Characters Books

I've missed this series and am glad I finally bought the hardcover. I just wish it had come out in paperback so I could've read it a lot sooner.

Mandy is one of the more fun amateur sleuths to read about, and the addition of Laura is a good one. I could've done without Mandy's mother, since the rest of the supporting cast is so strong, but hopefully we've seen the last of her.

Looking forward to catching up with the next book in the series, and hope more are coming (in paperback)!

The Mandy Dyer series just gets better and better. Her character is funny, original and well written. Johnson is a solid writer with a great sense of humor. Keep writing! Haven't read a mystery I enjoyed more than this one in a while. It was light but not trite! Humorous without being silly, and well plotted. Congratulations on another fine mystery.

This definitly has to be one of Dolores Johnson's best efforts in the Mandy Dyer Mystery series. I'm not going to give away too much, but now with that horribly stale relationship with Stan off to the side, there's room for a bit more!

I'm too excited for her next story to see where it goes, hopefully it won't be too long for the next episode.

Mandy is a delight and so are the characters around her. She is always getting herself in 'hot' water when she ends up trying to solve a murder. You can't help but like her as she is so human and likeable. It is a fun romp of a murder mystery. Good for a beach, plane ride or fun read.

It starts out as a straightforward dry cleaning problem. Mandy Dyer's cousin had a coat switched at a restaurant and she wants to get her own coat back. But when cousin Laura is involved in a hit-and-run as she leaves the dry cleaners, Mandy wonders if it could truly be coincidence. Coincidence is stretched past breaking when Mandy walks into an in-progress burglary at her cousin's apartment. With her matchmaking mother riding to the rescue, a hopelessly nerdy reporter falling for Laura, and a hunky detective causing problems for Mandy's heart, the problems look to be getting worse in a hurry.

Photographer Laura's restaurant photos seem a likely starting point. But who would have guessed that a small restaurant could cause so many problems--a man dining with a woman who isn't his wife, another couple confronted with news of the woman's unexpected pregnancy, a woman stood-up by her business partners, and a strange ghost-like double-exposure which could be just about anyone. Mandy presses on in her investigation--although occasionally her motives are more to get away from her mother than to solve the crime.

Author Dolores Johnson delivers a spunky heroine, amusing characters and dialogue, a very different background for her sleuth (I haven't seen any other dry-cleaner/detectives) and a well-written story. I enjoyed TAKING THE WRAP a lot.

My mom borrowed two of the Olga da Polga books for me from the library when I was a little nine-year-old girl with her very first pet, not surprisingly, a guinea pig. I instantly fell in love with the bragging Olga, who loves to tell tall tales and considers herself quite a celebrity. If only her animal friends would agree with her! We searched in vain to find any purchasable copies in the series for many years. Words can't explain how much I enjoyed these books as a little girl . . . and still do!

I'm so pleased that the books are back in print (there are several titles, but it's best to read them in order). If you have never read these books, you're in for a treat, whether you're young or old. For those not familiar with Olga da Polga's inventor, Michael Bond also wrote the Paddington Bear novels. His love of animals is evident in both series, as is his wit.

This is the story of a guinea pig named Olga, told from her perspective. From it you learn what a guinea pig likes. How they want their beds to be made, their fur combed, how to pick them up and all of the other aspects of the day-to-day care of a guinea pig. She is also a bit of a scamp, escaping, starting incredible rumors among the animals, and sometimes being pompous and self-centered. In many ways she is a typical pet.
A combination of being an engaging tale about a lovable small pet and her thoughts on her treatment, this is a book that will help teach young children how to care for small pets. The gentleness that is required and to understand that they are creatures with feelings that need to be considered. I recommend this book for the child approximately nine years old.

This book is a charming story about a sassy, clever, adventurous guinea pig with a style all her own. Bond is imaginative, insightful and succintly well written. Olga is self possesed, somewhat mischievous and weaves a web of characters around her into a colorful tapestry of her own creation. I'm sure by the end you'll agree that her ventures end all too soon.

