Fiction Books


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Fiction Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Fiction
Within the Shadows
Published in Paperback by Dafina (2007-01-01)
Author: Brandon Massey
List price: $6.99
New price: $3.33
Used price: $3.20

Average review score:

Do yourself a favor
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-30
Pick up any book Brandon has a part of. This guy is remarkable at what he does. I started reading him because i wanted to read a "supernatural" book. When reading the "unreal" it is just that....unreal. But his way of writing will have you wanting more.

This is another great book he has put together. Left me on the edge of my seat expecting more and actually receiving it. Good read. Pick it up

OK
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-21
I thought this book was a little over the top. This was the first book I read of Mr. Massey and it didn't really sell me. I will probably try another book of his before I make a final judgement. I love to write and Mr. Massey is inspirational. He is very passionate about his writing and I admire him for making his dream come true. I think the best is still to come with Mr. Massey.

Didn't like author's style
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-23
Although the plot was mildly interesting, it was a little too 'far out there' to be truly captivating. I wasn't especially impressed by the author's writing style; I found his repeated inferences to the black culture interupted the material's flow. I most likely won't seek out other works by this author.

Mika takes stalking to a whole other level!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-28
Drew (short for Andrew) is a successful novelist who appears to have everything. He has a hit thriller series, a nice large home in Atlanta, several wonderful friends, and is eagerly awaiting his new book deal (which promises to make him hundreds of thousands). The only thing missing is the love of a good woman, or to finally admit that he is in love with his best friend, Carmen. A slave to habit, his life, which is clearly outlined and followed, is disrupted when he meets the "woman of his dreams" (Mika) in Starbucks. She seems, initially, to be everything he wanted....beautiful, smart, rich, sexy and seemingly independent. However, after a night of passion, Mika turns into something he doesn't want and can't handle. As the novel unfolds, Massey introduces an element of the supernatural that promises to hold the attention of the reader until the very end. With a stormy parental relationship with his father, and his mother's psychic dreams, Drew realizes that he is in trouble, but is unsure of how to escape the one he thought that he desired. Filled with psycho cats, a sweet ghost named Sammie, and a scary groundskeeper (Walter), this novel has it all.....a little romance, some mystery, some deaths and a great story. I won't tell you what or who Mika is, reading this novel will tell you that, but I will say that Massey is among the few today who can create a story to be rivaled by Tanarive Due or Octavia Butler. Read this novel and you will not regret it.

Is it Love or is she Crazy?
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-27
So I had to take a break from the romance novels and hit up one of Brandon Massey's new thrillers titled "Within The Shadows".

If you love a good thriller, then this is the book for you! It started off with a bang! It ended with a bang! This book shows you that you should be open for the possiblity of anything happening in your life! The good, the bad and the UGLY!

Brandon's main character Andrew realized all that. He was a creature of habit until the one fatal day he did something he didn't normally do! Yep, it costed him a lot when he stepped out of his normal habit and didn't FOLLOW his CONSCIENCE!!!! True enough some good came out of it. BUT a whole lot of bad and ugly came out of it ti! It was a great tale of friends, family, and lust!

Take a ride with Andrew as he deals with writing a book, selling his 4th novel, sex, love, and the ghostly adventures!!!!!

Fiction
Wives and Girlfriends
Published in Paperback by Urban Books (2007-05-01)
Author: Nishawnda Ellis
List price: $14.95
New price: $7.16
Used price: $5.99

Average review score:

the lives of WIVES AND GIRLFRIENDS
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-04
This book was an excellent read!!The plot was great and it was well written. From the start to finish you will never suspect the ending.

Hot!!!!!!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-08
This book is so good......i just couldn't wait to see what was on the next page.......dominic is like so many men who think the grass is green on the other side or that they won't ever get caught.....he really met his match when he met tera.......i was like, this woman is crazy but that's what he gets for cheating on his wife.......he doesn't want to leave her but he doesn't want her.......man the ending was great and i had that feeling it was who it was.........there has to be a sequel to this becuase i am hanging on the edge for some more.

Good Read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-28
I've been curious about Wives and Girlfriends and I finally read it. I read it one day. It was a pretty good read.

Wonderful Book!!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-22
I truly enjoyed this book!! I absolutely love the surprise ending. It was well written, fast paced and suspenseful. Highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a great mystery book.

