Adamson Books

I highly recommend this book and I think that it's a very good complement to Ralph Kimball books. It's based on the same principles and theory, and expands the number of practical examples based on real industry implementation, so if you are lucky you can find many tips and data models that can be immediately applied in your projects.
You need to read the Kimball books first in order to fully understand this one, and of course some of the example are based on US companies, but most of the material can be immediately applied to other markets and Countries as well (like Italy where I work).
I think that the last chapters (13/14/15) which deal with topics like presenting information and the process to build a DW are a little less interesting, but they still contain some useful tips.

This book provides down-to-earth models for star schemas. And with each example, the authors examines different approaches for designing the stars and later gives the pros/cons of each approach. A very good book. A must for anyone who designs data warehouse databases.

If you do not have 'The Data Warehouse Toolkit' by Ralph Kimball yet, you may want to buy this book. The techniques and approaches discussed in these two books are almost the same. The way this book is structured is very much alike that of the Kimball's book. But I liked the fact that the chapters are dedicated to particular business areas, not particular industries. In the chapter about marketing you will find examples for three industries. I liked Chapter 13, 'Presenting Infomation' which is full of tips on effective reporting. I liked also the chapter on financial reporting which gives a technical reader basic ideas of what finance is about. You will learn about balance sheets, income statments, cost allocation from the point of view of a data modeler. Of course, the book has all the terms and techniques one has to know to successfully build dimensional models. I did not like though the last two chapters which deal with methodology questions. You will only get a slight idea about how to integrate dimensional modeling into your data warehousing project. You will have to buy one of those books on methodologies to get a better insight into the question. In general, the book is very interesting. I gave it four stars for minor flaws - no one is perfect!

I highly recommend this book and I think that it's a very good complement to Ralph Kimball books. It's based on the same principles and theory, and expands the number of practical examples based on real industry implementation, so if you are lucky you can find many tips and data models that can be immediately applied in your projects.
You need to read the Kimball books first in order to fully understand this one, and of course some of the example are based on US companies, but most of the material can be immediately applied to other markets and Countries as well (like Italy where I work).
I think that the last chapters (13/14/15) which deal with topics like presenting information and the process to build a DW are a little less interesting, but they still contain some useful tips.

This book from 1st page onwards talks about Data Modeling issues for Datawarehouse in a mature way. Also covers an important issue of integration of datamarts.

Joe Adamson does a fine job of bringing Bugs Bunny to "life" in this well-researched book. With a look at the evolution of the character, a breakdown of how the cartoons were received, and an admittedly subjective criticism of the author's 16 favorite Bugs Bunny shorts; the book has everything a Bugs' fan could hope for. Full of storyboards and clips from the cartoons this book is for any fan of animation and a must for the Bugs Bunny fanatic.

Any Bugs Bunny collector/enthusiast must have this book. The filmography alone at the end of the book is worth the price as a reference. I can compare it to my videos and Golden Collection DVDs and see what was covered. Great insights and sketches, big full color photos... you will not be disappointed.

Bugs Bunny is the greatest cartoon character of all time. I really love that rabbit ever since I got a Bugs Bunny stuffed animal.

I think with _Bugs Bunny 50 Years and Only One Grey Hare_, people will understand everyone's favorite rabbit, who has entertained Americans and people around the world.

Bugs Bunny's wit and wisdom has made him an icon for all ages. Bugs, a clever beast with long ears who always makes the wrong turn at Alberquerque, has become a hero of many. This rabbit has become a hero for me, like it has been for many.

I think with the book, we will understand that Bugs' wit and wisdom has made him an icon for all ages, especially for all rabbit lovers.

Joe Adamson really hit the spot. I'm the world's biggest Bugs Bunny fan and I was thrilled to discover that somebody cared enough about this true American hero and his life to write a book about him! Even though it was pretty long, it held my attention to the end (when I nearly cried). Few people that are my age really know how important Bugs was to our country - after all, he gave us hope for victory during WWII. I'm really glad Adamson decided to write this book from the views of Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Mel Blanc - it was really good! The photos and paintings really added to it, too. Throughout the whole thing, I learned a ton about this "wascally wabbit". I now know I can confidently answer any question in the world about Bugs Bunny!