Olga da Polga was read to me at bedtime by my parents when I was about five. 25+ years later, I still remember Olga's antics and stories. As a child, I even went so far as to name my guinea pig "Olga da Polga". A super book for youngsters!

Olga da Polga is a wonderful book from the creator of Paddington the Bear. It begins at the pet shop where Olga dreams of the world outside, and moves to her "house on legs" in the Sawdust family's garden. Along the way we meet the family she belongs to, her friends from their garden, and are entertained by both the tales about Olga, and the ones she creates for her friends. It's a low-key but charming book for those who love animals, and find humor in the little things they do. Children who favor the WWF,Yugio and Power Rangers will probably find the stories a bit tame, but my seven-year old son enjoyed the series of Olga books as much as I did when I was his age.

"The Tango Briefing" is certainly the fastest-paced, most entertaining Quiller adventure I've read so far. Elleston Trevor (using pseudonym "Adam Hall") reuses the same basic premise of his classic "Flight of the Phoenix" - a plane crashes in the desert - and adapts it remarkably well for his world-weary "ferret" Quiller. This is a return to form of sorts following the somewhat slower-paced, more Le Carre-esque atmosphere of "The Warsaw Document", which put Quiller in the field without an operator. Thankfully, in "Tango Briefing" Quiller is grudgingly reunited with Loman (who first appears in the somewhat lesser second novel, "The Ninth Directive"), and who, in Quiller's view, is both prissy and too wrapped up in bureaucratic protocol to be fully trusted. Their tenuous partnership matures and adds a shade of humor and character development often absent from the previous books.

Though I would certainly consider "Tango Briefing" to be a classic, it is not without flaws. In every novel, Quiller rambles on about "brain think vs. stomach think", "the organism" crying out to live whenever he puts his life in jeopardy, and uses the saying "no go" whenever possible. It probably made more sense when the books were published every couple years, but wears a bit thin for those of us reading the books now. Likewise, there are a number of loose ends that are never fully developed. Who was the "second cell" that was trying to murder he and the previous agents and what happened to the unseen marksman with the gun that was "really quite big"? Likewise, I'm not sure we are ever given a good explanation of how the "cargo" ended up on Tango Victor or who the "clandestine" group was that smuggled it aboard. It can be argued though that because the books are written in first person, Quiller himself never knows and readers can guess based on clues. It is frustrating though, especially since Trevor goes to such great lengths to reason out minute details and lend credence to a couple otherwise unconvincing moments in which Quiller dodges difficult predicaments. All in all, though, I think this is a great adventure and feel that the series should be given a faithful film adaptation - one at least in which Quiller is not portrayed as being American.

You read Quiller & everything else pales in comparison. James Bond is embarrassing & LeCarre's characters are boring bureacurats. Quiller however is resourceful, brave & vulnerable at the same time. He doesn't need gadgets or even a gun, he is better, stronger & braver than most of us, but the plot & his actions still remain credible. He's also human: he doesn't hide his fear of going back "to those nasty birds", nor the fact that while determined to die, he'd rather avoid it. You never get the sense when reading that it's a character you can't relate to.

There is a lot more info on the Quiller series at www.quiller.net, a fan site.

Quiller is back, and this time he's being pitched headlong into the deserts of Algeria with the mission of locating and destroying a downed plane with a cargo that could embarrass the British government. In typical Adam Hall fashion, the objective that the eponymous hero is asked to risk his life for is not world-shaking. The freedom of the world is not at stake, and failure will not mean that his closest friends or loved ones will meet a fate worse than death. Quiller is an adrenaline junkie, driven to risk his life but disciplined enough to adhere to rules and regulations of unthinkable strictness. (For instance, agents are not allowed to steal from private citizens, disallowing them from hotwiring a car to escape certain death.)