Double Jaw Drop (token787)
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-17
Yes, I read this book, and I was surprised. Whew! it took me there, I'm so glad everything ain't all what it seems, just read the book, then you'll decide that sometimes things are not always fairytales.

Fiction
Atlas Shrugged (Centennial Ed. HC)
Published in Hardcover by Dutton Adult (2005-04-21)
Author: Ayn Rand
List price: $39.95
New price: $21.85
Used price: $25.01
Collectible price: $525.00

Average review score:

Best Book Ever Written
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-31
This novel was written more than 50 years ago. It details a progression of events that accompany a society that forcibly takes from the most productive members to provide for those that are less productive. While it is noble and compassionate to help those less fortunate, I think that it is up to each individual and family to decide how much they can help, not the government. It sure sounds familiar to what has been happening in America over the past 35 years.

Words to live by
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-18
The appearance and physical quality of the book is wonderful. I first read this book many years ago. The 100 year re-print is a great reminder of the history of this classic.

While the pace and depth of this book may bore some readers used to Stephen King and other pop writers (I am a huge SK fan by the way...) it allows one to consider the author's philosophy and make your own judgement. Personally, I've read this book 3 or 4 times, and each time I experience it a bit difference depending on my current life situation and my willingess, need, desire, to examine my own beliefs.

Give this one a try, you may just find you see the world a bit differently.

Like an excellent wine, savor but do not overimbibe.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-08
A sprawling novel of nearly 1200 pages, this book was first published in 1957 by the Russian immigrant, Ayn Rand, writing in English, a second language she had to learn. It has continued to be read, explained, interpreted, memorialized, and frequently reprinted over the last 50 years for its unapologetic defense of capitalism and its often overembellished, overdramatized lectures about Ms. Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. While very stilted and repetitive in the frequent monologues of its main characters, its profuse examples and unflinching conviction embolden it to worship the accumulation of wealth through the pursuit of capitalist ideals.

The book is divided into three sections, each with a concise, inarguable statement of logic as its title. Part I, "Non-Contradiction", shows a world in turmoil in which the opposing forces of selfishness and selflessness are colliding. In Part II, "Either-Or", she explains why the profiteers - the "movers" of the world, as she calls them - are withdrawing their knowledge and refusing to participate in the system that the rule-makers - the "looters" of the world, as she calls them - have created. In Part III, "A Is A", Ms. Rand unveils her Utopian ideals, buffered with an uninterrupted speech of 43 pages by John Galt, to show why Atlas has shrugged only to once again take a strong grip on the world which he then holds in balance.

The beauty of this book is in the clarity of its ideals and the certainty of its characters as they commit themselves to the necessity of living by Ms. Rand's objectivist philosophy. However, when reading it, you must also be prepared to skim parts because the same messages are continuously pounded into your head like a throbbing headache - greed is good, need is bad; self-reliance is good, self-dependence is bad; individualism will triumph, collectivism will fail.

Ms. Rand is certainly guilty of an excessive amount of simplification as she draws distinctions between ideas as large and somewhat nebulous as those of capitalism and socialism and, at her most insistent, seems oblivious to the essential role of government in providing roads, bridges, highways, courts, prisons, schools, libraries, parks, water and sewage systems, street lights, airports, harbors, tunnels, as well as the military, police, fire, postal, and hospital workers. Surely without that core of essential products and services provided by a collectivist, profitless government there could be no economic system of any kind, let alone the one she blesses so reverently. It also seems overly presumptive, I believe, to ignore the government created and enforced role of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and property ownership that play such an important role in a system of profiteering. Surely the abolition of these would topple a system of capitalism as quickly as it would take mobsters and racketeers to take over the role of adjudicating justice.

Nonetheless, this is an important book for anyone trying to grasp the big issues which confront our world economically. But, like an excellent wine, if you drink it too fast, you will lose some of its finer points, and if you drink too much, you will be numbed by its inebriating qualities. While Atlas Shrugged is certainly a book to be savored, it is also one not to be overimbibed.

Inspirational
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-04
Ayn Rand is probably one of the finest authors I have ever read. She has amazing character development and explores issues that are incredibly hard to describe.

I love one of the many themes of this book -- how people who do their jobs well can get penalized by others who don't understand them.

