Missouri Books

You're better off using the index in this book than browsing it. The subheads are supposed to be cute but they are not helpful. It would have been better to list the name of the place, nearest town, and hours if applicable than to give it some unclever title. You have to read through the information to find what exactly the curiosity is. It's annoying and detracts from interesting information provided. Off the Beaten Path: Missouri by Patti DeLano is less quirky (although it has some oddities listed) but covers more travel information and is easier to read.

This is an excellent book for those living in or passing through Missouri. Funny, informative, entertaining, and well-organized, the author takes us through the entire state of oddities and other sundry things, in a state where the natives are both charming and self-effacing. This book deserves two thumbs up for sure!

This is a great read: not only does it give practical advice for the MO tourist wishing to stray from the beaten path, it's also a great read for anyone interested in reading a bunch of darn good stories. Highly recommended.

My wife and I had a lot of fun reading this book - the author has a real appreciation of people of all stripes, and a good sense of humor. We visited a lot of weird and wonderful places in Arkansas a few years ago, but now it's obvious that Missouri has even more wackiness to offer.

The hardest thing in life is to "let go and let God." An all too familiar saying, but so very true. When it comes to God's will-especially in love and romance, it's very easy to become anxious and get in our own way or get ahead of God (can the church say amen?) As a result, heart break, pain and confusion ensue. But, no worries. Aisha Ford writes four distinctively different stories that true romance readers will enjoy and appreciate. It's time to take a get-a-way and take your mind off things. Missouri Gateway's is a great traveling companion. It's a nice change of pace for romance readers and readers of all genres alike. Ford is a talented, creative writer and she does not disappoint. You'll love it!

Reviewed by Sherna' for The GOOD GIRL Book Club www.goodgirlbookclubonline.com

Four inspirational novels comprised into one powerful book: "Stacy's Wedding", "The Wife Degree", "Pride and Pumpernickel" and "Whole in One".

The characters portrayed are positive and most times humorous. Along with the romance story line, most importantly, these novels focus on the importance of God in our relationships. I definitely recommend this book!

Aisha Ford's "Missouri Gateways" is a collection of four romantic stories about the residents of Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri.

In the first of the stories of the anthology "Stacy's Wedding", wedding planner Stacy is an ultimate professional and in high demand. During the course of overseeing one impending wedding disaster, she loses her keys. The keys are returned to her my Max, longstanding bachelor who is attending the wedding of a friend's child. Though they don't connect at the wedding due to Stacy's skittishness about relationships, Max follows up on his interest and they are soon building a solid friendship. Drama is introduced into the story in a number of ways. Firstly is the presence of Vivian, a woman who attends church with Max and has had her eyes on him for some time. A second, more distracting, story line involves both Stacy and Max's involvement in an online reading discussion group. Their interaction in the group is not as positive as their budding romance. I found the detailed conversations of the book club an unwelcome diversion. The story was written in 1999, but could have well been written in 1959. The characters have chemistry but often respond to each other as you would expect young teens in love to react. It's very quaint. This was my least favorite of the stories in this collection.

The second story "The Wife Degree" focuses on Stacy's little sister Madison, who we were introduced to in the first story. In this story, Maddy comes face-to-face with her neighbor and childhood nemesis. She was teased merciless by Jordan and upon seeing him again is reminded of his unkind words. Jordan, on the other hand, regrets teasing Maddy who has become a beautiful and mature Christian woman. Jordan and Maddy are both secretly attracted to each other. As Jordan agrees to teach Maddy to cook, supposedly to impress a secret crush, they have to decide if they can get over their past and move forward with each other. This was a cute story of two adults navigating rocky pasts. This was a nice, heartwarming tale.