As with all Quiller books the real draw are the enormously telescoped action scenes, where a few seconds or minutes worth of action can take up an entire chapter. Hall tries to give us an insight into every factor that goes into the instinctive decision making of an intelligent and highly trained individual by creating an impossibly fast internal dialogue for Quiller at every decision point. We get to know why he choses a specific karate strike, why he positions his head slightly to the right or left of the steering wheel when a sniper is trying to gun him out of his car, and a thousand other details. The overall effect for the reader is that you can almost step inside these situations and feel that you have lived them.

This is, in my opinion, the best written book of the Quiller series, and it is well worth checking out if you like spies or action.

In this adventure, Quiller is first challenged to define his own objective. The geography is real; you can feel the heat and see the shifting sand and share his thirst. You also share his satisfaction when he succeeds - and then his determination when he is sent back to die.

Tarzan like you've never seen him is expanded upon and portrayed in living color by dynamic graphic artist Joe Kubert, who produces a vivid set of tales and provides archived drawings with color restoration based off of Tatjana Wood's original colors. This collection reprints the first eight issues of Joe Kubert's classic Tarzan comic series: works done at the height of his career. Two audiences will relish this collection and must own it: Kubert fans, and Tarzan fans. Each will find the full-color presentation provides high-quality reproduction and an uninterrupted set of adventures. Very highly recommended: a classic keepsake.

This is a book for which I've waited decades, having grown up on the Kubert DC books. Very well made and edited, this collection of DC Tarzan issues would go along quite well on the shelf with DC's Archive books. Whether you are a Tarzan fan or an afficianado of DC's Silver Age, you would do well to check out this book. Of course, if you are a fan of both, I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, and you have already acquired this wonderful edition Dark Horse has offered us. Buying this was a no brainer, and my only question was why it took so long to get published, when the Manning stuff had already been reprinted years ago. If only those had been released in a volume as beautiful as this! Perhaps it's not too late to get the Horse to release the Hal Foster strips in a similar fashion to this Kubert collection. Are you listening, DH?

This wonderful collection of legendary artist and storyteller, Joe Kubert is a must have for hardcore Tarzan fans. I cut my teeth on these comics way back in the early 70's as a young boy.(I still have all of the original editions!)

There are only a few number of artists that could truly capture the primitive and primordal great Tarzan. Only Neal Adams, Russ Manning and the late great Conan artist, John Buscema could actually draw the apeman.

But Joe Kubert had a style all of his own. With backgrounds and rough-like sketches that made Tarzan and the jungle around him actually permeate right through the comic pages, Kubert could totally transport you to Africa and high adventure of yesteryear. Classic in every sense of the word.

Thank God for Joe Kubert. And his sons have also become fantastic artists all their own.

Now, if only ONE Hollywood movie could finally capture the true essence of Tarzan the Apeman, then the Tarzan phenomenon would begin all over again. Perhaps someday...

Way back in 1929 Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan of the Apes" was adapted in newspaper comic strip form by illustrator Hal Foster. A full-page Sunday strip began in 1931 drawn by Rex Mason, and since then Burne Hogarth, Russ Manning, and Mike Grell have been some of the big names that have drawn the Lord of the Jungle. The only problem is that I never lived anywhere that had Tarzan in the Sunday comics, so for me Joe Kubert is THE artist that I associate with Tarzan. By the time Kubert's took over the book with issue #207 of "Tarzan of the Apes" (April 1972), I had read all of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels, so even though I was only buying Marvel comics at that time when I saw the 1st DC issue with its 52 BIG pages ("Don't take less! Only 25c), I picked it up and Kubert's faithful four-part adaptation of the first ERB novel sold me on the comic. After all, not only did you have the first 26-page part of the adaptation, but an introduction to ERB in "The Dum-Dum" (written by "Marvin Wolfman"), which would be the book's letters page, an adaptation of "Tarzan's First Christmas" from Hall Foster's December 27, 1931 Sunday strip, and the first chapter of an adaptation of ERB's "A Princess of Mars" starring John Carter by Murray Anderson. What more could an ERB fan possibly hope for in one comic book?

