Talisman Books

This book is a most have!!!!!! I couldn't put it down!If you are a lover of anything paranormal....You will love this story...It has Strong Male and Female Characters and scary Monsters in it.

Ashleigh Raine is a wonderful,GREAT writer...she knows how to make a world come to life in your mind.

I highly recommend this book and any of her books.

I loved this book! It had a ton of action and adventure, good looking demon hunters and even sexy bad guys! I can't wait to get my hands on the next one! I sure hope there are more books in the Tailsman Bay series coming!

Lover's Talisman was the first book I ever read by Ashleigh Raine. IF this one is any indication I will definately be looking for more. This story introduces us to The Shadow Walkers and they protect us from the nasties out there. This is anything goes with hot sex, danger and delicious love. Great Job!!

The writing duo Ashleigh Raine has been officially added to my list of "must buy" authors. The first book in the Talisman Bay series, this is a must read for paranormal lovers everywhere.

Chock full of steamy sex, hot alpha males, and a plot line that keeps those pages turning, this is one book that belongs on the keeper shelf. I'm an offical Shadow Walker fan for life. Please keep churning out these fantastic books!

This book broke the reading rut I've had for a couple of days. Lover's Talisman is an erotic and paranormal delight. The story and the leading characters will hook you in and won't let go until its final page. Welcome to Talisman Bay -- where things go bump in the night and where love comes along in the most unexpected ways. The Shadow Walkers consist of a secret group of five mortal men who protect people from demons, vampires, werewolves and other monsters. Stephan Rashleigh is one of those men. He has dedicated his life to protecting innocent bystanders against creepy crawlies and has given up on the idea of ever finding love. That is until he meets Mariah, an exotic dancer with a tumultuous romantic past. His life is never the same after he saves her life from a mating demon. Then he decides to continue to protect her after her best friend is kidnaped by werewolves. He knows that he is the reason why she is danger, and dreads the thought of giving up on the only woman he has ever loved. There are various twists throughout the novel.

This novel has a dark edge that comes from the paranormal aspect of the story. I liked the world of Talisman Bay and the sort of noble heroes the Walkers represented. However, I would have liked for the novel to concentrate more on the monsters -- namely the vampires, werewolves and different kinds of demons -- and less on the sexual tension between Stephan and Mariah. I found it unrealistic that Mariah delved on her sexual attraction for Stephan after she had encountered a supernatural creature for the first time. Not that I didn't enjoy the sexual tension and subsequent sex scenes between the protagonists. The scenes were amazingly hot. And I liked that the leading characters were well developed, even if the other Shadow Walkers were not as well developed. But this is an outstanding series and I look forward to getting to know all of the characters. Aside from a few inconsistencies, Talisman Bay is a steamy, action-packed, entertaining novel. I highly recommend it. I look forward to reading the second part of the series.

Morris Taylor has written a book that teaches time-tested strategies for success in a very conversational, easy-to-read style. This book is a treasure trove of wisdom that is essential for any college student, but can also be applied to business and personal life as well. I wish I had this book years ago when I attended college. It is a "must-read" for anyone who wants to achieve success in life!

This book is a perfect example of "good things come in small packages." While short- you could read it in an afternoon - the strategies discussed will greatly benefit you not just during college, but your entire life, if you apply them.

The strategies include essential personal and study habits, and the skills you should acquire to give yourself an edge during and after college life.

Like the author, I wish I had this book in my possession before starting college, and made use of the strategies presented. I wholeheartedly recommend anyone currently enrolled or will be attending college soon to get the book, read it, and apply its lessons... Your college career and life will certainly be more fulfilling.

I am a high school teacher and recently during a break from class, several students noticed "How to Create a Magical College Life" sitting on my desk. They wanted to know what kind of book it was. I simply told them to read the book cover. After each student read the back, I was stunned to see just from them reviewing the back cover how excited and inquisitive they became about the book. I'm sold that this book is a must have for anyone young or old who is serious about being successful in college. Taylor has made this book easy to read with practical, real life examples that everyone can identify with. I especially like his approach to time management, goal setting, and visualization. I highly recommend this book to be apart of every serious students' library.

