Horror Books

Having read this book to three to five-year-olds at Halloween for three years running and having it be a HUGE hit every time, I decided to get my own copy. The children love the repetitiveness of it and the spooky pictures. The tension builds and builds right to the end when everything turns out to be just fine. (Note: That's a total of 180 children with very big eyes and almost no wiggles!)

The artwork is beautiful and detailed. My three year old loves to find the cat in each picture and to find the faces in the windows, walls, and curtains. One can always find something new in the paintings. The story uses repetitious wording, so he can virtually read it to me. We have read this book many times, yet neither of us ever gets bored with it.

What a surprise--and disappointment--to see the cover of this book in green instead of brown as my copy is!! Green makes the book look like spring and fun. Back to my brown picture with a castle in the background in fog and mist and browns! A real invitation to a scary experience just as Ruth Brown, the author/illustrator intends!

Even the title page has cobwebs and mushrooms and spiders and a tiny, little mouse caught up in the browns of the book. So we begin: "Once upon a time there was a dark, dark moor." The browns and grays and strip of purples and touch of yellow show a desolate moor. Oh, wait, not so desolate! What do I see in the blowing, dark grasses? Hide, little rabbits and mice, here comes the owl looking for you! Look, in the distance! What is that? A dark dark wood?

"On the moor there was a dark, dark wood." How many creatures can you find hiding there? Way up on the hill is a dark, dark castle. Look carefully, there's the black cat we saw on the cover. He has taken us to a dark, dark door. Inside in the dark, dark hall there are gargoyles and cobwebs and shadows and that black cat.

As the cat takes the reader deeper and deeper into the darkness of the great house, things get scarier and scarier. How the story ends sometimes makes children laugh, sometimes annoyed, but never scared! That's all I will say!

This book is a wonderful Halloween treat because it has such an unexpected ending! A must for all library collections!

This "Dark Dark Tale" by Ruth Brown is simple, short and sports a gothic flair. The illustrations (also by Brown) are nothing short of brilliant. Brown the artist captures the fog, shadows and light of her own dark dark little world. Perfect for preschoolers (my two year old loves it and always anticipates the ending), it holds their attention (there can't be more than 120 words in the entire book) with the repetative prose that children love. Perfect for lovers of children literature and childrens illustrations as well (which is what drew me to the book in the first place). We love it and read it daily.

A wonderful choice for young children at Halloween or any time of year. Reading this aloud is lots of fun -- you can make it seem scary as you go through each page, then watch your child's reaction at the end. My son wanted me to read this over and over. We also have fun looking for all the little critters in the forest: owls, bats, tiny glowing eyes peeking out of the dark places, the cat, even a badger!

"A Dead Man Speaks" is a top notch thriller with well-defined characters. I couldn't put the book down. It kept me guessing "who done it" until the very end. It was also thought provoking in showing how people are often a product of their pasts, and in order to move on forgiveness is key. A must read! Can't wait for the movie and the author's next book!

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Couldn't put it down once I picked it up. It's a mystery with a message on life, growing, self and other awareness, forgiving. It makes you think and ponder about your own experiences. Looking forward to more books from this author!

A Dead Man Speaks by Lisa Jones-Johnson is not only entertaining, but it has a very important message (unusual for a murder mystery) which the reader experiences as the story comes to a close, although you get glimpses of the message throughout the book as well. Congrats to the author on creating a murder mystery that includes this powerful message within its pages. I won't give anything away I shouldn't. While reading this book I felt like I could get into the hearts and minds of the characters involved because of the descriptive way their stories were told. What I liked most was that the author (Lisa Jones-Johnson) chose to have the reader view the lives of the characters as told through THEIR eyes/perspective and that made me feel like I really got to know the personality of the character on a more personal level. It was brilliantly written on so many levels and through the experiences of the characters raised my understanding a bit on the Civil Rights movement as well which I really appreciated. I highly recommend this book because it is not only entertaining (I couldn't put the book down) but it was thoughtfully written and highly worth my time.

