Shadow Books

I planned to read a chapter a day when I began this book. Well, throw that out the window -- it's not possible to put this book down. The story is compelling, humorous, and true to life. The characters are so real, I found myself casting stars to play each one when the movie comes out! I cannot wait for V.W. Williams' next book!

Shadows Of Trickle Creek is an excellent book with captivating characters and a plot that grabs you and won't let go. A true must read.

This story pulled me in from the first paragraph. Great writing and descriptions make the characters come alive. Leavened by humor, the tension builds to a satisfying climax. I'm living in Texas and have lived in a small town and she nailed both, with kindness and humor. I hope this talented author keeps writing.

Shadows of Trickle Creek is Vickie Williams' stunning debut novel. Set in the Big Thicket of East Texas, the book is filled with details and skillfully written descriptions that showcase the beauty of the area and the author's love of Texas. The plot is intricate and fast paced and the characters are strong and yet very human. V.W. Williams is a new writer to watch out for and I'm eagerly awaiting her next release.

Keep up the excellent work!

Diana Driver

Involving you immediately in its characters but slowly unpeeling their depth, this novel drives toward the gradual explication of a sinister plot in a small Texas town, but its real appeal is the grasping of different believable but iconic characters for self-respect. Not unlike Texas itself, it is vast and complicated but boils down to a few simple truths. Its two most enigmatic characters are an honest cop fleeing the chaos of his past, and a hard-working country woman attempting to discover hers, but they are complemented by insightful beef-jerky-tough older ladies and a town full of familiar personalities. As our publishing industry spirals into the increasing irrelevance of niche publishing and empty drama, it is refreshing to find an independent author with this much tenacity toward storytelling in its most vivid form.

At the beginning of this collection, Charles Wright or his persona looks around his study and wonders "where to begin again?" Well he might ask. In his previous three books Wright compiled one of the most comprehensive long sequences since the Cantos, a massive work he calls the Appalachian Book of the Dead, though it has not yet been published under that title. A Short History of the Shadow, retaining the casually associative open-ended structure of the three preceding collections, concentrates on short poems that may be described as modern pastoral elegy informed by the cross-genre imperative M. H. Abrams has called the "Greater Romantic Lyric," a freely associative first-person meditation rooted in a particularized setting. Coleridge's "Frost at Midnight" and Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" epitomize the form; and Wright, their successor, is the most persistently Romantic of postmodern poets in his transcendentalism, courtship of the spirit of nature, and assertion of the primacy of imagination in the face of phenomena. He filters Coleridge through his love of ancient Chinese poetry, especially as recreated in the work of James Wright, giving his poetry a luxuriantly multicultural overtone. This new collection seems an extension of the material and methods of the Appalachian poems. It is not clear to me why it shouldn't form part of that sequence, since although its poems stand firmly on their own that's also true of those in Appalachia, Black Zodiac, and Chickamauga.

This book isn't Wright's best, and pales a little after the volumes collected in Negative Blue. That it's still very, very good--perhaps the best book from any of the older generation SINCE Negative Blue--is a testament to Wright's power. I reccomend this book highly, but don't fail to read the rest of his books.

The sounds of this poetry are amazing. The music is unbound & sprawling. Wholly modern. Of all the Pulitzer Prize winners, Charles Wright is one of my favorites. This poetry is very idiosyncratic.

Chales Wright is an amazingly fine poet. How he is able to look and see things we fastscan everyday and in a mere few phrases turn that blink into quiet monument remains a wonder to all who read him. Read? No, luxuirate. Wright's strange friendship with death introduces us to dark rooms, hand held in his lighted clasp, and gives meaning to all the mysteries nature giggles about in the corner. He is able to pluck the most mundane of ideas and place them in a land of myth and history and encourages us to think? Yes. But also he encourages just to read his poems again and again..........along with the poems of others, he adds, smilingly. Continuingly recommended.

"Every true poem is a spark,/and aspires to the condition of the original fire..." (from "Body and Soul II").

