured it in only a couple of days!

Billie Letts has a way of writing that really makes you care about the characters. That is what keeps the reader wanting more, I think. This book was the perfect balance of mystery, a little romance set in a small town that provided a great background with stories of it's own. The main plot of the book though is about a man who is visiting a small town to find his birth mother, only to discover that she was murdered when he was 10 months old. Now, 30 years later he's trying to find a killer and get to know the family he never knew he had.

If you haven't read Letts, I really recommend her. I am already planning on reading her other novel, The Honk & Holler Opening Soon.

This book was ok. Definately readable to the end, but it was a little on the 'weak' side as far as believability and character depth. The mystery of Nicky Jack's mother's murder unfolded so quickly that it was anti-climatic for me. I wanted more meat!!! I still can't figure out Ivy and her lack of interest in her pregnancy. That kinda went no-where quick!!! It was worth reading, but I found it lacking after reading "Where the heart is", which was deeper and much more developed than this novel.

In an entire lifetime of reading wonderful fiction I've come across few books that match Billie Letts' three superlative novels; Where the Heart Is, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, and now Shoot the Moon. When it comes to capturing Oklahoma (a state that I have great affection for, having broken into broadcasting in Frederick, Oklahoma,in 1967) no one does it better--not even the late William Ralph "Bill" Scott, writing as Weldon Hill. Letts writes a crackling good story, and in this particular tome, there is a good deal of mystery and "who did it..." For me, Shoot the Men was a true page-turning one-sit read.

"Shoot the Moon," by Billie Letts, is a fun, humorous, and serviceable work of popular fiction. Don't expect too much from this book and you might actually enjoy the short few hours it takes to read it. The prose is better than average; the plot moves along quickly with both surprising and predictable twists; the characters are unique, eccentric, and vividly drawn--but don't expect the plot or the characters to be very realistic. If anything, the singular beauty of this work is the endearing sense of place that Letts creates for the fictional town of DeClare, Oklahoma. If you remember anything about this book, a few weeks or months after finishing it, most likely, you will remember the town of DeClare. It's a loving satirical portrait of a small contemporary Okie town. Read it for that and you won't be disappointed.

I had heard of this book for many years and always meant to read it. Some of my spiritual friends were totally blown away by the insights in this book. My critical friends were hostile to CP. But that's how critics tend to be. So I didn't pay them too much attention.

I've read books similar to this by Carlos Castaneda, Richard Bach, Dan Millman and other writers. That's why I could appreciate where James Redfield was coming from. If anyone has little patience for these types of books, I wouldn't recommend CP to you at all.

I found that the book has a beautiful style of writing that combines a surface-level action plot with inspirational teachings. The insights are sincerely explored and build upon one another in each chapter but you never feel that you are being preached at. The writing style is more exploratory but with the genuine expectation that these insights can actually transform individuals and collectively our planet.

I like that hopeful message in this book and that's the biggest reason to read this book. Other books similar to CP include the writers I mentioned above and a special mention for Paulo Coelho's The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdom and an unusually beautiful new book "Nexus: A Neo Novel."

What a wonderful adventure! For me this was a wonderful way to come to awareness, of not only what is going on around you, but how to recognize intrusions and what to do. To make a short story long, instead of this being a traditional "self-help" book, taking the form of a wonderful adventure, filled with mystery and intrigue anyone can apply the circumstances and reactions to life today.

Some may enjoy this New Age novel for its kitsch appeal but for me, it is so poorly concieved and poorly written that I just couldn't finish it.

Just one example: one of the main premises of the book is that throughout the world, "coincidences are happening more and more." No particular reason was given for this assertion. The main character didn't seem to have a coince-a-meter in his pocket so as to measure the relative proportion of coincidences over time. But no matter - he bases major decisions about his life's direction on his unquestioning belief in the increased incidents of coincidences.

Please!