Quick quiz--who is the only cartoon character with a service record in the United States Marine Corps?

If you said "Bugs Bunny", you're right on target. Such was the "scwewy wabbit's" impact during the years of World War II, the Marines insisted that he "enlist," giving him dog tags and ID papers complete with paw prints. At the end of the war, he was honorably discharged as a master sergeant!

Such gestures are hardly surprising, according to Joe Adamson. Bugs' debut in 1940 marked the convergence of a rebellious spirit and a dire period in our history when just such an attitude was sorely needed. We needed to see Bugs nonchalantly thumb his nose at his adversaries when we were facing our most frightening adversaries of all--namely Germany and Japan.

He did not spring to life fully formed, however. Bugs, in seminal form, appeared in a number of cartoons in the late thirties, but was not the wabbit we know him to be. Crazy, out of control, and posessing a Goofy-like voice, he seemed more at home in Bob Clampett's Wackyland than facing the business end of Elmer Fudd's shotgun. Adamson takes us through these early incarnations of Bugs, and gives us a quick history of the Leon Schlesinger studio that spawned him. Schlesinger's outfit had been a decidedly low-rent operation producing second-rate imitations of Disney cartoons when the great "Tex" Avery arrived--and promptly stood the industry on its ear. To Avery, "cute" was out--and a manic, self-aware approach was in. Some two years after the first proto-Bugs cartoons, Avery restyled the embryonic rabbit to fit the new studio philosophy. When faced with a gun-toting hunter, Bugs did not scream or run away, but responded with a smart-alecky "What's up, Doc?"--and immediately shocked and delighted audiences.

Even at the height of his success, Adamson says, the rabbit continued to change and grow, most notably at the hands of his self-styled "analyist," Chuck Jones. Bugs under Jones became a thinking character, fighting only when provoked (and uttering the immortal words "Of course you realize this means war.") This Bugs was a winner, someone who seemed to know something his adversaries Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck did not. And audiences loved him all the more for it.

Inevitably, as with all stars, Bugs underwent a period of decline, and Adamson takes us through this era as well. The long run on television, the ill-conceived specials and compilation movies are discussed (Chuck Jones' "Carnival Of The Animals" musical feature was the low point). Significant in its absence is Bugs' big-screen re-emergence in "Space Jam"--understandable since this book was first published in 1990 (the best possible excuse for an updated edition, Mr. Adamson.) A detailed background of Bugs and his various opponents takes up the back section of the book, and is quite interesting. There aren't as many behind-the-scenes stories as in Jones' "Chuck Amuck", but it also spares us the endless self-congratulation of Chuck's tome.

This book is a must read for anyone wanting to know the right way to run an animation studio--namely, leave the animators alone (free from interference from networks and parents' groups) and let the magic happen. Leon Schlesinger, who rarely supervised the animators' work if he could help it, unwittingly had the right approach all along.

Pulled from a destructive past by an unknown benefactor, Michael Merrick lives a spartan, lonely life as a police reporter for a Boston newspaper. No stranger to the seamy side of nineteenth-century street and docks, he is a man surrounded by shadows - and immersed in mystery.
Michael is called upon by his boss, publisher Jasper Quincey, to investigate a series of fires - one of which led to murder - within a local Shaker community. Completely out of his element, knowing he cannot refuse, Michael infiltrates the strict religious sect to figure out what fans the fires of discontent in this once-peaceful community. But in this land where temptation is a sin, it will take more than a miracle to catch a killer.