John Scott
Director of Bands
Henrico High school
Henrico Public Schools

Thank you for your service. It was a great experience to buy from you. I received what I expected -on time and in great conditions.

As a profesor of history at a Big Ten univerity for over thirty-five years I have struggled to help students develop "Strategies for Better Grades, Healthier Relationships and Super-Self- Confidence." It would have been great if Morris's book had been available at the time. While professors and student advisors are well aware of many of the strategies in the book, they have not always been able to present or package them to students in a way that is interesting, fun, and instructive without sounding "preachy."

The book is student-friendly. Morris comes across as a buddy sharing advice over lunch or during a basketball game. Every "freshperson" should have this book and every parent of a new college student should sit down with him or her and go over the strategies in this book. For example, Strategy #1 Know Your College Imperative: "Why do you want to go to college? Why do you want a college degree? What are you willing to do, sacrifice, to put up with in order to do well and graduate on schedule?" These are the key questions students have to ask themselves before they waste their time, their parents' hard-earned money, and the precious time and energy of aging professors such as myself.

Morris presents four ways students can benefit from this strategy by posing several questions including the big one: "What will happen if you do not get your college degree?" Once students seriously ponder this question, they can then proceed to the other strategies, such as: resolve to always accept responsibility for your circumstances, create a personal vision statement, set personal goals, master your time, practice fiscal responsibilty, etc.

As I begin my thirty-sixth year of teaching I can already spot the students who can use this book and professors who can benefit from having students read it. This book should be in every college student's backpack.


Richard W. Thomas, Ph.D
Professor of History
310 Morris Hall
Michigan State University
E.Lansing, Michigan.

Keep reading- this novel really begins when Sarah enters the adventure. The real life of this story is Sarah's sense of humor and her composed and self-assured approach to life (despite the fact that she is a "spinster"!).

The foolish but good-hearted younger romantic couple in this book are fun and funny.

One of Heyer's best.

This is definitely one of the funniest Heyer I have read so far. I think this is probably because there are two heroes and two heroines, and their chemistry with each other is just sparkling! If I have to compare it with The Grand Sophy and Venetia (both excellent!), the laughter index here is higher.

This is a sparklingly witty book that had me laughing out loud nearly constantly. The audio version, narrated by Phyllida Nash, is delightful. Her characterizations are wonderful, from the irrepressibly flighty Eustacie to the oblivious Hugo Thane. Best of all, she conveys the characters' own sense of the absurdity of the situations in which they find themselves embroiled. I loved every minute of the production, and am sorely tempted to start over again immediately from the beginning. Highly, highly recommended.

This was an enjoyable light read. The book has less storyline and romance than I personally prefer... but over all, it's not too shabby! To keep your expectations in line, you must know it was originally published in the 1930's. The romance won't hold up compared to more contemporary authors, but some will appreciate the "less is more" quality of the book.

Anyway, this is a nice mix of a "whodunnit" with a little comedy and romance. You'll get a stoic hero; a non-sensible young woman to create chaos and a rouge who helps her; a bumbling tippler who misses it all; a flouncy fop; and a level headed beauty who's got spunk. Their adventures at an Inn in the English county of Surrey over the course of a week are an entertaining distraction from whatever else you should be doing.

This is the first Georgette Heyer novel I have read, and I believe I have stumbled on to a reliable source of light historical/romance reading to fill the space and time between the heavier, more developed stories I prefer.

This is a wonderfully rich novel, full of excellent secondary characters which lots of charm and wit. Sir Tristram has promised to marry his cousin Eustacie, But Eustacie, passionate French girl that she has has decided that Sir Tristram will never ride Ventre Terre to her rescue and so she must escape and find her glamourous cousin Ludovic who has had to flee from the country house as he has killed a man over cards. All rather romantically passionate.

Sir Tristram is not impressed at all and in his practical capable fashion goes back to retrive her, only now he ends up in a country hostel, ver probably a msugglers den with highwaymen, a Justice of the Peace and his redoubtable sister, Sarah Thane. And further more, he gets dragged into the plans by Eustacie and Sarah to prove Ludovic's innocence.