This is hands down the best novel I've ever read. What makes it so? The intention of the Author to not only intrigue and entertainment, which she does most effectively, but her intention to provoke change in the reader.
Not since Shogun by James Clavell, have I been pulled into a novel and forced to carry it with me so I could take advantage of every spare moment to continue the journey. Not since Devil In The Blue Dress by Walter Mosley has a tale of the Black experience captivated me so thoroughly. And never, in any of these reading experiences have I walked away improved from the experienced. I'm talking about a tangible effective transformation based on the experience the finale of the book provoked in me. And do yourself a favor...don't read the end to see what I am talking about. Part of the process I experienced occurred because I resisted the urge to do so and flowed sequentially through the material and thus had the experience the Author intended and created the vehicle to accomplish.
Writing in multiple First Persons, Lisa Johnson gives us both the objective AND subjective experience of the major characters from her novel, an interesting juxtaposition of what we thought we knew from what we observed, and what the characters actually knew from their prospective, which results in a greater understanding of ourselves and what we might need to do to improve our self, as do the two main characters.
I think this book is the point of transition to the next area of literary focus, namely Human Transformation. So if you are almost tired of murder as the focus and subject matter of nearly all English writings in the fiction vain, and plan to stop reading the genre all together soon, then make A Dead Man Speaks your last stop along this road. I think you'll be glad you did.

I am an avid reader - and I love thrillers. I love books by Lee Child and James Lee Burke and everyone in between. This first novel by Lisa Jones-Johnson is very intriguing. And it certainly is worthy of the "in between" category I describe above. Her concept is so unique that at first I thought it might be contrived or the story line would be too obvious. But, happily, I was wrong on both counts. The characters are completely independent of each other- so much so that you will quickly visualize them as they take on their own form and personality. And for a first time novelist the consistency of the characters and the story line is remarkable. You can almost see this story "happening" before you as you read. It is definitely "film" material. The story itself, while simple, is seriously complicated by the nature of the basic theme-- a man unable to "let go" and die is trapped by the need to uncover his murderer and must "visit" those living persons who are involved in the crime to help guide them to the answers he - and they - seek - to solve the mystery.

I highly recommend this book to serious readers. It will "enter" you the same way the dying Clive January enters the minds and souls of those whose help he needs....And you will travel with them to unravel the clues and find the answers to this very fascinating story.

This book adds more to mix than found in the earlier Delta Green Book and will expand the RPG experience further. I would highly recommend buying this book after getting the core book for Delta Green. Expands the conspiracies outside of the United States in both enemies and allies. Much more disturbing than the groups in the original Delta Green book and adds different plot angles. Very well written and compelling. A must have the Delta Green enthusiast

This product is awesome, but i don't receive form amazon, i buy from others sellers because the delay of order.

This order be canceled.

If Delta Green is the Best RPG suppliment ever, then this is Number 2. You get more bang for the buck out of this book for $40 than you do in 4 $20 books. It's very well written and is a great read as well. It is how a RPG SHOULD be written.
If you're a Call of Cthulhu gamer, then this book is a MUST! If you like horror, X-Files, etc...then check it out.

If you already have Delta Green, Countdown should be your next purchase (if you don't have Delta Green, BUY IT!!!). Countdown adds write-ups for PISCES (Britain), GRU SV-8 (Russia), The Skoptsi, The Outlook Group, Phenomen-X, Keepers of the Faith (Ghouls), and a new look at The Hastur Mythos. Add rules for the Gift (Psychic Powers) and international templates from all over the world and you have a book that would be cheap at twice the price!!

Pagan Publishing has done it again!!!

Well worth the seemingly hefty price. In addition to containing source material that benefits *any* modern-day game (e.g. details on international law-enforcement agencies), it includes expansions on things alluded to in the main Delta Green book, such as the Army of the Third Eye, and new icky horrors like the Skoptsi.

There is also wonderful information on ghoul society and on the "King in Yellow"/Hastur mythos, concluding with "Night Floors," which is in my opinion one of the best damn adventures ever written.

Plenty of action, vivid as a cartoon, in this high action story. Easy to recommend for reluctant readers. The orphans are more street savvy and much less sanctimonious than usual. I love the author's very fresh new take on the nature and origins of demons. We all feel like we see them out of the periphery once in a while. His story action moves swiftly, but his plot has backbone, even if that backbone is gnarled, twisted and scary.

I truly loved this book. The reading is easy, extremley interesting, next to impossible to put down. I wasn't sure what to expect when starting this book. I must say I wish I had 3 little minions like Nat does. This book has all great qualities. A great adventure ride, mild gore, teenage kids, and of course demons. If you are looking for a wonderful story, fast and easy to read, and leaving you wanting more (a sequel would be nice) read this book.

My son absolutely loved the book! He couldn't put it down! We bought the book for something for him to read on our vacation and he read it in 3 days! My son is hoping for another book from this author to come out very soon.

This is a fast paced story appropriate for adults and young adults. The characters are well developed and the demons are creative and fun (and some are scary). I really enjoyed reading this and my kids will like it as well.

