Shadow The Books

I bought this yesterday and finished it today and I have to say I was blown away. When first purchasing the book I was a bit hesitant, thinking of how very wrong D.A. Stern could have gotten it. It would be so very easy to make a collection of documents boring. This book reminded me why I love horror so much. It brought back the feelings I had when first reading Lovecraft's many stories. I just can't stop talking about this book. I recommend it to any and all horror lovers, especially fans of Lovecraft.

I bought this book in April of 07. I have been in contact with the author and Emmis Publishing because this book is fantastic! Since I am a theatre director I thought that this book would make a great play, it plays so visually even though a lot of exposition is written in e-mail or recorded therapy "transcripts." Our high school repertory theatre company has commissioned the book to be written into a play and will be opening in December of 07. Mr. Stern is able to take the somewhat unbelievable events of this Psychiatric Institute and infuse them with believability and real relationships between the characters. That is why I wanted to adapt this book into play form. Please go buy this book if you are into supernatural fiction that "feels" real. Every page looks and reads like it was pulled away from some dusty bin and has been thrust upon your lap.

A great piece of horror fiction and a thrilling new way to "write!"

I'm not a big fan of horror books, but if you liked the Twilight Zone, you will love this book. It has the single most important ingredient for a horror book: believabilty. You don't have to believe in the supernatural to enjoy this book; you just have to believe that there are those who do. The author does the rest, moving the plot and the characters along beautifully. The mystery and tension build quickly as Dr. Charles Marsh learns about his young patient. Does he begin to believe her because he is scientifically convinced that she is not hallucinating, or is his judgment impaired by his growing love for her (not to mention the drugs)?

The format of the book is a big part of the fun. This is not a straight narrative, but a collection of "documents;" some are handwritten notes, some transcripts of patient therapy sessions, some strange and oddly realistic excerpts from other "books". We get to know the characters quickly and easily through these documents, and the plot barrels along to the surprising and satisfying conclusion.

When any given publisher releases a book with a theme in which it specializes, such a work does not necessarily warrant attention; chaff gets pretty thoroughly mixed with palatable morsels in many cases, and this is as true with horror -- more true, perhaps -- than with many other genres. But when a reputable regional publisher releases a bona fide horror title, it makes a conscientious fan wonder whether it might not be worth a closer look.

This is certainly the case with Emmis Books' Shadows in the Asylum: The Case Files of Dr. Charles Marsh, an innovative work written by D.A. Stern, bestselling author of a number of Blair Witch Project adaptations and spinoffs. Not only does it warrant a closer look, its innovative structure both encourages and compels one.

Unlike more traditional books, Shadows in the Asylum's story unfolds in the form of a variety of documents, including medical records, newspaper clippings, historical documents, journal entries, email messages, and even the scribbled notes of its central character. This makes a passive reading of the book difficult and challenges the reader to glean the information that will reveal the secrets contained within its pages.

Events in the book revolve around the title Dr. Charles Marsh, a man with a dark past who has recently assumed a position as a psychologist at an asylum in Wisconsin. Marsh soon develops an interest in one of the institution's patients, a woman who suffered a mental breakdown while on an archaeological dig in northern Wisconsin and now claims to be haunted by spectral monsters. From that point onward, the lines between patient and healer begin to blur, and Marsh is inexorably drawn into a struggle with his uncertainty about what is real and what is imaginary, and what can be addressed with the tools of science and what cannot.

While the works of horror master H.P. Lovecraft are evoked by the contents of this book -- and, along with the Blair Witch Project, invoked by the publisher in its promotional and backflap materials -- discerning readers will also detect the influence of an earlier by equally seminal father of the genre: Bram Stoker, whose Dracula is a compilation of diary entries, letters, newspaper articles, phonograph transcripts, and the like. Shadows in the Asylum takes this concept a step further by presenting it graphically as well as textually. (A technique, by the way, that would make this book an ideal prop for live-action horror roleplaying games like Cthulhu Live.)

It would not be right to include any spoilers or give away any surprises here, and so this review will forgo providing too many details of the horror that lurks at the roots of this compelling story (although the most fanatic horror aficionados already know what sort of creatures lurk in the cold wastes of the upper Midwest ...). For those looking for that exceptional work that transcends what they have come to expect from an often dissatisfying genre, however, suffice it to say that Shadows in the Asylum will not disappoint.