In "Pride and Pumpernickel" we move from Kansas City (the site of the first two stories) to St. Louis, where Dana (Max's little sister) is working tirelessly as the general manager for a series of "Mom and Pop" bakeries. As competition from a larger, popular bakery threatens the success of the business, the owners bring in New York City gourmet chef Ethan to revamp their menu. Dana loves the tradition of the bakery and doesn't think a major overhaul is in order. Though they disagree on the future direction of the bakery, they both agree that there is a definitive attraction for each other.

The final tale of the anthology "Whole in One" is the story Anthony (Dana's brother) and Evette, a golf instructor. When Anthony decides to take golf lessons to improve his game, he doesn't anticipate developing feelings for his golf teacher and fellow church member Evette. Having been unceremoniously dumped by her fiancé several months ago, Evette is gun shy of relationships. Her relationship with God has also suffered. As Anthony tries to get her to attend church more regularly, Evette begins to wonder if she's only an evangelistic project or if Anthony truly has feelings for her. Their growing friendship is greatly challenged when her old fiancé Justin returns to the picture after failing to make it as a golf pro. As old feelings resurface, Evette has to decide whether to go back to the old or explore her feelings for Anthony. This was perhaps my favorite of the all the stories in the anthology.

All of these stories emphasis the relationship both the men and women have with God and how that impacts their budding romances. There is a nice continuity from story to story with continual updates on the lives of characters introduced in earlier sections. These stories have a 19th century feel to them in many ways, with many of the characters having a certain wide-eyed innocence about them. Other than the rough start of the first story, I found each additional story more satisfying.

In my opinion, Ms. Ford's "Flippin' the Script" is a much more enjoyable, modern day romance story. Having read "Flippin" as my first introduction to her work, I can now see how her writing has grown. I'd recommend reading it.

MISSOURI GATEWAYS by Aisha Ford possesses four romantic stories with faith-based messages. Visualize the boy meets girl theme with the inspirational tones of allowing God to lead our journey when it comes to relationships; giving all pain, confusion and love to Him to do what He will.

Aisha Ford is a true romance writer who accentuates the need to let go and let God direct our path in every area of our life. The stories are refreshing and Ford is an author I recommend for romance enthusiasts.

Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Complete review can be found on our website...

Do you enjoy reading books filled with a person's life many years ago, wrote in someone else's perception? In the historical fiction book, the Missouri Homestead, T.L. Tedrow captures the life of Laura Ingalls Wilders, but adds some flavor of his own along the way by using visual imagery and flashbacks. This first book in The Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder series, tells of how Laura and her family's luck seems to change as life goes on. They were faced with many hardships in De Smet, South Dakota and decide to move to Mansfield, Missouri to start a new life. The Wilder family will be on an adventure of a lifetime!

When Laura, her husband, Almanzo Wilder, and their daughter, Rose, arrive in Mansfield they are very nervous. They traveled with only one-hundred dollars to start a new life. You will see how Rose grows into a young lady, and how Laura and Almanzo start growing old together on Apple Hill Farm. Laura is a very outspoken person who stands up for what she believes in, and when a mysterious tree fungus starts popping up out of nowhere she becomes suspicious. Because of this, she starts writing for the Mansfield Monitor about it and ends up dividing the town in half for people who agree with her and those who do not. Through the years new technology is being created, and Laura experiences it first hand. You will find a big surprise of how things turn out in the end. As Laura grows older she will discover anything is possible if you believe hard enough.

I really enjoyed reading this book because it grabbed my attention. It took me a few weeks on and off to read it, but I wish I would have cut that time down to a week. I have read most of the Little House books and it reminds me of them. I would recommend this book to anyone of all ages who loves the original pioneer girl, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Remember even in the worst of times, life can get better if you keep trying.

One of the most exciting books of this age! You never know what Laura will want next ! From plumbing to trees , she always has a suprise for readers !

This book is so funny. The Youngun children are so funny in the things they do and try. From their dog "Dangit" to the mule "Crab Apple". Antics that all kids try to get away with. Also how Laura's temper gets the best of her. I laughed so hard, reading this book.