" 'There's only one copy of this in the nation,' she said. 'I can have it for you in three weeks.'
" 'Great! Thank you...'
" 'I'm Sandy. And there's the one-dollar interlibrary loan fee.'
" 'Right. Of course,' Nat said. He nodded and began dumping dimes, quarters, nickels, lint, and an inspected by tag onto Sandy's pristine desk.
"Sandy couldn't help herself -- she stacked the coins by denomination, then hurried the lint and tag to the garbage.
"Nat smiled as he watched her fuss.
"Sandy realized he was watching and looked up. Their eyes met. U Go Girl! she thought. She took a deep breath. 'You know, you've been coming here for a little while, and I never see you with anyone.'
" 'I don't know a lot of people.'
" 'You know me...now.' She scribbled on his interlibrary loan receipt. 'You could call my cell.'
" 'Your cell?'
" 'My phone.'
"Nat debated. He looked pained. 'I'm not supposed to,' he said finally.
" 'What? Like there's some rule against it?'
"Nat took his receipt. 'Yes,' he said quickly, and he fled before she could say another word.
"Sandy watched him go, sad. She didn't know how U Go Girl! would rate her effort to adventurize, but she imagined that, because the first boy she'd gotten the courage to proposition had run away, it wouldn't be good."

I really enjoyed my first visit to Seattle. The Convention Center where ALA was meeting is conveniently located right in the center of the city, and the buses -- which are inexpensive when heading to the outskirts and free when traveling around the city center -- are all operated by friendly, helpful drivers. We stayed at a hostel which was close to the water and right around the corner from both the Pike Place Market and a nice little shop with great salt bagels. And, we had the pleasure of being taken out for lunch to a highly-acclaimed vegan restaurant: Bamboo Garden on Roy Street. The hot and sour soup there is the best I've ever tasted.

Just a few blocks away from the restaurant, in a massive 1901 Craftsman-style home that sits amidst a tidy Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, Nat -- that skittish 15 year-old boy who was being assisted by high school sophomore and Seattle Public Library junior assistant librarian Sandra (Sandy) Nertz -- lives alone. Well, not really alone. The house is filled with demons and it is his job to feed, care for, and contain them, now that his teacher, Dhaliwahl has died. It has been a challenging and often lonely first month of "keeping" the demons on his own. For heaven's sake! He's almost gotten himself eaten.

And Dhaliwahl's teachings had, in fact, included instructions that Nat stay away from girls.

There are hundreds of goofy demons bouncing around Nat's house. And then there is The Beast, a deadly, nightmarish demon being kept locked in the fortified basement who is fed through a barred feeding shoot.

Oh, and don't forget about Nat's own three minions: There is Pernicious, "the demonic incarnation of nasty surprises," Nikolai, who "embodies the chaos of not knowing one's own strength," and Flappy, "a wind demon, the incarnation of swirling gusts -- the aimless, spasmodic sort that sent children's kites into trees." The trio are a total blast.

But, the question is, when things start really going badly, will the minions be more help or hindrance? And what about Sandy, the resourceful teenage junior assistant librarian? Or the pair of skater dudes who break into the demon-filled house with disastrous consequences.

"Nat stomped his foot. 'I mean it, did you receive a clear visual image of three demonic manifestations that are minionic in character?'
" 'I saw a pint-sized dragon, a deformed evil gnome on steroids, and a retarded two-legged Chihuahua.'
" 'So you did see them,' Nat said."

DEMONKEEPER by Royce Buckingham is an alternately sweet, funny, and occasionally deadly story of a lonely boy, a lonely girl, a house full of demons, a vengeful apprentice gone bad, a pair of skater dudes, and The Beast. The middle school kids are going to eat this one up with a gusto equal to that of Pernicious, Nikolai, and Flappy when they greedily dive headfirst into their cast iron trough full of fish guts.

Being a fan of Maureen Johnson, I decided to give this book a try. The characters immediately drew me in, mostly if not just for the humor. Johnson has a talent of making her characters seem real and alive and you end up getting a good sense of what each one is about. I loved this book. If you're a Maureen Johnson fan, read it! If not, it'll make you one.

I actually didn't start this book with extremely high hopes, I thought it would be sort of 'high school drama meets Artemis Fowl'. Luckily, I was completely wrong.

Devilish is the first book I've read by Maureen Johnson, but I'll certainly be reading more. The plot is truley unique, very well crafted, and you are still guessing even when you get to the last page. I laughed out loud at many of the main character's (Jane's) comments. I read the whole thing in one sitting. The characters were well developed, and to top it all off, there is a touch of romance too.