Great edition for serious reader
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-14
This edition is particularly useful in that the forward includes notes from the author's journal as to her thoughts as she planned to write this novel. It is mammoth is scope, and reads very well. Anyone who is serious about giving Ayn Rand's ideas a fair reading should consider buying this edition, as it is a well made hardcover with clear text, and will endure a great deal of physical handling.
Anyone who remembers the childhood tale of the little red hen can relate to Ayn Rand's ideas. The little red hen was the only animal in the barnyard who worked and provided for others, until she decided to go on strike to protest the laziness of the other animals. This novel is somewhat more sophisticated in the development of a similar theme.

Fiction
Baby Beluga (Raffi Songs to Read)
Published in Paperback by Crown Books for Young Readers (1992-03-17)
Author: Raffi
List price: $5.99
New price: $2.00
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

Wondefully illustrated
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-18
While the song is adorable and the pages are nice and sturdy, what I really like about this book are the illustrations. They are vibrant and clear and my son loves looking at this book over and over again. He is 16 months, so it is easy for him to point out animals and ask what they are. I like how the whale goes from being a baby, to a larger whale in the book and how different pages are shown with different perspectives. One page has a view from where the bird is flying in the sky--so the bird is large and the whale is small because he is swimming in the sea below. Another page has a broad view of the icebergs, sea, sky and northern lights. I am very impressed with the clarity and creativity of the illustrations in this book--and of course the song itself is fun to sing!

gift for new mom's or mom's to be
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-28
I love this book and the accompaning CD. My grandsons who are now 13 had this book when they were infants, and were still singing the songs when they were 5. I gave it as a gift to my God Daughter, and this one was a gift for my first Great Grandson. Raffi writes stories and songs that children should grow up with. I am positive I will give this book and CD again.

Great book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-30
This book is great even if you don't know the music. My little guy 'reads' along while listening to the Raffi CD, but you don't need the CD to enjoy the book. The pictures are terrific for the child and adult. My son insists on reading this every night at bedtime, and that's okay with me!

Songs to read books.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-19
My sister is a principal and highly recommeded this book for my grandchildren. THey love to read and sing so what better gift than to have it all wrapped into one.

Great for Special Ed Preschoolers with audio
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-26
Baby Beluga is a fantastic book for the class I work in. The three and four year old special ed students LOVE this book along with Raffi's music being played. I strongly recommend it for any child. I'm purchasing the book and the CD for my nephews who do not have any disabilities because I know they'll love it too.

Fiction
Baby Faces
Published in Board book by DK Preschool (1998-10-14)
Author: DK Publishing
List price: $4.99
New price: $3.23
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

kids love it
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-05
I got this when my twins were about 16 months old, and it immediately became one of their favorites. The book is very sturdy.

Highly recommended as the first book for a baby
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-26
This is the first book that my daughter (now 12 months) clearly responded to, and has remained her favorite. From 4 or 5 months she would smile and coo at the babies' pictures, and showed clear preferences -- unlike another reviewer's child, mine doesn't kiss the babies, but she does bang her head into the page if she likes the baby! This book is slightly smaller than the standard board book, with a slightly cushioned cover, so it was also the first book that my daughter could easily pick up and turn the pages of by herself. Highly recommended as baby's first book.

Babies love to look at other babies
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-16
My daughter loves looking at the other babies in this book! Her face lights up and her little legs start kicking when I pull this book out. There is no plot, so sometimes we make up stories about the babies in the pictures. She also likes that I let her chew on the cover of this board book.

Excellent!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-20
The book came in excellent shape. Our little girl loved this book so much that I got it for my best friend for her baby shower.

The "Baby Faces" book by Playskool is better
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-20
My 14 month old likes this book just fine. Definitely not her favorite book. She likes to look at babies in general, so probably any of these books would have the same effect. To me, the faces the babies are making kind of don't match up well to the word or feeling underneath. The angry baby doesn't look angry to me, the puzzled baby doesn't at all look puzzled to me. Oh, and the dirty baby isn't dirty enough. You want to see a dirty baby face? I bet most parents have a better picture than that one! The book called "Baby Faces" by Playskool is better. The pictures are cuter, bigger, and there are more examples of each emotion.

Fiction
Between Friends
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Mira (2006-01-01)
Author: Debbie Macomber
List price: $4.99
New price: $39.95
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

Read it!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-29
A beautiful story about how friendship can endure despite time, distance, and life's circumstances. I could see pieces of myself in each of the main characters. I bought this four years ago, and , sadly, let it sit on the shelf all these years. Although I haven't been able to find the time to read a book all the way through in the past 4 years, I read this one from cover to cover in 2 days! I highly recommend it! I'm now sending it to my best friend who lives several states away.

