Nevada Books

I listened to this book on audio. Initially intrigued by the interesting setting, colorful heroines, and promising plotline, I spent much of the second half of the book grimacing. Gratuitous violence is a poor substitute for well-crafted suspense.

I've read a few other Nevada Barr books and liked them well enough (although Ann Pigeon is far from my favorite mystery series protagonist), but this one I really didn't care for. I picked out the likely villain very early and I was waiting for an unexpected twist but it didn't come. Really there were virtuallly no surprises and those which there were didn't really matter much. I also got annoyed and very tired of her (the author, through mouth of the protagonist) harping on the one character's fatness, going on and on about it and describing him with really contemptuous language -- it gives a strong impression of someone who is rabidly "sizist." OK, the guy is fat - so are a lot of people, so get over it. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

This is my second Anna Pigeon mystery, and I listened to it on audio. I don't do crime books, but the first was so entertaining (and so well-narrated) and well-written, I looked forward to Hard Truth. I like mysteries, but not when they feature sadomasochistic scenes of violence, which is why I was happy to find these novels. Not now. The last two discs, where Anna is captured, are horrific to read.

HARD TRUTH by Nevada Barr takes Anna Pigeon fans deep into the stark contrast of the beauty of the Rocky Mountain Park and evil of religious cults which use faith to mask their unholy deeds. This is a different Barr, which explores kidnapping, child abuse, violence and evil. It is not a story for the faint hearted, but it contains all the classic elements of Barr's fictional prose, vivid descriptions of the locale, tight plotting, sensitive and striking characterizations.
The scenes move seamlessly between the points of view of Anna and Heath Jarrod, a wheelchair accident victim who has problems of her own when Heath discovers and bonds with the lost children.
New territory for Barr, a eye opener for her fans.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

This is just an ugly, hateful, horrible book. Although I have regularly read the Anna Pigeon series, I have always found the gratuitous violence and brutality disturbing.

This one, though, is the worst ever---I loathed the animal torture, the child molestation, the child abuse, and the extremely unsettling religious extremism. And, of course, Anna Pigeon HAS to be brutalized, as she is in EVERY ONE of the other books.

This one was the last, however. No more for me.

I am about 75 percent through the book, but I have a good feel for the writer and the content. I'll keep it short so you can make a decision.

I think the book is really full of great Mob stories/conections with Steve Wynn. It is not as detailed as i hoped, but as a S. Calif. person who is intreged with vegas, it is a real eye opener.

The main thing i dont like is that its not like a true biography. I have been reading a Disney biography at the same time and in comparison, its not as good, but then again, I dont believe Steve Wynn really contributed to it or allowed it.

Bottom line, if you want to know about Steve Wynn and his amazing ride to the top of a billion dollar corp., read this book. If you like great vegas stories, give this a read. If you have personal feelings about Steve Wynn, you will either love it or hate it.

Easy read, buy it used, and don't ever give a dime to a Wynn company (my opinion after reading the book).

If you're looking for a biography-style book about S.Wynn's road to being King of Las Vegas this really isn't it. I'm about 120 pages into it now, and I'm already flipping through to see if it is going to get any better. Here's a little on the book:

VERY detailed! Assuming all is true in the book, you can tell there has been much research and hours of connecting people together in the stories in the book. Unfortunately, the book seems to be just that, many many small stories or bits of stories that rarely link together at once. The book really doesn't have a good time line -- it's all kinda scattered, and doesn't read very well. The worst part about the book is for me it seems the author has an agenda to destroy the reputation of S.Wynn. Every opportunity is taken to say how Wynn was asscoiated with crooked and shady characters. So many of these characters one would never recognize, so there is much wrote about why these characters are shady people, so we all will know just how bad the company of Wynn was. There just seems to be nothing good written about Wynn in the book (so far) and that doesn't seem to be changing. Maybe that's just how it really is, I don't know. There's no wonder Steve Wynn sued these people for putting this book out. If you really want a copy, you can look for mine on ebay. This will be the first book I haven't finished in long time.