"Blazing Tree' by Mary Jo Adamson is a work of art. It's a good mystery, and it takes us into what the Shakers were really like. Michael Merrick is an intriguing hero, a former opium addict turned journalist in this 1840s period piece. The Shakers that has comes across in the midst of an arson investigation are good characters. One is a young adult with what we now know as Tourette's, but they didn't know that then. His disorder is well written into the plot. Merrick does get to the bottom of it, but not before nearly getting himself killed in the process. The arsonist's idenity is not too surprising. I'm looking forward to reading her second in the series when I get around to it.

Mary Jo Adamson's writing is beautiful. She really brings the world of the Shakers alive for her readers. Her research is very thorough and her character development impeccable. I recommend this book!

Though there are fewer than ten Shakers extant today, this communal sect, officially named the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, once numbered some six thousand at their peak around 1830, spread among several villages in the eastern United States. In Mary Jo Adamson's riveting mystery, "The Blazing Tree," a structural fire--the latest and most frightening in a series of unexplained blazes in the Shaker community of Hancock Village, Massachusetts--has resulted in the death of an elderly man. Boston newspaperman Michael Merrick, on orders from his publisher, is propelled into impromptu undercover detective work at the village in the hope of unmasking the arsonist. Merrick's assignment quickly becomes a race against a clever murderer who will not hesitate to kill again. With richly textured prose and striking characterizations, Ms. Adamson takes the reader into the midst of everyday life in an 1840s Shaker village, weaving a compelling and suspenseful tale. Moreover, her comprehensive research brings powerful verisimilitude to the descriptive and narrative elements of the story, and summons a long-lost era back to colorful life. Whether as novel or as mystery, this is a first-class read.

One of the most enjoyable mystery novels I've read in a long time. Emphasis on both "mystery," and "novel." It could go in either genre. On one level, a simple murder mystery set in the timeless world of the Shakers at Hancock Village Massachusetts (which is still there as a living museum, and can be visited--it rightly has earned the name the City of Peace). If you have ever been to Hancock or any other Shaker village, you will love this book. If you have never had that treat, this book will really capture the flavor of the place.

On a second level, the book is a novel, a meditation on the meaning of love.

I can hardly wait for the second book in this series. This is the product of a very talented writer.

In order to produce The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten-Free Eating, writer Eve Adamson paired up with dietitian Tricia Thompson, MS, RD. Thompson specializes in nutrition consulting for celiac disease, a condition in which the ingestion of gluten found in wheat, barley, and rye results in damage to the body in ways that reduce its ability to absorb needed nutrition. In order to best understand the concerns of gluten-free eaters, Adamson went entirely gluten-free while writing it.

Adamson and Thompson explain what celiac disease is, why you shouldn't try to diagnose yourself, and how to get a proper diagnosis. They give you a general idea of the foods that do and don't have gluten in them, as well as a guide to reading food labels and interpreting menus. While they can't tell you which specific items will or won't have gluten (as this changes all the time), they give you an idea of which foods tend to have gluten in them, or have gluten-free alternatives available. They also recommend some specific favorite gluten-free brands that each author prefers.

One of my favorite parts about this book, however, is that the authors understand that you aren't just dealing with the grocery store---you want to go out to eat, and you want to eat with friends. They tell you not just how to make things easier on yourself, but also how to make things easier on others so that they can better accommodate your needs.

On top of all that they even manage to fit in some recipes. There's a baking mix and several recipes that use it. Given that it's particularly tough to bake without gluten, I of course had to try this out. The baking mix's 'secret ingredient' is xanthan gum. This is a rather expensive ingredient, but when you consider that a teaspoon of the stuff is enough to last through a batch of cookies and a pancake breakfast, you realize that the high price spreads itself out pretty well.

The pancakes were incredibly delicious and surprisingly thick and decadent. To quote my husband, "I expected to say that these were good for gluten-free, but they're just *good*." We both agreed that we'd happily make those again as a delicious recipe in its own right.

If you have to eat gluten-free or have a friend or family member you want to help out in that regard, I highly recommend this book. It's packed full of fascinating and useful information, encouragement, and delicious recipes!