I read this book after years of interest in the Ocean and all things therein. I had thought I read most of the published accounts of the more well-known incidents, especially here in teh U.S. This book taught me so much more was available. This is the best coverage of the New Jersey shark attacks (with photos) just now being covered in greater detail in 2 newly published books. It covers the story of an old shark fisherman, an evolution of our study of sharks and of attacks and biological data. One of the best.

First published in 1963, Shadows in the Sea has been a popular book about sharks and their relatives, the skates and rays. Thomas Allen tells what he learned from two major contributors to the book. One was Captain William Young, known as "Captain Shark Killer," the other was Mack McCormick, whose shark research is now housed in American Museum of Natural History (New York, USA). According to the author, both men had a deep abiding respect for sharks.

Thomas Allen gives an evenhanded treatment of sharks in Shadows in the Sea. The author divides his subject into four parts: sharks against humans, humans against sharks, sharks as gods or food, and sharks and their relatives as fish. He opens with the famous story of the shark attack in New Jersey in 1916, which formed the basis of the popular Jaws movies. He believes that hunting sharks does not prevent shark attacks. The wrong sharks are usually killed, and the shark population is further depleted. According to Thomas Allen, sharks have a purpose in the ocean ecosystem.

In presenting human-shark history, the author explains the painting by John Singleton Copley, "Brook Watson and the Shark" (1778). The Lord Mayor of London Watson had lost his leg to a shark. Besides including a shark on his family crest, Watson also commissioned Copley to commemorate the event. However, the beast that Copley painted was not a real shark. He imagined the shark as a huge whale possessing a large jaw of sharp teeth. Most European people at that time had little concept of what sharks actually were like.

Thomas Allen recounts how the over-killing of sharks since the 1970s spurred people to save the sharks. In 1991, the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation campaigned against annual shark fishing "derbies" in California.

(Since the "derbies" involved shooting sharks with guns and harpoons, the author refers to them as "massacres".) By 1995, the Foundation was successful in stopping the organized "derbies".

In the last half of the book, the author presents the sharks themselves, and their natural history. He writes, "Whence the Shadows? Aeons before people appeared on earth, the shark was the monarch of the primordial seas. As prehistorical era after era passed---as amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals came forth-the shark remained. The dinosaurs-Brontosaurus, Allosaurus, Triceratops, and a thousand more-stalked the earth in ponderous supremacy and vanished into extinction. But the shark lives on. Millions upon millions of years before the first precursor of man appeared, the shark began a dynasty that has remained unbroken."

In clear language, the author explains shark naming (taxonomy) and shark anatomy. After reading this book, the reader will have a greater appreciation of sharks. Thomas Allen emphasizes that sharks are to be admired and cherished for what they do. Sharks deserve a chance to be saved from extinction.

this is one of the most informative and fascinating books i have ever read. i have used it for giving speeches and for teaching. the illustrations are very interesting along with the other art works included. i must own close to a thousand books , but this is one of the very few which i read over and over.

Well, what can i say? i LOVE this book. From the first pages, an account of the "rogue shark" off New Jersey in 1916, this book is informative, exciting, and sometimes even endearing...stories of shark fisherman, attacks, and a comprehensive guide to sharks commonly found in North American oceans, i have never read a shark book that is so full of information...READ THIS BOOK!

It's hard to believe that this book is the author's first published effort. Absolutely spellbinding...I couldn't put the book down! I am eagerly looking forward to seeing more books from this author.

Maggie- congrats-- proud of you my friend!! See you soon!

For those who havent read this book, I will say that she does her research and is quite knowlegable and is earnest in all that she does- this will have some great points of interest , inspiration ,challenging and a step out of the typical realm of reading! Set back and enjoy the read and pass the word along!!

Norwegian John

I've got one word to start this review off with: WOW. Shadows Within is one of the best books I've read in a very long time; and I'm really rather picky when it comes to all the different books flooding the market these days. Too many books, not enough financing to purchase all that I'd like to. So, of course, I'm quite picky when it comes to purchasing new books to read; they've really gotta catch my attention.