In this, Wright's fifteenth volume, the language--urgent and palpable--spills off the page like a shower of sparks. Not since Yeats has a master poet in our language seemed poised to enter such a rich and important later phase. Wright is unquestionably the top dog of our poetry, and in this book his fire shows no sign of dimming.

Personally I think that ths book (and fourteen others) are a must-read for anybody interested in what the English language is capable of.

This is an excellent book. Deep, insightful, authentic and helpful to all those who want to understand themselves better. Even though it is an analysis of societal and psychological issues that men have to face and struggle with, I believe that women will also find this book very useful.

Hollis hits the nail on the head. I found this book to be accurate on many levels and I will benefit from it the rest of my life. How I view my relationship with my father has changed and how I interact with other men will never be the same. This should be required reading for fathers of boys.

Absolute must reading for anyone who wants to understand the meaning behind what boys and men do and the reason behind their behaviors. A must read for wives and mothers.

This book is roughly 135 pages. It covers a wide range of relatively complex ideas presented in a clear, well organized manner. Ever notice that when someone really understands something they don't need 300 pages to explain it?

This book challenged many of my ideas about my relationships with parents, my ex-wife, and my life choices (since childhood... I'm 36). I recommend it to anyone who is in this field or just on their own personal journey to have a greater understanding of men and their wounds / healing...

Enjoy

I am total James Hollis fan. I have now read four of his books and have found them liberating. Visit his website for a clue for why he is so effective - he is not 30 years of age with limited life experience. He commenced his training only after he completed another successful career in academia. Most would have been content to have lived the life he already had. He has the life skills and experience to help us all illuminate our lives.

The book concerns the burden of being a man, exposing some of the constricting myths that have made manhood so painful. It is a book about men but not necessarily only for men - my wife read it too and found it very moving. It is enriched by the signficant store of Hollis reading in poetry and literature. It is not an easy fix and like anything worthwhile requires your concentrated attention. Further, it is only a beginning rather than an end. Hollis says it himself when he quotes somewhere Jung's description of the psychoanalytical endeavour - it can provide insight but then there must come endurance and courage. You can have a vision of what you would like to be but then comes the fidelity to make that vision a reality.

I would recommend this book highly.

Rob

Book Three of the Heirs of Cahira O'Connor was my favorite of the series. I enjoyed the setting - the Civil War - and the development of Flanna's understanding of the real issues of the war. The aspect of a woman doctor in a time when they were not accepted was very well done. Love, loyalty, faith - it has it all...

I love this book. Even though I'm just 15. I thought is had an amazing plot and a wonderful ending. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because of the beginning. It was incredibly slow and boring. But I'm so glad I decided to keep reading!

This book is moving...I thought that it brought a new eye to the Civil War. Flanna is in Boston, studying to get her medical degree so that she can return to Charleston and help her father in his practice. However, the Civil War breaks out and Flanna is forced to figure out how she will get home. As in the other Cahira O'Connor books, she dresses as a boy and becomes a soldier.

I thought this book was very well written from beginning to end. The death of the professor is Kathleen's impetus to get back to work on the story of the heirs of Cahira O'Connor. What she finds leads her to wonder what HER role in this will be.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, but please read the other 2 books in the series first. This book will make you want to rush out and pick up the 4th.

This book is the 3rd in "The Heirs of Cahira O'Conner" series. Although I haven't read the 4th, so far this one is my favorite. Not that the first 2 are not good, they are terrific, it's just that this one gripped me from the beginning. I read this 400 page novel in just 24 hours!

Flanna O'Conner is finishing up medical school in Boston when the Civil War begins. She longs for her family in Charleston SC and disguises herself as a soldier in her effort to return to the south. Although Flanna's character has depth from the beginning, her travels deepen her character and trust in God. This is a profound story of sacrifice, loyalty, and how the effects of this war dramatically changed so many lives. These people gave up virtually everything (their lives, family, homes, & work) for a cause they believed in.