What we have in "Tarzan: The Joe Kubert Years, Volume 1" are the Kubert's first eight issues, #207-14. Prior to this time I had associated Kubert with his work on "Sgt. Rock," but his distinctive style was perfect for Tarzan. The story begins with a safari being attacked by a panther and Tarzan showing up out of nowhere to save a pretty young blond woman in a pith helmet. Her guide then tells the story of "The Origin of Tarzan of the Apes," starting in 1888 when a ship left Dover, England, with John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, and his wife Lady Alice. The first chapter covers the birth of Tarzan, the death of his parents, how he came to be raised by Kala of the great apes, and his battle to the death with Bolgani, his rival in the tribe. "A Son's Vengeance" (#208) is where Tarzan learns to read and that he is not an ape but a "man," and avenges the death of Kala when she is killed by a "hairless ape." "A Mate for the Ape-Man" (#209) begins with Tarzan defeating Kerchak and Terkoz, before leaving the tribe to find his destiny as a man. This is where we pick up the story with Jane Porter, her father Professor Porter, her fiance William Clayton (Tarzan's cousin), and the rest of their abandoned expedition, up to the point where Tarzan rescues Jane from Terkoz. "Civilization" (#210) finds Tarzan spending some quality time with Jane, but then rescuing D'Arnot from the natives and finally learning how to speak French (he already reads and writes in English). In the end he tracks down in America, learns she is about to be married to William and his own true identity as the real Lord Greystoke, and refuses to ruin her future.

Kubert is faithful to the action and the dialogue, such as Tarzan's final line, and does not have a problem drawing the young Tarzan as running around naked (drawn strategically, of course) until the point in the story where he gets his first loin cloth. The pace of the story really picks up in the final part: the first three sections covered the first 156 pages of my paperback edition of "Tarzan of the Apes," while the fourth chapter covers 89 pages (I have the page numbers written on the back covers of my original comic books). But since the whole last section is about Tarzan NOT getting Jane, while getting educated so that he finally speaks English too, there is not a lot of real action after the opening pages. The framing device of the guide and the blonde is finally resolved (no, she is not Jane, just another white woman who has lost her father in the jungles of Africa), and allows Tarzan to make the point that the jungle is more civilized than the real world. So the set up for the comic book is not Tarzan and Jane, but the time before our hero gets domesticated. This makes sense since ERB regretted the relationship between Tarzan and Jane (he thought La, High Priestess of Opar was a better match), and even killed Jane off at one point in the series.

The other four issues contained here suffer by comparison, but then anything would. "Land of the Giants" (#211) involves an evil little man named Kalban and the Kolosans, a race of giants. The little guy drinks their forbidden water and grows to be a giant as well, but by the time you get to the end of this one, where Tarzan battles a monster giant gorilla on top of a flying airplane, you are praying Kubert will get back to ERB's original stories. That happens with "The Captive" (#212) and the next two issues after that, all of which are taken from the "Jungle Tales of Tarzan," which happens in the same time frame as the first half of the first novel. This one features a great cover of Tarzan taking down a rhinoceros, and the story is about how the natives capture Tarzan and he calls Tantor on them. "Balu of the Great Apes" (#213) is a nice little story about Tarzan protecting a balu (baby) of his tribe and finding his place as their leader. "The Nightmare" (#214) is the story of what happens the first time Tarzan eats cooked meat and it disagrees with his stomach. So, except for that non-ERB inspired story in #211, this is a solid collection of Kubert doing Burroughs. I would not say that it is downhill from here, but rather than things are never as geaat as this awesome start.

The four part adaptation of the first Tarzan novel was well written and well drawn and Kubert's love of the source material is evident.
The writing and art are so fluid and vibrant that these stories seem as though they were published last year and not more than thirty years ago. The adaptations are strong and detailed, and hold up much better than the more abreviated adaptations of Robert E. Howard's Conan story adaptations for Marvel, done around the same time.

