Manhattan Books

Excellent book. Very well written. A beautiful love story with a few twists and turns. Really enjoyed reading it.

All too often, many of us have expectations from our clergy that are unrealistice. Although the are trained as spiritual leaders, they are, after all is said and done,-just human like the rest of us.
This novel explores how it feels to be a female, Reform Rabbi. If you would like to know what it is like to be in a position like that, this is a good book to read.
Many "issues" are dealt with-Mental illness, aging, dying, love, families, and spiritual crises. It was difficult to "put it down."

At first I did not think i would like this book.
Because it was very one dimensionally. It felt like I was at first reading a beach read. Some of the events in the book were very quirky, 20-30 somethings. But than I started to relate to what she was going through. She a jew who wanted to become more observant and did not know where she fit in.
Myself, I am in my 40's. I have had a problem since I am just learning about my roots. Even though I was brought up jewish there are things I am torn between the secular world and the jewish.
Even though this is fiction. The book put it in prospective. Especially when you don't know where you fit in. Not so much for the literal form, but that the author knew where I was coming from.
If you like reading a quirky beach romance this is for you. BEWARE
Just like the previous reviewers have said, if you love the book like I had you will be passing it on

Ugh. Nothing I hate more then an author who writes a lovely story and then spoils it at the end with some melodramatic twist that is not relevant to the plot and indicates a lack of faith in one's readers. It may represent the author's world view, but a book should be looked at as an entity with a personality of its own and diversions like the one in this book are silly. Perhaps its not just a recognition of the lack of faith in one's readers, its a lack of faith in the author's ability to hold our attention to the end. Silly.

Otherwise, a great book with very loveable and endearing characters.

I enjoyed the author's previous book very much. I 'd like to give this book a 3.5... I really enjoyed the first half of the book - the development of the characters, the writing, the storyline, etc. As someone involved in the Jewish community, I especially enjoyed the Jewish educational piece through the descriptions. as I got started I it really felt like a delightful read for my recent vacation. However, about 1/2 way through (why does this happen with so many books - both fiction and non-fiction!) As the book reached it storyline climax, I cared less about the characters than I did at the beginning. I no longer could believe what was going on.

All in all, I would share this book with friends, but would let them know to expect a book that has some really lovely Jewish parts, but has a mixed story line.

The classic novel that debuted almost a quarter of a century ago, "A Manhattan Ghost Story" follows photographer Abner Cray as he arrives in the Manhattan area of New York City. Normalcy isn't something that stays for long, as his landlord vanishes without a trace, as does the woman he begins to lust for - both events happening in that order, but nothing adds up when Cray discovers that his landlord is wanted for the murder of the woman he loves- before Cray even met her. A bizarre parade of events continues to unfold in this enthusiastically recommended story that all horror fans will relish and should find a place on every community library fiction shelf.

First time I read the book -it took me a while to find out who is human and who is ghost because the story and idea is very ground breaking and novel in horror genre. There is nothing 'typical' here. Every two-three year I read this book- it is very scary in the sense it plays with your mind. the ghost in this [ or for that matter any T M Wright/F W Armstrong] book are not your average 1000 teeth,scaly,horn,red eyes,12 feet,talon and wings. they are normal looking people. Lots of people said before and I am saying it here again- 'This is sixth sense for adult'. Like all great ghost story- this is also sad. read it. You have to read between the lines to enjoy, though. 'Waiting room' and 'spider on my toung' are kind of part 2 and 3.

Long before "The Sixth Sense" came out, this novel was contracted to be made into a major motion picture starring Sharon Stone. Along the way, the movie didn't get made, but "Sixth Sense" came out looking like a rip-off of the basic idea. Read this well-written and original book and compare.

I very much enjoyed "A Manhattan Ghost Story" from the very first page. It was around page 300 that it began to lose me. The story focuses on Abner Cray, a photographer that comes to New York City to work on a book and winds up falling in love with a woman he meets in the apartment he is subletting from a friend. As he wanders the city he finds unusual things from out of a nightmare, and begins to learn that his new love may not be what he thinks.

