New Hampshire Books

Set in Cold Ridge, New Hampshire, Carine Winters is 33, a photographer. Her parents died when she was three and she, her brother and sister were raised by their uncle.

Carine has known Tyler North all her life. Ty's single mom was eccentric and not close with anyone. After her death Ty inherited her land and trust fund. He's an Air Force pararescuer.

When Carine unknowingly interrupts a smuggling operation, Ty helps save her. They fell for each other and planned to marry. A week before the wedding Ty backed out.

Meanwhile, one of the smugglers plans revenge on Carine and just about everybody she knows. One of Ty's pararescuer pals is suspected of murder, the pal's son is threatened, the pal's wife is a crybaby breakdown-waiting-to-happen, Carine's sister's husband is a senator, Uncle Gus has a lazy dog . . . this story was a disjointed, convoluted mess. The characters were not likeable and didn't make sense.

I didn't know it was a sequel; just picked it up and started reading. Maybe reading the first book would have made a difference. I read as much as I could and skimmed the rest.

Cold Ridge concerns nature photographer Carine Winters discovering a dead body in the home she's photographing, and the conspiracy she gets caught up in as a result. Well, it's not really much of a conspiracy considering that at least 70% of the novel is Carine and her protector Tyler North analysing the break-up of their relationship (he cancelled their wedding a week before it was due to go ahead) over and over again.

In fact, if the character of Manny Carrera had spilled the beans from the get-go, there wouldn't be a book at all. He had absolutely no reason to remain silent the way he did. All he achieved was nearly getting his family killed. The only reason for his silence is to ensure that the author can find some convulated way of getting her two main characters together (Manny is the one who asks Tyler to protect Carine - for no discernible reason) and whack us over the head with 200 odd pages of their romantic angst. Not exactly compelling.

I read the book quite quickly, wasn't terribly bored with it, and thought the climax was effectively done, but I've found more plot complications in pre-teen thrillers. Since I've given far better books than this just two stars, I'm giving this only one star (though it probably deserves one-and-a-half).

I love all of Carla Neggers books! They are intelligent and intriguing, suspensful and romancey all at once. Just my cup of tea.

Carine had her heart broken bu Tyler North, and due to a hoffifying turn of events it seems he is the only one who can help her and protect her from a killer. Can Carine trust Tyler enough to let him?

This is a wonderfully written book that kept me up until 3 AM. I coudln't put it down. The characters are interesting, entertaining and very believable. The novel has a plenty of suspense and romance and keeps its biggest secrets until the end. This is a great read.

Cold Ridge by Carla Neggers was a real page-turner. I was rather impressed by this writer. This was the first time I had read anything by her and after reading this story, I can tell you it won't be my last !!!

Frankly, I was shocked by the descriptions of torture in this book. If you are disturbed by tales of physical torture, then I would not recommend this book. It is very graphic. I had never read anything like this before. And, I really don't want to read anything else like this again.

But, once I started reading the book, I must admit that it was hard to put down. I wanted to know what was going to happen next and if the victim would survive.

You would like to believe that people like this do not exist in the real world, but reading the newspaper and watching TV you are all too aware that they are out there.

I'll admit it: I like a good scare! I was expecting to get a really good scare with this one, but alas, was somewhat disappointed. The set up was good, the imagery was great but the repetition of the main characters thoughts was a let down. How many times do I want to hear her "head thoughts" that are just the same words rearranged? Too, it was almost as if the author thought she had to explain the evil in depth so that we could understand how it was coming about. Instead, she should have allowed us to use our own intellect to "see ahead" into the mind of the monster in this novel. Imagination is a powerful monster in itself---I wished she had let us use our own.

Once I started reading I couldn't put it down. Some parts had my heart racing and at times had me gasping for air(some of the decriptions were so vivid). Passed the book on to friends and they also enjoyed the book.

I picked this book up in a train station for a little lighter reading during a six-hour ride, and while the plot had potential, the writing is generally very weak, the heroine's actions, thoughts and diaglogue do not match up at all to the expectations of her created by the narrator. Her behavior seems pretty stupid. The villain is too "out there" and too undeveloped. The cave is a totally unbelievable site. I am sorry I wasted my money and glad someone left a Sunday Times behind on the tran.

This is an excellent novel that you can not stop reading; there is not a boring moment. Anne McLean Matthews tells the story of Helen Meyer, a depressed therapist and mother of two. Helen's children are grown and her husband of twenty-five years has recently passed away. Helen's distressed life sends her to a vacationing cabin in the woods of New Hampshire. The last time she was at the cabin was with her family nearly fifteen years ago. At the cabin, Helen is abducted by a disturbed man and is tortured for what seems to be a lifetime. The interesting thing about this story is how Helen relates to the serial killer. Helen Meyer is a person whose courage you will long remember. Helen's vacation begins terrifying and concludes with a gruesome murder.