I love books and I think every effort should be made to cherish most of them. Tedrow's "Laura Ingalls Wilder" series should be burned. I mean, if it was possible to give books a minus score, this series would be a minus 5 (or even better, a minus 100). Tedrow's version of Laura's adult story tosses in events that never happened, including the birth of another child to the Wilders, an Almanzo who sounds like a hayseed and calls Laura "Laurey" instead of his real nickname for her, "Bess," and a Laura who does things the real Laura Ingalls Wilder would be horrified by, including shoving an obnoxious woman into a big punchbowl.

Worse, Tedrow uses this supposed story of Laura Ingalls Wilder to introduce his own characters, the three Youngun children, Terry, Larry, and Sherry, who are the offspring of the widowed minister. Half of each of "Laura's" book is actually about these kids, who were later spun off into their own series of books. Apparently Mr. Tedrow envisioned Laura as a TV series to be used as a spin-off vehicle. He couldn't possibly have been interested in writing a decent series about her life, or we wouldn't have ended up with this hideous series of books.

Any book on the course in miracles is a lie. Don't fall for this deception.

Many people claim to be serious spritual seekers, but few dedicate a lifetime to the study and personal experience of a wide range of religions and mystical practices. In Missouri Mystic the reader is able to objectively sample the search for God through the wide open mind of author Jon Mundy, PhD. Being the quintessential Missourian, Mundy constantly poses the same "show me" question. How does this system of thought work? What's behind everything? And then he shares his remarkable findings with us.

Mundy heard and responded to the call to God at the age of nine when he started holding church services for family, dolls, and animals. By the time he's 19 Mundy officially baptizes seven people in the Cuivre River. Eventually he becomes a Methodist minister, but still there is an undercurrent of interest that takes him elsewhere. He continues to check out other Christian Churches. He studies Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and the Kabbalah. In addition, there are the great mystical thinkers of the world such as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and others that turn him on. And finally Mundy begins to dabble with alternative paths to God including yoga, meditation, healing, parapsychology, firewalking, dream interpretation and LSD.

Says Mundy, "I long for the deeper experience I have read about in the mystics' descriptions of rapture." So he slips on his backpack and begins a trek through India in search of a living avatar. Along the way he meets Rajneesh, Sai Baba and Muktananda. Of the three, Mundy is convinced that Rajneesh "has it, that he is enlightened." Yet it's back in New York City that Mundy finally finds what he's spent almost thirty years looking for. It comes to him in the form of a book, A Course In Miracles(r), which is personally presented to him by scribe Helen Schucman. "Helen hands me the newly printed book and says I think you're supposed to teach this."

The Course, as it's also known, brings Mundy to the end of his 22-year relationship with traditional religion. "Over the years, I've come to believe that the church provides a kind of inoculation against religious experience. It gives enough experience so you feel as though you've got something. It is somehow also not 'the' experience..We go to church and get a vaccination to protect ourselves against the real thing...Despite its profound message, to my surprise, the Course interests few ministers. After Mundy leaves the Methodist Church he becomes co-founder of an Interfaith Fellowship. While this non-traditional religious interlude satisfies for a while, it's in his break from any organized religion whatsoever that Mundy finally finds his peace and his place.

Mundy's quest for God unfolds against the backdrop of his personal life, and he is in no way exempt from the milestones and melodramas that we all share in our earthly experience. This guy from Missouri tells all about the women he's loved and lost, the money he's made and lost, and the disappointments he's encountered and overcome. Says Mundy, "there is no learning in pain, There is learning, however, in the overcoming of pain."

The two most memorable stories in the book have to do with Mundy's personal experiences with death. His first death trip is intentional. In Castaneda-esque style Mundy seeks out a Mexican shaman who uses psychotropic drugs to create a bodyless death journey, which he describes as hellish, intensely painful, and insane. The second death trip is Mundy's battle with colon cancer, which is more worldly but just as hellish, painful, and insane. Ultimately it brings Mundy to the point of letting go of all the expectations, hang-ups, regrets and nostalgia of what might have been. "The acceptance of death brings an incredible awareness. And...an unexpected manifestation of intense compassion. Tears come to my eyes and love in all its glory intoxicates my heart."