Wright has a wonderful, engaging style of writing, the sort of style that reads quickly and keeps you turning the page to see what happens next. The problem is that you still feel that way after the last page. There's no sense of conclusion to the book. You don't get a feeling of resolution for Abner, you only get a hint of resolution for Art, and subplots about the deaths of his parents, estrangement from his family and a superfluous subplot about an incestuous relationship with his cousin never go anywhere at all. At the ending you get a feeling that the writer intended the book to have an unresolved feeling, implying that's how life (and death) is, but instead I was just left unsatisfied.

Wright's style is good enough to make me interested in reading some of his other works (this is the first book of his I've read), but if the second one doesn't give me a more fulfilling read than this, there probably won't be a third.

I agree with the reviewer who feels Wright should be up there with Stephen King and other horror writers. I picked up this book at a used book store, and liked it so much I have now purchased used editions of all the other books of his I can get my hands on. I found this novel compelling and written in a unique style. Try it, horror fans!

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, none of the featured reviewers on Amazon's page for this novel mention the seemingly most obvious point about Dos Passos' style, which is that it's heavily influenced by Jazz rhythms and structures in its cutting between different characters and different points in time to flesh out and vary basic themes. The occasional interruptions by random characters echo the way a soloist seizes on elements or variations of a musical phrase to lend depth and context to an entire piece.

I realize this is all pretty pedestrian: after all, it's New York in the mid-20s, duh. However, some of the reviewers make the novel sound almost like proto nouveau-roman, which seems to me to be both little unfair, and also to make the novel sound a lot more confusing and difficult than it actually is.

In fact, I think an ordinary modern reader consciously or subconsciously familiar with musical and cinematic structures and techniques will have no great trouble understanding what Dos Passos is doing.

Manhattan Transfer is a subway ride through New York - both across its geographic landscape - a burgeoning metropolis, the heart of the American economy; but also, slums, dark alleys and industrial wasteland. Likewise it is a ride across the ethnic and social landscape - self-made men, fatcats, bored bourgeois bohemians and anarchists, destitute immigrants, ambitious chorus girls, and washed up stock brokers.

Dos Passsos's book is like a running paragraph that only briefly stops to take us from one sub-scape to another - his voyeuristic way of relating the social current of WWI and 1920's New York to the everyday lives of people, many of whom are caught up in that current. Dos Passos does not quite uncover any new ground or dig deep into any one point - he covers a lot of ground - there is a sense of equilibrium one gets from reading his prose. Just a few just-below the surface issues he tackles are the budding concerns of untested feminism, the moral puritanism of the Prohibition; less oblique are the issues of unfettered capitalism.

Indisputably, Dos Passos's ability to weave in and out of lives while weaving the tapestry of an exciting period in NY and America is admirable. Still, there is an aloofness in a book whose characters are less important to the story than the social forces that encompass them. With no one to anchor the story (despite some possible tenable arguments for the recurring characters), the story just keeps floating along. It doesn't have to end after 400 pages, it can run on ad infinitum.

'Manhattan Transfer' is certainly a curious read. It contains dozens of interwoven threads of people living in New York during World War I. Many of these threads are utterly forgettable, some are quite interesting. What makes 'Manhattan Transfer' so interesting is the narrative (..Dos Passos really captures the vernacular of locals) and the historical perspective; New York of 1918 is much different than it is today. So while certainly not for everyone, 'Manhattan Transfer' is a worthy diversion for those tired of fiction found on supermarket shelves.


Bottom line: less ambitious than his more famous 'USA Trilogy', Dos Passos is in fine form with his earlier work 'Manhattan Transfer'. Recommended.

Manhattan Transfer's plot is a series of interwoven stories that span several generations of interconnected lives in early twentieth-century New York City. The most appealing element of the book is Dos Passos's beatifully poetic descriptive prose. The mini-plots are a bit over-contrived and difficult to follow; he assigns them less attention and care than his descriptions of the city itself, but this is his intention. As a reader, I felt no emotional connection to any of the (many) characters I met; I did, however, feel a deep attachment to the city. It is an organic being in Dos Passos's cosmology--it is in fact the book's protagonist, almost as though it's the city's growth we're meant to be charting through the decades and its relationships with its inhabitants, rather than vice versa. His use of verbs is brilliant and rather unique: the city "breathes," it "sweats," it "sighs"; it is alive. As a book lover, you'll appreciate the language, and as a New Yorker, you simply can't not read this novel.