I bought this book several years ago from the bookstore at Winterthur Gardens and Galleries, the Du Pont estate, in Wilmington, Delaware. I have read, and re-read, this book more times than I care to remember, which is more than I can say for some of the best-selling gardening or nature books in my library.

Some people write about nature with authority, some with wonder, and others still with love. Monninger does all this and more. His tone is reminscent of Wordsworth who was detached observer of nature and smitten lover all at once. Contrast Wordsworth with Shelley's awe-struck and hushed ruminations on nature, and you will know at once what I mean and, perhaps, better identify Monninger's unique voice as a nature writer.

But this is more than a book about nature outside us. It is also about the ecology of relationships - between a man and his dog, a man and his wife, and a man and his son, and, not least, about their collective relationships with one another as they settle into their lovely home, a barn, in New Hampshire. The self-help books are full of techniques about making marriages and child-rearing work. I couldn't help thinking, after reading this book, that perhaps the secret of a rich and stable family life is really quite simple: one needs two things: a shared vision of the life the family wants and then the shared burden of working towards it. So, even when there are nice paychecks, a handsome roof overhead, and a kitchen bursting with all the bounties of food, a family can still fail, except not really. Families do not fail. They just stop trying to work together. When I need to reawaken to this simple, yet profound truth, I read Monninger again and invariably, I am rewarded with a new raft of insights on love, family and nature.

This is a great book that offers to show us a different way of life than most of us live. Having grown up in the suburbs of California, the oldest house I lived in was 30 years old. I never had to worry about heating, or beams falling apart things that are very real concers to Joe and his family.
In addition to the general information about "barn" living, we see what it is like to integrate three lives into one new one. The stories of the deepening relationship between Joe and Pie are heartwarming and touching, as are the moments of closeness between Joe and Wendy.
Mr. Monninger gives us a wonderful insight to barns, New England, and creating a new life with people that you love.

I just completed the relishing of Joseph Moninger's , A Barn. Agreeing with anothers veiwpoint of too much flowering descriptions I ignored a few choice lines and skipped to new paragraphs; yet with respect I know I would never have enjoyed the parts I did read if they had not been described with such love and experience. I am one of those "wanna be barn owners"; ever since I was eight years old and watched the people two streets over gut, renew and live in this massive building with huge windows and sturdy walls. I fell in love. Amongst all the eloquence this book offers; it is the underlying theme; the reason I did not read it, that leaves me speechless and in awe. It is in the storyline that Monninger weaves the secondary and yet primal thread of family and the fact, as he states, that he realized that he and Wendy were creating thier son's past. What a beautiful, thought provoking, loving and spiritually filled knowing. As they were focused on integrity during the ever present process of renewing this structure; they also were creating sustanance, substance and stablitiy for Pie. My son is twenty-three and if I ever get another opportunity to go around with him again; I pray that I rememeber that once we become parents; however that is gifted to us; that in our present we are creating our childs past.

If you read this, Joseph Monninger, Wendy and Pie; thank you.

This book documents the first year of living as a family for Monninger, his partner, and his partner's son. The book begins with the first day Monninger and his partner went to look at the barn that would become their home together and follows them for one year as they establish their new life as one family in their home in the barn. Monninger describes how each person adapted to living in the 6000 square foot living area inside the barn, how they remodeled some rooms, added heating stoves, and rebuilt the kitchen. It tells how they melded their furniture together, choosing one person's or another's best pieces, and purchased some new items specifically for the new space. After a summer of settling in, the barn finally began to make the transition into feeling like a home when extended family came to visit for the holidays.

The title and cover photo of the book may be a little misleading- -this is definitely not a barn story. Although Monninger relates in passing some of the history of the barn, this isn't an ode to country traditions or barn lore. It is much more a story of a family, of taking unrelated individuals, each with prior lives involving other relationships, and constructing a new unity together. Monninger describes how he and his partner are quite satisfied to construct their family without a marriage ceremony. He also tells us how close he feels to his partner's son, and how much this relationship means to him. In reading Monninger's story however, I can't help but wonder if the young boy is as contented with his parents' unmarried state as they are. How secure can he feel in his relationship with his would-be stepfather if his mother and this man are unwilling to formalize their commitment? It may be perfectly acceptable for two adults to freely establish a home together without the benefit of marriage, but when children are involved, the story becomes much more complicated, and their interests should be seen to first. Monninger is a gifted writer and tells a magical story of intentional family creation in this book, but it's not clear from this tale that he has fully taken responsibility for all he has set in motion.