It is hilarious good fun, Heyer's sense of the ridiculous is utterly to the fore in this one. It has so much good humour - very reminiscent of The Corinthian. Sir Tristram begins as a rather dour character, but is lifted up by his engaging battles with Sarah.

This is a guaranteed enjoyable read, good first novel for Heyer fans, and although not strictly regency period (more Georgian) one of her best humoured works

This is another story about set in Talis man Bay. This one tells the story of Dusty and what a delicious man he is too. With danger and passion at an all time high, this one is another keeper.

Well, if you thought the first Talisman Bay book, Lover's Talisman was good, you've not seen anything yet!

Asleigh Raine does it again in the follow up book Forsaken Talisman. I could not turn the pages fast enough! In this book, we meet Dusty and Skylar. Her memory kidnapped, Skylar is rescued by Dusty. Combine hot steamy sex and an onrush of emotions and these two characters quickly find themselves in love. Then Skylar regains her memories and all hell breaks loose. The reader is in for one heck of a ride with this one! I'm waiting on pins and needles for the third book.

Ashleigh Raine has done it again. Forsaken Talisman is just as good as Lover's Talisman ( book 1 in the Talisman Bay series) Forsaken Talisman is action packed, the story is so entertaining and the sex is so hot you won't be able to put it down.I'm looking foward to re-reading them both. They are that good!

Forsaken Talisman is the second book of this unforgettable series. Even though this book answer some questions from the first, but it leaves you with new ones. Once you start you can't just put it down. You continue to get great characters, bad guys you love to hate,action, more twists and steamy, steamy love scenes. It is another keeper on my list. I can't wait for the third book in this series.

Those hot, kick-butt Shadow Walkers are back. This time it's Dusty's heart on the line. Oh, and those bad boys have been up to nothing good. Dusty has to decide between Skylar, the woman who captures his heart, and his loyalty to the Shadow Walkers. And this time the sex is even hotter, and the adventures more dangerous! Watch out, these vivid characters will work their way into your heart. Like me, you'll be anxiously awaiting their next adventure so you can catch up with some old friends!

`The Quest for Truth' is a wonderful story about family relationships and traditions. The story takes you far away into a time and place where anything can happen. It explores the beginning of a blossoming love affair. This story is very easy to follow which allows you to be drawn into the adventurous mind of Jack and his brother. I am looking forward to the next book...........................

The Quest for Truth is a beautifully written book that takes you inside the world of adventure...an adventure that shifts our focus in our own adventures in life. The characters that the author presented in the book are ordinary people that we meet in our own lives. The thoughts and feelings of the characters draw us into insights on the purity of love, the strength of friendship, the value of loyalty and the ability of courage to achieve the impossible. The book shifts our awareness on the truth that we mortals need power to hurdle adversities and that power emanates from a Higher Source. It makes us aware of our own need to draw power and be connected to that Higher Source for us to be able to do our predestined calling. The simplicity of how the book was written makes it light, enjoyable and heartwarming. M. Shull is truly gifted with the ability to paint pictures with beautiful words.

Wow!! even though i do know the author, i really enjoyed the book. I think that the author illistrated a way of a fairytale that goes on and on in to mysterious places. I really enjoyed this book and will recomend it to other people.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters beome alive and you can't wait to see what happens next. A real page turner, keeps you wanting more. Can't wait for Book 2. Keep 'em coming!

I recently read "The Quest for Truth: The Talisman of Truth, Book One" by M. Shull. I'm not normally a reader of fantasy, but can honestly say I enjoyed this one! The many characters were easy to follow and I enjoyed the store lines switching back and forth as the book progressed. The depiction of sites where events were taking place gave the reader a true feeling of "being there." The writer shows great imagination and I'm looking forward to reading book two!

I am fortunate enough to have known Joel Oppenheimer pretty well. He was my advisor and professor at New England College for a couple years before he passed away. Lymon (also a past professor of mine) has done a fantastic job describing Joel and his workings. There was so much about Joel that I didn't know and wish I had known. What I do know about Joel is that he was a positive presence. He was also very much a positive force in my life as a student.