It goes without saying that this book captured my attention; it captured my imagination too. A young woman with an early childhood she can't remember, a best friend who also happens to be a pagan, and a bad guy that really makes you wanna knock him on his keister are the basis for this thrilling novel that will take you from the tucked away quiet of historical Seattle clear across the country to Boston and Salem, Massachusetts. Add in a dash of romance and quite a bit of action, and you've got a mix that's sure to please just about anyone.

The main characters, Morrigan and Selena, are endearing from the word go. They're average, everyday people whose lives get turned upside down by a mislaid shipment of historically accurate diaries from the Salem Witch Trials. And that's just the beginning. I won't ruin the entire plot for you; suffice it to say the well-written and well-researched story will keep your nose buried in the book until the very end. And you'll turn the last page with regret....... wishing there were still more to the story.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading.

Margaret Nolan-Williams leaves little doubt about her talent as a storyteller with the publication of her first novel, Shadows Within. Imagination abounds in this suspense novel as the newcomer sets the stage for the plot in the prologue. This novel grabbed me from the very beginning and kept me reading until I'd finished the book. It's a given the author is developing a style of her very own.
It appears Nolan-Williams was blessed with some truly great friends at the Witchvox website who provided her with 1001 links for research and information. I've noticed of late that several other authors have taken advantage of the information this website has to offer. The extensive research in Shadows Within is evident, and the author doesn't fail to show gratitude to those who assisted in areas not just anyone could write about. Nolan-Williams has my attention and I'll be watching for next book.

The author, whose works we have admired previously, captures the essence of 20th century media and the strangeness therein throughout his elegaic Shadows, Angels and Joe Dimona.

The contributions of Dimona and his kind might be understated or underappreciated but many but they are central to the latter half of the 20th - a truly American century.

I had the privilege of meeting the late Tom Lahey, whose obituary in the NY Times did not do justice to his contributions so young Mr. Nirschel's work must suffice.

I Love this book. It is written in a subversive style, unlike almost anything I've read! The author throws convention away and has freed his imagination to ruminate about all the disparate threads in the life of an author most American's don't know. I'm originally from South Africa and Joe DiMona is regarded as one of the giants there, especially in old Durban and at University.
When I came to the states he was little thought of and hardly remembered. That has changed with this fabulous story about DiMona and America and all their points of intersection! I get it I get it, and love the way the author highlights each chapter with rock idioms and crazy swings from high art to a kind of street sensibility. It is rare I think that a funny book is written abour a funny man, rarer still that a brilliant book is done about a brilliant man; but the author is right on in both cases...Though I take exception to some of the political rhetoric I fully grasp the expose' of political charlatans, a problem incidentally not indigenous to America (or democrats).
This is a book as populist as the "Soprano's" and as wonderfully ornate in its' ambition. It's as if all America opened up to the author through Joe DiMona.

Joe DiMona finally has a recognition and appreciation worthy of his unique talent.

This is a sensational read

This is a different kind of biography. It is at once an analysis of an interesting literary career, a witty remembrance indeed, but also a politcal tome', a kind of paen to the lost world the author Joe DiMona knew. In the best parts of the story the writer, Martin Nirschel, laments the passing of DiMona and everything he embodied, while celebrating all that is enduring in the life of the artist, "His sphere expands even as the world he knows contracts". I enjoyed the story best on that level, Nirschel has a wonderful, elegaic style. He makes you feel a world long ago and his grasp of it is exquisite! Also, the book was written before the death of Tom Leahy, the president of CBS. The writing about Leahy, on the conflicting strains of power and success and his rather plain awe in being in Leahy's company stands as some of the most revealtory writing I have seen in a long while. This is a rare book about rather extraordinary people. A chronicle I think of the last days of the 20th century, even as the author wrote it I don't know that he envisioned how quickly and profoundly the world would change. The vantage point on DiMona, Leahy and the "end of the century" is breathtaking and informative.