I grew up in New York City, but have lived for the past 10 years on seven acres in a semi-rural part of New Hampshire. I am also in the process of building a barn (next to the house the we actually live in). So when I saw this book, I had to buy it.

However, within a few chapters I was starting to have some concerns that Monninger was missing the point, and the more I read the more it was confirmed. What he has written is a New Yorker's view of life in New Hampshire. When I got to the point in the book where he describes how he used to live on Central Park West, I understood my concerns, but also really lost touch with the book.

He describes expansive fields with levels of gardens and myriad flora and fauna. In my mind's eye I was picturing a real expansive New Hampshire farm, but then I was drawn back to the fact that he is talking about three acres, abutting on the town school. Three acres is a lot of land in Manhattan, but if you live in New England for a while you will understand that it is just a back yard. Monninger catalogs every plant and every bird he finds, with the child-like glee of someone who has never seen nature before, but he is so lost in the details that he can't get beyond that fact that he is writing a New Yorker's view of New Hampshire for other New Yorkers.

I also found it annoying that he does not describe the impact of having on job on his ambitious renovation project. It would be great if I could have the amount of free time that he seems to have, both to spend with family and work around the house. It comes off as an idealized view of life, and does not describe the realities of what he has undertaken. He also makes a few attempts to add local color and local history, and I feel the book would have been better if he had had more of that.

From a literary standpoint, he really does overdo the metaphors and descriptions, but I can imagine how difficult it must be to accurately convey the feeling of spring in New England, or the size of a large structure. He would do better though with more description and less attempted poetry.

I can see how this book might be an interesting read for someone in a large city imagining life in the country, but it is not really an accurate or well written portrayal, and it left me, now a committed New Hampshirite, frustrated.

This book is really nowhere... though the entire premise is fascinating, the author leaves us wondering from beginning to end who the character truly is, why she is the way she is, and most importantly, why we would ever CARE less one way or another. It's a shame, really, since the topic of childhood abuse of this type, and familial reasoning and actions are of course worth exploring... but not in this vague and unclear manner...

very disappointing. as an avid reader of new women writers here in the USA, this author needs to think about the entire story, characters and arc of book.... it really wasnt a good read at all!

Judy Jaeger's book, The Secret Thief, is a page turner. I couldn't put it down! It was easy to feel the main character's pain. I laughed and cried out loud while wishing for Connie to regain her self respect and finally realize the truth about her life. It's a beautiful story of relationships and redemption; a GREAT read!

In the Secret Thief, Judith Jaeger has us follow the thoughts and behaviors of a young girl, cycling and recycling toward a gradual awakening to the reality of her life. Along with her, we come out of the state of deep sleep - life long denial that she has maintained through self-deprication and compulsion. The story is about coming to terms with a horrible truth, and having the courage to move on.

The Secret Thief from Judy Jaeger is a great book. It is a joy to read from cover to cover. The story is told in a simple easy to read manner that allows the reader to quickly read the book and enjoy the story as it unfolds. It was one of the best reads i have had in a long time. I think Ms Jaeger has done a wonderful job and i can't wait for her next book.

Maybe being from small town New England makes me part of a small audience that will appreciate this book for it's portrayal of contemporary Yankee life across generations, but I think that Judith Jaeger has painted a complex picture that people who aren't from the region could relish. As much as I can appreciate Carson McCuller's portraits of southern small towns or Pyncheon's California, readers of "Secret Thief" who aren't from New England can taste something of the place while enjoying a really interesting dramatic story.

I wondered why there was a blurb from a psychologist on the book's back cover, but once I got into the story, it made perfect sense. Jaeger's storytelling does much more than most to explore the complexity of her characters, women of three generations of a Yankee family, and the ways they act our (or actively resist acting out) their relationships with others, especially the men in their pasts and presents. Her writing is compelling and emotionally deep, but hardly exaggerated or melodramatic. It certainly sticks in your brain and leaves you puzzling out the motivations and resolutions of the characters.

Nice first novel. I hope we see more from Jeager, especially more of her realistic, complicated, and puzzling people.

I am as big a fan of Thoreau as there is (I've given 5 stars to 3 of his other books), but I am sorry, this one is just a bit too wordy. Thoreau rambles a lot in this book, there are places where a few paragraphs of descriptions of his trip are followed by pages of wandering thoughts. Maybe I am not at the point to truly appreciate his writing yet, but I do think this book does have its weakness. Written before Walden and other volumes, I think at the time Thoreau hadn't yet mastered the craft of seamlessly blending his thoughts and philosophies with narratives and descriptions. If the relative weights of the actual trip narrative and his rambling thoughts were reversed, I think this would have been a much better book (and he would have sold a few more in his lifetime too!)