I would point out that the four part adaptation is something rare for a comic book from the 1970's, which generally kept to a two part story at the longest, so Joe was allowed plenty of breathing space to do justice to the original book.

I don't understand the $50 price tag on DC's (and now Darkhore's) archive editions. THe price seems so exesssive for such a small offering of 200+ pages. One wishes Darkhorse could have added a few more issues into this volume, but worth the cover price regardless.

"The Ten Commandments, Laws of the Heart" by Sister Joan Chittister is an excellent book. In it she brings the Laws of Moses into the 21st century and gives the reader a new viewpoint of how they apply to our modern world and the way we live. It's a very easy read but each chapter or Commandment interpretation will force the reader to put the book down after reading the chapter and contemplate on it. It's not just another book on the Ten Commandments but a spiritual experience.

The Ten Commandments is a concise study of the Ten Commandments, as given to Moses on his first trek up Mount Sinai. Chittister does in only 150 pages what most writers have been unable to do in lengthy tomes. She discusses the commandments from a historical standpoint, attempting to analyze them in light of the culture in which they were written. She gives us a contemporary situation in which we can see how the commandment plays out in today's world. She also gives us pithy snippets for us to meditate on to increase our understanding of each commandment. In doing so, she opens up our understanding of the Ten Commandments, taking them out of "bible-speak" and making them relevant as guidelines that we can use to guide our pathway toward gaining a deeper understanding of our relationship to God and to our fellow people.

If you are interested in gaining a better understanding of our place with God and each other, this book is a very worthwhile read.

I have never read anything written by Joan Chittister that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed. The Ten Commandments - The Laws of the Heart is no exception. Chittister causes me to re-examine my priorities, the possibilities and the potential. Listen to the following:

"If we fail to rethink what it means to be a Christian, to be a carrier of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in this day and age, the next day and age may be far more stark, exceedingly more threatening, extremely less hopeful, and seriously less spiritual than any we have ever known before. We must rethink what it means to be a moral agent in this society." P. 1.

A champion for the need for inter-faith understanding and collaboration, Chittister pulls no punches in this book. She applies new insights into interpretations of the commandments that have practical application to lives lived amongst the challenges of today.

I heartily recommend this book.

This book is an excellent one on the Ten Commandments. It has an historical part, an explanation and a series of questions about what the commandments mean in our world today. It has the usual insights of Joan Chittister and makes one think hard about what the commandments mean in our world today.

Sister Joan Chittister for a generation now has written beautifully about the meaning of our Faith and its practice, in particular the Benedicitne charism. She also recently co-authored the great and necessary work for peace and unity: The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Here in this present substantial and significant volume published by the great Catholic printing house Orbis Books, she opens up for us today the profound and eternal meaning of the Ten Commandments.

Some nowadays fight for public display of the Ten Comandments in order not to have to read them and practice them. Others ask where do you find these commandments listed as such in the Holy Bible. Others attempt to retranslate these commandments to fit their own loopholes and prejudices and permit such extraordinary and sinful horrors as modern warfare and capital punishment.

Sister Joan quietly and thoughtfully simply calls us home to the Commandments, gently and deeply explaining their meaning to us.

You find here each commandment as traditionally written, appending the "Great Commandments" spoken of in the Gospels, to love the Lord your God with all of your heart and all of your might and all of your soul, and your neighbor as yourself.

Each commandment in this fairly thick volume receives its own chapter, clearly entitled to establish themes and perspectives. For instance, the commandment to Honor thy father and thy mother is called The Law of Caring.

The beautiful chapter discussing the commandment so important for our times: THOU SHALT NOT KILL! is entitled The Law of Life. Read it.

Clearly this is a book valuable for every Catholic and everyone to read, to pray, to meditate and to put into practice. It serves as an excellent prreparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation; it is perfect lectio divina.

Please gift anyone you love with this strengthening and guiding book from the wisdom, eloquence and Faithfulness of Sister Joan. This book is a pillar of our Faith, a place of rest and refuge for our troubled times, a way home once more.