Enjoyable story of a friendship spanning across several decades of American history
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-22
Between Friends centers around friends Jillian Lawton and Lesley Adamski. The two girls are born in the same town, Jillian to wealthy older parents who have long-awaited their first child, and Lesley as a result of an unplanned teenage pregnancy; despite the differences in their backgrounds, the girls become fast friends. Rather than tell their story through traditional narrative means, author Debbie Macomber draws from alternate sources, namely letters that Jillian and Lesley write to each other but also their journals, news clippings, and other correspondence. I enjoyed this unique format, which lends itself particularly well to quick and easy reading.

Jillian and Lesley were both born in 1948, and so they were teenagers in the 1960s, when they struggled to make sense of issues going in their world going on at that time, namely Vietnam. Throughout the book, Macomber does a nice job of working in historical events. Vietnam figures heavily into the plot, but other events, such as the American Legion convention and the advent of the computer age, affect the characters as well. Sometimes these inclusions were a bit predictable or even contrived (eg, one letter contained the postscript "my land, what is the world coming to that people are tainting headache pills with cyanide?"), but even so, they added interest to the story.

This was the first book I read by Debbie Macomber, but it won't be the last. Although this book is likely to appeal mainly to women, Macomber injects a genuineness and warmth into her story that goes beyond "chick lit," and I look forward to discovering what else she has to offer.

LOVED LOVED LOVED This book!!!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-16
There isn't any thing about this book that I didn't like. It grabbed my interest from the very beginning and had me reading it until the wee hours of the night, I just could not put it down. I fell in love with the characters and felt as though I were a part of their friendship. I especially loved the format of this book: journal entries, letters, etc.
I highly recommend this book!

An Enjoyable Story of the Value of Friendship
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-31
Between Friends is the story of 2 girls that became friends at the age of 5 and remained best friends all their lives. The entire book was written in the format of letters, journal entries, and newspaper clippings. It was a strange format, and yet it seemed to give us a deeper glimpse into the lives of these 2 very different women.

Lesley grew up the oldest of 6 kids in a working class family. Her dad spent more time out of work than he did employeed, and her mom had to learn to live with him and all his faults. Jillian, the only child of Judge and his wife, grew up in the lap of luxary. And yet, through time and completely different circumstances, they stayed friends. This book encompasses decades in the lives of the 2 friends, through marriage, children, divorce, death and war. At times a little sappy and at times very touching, I found this book very enjoyable.

Incredible Story
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-10
I absolutely loved this book. This author is so very talented and this particular book truly showcases her talents for capturing life and friendship.

Fiction
The Collected Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway
Published in Hardcover by Marlowe & Co (1995-09)
Authors: Steve Purcell and Lawrence Deneault
List price: $22.50

Average review score:

wow
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-14
amazing collection of course. purchased it on amazon in 1996 for twenty bucks when i was in middle school. fairly sure it played a major part in my alienation as a twelve year old, as it caused my weirdo sense of humor to flourish greatly. absolutely amazed it sells for hundreds of dollars. guess i should have taken better care of it, eh? i cut up the cover to put it on my wall. silly twelve year old.

Simply Awesome
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-12
This comic inspired me so much when I was in high school. I can't even begin to describe how hilarious and well-done it is. SUCH a shame it costs so much, because it's one of the things you'd like to share with the entire world. I wish I would have taken better care of mine...not that I would ever sell it anyway. I keep coming back to it over and over again, and I'm alomost 29 now. There is so much artistry and humor going on in every single panel. It's like a cornucopia of non-sequitor humor, jabs at cheap American culture, and sheer unadulterated cartoony mayhem. If you don't laugh out loud, over and over again, there is something seriously wrong with you. Plus, there are so many little fun extras (Fizzball, the Road Trip game, Sam & Max explain our Bizarre Universe). Get it and you'll be glad you did.

Re-issue
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-26
A re-issue has pretty much been confirmed which will most likely contain everything in this book, plus all the missing comics including the new webcomic. With all that it'll probably bring the page count alot closer to 200.
Otherwize it's an awesome book, but I wouldn't pay as much as people are selling it for. I don't blame them though. It's a rare item and rare items have high prices.

Please, I beg you, re-release this
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-31
I don't pretend to know what legal situation/absolute insanity is preventing the re-release of this nugget of genius, but I beg you for the love of all that is holy: DO IT! PLEASE!