Missouri Mystic is Jon Mundy's gift of love to the world. It is not to be missed.

The Spiritual Reviewer

MM is a fabulous book. It made me smile, laugh and cry my heart out. Jon's story is heartwarming and thought provoking and a must read for all "Course in Miracle Students".

****
I enjoyed Karen Bentley's review (above) of Jon Mundy's "Missouri Mystic"---it is comprehensive and there is not a lot that I can add to it. I just finished reading Missouri Mystic, and although I did enjoy it for the most part, I only gave it four stars because I'm not sure that everyone will enjoy it as much as she did.

It is pretty much all that she describes it to be, a candid and revealing spiritual autobiography of an authentic and admirable man. Jon Mundy is very highly regarded in the "Course in Miracles" community as an esteemed spiritual teacher. His experiences are diverse and interesting to read about.

That said, certain things about the book made it hard for me to get through. The author's writing style is in the present tense, even when he is talking about the past. I have not encountered this type of literary device before, and found it a bit distracting.

Another thing that was hard about the book was that there was a lot of detail; some of this detail enhanced the book, I thought, like the detail about his spiritual experiences. Much of the rest of the detail about the events of his life that were not as pertinent to his spiritual journey seemed tedious to me.

Overall, though, this is an excellent book, and one that anyone interested in people's spiritual journeys would find worthwhile. I do not think you need to be a student of "A Course in Miracles" either, to benefit from reading it. I was glad I read it. I feel like I received benefit from knowing more about a humble and honest man.
****

I thought this was going to be a book of funny and interesting items about the south and southerners. What it turned out to be is a text book! I tossed it into the trash, but pulled it back out so I can donate it to Goodwill.

John Shelton Reed does it again in this hilarious book. I have finally become addicted to his writing which is some of the most accurate and funny I have seen in quite some time, since I have been in academia for most of my life now. Anyone living in the South or those who have left and remember it well (like myself) will love this gem of a book.

I am from Brooklyn, New York and spent four years in a rural Virginia town. I was informed I was the third Jew to have lived in the town. Too bad, this book didn't exist when I lived down there. I just read it and couldn't put the book down and stop laughing. I learned about Professor Reed from the book Culture Shock USA, The South. An invaluble book for those who want to do business with Southerners, or move down there and become "Damn Yankees" (as my Alabama cousins call them). (You know you are liked, when you are promoted to Damn Yankee). To the reviewer from Birmingham, England. Explore the South and enjoy!

A Brit like me needs all the help he can get when it comes to understanding the South - and John Shelton Reed is the man to supply it. Readers may find the review from a reader in Vermont a little misleading - this book is not written for laughs although it is often very amusing. Reed is no Bill Bryson - but neither is Bryson a John Shelton Reed.

The book is a wonderful collection of short esssays that illuminate and explain "Southern-ness". Pinning down Southern characteristics - or indeed even where "The South" begins and ends - is like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. However, that does not prevent Reed making the attempt with humor and considerable scholarship.

Most of the chapters have previously appeared in journals or are based on such papers. Reed's tone is light and entertaining even though the underlying purpose is serious. Perhaps the most overtly scholarly is the opening chapter that deals with the geographical extent of "The South". It is well adorned with plates taken from a very wide range of academic journals showing the incidence in the contiguous states of various factors suspected of reflecting Southern-ness. All the usual suspects are here: self-perception, cotton cultivation, incidence of lynchings, members of Baptist chruches, and 'Southern Living' readers. However, Reed has other less familiar indicators of Southern-ness such as where kudzu grows, ratio of active dentists to population, states mentioned in country-music lyrics, ratio of homicides to suicides, or chapters of the Kappa Alpha order.