Praise be!!! Someone has finally written something substantive about a very important though under-appreciated author, Joe DiMona. This is a very funny book and an extremely insightful one about the nature of art, politics and commerce. DiMona sold as many books as just about any American writer in the 1970's-1980's, yet no one seems to know anthing about him. I thought I was his only remaining fan til I saw this book. Martin Nirschel writes a really high powered bio that manages to encompass the last 10 or so years of DiMona's life and the strange after life, where all of the themes of his books would be played out in the Florida recount mess. Having read all of DiMona's books it is uncanny how closely the "recount" matched up with what DiMona wrote many years ago. Nirschel gets about as close to his subject as possible. There is not much objectivity, but the admiration for the work and appreciation of his subject jumps off the page. I wish the book were longer, it kept me wanting to read more and to get out some of Joe DiMona's dusty books from the 70's. Part of the story is like "Tuesdays with Morrie' and another part is a serious examination of the life of a writer and all of the pitfalls of success, while still others remind you of "Mystery Train" (a point the author makes at some juncture) where all of the loose ends of America tie together.
For Nirschel, Joe DiMona was great unifying figure, a social critic of the first order, a humorist and a wild spirit, forever young and free. With this book Martin Nirschel joins the same ranks as DiMona.

It is a tremendous read, fun, engaging, original but to darn short. I want more!!

Prior to this book, I didn't know much about the Jews who fled to China during WWII. This was an interesting and eye opening book. The story line follows a young girl and her family as they flee Austria and move to Shanghai, China. When the Japanese take over Shanghai, Jews are forced to live in an isolated part of the city guarded by soldiers. The living conditions are horrid. Many die. I highly recommend this book to anyone, young and old, studying the Holocaust.

Sometimes fiction is truer than memoir. In reading a memoir, the reader is outside the story, looking in; but in good fiction, the reader enters the story and experiences it almost as if there. With her newest book: Shanghai Shadows, Lois Ruby conjures up the magic of "being there." The setting of the book may be Shanghai, but the real story is human nature.
Ilse, her older brother Erich, and their mother and father have come to the awful realization that Austria is no place for a Jewish family. It is time to get out, but to where? There is only one possible place, Japanese occupied China--or Shanghai. At first, conditions are tolerable. As the political situation deteriorates and the United States enters the war, the immigrant population is imprisoned in a ghetto where the inhabitants have to deal with near starvation and an odious, cruel, but eccentric keeper of the gate. But it is the relationship that develops between Ilse and the little Chinese street-boy, Liu that make this refuge story so outstanding. Filled with daring resistance activities in which she and her brother participate, and inhabited by wonderfully drawn characters like Ilse's parents-- once proud and proper upper class Viennese Jews who evolve realistically as their fortunes change--this book is highly recommended.
Ages 11-14.
Reviewed by Rachel Kamin

Shanghai Shadows is another great read from Lois Ruby. The plot and setting are novel as well as well-researched. The main character Ilse is complex--at times not too admirable but always honest.

Recommended for mature readers--too old for most young children.

For suspense and surprises, twists and turns, no one invents plots like Lois Ruby. Shanghai Shadows covers six years in the life of Ilse Shpann, her brother, Erich, and their parents - six years as "stateless refugees" in Shanghai, to which they have fled from Nazi-occuped Vienna. Amidst intensely realistic evocations of the sights, sounds, smells, and diverse population of the city, Ilse matures from a willful child to a courageous, self-sacrificing (but still willful) young woman. Her acerbic sense of humor and love of adventure sustain her as conditions of life for Jews and everyone else go from bad to worse. Ilse and Erich both work for a resistance group; their father, an unemployed violinist, grows apathetic; their proper mother is the iron will that keeps together and alive until a secret from Mrs. Shpann's past shatters the family. So eventful a plot is held together by sparkling dialogue and superb characterization, with major and minor characters all interacting believably as well as coherently. The grimness of the Shpann's six years in Shanghai never overwhelms the story because it is mitigated by flashes of humor, humanity, and Ilse's indomitable spirit. Ruby is the author of Swindletop and The Moxie Kid among other books. The talent that was glimpsed in those reaches fulfillment here, in a historical novel that should not be missed! Highly recommended for grades 6 - 9.
Reviewed by Linda R. Silver
Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter, Sept./Oct. 2007

This book is a huge blessing to the growth of the body of Christ. I think it is a great "initiation" for those who are just beginning to hear testimonies of supernatural Christian experiences on TV or even in church meetings, and who sense a drawing in their hearts to know if this REALLY can happen to "ordinary" people. And it's a great resource for those looking for even more courage to reach for the "higher depths" being offered by heaven now. In other words, I found this book to be down right reassuring!