This is one of the funniest things I have ever had the good fortune to read. I borrowed it from a friend over 10 years ago, and I now wish I hadn't given it back (I don't see this guy much anyway...). From time to time, I'll try to explain this comic to someone, and the vacant, unfamiliar stare I get in reply is absolutely heartbreaking. Whomever it is that has the authority to reprint this, I am literally begging you to do so. I will gleefully pay upwards of $50 for a reissue, especially if it has some little tiny extra, like an introduction from Purcell; a bundt cake recipe, or just a couple of new sketches. I'm desperate, and $200 for a comic just feels dirty (though I confess, I've considered digging out the credit card for this).

Please.

SHAME ON YOU!!!
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 17 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-22
I love Sam & Max, A 5 STAR collection to be sure, and know for a fact that this collection is soon to be reissued. To those sellers who are charging UPWARDS OF $300 (?!!) for this little black and white 160 page book, YOU MAKE ME SICK! For that much money, I expect the book to be delivered to me in a frikkin' gold plated briefcase by an armed-to-the-teeth Secret Service agent. I HOPE YOU NEVER MAKE A DIME, you bottom-feeding nostalgia vampires.

Fiction
Dawn Rochelle, Four Novels: Six Months to Live/ I Want to Live/ So Much to Live For/ No Time to Cry
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Starfire (2000-07-11)
Author: Lurlene Mcdaniel
List price: $6.99
New price: $6.00
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

THE BEST
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-20
This book is so good. I couldn't put it down. I've read it over 10 times and burst into tears everytime. I recommend this book to everyone!

fantastic!!!!!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-31
i loved this book. normally i read books and i end up putting them down.but this one is exactly the type of book that i love. its breath taking, romantic, the type of book a girl would read and read over and over again. this book sends a message that stays in your head forever and ever! if you go to a library and you find this book, i highly recommend reading it. it is a great book that at any time the oppertunity to read it should never be turnd down.
ashley .s.

Dawn Rochelle
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-01
The book I read is called Dawn Rochelle 4 novels. Its by Lurlene McDaniel. The book has many up and downs, and emotional. There are also some funny times, and romantic. Dawn Rochelle is thirteen when she is going threw the best times in her life. She popular, pretty, and just made the cheerleading squad. Till she finds out she has to get a check up.
"Dawn, you have cancer." The doctor tells her calmly.
They have her go threw chemotherapy till they can get the right blood type to get a bone marrow transplant. Her brothers the closes match, but he suppose to get married and his fiancée thinks its going to ruin the wedding plans.
When Dawns in the hospital she gets a roommate that ends up being her best friend threw out the book. The doctor recommends a camp for them both to go to. But Sandys not able to go because shes stuck in a difference hospital during the summer cause she ends up getting even worse threw out the book.
At camp Dawn meets two new friends. They make everything better for the whole summer and they do funny pranks on the directors and have romantic times by the fires with the one she thinks shes in love with. Days go by and camps over with.
You'll have to read the book to find out what else happens. Overall I would recommend this book because it's an engaging book.

Brief Summary of Lurlene McDaniel's Dawn Rochelle 4 Novels
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-12-12
In Lurelene McDaniel's Dawn Rochelle's four novels it is a heart wrenching book. As you are reading you want to keep reading more and more and you do not want to let your book down. This book is filled with life lessons to be learned. The book is about Dawn Rochelle who has found out that she has cancer. Now, only does she have to face death in the face, but also has to learn how to adjust to the outside world after recovering. She has to learn how to deal with death and losing the people she holds dearest. After she recovers she feels as though she is an pariah. Everyone treats her differently just because she has the disease. She has a different point of view on life now. She can see what truly matters in life over just the teenage things. This is a very easy book to read not overly pedantic

AMAZING!!!!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-19
wow! i couldn't put the book down. i've read one and i read the books within half of a school day. even though i'm not going through what she's going through...cancer wise...i can relate to what she was saying. i burst into tears. i'm so touched by the relationship with her brother and her. i could just see everything. i loved it! i can't wait to read some more. i've heard great stuff about this author and everyone's been right so far. thanks.