This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to know more about the character of the man who is Steve Wynn. It is a true account of the way he has conducted himself over his history in Vegas and Atlantic City, not the image projected of him by Steve Wynn and his company. It is well written and concise. John L. Smith does an excellent job presenting the information, including several of the more uncanny incidents Steve Wynn has been involved in over the years by merely presenting the facts as they happened. He asks some very good questions that should have been asked but never were because of who the man is. He also points out numerous things that have been glazed over by the press and various agencies involved. Very informative. A definite must read.

This book is a real page turner. It is amazing it ever got printed, given Wynn's many attempts to strangle the unflattering portrayal it in its infancy. That in itself is reason enough to pick it up and study it.

So damaging to his super clean image, Wynn drove the original publisher into bancruptcy and tried everything he could manage to keep this book out of circulation. Steve Wynn vs. the First Amendment (1st 1, Wynn 0).

Certainly did improve Vegas by leaps and bounds, but at what cost? Using public water to build his exclusive Shadow Creek golf course, buying art, jets and NY condos with stockholders money as the stock sank into takeover waters, untimately being shown the door by casino magnate Kirk Kerkorian. Once owned by MGM, things changed. The golf course was opened, the art, NY condo and jet all sold.

How does one man undermine Federal law to build a dolphin attraction? he is on film meeting with a known mobster who used his Atlantic City casino (Golden Nugget) to launder money, but can't seem to remember anything about it.

Fact: the son of a Bino Hall operator rises up to be one of the worlds leading casino developers and owners through some very shady associations. He influences Nevada politics as all people with money are able to, so no surprise there. The mob associations are clearly documented and associating with a convicted felon (Milken) is grounds for losing your gaming license, yet Wynn does so with impunity.

Wynn has brought some great changes to Las Vegas, but after reading the other sidie of the story, you have to ask yourself if the ends justify the means.

John L. Smith has done a great job with the facts surrounding Steve Wynn. Hat's off to him!

Very well researched book that is fascinating to read. It gives a whole new perspective to life in the gold mines of CA during the mid-1850s.

Look, the content of this book is awesome and provides a vital link to the history of the gold rush in California! But the book design is terrible, because the paragraph length on average, is about three times normal, and this error in design makes the text quite difficult to read.

If you really care about the history of California, you should read Roaring Camp, but it won't be easy, simply due to the overly long paragraph structure.

Truth is, this book shows just how much we take good book design and layout, for granted. I'll never do that again, after reading Roaring Camp.

How such a supposedly good publisher could allow this kind of flawed paragraph editing to be allowed, that's the real mystery here.

If you're looking for a rip-roaring yarn of hoary old prospectors jumping claims and battling over gold nuggets, this is not it. Johnson's book is a thoughtful work of social history that reexamines the collective memory many people have of the gold rush (all-American gold-diggin' brawl) in the context of the letters, diary entries, legal cases and ballads that people who were actually *in* the gold rush used to document their lives.

The picture that emerges is one of a complex society that grew up around the promise of instant wealth. For one thing, Americans were not (in Johnson's account) always the largest group of miners in the Southern mines: French guardsmen expelled by their country, Chilean aristocrats, Mexican families, Canadian traders, Chinese sailors, and the Indian tribes that lived in the area before the gold rush began - everyone got in on the action. This cultural meeting place brought interactions both peaceful (lessons on how to use chopsticks) and violent (the practise of "frontier justice" usually targeted non-whites without caring whether the person hanged had anything to do with the original crime, if in fact an original crime took place.) Johnson's book sketches a believable portrait of the evolvoing politics of the region, and along the way explains everything from the origin of Chinese landromats to Antonio Bandaras's character in _The Mask of Zorro_ (suddenly a much more interesting movie since I read this book).

Johnson's writing from a gender-studies perspective, so she's particularly interested in the issues that sprung up in a (mostly) all-male mining society. If you're from a culture that considers women's work "unmanly," and have thus never been taught to cook or clean for yourself, how do you survive in a frontier environment? For some, the answer was you didn't (miners got sick a lot, and scurvy was one of the killers). For others you either learned to practise domestic chores yourself (which you could then sell or split with others), and/or you paid a lot of money for help. In other words, the gold rush not only attracted men after gold, but women who saw they could make money selling services (of all kinds) to the gold miners. Johnson's section on the French prostitutes, for example (who were going to get taxed and inspected for veneral disease if they stayed in France), explains how the real money-makers of the gold rush were often not the miners (who depended on luck to strike it rich) but the merchants who sold to them.