The plot summary Amazon gives is actually fairly accurate, but it's also so much more than that. (Don't be turned off by the "Poodle Prom" part. It's a lot more inconsequential than the summary might lead you to believe.) Along with the fact that it's funny, unique, and well written, you'll also keep thnking about it long afterward. It will certainly make you wonder just what might be going on with Heaven and Hell, and exactly what that intense connection might be.

I'd definitely recommend this book, even to someone who might no long consider themselves a "young adult". My only complaint was that the end came too quickly, I really would have liked to know what happens after Jane recovers... What happens with her and Allison, Owen, and everyone else for that matter? And her schooling?

Hopefully, there will be a sequel.

I must say that I was very impressed while reading this. Now why can't all books be like this? Or should I say, "written like this"? Even though I shouldn't do this, and I know it's wrong, I judge a book by its cover. I know, the worst thing you can do to a book. When stumbling upon this book, the cover really interested me. A Hot Girl holding a Cup Cake. So I read the back of it, and gave it a chance, thining it was some girl chick flick novel. Before I knew it, I finished it in one day. And gave it to a friend and she read it in one day. Very good book if I must say so myself.
I love how the author writes. Her unique way of writing is what makes her a great author! She really makes the characters thoughts and feelings come alive and you just keep reading and turning the page because she has developed this "suspense" that makes you want to keep on reading and reading until you're finished with the book.
So basically this story is about a girl, after a horrible accident, sells her soul to the devil or should I say, a demon. I would highly recommend this book to others and I see that the other reviewers are just like me; loved the book. But, I warn you. Once you pick up this book, you will not be able to put it back down until you're finished. It's not your typical teen novel about some girl getting into conflicts with herself and boys and sex.
Highly Recommended
Overall Grade* A
Jordan

i am not normally a person who likes books with demons and devels. however i picked the book out without reading what it was about and i found out that it was an amazing book. i think that everyone should read this.

Maureen Johnson is a fantastic writer. This book was excellent. It was suspenseful and interesting and throughout the whole book there was never a point where I didn't want to know what would happen next. Cleverly written and interesting, this is definitely one of the most interesting and unique YA novels that I've read.

This is a wonderful collection of some of Lovecraft's lesser known works, the majority of which come from his earlier writings. It is actually a pretty eclectic sampling of styles. One finds traditional horror, dream-enshrouded tales of unknown vistas, short "prose poems," collaborations with other writers, and even a science fiction story. While none of these stories can claim a place in the Cthulhu Mythos, several do presage its beginnings and offer glimpses of the universe of the Great Old Ones. "Nyarlathotep" introduces us to that dark god, "The Festival" refers to mouldy tomes such as the Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhezred and offers us a glimpse of pagan practices, Polaris speaks of the Pnakotic manuscripts, and "The Nameless City" takes us deep underneath the desert sands to a forgotten abode of ancient, nonhuman creatures. Many of the tales take us to Dunsanian dream worlds where beauty and unearthly horror are separated by a veil of nothingness. "In the Walls of Eryx," cowritten with Kenneth Sterling, is very interesting in that it represents Lovecraft's only real foray into science fiction, a more than successful foray in my opinion. The only story I find less than first-rate is the tale "Imprisoned With the Pharoahs," a work ghost-written for Harry Houdini--passed off as a true story of the great magician's visit to Giza's pyramids; Houdini's presence as the protagonist makes the story seem forced and does not allow me to fully appreciate the elements of horror Lovecraft injects into the tale.

Lovecraft is, to some degree, an acquired taste, and for that reason I would not recommend this book for first-time readers. Any fan of Lovecraft will delight in these tales and mentally take note of every element that relates to the whole of his fiction, but the Lovecraft initiate may well become frustrated with the Dunsanian elements of many of these stories and may not fully appreciate the remarkable craftsmanship of the author; furthermore, the collaborations in this collection are clearly not Lovecraft's greatest works. Those looking for "horror" may well be disappointed, as will those seeking an introduction to the Cthulhu Mythos. While these stories can surely inspire delight and devotion among new Lovecraft readers, it is my feeling that they can be fully appreciated and understood only by those who are already familiar with Lovecraft's greater body of work.

H.P lovecraft writes great horror stories and this is no exception he's probably one of the great horror story writers along with the likes of Poe. This book is made up of creative writing and conjours up distorted images in your head from the suspense that builds up to the climax toward the end. H.P Lovecraft's books tend to focus on the Horror/Fantasy genre and is the kind of horror material that involves creatures of a new breed and not so much a typical thriller story for example. The doom that came to sarnath definatley wipes the floor with alot of the modern horror stories that you see around and is an intense, shaded, wonderful, gripping book.