Fiction
Dead of Night (Hidden Faces Series #3)
Published in Paperback by Zondervan (2005-04-01)
Author: Brandilyn Collins
List price: $12.99
New price: $1.89
Used price: $1.86
Collectible price: $12.99

Average review score:

Raising The Bar
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-18
In Dead of Night, forensic artist Annie Kingston finds herself mixed up in deadly game with a serial killer. Bodies of several young women have been discovered in Redding, California, and Annie has been called in to draw the unknown victims for identification. The latest body has been found just behind Annie's property, and it seems as if the killer may have Annie in the crosshairs. She must now work fast to not only protect another innocent victim, but also to save herself.

Not only does Collins raise the bar for other suspense authors, somehow she manages to make each installment better. Annie Kingston's first-person narrative effectively drives this series. Annie's struggles are real and we are able to relate with her as a parent and a Christian. As a single mom, Annie must juggle the demands of family with the intense responsibilities that come from working in law enforcement. On top of all of that, as a new Christian she faces an inward battle as she learns to rely on God completely. As Annie continually finds herself in the throes of danger, it is inspiring and encouraging to watch her faith increase.

Collin's writing is edgy, engaging, and absolutely thrilling. She knows how to take readers on a journey that will have them gripping their chairs and looking over their shoulders. This series is highly recommended for fans of suspense and mysteries, as well as those who love stories that challenge and inspire. (Originally reviewed as a series for Christian Library Journal)

Remember to breath
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-23
This is an awesome book. Brandilynn keeps you riveted to this book, very hard to put down. I can't wait for the next in the series.

Brandilyn Collins... A Superb Author of Mystery and Faith
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-14
"Dead of Night," the third book in Brandilyn Collins' four-volume 'Hidden Faces' series, is as suspense-filled as any novel by any author who writes in this genre. Even though her previous works are superb, Ms. Collins somehow gets better and better. Highly Recommended!
--R. C. Howe (aka 'Toby Martin II).

Read with your lights on!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-06
Annie Kingston has once again been called to use her forensics drawing expertise in another case. This time a serial killer is targeting her home town. The killings though are took close for Annie and her family. There's pressure to find out who the killer is. Annie herself is not sure as there is limited evidence. Plus she is worried about her teenage son and the rebellious stage he is going through. Evil and wickedness are rampant in this town and the prayers of its citizens are needed to help them survive.

I've also read the first two books in this series, but I'm going to review this one first. Why? Because it was one of the best suspense books I have read this year. I was seriously creeped out while reading this book. I won't lie though. The first two books in the series while very good just didn't keep me up late at night because I was afraid to sleep. But this book however, wow. I wanted to keep the lights on! What's interesting is that there is absolutely no hint of who the actual killer is throughout the whole book. While the killer does have scenes before they are finally revealed, there is no indication at all that points evidence towards them. When I found out who it was, I flipped back trying to figure out when this character first appears but it seemed like they had always been there in the background. Reading the killer's monologues in between characters was like listening to nails on a chalkboard. You get so uncomfortable and irritated and want to scream. The thinking is so twisted and evil that it's deliciously scary. The final battle between the killer and Annie was bite on your nails, cover your eyes, hide beneath the covers all out suspense. The only minor complaint I had was that the killer never says to Annie why they did what they did and that we don't find out what happens to them. But I'm actually rather glad this wasn't written. I hate "last chapter confessions" because it is so unreal that the killer wants to divulge everything before they get caught. Seriously, now I know why Brandilynn's tag line is "Don't Forget to Breathe." This book totally took my breath away.

A multidimensional Christian suspense novel full of surprises
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-29
Forensic artist Annie Kingston has a serial killer on her hands ---- hands that have no clue what the suspect looks like. But people who live in the area where the killer has been stalking female prey and dumping their bodies are in a near panic; the women are fearing for their lives and everyone is demanding that the authorities do more to catch the monster in their midst. The pressure on Annie is enormous. Not only is she called to each gruesome crime scene to sketch the faces of unidentified victims; she's also drawn into the investigation on a personal level when both a suspect and a body show up on her property.

As it turns out, these crimes are highly personal with regard to Annie. Her high-profile status, which had been secured in an earlier investigation (and, presumably, an earlier book), has placed her squarely in the killer's sights. What's more, her newfound faith in Christ rankles the killer to no end. Between each chapter, Collins gives the perpetrator an opportunity to reveal the chilling thoughts and motives that drive the violence, and it becomes evident early on that resentment toward the church and Christians is a prime factor behind the killing spree.