The thing I admired the most about this book was the author's voice. Johnson presents us with a bunch of stories, but instead of offering just one interpretation, she gives us many possible readings of stories and also reminds us whose voice is being left out. For example, in her section on miners diaries she reminds the reader that diary-writing was an important part of 19 C Protestantism, so most available diaries are written from a very religious, Protestant perspective. An older historical approach would have claimed that this meant most people in the camp were religious Protestants: Johnson, on the other hand, reminds us that the Catholics, non-religious Protestants and illiterates were there too, but they weren't writing diaries.

Overall, I thought Johnson's book was very impressive. It won't necessarily give you a complete picture of the gold rush (Johnson's only looking at the southern mines), but it will give you a more complete picture than you'd have if all you'd ever heard was the Hollywood version of history. Looking at some of the other reviews on this site, I gather that some people get mad at this book because it doesn't squish history into an adventure story, while others get mad because they see it as "liberal revisionism." I actually thought Johnson was really fair in her presentation of history: she spends a lot of time looking at the raiding and fights that were going on between *all* the racial groups in this area, and she makes it clear that the fact American miners came to dominate the mines had a lot to do with the fact the mines were in the USA, and the government tended to (but did not always) side with natives over foreigners. As for the revisionist angle, yes, Johnson's challenging a popular perception of what the gold rush was (an all-American bonanza) but she's doing so based on what seems to be a lot of historical evidence and the testimony of the miners themselves. In other words I'm gathering most of the people who hated this book were looking for something completely different than what I would look for in a history book. If you, like me, are looking for well-written interpretation of historical evidence that acknowledges when the author *doesn't* know something, this is a good history book.

In my opinion, Susan Johnson's research and demonstration of scholarship makes it inevitable for her to prove and defend her hypothesis throughout her book, ultimately confirmed in a solid thesis statement. What I find most intriguing about this book is the utilization of sources available to bring an "unheard" story, the "othered" story, to print. In Johnson's preface, she discusses the ideas for possible worlds of social justice. By choosing to undertake writing this book, Johnson deconstructs the social space of the California Southern Mines and through her thoughtful, inclusive reconstruction she gives a place to "others" whose testimonies and experience previously went unheard in a "mainstream" historical world. However, it is the stories that Johnson brings to life in this piece that truly `paints a historical picture' of the California Gold Rush.

While some of the topics Johnson brings up such as the mixing of cultures that takes place during this time, she lacks the organizational skills and talent as a writer to make the book compelling. Her work is all over the place and it's hard to follow especially when trying to use it as the basis of a research paper (which is what I had to do for a upper division history class of mine).

Since I'm such a big fan of the show, I decided to try one of the novelizations. I got caught up in the story easily enough, and even finished the book quickly (a matter of one evening). Reading BODY OF EVIDENCE was a lot like watching an episode of CSI, and yet at the same time there were enough differences to keep it interesting--and, at the same time, irritating.

Character-development doesn't seem to be a big thing in these serial novelizations; nor, in fact, does a believable plot. And this book could have used some editing, as there are a LOT of grammatical errors that took away from my enjoyment of the story throughout the entire book.

But it is a quick read, and it DOES feel like I'm "watching" an episode of CSI. I enjoyed this one enough that I'm now reading a second, so I guess the author did his job!

This is my second attempt at reading Max Collins' novelizations based on the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) and I'm forced to admit that I probably should just go watch the show. I've always enjoyed forensic mystery stories, but in retrospect I really prefer those tales where the medical examiner is 1) brilliant, and 2) an interesting character. Quincy was my first brush with the genre, Kate Scarpetta before she started to have regular emotional breakdowns, and, lately, Temperence Brennan. These are characters alive with emotion as well as skill with a knife.

The characters in the CSI stories fall short if you are looking for books that are as much about them as they are about the dissection of a crime. It's something like reading a script that gives you no hint of the feeling behind what the character is saying. If the puzzle drags for even a moment, you suddenly realize that there isn't much meat to the story. And if you can guess the answer you start wondering if you should just peek to see it you're right and go on to another book.