I thought Stephen King was a scary writer. I also thought Dean Koontz was. Then I finally got to reading some Lovecraft, and BOY I GOT SCARED! His particularly dark and disturbing tales of grue and the macabre are far surpassing the aeformentioned authors.

I find it funny that there's a unicorn logo on the front cover of my copy of this book, saying that this work is Adult Fantasy. About the only thing Adult about H.P. Lovecraft is that he uses big words like "cacodaemoniacal". Although most of the works in this collection are fantasy, that doesn't mean that there isn't any horror to be had, either. Some of the stories in this excellent collection will give you more chills than the Sixth Sense ever did. Here's a brief synopsis of some of the stories in this book: THE OTHER GODS--One of my favorite fantasy pieces. It deals with mankind driving the gods up mountains. BEYOND THE WALL OF SLEEP--A primitive man from the mountains is put in an institution, where the main character discovers something extraordinary about the fellow. EX OBLIVIONE--Travel to a wonderful dream-world with a bronze gate that leads somewhere seemingly special. FROM BEYOND--This story reminded me much of The Sixth Sense. Lovecraft was never one for dialogue, but he did really well in this story. THE CATS OF ULTHAR--An elderly couple is suspected of cat-killing, but a boy passing through has thoughts of revenge. HONORABLE MENTIONS: The Tree, The Tomb, Polaris, What the Moon Brings, Hypnos, Nathicana, The Festival, The Nameless City, The Quest of Iranon, The Crawling Chaos, and In the Walls of Eryx. As you can see, you get lots of bang for your buck, so to speak. The stories are categorized, but they do not appear in chronological order--a partial chronology is included at the back. This is probably the best Lovecraft book I've read since The Best of H.P. Lovecraft. Both books are worth getting.

I read my first Lovecraft about fifteen years ago, and never looked back. This book is the one I recommend to my friends who have never read any of his work before. The book is laid out like none of the others I have seen, in that it is divided into separate sections, depending on the type of story, the time period it was written in, or the style Lovecraft was emulating at that time in his career. Also included are snippets of various letters Lovecraft wrote to friends and colleagues which shed an interesting light on where some of the stories came from. I read this book straight through from beginning to end, which is unusual for a collection of Lovecraft's, but in this case found it a very rewarding experience, because the layout is such that the reader gets a real feel for how Lovecraft's talent developed. If someone is looking for a good jumping-on point into the Lovecraft experience, this is an excellent one.

Not a word wasted.

Strange.

Funny.

More ideas than 100 sci-fi novels.

More violence than the Crusades.

It is ace. You should buy it.

reviewed by Cellblock (Withersin Magazine)

08.02.07




This book took me less than a day to read, but about a week to digest and I found myself rereading pages in order to make sure I was not missing a clue. D. Harlan Wilson has, what can only be described as, a "Webster-like" vocabulary. Sharp readers will pick up all manner of enigmatical pop culture references. The action was fast paced and often appalling and hilarious at the same time. I could easily try to break this story down into an existentialist rambling, but I thoroughly enjoyed trying to analyze the obscure references to today's sad attempt at cultural reformation. It felt like I was sitting in an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, laughing at half of the jokes and wondering at the rest. Readers would be advised to pack a dictionary and get ready to feast on the carnage.

D. Harlan Wilson's Dr. Identity is a hip, darkly funny satire that focuses on newly minted assistant professor Dr. Blah Blah Blah, the robot he occasionally sends to teach his students, and the overall absurdities of academic life. Shortly after beginning his stint at Corndog University, Dr. Blah finds that his colleagues demonstrate a covert animosity toward him, which, in addition to his students' tardiness and apathy, renders his new job altogether intolerable. When a discouraged Dr. Blah sends his robot, Dr. Identity, to teach his class for him a second time in one week (which is normally a risky undertaking at Corndog U.), the machine's accidental murder of a student sets the stage for a fun, mind-bending journey, which, although completely surreal, becomes eerily reminiscent of the reader's own college experience.

