Non-fiction Books

Cathie Linz is, truly, a splendid writer. She just picks you up and plops you down in the middle of the lives of characters you adore and root for, she keeps the pace going lickety-split until you couldn't put this book down if you tried--not even if the house were burning down. Well, maybe then. But just maybe. She never fails to create heroes who tug at your heart and make you tingle all over, and her heroines are gutsy and darling--and very real.

A funny, tender read, another terrific story from Ms. Linz, a superb storyteller.

I personally believe that THE COWBOY FINDS A BRIDE is Cathie Linz's best book yet. Give me a quiet, loner hero who's not only gorgeous, but creates beauty with his hands, and I'm a goner. I'm telling you, this story was so good, I was in tears at the end. Get this book and enjoy every word.

I just sent my husband and kids to Chuck E Cheez's so I could read Isabel Sharpe's "The Way We Weren't" for the second time (and I know many more will come). Remember falling in love the first time (come on, I was 12, I think)--you thought it would all be love and laughter. Well, when the reality of chores and bills makes that memory fade...this is the way to bring it back. After I read this, I'll be ready to laugh and love all over again. I'm starting my collection today.

Isabel Sharpe's THE WAY WE WEREN'T is witty and often laugh out loud funny. A fresh voice in romance. I'm looking forward to watching her career!

Am I ever glad that I bought this book! Isabel Sharpe's characters are engaging, her dialogue is sharp (no pun intended) and witty, and she shows a fresh, wacky sense of humor that keeps you turning the pages for more. I can't wait for her next book!

I bought this for my "almost" grandson's first birthday. I remember it from my farm and ranch childhood and now it will enchant another generation. It is somewhat "Dick and Jane"--very easy to memorize. Also it is nice to now have the board book for the really little ones.

My 14-month-old loves this book. We read it over and over again! We live in a fairly rural area and we walk every day to see horses. The book's simple drawings of horses (and cowboys) working and going about their day capitvates my daughter. It's suggested for kids around four, but it's a real hit with our toddler. I wish they had a Cowgirl Small, but that's just me.

My 3 yr. old son LOVES the Lois Lenski books, this being one of his (and my) favorites. We started reading it when he was just 2, and we have also read all the other cowboy books we can find. In my opinion, this is the one to get for a toddler. My son loves to ride around the house on his stick horse playing Cowboy Small. Timeless.

You can't go wrong with Cowboy Small. Even if your child isn't into being a cowboy, they will like this story. My 2 girls (now ages 22 and nearly 13) both LOVED Cowboy Small! I read it over and over and over and over...we had it on permanent checkout from the library it seems!! Then the library gave it to us when they were clearing out worn books...we were thrilled and treasured this book! I read this book so much I can still recite most of it. My son is 7 and he likes to play cowboy and he likes his reissue copy of Cowboy Small, but it is interesting that my girls asked for it to be read to them much more often. Our children's bouncy horse even got named Cactus in honor of Cowboy Small's horse. I recently gave this book to a 60+ yr. old friend who has horses and dresses in cowboy clothes, and he loved it! He has it displayed on a shelf in his livingroom and reads it to his grandchildren when they visit. I repeat: you just cannot go wrong with Cowboy Small. It has a simple but great story, nice pictures, and is a whole lot of fun. So glad it is available for today's children.

This is a great book, very light hearted and catchy. Be prepared to keep it handy, it's one of those books you will read it to your child, niece, nephew.... over and over again.

He was called Damiano Delstrego: wizard's son, alchemist, heir to dark magics. Yet he was also innocent, a young scholar and musician befriended by the Archangel Raphael, who instructed him in the lute.

To save his beloved city from war, Damiano left his cloistered life and set out on a pilgrimage, seeking the aid of the powerful sorceress Saara. But his road was filled with betrayal, disillusionment and death, and Damiano was forced to confront his dark-heritage, unleashing the hellish force of his awesome powers to protect those he loved.

Among 1983's most highly praised first novel, R.A. MacAvoy's Tea with the Black Dragon was called a "wonderful book" by Elizabeth Lynn and a "delight from cover onward" by Analog. With Damiano, MacAvoy begins the masterful saga of a man who must walk the narrow path between light and shadow. Be sure to read the two concluding volumes, Damiano's Lute and Raphael to complete the adventure!