Flanna's experience and what is shared in this book really brings significance to the heroism of those who served in the Civil War. The author does an excellent job of researching our country's culture and circumstances during the mid-1800s. At the end she writes two pages on her references. I had no idea that there were 400 women who actually did pose as men in order to serve in the Civil War.

What I love about historical fiction is that it gives me a heart for the people who lived during the time, and a desire to learn more. What a great way to learn about history!!

Novelist Angela Elwell Hunt has done it again! Her exciting historical women's fiction series shines with complex stories of gifted women seeking to make a place for themselves in a world, dominated by narrow ideas of women as little more than man pleasers.

Velvet Shadow is the third in a Cahira O Connor series. Flanna O'Connor a Southern bell who defied convention to study medicine in Boston Mass on the eve of the Civil War. Her hopes to take her degree back to the south are shattered by the outbreak of war, cut off from her family she tries to enlist in the Army as a Doctor and prejudice turns her back.

This theme runs throughtout the story as the wealthy Bostonian abolitionists bemoan the fate of slaves, while mistreating their Irish servants. Her keen eye for hypocrisy in society is entertaining. I had not known that some freed blacks also had slaves. Her devotion to research illuminates the Zeitgeist (ruling ideas) of the times. When an aspiring politican pursues her to marry him and forsake medicine, Flanna, like her ancestor and many actual women in the Civil War impersonates a man to join the Union Army. She hopes to make her way home to the south and desert but her destiny as a Doctor calls her to steal supplies to treat the wounded, in spite of threat of exposure, court martial or worse. As a surgeon she becomes the Velvet Shadow who saves men who would have perished without her. Hunt has captured the misery and mismanagement of troops, supplies etc in this heartbreaking war that redefined the history of our country. Again, we are led through a series of heart breaks and changes the character must conquer to survive and thrive.

This book will spark your appetite to read the earlier books in the series that began with The Silver Sword, set in 1400's Anika of Prague must pretend to be a knight in order to escape unwanted attention of a nobleman's son. She plays in integral part in story of Jan Hus, burned at the stake for his religious beliefs.

In the second book, the Golden Cross opens in 1642 when Aidan O'Connor penniless after the death of her father at sea ekes out a living in the slums of Colonial Batavia while her spirit longs for artistic expression. A master cartographer recognizes her talent and senses God leading him to train her. Aidan enters the aristocratic world as apprenticing artist and is coached in fine manners of high born women. She longs to learn and become a wealthy artist to lift her friends from the web of wharf poverty and degradation. Aidan casts aside the brocade to masquerade as a cabin boy aboard the exploration vessel of Captain Tasman to pursue her dream. The voyage is fraught with danger, slaughter and brings Aidan to cling to God. Aidan's voyage leads to unexpected danger, treasure and you'll need to read the book to find out if she settles or succeeds.

As readers we learn in pursuing the talents God has placed within us, we can experience Kairos time creative expansion of time, versus everyday chronos time. This writer broadens my view of the past and gives inspiration to my future.

This is a very helpful book if you want to learn the trade of purse-snatching or if you've been a victim of petty theft. Walk softly in the shadows and carry a very big scissors. Dumb broads are always walking in the shadows with a big bag swinging off their shoulders. According to Mr. Kaufman, he's snatched more than 7,453 purses, mostly old ladies and cripples-hey, I'm not knocking him, I'm just saying. Looking forward to the sequel, "A Week In The Slammer," coming soon to a book store near you.

Walk in Shadows
by Nicholas Kaufmann,

"It was akin to having the hiccoughs and vomiting at the same time". (copyrite 1988 BS).
A few slops got smacked up the nostril leading to convulsions. I sneezed, rocketing the thumbtack out of my nose. A walk in the shadows, and then the likely stumble squishing the snail in the eye. Talk about blurred vision.
Upon seeing the title I thought it was a Charm(ed)ing title. No safe little morsels here. You ever get a lacrosse stick across the forehead? Yeah, me too; that is what these shadows are hiding.
Read 'em and weep ... er ... the shadows, that is, ... I have been summoned.