Such is the case here where once of the tales is about murder by misdirection, and the other is a grim tale that combines politics and the worst kind of murder. The stories are interesting, but having now read a few of Collins books, the plots are guessable because the author likes to drop little hints. And there is negligible emotional involvement perhaps as much as a good crossword puzzle. The book is decent light reading but you may find yourself wanting more.

The week begins for most people on Monday morning, but CSIs Catherine Willows and Nick Stokes are just ending their Sunday night shift when they get a call to go out to a local advertising agency because one of the partner's personal assistant has found child pornography on her boss's printer. The investigation is instantly difficult because several of the employees are on vacation and it is impossible to tell who was in the office over the weekend. Sifting through this Body of Evidence is not going to be easy.

IT expert Tomas Nunez is called in to assist the technical part of the investigation and he discovers which computer the print command was sent from, but when the CSIs find multiple fingerprints on the keyboard of that station, they realize that they've got a real corker on their hands. Add to that their personal feelings about child pornography and this is going to prove to be one emotional case, with more than one instance of misguided accusation.

Elsewhere in Las Vegas, Gil Grissom, Warrick Brown, and Sara Sidle are called to investigate a woman's body discovered by a local citizen. The profile of the case is heightened instantly when her identity is confirmed as the long-missing secretary of Mayor Darryl Harrison. Sheriff Brian Mobley immediately takes himself off the case because he has everything to gain by implicating the mayor in this crime: Mobley was planning to run against the mayor for his seat. Mobley's campaign manager Ed Anthony has been doing everything in his power to help Mobley, including several things he shouldn't have done.

Author Max Allan Collins (again with research and plotting assistance from Matthew V. Clements, a true-crime writer in his own right) is on a roll with these CSI novels, and Body of Evidence is no different. He captures the tone, setting, and characters from the television series perfectly, complete with the touches of humor that so wonderfully break the tension and illustrate the friendships that lie under the professional relationships.

The computer and Internet knowledge contained within Body of Evidence is just another example of the fine work done by Collins and researcher / co-plotter Matthew V. Clements (a true-crime writer in his own right and the co-author of several short stories with Collins). The details are part of what makes CSI so fascinating, and Collins and Clements do not skimp.

Tie-in novels like Body of Evidence are ideal for fans who are looking for an original CSI mystery during the summer rerun season. Plus, the stories are longer so, generally speaking, there is room for more detail and character development, making for a more fulfilling, multi-hour experience -- more like a CSI movie than a typical episode.

I'm a casual watcher of the TV show, and this is the first CSI book I've read. Since I'm not a die-hard fan of the show, I had a little trouble matching character names in the book with their image from my memories. This was a little distracting for me, but shouldn't be a problem for those who pay more attention to the TV show. Reading this story seemed much like reading a fleshed-out script for a show's episode ... a very cool effect.

As per the show, there are two cases in focus. First is the discovery of child pornograpy printouts at an advertising agency. Second is the discovery of the body of Las Vegas' Mayor's secretary who had been kidnapped several weeks earlier. I think the book spent more time with the first case, with just tidbits of the second case thrown in until the end. Once the child porn case is wrapped up, the book shifts the murder case into high gear and ends rather suddenly. One thread through both cases is that an innocent person is actively framed by the perpetrator.

Because of the heavy sexual content of these cases, I wouldn't recommend this book for younger readers. I havent yet read any other books from this series, but I will be picking them up soon.

--Lynellen.com

This is a fairly good book, the first 3 were much more entertaining. Not sure who is proof reading and/or editing but that seriously needs to be improved upon.

Another glaring error - in the first 3 books (as in the TV show), it's stated that Sara is a vegetarian. However, in one part of the book, the author has her eating a turkey sandwich!

Also, you can tell which character is the author's favorite - it's noted that a lot of space is devoted to Catherine Willows and her flowing strawberry blonde hair, clothes, how intelligent she is. Sara seems to just be part of the background - in the portion of the book dealing with the case of the mayor's secretary - Grissom, Warrick, Sara and Brass are meeting in the mayor's office. The author focuses mostly on Warrick's reactions to things said - was Sara meant to be a only a casual observer at the meeting? This is prevelant throughout the book series. Would like to see a little more time and space devoted to Sara.