It makes for fascinating reading and a shifting pattern of where the South is. Other chapters deal with such disparate issues as the depiction of Southern women in Playboy magazine, violence in country music, the Southern diaspora, and life and leisure in the New South. Reed's real achievement is to disguise his scholarship as an entertaining and informative read.

This is a very different kind of book from Reed's 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the South. That was more an eclectic collection of facts, both familiar and unfamiliar, grouped loosely around broad themes. It was more for dipping into than reading straight through. The present book is more limited in its aims and obliquely explores a few specific questions in greater depth.

All in all, this is an immesely enjoyable book that is full of surprising revelations about the nature of Southern-ness. Some of the material on which it is based is getting a little dated (the bulk of sources are from the 1970s and early 1980s) and we can only hope that Reed is moved to bring out a new edition.

Richard Watson's book was an entertaining read -- it was hard to put down once I started reading it. It is not just about his struggle to learn French -- it is about how it feels to be on the outside looking in, and about how it feels to face unprecedented, inexplicable failure. The author is introspective, and he relates his experiences in an amusing and thoughtful way. Although he gives us a peek into a world most of us will never encounter (that of Parisian philosophers specializing in Descartes), we can easily empathize with his feelings of frustration, humiliation and cultural confusion. Since I am also struggling to learn to speak French for the first time, I was gratified to see I am not alone in my frustration.

When Richard Watson tries to learn to speak French decades after having learned to read it fluently, he has trouble. He tries very hard, hires a tutor, labors hours every day over exercises and audio tapes, but it just won't come. He spends months in France and still, he can't pass his exam.

Watson is a philosopher, therefore he must analyze the situation to death. He dissects his failure, perhaps it is because French sounds un-masculine, maybe he doesn't like the French, perhaps it is something deeper. Well, seeing as how he has evidence that his French really has improved by the time he leaves France, maybe he just set his goals unrealistically high.

The self-analysis gets tedious sometimes, but the story is interesting and understandable. Everyone has difficulty learning something, no matter how smart they are. And the observations of different cultures are eye-opening. Watson's story about an American who speaks fluent Japanese, traveling in Japan, being refused lodging in an inn because he didn't speak Japanese, even though the lengthy conversation with the proprietor took place entirely in Japanese, was amusing.

No, this is not a book about "learning to speak French", as the subtitle indicates -- rather it is a book about a man trying to overcome his linguistic shortcomings in fluently speaking the French language, while skewering the Alliance Francaise (language school), French scholars of Descartes, and French bureaucracy, all in one extended essay (too short to be dignified as a "book", really). It passes all understanding that the author believes that anyone other than his nearest and dearest care about his traumas in taking French lessons or being snubbed by his fellow scholars in Paris (or being stung by a yellow jacket in the good old U.S. of A., for that matter). A total waste of a long afternoon. Watson and the reading public would have been better served had he just bought a set of Pimsleur CDs and then shut up.

What I particularly love about Richard Watson is that his francophobia has the breadth to include the French language itself: "The poem played on tape was about how to paint a bird. First you paint a cage, then you paint flowers and plants around it, a beautiful sky, and so on. You wait. Your painting is bad if a bird doesn't come and land in the cage. If one does, it is good and you can erase the cage and sign your name to the painting of the bird. Putting aside the cuteness of all this, what made me realize how much I disliked the sound of French was the continual, unctuous, caressing repetition of 'l'oiseau' ('the bird'). It is a word the French believe to be one of the most beautiful in their language. It is a word that cannot be pronounced without simpering, a word whose use should be restricted to children under five."

Confere Anthony Burgess's hatred of the consonant deficiency of French: "The French seem determined to destroy their Roman inheritance by chopping up words until they become as short as possible, and as capable of being confused with other chopped-up words as only a genuinely morbid condition of language can allow. Even when a French word or name bears some visual resemblance to its classical original, the spoken form submits to the axe. I can never grow used to pronouncing 'Jesus Christ' as 'Jezu Cri', and I feel that if the French could cut the holy name down to something like 'Je Cr', they would."