A string buzzed against his fingernail; the finger itself slipped, and the beat was lost. Damiano muttered something that was a bit profane. "The problem isn't in your hand at all. It's here," said Damiano's teacher, and he laid his ivory hand on the young man's right shoulder. Damiano turned his head in surprise, his coarse black ringlets trailing over the fair skin of that hand. He shifted within his winter robe, which was colored like a tarnished brass coin and heavy as coins. The color suited Damiano, whose complexion was rather more warm than fair. "My shoulder is tight?" Damiano asked, knowing the answer already. He sighed and let his arm relax. His fingers slid limply across the yew-wood face of the liuto that lay propped on his right thigh. The sleeve of the robe, much longer than his arm and banded in scarlet, toppled over his wrist. He flipped the cloth up with a practiced, unconsdous movement that also managed to toss his tangle of hair back from his face. Damiano's hand, arm, and shoulder were slim and loosely jointed, as was the rest of him. 'Again?" he continued. "I thought I had overcome that tightness months ago." His eyes and eyelashes were as soft and black as the woolen mourning cloth that half the women of the town wore, and his eyes grew even blacker in his discouragement. He sighed once more. Raphael's grip on the youth tightened. He shook him gently, laughing, and drew Damiano against him. "You did. And you will overcome it again and again.

I'm happy there are so many wonderful reviews, but surprised that one aspect of these 3 books (published together in this omnibus edition) has not been mentioned yet: Besides enjoying a superior (gently humorous and delightfully vivid) fantasy, you will also be rendered teary at the sad scenes. Until I read these books I didn't think it was possible, outside of a Victorian novel (or William Maxwell's short story, "Thistles in Sweden"), to find oneself wiping away beautifully sad tears. Another bit of clarification: If you can't stand "Wardour Street" medieval fantasies, this isn't one. It's altogether wonderful. Read it, read it, read it!

I recently stumbled across Damiano's Lute and it all came flooding back...being taken to another world from that of my teenage years...so beautifully written. I was immersed completely and wonderfully. Now I will revisit MacAvoy and read anew. Theres just one thing knawing at me - I am not sure where I read about transformations into a tree, eagle and other life-forms..I read other, similar books in the 80's, including The Prince of Hed whose author I can't quite recall??

I think the reason Roberta MacAvoy's fantasies are not better known is that they are so hard to classify. Is the Damiano trilogy an alternate history of a time when the pope was exiled in Avignon, and the Black Death and the condottiere made life miserable, brutish, and short for almost everyone else? Is it the story of a witch who wanted to be a musician, and his little talking dog? Is it the tale of a struggle between two brothers, who happen to be the Seraph, Raphael and Lucifer, Prince of Darkness?

MacAvoy has a way of bringing me into every scene, using precise language and memorable detail:

"His mind was flooded with the memory of this very pasture in the green of summer, when his father would treat the sheep with tar poultices and incantation. Grass up to his half-grown knees, except where the flocks had cropped it. It had been cool then, in the mountains, but pleasant. Sheep's milk. Napping at midday, surrounded by curious, odorous, half-grown lambs."

I wish MacAvoy hadn't killed off my favorite characters, one by one, but it is a tribute to the power of her writing that I kept reading, anyway. I was hooked. I had to know how her trilogy ended.

If history is fair to fantasy authors, Damanio and his lute and his little, talking dog will outlast all of the overblown 'ologies' of Brooks, Goodkind, and Stephen King.

Of all the 'Earth at the end of time' stories, this is one of my favorites. Moorcock, Vance, Niven and others have written stories of the end of time, but I find this to have some of the most interesting elements.

This book stands tall alongside Jack Vance's "Dying Earth" Novels, Gene Wolfe's Books of the New Sun and "Hothouse" by Brian Aldiss as one of the best far future Earth novels I have read.

Farmer's fecund imagination is what makes this book so great - he brings the future earth alive through the creation of an amazing bestiary and a fascinating storyline. This is one of the few books I re-read on a regular basis. Highly recommended.