This book is a record of a trip that Thoreau took with his brother, John, on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers in 1839. Although it certainly contains commentary about what the two brothers saw and did during the trip, this is hardly a travelogue. The book was written not immediately after the journey, but 7 years later, following the death of John. Indeed, it was written while Thoreau was living in his cabin on Walden Pond, as a kind of memorial. But even as a memorial, it's a bit odd, in that Thoreau is extremely careful to keep John's identity anonymous throughout the book.

The brothers took their leave of Concord one Saturday afternoon in 1839, in a small rowboat. They rowed down the Concord River to Lowell, then turned up the Merrimack, where they commenced to row up river as far as Hookset. Upon reaching Hookset, they visited for a week (a week whose events are not discussed in this book), then turned around and retraced their route to Concord. Thoreau provides a detailed account of how they spent their days. However, since much of the days were spent rowing, they had plenty of time for silent contemplation, so much of Thoreau's material presented here are the thoughts that came into his head as they rowed. The topics covered were quite varied, ranging from fishes, literature, poetry, the Bhagavad Gita, philosophy of history, King Philip's War, climbing expeditions in the Berkshires, New Hampshire geography and history, morality, natural philosophy, Goethe, and Chaucer. There are also extensive essays on friendship and religion.

This is the most explicitly philosophical of Thoreau's books. Nevertheless, naturalists and those interested in local New Hampshire history will also find material of interest. I found Thoreau's excursis on his personal religious beliefs (which he presents as a quasi-Sunday sermon) to be highly engaging.

Lately, I've come to really like the writings of Thoreau. It has taken me several years to return to this author...after being forced to read excerpts from Thoreau at a ridiculously fast pace during high school. Little time to read and less time for reflection left a bad impression of Thoreau in my mind that has, as I said, only recently been overcome.

But now, upon my return, I have found "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" by Henry David Thoreau to be a very invigorating book...one to be savored and not read too quickly. Taken at a good pace, it has been a joy.

While transcendentalism still strikes me as a rather facile and egotistical philosophy, I have really come to see and appreciate the mystical quality in Thoreau's works. Like most mystical authors, Thoreau is not always engrossing--he is actually rather tedious in points, but his work is punctuated by passages of sheer brilliance.

Seeing nature through Henry's eyes has been a wake up call to me personally. This book breathes excitement and lust for life upon the reader. Even his long winded discussions of different kinds of fish serve to alert me to my own lack of wonder. This world, even in its current subjection to futility , is still a wonderful creation. Nature (and Thoreau's picture of these rivers especially) echo the declaration of the Psalmist: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands" (Psalm 19:1).

I highly recommend this wonderful book.

Thoreau sought the seclusion of the pond to write *this* book, not _Walden_. In 19th-century terms, this treatise is a modified travelogue based on a 13-day boat trip that Henry and his brother John took in 1839. By today's standards, contemporary editors and many an English teacher would decorate this manuscript with red ink and admonish the author that he strays too often and too far from the main subject. Bill Bryson's essays wander too, but he doesn't usually reach back and quote the Bhagavad-Gita, Homer, Chaucer, or Shakespeare. But whenever Henry takes in his surroundings, he is reminded of something else, and before you know it a serious discourse is off and running, and it has nothing to do with floating upstream or down. He expresses his opinions or offers his knowledge about fish, mythology, religion, poetry, reading, writing, history, government, traveling, waterfalls, friendship, love, life, nature, art, dreams, and science. He reminisces about a previous trip to the Berkshires and a sail down the Connecticut River. He breaks into poetry at whim -- sometimes his own words, more often someone else's. Along the way, the brothers paddle from Concord, Massachusetts, to the area around Concord, New Hampshire, and then turn around and go home. We meet some of the people they encounter along the way and get a glimpse of New England life during that time period. In some respects, the people and the land haven't changed much at all. We can see Thoreau's environmentalism when he talks about dams and their effects on the habits and habitats of fish -- concerns that are still with us today. We can laugh at his puns and enjoy his wordplay (i.e., "The shallowest still water is unfathomable" and Man needs "not only to be spiritualized, but *naturalized*, on the soil of earth.") Above all, we can explore these rivers and shorelines during a time period that we will never see personally, with the aid of a native naturalist who's in the habit of sharing his observations and thoughts.

Read _Walden_ first. And if you find you enjoy Henry's take on nature and civilization and life and living, pick up _A Week_. There are a few gems lurking in here that you might connect with.