There is little reason to describe the author's purpose in writing Testing The Claims of Church Growth, for the title makes it self-evident. My initial interest in this book was based on the description which says, "For 13 years prior to entering the ministry, Rev. Rodney E. Zwonitzer was a high-level corporate marketing executive for Westinghouse, Storage Technology, and United Technologies Mostek. Now he lays bare the real basis for Church Growth, finding that it is not in the Bible but in business." I assumed this book would examine the claims of church growth through the eyes of one who is adept at studying and evaluating marketing.

The book began in a promising fashion with the author providing a primer in marketing; defining it, explaining how it works, and describing his role in it when he was working with large corporations. The most notable information in this initial section is the paradigm shift companies undergo from having the product as the dominant force to the customer being supreme. There were clear reflections of the Church Growth movement in his analysis.

Interestingly, there was very little discussion of marketing beyond the initial section. Instead, the author continually compares and contrasts the claims of Church Growth advocates with claims of Confessional Lutherans and we see that the primary purpose of this book is to address the issues of Church Growth within a specific part of the Lutheran body. While this is not what I had expected, I still found it tremendously helpful. Zwonitzer argues from within the clearly defined, historic, structured framework of conservative Lutheranism. While I have read many evangelical responses to Church Growth, they often reply from within the chaos of evangelicalism. I would also point out that the author has a very strong grasp of the methodology, message and claims of Church Growth. This means that he is not arguing against a mere caricature of a movement, but instead probes to the roots, examining men like McGavaran and spending very little time with the modern-day heroes of church growth such as Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. He also gives credit where credit is due, praising Church Growth advocates for their desire to reach the lost, but at the same time affirming that to do this we do not need to resort to such extreme measures in marketing, theology and ecclesiology.

He writes, "I cannot fault CG [Church Growth] for its fervent desire to seek and save the lost. However, I must ask, Do you give up anything in this rush to grow, to succeed, to be relevant, to please the customer? The evidence convinces me that the answer must be yes. CG gives up the purity of the Gospel and the correct administration of the Sacraments in its zeal to grow."

In the end, having examined many of the most pressing issues raised by Church Growth, he concludes that the Lutheran Church must respond to this issue and "hammer out a concord through the same means used by our Confessional forefathers." He goes on to say that "The new controversy of Church Growth has been allowed to spread for more than two decades among our Confessional churches, bringing a scandal from outside our confession. This scandal must be addressed now before it is given more time to spread. It's time for concord. It's time to show our allegiance. It's time to be Lutherans."

So while I am not in the target demographic for this book, and while I disagree with some of the author's ardently Lutheran theology, I did find it a helpful read.

Having spent 20 years in the marketing business before becoming an ordained minister, I think the book pounds a decisive (hopefully) final nail in the coffin lid of the co-called Church Growth Movement. Zwonitzer clearly knows his stuff. Like a well-schooled marketing manager the author prefers evidence instead of anecdote, and he relentlessly exposes the dog-eared clichés and unproductive stratagems of a failed system. There's no "bait and switch" here. The book delivers what the cover promises, which is more than a careful observer can say for the CG gurus.

Rather than test the claims of the church growth movement the author tests the dated claims of only two church growth advocates. An attack on marketing the church rather than a serious critique. And this coming from one whose webpage uses marketing to encouraging purchases so his church can make money?

In the preface, Rev. Zwonitzer basically summarizes his entire book by asking, "Were Jesus, Paul, Martin Luther, and even C.F.W. Walther marketing men as the Church Growth Movement claims? This ex-marketer-turned-theologian says NO! Marketing is an overarching approach that seeks to please the customer, claiming customer king. True theology can have no customer sovereignty. THE PRECIOUS GOSPEL MUST BE SOVEREIGN." Folks, if you don't see the overwhelming fundamental truth in this last statement, don't buy the book. You really wouldn't understand it. I suppose the following statement is how I would summarize this book. Ultimately, the Church Growth Movement leads to the blind leading the blind.