It was wisdom to begin with child testimonies. That's so convincing and "false doctrine-shattering". And Julia's own story of God moving into her home is so appealing. The way she puts it, who wouldn't want to experience this? Makes me want to be one of those crazy mystics! I loved the research she included. It is powerful evidence. And so many of her phrases cause my heart to soar, such as, "The shifting shadows of doubt and unbelief are blown away by the kiss of God." "When His Presence manifests more fully, no one will be lost in darkness or stand gazing at supernatural signs. Instead, they will be on their faces in worship and burning with love---". How many people have asked "What good is this sitting in God's presence and visions and meditating on scripture?" This book reveals Heaven's purposes.

Jim's lists, facts and categories make the book a great reference manual. But Julia's creativity and often poetic phrases and pictures make us want to "go there" with God. She has certainly stirred my heart to find more time to sit with the Lord in heavenly places---or wherever He wants to take me. I'm praying that He shines a huge spotlight on this book, because the church needs to read it and let it draw them into the intimacy of His eternal realm.

Wow! A great book from two great authors! We all know we need Jesus but do we realize how much we need the Holy Spirit as well? This book will share with you real life experiences and modern day testimonies.

This book is good for those who are interested in experiencing God. I have been having supernatural experiences my whole life (I'm 43) and I wished I had this book when I was younger. It would have given me sound biblical counsel and let me know that I was not mentally unbalanced which I thought I was for many years. When I was little I remember hearing adults talk about special padded rooms and hospitals for those who saw things and heard things that no one else did. So I ran from my "gift" and did not understand it more fully until I became a follower of Jesus.

James Goll is a very good teacher. I first read his stuff back in 1988 or 89 and it gave me a much stronger foundation. His wisdom in knowing how to see beneath the surface to the root of an issue and understand it is remarkable and it much needed today.

Julia Loren's chapters are great. Her research gives you several books in one chapter. Sometimes I felt like I read half a dozen books in one chapter. I discovered some new people and found them myself online which has increased and validated my own experiences.

This book is one I would definitely recommend to anyone seeking real spiritual experiences with God.

This book talks about how God gives us spiritual experiences so we may know Jesus Christ in a real and powerful way. He wants to heal our wounds and hurts. We are to come like little children. He has so much more for us to experience.

Highly recommend this book to those who want a real expereince into the supernatural and want to be used by God to demonstrated His power through them. God wants to touch all of his children.

Title: Sister Light Book One: Of Shadows
Author: B.B. Walter
Genre: Fantasy/ Thriller
Length: 180 pages

The book entitled "Sister Light Book One: of Shadows" written by the up and coming popular author, B. B. Walter is one of the most intriguing books I have read in a very long time. The way the author has weaved this amazing tale of fantasy is a feat not known by many. This tale keeps the reader wanting and needing to know more. "Sister Light Book One: of Shadows" is novel that a reader will not be able to put down until reaching the final page. This is a book that I definitely will be recommending to my friends and family.
I rate this book ***** stars.
Review by: Darcy J. Busch
Date: May 30, 2008

"Fantasy With Plenty of New and Different Twists"

Sister Light, Book One: Of Shadows
By: B.B. Walter

Reviewed by: Stephanie Johnson


Rose, orphaned since birth and alone after a terrible raid on the convent in which she was raised, finds she is unable to control her deadly gift as rage and fury overtake her. After a retaliation against the Kijack--the horrid creatures responsible for the raid--she finds herself in the care of a young nobleman, David of Constantine. David, who is betrothed to another woman takes pity on Rose and wants to help her at all cost, even if it is against the wishes of his fiancé.

Now the Kijack are mounting a full scale invasion of the kingdom. A war is beginning and David, Rose, and many others find themselves being drawn into battle.