I found this book most helpful. It helps demystify the gluten free diet. You are given information on a tough diet in a reasonable fashion; easy to digest and use!
Hats off to the authors!
A good read with great info!

I have a bunch of these Idiot's books, so I was pleased to find this one on Gluten Free eating, which is something I struggle with. This book broke down the principals behind this diet very well, and it's becoming easier for me to stick with. I definitely recommend this as a primer for a gluten free lifestyle.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Gluten Free Eating is a very comprehensive resource for newly diagnosed celiacs. The beginning chapters discuss why celiacs cannot eat gluten and the diagnosis process without getting too technical or overwhelming the reader with obscure medical tidbits. The next chapter explains which foods are safe and not safe to eat and explains how to decipher food labels and eliminate potentially harmful ingredients. There are also alphabetized lists of foods that are safe and not safe to eat. I consider all of these lists as part of a gluten free encyclopedia, which is pretty neat and very useful. I find it so easy to just look up any food I'm unsure of here. And even though the unsafe food lists look long and scary, this book does a great job at reassuring celiacs that their lives as they know them are not over. There is even an entire chapter devoted to building the self-esteems of celiacs and dealing with family and friends who just don't seem to understand the gluten free diet.
The book also recommends gluten free packaged products that are favorites of celiacs everywhere. There is also an entire chapter devoted to the ins and outs of gluten free alcohol. There are also recipes for cookies, pancakes, breads, pasta dishes and an all purpose baking mix. The authors even map out a gluten free meal plan for an entire week that's full of healthy, low fat foods and has substitutions for vegetarians. The book ends with a crash course on eating out, taking out and staying healthy on the gluten free diet. Overall this book is very helpful to newly diagnosed celiacs and their families. It's very easy to follow and written in fun, simple English. It's also sprinkled with "Good for You" tips by Tricia Thompson and cute anecdotes from the "Fearless Eater". This book is even great for celiacs who need a confidence boost or people looking for more diet options and recipes.

I've seen many of the books on the gluten-free diet and this is by far the most fun to read. Eve Adamson is a professional writer who knew nothing about the diet before taking on the assignment, but she totally got "into character" by going gluten-free to gain first-hand knowledge of the dietary challenges celiacs face on a daily basis. Tricia Thompson is a registered dietitian who has built a reputation as a first-rate nutrition consultant & researcher based on a series of publications on the gluten-free diet in various peer-reviewed scientific journals. The book unfolds as an entertaining narrative of Eve's experiences under Tricia's watchful eye, with useful and up-to-date scientific detail provided in various boxes under the headings "Good for You", "Read the Label", and "def-i-ni-tion". All in all, the book covers most everything offered in previously published works but in a much more 'digestable' form--just what the doctor ordered for people with celiac disease!

THE CROSSING was American novelist Winston Churchill's third and last historical novel, and deals mainly with the settlement of Kentucky and the winning of the Old Northwest by George Rogers Clark. Davy Ritchie is the main character; he runs away from his uncaring aunt (who had been raising him since his mother's death) and in the Virginia mountains joins up with the Ripleys on their way to Kentucky over the Wilderness Trail. With Indian troubles brewing in the Ohio/Illinois territory thanks to British agitation (the year is 1778), George Rogers Clark leads an expedition there to destroy the British forts; Davy goes along as drummer boy. Part 1 of the book, the best part, ends with Clark's victory at Vincennes.

Unfortunately, the book continues and the story deteriorates. Many years later, Davy gets involved in the Wilkinson plot - a plan to seize control of the Spanish lands in Louisiana and set up a separate country (Davy is opposed to it). He goes to New Orleans, falls in love with an aristocratic woman, Helene, converts her to Federalism, and brings her back to Kentucky.