Thanks, Lymon. Being taught by you, once again, was a pleasure...

A superb listener, Gilmore has tracked down and evoked from an ever-widening circle of Joe Oppenheimer's friends, enemies (few), and family the life of amid-century American poet. It's rare that biography begins from such carefully sorted living testimony. Gilmore's resulting insightful observations are met on the page by an inviting and enlisting set of Joel Oppenheimer's poems. To read DON'T TOUCH THE POET is to be touched by a poet.

This is by far one of the best biographies of a contemporary poet I've ever read. Gilmore gives us Oppenheimer the drinker, chain-smoker, cuckold, cocksman, lover, friend, good-guy, wise-man, and master of the directly stated, simply worded, poem. Oppenheimer comes across as a person who was--somehow--more than the sum of his parts. That "somehow" was his gift for living close to the bone, surviving break-ups and bouts with the bottle, and ultimately writing well. No hagiography (as so many paeons to the Beats turn out to be), Don't Touch the Poet allows us to hear from enemies and not-so-impressed-ex-wives as well as life-long friends. The end result is similar to Boswell's portrait of Dr. Johnson holding forth in his dressing gown: at one and the same time a bit off-putting, yet somewhat charming, wholly fascinating, and, one feels, totally true to life.

As good a biography as we are likely to get of Joel Oppenheimer and perhaps the only one. Joel's earlier years are especially well researched and told. The absence of Amiri Baraka's voice is a pity.

The book would have benefited with more input from Pete Hamill, Sam Abrams and a few others. Also, a few of Joel's more notable students are silent: Tom Weatherly; and Bob Rixon, who has been telling lovely anecdotes about Joel for years over WFMU in New York.

Which is maybe a complaint that the book is too short at 246 pages. But Gilmore writes with devotion and leaves us with the belief that "every spring he saw we see still"

Fine work.

I really enjoyed this book. As a 1987 graduate of New England College, I had Joel as a teacher and an advisor, and most importantly as a friend. (and a fellow Mets fan!)
Joel helped me to transform from a disjointed, disorganized and immature college freshman to a more focused and interested writer.
The book shed light on his life and reminded me of a few stories he told me in my four years of knowing him.
I can vividly remember sitting in his smoke filled office arguing over my lack of attention to my studies...:)
What a great guy, I sure wish he was still here with us.

I happen to be quite a fan of big, sprawling epics, no matter what the medium may be. "Lone Wolf And Cub" is certainly turning out be quite an interesting one indeed. Continuing the plot from the previous volume, samurai-for-hire Ogami has been seperated from his son Daigoro during a brutal attack by his former masters, the Yagyu. As we begin this book, Ogami is on the search for Daigoro, but on his way he will run afoul of assassins and lone samurai. This volume lays out some great stories, as well as new developments in the series that will keep me reading indefinitely. For those unfamiliar with the series, it's best to start back at the first volume. For me (entrenched in the series already), this is another piece in Ogami's search for vengeance and another piece in the big puzzle of Lone Wolf And Cub.

The Yagyu letter continues to gnaw at Yagyu Retsudo who gives ample proof in Volume 13 of the Lone Wolf & Cub saga, "The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West," that he will go to any length to get his revenge on Ogami Itto. In the five chapters of the manga epic included in this volume is the most shocking act of violence we have yet wetness in this bloody saga:

(64) "The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West" has Retsudo ruminating on how he has sent all of his legitimate sons to be slaughtered by Ogami Itto. But the old man has an illegitimate son and daughter, and horrible plans for them both.

(65) "'Marohoshi' Mamesho" is another one of the fascinating characters created by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. This time around the title character is an old policeman from the capital on the verge of retirement who stumbles across Ogami Itto being commissioned for his next act of assassination. "Marohoshi" has spent his life protecting people and he is not going to let this ronin continue on the assassin's road.