I bought this book because amazon keep pushing it to me based on the other books I have bought. Of all the books I have bought on the sex industry, this has been the worst. It gives no new information. It dosn't "uncover" anything. Anyone who hasn't been living in a cave for the past 50 years already knows everything in this book. Yes, there are strip clubs and escorts and swingers in las vegas. Las vegas has a lot of sex going on. "what happens here, stays here." Don't buy this book unless you really don't know what a strip club is, or what swingers do with each other. Save your money.

This is a very poor book. It has almost nothing to do with Las Vegas at all. It centers on porn stars and the porn industry, and the people profiled are most vapid and boring along with being incapable of reflection. The narrator's inability to make note of their deficient qualities and provide any sort of insight is its real flaw; however, as Sheehan appears incapable of judging anything or anybody which is indicative of many an academic nowadays. These types concentrate on being "tolerant" and "non-judgmental" which results in their having nothing to say. Porn is a means to an end for most guys. It isn't intriguing or meaningful. It's something in lieu of something else. If you enjoy reading about Las Vegas, I'd advise you to look at other titles.

As one who has owned both an Extoic Dancer Web site and a Las Vegas Escort Web site, I have met known and photgraphed dancers and escorts going back to 1997 anf quiter frankly a lot of information is just not right. While those he interviewed those things might be true, but in general they seem out od whack with the many ladies I have known. This is true particularly for the escorts, as anyone with any brains can see that escorts don't start out at $500 for an hour. Don't waste money on this book, is mostly a lot of hype and while you might find it entertaining, there is just too much that is flat out wrong. There are better books I am sure if you want to get the lowdown on the adult industry in Vegas.

I have never posted a review before, but felt the need to do so after reading half of this utterly useless book. I am a voracious reader who loves stories about Las vegas, but this book is not worth your time. I feel like a sucker for buying it and hope that I can save someone else from wasting their money.

The other reviewers are right, this book is not about Las Vegas ('for a good time go here and say Jack sent you') it is about the sex industry and sexual values in America. With that as its subject, this is an interesting book to those who, like me have lived sheltered lives.

The author is a journalist and so the chapters are free-standing articles. The first article/chapter is a visit to the Porn Oscars. It sounds like fun. The next is about a young lady of the author's acquaintance who is a college student/porn actress/prositute. She sounds interesting.

Each chapter seems to take us into stranger and more alarming sexual practices. Are you comfortable with Chapter Three? Does Chapter Six repel you?

But more than that, the author talks about people, not practices. What does a hooker do with her day off? What are swinging couples really like? Many of the people interviewed seem to frankly admit they wonder if they made the right decision with their lives.

An interesting way to go places I would never go and to meet people I would not otherwise meet.

A light hearted book with cute characters. Vonnie Taylor and Adam Baldwin make a sweet pair with a stronge attraction to each other. A definite read for anyone looking for something to do other than watch TV.

Way to much sexual description, from a Christian Author

You will be VERY disappointed. I had to check to see if a final chapter had been left off my book. The plot was loose at best and nothing was fully developed. Her characters weren't believable and their reactions were unrealistic. I don't see any woman deciding that it was unfair to punish the woman that was marrying her own secretly wed husband by refusing to make her wedding dress for her. It just doesn't hold up. What's sad is that I've enjoyed Lori Copeland's books in the past and this is not her best work.

What an entertaining twist... with Adam Baldwin hoping to pull off a quick divorce with his secret wife, Vonnie, so he can marry the sweet Beth Baylor... and Vonnie secretly furious at the entire affair. This story is full of misunderstandings, lack of communication, anger, rage, and a lot of passion. The main characters are warm, and loving, but I found it quite enterataining. I would recommend this story, however, did not find it a must read.... although quite enjoyable.

Taking into consideration that the characters were 15 and 17 seven years earlier this turns out to be a wonderfully innocent love story with general complications.

Now we come onto Vonnie Taylor Baldwin at 22 and Adam Baldwin at 24 with a marriage complicated by their fathers deep-seated aversion to each other, is it a wonder they don't seem to know how to straighten out their lives??