Yes, a five-star book compared to most of them, but compared to "USA," this novel's a warm-up, between 3 & 4 stars, rounded up for innovation if not poise. In the start of each chapter you get marvelous, miniature modernist riffs, reminding me of saxophones, Carl Sandburg, Whitman, and Joyce (he loves those runoncompounds too); these anticipate the "Camera Eye" vignettes that would enrich "USA"'s own prose concoctions. Jimmy Derf (some surname) and Ellen Oglethorpe emerge at the end as the two main characters; others come and go much like life itself--the central figure is not one human but a cast of millions. As an urban reporter here, Dos Passos excels at capturing the snatches of dialogue, smells of the bums, grit of the air (it's rare that nature itself is shown as less than threatening, when it's evident at all), and shouts and noise that, then as now, relentlessly hums and pounds along Manhattan's streets. It's naturalism combined with realism.

Since "USA" for all its flaws is one of my favorite novels, I wanted to compare "MT." The pace is very quick: I read this in three sittings, one per main section. What still seems innovative eight decades later is Dos Passos' ability to skip forward within a dialogue to show how the minutes pass even as the characters are speaking--you hear enough to understand that moment, but the next line may be a half hour later into the situation or scene or action. This "jump-cut" characteristic becomes a bit maddening at times, as it does in cinema, but technically it's fun to watch! This adds to the filmic parallels that flow through "MT," which keeps the clips coming much as a well-edited docudrama might pull off.

After 9/11, some readers of the opening pages of "Moby Dick" noticed headlines of "war in Afghanistan" and the like that seemed to presage the current turmoil, 150 years before. Towards the end of "MT," my eye lingered as I re-read this paragraph: from a failed con-man talking to a slick lawyer: "I happen to know from a secret and reliable source that there is a subversive plot among undesirable elements in this country...Good God think of the Wall Street bomb outrage...I must say that the attitude of the press has been gratifying in one respect...in fact we're approaching a national unity undreamed of before the war." (part 3. ch. 1)

Dos Passos rarely lets his characters stand still and think things through. They try, but there's always someone bursting through the door, or buttonholing them on the street, or the danger, in one dramatic case, of daydreaming leading to disaster. He captures the frenetic speed demanded by NYC, and 20c city life, in this chronicle of a couple of handfuls of characters drawn to the bright lights, and the indifference of the city towards their ambitions and schemes. It's not uplifting or casual reading, but for an immersion into the sensations that ran through and past those who grew up from about 1900-1925, this novel, while uneven, captures what it must have been like for the latest generation who thought they were the first to invent novelty, encounter licentiousness, or concoct flim-flam and skulk around in deceit and skulduggery. Homosexuality, racism, injustice, bootlegging, protest, complacency, war-fever, and rags-to-riches and back down: all these color and vivify the portrayals of the few who stand for millions more in Manhattan.

The slang may have changed since then, and the buildings have grown higher, but the people, even though they are more types than rounded (with the exception of about half-a-dozen who endure through most of the novel)--they are the kinds of figures you can still encounter today on any crowded street.

This my second Jennifer Coburn book and, in my opinion, the best so far. The characters are great (Anjoli being my personal favorite), the dialogue funny and the story line engaging. I liked the characters so much, "Tales from the Crib" will be my next read.

This was the first Jennifer Coburn book I've read, and I really liked it. It took me on so many twists and turns, each one wilder and funnier than the next. The characters are completely odd but very likeable. I actually laughed out loud during a lot of it, which I hardly ever do (unless I'm reading Dave Barry, in which case I usually shoot coffee out my nose).

Queen Gene follows Coburn's earlier book, Tales from the Crib. Although it shares some of the main characters introduced in Tales from the Crib, it really stands on its own merits. In both books, Jennifer Coburn deftly combines hilarious satire and witty social commentary with poignant and touching moments.

I read a wide range of books (mostly stolen from my wife's bedside table). These include Chick Lit like Sushi for Beginners (Marian Keyes) and Tara Road (Maeve Binchey) and "book club" books like 19 minutes (Jody Picoult). Left to my own devices, I tend toward comic novelists like Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen.