In addition to the well-read hilarity of the book, Wilson's juxtaposition of the realistic and the bizarre does a great job of reinforcing aspects of the novel that parody academia and its strange, unspoken codes of conduct. This pairing becomes an elegant, economical way of suggesting that the pretensions within Corndog University's English department are just as absurd as electric sheep or neozuters having a conversation in Donaldduckspeak. For example, Wilson writes: "Bob had legally changed his surname to an author in his field who was of interest to him in some pedagogical or scholarly way. Additionally, he had done his best to dress himself up like the Russian novelist, sporting dimestore spectacles, a long greasy beard, and a motheaten overcoat. He had grafted eyebags on his face, too" (16). Poking fun at the way academics, like many other professionals, feel pressured to assume a persona, Wilson takes Dr. Blah and his colleagues beyond the stereotypical tweed blazer with suede elbow patches, often emphasizing some characters' desire for plastic surgery and other physical changes to better perform their jobs. Depicting commonplace behavior in an exaggerated and surreal way, Wilson's parody subtly hints at the ridiculousness of doing a job and trying to act the part at the expense of one's individuality, keeping the reader laughing out loud all the while.

Dr. Identity's exploration of technology and the ways it shapes the characters' sense of self is also impressive. Often focusing on the way electronics and other innovations begin to dominate rather than merely mediate one's day-to-day experiences, characters sometimes demonstrate a desire to imitate technology or even become mechanical themselves. For example, Wilson writes in Dr. Identity: "I thought he was an android. He was wearing mechanical contact lenses. Apparently it's a new fashion statement that surfaced yesterday and was disseminated last night via the Schizoverse...That was the de facto scoop your student-things gave me. To be nonhuman. Nobody told me about that kind of technodesire" (32). Using the same juxtaposition of the everyday with the bizarre found in previous passages to help the reader envision his or her own comfortable world becoming the futuristic one in this novel, Wilson's depictions of the characters' identity being shaped by media and technology forces prove both realistic and chilling.

A mix of Orwellian satire, existential philosophy, and strikingly original humor, Dr. Identity is an erudite and entertaining read. Anyone who enjoys zoot suits, fedoras, an intellectually engaging parody, or a skillfully constructed narrative will be missing out if they don't add this book to their library. Five stars.

I have been a fan of D.Harlan Wilson's very descriptive and at times disturbing stories, but never have I been able to connect the dots until reading Dr. Identity. Reminding me a bit of Kurt Vonnegut's work, his heroes are flawed, and their enemies are not individuals, but culture, society and history, which are certainly making a mess of our planet. Bliptown, it's enhabitants and cultures are so outrageous that at first glance the reader might not see the reality inside, but take a closer look and you will see that it is the current state of the world staring you in the face. This is a very daring and truthful novel - one that every participant of society should read read and learn from!

After reading the first few chapters of this book, you'll think to yourself "Wow, this guy REALLY knows his sci-fi."

I say this because any science fiction fan will know that sci-fi novels often are sprinkled (or doused) with its own lingo. Authors create a future and go about sprucing everyday items up and giving them knew names. Sometimes this makes the entire story/novel confusing, sometimes it works to create a richer world that just feels more real. Which one is DR. IDENTITY? Well, let's just say it's a rich, rich world.

D. Harlan Wilson has obviously studied science-fiction. You can tell just by the way he uses language in order to paint the world he created. It's quite similar, in fact, to Philip K. Dick. I believe that there is indeed shadows of PKD throughout DR. IDENTITY and this is not a bad thing at all.

One thing that sets THIS book and the works of PKD is the humor. DR.IDENTITY is filled with it. Even in the ultraviolent, splatter(cyber)punk parts.. you can't help but chuckle at the absurd lengths of bloody carnage.

The book is also a furious attack on academia. D. Harlan Wilson seems to be no stranger to that world and has had enough experience to see through the B.S. of the academic world. Throughout this book you'll see not so subtle jabs at that world and you'll laugh. However, through that laughter you'll realize that it's actually quite sad considering how very true it is. In fact, if I was a department head or a Dean at a university, I wouldn't be happy at all by this book. I'd probably dismiss it as fluff or garbage. But thank god I'm not because this book is anything but fluff or garbage. The author himself calls it a "pulp science fiction" novel... but really it feels like more than that.

Okay, so what about action? Any action?

Yes.

Loads of it. Bloody action. More action than KILL BILL. More violence than GRINDHOUSE. More blood than any move I've ever seen. Is it disturbing then? Is D. Harlan Wilson the next Edward Lee? No, no. The violence, like I mentioned, is done in such an over-the-top way that it's not stomach-churning.

CONS: I think towards the end it slows a bit and doesn't wrap itself up as neatly as I would have liked. Throughout the book, the chapters switch perspectives from Dr.-----, Dr. Identity, and then third person. I just felt that toward the end, the reader lost connection with Dr.Identity and Dr.-----.. and so it wasn't as satisfying as I had expected. I admit that others may feel differently. But if I was pressed to come up with a criticism (which is only fair), I'd say that's about it.