Another great one from Hugh Holton. The story begins when a young Larry Cole overhears a murder plot and the action just keeps going and going and going. Mr. Holton knows how to keep you at the edge of your seat. All I can say hang on and enjoy the ride as this novel has it all.

Well written tale with strong plot line.

See my review of "Presumed Dead."

I started reading Hugh Holton's books this year. Just found it on the library shelf. I wanted to read them all. I have read all of his books and find "Time of the Assassins" to be the best one yet. I have ordered it, also his new book "The Thin Black Line" and "Red Lighting" which I could not get from the library. I am sorry that we will not be able to read more books by him. A sad lost to the readers and writers world. Gripping suspense and a surprise ending. What a writer he was. He writes about things we know, but are afraid to say. So today.

This time Hugh Holton gives us an excellent story that is both believable and entertaining. This is Holton going with his strengths -- solid characters, great police procedures and enveloping mystery. It doesn't get much better than this unless you're also a fan of Eleanor Taylor Bland's Marti McAllister Mysteries (which apparently Holton is since he mentions her in his acknowledgments). However, unlike the McAllister police character, Holton's Chief of Detectives Larry Cole is still one dimensional. He sacrificed his wife and son for his career and ends up becoming a stud puppy for two very deranged sisters whose plot (despite his super-cop instincts) Cole fails to recognize. Go figure. Nevertheless, Time of the Assassins is a far better effort structurally than Holton's Red Lightning, Left Hand of God or Presumed Dead. The high-quality work which brought Holton and his cop character, Larry Cole, to national prominence, Chicago Blues, is evident in Time of the Assassins. Bravo, Mr. Holton, Bravo!

I really thought I was just going to pick up another book to be a tool in my 'writers' tool box. I had no idea that I would definably pick up the sharpest tool in the tool belt, and begin a journey of self discovery and encouragement.
To be told is an invitation to seeing that your life has a purpose and bringing hope to your future, all at the end of your own pen.

This workbook is an excellent companion and continuation of the To Be Told book written by Dan Allender To Be Told: God Invites You to Coauthor Your Future. This companion workbook further explores the significant events in ones life by using questions that help you search your life for common themes. For anyone wanting to take the journey of understanding how God uses past experiences in life to determine ones calling, this workbook is a must have.

Dan Allender in his book, "To Be Told" presents both the tools and the inspiration for each of us to understand the stories that God has written in our lives. By understanding the story that God has written in the past, he contends that it will help us to understand the direction that God would have us to take for the future.

Allender does a great job in this book of presenting a method for understanding the difficulties of our past. His sharing of his own difficult background shows that he personally knows of that which he speaks. And since he keeps it simple it is accessible to anyone.

One area that I wish Allender had done a better job of was to broaden the application of understanding our stories. Although dealing with the past and understanding the direction for the future are both important applications, I think that there may be a whole host of others.

However, that small difference aside, Allender's book is well-written and includes powerful practical ideas on how to understand how God is writing your life. I highly recommend it and the accompanying workbook.

For a longer review, go to the blog listed in my nickname and click on the 'Reading' category.

(...)

I am helping people review their lives, and assess how their story made them who they are. This book is awesome. The questions are aimed at this goal. What a resource

In his latest book, TO BE TOLD, Dan Allender encourages readers to examine their lives in a search for the story that God is telling through their existence. Allender says we often don't know our own stories because we doubt their existence, dismiss their importance, or we're distracted.

"Too many people are missing their story because they're watching the stories of others. We live vicariously through television, sports, magazine, and talk shows. Such stories may occasionally educate us, but most often they sedate us. They free us from admitting that our own life is dull and lifeless. They attract us because they offer life without risk. They are deathly safe."

Fans of John Eldredge's writing, especially THE SACRED ROMANCE, will find similar themes of brokenness, revelation, desire, and narrative redemption here.

"Something must awaken us to the fact that we are asleep. And what awakens us is usually a moment of exposure when we see that the conventions that guide our steps and promise us a good life are nothing more than illusions."