Brad (Author of Andy)

Check out Nick Kaufmann's collection to have your wits handed to you on a platter, carefully removed from you by his scintillating prose.

Despite what some reviewers would have you think, it's really not very often that a debut fiction collection comes along that trumpets an exciting new talent (at least new to me). I've probably only read three so far in my life. The first was Soft and Others by F. Paul Wilson, then more recently there was Douglas Clegg's The Nightmare Chronicles. Now, add Nicholas Kaufmann to that list. With Walk in Shadows, he shows a sure hand at horror, from the psychological profile ("Not That Kind of Story") to the kinetic escape (aptly titled "Go!").

There are several highlights in Kaufmann's debut collection (culled from several magazines and anthologies of which mainstream readers have likely never heard), beginning with "The Jew of Prague." This story starts out as a simple jewel heist and turns into something else. The atmosphere is the strongest point of this story and Kaufmann layers it on with gusto. Similarly, "VIP Room" is the most disturbingly sexy story I've read since Dan Simmons' "Dying in Bangkok" (as published in Lovedeath) and that is mostly due to Kaufmann's skill at setting the scene properly.

Unlike many authors, who seem to tread similar ground over and over, Kaufmann doesn't write the same kind of story (although many of them take place in his Quick City); each has a different tone -- and, surprisingly often, a different voice -- from the preceding one. This allows him to excel as the first-person narrator, since his "author's voice" is completely absorbed into the character (one prime example is with "Better Off with the Blues").

The only story in Walk in Shadows that shows its obvious origins in a themed anthology (a tribute to Jack Finney's The Body Snatchers), "With Its Sleeves Rolled," is a weaker entry, although it does manage to achieve the unthinkable: making Senator Joseph McCarthy a sympathetic character and causing the reader to think of Communism in a new way. Kaufmann's characters aren't always the nicest people (like the assassin in "The Dead Stay Dead"), but he manages to make them easy to identify with. Even the gang members in "Street Cred" -- which takes hazing to a new low, adding zombies to the equation, with complete believability -- are somehow familiar enough to elicit empathy.

"Voir Dire" is original to this collection and is another highlight. I read it prior to my own jury duty and it gets the details right, but it's really about fear: the universal fear of being found out, because everyone has a secret they wouldn't like discovered, however small. I've also ridden in a taxi in New York, but luckily it was nothing like "Hail" (a double entendre dealing with taxis and the weather). I must admit I didn't care for the ending, but I was willingly carried along up until then. Only "La Bete est Morte" was what I would call mediocre, and that only because the "surprise" was entirely predictable (in fact, I hadn't realized it was a surprise until it was revealed) and, without that, there was little remaining. This is a small complaint because the story reads so well that it almost doesn't matter.

But all of the stories in Walk in Shadows are great reading. The only piece I actually regret reading is not even Kaufmann's doing; that honor goes to Brian A. Hopkins' rambling introduction, in which he talks about himself for several pages, saving only a few paragraphs for praising Kaufmann. Aficionados of new voices in horror would do well to pick up a copy. It is filled with imagination and natural storytelling ability.

Last night I had sex with my boyfriend. His name is Jed and he's a mechanic. We didn't use no condom, so he told me that if I read this book while laying upside down on the couch, I wouldn't get preggers.

The thing is, they're aren't no pretty pictures to look at. Some of the words are real hard, like "shadows".

I borrowed a dictionary from Kyle, the sweet ol' pedophile that lives next door to me in the trailer park. Pedophile means that he's had sex with kids, but my mom says it's okay to talk to him because he's out of jail now, and the they wouldn't have let him go unless he was cured, right?

He's a sweet ol' man. Everytime I go over there he takes pictures of me with his digital camera. He espicially likes it when I wear my daisy dukes. Sometimes, I do housework for him in my bathing suit. He says it helps him with his arthritis.