Sister Light is a fantasy with plenty of new and different twists. It is a refreshing change of pace filled with action, adventure, romance, and revenge. Any fantasy reader will enjoy this story. The end leaves the reader with anticipation, hoping that book two will not be too long in coming.

Sister Light is aimed at intelligent readers who want something that has all the rumor of a classic but also an unrefined real-world depth. Walter opens her dark fantasy, Sister Light: Book One: Of Shadows, with a prophecy: "Beware the child with the pale blue eyes." From there she takes you on a compelling journey through the fantastical alternate world terrorized by the blood thirsty Kijack. The Kijack are bird like creatures with no conscience and a passion for torture. As such, an imminent sense of danger looms over the characters throughout the entire book. The author inextricably weds the characters to the land from which gave them life. She plays with the eeriness of a beleaguered homeland scattered with defenseless villages and wavering kingdoms. Loosely woven initially, Sister Light finds its voice as the story progresses. This author defies convention by shocking the reader with disturbing imagery and gothic vengeance. The divided provinces in this fabricated old world domain reach out beyond the pages to lure the reader within. I was captivated throughout the story due to the nonstop intensity and visual strength. There's a quality to Walter's storytelling that makes this novel very much like a disturbing fable. The story progresses with a glimpse into the sinister and ominous sovereigns where the enemies are plotting against the kingdom. There is no neat and tidy ending to this book. It openly entices the reader to continue the journey into the next book. I look forward to, not only seeing how the author hones her literary skills, but also to find out how it all turns out. Sister Light: Book One: Of Shadows is a must read for those who love a good fantasy with all the trappings of a gothic world full of turmoil, intimacy and horror.

Sister Light, the first published work by B.B. Walter, is a vividly descriptive tale. Each page sweeps you away with prose that propells the story forward. The primary character of this tale is wrought with inner turmoil that reflects the fastly approaching external conflict of the world around her. I was swept along right up to the end and left wanting more at the book's finale. I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel in this fast-paced fantasy trilogy! You must read this book!

This book is amazing. I loved every minute of it although I am not usually a Fantasy fan. The author is extremely descriptive and you can envision the characters and scenery in every chapter. I finished the first book (without wanting to put it down) and am left wanting to know when the second will be published...Most Excellent...

Carol Van Atta's debut novel, Slaying the Shadows, is a welcome addition to the faith-based supernatural thriller genre. With a story line that will keep you turning pages, twists and turns that will leave you guessing until the final page, and a theme that is as relevant for today as yesterday's news, Slaying the Shadows is a book well worth the time invested to read it. I recommend this book to anyone looking for something new and intriguing in Christian fiction.

What an enjoyable time spent reading this captivating story! It was very hard to put it down for even a minute! I now have a new clearer perspective of the spiritual world around me and the affects I can have on it! Can't wait to read the next one!

Once I opened this book it was a good thing I had a day off because I could not put it down. It was riveting.... I loved it.

Wow! What a thrill ride. This book captivated me from the first page. Cults, murder, angels, demons, and several twists and turns that were totally unexpected kept my attention throughout this adventure of good versus evil. I haven't read a book like this since Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness. Anyone who is a fan of the spiritual warfare genre will absolutely love this book. Incredible!

Never in my life have I started reading something that kept egging me to turn the page, read the next line, the next paragraph, the next chapter and ultimately the last page after many hours of sitting. I couldn't eat. I didn't want to look away and do anything else for fear that I would lose my page and forget something if I took too long away from these characters. My head was swimming with delight, joy, pain, sorrow and eventually finger biting chills. IF HOLLYOWOOD DOESN'T TURN THIS INTO A FILM, SHAME ON THEM. I can't wait to talk to anyone whose read it and discuss the MANY gems found within this AWARD WINNER. It's a staggering piece of LITERATURE that WILL make it into history.

My hats off to you Mr. Edwards; anything you write, I want to read. What an amazing and lush world you've developed. And the way you tell it made me hungry for more.

The surprises are emotion churning to the point of laughing, gasping, cheering and consequently uplifting. I forget the reason I purchased this novel. I don't care if I remember why. The only thing that matter's is that I lived long enough to read such wonderful words, placed in such a prolific manner, with such care for the person reading them. I hope there's a sequel. Heck, I hope there's a whole SERIES. I want to know more about DANNY BOY'S LIFE and family.