[From Boating on the Catawba...in the
"Musketaquid"]

I will take the definite role of the
Nay-Sayer in the long line of aficianados
and idolators who insist that *Walden* is
Henry David Thoreau's masterpiece...
I will simply state that this work and
"Life Without Principle" are his great
contributions to literature, thought, and
value...

Take this quote from "Life Without Principle"
(before I get to 'A Week...'):
"To speak impartially, the best men that
I know are not serene, a world in themselves.
For the most part, they dwell in forms, and
flatter and study effect only more finely
than the rest. We select granite for the
underpinning of our houses and barns; we
build fences of stone; but we do not ourselves
rest on an underpinning of granite.
we do not teach one another the lessons of
honesty and sincerity that the brutes do, or
of steadiness and solidity that the rocks
do. The fault is commonly mutual, however;
for we do not habitually demand any more of
each other."

If that is not "preaching," but in the
sense of a prophet, not a mere sermonizer,
then there hasn't been any in a long time.
But Father Mapple's sermon in 'Moby-Dick' is
right up there with it.

If I had only known of Thoreau [and I had
not read much of him (and little then)except
at the University] and had to believe that
Thoreau was just what he seems to be in
'Walden,' then I would have given the man
short shrift...because there is not enough
of any sort of heart or soul in that work
to believe that he is even human. But
fortunately, a Thoreau worshipper (or rather,
*Walden* worshipper) forced me, by his own
imperious egotism, to try to understand this
man Thoreau and his views. It is fortunate
that I did, for I discovered 'A Week....'

This Penguin Classics edition is excellent
in a number of ways -- the two most important
being the notes in the back which explain the
allusions, and ancient Latin and Greek sources
and excerpts(for those who might not know them)
which Thoreau quotes and sometimes translates;
and the incredible "Introduction" by the editor,
H. Daniel Peck.
He can say his wondrous words himself:

"There is good reason for 'A Week's open
acknowledgment of the attritions of time
and loss. Conceived initially as a travel
book, 'A Week' was immeasurably deepened into
an elegiac account of experience by a tragic
event that occurrred in Thoreau's life in
the period following the 1839 voyage. In
1842, Thoreau's companion on that voyage,
his brother John, died suddenly, and in
agonizing pain, from lockjaw.
Without question this was the greatest loss
that Thoreau ever was to suffer. (He seems
to have undergone, in the aftermath of his
brother's death, a sympathetic case of the
illness that caused John's death, and the few
entries that appear in his journal in this
period are desperately mournful.) Interestingly,
though the pronoun 'we' characterizes the
narrator often in the book, the brother's
name is never mentioned -- an indication perhaps
of Thoreau's enduring need to distance himself
from this loss. there is nothing in 'A Week'
that directly refers to the death of John Thoreau.
Instead, his memory is evoked through various
symbolic strategies. For example, the long
digression on friendship in the chaper
'Wednesday' surely is intended to reflect the
intimacy Thoreau shared with his brother. Even
the ubiquitious 'we' of the narrator's voice
speaks to this intimacy. So intertwined are
the two brothers' identities in this pronoun
that it is often difficult to tell whether a
given action has been taken by Henry or John,
or both at once."

"To emphasize the elegiac aspects of 'A Week'
is to remind ourselves that throughout Western
history, rivers -- and voyages upon them --
have served as metaphors of transience and
mortality. Yet, as I indicated earlier,
'A Week' is not solely a mournful book. Its
rivers also support a spiritual buoyancy, and
provide the setting for exploration and adventure.
Most important, however, the book's larger
structure enables it to 'transcend and redeem'
the individual losses that it recounts."

[wonderful writing here!]
"In general, the outward-bound voyage of 'A Week'
dramatizes the writer's encounter with time and
its losses; on that voyage, he pays close
attention to the shore -- which, in its discreet
scenes of spoliation and historical change,
symbolizes the passage of time. The homeward
voyage, on the other hand, suggests assimilation,
resolution, and renewal. If the primary mode of
perception on the outward voyage had been
observation (of the shore), then the primary
mode of the return voyage is contemplation.
Now we are involved in an inward exploration,
and, symbolically, our vision leaves the shore
and returns to the river and the flow of
consciousness that it represents."
-- H. Daniel Peck; "Introduction."

After seeing Bill Morrissey perform at a small club in New York, I couldn't wait to read his novel. What a time waster! Flat, one-dimensional characters with little to say in a town where nothing much happens. If there's a story line here, I missed it! Dialogue is inane, with an over-abundance of women who sigh, "Oh, Henry...," at the protagonist.

Morrissey, who gave us new ways to see things through song (listen to "Dance the Grizzly Bear" sometime) moves seamlessly from guitar to page. His novel emphasizes character development and setting; plot comes a long way last, but at the end I didn't care about that -- what I did care about was what would happen to his characters. Dare we hope for a sequel? It's hard to ask more of a novelist.