For someone interested in how the world's largest airline got it's start, this is a must read. It's filled with details and facts that could only be properly told by someone who was there.

William Braznell's An Airman's Odyssey is the engaging and informative story of the airline industry's early years and the pioneer airman who launched commercial air travel and transportation. The critically important beginnings with the awarding of the first air mail contracts in 1925 to the infamous "Airline Spoils Scandals" of 1934 are chronicled, as is the advent of the DC-3, America's first great passenger airship; the tremendous advances in aviation technology, and the rapid development of aviation technology following World War II; as well as the reasons American aircraft manufacturers and airlines lagged so far behind the British and the French in ushering in the Jet Age. Threaded throughout this remarkable history is William Braznell's personal story beginning with his fledgling air mail pilot's education in aerial survival and subsequent progress up the ranks to chief pilot, and ultimately to vice president and director of American Airlines' six-thousand-man flight department. An Airman's Odyssey is a "must" for aviation enthusiasts and students of American domestic and civilian aviation history.

The combination of this book's lucid prose with its fascinating photos, drawings, technical information, newspaper accounts, and personal stories make for a compelling history of early American aviation. The stories of the legendary as well as the unsung pioneers are full of adventure and more than a little humor. Walt Braznell's own life and career are models of an American Dream, and the other characters and events woven into the story bring an exciting period of American history to life. It's an obvious choice for aviation enthusiasts, but it also has a wide appeal as an entertaining and informative biography and history.

On a late fall evening, two police officers are machine-gunned down on the streets of St. Louis, Missouri. The questions asked by the officers on the scene were: Did the cops pull over the wrong person, or did one or both of them have a connection to something else?

Lieutenant George Hastings 'catches' the case. Because his partner is in the hospital, he's paired with the well-connected detective Bobby Cain. The two police officers focus on the slain officers' lives to determine if one or both was involved with something that got them killed.

Slain officer Chris Hummel did a year-long stint undercover and his work contributed to the arrest and conviction of a big-time career criminal. Cain is not sure that Lt. Hastings' take on the case is correct, but he reluctantly follows Hastings orders. The trail begins to lead, not to Hummel's work as an undercover narcotics officer, but to the women in his life.

The Betrayers is filled with good cops, a bad cop, evil mobsters, an assassin and the women these men are involved with personally. The plot is fascinating and it's a fast read. My criticism is that there are so many characters that it's difficult to get to know them very well. Some of them show up and then disappear. And those that stick around, even the bad ones, weren't well-developed enough to really care about them or dislike them.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a good read, but based on the plot, could have been much better.

In St. Louis two county deputies Chris Hummel and Wade Childers make what seems to be a routine traffic stop of Jimmy Rizza, only to be killed by Mike Dillon. St Louis Homicide Detective Lieutenant George Hastings leads the inquiries into the murders of the law enforcement officials that have all the cops outraged and in turn concerns the criminal elements who fear mass intrusion in their business.

The first thing George realizes that makes the case seem less random than first thought is the weapon of choice was a machine gun. George wonders if the homicides are drug related with Hummel and Childers lured into a trap. As his superior Captain Karen Brady places increasingly unfair pressure on him to catch the culprits, George also feels unhappy with that young punk son of an affluent lawyer, Sergeant Bobby Cain, assigned to assist him. Ignoring his feelings of being a sandwich meat, he considers who could have set up such an operation including the hit order. Incarcerated drug lord Steve Treats or vicious felon John Zanatelli come to mind but what makes the investigation convoluted are the follow up executions that occur to eradicate the trail.