As in his earlier two historical novels, the best things in this book are the historical incidents - Churchill had researched thoroughly before writing and was careful to get the historical details correct. The chief fault is likewise the same as in the past: his inability to draw believable, true-to-life characters; they are cardboard figures, all of a type. Also the plot is too drawn out; the book is actually two or three novels all clumped into one. The book was published at the tail end of an historical fiction craze that had influenced the public's reading preferences over the last ten years or so, and the book was not as popular as his earlier books. Churchill had planned two additional historical novels for his series, but never wrote them. Part 1 (The Borderland) of the book can still give much pleasure to the reader today, though much of the rest is lost to stiff characterization and too much incident. It's a shame Churchill didn't write straight history - it's definitely his strong suit.

I find three books of this author, Richard Carvel, The Crossing and The Crisis loosly in a series. Carvel during the Revolution, The Crossing about the time Louisanna Putchas and the Crisis during the Civil War. These are three very good books and I believe I have all three but cannot locate The Crossing.

My dad was born in 1921 in the farmlands of Edgar County, Illinois, and the Crossing by Winston Churchill (not the British leader) was his favorite book as a young boy. It is a tale of US western expansion, especially the crossing over the mountains into Kentucky, and much of the story is told through the eyes of a rather wide-eyed young man. I would recommend this book to parents who want to develop a love of history in their children and who want to spend time reading books together -- the rhythm of the author's writing is especially wonderful when read out loud. I would imagine boys would especially love this tale; however, I loved it, also, and I'm about as girlie a girl as you can get!

This book was not written by Sir Winston Churchill but a different author with the same name. I read this book as it was mentioned in my family history as a good description of the frontier in Kentucky around the Revolution. I rarely read novels but this book captured my attention and was a great read. It transported me back to a much tougher time in American history and in the area where my ancestors were located. It gave life and meaning to the hardships of my ancestors lives.

This is an excellent book about frontier days.

There is a common misconception about this book that many (including one other review) commonly fall into. This book was not written by the Brittish Prime Minister Sir Winston S. Churchill but rather by an american authour called winston churchill who was very popular at the turn of the century but who is sadly forgotton today. This other Winston churchil wrote several novels at the turn of the century. The way to tell the two apart is that the future prime minister always used the inital s. as did the early editions of his books. Unfortunetly reprints may not follow this rule.

This book is the first in the series about Dr. Deidre Quinn Nightingale, a vet in rural New York. Dr. Nightingale has come home following the death of her mother, and plans to set up a vet practice in the home that her mother willed her. She has also "inherited" several members of her mother's previous household staff and they play a large role in the series. In this book, Dr. Nightingale investigates the untimely death of her old friend, Dick Obey. She soon learns it was murder, and uses her skills with animals to help her solve the case.

I liked this first book in the series enough to continue to read further books in the series, although I felt that Dr. Nightingale was at first glance, a not very "lovable" sleuth. However, I feel that her character grows on the reader, and I have found (after reading several of the other books in the series) that she develops more strength and depth of character with each new book. Otherwise, I found the mystery interesting, and am looking forward to seeing more of Dr. Nightingale. Enjoy!

This is definitely a different series, and there are all kinds of different animals that the vet Deirdre Quinn looks after in her small rural New York practice. This is a different take on sleuthing, as Ms. Quinn uses her veterinarian knowledge to solve mysteries. In this book, one of her friends seems to have been killed by wild dogs when he supposedly fell into a drunken stupor one night, but Deirdre knows its murder, and she needs to prove that to the police in order to get help to catch a killer. This series shows some promise, and I'm hoping that some of the characters will "flesh out" in subsequent books. If I have one criticism it was that the characters are not multi-dimensional. I will continue to read the series though because I love the animal angle.

Dr. Nightingale Comes Home is full of interesting charachters with the major themes of loving animals and good friends. The lead charachter is not perfect and quite edgy with people which makes her an interesting heroin. I enjoyed the book but it was not a page turner that I stayed up late to read.

Follow Dr. Nightingale on her various rounds with the animals. Finds out her friend Dick Obey is dead. She thinks someone killed him. Now it is more than animals that you are following her for. She is busy searching for clues to prove it. Was surprised at whodunit. Great start to a new series.