(66) "Spoiling Daigoro" is an offbeat story where the family that hires Ogami Itto persuades him to let Daigoro stay with them while he goes off to do his job. They have a son who is a coward and a weakling with no friends, and the boy's father thinks that having Daigoro around might be good for Suzunosuke. Ogami Itto agrees and thinks go well for a while, but Suzunosuke soon grows tired of hearing his parents praise Daigoro day and night.

(67) "The Hojiro Yaguy" finds Retsudo's illegitimate son planning on using poison darts that can stop a charging horse to slay Lone Wolf. It looks like there is no way on earth Ogami Itto can escape, but, of course, he always has something up his sleeve. Warning: The ending of this one is unexpectedly brutual and shocking.

(68) "The Bird Catchers," is another episode where Lone Wolf and Cub are spectators for the most part as they come across a group of female falconers preserving a dying way of life. But what makes this tale of some significance, especially as the last one in this volume, is that in the eyes of his son, it seems Ogami Itto might have finally gone too far.

"The Moon in the East, the Sun in the West" is another superb collection of stories in the Lone Wolf & Cub saga. Koike and Kojima still manage to provide a new twist and turn in every volume while stringing us out as long as possible with both the short term mystery of the Yagyu letter and the long term quest of Ogami Itto to get his vengeance on the entire Yagyu clan. I read one episode a night right before bed and am almost always surprised to see what new direction each night's story might take. This has to be one of the ten greatest comic epics of all time.

The mystery of the Yagyu letter is apparently forgotten in the five Lone Wolf and Cub tales told in Volume 12, "Shattered Stones." However, one thing that really stood out in these stories is that since he was reunited with his father after they were separated by circumstances, Daigoro has been smiling a lot more:

(59) "Nameless, Penniless, Lifeless" is one of the most disturbing stories in the Lone Wolf and Cub saga. It begins with a woman putting on a sex show for peasants. But what is even more shocking is that the woman has lost her mind and that her husband, whose face is half scared by terrible burns, is the one who talks her into her displays. There is more here than meets the eye, as is often the case in these stories, and the way in which the truth is revealed might remind you of part of Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

(60) "Body Check" is another one of those tales in which Ogami Itto has to use his brains to put himself in a position to use his sword for his next assassination.

(61) "Shattered Stones" begins with one of the most different ways that Ogami Itto has met someone who wanted to hire him for an assassination. On top of that the rules of the assassination are quite different (again, I am reminded of a Western parallel in the novel "Sophie's Choice").

(62) "A Promise of Potatoes" is an amusing little change of pace story for this series. Daigoro is off by himself again, being beaten up by a group of kids, when he is rescued by a con artist who teaches the boy to sit by a bowl looking pitiful as a way of making money. But where there is Cub can Lone Wolf be far behind...

(63) "Wife Killer" is a wonderfully ironic title, which we learn is used to describe somebody who gives away the tricks of magicians, who are known as "hand wives." Noronji Hoya, the Princess of Magicians, who has been using a delighted Daigoro as her "assistant," is about the encounter the "wife killer," an old saki-sotted magician who travels with two thugs who extort money from magicians: pay up or have your secrets revealed. But Noronji Hoya has a better proposition: she will perform a trick and if the old man can reveal her secret she will kill herself; if not, then she will take the old man's eyes.

Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima are back to telling tales in which Ogami Itto is more often than not more of a spectator to the action in which other characters carry the stories. One of the testaments to the greatness of this manga epic is that the title character can be almost incidental to the story and it is still completely riveting. Here we are, not even halfway through this saga, and they are still coming up with new and intriguing variations on the basic themes they established early on. The fact that they can maintain this high level certainly justifies the exalted status Lone Wolf & Cub has in the international world of comics.