Though the murder victims are different the fascinating use of a crime thriller to look at dysfunctional group dynamics will remind the audience of Fritz Lang's classic 1930s movie M (starring Peter Lorre). The investigation takes a back seat to the interactivities and relationships within the two prime groups. For instance, George has no respect for or trusts either his direct supervisor or the sergeant; the same holds true within the criminal circles as Jimmy only relies on his brother while Matt has his machine gun. Fans of tense fast-paced crime thrillers will want to read this terrific police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

James Patrick Hunt's hard hitting fourth novel, The Betrayers, begins on a cold November night as two St. Louis beat cops, Deputies Chris Hummel and Wade Childers, sit in their patrol car, discussing how to handle the owner of a Pathfinder they've pulled over. Although all seems normal, there's something about the guy that gives them pause. Suddenly, a black Pontiac Bonneville pulls up behind them; before they can react, machinegun fire erupts from that vehicle, killing them both. The driver of the Pathfinder then leaves with his compatriots in the Bonneville.

Enter Lieutenant George Hastings, saddled with the burden of handling the highly volatile situation. With few solid leads, Hastings is forced to follow tips from any source, no matter how tenuous or shaky. One, which posits that Hummel might have been on the take, leads him down a dangerous path, towards a brutal killer with enemies on both sides of the law.

As you might have guessed from the title, the novel delves deeply into betrayal and its effects on individuals and groups. All of Hunt's characters are driven by the act of betrayal, either committing it themselves, or in dealing with the collateral damage those acts precipitate. His examination of this complex milieu is simultaneously horrifying and uplifting, illustrating the heights and depths law enforcement officials and criminals can rise or fall to. Hunt manages this tight rope act beautifully, expertly evoking his eclectic set of characters, sometimes making you despise the cops, sometimes creating sympathy for the crooks, but always holding you spellbound.

While this is yet another Bretta Solomon mystery from the beloved Harrison, I didn't think this was one of her all-time best like "Lilies That Fester", but this was a good, strongly-plotted mystery, and there is a denoument that'll shock even the most seasoned of mystery readers. Don't take my word for it, though. Buy this lovely little gem and see for yourself if you don't fall in love with Bretta!

It is going to be a wedding extravagance and the mother of the bride is driving florist Bretta Solomon crazy with all weird endless string of ideas. Other River City, Missouri merchants are also going certifiable trying to satisfy a woman whose plans keep changing and turning more complicated and stranger by the second. Days before the wedding, Evelyn Montgomery calls for a meeting to include Sonya the event coordinator, Dana the caterer, and Claire the hair stylist.

Before Evelyn can ever speak, Oliver dies from a heart attack while staring at the other merchants.. Late that same day, Bretta visits Claire's Hair Salon because the stylist hinted she knows something about Oliver' death. Bretta arrives at the beauty shop too late because Claire is dead, the victim of a murderer. A few days later one of Claire's clients is killed in a gas explosion and Bretta thinks all the deaths are linked. Unable to keep her curiosity in check, Bretta decides to investigate not realizing that somebody will go to any lengths to stop her.

This is the fourth Solomon mystery and it is the best by far. The characters are all likable, even the pesky mother of the bride, so readers won't want any person in A DEADLY BOUQUET to be the villain. The climax is shocking, and nobody will be able to figure out what is really going on until Janis Harrison reveals the perpetrator in her cerebral puzzler that is nothing short of genius.

Harriet Klausner

I read the first book in this series, "Roots of Murder" and enjoyed it. I missed the next two, then happened on this one. I expected to enjoy it as much as the first but was very disappointed by the amount of violence in it. Also, the author increased the level of suspense higher than I prefer. Our heroine was run off the road, seriously injuring her romantic interest (who did that? We're never told). Her car was vandalized, a woman was gruesomely stranged, another was blown up, there was arson -- far too much mayhem for a traditional cozy and as that's the type of book I prefer, this was not for me.