DR.IDENTITY is a worthwhile book because it's entertaining and vivid, funny and violent. It has lots to say about academia, capitalism, and society. If you like your sci-fi funny and irreverent, buy this book and read it.

Fourteen-year-old Sarah Lucas lives a wonderful life. In her youth, she traveled all over the world with her photojournalist parents, and now the family has settled down in a beautiful little farm on the East Coast. Sarah has a constant friend in her older brother, Sam, whose genius intelligence earned him his Ph.D. at eighteen and a job doing research for the mysterious Institute based in California. But Sarah's parents begin to worry about Sam's involvement with the Institute. The project he's working on is top secret, and so is much of the information about the Institute that has hired him. They fly to California to convince Sam to leave his job, but their plane crashes during their return flight, resulting in their deaths.

When Sam returns home for the funeral, he shares information about his research with Sarah, telling her about his experiments to develop a kind of "looking glass" that would allow people and things to be transported between different worlds by enlarging wormholes, tiny passages through spacetime. The newly-orphaned Sarah must deal with her grief, but also with her increasing suspicion that her parents were right about the Institute's sinister intentions for Sam's research. With the help of a strange old lady who appears first as a homeless woman, and later as Sarah's Latin teacher, she learns more about the Institute, and prompts Sam into reexamining the people for whom he works. The culmination of these events results in Sarah and Sam being stranded on an alien world that they reached through the powers of Sam's fully-functioning "looking glass."

Along the way, Sarah meets up with other characters, from this world and elsewhere. I especially loved Angel, the half-gypsy stable hand she meets while living with her aunt and uncle in New York City. The richness of Askounis's characterizations adds flavor to the novel, and real human depth to the conflict, which operates on the level of a grand battle between Good and Evil.

To me, it felt like a cross between the novels of Madeline L'Engle, C. S. Lewis, and Diane Duane, and I would recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys those writers. Like the best of those authors, Askounis writes compelling characters into a significant conflict, and does so with descriptive prose that portrays Earth just as dazzlingly as it delineates the alien world of Oneiros where the novel's climactic events occur.

Reviewed by: Candace Cunard

This book was really good. I am not a very big reader, but I could not put this book down! It was a good adventure book. It is perfect for young adults who cant find a good book, like me, or for young adults that like to read a lot. it had everything a young adult needs in a book. I loved it! Like I said, 10 thumbs up!!!!!! you should really read it!!!

The Dream of the Stone needs to be a movie. The book is excellent and spell-binding. I could not put it down. If you enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time, you will love this book. Christina Askounis roars out of the gate with this fantasy-adventure novel. I can't wait for the next book and hope to see the movie in theaters soon. As a teacher, I have a hard time finding good books for middle school, and this one is definitely a keeper!

I borrowed this book from my son one day I didn't have anything to read. From the first page to the end it was wonderful, exciting, descriptive and full of surprises. The main character is deep, sensitive, brave and very curious, all things I admire. I felt like a kid again, counting the minutes to bedtime so I could read in bed, carrying the book in my bag to read on the bus or metro whenever I could snatch a few minutes. Although very different, this book grabbed me the way Michel Ende's "The Neverending Story" grabbed me when I was 10. Highly recommended. Sequel please!

I read it a while ago and don't judge the book by the way it looks on the outside...it didn't look to interesting to me when I first pulled it of the library shelf...however it turned out to be one of my favorites...I couldn't put it down...

Not being unfamiliar with the corruption so heavily pertinent in our so called "War on Drugs" it was a pleasant surprise to find new things in this book that I didn't know before. I do disagree with what they feel an "adict" is, but that doesn't change that this is a very telling and touching little story. I ordered it so I could lend it to friends who are really just too damn lazy to read a full book and I figured if pictures were involved they just might find it o.k, I recommend it to anyone in 6th grade and above with any amount of knowledge on the topic.

"A Drug War Carol" may seem derivative at first blush, but it is a unique and entertaining vehicle that skillfully introduces the basic history of our misguided national crusade against drugs. It is also a good, non-exhaustive primer for those already familiar with the underlying policy debate.

The famous Dickens story is reworked into a modern tale where a Drug Czar is forced to contemplate the history of drug prohibition. He also witnesses the human toll that government policies have on people like cancer and pain patients. Unlike Ebenezer Scrooge, however, this Czar's "change of heart" is less than certain.