He has this website with other girls on it, and they do housework for him in their bathing suits too. Some took off their tops while washing the shower. He says cuz they didn't want to get their clothes wet. Sweet, Sweet Kyle.

Sorenson attempts to give geographic ruins in north-central America the place names from the book of mormon text, and attempts to explain ancient culture, linguistics and genetic heritage in context of the book of mormon text. He makes no excuses for his pro-Mormon point of view, in advocating the book of mormon as real history of a lost-people.

Interestingly, he claims the culture and language of a group of north-central aboriginal americans has left remnants of their existence, but only a whisper of these alleged lost-people can be seen today. From the POV of modern-day fragments of archeology, anthropology, linguistics and genetics he attempts to construct a "probable" explanation of book of mormon events.

This is a book about WHAT Mormons could or can believe, and NOT about WHY you should believe it, and definitely NOT an official Mormon church stance on the matter. Sorenson asks so many questions that cannot currently be answered, I'm amazed more books haven't been published to counter or support this work, since it was first published in 1985! I was desperate to read a counter to Sorenson's ideas but all that I could find were whiner-babies on internet forums opposing the Mormon church or Mormonism as a religion.

Let's have a real "counter-Sorenson" scholarly treatise to this book and see what it turns up!?!

In the meantime, this book is very compelling FOR the legitimacy of the Book of Bormon.

This is indeed a fine book that has been able to stand strong for over 20 years. It offers pioneering insights that have brought the Book of Mormon into new light and have set the trajectory of Book of Mormon studies into a new and exciting arena. Indeed, this is a must for any serious student of the Book of Mormon, and would make for a fine introduction for those interested in Book of Mormon studies.

Some of the amazing insights that Sorenson brings into view in this work is the idea of two separate Cumorah's - something which David Palmer followed up with brilliantly in his book "In Search of Cumorah" - the DNA issue, long before it was up in "Losing a Lost Tribe" and the likes of the same ilk, and the discussion on plants, animals, metals, etc.

So this book is indeed a seminal work and a must for serious students of the Book of Mormon. Absolutely brilliant!

We all know a lot of things that aren't so. This may because of the way we receive knowledge from others. An individual bit of knowledge might have been garbled in its path to us, it may have always been nonsense, it might have been state of the art understanding that has since been supplanted, or it might be a decent approximation of reality. This book is, I believe, quite important because it is part of a serious effort to let the Book of Mormon speak for itself rather than imposing on it a mix of interpretations that come from certain hopes and guesses about what the Book of Mormon was actually saying without studying it thoroughly.

Sorenson first builds a map based upon the information provided in the book. This does away with the notion of the so-called "continental" view of the range of the Book of Mormon. He then shows us the very complex cultures in Meso-America and how things seem to have been in the centuries the Book of Mormon took place. While I have my own views and interpretations, I admire Sorenson for sticking to what the Book actually says and what the archaeological and anthropological evidence actually shows us. He doesn't try to get to the point of fitting it together and claiming that this is actually that or anything of the sort. That is a trap too many have fallen into over the years and it actually blinds more than it enlightens.

He compares what the Book of Mormon people say about their lives, the culture and its wars with the way the people of that region lived, adapted, and fought. Sorenson shows us how the rising population and the expansion of the Mayan kingdoms put pressure on the large mix of smaller tribes that "filled in the gaps". The author also helps us see quite clearly what was happening at the time of the end of Nephite civilization. This is a very interesting set of insights.

I think this is a terrific book. Yes, Sorenson is a believer (so am I). Still, this book does a very fine job of stating things on the basis of evidence. No, it does not provide a photograph of Lehi and Nephi on the beach holding the Liahona with the boat in the background. However, even if it did, non-believers would find a way to explain it away, and believers would still believe (because the belief comes from something beyond photographs).

The book has many helpful maps, illustrations, and photographs. It also has a very useful index.

Highly recommended.