Didi Quinn Nightingale has just moved her vetrinary practice to her late mother's house. But once there finds out that her friend Dick Obey died under terrible circumstances. But Didi suspects foul play. She takes you along on a wild ride of mystery, suspense. It keeps you guessing throughout the entire book. I never suspected the person who did it, but you'll have to read to find out yourself!

I am completely happy with shih Tzu for Dummies which taught me everything about Shih Tzus that I needed to know when a friend gave me a puppy out of the blue. I have never had a small dog before and did not even realise the Shih Tzu was such a special dog. The book gave me very good directions from discipline to training to looking after their health to understanding their need for human company and their loving nature. I have since passed the book onto a friend with a Shih Tzu puppy to make sure that he understands all its needs. I found the book very easy to read and comprehensive. I would recommend this book to any new Shih Tzu owners.

This is an excellent book for the first time shihtzu owner. Has instructions on how to groom your own puppy, etc.

This book was a great introduction for me, who has never owned a dog before. It teaches you about Shih Tzus, but also about dogs in general.
The techniques work, and I feel that I am now smarter than my puppy. A dummy no more!

I ordered this book after bringing home my 6-week old puppy, and it has helped me tremendously. I have one other book which talks a lot about the history and temperament of the breed, but this book is a lot more useful for everyday knowledge. I love the suggestions for getting the dog used to daily grooming so that he get used to being handled. My puppy is already starting to nip at my hands and feet, and this book is helping me respond to this and other undesirable behavior.

This is my first dog, and I had not a clue about how to housebreak or socialize him. With this book, I feel a lot more confident in my ability to raise a friendly family pet.

Exellent book for people who know very little and who desire to know more about the Shih Tzu breed. It covers everything from puppyhood to senior citizen. I am very happy with this book.

Nothing in this collection really stood out. It was a mix of stories that I now barely remember, a couple I truly hated, and a novella that would have been better off on its own (the very last one). It really wasn't worth my money. I've been burned on anthologies over and over again, I think after Tangled, I am swearing off anthologies for a very long time.

I've never written a review before, but for this book I had to do it. Like another reviewer I bought this book because of Ginn Hale's Feral Machines, but now I've found I want more. Several of the writers were so skilled I had to come and search for more what they had written. To my sadness, I found they hadn't written anything.

Astrid Amara, I wish you would write more. Your two novellas made me smile in amusement and almost cry in the other. If you ever write a book, I promise I'll be the first ones to buy them. Lord Ronan's shoes was a sweet story of enchantment and love that wasn't only magic. Remember made me ache for the main character to remember the love he didn't knew he had in front of him.

Gene Mederos and Jeremiah Job Levine, your fantasy stories made me wish more. The way you've portrait the characters gave only a glimpse of their past. It would have been nice to see more. Maybe some time?

The others were also good and enjoyable reading. This book isn't just sex between two men, but simply relationship, learning and falling in love. I thank you for these stories.

It's some time I picked up an anthology, and picking up this one reminded me how much fun it is reading one, surfacing from one story and diving into the next one, curious as to what surprises it may hold. They are very different from each other, but none of the eleven stories on 363 pages really disappoints. Three, "Moons of Blood and Amber", "The Coming of the Fourth Dawn" and "Crossing the Distance", are genre-type fantasy, where the last one, a novella of 74 pages, is particularly gripping: please, Erin MacKay, give the world a novel! Ginn Hale's 78 pages "Feral Machines" is a SF story I did not expect in this volume, it has an interesting, preservationist setting, though its love story is perhaps a bit cheesy, and the idea to turn cyborgs into, well, pets, would have profited from a little more drama (what use is freedom if everybody remains well-behaved? shouldn't we expect a bad conscience or similar reaction when the freed machines realize to what awful uses they were put before?). Astrid Amara's two short stories are little masterpieces, and I am looking forward to her novel "The Archer's Heart" scheduled to appear in August. All in all, I enjoyed this anthology probably more than any novel I recently read, so I just want to say thank you for it.