The Queen Gene appealed to me in several ways. Jennifer Coburn made me laugh at the antics of her outrageous characters (a tiny dog and an elderly Aunt were my favorites). And yet, the main characters (Lucy, Jack, and a cast of supporting family and friends) are very human and appealing. Although this book does not tackle deeply disturbing topics like the school shootings in 19 minutes, it does tap into some deeper themes about love, acceptance, and even (in a very light way) death.

I really enjoyed the Queen Gene and I look forward to reading more of Coburn's novels.

I've read other Jennifer Coburn books and been sorely disappointed, but I decided to give this one a chance because everyone raves about her as though she is a great author. Obviously a mistake and a waste of money. This book had no plot - none at all. A pushy, self-centered, drama-queen mother does not make for a plot. I had to force myself to finish this book (which I only did because I was on vacation and did not have other readily available options), and when I did, I was kicking myself for buying it. If you want to read a plot-less book with yet again, unlikeable characters, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, I'd recommend one of the other, better chick lit authors such as Meg Cabot, Jennifer Weiner, Jane Green, Marian Keyes, etc... Really just about anyone.

I am usually a fan of Jennifer Coburn - and read The Queen Gene last weekend. It is a fast read, like her others - but not so funny or clever.

Skip this one. There is better stuff out there to read during your precious free time.

Thomas Kelly, once again, makes you feel like you're smack dab in the middle of the city, just as a gust of corruption blows by. He rocks.

As the other reviewer who grew up in Inwood mentioned, the best
thing about this book is how accurately Kelly pegs the personalities
of the characters from the old neighborhood.
Yeah, there's nostalgia for the way it used to be (which wasn't
that great or safe in the 70s, btw).

I found myself trying to figure out who was the basis for some
of the characters, and which bar Johnny Mac's is, and so on.

I'd bet that if you took the A to 207th St, and went into the
first bar you saw, you'd feel like you were jumping into the
book.

When I mentioned the book to my sister, she figured out that this
couldn't be the Tommy Kelly she knew (another Tom Kelly, from Inwood,
what are the chances!)

The author is from New Jersey according to the Payback jacket.

I agree with other reviewers comments about the plot wrapping up
quickly and messily, and many of the other characters being not
so uniquely drawn.

I also read the book straight through, so if you want a
fast-paced, entertaining read about New York that lets you know
what one of it's unique neighborhoods is like, this is your
book.

Enjoy!

Years ago I read Kelly's first book (Payback) and found it a decent if unmemorable riff on the fairly well-worn topic of the recently released convict. This one is written with much greater descriptive detail and density, but also heads down well-traveled roads and is altogether too heavy on the cliches. Basically, if you like the whole New York working class Irish shtick, you'll probably like this. Most of the central characters come from the way upper Manhattan neighborhood of Innwood, a formerly heavy Irish-Catholic community now being subsumed by the latest wave of Latino immigrants. There's a deep sense of nostalgia permeating the story, as various characters lament the decline or change of the old neighborhood. The protagonist is Jimmy Dolan, former construction worker (as was Kelly), turned advance man for the mayor (as was Kelly), who's made it out of the old neighborhood.

The story finds him in the middle of an election campaign, where an altercation with a slimy Teamster boss named Keefe costs him his fancy job. It just so happens that Jimmy's father has been running a quixotic campaign against Keefe for the presidency of the local, and so he's out to destroy the Dolans. What follows is a fairly predictable tale of tit-for-tat revenge amidst a backdrop of corrupt city and union politics. Jimmy's fall from grace lands him back in the old neighborhood and into the orbit of his rather wild best friend (and Gulf War vet) Liam, and ex-flame Tara (now a cop). They are both stock characters, and Tara is especially so, a combination of action heroine and girl next door. In fact, most of the characters are straight out of central casting, such as Jimmy's father (a classic union crusader), two hitmen (Russian psychos of course), a bevy of slimy FBI agents, an old-fashion mafia don with a goofy name (Frankie Magic), and starring Keefe as the over-the-top wiseguy-wanna-be villain.

The story hinges on the impending union election and Keefe's increasingly perilous grasp of the presidency in the face of the Dolan's obstinate squeaky clean campaign. Corruption is the order of the day, and if Kelly's based his tale on things he's seen and heard in his days as mayoral advance man, it's a depressing picture. There's all kinds of intrigue, as Keefe's right-hand man looks to play both sides against the middle, and Jimmy's wheeler-dealer uncle sticks his oars in. As the plot progresses, Kelly appears compelled to up the ante by killing off character after character so that one starts to wonder if anyone's going to survive until the end. The writing tries way too hard to be hard-boiled and almost comes off as parody at times. In fact, the whole book tries to hard in general, and never feels organic--the results is a book that will momentarily divert the reader, but hardly linger long in the mind.