Bill Morrissey's first book is a lot like his songs, realistic , containing many readily identifiable characters. The story is autobiographical to a large extent and depicts the everyday struggles of life very well. Edson must have the highest per capita consumption of tobacco in the USA. Barely a page passes without someone buying, lighting, begging, trying to start or stop smoking a cigarette.

This is Bill Morrissey's first attempt at writing a book. He's been writing songs that go straight into the lonliness of contemporary America with great wit and magnificent turns of a phrase. Now, this book can take you deep into the heart of a man who needs the distance of a guitar and a few drinks to actually get closer to himself. Set in a dying New Hampshire mill town, EDSON plays itself out almost autobiographically. The characters were vibrant and distinct for a short book and the mise-en-scene could send you running for a bourbon. But the tender quality and underlying sense of hope prevails and in the end, you are left with wanting more, just like any Bill Morrissey song. Highly recommended.

I loved this book. Like Morrisey's carefully crafted songs, the books expands the low key events in a small New England mill town until they feel as important to the reader as they are to the characters. Those looking for high adventure or unlikely plot twists should look elsewhere; This book is for those who love a simple tale-well-told. I can't wait until he tosses his hat in again with another book.

Truly beautiful. Made me cry then smile. I have a 12-year golden retriever myself, and they are definitely a gift of joy and love

As a college student aspiring to work with animals, this is the kind of book that consistently validates and reinforces my chosen career path. Dr. Allen M. Schoen, veterinarian and founder of the Veterinary Institute for Therapeutic Alternatives in Connecticut, has put together here a delightful and even potentially life-saving collection of stories and advice for pet owners. He eases the reader into the book by beginning with a few stories of the more miraculous cases he has seen over the years. Included is the story of Megan, a stray golden retriever that came to him with what appeared to be a hopeless case of heartworm. He promised her that if she made it, he'd keep her, and make it she did, going on to provide miraculous healing powers of her own to numerous other animals Dr. Schoen has treated. Schoen also relates some stories of incidents from his younger life that inspired his decision to enter a career where he could help animals.

Part II, entitled "Bonding," explores the major ways in which relationships between animals and humans, animals and others of their kind, and even between animals of different species, are developed, maintained, and strengthened. Schoen focuses on four major elements - listening, touching, feeling, and letting go. For each of these topics Schoen has related a series of truly heartwarming tales.

Part III, which comprises about half the bulk of the book, is entitled "Healing" and takes on a slightly more scholarly air. Dr. Schoen has incorporated various methods of alternative healing into his practice for years, and uses things like acupuncture, herbal treatments, and homeopathic remedies in conjunction with standard Western medicine. And he gets results, as evidenced by the numerous examples he gives of such treatments succeeding where conventional Western treatments have failed. He begins by introducing us to acupuncture, explaining how he came to be convinced of its effectiveness, and following this with a section on the different ways in which acupuncture and acupressure can help your own pet. There are also diagrams showing a few of the major acupressure points that he feels all pet owners should know, with explanations of what stimulation of these various points will do.

Schoen next explores the world of herbal remedies, again explaining how he was introduced to these as alternative treatments and how they can work to help your pet should Western medicine fail. He includes a "Top Nine" list of herbal remedies every pet owner should be aware of, explaining what each herb does and how it works, and sharing example cases from his own experience. However, Schoen warns all pet owners to consult a veterinarian or herbal specialist before attempting to treat your pet yourself, as herbs can be harmful or even lethal if used improperly or in the wrong amounts.

Next Schoen includes a brief section on nutrition and diet. He details the basic nutritional needs of the average dog and cat, and includes helpful charts that show how much of certain nutrients animals should receive based on their body weight. Also included are a few of Schoen's own recommended recipes for balanced, home-prepared meals for your pet.

The final alternative healing method Schoen discusses is the use of homeopathic remedies. Similar in a way to inoculations, except for the fact that they are used to treat rather than prevent illnesses, homeopathic treatments rely on the use of heavily diluted samples of agents which, if encountered in large quantities, would actually cause the symptoms the patient is experiencing. For example, an allergic reaction to bee stings would be treated by crushing the bee, diluting the resulting pulp until only a trace amount of bee residue remains, and giving a few drops to the patient. Though such treatments remain the topic of heated debate, Schoen has repeatedly experienced success with these methods and provides numerous example stories to prove it.