I first got hold of this book back in 1982 (or thereabouts), and I loved it straight off the bat. It knocked Ringworld off the top of my All Time Favourite Books list. Great extrapolations, great characters (characters you really get to care about, even though some of them are pretty, er, "out there"), and some great solid adventures. I was at art school in Glasgow at the time, and found Dark Is The Sun such a great source of well defined, richly described people (and non-people), I picked it as a college project to illustrate the cover of the book and depict the main characters. Great fun. If you read and rate good SF and you haven't read this novel, buy it NOW!

PS: Never, EVER lend your books. I had a hardback first edition, sigh...

This really deserves to be listed in the best sci-fi of all time. The story is miles wide, delving into a range of ideas that leave you gasping for more. If you want to read something intelligent that has perspectives you've not come across before, and I mean REALLY new, then you cannot afford to pass up any opportunity to read this book. I've read it many times, and I don't let people borrow it (which really annoys them, because I constantly tell them how brilliant it is). Read this book. Read it again. And again. I envy you your first trip through the pages.

Ostracized from their tribes, Deyv and Vana (and friends) undertake a series of treks across a dying Earth, 15 billion years in the future, at a time when Earth's sun is finally dying out (hence the title). Although Farmer has no peer when it comes to action, and he's been known to come up with brilliant ideas, his plots are often weak and unfocused and his characters are just as stock as can be. This (very) long novel is a textbook showcase for his failings, as the plot (using the term loosely) is painfully repetitive, and the characters offer little to recommend them. The main characters are wronged by somebody, get involved in a long chase after them, catch them, and then wind up joining forces with them to go after a new antagonist. Again and again and again. After a few iterations of this we start wondering if there's a point to all of this - it turns out there isn't, which is a darn shame. Definitely a work of fantasy, despite brief (page-long) and infrequent (1:100) forays into science fiction, this book is an imaginative, action-packed and generally entertaining romp through a primitive world of the far, far, far future, but it suffers from dragging on well past its welcome. Three and a half stars.

This book was an honest account of Kathryn Kuhlman's life--telling all the sides of KK's personality from someone who knew her well. I had not known much at all about KK. The book was very uplifting to read about her miracle ministry--how it got started and lasted for years. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to read about the power of God in healing people and learning about this great figure who was in ministry. She was mightily used of God. There is no doubt about that!

Excellent story of Kathryn Kuhlman by Jamie Bucckingham. What I wanted to know was the 2 million plus that went to the people who seemed to force themselves into Ms Kuhlmans life - how did they get all that money and where are they now? I understand she made a second will when she was near death leaving most of her money to these people.

I had heard about Kathryn Kuhlman from a number of people so I thought I'd read her biography. The author was very good at giving an open account of her life, her strengths and her weaknesses. In some ways it may have shown too much of her weaknesses. As I read it I became dismayed at her life; her choices. But as I read on it was clear that God flowed through this woman; weird as she was. It also shows that God is much bigger than we think. After reading the biographies of Charles Finney and Smith Wigglesworth and reading a number of books by Kenneth Hagin, this book shows an entirely different side of God in how He operates via the Holy Spirit. Actually this book shows the Sovereignity of God completely contradicts many of the teachings of Kenneth Hagin's theology of God will only do things for you if you have faith. With Kuhlman God healed people who weren't even looking to get healed. People got overwhelmed by the presence of God and collapsed just walking by the door of the building she was preaching in; sometimes they weren't even Christians (though some became Christians because of that experience). I think everyone that reads this book will certainly be encourged by it to seek a closer walk with Jesus.

Jamie Buckingham did a tremendous job of purely getting the heart of Miss Kuhlman on paper. In reading this I feel as though I have walked with Miss Kuhlman and stood right beside her through some of her greatest times and most difficult trials. You will find yourself unable to help being caught up in the presence of God as you read this story of her amazing life. It is a story that will propel you to greater things in God! ENJOY!!

This was a very good book to read about the life of Kathryn Kuhlman. It was good for me because it encouraged me in some ways, because I know I'm suppose to be walking with healing power like she did. I had wanted to know how she dealt with life and still stay so anointed. The part that I really liked, even though it was shortly mentioned, was about the light of God's glory that appeared around her. It exhorted me in the right direction...