This book grabbed my attention and held it to the end.Another reviewer rated it low saying he much preferred Tom Wofe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" which I gave up on half way through.So;I guess how good a book is depends on the reader.I doubt that my English teacher would agree with me;but then again it wasn't he who inspired my love of reading.I worked in Lower Manhattan in the early 70's and this book brought back a lot of memories.Kelly has also portrayed the Irish blue collar and middle class culture of NY very well.There may be some things that were not entirely factual;but so what! I've read Tyler Anbinder's "Five Points" and have seen "The Gangs of New York"and I guess one might say the same about them.Remember,this is a novel written to hold one's intrest,not a history book to record facts.

This book kicked ... . I was really impressed with the way the writer developed the characters and constructed the scenes. Some people write books. Tom Kelly, on the other hand, is a genuine writer. I already loaned it to a friend.

Sabrina the teenage witch books are one of my favorite series. However I was kind of dissapointed with the pace of I'll Zap Manhattan. It's a good book to read if you have a whole day to your self, but don't try reading it over a course of a few days.

It was a great book! It was funny and laughable. I couldn't put it down for a whole hour! If i enjoyed, You should to!

When Sabrina goes to an incredibly boring ball in the Other Realm, she turns it into a party so that everyone can have fun. But then a Greek god, Circe, comes and trys to out do Sabrina party but fails.So Circe is PEEVED!!!! So she kidnaps Harvey and takes him to her Pocket World. It is like Manhattan but twisted. So Sabrina and Salem travel to her world and try to get back Harvey. With the help of a troll called Solly and a Bengal tiger-man called Roland she makes it to where Harvey is. but with no magic, can she fight one of the greatest scrocessor's of all time??

I've read all of the Sabrina books, and this one is my apsolute favorite! all though i have alot of close seconds! This book was really neat because it dabbled into greek mythology and homers tale of the oddesy (another really good book) You should really read this book it was so good you'll probably not want to put it down! (even after you finish it!)

This is actually turned out to be pretty good, considering at times it was kind of confusing. It's one of my favorite Sabrinas, though the reason why I put only four stars is because I'm deathly tired of always putting five on a book I like even a little. I think Sabrina's character was made out well in this book and she seemed more independent. Salem also added a lot of humor which I like to see, and I would say most healthy people would. (He's also really cute on the front!) I read this book quite a long time ago, so I'm don't remember ever detail, but it's really a good Sabrina...

From $upermodels to the $uper rich... So many women, so little time. What's a brotha to do! Imagine being at the top of your game and in high demand. You think that being paid for $exual pleasure is easy, a life of luxury, don't believe anything you've been told until you hear about Night's work. Over the top! Kaisha Moss, JMRC Reviewer

When I read the description of this book I could not wait to read it. Night Work is about a man name Night who wants to be a r&b singer by day but is a "maintenance man" to women by night. Sounds good right? Well, Night Work COULD have been a good novel if this same book was not done before a few years earlier by Michael Baisden. When I finally finished the book it left me feeling like "Is this it"? The murder plot was not that exciting either. Maintenance Man was a much better book.

This is the first novel I read from this author. I read this page turner quickly. The author told a good hip story. I imagined "Night" to look like Tyson Beckford!! I thought the subplot and the main plot were brought together,a bit hastily, but well done. I expected more ironies involving BethAnn and the africian dude he befriended. Night had the type of persona that is common in today's hip-hop culture. I would read another Nelson George book!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really enjoyed this book. It gave us a look into NYC night life that outsiders rarely see...some of it down-right seedy!! From the beginning, Night was someone we could empathize with. Nelson tells us of a young dark-skinned youngster being disparaged as he grew up. He didn't become someone that was Cool until being "Dark-skinned was in", (eg. Michael Jordan, Wesley Snipes, etc.)

I like how Night's character developed. You learned clearly what lead him to be a male escort. As time went on Night's take home pay increased as his clientele became more "upscale". However, through out all of this, one can feel that Night still had genuinely good intentions.