As if that wasn't enough, Annie's drug-abusing son is giving her fits, and a neighbor, the unmarried father of her daughter's best friend, is quietly and slowly revealing his attraction to her. Her life is complicated, to be sure, but as the investigation heats up, neither Annie nor Collins's readers can possibly be prepared for just how complicated it's going to get.

Despite all the big and little red herrings that crop up as the plot progresses, about a third of the way through the book I was sure I knew who the killer was, and it was not someone you'd ordinarily suspect. Much to my utter delight, I was wrong --- not even close, in fact. I can't begin to describe the pleasure I get from being mistaken about the doer when I'm reading a murder mystery, especially if the surprise ending doesn't feel contrived. That was the case here; Collins so adeptly disguises the killer's identity until the bitter, strychnine-laced end that when it was revealed, I felt simultaneously stunned and satisfied rather than tricked and cheated.

Collins also serves up some surprising insights and images that are only marginally related to the main plot but provide depth and texture to the overall story. In a scene in which Annie's daughter and her friend are simultaneously grilling cheese sandwiches and grilling Annie about another possible victim, Collins describes the resiliency of teenagers through Annie's thoughts: "Somehow they managed to turn their attention back to the priorities of the moment --- to cooking their sandwiches, sliding them onto plates, fetching drinks. Even as they pumped me for information about Karen --- not all of which I could give --- their demeanor settled like cellophane under heat, shrink-wrapped to fit this new reality." Images like that appear often enough to set Collins's writing apart from that of so many one-dimensional suspense authors.

Now to the faith part. As a new believer, Annie has a lot to learn, and this provides Collins with an opportunity to enlighten her readers as well. Her writing is not what you'd call preachy, but neither is the faith angle subtle. The primary "teaching" comes from a taped sermon that Annie listens to in her car, a slight variation on a device used by Christian writers who make their faith-related points through sermons delivered in church. To her credit, Collins does a good job of weaving the faith element in as a part of everyday life; it never felt intrusive or tacked on as an afterthought. Plus, it was pivotal to the plot, which made it even more appropriate for her to focus on.

For fans of Christian suspense, this one is up there in the stratosphere. In fact, I'm fairly confident that Collins has it in her to give an author like Patricia Cornwell a run for her money someday. She has that kind of potential.

Fiction
Dog
Published in Hardcover by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books (2007-02-06)
Author: Matthew Van Fleet
List price: $14.99
New price: $8.95
Used price: $1.82

Average review score:

Great Book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-02
I bought this for my 23 month old a few days ago. Since then, I think I've read it about 100 times already. He LOVES this book! He was quite a fan of Tails as well, but I never had to read that book so many times in a row. I think in the general description of the book the review mentioned it having 'awkward rhyming'; I don't agree with that at all. Once you go thru it once or twice, the flow is actually quite lyrical. It's also a good book because there's so much room for emphasis on the adjectives (GOOD dog!, Baaaaaad dog!, etc). Four thumbs up--two from my son, two from me.

all kids love this book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-31
i've given this book to a few different kids as a gift... all with the same reaction. they love to read about the dogs! it is an interactive book with things to touch, lift up and make move. the pages are thick so that the kids don't tear it and it stands up well to the abuse. i will be buying another one soon for my own baby.

GOOD DOG!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-01
My 12 month old LOVES this book. She has a special voice she uses just for the doggies in the pictures. She can sit there, talking to and kissing the dogs, turning turning the pages back and forth for up to an hour!!

I just wanted to reiterate the weak points in hopes that the publisher is reading these comments and might redesign the book a tad before we get our next copy. The wet dog's head and the itchy dog's leg were removed (by a neighbor baby) immediately. I really wonder why these weren't made of the same sturdy cardboard as the peeing dog's leg or the pug tails.

Defiantly a hit!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-04
I saw a young girl on an airplane several months ago completely engaged in this book and decided to give it a shot for a family trip to Alaska (1 1/2 hour dinners and a 4 1/2 flight). PERFECT solution. My 11 month old daughter LOVES this book and completely enjoys turning the pages, finding the pages with "moving parts" and/or texture.

She was captivated every evening at dinner and still picks this as one of her favorites. I highly recommend this book.

love it
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-27
My 11 month old LOVES dogs and cats. She can't read this by herself yet but she gets excited when we bring this book out and let her look at the doggies and pet them!! It blows her mind and she can't get enough. I can't wait until she's old enough to read it alone and not rip off the doggies ears etc. Well made book and very interesting for kids who love dogs.


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