"The stories told in most families are a kind of propaganda."

"You must listen to the heartache and hope that etched in the narrative of your life. And you must find the meaning God has written there."

"Your plight is your redemption."

"Desire is both our greatest frailty and the mark of our highest beauty."

Allender has a humble and disarming tone that is humorous and relatable. It can be hard at times to wade through the jargon of "story" --- feasting on story, editing together, writing your destiny ... what does all that mean? But the effort to truly understand what Allender is getting at is worth it. In essence, he's trying to get people to remember. It sounds simple, but it's not given that so many people have a dysfunctional relationship with the past. Whether good or bad, it can be hard to deal with, and so people tend to forget. But by entering into the past, Allender says that we can understand the present and help write our futures.

"God is the Potter, and we are the clay. Even the word human --- derived from the Latin word humus, meaning "dirt" --- shouts loudly about our origin. We are dirt. The name Adam (Hebrew 'adama) means "red," the color of clay. God shaped, molded, and formed us to reveal something about himself. He is a Being who loves to reveal and who invites us to join the process of revelation by calling to ask, seek and knock. God always intended for his children to join him in completing creation. We are no inanimate entities that merely reveal glory but living stories that are meant to create glory."

In other words, by seeing and understanding the stories God is telling through our lives, we can be more alive.

TO BE TOLD will provide insight for just about everyone interested in living an intentional Christian life. In addition to his wise observations about life, Allender gets practical in his suggestions for knowing one's story, including fasting, prayer, and of course, writing. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a bit of a memoir-writing fad ensues. And frankly, if Allender is right, we'd be better off for it.

--- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel

In the book "Too Many Secrets" there was a lot of suspense going on. It made me want to keep reading until I knew what resolved the problem, but then another problem came up and just kept on reading until I was done. This isn't a boring Sherlock Holmes story, it's upbeat, in the 90's, and always keeps you on your toes. I strongly suggest you read this, even if your not intrested in mysteries this is the book for you!

A prety realistic book and the spence is amazing. Patrisha Rushford describes the caracters very realisticly. It's so exiting I personaly couldn't put the book down and I mean that literality I read the book straight through.

I have always liked mysterys, but the ones I normally read weren't very interesting. These books always keep me surprised. I like the way they always take a sudden twist at the end to make the least likely suspect the culprit.

This book was AWESOME! I like mysteries but I couldn't find any aimed for my age group (13 almost 14) that weren't gruesome! This is one of the best series out there in my opinion! Jennie McGrady Rocks! I love the romance too. Theese books don't have a dull moment yet they have a good value system, none of that aweful stuff!

Too Many Secrets is a fabulous book by Patricia H. Rushford! It's main charcter is Jennie McGrady, a 16 year old girl whose father disappered, a mother whose dating another guy and a 5 year old brother Nick. It's about Jennie suspecting that her grandmother is missing or had been kidnapped and went in search of her. While she's searching for her, Jennie's relationship with Ryan, a boy who lives next door to her grandmother's, grew. Together, Jennie and Ryan uncover devious plots, friends that are foe and puts their life on the line in order to save Jennie's grandmother. I recommend this book to readers that like a good mystery combining romance! It is a great book that truly outlines problems of life. This is a Christian book, though I am not Christian, I still found this book real thrilling. Way to go and keep on writing Patricia Rushford!

Item's condition as described. It took about 2 weeks to get this book, which is a bit longer than other books I ordered at the same time.

Like any other book that attempts to make generalized rules about what things should and should not be a part of your romantic relationship, you obviously have to decide for yourself whether each of the "rules" is something that makes sense in your relationship. That said, this book is a good springboard for promoting communication between you and the person you're dating on setting physical boundaries, figuring out what things need to be worked on in your relationship, and how to go about increasing healthy intimacy.