Night's true dream was in the music business. But his sister was his number one concerned. There was nothing he would not do for her. His night life, however, almost gets in the way of his family life when dealing with the wrong people gets the NYPD looking for him.

This book is a page turner. It's suspenceful and exciting. I look forward to reading more of Nelson George's books.

Night Work by Nelson George gives us a glimpse into the life of Neal Daniel Taylor, a young man who feels "childhood is the root of evil," and that his "family died along with his Ma." At the age of sixteen, Neal overcomes one of his "demons" by self-acceptance. He begins to love himself and his color, being very dark skinned, he begins to call himself "Night." Night is a male prostitute who aspires to be the next big R&B recording artist; he wants to hear his voice in more than background music. In Night Work, you will meet Night's family: Nikki, his younger and sickly sister, who he views as his `opposite', and "Pops," his father, a former activist now postman. Night describes his father as a "difficult man." They have an estranged relationship, if they have one at all. Hopefully in his efforts to overcome all obstacles and lead a `better' life, the family will come to terms with each other. Nikki desires to see what's left of their family come together.

There are some surprise twists and turns of events. Unfortunately a couple of the events land Night down in the police station. Detective Tyrone Williams would like nothing more than to see Night behind bars, especially after Night's female pimp, Raffaella, fingers him as the man she sent to the home of a now DEAD client. Now, along with everything else, Night is the number one suspect in a MURDER case, which definitely won't be good for his business. Night's dubbed as a "Black American Gigolo," in the headlines. D of D's Security, Night's friend who has saved his life more than once, can hopefully do it again.

There is a history hinted at here between D and the Detective. D refers to Detective Williams as "Fly Ty". The tension between them is almost palpable BUT once Night asks the `million dollar question' D replies, "That's a long story, Night. We don't have enough daylight left to tell it and I wouldn't talk about it after dark. You feel me?" Well, neither Night nor I understand what that meant. Which left me wondering, "What's the deal?!" So, that's a loose end for me.

However, I would definitely recommend Night Work. It was a quick and easy read, capturing my attention from the very beginning and held it. You will get a glimpse into the life of a gigolo and a well-developed character. Night Work is more than Night's sexual escapades, dealing also with relationships between his family and friends. It's a suspenseful story of self-acceptance and HOPE with a little drama and a `whodunit'.

Felicia
R.E.A.L. Reviewers

Alex Orlando is a Californian house-sitting for her uncle in New York while he's on vacation. Despite her uncle's warning, she has a fling with her (slightly odd) foreign neighbor, Christian, just a day before the man she's been in love with comes to visit.
In the meantime, her `oldest friend', Kyle, who is now living in New York, is obviously involved in something unsavory and is very close to going over the edge.
Then, she finds Christian murdered and New York suddenly starts to feel like a far less welcoming place.

Though it may sound confusing the story is very well-told and these seemingly unrelated and incompatible characters intertwine seamlessly in the absorbing plot.
The ending was a bit of a give-away but a good read nonetheless.

After having read three other books in the MTV series and finding them to be filled with depth, angst, and substance, I expected nothing less from this first novel by Meg Castaldo. I was to be deeply disappointed, I soon discovered after starting it.

The only redeeming quality of this novella is its length. Coming in at just over 200 pages, it seems pointless not to finish it after starting it. Despite the brevity, Castaldo breaks the work into 35 chapters (and an epilogue) spread over three parts, a technique that only increases the cheesiness and self-importance of the book. Some chapters are less than two full pages, scarcely more than a single, brief conversation.

As a general rule, works of fiction need to have either dynamic, three-dimensional characters or a very strong, action-driven plot, or both. This has neither. The entire book shows paper-thin characters that we know nothing about doing (often mundane) things for no observable reason, sometimes completely non sequitur.

Reading the book, I felt that Castaldo knew a lot more about her characters and plot than she wrote into the book, but because it wasn't there, it reads like a police report. The novella is written from the perspective of the main character, but we know so little about her (or any other character), and can empathize with her so poorly, that the entire work feels detached and superficial. While the title given by Castaldo, "The Foreigner," might be a commentary on how little we are meant to know about the characters, I don't credit the book with that much intelligence.