Notwithstanding the fact I disagree with Sorenson about his views on Quetzecoatl, this book is a MUST for Book of Mormon students as it presents an extremely plausible geographical and cultural setting for the events related in the text of the Book of Mormon. Sorenson discusses how the drumlin in New York is _not_ the Hill Ramah/Cumorah of the Book of Mormon, contrary popular Latter-day Saint belief, metallurgy, plants and animals, distances, cities, and so forth. The fact that such a thing is plausible bodes poorly for the anti-Mormon theory that Smith was a fraud and the Book of Mormon is an example of 19th centiry fiction.

Dr. Sorenson, along with FARMS, theories the most logical setting for the BoM by keeping its time and changing its space. Not since the discovery of the Joseph Smith Papyri has a LDS work been so penetrating as An Ancient American Setting. This book remains to be the cornerstone of the yet complete scientific translation of the Book of Mormon.

Through the eyes of this avid reader, a 4th grade teacher and a camp director for middle school age students for over 20 years, I can confidently say that not only will adults enjoy this book, but so will teens. Too often the subject of death/loss and teen angst is ignored or introduced at the end of stories (ie Bridge to Terabithia, Where the Red Fern Grows, etc.). Here is a refreshing book that deals with these issues from the first chapter. There is enough baseball, mystery and friendship issues/adventures to capture even a teen boys attention. Fellow teachers: this story has great potential for some in depth (middle/high school) classroom discussions and writings in areas such as; loss, bullying and love (romantic/family/friends). On top of all of this, a mysterious character and ending to challenge/engage even an adult's discussion group. I highly recommend this book.

Over a ten day period during the summer of 1955, fourteen-year-old James Sayer learns a lot about friendship, racism, family, death, and how forgiveness always comes at a price.

It's been over a year since James's younger brother, Brand, died. Brand suffered from a rare blood disease, and everyone knew that he probably wouldn't grow into adulthood. But Brand didn't die from his disease, at least not directly, and although no one else seems to blame James for his brother's passing, he certainly blames himself. His beloved brother's death has left a hole in his heart, and he's not the same happy-go-lucky teen that he once was. He no longer has any interest in baseball, which was an activity that he and his brother shared together. Drawing, another shared interest, has been pushed by the wayside, abandoned.

Until James gets a job working at the fair for the summer alongside his friend Costello, serving ice cream at Mr. Curren's stand. Along with their other friends, G-Man and Fizz, James hopes to spend the summer working hard, avoiding the baseball games that he'll inevitably be asked to join, and staying out of trouble.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work out as well as he'd planned.

First, there are girls. Namely, a girl named Paige, who he can't seem to get enough of, even though she irritates him constantly. Then there's G-Man and the girl he loves, Marie, which causes tons of trouble since G-Man is black and Maria is white. Then there's the group of bullies in town, led by Black-Eye, who likes to make trouble anywhere he can find it.

Slowly, though, James finds these strange days of summer changing everything he knows about life and love, of tolerance and diversity, and of blame and forgiveness. For James, these ten days during 1955 might just be the turning point that he's been waiting for.

Author Jonathan Zemsky has penned an emotional story that will take you back to the past, when tensions ran high and going to the fair was the highlight of any young boy's summer. With the sounds of baseball all around you and the smell of the fairgrounds drifting in the air, BEYOND THE SHADOWS OF SUMMER is a sweet, sentimental read that you're guaranteed to enjoy.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

I blew through this book in two days. Once you start you cannot put it down. It contains drama, tragedy, comedy and also a little supernatural. I absolutely loved it and I hope this author has many more like it in the future.

When you read the brief description of "Beyond the Shadows Of Summer", you might mistakenly think that this is a story for adolescents or teens, but you'd be wrong. This is a book for men and women, boys and girls of all ages. Whether you're a teenager that can relate to the book or an adult that has this book conjure up memories, it is for everyone.

This is a story about first love, the tragic loss of a loved one, and the life altering experiences that you can go through due to both experiences.

The book, at 188 pages, is a quick read and after the first few pages, you'll be surprised at how quickly you get to page 188.