This, along with A MIRROR FOR OBSERVERS, are the 2nd & 3rd volumes of the Complete Edgar Pangborn to be released by Old Earth Books. The books are quality editions: sewn signatures, acid free paper, real cloth on the boards. The books will last longer than you! Pangborn's signature is stamped in gold on the front board too.

DAVY features a full cover cover by Michael Kaluta.

If you've read the earlier comments, then you know the story.

Here's what others have said:

"I was delighted all the way through." - - Robert Heinlein

"Somewhere in Writer's Heaven, Edgar Pangborn and Mark Twain are conversing as equals, and this book is one of the principle reasons why. Davy is a kind of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn for a new age that fortunately has not come to pass, so far: the age of postnuclear apocalypse which a whole generation was once certain was inevitable, the only possible future-and which a new generation seems equally certain is impossible, even though all those missiles are still out there, and U-235 still fuses when bid. Pangborn rose to the artistic and spiritual challenge of finding hope even in holocaust, and spent most of his writing life examining those aspects of humanity and human nature which even thermonuclear fire might find difficult to extinguish. This novel is his masterpiece, one of the great works of science fiction. Over the past thirty years since I discovered it, I have often found myself having conversations with more than one of its characters, and I commend them all to you with warm pleasure." - - Spider Robinson

"DAVY is one of the very best books of its time, vivid, engrossing, sexy, funny, clear-eyed about human folly and yet deeply compassionate, a masterpiece that belongs on the exclusive short list of the three or four best After-The-Holocaust novels--and which may well be the best of them
all." - - Gardner Dozois

Order early, order often!

Long out of print, this is one of the best science fiction novels of the 1960s. Pangborn was a very good writer and this is the best of his books. Davy is a very well written bildungsroman/picaresque novel set in northeastern North America after a nuclear holocaust. Like a number of such novels, the implicit analogy is with Europe emerging from the Middle Ages with a rebirth of science and secular knowledge.
The publisher, Old Earth Books, deserves praise for their revival of Pangborn's work. Pangborn is only one of several good but neglected writers they've chosen to republish and I recommend taking a look at the offerings on their website.

Many seasons has the earth gone through since the days of my early youth, but this book stirred inside me the memories:
walking next to Davy I was young again, I loved, I made promises I knew I
would not keep, the world is again such a beautiful
and fascinating thing to discover. I found myself again
dreaming of distant lands...

This is one of the best post-holocaust novels I have
ever read (the other is "A canticle for Leibowitz").
Somehow as time goes by,I like this novel more and more.

I first read this remarkable novel when I was 14 - about the age Davy was at the start of the book. It was 1964, and I was heavily into science fiction - it offered a loner full of teenage angst an escape from the everyday world. I made some amazing literary discoveries - most of them accidental, but some of the works I flipped over back then still ring true today. DAVY is one of those works.

The story is classified as science fiction mainly, I suppose, by virtue of the fact that it takes place in the future, after a brief (but devastating) nuclear war - a theme touched on by a great many works of the Cold War era. Beyond that, it could easily fit into the broader genre of literary fiction - it's well-written and imaginative enough to appeal to a wider spectrum of readers. The sci-fi label is enough to put some people off, and that's a shame - there's a lot of great literature that's filed there, and a lot of folks are missing out as a result.

Pangborn fashioned a very believable world in which Davy and his friends (and foes) could dwell - and he peopled it with characters that are easy to accept as well. Science and learning have fallen by the wayside in this setting - the once-mighty USA has crumbled into a number of smaller nations and city-states, most of them operating under what they term as democracy. They're a far cry from it. The Holy Murcan Church is very powerful, and exerts a lot of control over both sacred and secular matters - the governments, such as they are, bow to its will generally without much grumbling. Books have been banned as evil, leading as they did to sin and destruction in the Old Times (pre-war). The Days of Confusion followed, during which the Church arose from the ashes with the rest of the survivors, and consolidated its power.