Part IV, the final section of the book, is entitled "Teachings" and eases us back out of the book in much the same way we were drawn in - with a series of uplifting tales about the things animals can teach their humans and each other. Among these things are compassion, forgiveness, transformation, gratitude, sacrifice, and joy. One of my favorite tales was of a small stray cat named Daisy, adopted by a friend of Dr. Schoen's, who could not fully adjust to a life shared with humans until another cat was introduced to the household. The newcomer showed Daisy how to interact with their human companion and helped her overcome her confusion and fear. The very last story in the book takes us back to Megan, Schoen's golden retriever, in her final days at the age of fourteen. Schoen relates how, even in the process of dying, this very special dog continued to teach him valuable lessons about life.

This is a book any pet owner should read, particularly those with cats and dogs. However, any animal lover will find plenty of useful material here, as there are also stories of Schoen's experiences with horses, cows, rabbits, birds, and other animals - even a camel. The stories are thoroughly enjoyable, often downright amazing, and the insights and advice offered by Dr. Schoen are invaluable. An owner of five cats myself, the book brought to my attention numerous alternative veterinary treatments that I had now known about before. The writing is fluid, colorful, lively, and very friendly, and the book can easily be finished in a day or two. At the very end Schoen has included an appendix with contact information for various veterinary resources, and also a short list of recommended further reading. I recommend this book most highly to any pet owner, animal lover, aspiring veterinarian, and also to practicing veterinarians looking for additional treatment alternatives.

Very good book. Would recommend it to anyone

Dr. Schoen and Pam Proctor have written a remarkable tale of veterinary practice and the animals and people encountered along the way. Dr. Schoen relates his own path from traditional veterianry medicine to a mixed practice including alternative therapies for animals. His stories of healing will intrigue you to continue turning each page as you follow the lives of his extraordianry patients. Thank you Dr. Schoen and Pam Proctor. As a veterinary student I found this book extremely inspiring.

After reading this book I can think of so many people I'd like to send it to! I highly recommend it to anyone who has or loves animals. Some of the information in this book can save the lives of animal companions by showing the additional options available to heal health problems.

This series has a promising premise -- naval fiction based on the viewpoint of a China trader turned privateer during the Revolutionary war. However, the promise never materializes, largely due to the truly appalling dialog. People in the mid-1700's might have written in that odd, stilted, formal vernacular, but I can't believe that it was ever spoken. Certainly no one ever stood on a quarterdeck and emitted any of the pompous speeches that Geoffrey Frost is guilty of, if only because the battle would be over by the time they finished. The net effect is that Frost comes across as a self-righteous unlikeable prig.

A reader will almost feel the waves washing over the ship during a hurricane, hear the roar of the broadsides, and mingle with the boarders in the sea battles in this realistic depiction of an American privateer prowling the Atlantic during the revolutionary war. And there is much more. The author does a very good job in describing the characters, especially Geoffrey Frost the captain of the Audacity. I found the dialogue very interesting. The crew speak in what might be called colonial New England and express a good deal of colonial horse sense. Every sea adventure buff will enjoy this one.

This is volume two in this series, which is set during the American Revolution and features a licensed privateer named Geoffrey Frost. It is every bit as exciting as volume one. Frost is a larger than life hero: learned, brave, and honorable. The sea battles are exciting and there's even a (peaceful) encounter with the explorer Cook.

This series seems to be more in the style of Hornblower than the Aubrey set. Its is well phrased but the characters and their relationships are very poorly defined. Plenty of exciting and well detailed naval action but occaisonal apparent inconsistencies or perhaps just confusing descriptions are annoying. This second book in the series will be my last to read. After O'Brian's skill with situations and people, this is thin stuff that a lot of action does not suffice to float.

Having been born and raised in the Texas that Kawaguchi attempts to capture in his portrayal (done fairly well, IMHO, if a bit stereotyped), I think I can safely say that if Yamaoka really had walked into a Texas bar and given that pitch on gun control, he never would have walked back out again. Well, he would have, but only on a stretcher. Other than that, it's good book, and that ends on a cliffhanger, no less.

The mangaka (manga creator) of Eagle is Kaiji Kawaguchi, who is famous for his manga The Silent Service, which English language critics have called "reminiscent of Tom Clancy", because it utilized the rogue submarine premise of The Hunt for Red October. Eagle is a both a commentary on politics in modern America and a somewhat soap-operatic story of relationships. At the beginning of the story, reporter Takashi Jo is called to his boyhood home on Okinawa, a small island in the Japanese archipelago, to identify the body of his mother. While he is going through his mother's apartment, he notices that the picture of his father, an American soldier who he never knew, is missing from its customary place. Shortly after this, he learns that he has been assigned to go to America to cover the campaign of Kenneth Yamaoka, a Democratic senator from New York who has recently announced that he will campaign for the Democratic nomination for president. The reason for his selection is baffling to Takashi, and to his colleagues and superiors - he has never covered politics or international affairs, and he admits to himself that his articles were merely filler for the local editions of the paper he works for, the Maicho Shimbun.