"Talisman of Hades" is a nice title, but "Thirteen Strings" is the one you are not going to forget of the four stories collected in Volume 11 of the "Lone Wolf & Cub" magna epic. We had been confronted with a major development in the story as Ogami Itto stole the Yagyu letter. All pretenses were dropped as Reshido Yagyu declared open war on Ogami Itto, but Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima were showing the same sort of audacious subterfuge as their heroic creation, for as Ogami and Reshido crossed blades, Daigoro lost is hold on his father's shoulders and literally fell over a cliff. Suddenly the mystery of the Yagyu letter has become secondary because father and son have become separated. Their search for one another continues in these stories and for the first time we see Ogami Itto express emotion for his son:

(55) "Talisman of Hades" finds Ogami Itto is now putting up pictures of a baby cart where once he had pasted the talismans of meifunado to invite clients of death and assassination. A group of young students on their way to an academy stumble upon the mystery of the signs and when they see the strange ronin slay a "priest" (another Yagyu assassin in disguise of course), they decide they must intervene, forcing Lone Wolf to teach them a valuable lesson.

(56) "Ailing Star" has Daigoro finding a place to stay with an old granny who lives under a rotted bridge in danger of collapse. The locals keep trying to convince the old lady to leave, but she refuses. "Ailing Star" forms an interesting counterpart to "Talisman of Hades" as Daigoro has his own little lesson to impart.

(57) "Thirteen Strings" is an 118-page story where Koike and Kojima come up with their own version of a Kurosawa film experience (the rain during the last acts of the story is a clue). When we come to end of this epic tale, surely "Thirteen Strings" will be one of the most memorable episodes. A runaway horse is about to trample a child in the road when Ogami Itto intervenes. The horsewoman turns out to be the Lady Kanae, Daughter of the Go-Jodai of Odawara Han, and a spoiled brat who fancies herself a samurai. Ogami also learns of a larger conflict between the Go-Jodai and the farmers. Drought has blighted the harvest for four years and the Go-Jodai has tightened the screws on the farmers, who "hire" Ogami to attend a meeting between the two sides (because if anything happens to Chosuke, the leader of the farmers, Lone Wolf will bring word back to the farmers). Go-Jodai has his own agenda for implementing fundamental agricultural reform. Meanwhile, his headstrong daughter seeks revenge on the ronin who has insulted her. But then the rains bring a sudden flood that changes absolutely everything. This is a memorable story of surprising depth, showing that Koike and Kojima are absolute masters of their craft.

(58) "A Poem for the Grave" has Ogami Itto seeking help in finding the secret of the Yagyu letter. This turns into another assassination job, which results in an encounter with another honorable soul who seeks to turn Lone Wolf from the Assassin's Road. The question is whether things might be different this time because of Ogami Itto's separation from Diagoro.

I am in awe of Koike and Kojima maintain this level of excellence through a story that is not even halfway over by this point in the telling of the tale. I continue to savor one story each night at bedtime so that I can think about how it fits into the big picture and the ebb and flow of the story. An absolute masterpiece, not just as a comic book, but as an epic narrative.

Back in the late 80's and early 90 I owned a comic book store. This was one of the items I looked forward to every month. The writing was incredible and the artwork supurb. Out of dozens of issues I can only think a one or two that weren't worth my time.

When I first saw these book at the local comic store I ignored them. After all I had all of the issues and didn't need to spend money on smaller reprints even if they were in the origional format. However with the middle of this issue we have stories that were never published in America before.

It didn't hurt that one of the best stories (and the last) story of the full sized comic was here "Mazohoshi Maeesho" For people who don't know the series that story will say it all. The intro story also paints a path for those unfamilar with the series.

It would frankly be a waste of verbage to describe each story. The quality level is as always so high and the stories so interesting that there is little more to say.

If you never read this series start with #1 and enjoy. If you like me didn't buy it because they were reprints then go wild.

This book has been by far the best book that I have read in a long time. I love the way I can jump into the book and feel the exact thing that is going on with the main character Jack and it keeps you guessing the whole time. My only regret while reading the book was that I did have to put it down to work. I can't wait until the movie comes out. LOVED IT !!!!!!!

Wow! Warning! Once you begin reading The Golden Talisman, Book I of The Talisman Chronicles, you will not want to put it down. Not only is J. Stefan Jackson a storyteller par excellence, but his material for this story is riveting.