Davy is a bondservant - born to a prostitute and left in a Church-run orphanage to grow up, he runs away from his job at an inn after losing his childhood (or finding his manhood, take your pick) with the innkeeper's daughter. The book recounts a number of his adventures - he travels alone in the wilderness for a while, falls in with a small group of other outcasts, joins up with Rumly's Ramblers (a sort of post-apocalyptic American version of gypsies) for a bit, journeys to Old City in Nuin where he meets the love of his life, falls into a place in the government with her (her uncle is a progressive regent), fights in an uprising, and goes into exile. He writes his story from that vantage point, looking back over a period of twenty years or so.

Along the way, Pangborn manages very deftly to make quite a few astute comments about the state of things in the world as it exists today, by way of `looking back' at them from Davy's perspective. He does so with a serious eye, but also with a large dose of humor - he's not afraid in the least of poking the world in the gut and then giving it a good Dutch rub on the head as it bends over, something it could mightily use now and again.

A lot of the place names that are used can be easily linked to current ones - `Murcan' is probably meant to be a bastardization of `American', `Nuin' is `New England', `Moha' relates to `Mohawk', &c. Others, like `Conicut', `Vairmant' and `Penn' are more obvious. It's also hilarious the way history has been twisted over the time of the Days of Confusion - with no books to keep it alive, many, many events are tied up together and confused, and these confusions themselves make for very wry and astute observations by both the author and his rough but lovable narrator.

It's a shame this book is out of print - it's one that should be made available again, a classic not only of the sci-fi genre, but of 60s literature. It should be on the shelf right alongside Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s astonishing A CANTICLE FOR LIEBOWITZ. DAVY is a dark vision of a `possible future' - one that we could all stand to learn a bit from in order to prevent it.

Four centuries after the nuclear holocaust the United States are no longer united. What exists now are separate feudal countries who sporadically wage war against one another. Ruled by the ascetic doctrines of the Holy Murcan Church, society is deprived of technology, held in thrall by ignorance and fear. The holocaust still claims its victims with the high incidence of genetic mutations ("mues"), which must be killed on sight. The lack of hygiene and decent medical care also makes people susceptible to disease.

Red-headed Davy was born into this world and describes his life over the years, growing up as an ill-educated orphan, forced by the welfare system to work as a bond servant, until he runs away at 14, spending the next few years travelling with an assortment of wandering minstrels. Davy writes his account from an island in the Azores. He's one of a group of exiles who dared to question the teachings of the Church. Despite the improvement in his education, Davy's spirited writing is still riddled with slang.

Davy's world is so convincingly backward there were times when I forgot this book was set in the future. Another story people may be interested in is John Wyndham's novel "The Chrysalids" (1955). There are certain similarities between that book and "Davy". Like "Davy", "The Chrysalids" takes place in a post-holocaust world centuries hence, where life is strictly governed by the Church and mutants are treated as the spawn of the devil. The story is set around eastern Canada, not that far from the places mentioned in "Davy". Even the narrator's name is similar. (His name is David.) Although the character is not so preoccupied with sex and has less adventures than Davy, "The Chrysalids" is my personal preference; a book I read when I was 14. A lot of school kids hate it.

Overall, "Davy" is a light, easy read. I bought my copy second-hand, a 1976 edition, printed the year Edgar Pangborn died.

Poor Geoffrey! The man had the patients of a saint (no pun intended as that is the name Elene gives him in the story) and it paid off in the end. He saw behind the hellion that he married. I admired his fortitude because there were times I would have shaken the woman myself if I'd been him.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the book was a little different. I liked that the hero was so kind. Also I thought the relationship between the two developed and not just magically happened. This is on my keeper shelf.

I got this book from an old stack when we were cleaning out my grandmothers house and have been searching for the rest of the books online ever since. I have not been dissapointed! Everyone is as good as the last. These are books I read over and over again and still feel the anticipation and tension between the characters every time. This is still my favorite of all the de burgh stories...I am not sure if that's because it was my first de burgh story or if it is really the best.

The sad part is that without a current publisher Simmons will never be able to publish Reynold & Nicolas' stories.

I hold out hope that someday the right person will want these published and will have the power to do something about it.

First of all, let me start off by warning you that this is the second book of a sequel, the first book being Taming The Lion.