Every few years a new philosphy appears that the public embraces with enthusiasium for a time and then moves on. Our society has embraced crystals, astrology, Scientology, transendental meditation, Buddism, Mormanism, shamanism, LSD, peyote, fundamental Christianity, channeling and many, many more. Some of these pass quickly and are called fads, others with a bit more staying power stick around and become a part of our main stream culture. THE CELESTINE PROPHECY first appeared in 1993, shot to best seller status and then faded a bit. It has been replaced in the spotlight by other books/philosphies etc which were basically variations on the theme, but has not completely disappeared. The author, Redfield, has managed to spin this into a bit of a cottage industry of additional books, tapes, newsletters, astrological readings etc.

The author has chosen to present his version of the 'New Age' as novel, an interesting concept but unfortunately his fiction writing skills don't seem to be up to the task. As a work of fiction this one would be marginal at even a high school level. His characters come and go quickly, but are so poorly written that only the names and Insight they deliver differentiate them from each other.

His hero begins his journeys, both physical and spiritual with a encounter with a former girl friend who told him about a mysterious Manuscript discovered in Peru, written in 600 BC in Aramaic (the language Jesus would speak 600 years later) composed of nine Insights. Even though she claims that these Insights do not undermine either Christianity or any secular power, the Catholic Church and Peurvian government are both trying to destroy the Manuscript and stop the spread of the Insights. The hero is intrigued by this, and spurred by subsequent events, embarks on a journey to Peru to discover the Insights for himself.

The ideas behind these 'Insights' is hardly new, "we are poised on the brink of a Great New Age", "there are no coincidences, all is guided by a Higher Power that we can all learn to draw from" and so on...and on and on for 246 pages in this, the first book (not to be confused with the sequel outlining the tenth Insight, the workbook, the newsletter....you get the picture). In and of themselves, the Insights are worthwhile ideas, ones that will certainly not harm anyone who embraces them, and which would probably benefit them. If this particular version of "The Truth" doesn't happen to appeal to you (remember you have to be 'ready to accept' the message) then check out one of the other versions that can be easily found in the self-help/pop psychology/New Age section of your nearest book store or library.

The idea is solid - an idea that's unique and explored in the book. But the execution is just horrible. Painfully so.

It's based in a completely nondescript Peru. Everything is a house, a tree, a plant, a mountain, or a town. Redfield couldn't find the time to crack open an encyclopedia to get some knowledge of the place he wants to take us in his story. "Lima" is about as specific as he gets, giving the impression that he looked at a world map, saw "Lima," and called it a day. What are the people like? The weather? The fauna? C'mon, Redfield, throw me a bone!

And why are there evil government guards always chasing our heroes the entire time, willing to use deadly force to stop them? Who knows? Redfield sure doesn't. I guess scary government guards help a plot move or something.

And where does the name of the prophecy, "Celestine," come from? Total mystery. Never explained. In fact, I don't remember the word "Celestine" ever being in the novel once.

To sum up, it's a very interesting idea of human consciousness and spirituality. But only read this book if a total lack of literary skill doesn't bother you.

This is actually two books in one. A collection (if 2 is a collection?) of mystery stories by a husband and wife.

The first story by Faye Kellerman, dealing with the slaying of a college basketball star in Boston, is the stronger of the two. Detective Dorothy Parker and her family are a compelling portrait of a working class Black family in Boston. Of the two, this is a 3&1/2 star story.

The second story, by husband Jonathan, is set in Santa Fe, dealing with the murder of a local gallery owner. The portrait of ex NYPD detective Katz and his Native American partner isn't as interesting, but the story is at least adequate.

Overall the book(s) won't be disappointing.

I, too am a fan of Faye Kellerman's. I like that she can form and tell a story without the excessive use of profanity. Her writing is such that I often will read, and then at a later time, re-read/re-listen to her books. I liked the story revolving around the basketball college star. However, I was caught off guard by the second story. I listened to the unabridged audiobook. The second Santa Fe location story is not as captivating. I was immediately captivated by just an excerpt of the basketball themed story. However, disappointed with the Santa Fe location story. I hope the Kellermans do not continue with this type of twin novel approach.