Takashi learns, not long after arriving in America, that the reason for his selection was personal, not because of his professional qualifications. As a reporter, he has to struggle to maintain his objectivity in the face of ambivalent feelings about Senator Yamaoka, animosity from the Senator's wife Patricia, his love for the Senator's adopted daughter and press secretary, Rachel, and the shifting political currents around the charismatic senator. The first four volumes of Eagle (about 100 pages each) have been released both individually and as part of an omnibus edition which combines the four volumes into one paperback. Kawaguchi traces the senator's personal history, telling the story of his transformation from enlisted soldier to influential lawyer to politician, and reveals enough of the behind the scenes story and the public events - fundraisers, debates, and primaries - of Yamaoka's campaign to make the reader want to know more.

Kawaguchi's drawings are more realistic than those of most of the manga which have been translated and released in America; they couldn't be called superdeformed or kawaii (cute) by any stretch of the imagination. The artistic style goes well with the story and mood of this manga. I'm definitely hooked, and I can't wait to read the four forthcoming volumes of this series, to see what happens next.

If you've read my review on the first volume of the "Eagle" saga, you know that I wasn't particularly impressed with it. Well, I have to say that this volume had me truly enthraled. Particularly the "debate" between Yamaguchi (? sorry I can't quite keep his name straight) and Albert "Noah." The whole buisiness of 'is it better to train the sheep or the sheepherders?' really had my attention. I found my self arguing with both men. I'm still not absolutely certain that this book is a keeper, but the fact that I was internally debating the characters is a good sign (for me, anyway) that this novel is going somewhere. So far, this has been the best novel in the series. I'm looking forward to reading more. I won't make any other comment than that - I have to read more of it before I can say yea or nay to it.

With the presidential election right around the corner, Kaiji Kawaguchi's political manga makes it's timely arrival. The plot revolves around a young Japanese reporter and the Asian-American presidential candidate that it is his job to cover. While the art was very good, and the idea behind it was intriguing, I'm afraid I wasn't terribly immpressed with Kawaguchi-san's work. Perhaps it is a doubt as to whether a Nihon-jin can really understand the American political system, perhaps it is just that he hits too close to home. The story has potential, I'll say that much. I won't give up on it yet.

This is one of those good stories that makes you wonder why you didn't come up with the idea yourself. 20 years after a religious cult commited mass suicide, some survivors are preparing a new mass suicide, and a woman who was rescued from the cult twenty years ago is in danger again.

The story is well structured and the characters likeable. It does lose its pace for a while in the last third of the book but it picks up again. Overall a good quick read.

I liked this book a lot. I liked the characters and how the plot developed. The reason for four stars instead of five, towards the end it did get a little slow. I hope these characters show up in another book.

Not as good as the last book - these characters were good but the premise was alittle strange. The whole "Luna-K" thing was not my cup of tea. I guess if you buy into the whole cult theme you would find this story enjoyable. Get this one at the library or the used bookstore!!

In New Mexico, young police officer Ian Campbell and other cops work the fatal car accident in which four people survive. Since the vehicle came from the Butler Divinity Mission, Ian and a veteran cop drive there to inform Reverend Michael Butler about the accident. However, no dogs or people are anywhere in what seems like a ghost town until they enter the chapel. They find a mass of dead people including Ian's newlywed wife social worker Anne, who worked closely with Reverend Michael.

Twenty-two years later, Ian takes a room in New Hampshire's Tranquillity Inn owned and managed by Kelly Stone, one of the four survivors of the Butler massacre. Ian fears for Kelly's life, as an unknown assailant is completing the mission of Reverend Butler by killing the survivors. Ian plans to insure this widow with a brilliant three-year-old daughter Jade lives. As he and Kelly fall in love, neither realizes that the serpent has entered Eden and will use Jade if necessary to complete the quest that includes Butler's daughter Luna-K better known to Ian as his beloved Kelly.

FOURTH VICTIM is an exhilarating romantic suspense that starts off with horrific Jones like suicides and murders, slows down to enable a relationship to form between the lead duo, and then goes full speed until the climatic confrontation. Ian is a terrific champion seeking revenge for the murder of his beloved Anne and feeling guilty as he falls in love again. Kelly is a fascinating protagonist hiding her tainted ancestry to protect Jade. Fans of taut thrillers will want to read Ian's efforts to keep the two females who have reawakened long thought comatose feelings safe.

Harriet Klausner