This book was one I definately had a hard time putting down. The characters were fresh and orginal and I could have easily fallen in love with Geoffrey had I been in Elene's position. Elene has some different problems than you usually see in the typical heroine and acted quite differently, but this was all a part of the uniqueness of this book. I was intrigued with the whole de Burgh family and can't wait to read the other books in the series. The only problem I had with this one, was that I was getting impatient for Elene to start comming around and falling in love with Geoffrey. I was almost to the point where I was going to start skipping pages when Elene finally started giving in to him...Whew! Hope this helps you...

I read this in a day, could not put it down - I think I said this about some of Ms. Simmons other books too!

Geoffrey de Burgh, from the earlier novel in the series, was my favorite brother and my heart went out to him when he was the one chosen to be the de Burgh to marry the FITZHUGH!

The rumours of Elene FitzHugh were rife with what a hellion she was - murdress of her husband on their wedding night, etc. so upon meeting her the brothers deBurgh were not disappointed. She was most foul in appearance, manner and mouth! But Geoffrey, following the edict from the king and the request of his father, would wed her and somehow - live through the night?

This was not your run of the mill historical romance with the hero and the heroine quickly falling in love...this was gut wrenching and painful for no matter how hard Geoffrey (God you have to love him) tried you thought he would never pull down the barriers that Elene had put up around her. She would trust no man - never! I was even beginning to doubt that there would any kind of compromise here. I think that is why the tears were brought to my eyes with the outcome.

This was a MOST enjoyable and poignant love story! Definitely a must read for the Deborah Simmons fan!

I have read all of the Mental Floss books, and this may be the best yet. The "Dead Guy Interviews" are short (2-6 page) conversations between author Michael Stusser and famous figures from history. His imagination is so colorful and the statements from the "interviewees" so realistic that I had to keep reminding myself that these were not real interviews.

Stusser really brings these characters to life. He captures their mannerisms, speech patterns, and idiosyncracies. And his humor is wonderful. Some of the funniest moments are when he tells J. Edgar Hoover that his bra strap is showing and asks artist Frida Kahlo if she ever considered getting her mustache waxed. I was left entertained and wanting to know more about some of these famous characters.

For anyone who thinks history is boring, if they read this book, they're sure to change their mind.

The book gives you a general idea about each famous guy. It is very fun to read. My daught who is 12 likes this book too.

I don't rave about many books, but this is quite simply one of the most ingenious and enjoyable books of recent years. Stusser is a regular contributor to mental_floss magazine, as well as other venues, and that comes through loud and clear here. The book reminded me of Steve Allen's show, "Meeting of Minds," back in the 70s, I think, which was based on the same premise. Different actors would play the various historical figures, and Allen would interview them, and it was very well done, quite entertaining, and even informative. I remember veteran actor Alexander Scourby played a very convincing St. Thomas Aquinas, and even Poncho Villa made an appearance, although I don't recall who played him. :-)

Anyway, this book reminded me of Allen's old show, and I was delighted to find it. Many of the names are the same, obviously, but there are differences, too. Among those who appeared on Allen's award-winning show were (in chronological order): Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Paine, Francis Bacon, Thomas Jefferson, Voltaire, Charles Darwin, and Poncho Villa. You're bound to find some of your favorites here in Stusser's book (mine were Einstein, Ben Franklin, and Winston Churchill), but the other interviews are fun, too. And by the way, the interview with Sigmund Freud is hilarious what with all the off-color, risque comments and bantering back and forth between Stusser and Freud.

The different characters respond in persona to the questions, and even when the interviewer throws in a tough question, they still respond in persona. The whole concept is terrific, and very cleverly and ingeniously executed. It's a great book for your nightstand; that is, if you can manage to fall asleep after chuckling so much at how convincingly the various personas have been recreated in interview format.

I first heard about The Dead Guy Interviews on YouTube, of all places, and immediately knew I was onto something new and amazing. (The author's conversation with Dr. Sigmund Freud is pure genius.) In addition to being one of the funniest books I've read in years (look out David Sedaris and Al Franken), the great thing about The Dead Guy Interviews is that you learn so much about the historical figures featured. It really is like sitting down with Napoleon (who needs a high chair) or Cleopatra (who tries to make a pass) - but in addition to having great dinner conversation, you leave the table feeling like a historical scholar!