The historical record of the federal government's War on Drugs carries many of the same hallmarks of its current efforts: third-rate bureaucrats setting national policy; self-serving grandstanding by political leaders; doctors being jailed for providing treatment; the criminalization of addiction; a judiciary that sanctions the erosion of fundamental individual liberties; the wanton bureaucratic rejection of medical and scientific opinion; dubious efforts aimed at international drug control; and a media that is all too complicit in providing sustenance to government sensationalism. The institutional dynamics that were in play seventy years ago are still prevalent today.

Thankfully, the American public is no longer subjected to the naked racist appeals employed by "drug morality" advocates found here. Coke-addled black men raping white women and crazed Mexicans preying upon schoolchildren and executing people served as popular bogeymen. (The book overlooks the virulent anti-Chinese sentiment used to crusade against opium.) Instead, the Drug War now simply incarcerates a disproportionate number of racial minorities under a plethora of state and federal laws like mandatory minimum sentences, all under the "due process of law."

This "graphic novella" deserves a wide readership, especially among high school students, who are the principal targets of endless government propaganda and invasive practices like random drug testing, body searches and drug-sniffing dogs. The future is theirs, and that is why the federal government is finding novel ways to indoctrinate them and humiliate them into submission. Hopefully they will consider the examples of 1920's anti-prohibition advocates Pauline Morton Sabin and Henry Joy: Principled individual action can indeed make a difference.

When it comes to sharing my viewpoints on America's "War on Drugs", I have always struggled with replying to the simplistic catchphrases which seem to come from those who are blind to the destruction caused by this politically and economically motivated war. As such, it was with great pleasure to find this little gem.

Through a narrative employing Charles Dickens' classic storyline, "A Drug War Carol" comprehensively, yet succinctly covers the often ignored/suppressed history that gave rise to this immoral and self-serving--but significant--U.S. policy. From its inception during 1920s prohibition, the war on (some) drugs (and some users) has been waged with zeal and corruption, and in the process, has eradicated the Bill of Rights. In the past 80 years, our country (and many other countries which the U.S. can influence or control) have suffered, while arrogant and power-hungry politicians continually feed this monster with our tax-dollars, and in exchange, give us half-truths, exaggerations, or just outright lies.

Trying to explain this to others however, is challenging. This is simply because most of us have lived our whole life eagerly lapping up this propaganda.

I encourage everyone to buy as many copies of this book that you can afford and give it to friends and family. We need to wake up!!!

Also, for a richly detailed investigation into the origins and first 40 years of the U.S. drug war, see Douglas Valentine's "The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs". It is a facinating and compelling read.

This book reveals the truth around the WOD and who imposed the current devastating situation where much human dammage is related to prohibition and War on Drugs. I recomend the book and i'm sorry there is no chance of giving it six stars.
Joergen

I had seen this story in an online form, and was greatly impressed by the quality of the art. I was pleased to see that the print edition is even stronger. Highly recommended.

MUY BUEN LIBRO, OJALA ESTE ESCRITOR SIGA ESCRIBIENDO LIBROS COMO ESTE, NO PUEDES PARAR DE LEER HASTA EL FINAL, BUENISIMO!!

Pocos libros me han cautivado y capturado tanto como El Garante. Ya fan de la miniserie, me recomendaron que el libro traía lo suyo, y fue así! No pude parar de avanzar capítulo tras capítulo. Ojalá hagan una segunda parte, una precuela, y todo lo que se les ocurra. Buenísimo y gracias.
Mi única crítica, ... hubiera preferido que transcurriera en Buenos Aires en vez de New York, pero esto no le restó mérito alguno.

El libro es increiblemente, entrador, muy bien narrado, parece que uno esta en la historia, pues hay cosas que a uno le pueden haber pasado, se compenetra mucho en el tema, sin querer, pues uno no puede dejar de leerlo para otro dia, se lo recomiendo a todos, y espero que esta gente haga una pelicula de esto, que seguramente tendra mucho exito

It's a great book, you can't stop reading it. Great story, beautiful details, great ending.
You shouldn't miss it!

El mejor suspenso es el que me hace pensar, y El Garante tiene eso, además de una historia alucinante y una prosa rica y ágil. No podía dejar de leerlo, pero sufría cuando estaba cerca del final porque no quería que se terminara. Lo disfruté de punta a punta, casi sin respirar. Y cuando llegué al final, los pensamientos de Martin Mondragon seguían dándome vueltas en la cabeza. ¿Qué es finalmente un pacto? ¿Qué diferencias hay entre el bien y el mal? ¿El mal está tan lejos de nosotros o es parte de uno mismo? Este libro ya está destinado a convertirse en un clásico del género.