But definitely not the best either. I have been a fan of the Faye Kellerman mysteries since the beginning, and recently learned that I enjoy her husbands stories as well. I thought this would be a good audio book to listen to driving to and from work this week. I have to say that I was disappointed. The characters are likeable, in both stories. The characters are a bit one-dimensional, but if the stories were longer, I would say that I would like to see more of the Santa Fe detectives than the Boston ones. The mysteries were not as difficult to unravel, and the stories just tended to leave me with a feeling that there was something missing. Whoever directed the performances on the audio book needs to be told that you either use music ambiently through the entire book or not, but you don't just go along in silence and all of a sudden have music rip out of the speakers...it is disconcerting and annoying.

I will definitely be reading more by these authors, but I think in the future I will get any collaborations they do from the library.

I really don't know, but I'd say that Jonathan wrote the Boston side and that Faye wrote the Sante Fe half. The Boston story is interesting. I didn't make it past the first few pages of the Sante Fe story. Here's why:
In the first two pages - "Darrell Two Moons", "Cafe Karma", "Eden-Yield Oraganic Lamb Plus Eclectic Veggie Burrito", "Quilted black ski jacket", "X-harnessed cowhide shoulder holster", "Custom stitched elephant-hide Tony Lama", "Fuzzy brown and white plaid Pendleton shirt", "Green Tead Chai Latte"...honestly, that is really in the first two pages.
Is this product placement or just really, really bad prose?

This is a two for one book..you turn it upside down and begin book 2 from the other end. Both stories are quick reads and both are murder mysteries, one set in Santa Fe and the other in Boston. In the Santa Fe book, Detectives Darrel Two Moons and Steve Katz investigate the murder of man about town and gallery owner Larry Olafson, who was found, in his gallery, with his head bashed in. In the second story, Detectives Dorothy Breton and Michael McCain are presented with the case of the basketball star who is shot dead after a match where a flagrant foul leads to massive ill feeling between the teams. Neither story is a masterpiece, both ending abruptly, leaving the reader to sort out the clues for themselves. These short stories are not my preferred reading.

I am a huge Patterson fan and have read over 20 of his books. I have to say this one was the toughest one to get into. It is confusing in the beginning and not one of his normal "page turners". Stick with it for the first 50+ pages and it gets better. All in all, not one of his better stories.

If zero stars were available, that is what this novel would have received from me. I took along 3 books to read on vacation this year (my only time to read just for pleasure) and wasted 2 days reading this book. Being a fan of Patterson's current books, I thought I would read some of his older works. This book left me with the question "Why did I waste my precious vacation hours reading this?" I concur with another reviewer who stated that the dating of events is really strange. The epilogue has the exact same scenario as the prologue (with the same characters) but is dated 2 years later and these characters have all been horribly killed in the book, so it leaves you trying to figure out what happened since these characters clearly died earlier but are here again committing the same murders. What's up with that? I think I am pretty astute when reading the detective genre and only am occasionly surprised at a conclusion, but this one just left me wondering was some part missing? Was there some kind of clue that those murders didn't happen? I finally decided that it was just a poorly written book. I hadn't bother to read the reviews until I returned from vacation and then found that others had the same problem with this book that I had. If I had read the reviews before my trip, I would have taken a different book and not wasted my time on this read.

This is probably the only Patterson book that really freaked me out. Quite a bit of gory material, but still a book you had a hard time putting down.

this was the most disappointing book i've read by Patterson - can't blame Amazon, book was delivered in the time they said it would be

Season of the Machete- did Patterson really write this book? after a few pages I threw the book in the garbage; if there were less than one star it would have gotten it; surely he jests.