The Golden Talisman, Book I of The Talisman Chronicles, centers on a mysterious section of woods near Tombigbee River where the residents of the town of Carlsdale, Alabama all share a common fear. They know not to enter those enigmatic woods because those who have made that foolhardy mistake never lived to tell about it and were never seen again. Jack Kenney, at the age of thirteen, was the only exception and the things he experienced and later told about his encounters in those woods was the stuff of nightmares. After his escape and his initial report to the local sheriff's department, Jack's family immediately moved Jack and his older brother, Jeremy, away from Carlsdale and Jack didn't talk anymore about it until he met with Special Agent Peter McNamee, who shared some common experiences with those dark woods. This meeting with Peter followed the bewildering abduction by the FBI of Jack and his older brother, Jeremy, some eight years later. They were taken away for interrogation, supposedly about the brutal murder of University archaeology professor Dr. Menesch.

It was only after Peter told Jack about his similar experiences with his own younger brother's disappearance that Jack decided to tell his harrowing story - complete, for the first time.

As this story unfolds, the reader is awestruck by descriptions of the beasts that live in those deep woods. A giant seventy-foot lizard that looked like a mix between a dragon and a Tyrannosaurus Rex was one such description. This particular beast was covered in scales and Special Agent Peter McNamee happened to have one of those scales, which he placed in front of Jack during his interrogation of him. Of course, Jack recognized it immediately. Peter also had a picture of this giant's footprint that was the size of a John Deere tractor. We also learn about strange lights emanating from those woods at night (lights that glow as brightly as the sun) and golden mists that engulf a young boy and spirit him away. Can these things be real? Is there something supernatural going on here? In addition, just what is that huge sphere resting near the woods in Jack's back yard?

***** I knew this novel was going to hold my attention from the minute I picked it up. It is a fast moving thriller with so many twists and turns and mysteries that the reader is hard pressed to keep up. Mr. Jackson's book, The Golden Talisman, Book I of The Talisman Chronicles, mesmerized me from beginning to end! I simply can't wait for Book II. *****

Reviewed by Ruth Wilson of Huntress Reviews.

I was really impressed with the stuff that the author thought of writing. I thought that it was an extremely creative adventure w\ twists that I never anticipated. Although it was a fantasy more or less, I also enjoyed the sense of reality the story possesses due to using real locations and map points as well as factual historical references. Great stuff Mr. Jackson, everything from the raw passion of Jack & Genovene to the action and realism of the covert government agents.

I give the book a thumbs up as far as the composition, creativity, everything. It was truly one of the most enjoyable novels I have read in some time. I think the last novel that I enjoyed this much was a Tom Clancy book.

I will be anxiously waiting for the release of the second installment; and can't wait to start it.

Scott Madden

The residents of Carlsdale, Alabama know the areas to avoid if they want to live. Sections of the dark woods near Tombigbee River lives evil; for centuries those foolish enough to enter never come out. That is no one until thirteen years old Jack Kenney who somehow survived the ordeal. Not willing to risk the life of their son or his older brother Jeremy, the Kenneys immediately move away to the big city Tuscaloosa.

Eight serene years later, Jeremy and Jack attend the University of Alabama. However, the horror returns when a friend of the siblings, University archaeology professor Dr. Menesch, is brutally killed. The FBI abducts Jeremy and Jack without a warrant under some arcane antiterrorism ploy. Agents Reynolds, Iverson and Casey frustrated with the smiles and silence they receive especially from Jack viciously interrogate the brothers seeking to know what Jack met in the woods near Carlsdale. Though battered, he says nothing until Special Agent Peter McNamee arrives with a similar story about a horror from his past that he was fortunate to survive. Jack sees a kindred soul in Peter and begins to tell his story of the terror he fled in the summer of 99 that apparently is spreading its dark realm beyond the banks of the Tombigbee River.

The hook to this excellent suspense thriller is the twists that will keep readers wondering what is going on as nothing is quite what it seems. Adding to the excitement is that the audience will wonder whether the terror is an evil supernatural creature or an amoral human even while following the J brothers, mostly Jack, relate their story. J. Stefan Jackson provides a dark thriller that grips fans from the opening FBI abduction and never frees the reader until the final understanding of the loss of innocence of a thirteen years old adolescent.