Throw in a grief stricken mother and a melancholy friend, Franz - well it is almost too much for Vonnie. She has a friend in Beth Baylor who is supposed to marry Adam, due to another misunderstanding I might add. And now Beth, who has a great admiration for Vonnie's talents as seamstress and bridal dress maker, wants a Vonnie original.

Beth tries to involve Adam in the wedding planning but Adam just can't seem to care.
Accidents start to happen around the Flying Feather ranch. Vonnie's father, Teague is raising Ostrichs, which the neighbors didn't like. The birds are a riot. Do they really ride them?? Then came the house fire. . . . .
Adam feels a need to protect Vonnie even though he is pushing for a divorce. And the memories of seven years ago are bringing back the love they had for each other.

I always wondered how P.K. Baldwin and Franz figured in the prologue and what ever happened to El Johnson?

The story was of every day events happening in 1898 to these people involved in hiding secrets of the past and resolving them in the present. I did enjoy meeting Adam's 3 brothers, Andrew, Joey and Pat and I had to laugh at Beth driving that first automobile, seems just like a woman in that day who thinks she can do anything. [this needs a triple smiley.]

Definitely RECOMMENDED - a great change of pace from all the bed hopping stories being put out. But as I always say - see for yourself.

The book is a decent additional resource to Urioste's "Red Book" (see also her 2003 26 trad routes addendum). Combined w/ the Red Rocks' SuperTopos the three will almost give you one good guidebook's worth of beta.

It IS your Red Rocks' "Bible" if you are a sport climber.

I do not believe this book can even be considered a guide book. No topos for certain areas. Poor descriptions. I went to Red Rocks with this book and it only got me to where I needed to park. I used the kindness of locals to get me to where I needed to go. Don't waste your time on this book. It's a pile.

I consider Swain's guide book to be a work in progress. I hear that the 3rd edition is out and that it is improved. You have to remember that Swain is tall and likes to sandbag, so if he downgrades your best onsight, don't let it get to you. Sure, he messes up some pitch lengths, pitch grades and approaches but I believe he's trying to do his honest best to write a quality guide. He's no Greg Opland, but maybe he can learn.

The book is very good overall. However the author should have spent a lot more time editing it before printing. The book has numerous contradictions as far as the rating system goes. One climb might be listed as a trad climb only and then in the index that same climb is listed as a sport climb. The index's section on the 5.10a climbs is completely screwed up! About 85% of these climbs are listed as a sport climb but then when you flip to that page they are listed as strictly trad climbs. It's very frustrating sometimes. The book has a lot of very helpful information and as of 1999 it was by far the best available. Hopefully the author will fix all of these problems in the next printing that has been rumored to be release for about 2 years and going.

I've been living and climbing at Red Rocks for two years now. Swain's guide book publicizes a number of new routes that are not in the previous guide; however, not all descriptions are adequate, and a few are even dangerous (such as fixed anchors indicated in the book where there are none in reality). You may also tire of the author's rather feeble attempts at humour! Having said this, I do use the guide alot, and when coupled with the older Urioste guide it serves its purpose. I am saddened however, by Swain's decision to not include a relatively large number of very good routes that were in the old guide-- thereby effectively 'erasing' good routes from the public memory. This amounts to a kind of bizarre censorship, as many of the routes he has left out are quite good and worth preserving. I, and many others, hope for a more enlightened guide book in the future; meanwhile, however, Swain's guide will suffice for most occasional visitors.

Basic love story with too much religious emphasis. Unlikely ending....I couldn't even finish it.

I bought this book because it was cheap and I wanted to try new authors (besides Lori Wick). This book was an easy read, a nice escape from the reality of school and work. I will buy other books by Al & Joanna Lacy because I think they have potential. However, I did not care for the development of this story. In the beginning of the book, I kept wondering about the sequence of events. By the end of the book, I still wondered about the time spent on the fire danger and how it all fit into the plot. I would have liked to see more of the book written about Kathleen and Tom instead of so much time spent on the fire danger and her time before becoming a mail order bride. The step son seemed a little too mature for a 6 year old. I felt it was unrealistic how quickly he began calling Kathleen Mommy, especially considering his strong feelings against calling her Mommy when they first met. The way they forgave and helped the Stallworth family was encouraging...I have to wonder if I would be able to forgive so easily and give so much to the people treated me so badly. I recommend this book if someone is looking for an easy read to escape from reality for a time.