Having a teenaged son, I'm a few years removed from a lot of the experiences that the main character, James goes through...but thanks to the fine writing of Mr. Zemsky, I felt as if most of these experiences happened only yesterday.

The only negative I can think of, is that the book had to end.

Great storyline. The author manages to keep you entertained from start to finish. The characters are interesting and well developed which adds to the moral dilemmas that pop up throughout the book. An enjoyable read.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Buddy Carter writes with a style that is poignant, funny and very touching. This tale of pain and forgiveness touched my soul and I will recommend it to everyone. Buddy Carter is quite a writer and I am sure BOTH of his parents are quite proud of the way he brought forth this wonderful family story.

I only thought I had heard about Billy Carter. This is a wonderful book, written by a sensitive, loving son of a famous man. Buddy Carter is a thoughtful, intellegent author who gives an unvarnished account of his battle with and affection for his dad. I recommend this book to all of us who struggle to understand our relationship with our parents. Buddy Carter and his book are a gift.

Excellent book. Very well written and a pleasure to read. I hope Buddy Carter will take the time to write more about his historic family. This individual has a real talent!

This is a magnificent book. It is often painful and yet also very funny. Buddy Carter's relationship with his father is reminicent of the struggle many children go through for approval, while striving for independence. I am buying copies of this wonderful story for family and friends. Buddy has not only told his story...he has told the father/son story of many, including me. This is a must read!

I could not put this book down, I think Tuesday's With Morrie was the last book I was so touched by. What a wonderful and revealing portrait of a complex and interesting man. I suppose because I grew up in the South I so related to this book...a wonderful tribute to a father I always say the most we can hope for our children forgive us... Buddy seems to have been able to do just that...a loving tribute not only to Billy but Sybil as well.

Dancing in Shadows combines politics with personality. Benny Widyono creates a dynamic read in this memoir of the heady days following the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. All of the personalities and conflicting loyalties that make themselves known when the whole world comes to town (ie. UN) are in evidence here. What could be a dry record of past events is much tastier with Ambassador Widyono's wit and honesty. A must read for anyone interested in S. E. Asia.

As a undergraduate student of Cambodian history, this book was a personal must-read. Surprisingly, it isn't your typical dry historical accounting, it reads quite suspenseful at times, and one gets the feeling of being in Widyono's shoes, experiencing firsthand the lively political intrigues pitting together three powerful (yet flawed and insecure) personalities -- Sihanouk, Ranarridh, and Hun Sen. This book could very well be the definitive reference source for this under-reported and misunderstood period in Cambodian history.

Dr. Widyono gives us an insider's view into the complexities, suffering and political bargaining that transformed Cambodia. Through his book, we can now see what REALLY went on without the guise of political partisanship and propaganda. Although at the time, Dr. Widyono was a member of the UN transitional team and later a special envoy to the Secretary General, he spares no criticism of the UN operation. His account of the battle for power in Cambodia, the eventual peace process and its repercussions certainly is timely and offers lessons for today.

Rarely does an insider to a critical period in a nation's history describe the players and events so unabashedly. Dr. Widyono has provided readers with a bird's eye view of events that does not gloss over or curry favor with any group or individuals. He writes honestly and often amusingly about his life and work during this tumultuous period in Cambodia's history.

This is Benny Widyono's engaging memoir of his five years in Cambodia, first as a senior official in the UN Transitional Authority (UNTAC), responsible for the Province of Siem Reap, and later as the Personal Representative of the Secretary General after the new Royal Government was formed. Widyono's analysis of the flawed preparations for Cambodia's first modern elections is fresh and well-documented. Less dramatic, but no less important, was his role, along with the diplomatic corps in Phnom Penh, in monitoring and sometimes influencing the efforts of Cambodia to maintain a fractious coalition -- only to see it come apart in 1997. This is an engrossing read, especially for those who already know a little about Cambodia's recent history. For the beginner, it features an detailed chronology and an excellent bibliography.