Harriet Klausner

Samuel Menashe is one our best poets, and this new collection displays some of his best work. Each poem is a well crafted gem.

There is no one like Samuel Menashe. He is one of the very very few truly original voices in poetry. His poems are extremely short, and every syllable counts. He is evocative, mystical, eternal; he finds the essence of everything he touches. Absolutely stunning.

The poetic analog of Shaker furniture -- spare but powerful.

There is a strong minimalist tradition in post-modern American poetry, and interestingly enough, three of the strongest practioners of this genre derive their themes, their cadences, their language from Judeo-Christian backgrounds. They are Robert Lax, David Jaffin, and Samuel Menashe. Of the three, Menashe is the most subtle, juggling rhyme in his miniatures so that flashes of song accompany the illuminations of the best work. Lax is also musical, but in a slower, more hypnotic, manner. Lax is also an abstractionist, while Menashe retains his focus on the telling detail, no matter how tight the frame in which he works.

I'll include two of my favorites:

Dominion

Stare at the sea
you on your chair
sinking in sand,
Command the waves
to stand like cliffs,
Lift up your hand.

This deceptively simple poem is underpinned by a constellation of Biblical references. See how many you can find!

Also, what appears to be Menashe's motto:

A-
round
my neck
an amu-
let
Be-
tween
my eyes
a star
A
ring
in my
nose
and a
gold
chain
to
Keep me
where
You
are
*

The design of Ed Foster's Talisman House edition is superb. Type-set and paper make this a lovely book to own, and the price is just right!

Paul Hoover's career as a linguistically innovative, philosophically challenging, and bold poet is well represented in TOTEM AND SHADOW, where the reader is treated to samples of his books since 1979 including excerpts from his long poem, THE NOVEL, and his startling collection, VIRIDIAN. The new poems that comprise the first section of the book provide the reader with a deeply satisfying glimpse of his recent work that attains new heights of innovation not for its own sake but in pursuit of complexity and connection. These new poems have retained all that Hoover's poetry had before achieved--intellectual depth, language dexterity, range, humor, and a strangely satisfying candor. Add to these an unfailing eye for the unusual, an astute ear, and a thoughful rigor that allows the unseen to appear before our eyes as if it were there all along. Paul Hoover's work is necessary and clarifying: "Behind the news that can't be printed,/ a cold rain falling, for this is not the world/ and this is not the dark. This is the word as mark,/ where high in the attic of introspection/ you can smell the chimichanga." This is the awesome power of Hoover's poetry to reconfigure the world for us and thereby change the very way we read our lives. Whenever I read Paul Hoover's poems, I feel reassured that poetry can continue to "make it new" with such reverence for language, music, and truth.

what we have here is the new and selected collection from the editor of norton's postmodern anthology (and that should tell you something about the poems inside). It's a good collection, though his new poems i found to be much weaker than his older work. There is an excerpt from his long poem "Novel", which i feel is a must read. The poem's taken from his collection _Viridian_ were wonderful, i haven't read viridian, but i'm sure it is an awesome collection of poems.

Paul Hoover is an experienced and successful poet having published six earlier books of award winning poetry. Totem And Shadow: New and Selected Poems continues to document his impressive talent wedded to an innate knack for memorable imagery. After Miss Graven's Remarks: Boy, my left eye cries when I see kids/play violins and things. How did they get/so young? And I can't stop my fractures/when they strike toy xylophones in a song/too sentimental, mechanical sugarplum fairies./It's brutal of them t kill me with growing up/like this, and Mrs. Pollen, who tends them,/why is she so kind under her matronly woolens?/What is so appealing in a clumsy, fuzzy/third-grader, ghostly in polyester as any/sad adult? Sure, there's no god to do it,/but they should have bright violent minds/to brace them for a while, and one tough look/keep them when Christmas isn't the mood.

The poems in Totem and Shadow, especially the newest work by Hoover, are so strong that style seems to drop away, as complex truths are given to the reader. This is a poetry of great intensity and brilliance.