Al & Joanna Lacy are very prolific Christian fiction writers, and I have been looking forward to reading their work. Secrets of the Heart was such a big disappointment, however. Although the basic plot is imaginative and the characters are endearing, the entire book was lacking in several ways. First, the authors took half the book just to give the background to the major storylines: Kathleen being reunited with her daughter and Tom and Kathleen finding happiness together. The background leading up to Kathleen's problems was just too involved and detailed, so much so that the first part of the story detracted from the rest of it. Second, the "meat" of the story was sketchy and left a lot of gaps. Perhaps if the authors had not spent so much time developing the background that this part of the story would be better. Also, Kathleen and Tom's characters were not as well-rounded as they could have been. Tom especially is not a particularly interesting character. It was hard for me to empathize with him when I knew virtually nothing about him. Finally, the ending just sews up all to neatly. Even though I was glad of the way it ended, a lot of gaps in the story and "fast forwarding" occurred before I got there. On the plus side, the lesson that Kathleen learns about forgiveness and God's love is the major strength of this book. Secrets of the Heart should probably best be categorized as young adult fiction, but even teenagers would have trouble with parts of this book.

This mail order bride story begins with a strange set of very sad events. Kathleen loses her whole family in a housefire. Destitute, she drops out of her last year of high school and becomes a cleaning woman. As predicted, the son of the millionaire family she works for falls madly in love with her over the strong objections of his snooty parents. A marriage and a child later, the parents accept everyone but Kathleen. Granddaughter Meggie is the apple of their eyes, and when Peter is killed violently, they determine to take their granddaughter away from her mother. They and their money succeed with the use of bribes to the judge. They arrange for Kathleen to have none of Peter's funds and she is forced out of her home and into poverty and loses her child as well. Heartbroken and destitute, Kathleen moves to a room and works for several people, living in pure squalor. Meantime the snooty, rich conniving parents have Meggie. Devastated, grieving and worn out, Kathleen learns of a mail order bride ad, and she answers and finds herself traveling from Chicago to Nevada to become the bride of a gold miner just getting started. However, he has a small son Caleb, who needs a mother. While Kathleen is a loving mother, this makes her miss Meggie even more and she is obsessed with getting enough funds to fight her wealthy ex-inlaws for custody. God blesses the efforts of her husband, and within months they are millionaires and have the funds to fight. What they find when they return to Chicago contains huge surprises, a few teary moments, and the reader will understand this is, indeed a different ending to another book in the series of Mail Order Brides. Thanks Lacys for another page turner.

Personally, when I read a fiction book, I like to be able to believe that the people and events in the book COULD be true even though I know it is fiction. This book was a big disappointment in that respect. I really don't recommend reading it if you want to read really good historical fiction.

First of all, the authors took way too long to develop the background of the story; the background actually ended up being a detraction rather than a support for the plot, because later the authors had to make up for lost time by rushing through the really important parts.

Second, I agree with the reviewer who said that putting Mrs. O'Leary in the book was stretching it a bit. I think the book would have been better if the authors were content to use a historical setting, instead of going all out like they did and trying to put famous people in as buddies of the main characters.

The third, and most annoying, reason that this book is not exactly believable, enjoyable Christian fiction is that the characters are not at all consistent. I feel that not only did the authors not stop to figure out just how their characters' personalities should be, they also tried to write about individuals and classes of people they don't know much about. For instance, take the rich and snobbish Maria Stallworth. When Kathleen is looking for a job, Maria warmly takes her in, goes above and beyond the call of duty to help her, and even calls Kathleen "dear." Definitely a sweet and charming lady! But, when she gets mad at Kathleen later, she turns into a cold, cruel, sneering snob- and pretty much stays that way for the rest of the book. Talk about erratic! No, the characters really aren't well developed at all, and therefore it is difficult to really like any of them.

This is really only a good book if you want a light read to pass the time, and nothing else will do. For that purpose, it is amusing enough. But I don't recommend it for someone looking for interesting, believable Christian fiction.