A gripping story without a moment of marking time. Well researched, entertaining and absolutely consuming. Written in the legacy of that master of suspense Alistair MacLean; Keith Spence has inherrited the magic.

As the author of two novels, I have to commend Keith Spence for "Devil's Brew". This action-packed thriller contains all the elements necessary to carry this genre and Spence hit it right on the head. David Jourbet, the larger than life hero who's riddled with personal issues, makes a great point-of-view character. "Devil's Brew" is filled with an interesting supporting cast: corrupt CIA officials, nasty villains, and a mysterious romantic interest, along with a surprise ending, making "Devil's Brew" an entertaining read.

Devil's Brew is the debut novel of Keith Spence and presents the reader with a deadly thrill ride of a read. Devil's Brew is about a CIA agent facing a life sentence for murder - unless he helps them locate a missing operative, who happens to be the woman he loved but could not marry. Filled with twists and turns, betrayal, intrigue, double-dealing and high-stakes action, Devil's Brew is a compelling spy story that turns leisure reading into pure excitement!

Somehow, when I first met Keith Spence as a 16-year-old cub sportswriter in 1980, I never would have believed that two decades later this Kinston writer would create a covert operations novel so compelling that I'd have trouble putting it down.

But "Devil's Brew" is just such a novel and the exploits of David Jourbet, the book's lead character, kept me turning page after page. To say Jourbet is a remarkable personage is understatement to the nth degree.

Jourbet is not only a finely honed killing machine, but he seems to be familiar with all manner of biological warfare, terrorism and counter-terrorism, and even Satanism. Jourbet is a risk-taker, even though his body often suffers the pangs of ambitious conceit.

The novel, which was scheduled for release in October 2001, sets forth the story of a terrorist plot to destroy the lives of thousands of people by using a frighteningly enhanced strain of anthrax. As you can imagine, Shadow Line Press, the book's publisher, pushed back the release date after the 9-11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

But now you can accompany David Jourbet on his fight against terrorists in an attempt to rescue an old girlfriend and save a religious festival at Oceanview, North Carolina - a place that sounds an awful lot like Atlantic Beach to me.

As I read the book, I became increasingly impressed with Spence's research skills. Either Spence is a card-carrying member of the Wiccan Church or he did his homework. In one place he mentioned some Satanic holidays, so I checked them on the Internet. Spence was right on target. In another place, he talks about Anton LeVey's Satanic Bible. I knew enough of that subject to know what he wrote was accurate.

Remember the woman from the Centers for Disease Control that spoke to the nation about the anthrax scare? In doing research for his book, Spence interviewed her so that his treatment of anthrax would be accurate.

Mark Twain once said that one of the rules in the domain of romantic fiction is the author must make the reader care deeply about the main characters. Jourbet is a larger than life character in many ways, but Spence never allows him to become a stereotype of the white-hatted cowboy. Although Jourbet has a piercing intellect, a strong sense of patriotism and loyalty to his friends, and cat-like reflexes, he also can be bull-headed and single-minded. Jourbet is all too human, and his sense of justice drives him.

Another wonderful character is Reverend Masterson, the pastor of the church that sponsors the festival. Masterson is a man of faith whose trust in God sprouted in the bitterness of his life's misfortunes. Although truly pious, he does not offer mindless platitudes to his congregation - or to Jourbet.

Spence has supplied enough red herrings in this book to challenge and thwart the most accomplished reader of suspense stories. Just when I thought I had things figured out, Spence burst my expectation and sent my mind on a new quest to make sense of the clues.

The adult lover of spy stories should find "Devil's Brew" a page-turning delight.

I've known Keith Spence for 14 years, we were even neighbors, wow, just wow! I've read his pieces in the local paper, but didn't know this side of him! Keith grabs the reader by the jugular, beginning on page one. Devil's Brew is well researched and thought out and captures life in Eastern N.C. only the way a native could.
David Joubert is tough as nails, resourceful, a veritable "one man army", yet is a man of great ethics, also a man with a conscience. Hey, Keith, More Joubert!