This book has been passed around among so many friends... and with good reason. This is great for those who are in relationships and for those who will be in one in the future. This book offers examples and boundaries that many of us don't know how to talk about or define. Definately a good book to read as we start to prepare ourselves for the romance world... while "keeping your eye on Jesus."

I've read a wide variety of books on dating, sexuality for the unmarried, and so on, and this is my all-time favorite. One of the things I love about this book is that the author is balanced. She believes that sexual intercourse should be saved for marriage, yet still avoids the trap of making any hormones, etc. seem bad and wrong for the unmarried. She also looks at relationship patterns that can be helpful or harmful. I found that she discussed several issues that most authors ignore; I appreciated this a great deal. While she hit honestly and openly on many of the main sexuality issues that most Christian authors discuss (boundary lines for physical affection, keeping your relationship Christ-centered, etc.) she went beyond them. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone seeking to gain insight on how to make good decisions about romantic relationships.

My now wife and I picked this book up at a Intervarsity conference shortly after being referred to it and after reading 'Passion and Puirty' by Elizabeth Elliot. I was a bit apprehensive considering that I tend to shy away from those types of books and I thought 'Passion and Purity' was *really* heavy handed. Basically, Elliot's plan is appropriate for her generation, but Castleman offers a method of approaching dating and romance from a distinctly 90's perspective. It was encouraging to read it and realize that we're not alone in some of the glories and problems of modern dating. I'd recommend it to anyone!

This book presented an interesting concept regarding religous zealots. The point that this takes place within the Catholic church vs other religous sects, provides an interesting background that most people have a general understanding of.

The characters are well developed. It was hard to put this book down.

God bless William Heffernan, who shows how it is that the greatest religious scandals always result from cover-up, seldom from the scandal, per se. Two contemporary issues, secrecy about gays in the Roman Catholic priesthood and the secrecy that shrouds the operation of "Opus Christi" (no points for guessing what outfit he's sending up here), provide the framework for this well-paced novel.

Heffernan also gets right the self-importance of people attached to the powerful. His rendering of the Cardinal's aide-de-camp, the numeraries in Opus Christi, and their nemesis (a humorously drawn Jesuit priest and professor at Fordham) demonstrate the bad, the ugly, and the sterling good that play out in Church politics.

Ultimately, it is hard to say all that is praiseworthy about this novel without repeatedly reassuring potential readers that it does not bog down, that it never becomes polemic in its well-wrought moral points. Still, Heffernan cleverly threads throughout the plot the silliness and even wickedness of categorizing people by their bedroom activities. He reminds parents that not even the daughter of a police inspector is immune from making a stupid mistake with a stranger. The goodness of cleverness and intelligence prevailing at last over plodding intransigence and the self-interest that leads to evil is an over-arching theme, as well.

Sweeping aside the ample food for thought, this is a fast-paced, zig-zagging novel that riveted my attention from the first page through the last.

One of the really funny aspects of John Grisham's novel The Firm to me was the idea that a law firm could be a Mafia front. In Unholy Order William Heffernan presents an even more diabolic relationship between a secretive Catholic order and a Columbia drug cartel.

Heffernan's novel falls short only by failing to fully exploit the oppotunities the cultish criminal enterprise offers. As he draws near the end of his tale, the focus becomes concentrated on one member of Opus Dei, rather than the order itself.

While this enables him to wrap up his novel, the reader wants more. In a sense Grisham had the same problem and reached for the same quick solution in The Firm with the "mail fraud" prosecution. But this book is, if anything, more artfully presented than Grisham's classic, and such a facile solution is a bigger loss to the reader.

I've been a fan of Heffernan since I read Ritual, which was the first novel to feature Paul Devlin. Unholy Order is the best one in years. I'm not going to give a plot blow by blow. That's what the book jacket is for. The story is very interesting, the characters are as real as they get. An outstanding edition to a great series!

My favorite kind of novel. I couldn't put it down. Devlin and co. always entertains as they try to solve the hardest of cases when road block after road block is thrown in their path. All the supporting cast were great, even the villains. Loved the ending. Highly recommend.