I love the series and so far I did enjoy the books especially the ones set in Las Vegas as there seemed to be a consistency between the books and the TV series. This book however was a disappointment for the following reasons:

- Inconsistencies with the series. The team still is split into two units with Catherine leading the swing shift and Grissom the night shift. Time wise that doesn't work with the fact that Warrick is getting a divorce and the fact that in 'In Extremis' the team was already together again.

- If the team is still split, why is Nick working with Greg? Again inconsistent.

- The case was boring.

In short for me this was the least pleasing of all the books, which is a pity because I loved books like 'Cold burn' and 'In Extremis'.

Max Allan Collins is the best writer for the CSI novels so far, but Jerome Priesler did a great job. I did find it weird that the cast was split into the swing shift and graveyard shift again. I enjoyed this more than the previous book, In Extremis, by another author.

I've read quite a few CSI books and my personal observation is the following. I like the original CSI tv series, but not the novelisation of CSI.

Consversely, I never liked the tv series of the two spin offs- CSI Miami and CSI NY, but I do like their novels.

And so I'm sure you have guessed I didnt like CSI Nevada Rose much.

It's hard for me to pin down why exactly I feel this way. There were a couple of crimes which required the usualy high level of techinical expertise to untangle. However, I didnt feel there was any great character development, tension in the plots, danger to any of the main characters or any spark.

The one thing I found nice was the revelation at the end which gave the basball player his alibi. It's a spolier, so I would say anymore, but I liked it.

The good:

1. Main characters written behaving consistently with the tv series.

The Not So Good:

1. Kinda boring and short.

The horrible:

- nothing worth mentioning.

Thanks for reading and I hope it helps a little :)

I'm a huge CSI fan, whether it is on TV, in novels, or graphic novels. I also enjoyed Preisler's work in his "Tom Clancy" series, so I was happy when the Amazon box containing this book showed up and sat down to start reading."Nevada Rose", as is typical of CSI episodes and books, follows two investigations. Both cases are interesting and the stories keep you reading; however, the CSIs in the book don't "feel" like the characters in the show or even in the other CSI novels -- there's just something a little "off" in the characterizations for me.

Like another reader, I bought this as a reader of Preisler's Power Plays series, but have a much higher opinion of this book. Maybe because I've watched the show but never read the other novels,I had a clean slate going in. Whatever the reason, I thought the characterizations were right on and the dialog was crisp. There are small moments that reveal the "ghosts" these characters carry around--the scene with Sara in the campus quad, the one when Grissom thinks about religion, a couple with the non-CSI characters in the book. They gave me chills.

I am from Egypt where Islam advocates 0% interest and approves of no tax other than 2.5% of one's annual SAVINGS. This tax - called Zakat - is given only to the needy, the poor, the orphan etc., as the Koran instructs. As for the government members they have only 1/8th of the Zakat fund to live on. This book systematically gets me closer to the American dream of 2.5% tax. Just for the fun of it, since this system encourages financial growth and forces the government to regulate thereby getting their share of 1/8th of tax, Omar, a Muslim caliph could not find a poor class of person to whom he could distribute the Zakat!

P.S. Nevada Corp does NOT need you to be in US

Thanks Ahmad

What a waste of time, effort and money

This book was scanty on content. Much of it was promoting his agent services in Nevada. I feel I have to get another book to be able to do this.

I have wanted to move my company out of L.A. for so long & didn't know where to start & then I purchased Incorporating in Nevada & it answered all my questions & gave me the forms and guidance I needed to move my business and incorporate in Nevada. This book is very reasonably priced & saved me a great deal of money in the long run. DON'T PASS IT UP!!!!

I really did expect a complete incorporation kit with all the things I'm used to getting like fill-in-the-blanks Articles of Incorporation, Stock Certificates, and a Stock Transfer Ledger. The real complete "corporate kit" is for sale on the last page of the book for another $79. The step-by-step guide repeatedly guides readers to the services of Nevada Corporate Headquarters, Inc., owned by Cort W. Christie. The book also neglects to say anything about the complications involved in getting your profits into your pocket without running into trouble or paying the same taxes you would normally have to pay in you home state. I was sorely disappointed.