The whole plot comes together, more or less, with a less-than-climactic climax and non-existent denouement, thanks to a poorly contrived master scheme (again, that seems to exist only in the author's head) that pretends to be much more than it is.

The novella also suffers serious timing issues. For example, two characters enter an upscale French restaurant in Manhattan, sit down, and order. They exchange three lines of dialogue, and then their food arrives. To have such speedy service! Add in a gratuitous sex scene that fizzles as much as wet fireworks and you have the sum of the book.

I don't know how many rejection letters Castaldo received before MTV Books said yes, but it wasn't enough. This book is mediocre at its best, and the quality of a high-school freshman English composition at its worst. I generously gave it 2 stars (instead of 1) because it serves as an excellent example for teaching new writers how NOT to write.

Meg Castaldo has an amusingly strange way of writing stalking, mysterious murder stories. Castaldo leaves the reader wondering what really happened in the end.
A young adult girl, Alex, who has just recently gotten out on her own, watches her uncle's place in New York City. She meets many new and mysterious people. Her high school best freind shows up every mysterious moment. Almost like he is stalking her. When Alex's next door neighbor is murdered with Alex's bosses manuscript for his book lying on the coffee table it turns truly strange. Now who is to blame?Alex meets a private detective, along with Jan who is surposidly her boyfriend from Belgium. I love the way Castaldo never lets the reader stop guessing who the killer is. Everything the reader believes it is one, Castaldo turns the table and changes the suspect. This is a truly well written novel and diserves all the reading it can get.

This book is fun and it moves fast, but not because of a weak or light plot. It moves because Meg Castaldo is a creative writer and you want to find out what on earth happens next to these wacky characters. New York by itself, is strange, but when you throw in neighbors in a building and friends-of-friends, it becomes even crazier. The plot twists and turns and a murder is thrown in and you just want to keep reading to see what is going to happen on the next page. This is a fun book to travel with, but not for everyone. It is not rocket-science, don't expect Grisham or Patterson or Hemingway - expect a great, new, fresh writer you hope we will hear more from soon!

With The Foreigner, Meg Castalado has written a fast-paced, intriguing novel full of interesting characters and plot twists. The Foreigner is plainly written with little or no traces of a unique writing style on the part of Castalado. Where she shines is in the ability to construct an even, exciting page-turner. It's exciting and entertaining, plain and simple. Nothing more. But sometimes all you need is a cheap literary thrill ride like this.

Noel Cummings, university professor, young and more handsome than perhaps he realises, and physically fit, has recently lost his wife Monica, but is now doing well in his new lecturing post in New York. Then while cycle on an elevated highway he witnesses an horrific murder. When he tries to report it he is first accused of the crime himself; but then later finds himself enlisted by the police in helping track down the real culprit, the mysterious Mr X. This involves going undercover in the gay community under the code name The Lure.
Noel is soon totally immersed in his assignment and gay life; but in order not to blow his cover how far will he need to go prove that he is gay? How far can he trust his police boss? How will he cope when he finds himself strangely attracted to his supposed target Mr X with his reputation for sadistic M/M preferences, and equally attracted to Mr X's beautiful and aloof female lover and model?
Noel's world is turned upside down as he is drawn deeper and deeper into a word of gay sex and drugs, as he comes to learn things about himself he never knew. The deeper he gets the less sure he is of who he can trust, and the less sure he is of who is in control.
This all makes for a thrilling suspenseful adventure, fast paced and so well written. A fascinating mystery and game of psychology that grips the reader throughout, and which is made all the more compelling with its cast of appealing characters and ruthless villains. Highly recommended.

This gay CLASSIC is truly a fascinating and intriguing read. It is a fast paced, gritty mystery that captures the reader's imagination from the very beginning, and will keep the reader in suspense throughout the book. I totally enjoyed reading this book for the first time over 20 years ago, and having re-read it just recently, I can say without hesitation that this book is one of Picano's best. THIS IS REAL GOOD STUFF!

Wow. I just finished reading this book, which I purchased on the basis of all the positive reviews. I can honestly say that I WANTED to like this book.

I WAS drawn into the book early on. For the first 200 pages or so I was very excited to read what would happen next. (this in spite of how a straight main character is written to view gay life: things like 'the gays' filled the streets, etc...phraseology from a gay author who was trying way too hard and wound up sounding silly and dated)

The last 170 pages or so are outrageous. I don't mean in a good way. The book goes from plausibly suspenseful to being so off the deep end that it actually made me angry.