This book had me hooked within the first few pages. I could not put it down until I had read every last word. Writing from a child's point of view and making it believable is difficult but the author does it beautifully. The description of the town and character development make you feel like you are a part of the neighborhood. Snow Shadows is a book that causes a range of emotions, it will make you laugh, cry, feel anger and frustration, but ultimately leaves you with a feeling of exhiliration from taking a fantastic voyage through the life of a young boy from Cape Breton.

I started reading about this adorable little boy in Nova Scotia. WOW! This has to be the most incredible fiction I have ever read where I am convinced ALL of it is true; even though the author says on the back it relates to an incident that happened to his father and he had to wait 50 years to tell his dad's story. What a story! The characters are like no other, the writing is a style I wish I could copy. So damn easy to read I could NOT put it down. A roller coaster of emotions throughout and when you think you know what is about to happen you are so wrong. Surprises, laughter, tears. With the media currently engrossed in the actions of priests molesting altar boys this should become a best seller in no time at all. Whenever I used to hear Nova Scotia I immediately thought of LOX. Not any more. I think of Clark Kent, the Pope, Marilyn Monroe, Matadors, the Ice Capades, a miniature coffin, his Aunt Tillie and what Danny Boy had to do to his hockey skates. I could write for hours about Snow Shadows but I am limited to 1,000 words or less. Definitely 5 Stars Mr. Edwards.

A roller coaster ride of emotions that begins at the first line "When coke was a nickel and bread was a dime, I had pennies in my pocket all the time". The feelings that empower this piece of literature are far beyond my mere words. Flushed out to the point of tasting, smelling and thus feeling at every page turn. I sat and read it straight through from front to finish and was exhausted from the emotional turmoil. Never have I wanted to do anything more than read 'til the last page. One time I came close and that novel was The Good Earth. Not that I'm comparing the two, by far, but because the people and places come to life unfolding onto your world of consciousness and they don't leave. Ghosts that remain to utter phrases that will only come to be repeated through the ages and then collect for others to draw upon as their own. Yet, disguised within this lush surrounding of people you want to live with, is evil laboring to disrupt the safety of a world that tends to come unglued while a young boy travels lightly but poignantly through it. His presence captures the soul of every human being who cherishes life and does not allow its essence to be diminished by those who are destined to perpetuate evil. You cheer with this little boy through the good and gasp with him through the bad leaving one faltering for a breath as you wipe away the tears that come streaming down your face. Then when you think you know what comes next your arms grow goose bumps as the hair on the back of your neck stands at attention while your hand shakes and fights the lump in your throat as you read on, and on and on. As the end draws near, you don't want it to end and you don't want it to stop yet when the last line is read all you can do is exhale and wipe your face, with or without a tissue. It unfolds in front of you as would a movie and you leave talking about the characters within as the best show in decades.

This book has changed my life more than any other non-scriptural book. Covey's views and suggestions are so right and so clear. I wish I had followed his discipline suggestions sooner, now that I know my teenage son has ADHD and OCD. I just thought he wasn't talking to me, with my kind of child. His principles apply to everyone. Kindness, patience and PRACTICE are the key. This is only a drop in the well of knowledge in this book. Everything from communication with God in prayer to teasing is addressed.

I read this book for the first time back in 1980 when Steven R Covey was not a household name. It helped me to ACT where I had previously only THOUGHT about making changes in my life. I found that for me, it was a life changing event. I read it again in 2001 and it had the same effect. It amazes me that the council and advice offered within would be as applicable today as in 1980. That's the power of this book. It was deeper and wider than imagined and I believe it to be one of the best self-help books of all time when dealing with life in a spiritual realm.

I found this was very applicable Covey-ese in a spiritual setting. It made religious principles that I feel strongly about, more realistic for day-to-day situations. Although sometimes the advice was a little simplistic, it was generally very well thought out, and realistic.

This is the original from which Covey based all his later 7 Habits books, writings, seminars, etc. Much more powerful than expected, this is not a book for the squeamish. If you're afraid to improve, if you're afraid to make your life enormously successful, then stay away from this book. If you want to know what First Things First means, here's a great place to start.