Stusser's style goes beyond the comic writers doing similar books today - Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Michael Moore, etc. - because he has done his research and then some. Along with Stusser's own investigation, The Dead Guy Interviews was researched by Harvard historian Anne Kaiser (who was director of the Program on Information Policy for 25 years) and fact-checked by the staff of mental_floss magazine. When I was finished with the book, I felt like I personally knew Lincoln, Van Gogh, Beethoven, Frida Kahlo and so many more of the most interesting people in all of history. Pretty amazing folks to have over at a cocktail party, I must say! I can't recommend this book enough. Hope Stusser puts out another version soon. Amazing.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1CY8XGRCIU2IZ

My mother read the book and she said that this is a good, solid suspense novel. She was almost the edge of her seat just to read what happens next. This is a page-turner. Well done! She gave the book to my sister.

Down To The Bone was a great story, I couldn't put the book down. It was a very intreasting story and I loved it.

I could not put this book down! Every page was full of excitement and entertainment. I enjoy reading novels about the Amish, but this is my favorite. I packed this book for our out of town visit to my parents. I did not have time to finsh the book during the weekend visit. We were traveling home and my 10 year old son read the last few chapters out loud to me while I drove. I could not wait to get home to read it! He became interested in the story as he read it to me, and we discussed the entire book when he finshed. Thanks for a great book!

This book was incredible, once I started reading it I could not put it down. I am casual reader and it usually takes me a week or more to finish a book, with this one I started it yesterday afternoon, read until I couldnt keep my eyes open for another second, went to bed, got up and immediatly picked up the book and could not put it down til it was finished. Karen Harper has a way of drawing you into this book in a way that you cant wait til you get to the end to see what happens but then are disappointed that it is over once you do get there. Wonderful!!

At least one time in the book, the author makes the reader suspect every character! I do not recommend books to friends very often, but this one is making the rounds at work! And everyone is saying the same thing....everyone could be the suspect!

Bobby Salton knows she can't take her sadistic husband's abuse for another day. So at the beginning of the story, she takes her little daughter Penny when the monster isn't home and runs. Driving away in her half-working car, she finds refuge in a rambling house on the Connecticuit shore.

Hired as a live-in companion to Alma Ogilvie, Bobby helps the retired headmistress regain her independence.But Bobby's battered appearance also has a startling effect, especially on Eva Rule, Alma's niece, a successful author.

Three very different women grapple with dreams of haunted pasts, and yet form a tenuous bond. Just as they begin to look to to the future, the past catches up with them. Bobby's husband, for one thing, is still on the run looking everywhere for Bobby.

A very absorbing book and hard to put it down.

3 women...3 pasts...3 futures...what will happen to Bobby when Joe finds her? Or will Joe find her? Bobby and her daughter are being abused by Joe, Bobby's husband, they ran away to get away from the abuse. Bobby found a job as a "care-taker" and she nurses an old lady named Alma...who loves children. Alma's niece, Eva, is a writer and quite good...until she stopped writing about things she love...so in the end...will Bobby and Penny be able to stay away from Joe? Find out for yourself and read the book!

There's nothing superficial about the female characters in this book. Starting with the little girl, Penny, and moving to the eldest woman in the story, each unique character is described with increasing depth and detail. The same cannot be said for the depth of the male characters, but at least the good guys outnumber the bad. Be prepared for some VERY realistic perspectives on domestic abuse from every possible angle: the victims, the abuser, the children, and the friends.

I read this book in two days. It was well-written with execellent character development. I highly recommend it, but don't start it unless you have plenty of time to read, you won't want to put it down!

I really enjoyed reading this book from the first page to the last. Not only did it capture my attention immediately,but I connected with the characters as though they were my friends. I couldn't put it down!
I'm really tired of reading trivia. I don't feel justified in taking the time to read a book if I don't learn something. Charlotte Vale Allen set the stage in "Dreaming in Color" so we could identify the atrocities of abuse from the perspective of each character (including the child, Penny).
Kudos to the author. Not only did I learn something, but I will be more understanding of abused women in the future.