I honestly don't know how Stephen King can declare that this book is an authentic look at gay life in the 70s. Last I heard, Stephen King isn't gay. And how can ANYONE say that it is well researched in general, when the subject matter and plot twists take such ludicrous turns...

I really can't recommend this book at all...and I can't understand how anyone else grounded in reality or with any appreciation of thrillers or suspense fiction or gay lit...or ANYTHING...could enjoy this book.

Still want to read it? I have a copy I'll sell for CHEAP!

I read this book in 1980 when it was featured as the Monthly Selection of the Literary Guild book club. I have since re-read the book 2 times. The setting is definitely dated. However, I believe it is a very important work because of the fact that two different book clubs featured the novel as "Selection of the Month". In 1979-1980 a book that featured the gay community, no matter what point-of-reference was unheard of. For readers that never experienced that era, the subject may seem ridiculous. However, this novel did much for the isolated in rural areas of the country that read a "mainstream" novel on a subject such as The Lure's. This novel's importance goes far beyond the subject, setting and characters included in its pages.

What's with all the high praise?
The difference between a classic and a piece of...something that's not a classic...is its seeming timelessness. Time period flavors the plot, enriches the characters, places the action. "Dancer From The Dance" , "Giovanni's Room" - these are classics.
"The Lure" is just a dated embarrasment. The writing is amateurish, the plotting hilarious and the lead character is an early example - in a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG line - of bad homosexual fantasy figures: the masculine, muscular, beautiful, unpretentious and helplessly desirable hetereosexual man who succumbs to his true desires for men. Ridiculous and full of gay self-loathing - these characters serve no purpose except to make gay men dream about the impossible and feel badly about themselves.
It's not a new novel so I guess I can't say it follows a trend but it sure is a trend setter.
I know it's just an "entertainment" but it's a silly one at that. The murder, mayhem, sex and glamour are depicted in such a silly manner - it's difficult to take anything seriously. It may have worked in the 70s for a reader COMPLETELY unfamiliar with a certain gay lifestyle but no longer.
If you want thrills, prepare to be bored and if you are the least bit tired of all the cliched depictions of the gay "ideal" - prepare to be annoyed.
I could go on but I've gotta call the friend who advised me to read this and ask him what the hell he was thinking.
I could not recommend The Lure any less.

I actually liked the end of this book very much. The last, maybe, three pages were nice. But I thought the rest of the book was really flat. I kept thinking the main character would develop a personality, or at least fake one. But gawd, was she boring. She was living in New York, she was experiencing unrequited love, two powerful ingredients for wonderful insight. I would actually feel her on the verge of a poignant or at least amusing observation, and...it just never came. It kind of felt like drinking alcohol-free wine. You wait for the buzz, expect it, and then nothing. I'm curious to see how other people felt about this book.

I actually liked the end of this book very much. The last, maybe, three pages were nice. But I thought the rest of the book was really flat. I kept thinking the main character would develop a personality, or at least fake one. But gawd, was she boring. She was living in New York, she was experiencing unrequited love, two powerful ingredients for wonderful insight. I would actually feel her on the verge of a poignant or at least amusing observation, and...it just never came. It kind of felt like drinking alcohol-free wine. You wait for the buzz, expect it, and then nothing. I'm curious to see how other people felt about this book.

What a terrific read. Lee's lyrical prose is put to great use in this novel. The characters feel like old friends.

As a poet (Sunlight from Another Day) I strive for the kinds of comparisons that Lee uses. They're deep and distinctive - and lyrical. I'll just say "ditto" to all the 5-star reviews here. Lee is a Master. A transformational writer.
(I thought the ending made for a fine sense of the continuing Journey Home that we're all on - no matter what else may happen in our lives. See Harold Klemp's books for the best on this?)

Lovely, witty The City is a Rising Tide is full of lyrical prose and insight: "it seems ridiculous that you can just reach out and touch a person whenever you feel like it"; "sleep in its mercy pulling the plug on their personalities." Each short chapter has moments of richly rendered, unconventional wisdom. And each character in the book's absorbing, unusual plot is singular and idiosyncratic, not one of them representative of any idea or genre, only themselves.