This is a solid collection with only three stories I would consider less than wonderful. The anthology is well worth buying just for the exquisite story, "Los Conversos" by Jesse Sandoval, the cleverness of the two by Astrid Amara, and the all round wonderfulness of the two novellas in the anthology by Erin MacKay and Ginn Hale, but there are other stories here too which will entertain and delight.

This isn't just an excellent selection of gay stories - these represent damn good speculative fiction, and will appeal both to those who love good writing in that genre as well as to those who are looking for gay heroes outside the traditional 'gay fiction' genre. It's been a long time since I picked up a collection of writing that appealed to me on so many fronts. Highly recommended, and when you've read this and loved it, go buy Wicked Gentlemen by the same publisher. Ginn Hale will blow you away.

I bought this anthology for Ginn Hale's novella, Feral Machines-- and it was a great sci-fi read-- but it wasn't the only outstanding story.

Erin MacKay's novella ,Crossing the Distance, was smart, and heart-wrenching in a very good way. She took the whole concept of Soul Mates and built an amazing world around it.

Astrid Amara's two stories were both wonderful; Lord Ronan's Shoes had me grinning like an idiot as the young hero battled to save his lord and lover from a wicked pair of boots and Remember was simply beautiful with all it's Victorian poise and subtle magic.

Los Conversos, by Jesse Sandoval, was one of the best pieces of magical realism that I've read in years, featuring a character who is the descendant of a scarab, panes of glass that turn tears to rubies and a very charming thief.

Monument, by Steven Adamson, was sweet and simple, while Release In A Minor, by Tenea D. Johnson, was HOT!

Moons of Blood and Amber, by Gene Mederos, and The Coming of the Fourth Dawn, by Jeremiah Job Levine, were both high fantasy, adventure stories with heroic gay couples at the centers of the turmoil, duels and daring. I enjoyed them despite the fact that I often find high fantasy a little dull.

All in all, I found the majority of stories in this collection romantic, very imaginative and fun. I definitely recommend it.

I have been a fan of Lydia Adamson for a LONG time, and I LOVE all her books. I thought this book was one of her best so far. I really, really hope this is not the last Alice Nestleton book. I recomend this book to anyone who loves cats and Alice Nestleton.

For once, everything seems to be going Alice Nestleton's way. She has a good role in a television series that looks like it is going to be picked up by the network and she has a new beau who is also starring in the same series. She is on a bus taking her to her favorite department store when a non-descript lady holding a shopping bag and a cat starts firing at everyone.

People are killed but the woman escapes. Shortly after Alice gives her testimony to the police. RETRO, the Cold Case Division of NYPD, offer Alice a six week lucrative contract to investigate a possible link between the bus shooting and a similar incident that happened three years ago. Try as she might she can't uncover a connection but she must be doing something right because Tony Basillio gets knifed in her darkened apartment. More affected by Tony's pain than she expected, Alice puts a plan in motion to flush out the killer.

A CAT ON THE BUS is a delightful cozy that stars an intrepid heroine who likes adversity better than peace and harmony. Though why RETRO hired Alice is questionable, her bumbling investigation leads to connections that make the plot more credible. For the first time Alice does some soul searching to decide what she really wants and then goes after it. Lydia Adamson scores again with this winning mystery.

Harriet Klausner

If you read the back jacket flap on this newest of Alice Nestleton mysteries, you get the distinct impression that this may be the last one. Further, in the back of the book there is no first chapter of the next in the series, as there has been in pretty much every other Nestleton book; nope, in the back of this one there is the first chapter from the PREVIOUS Nestleton mystery, the disappointing "A Cat Name Brat".

And in reading "A Cat on the Bus" (without giving anything away), you do, by the end, get the feeling that this is the last in the series - and, as much as I will miss Alice, maybe that's not such a bad idea.

This one begins when Alice takes a bus ride to a sale at one of her favorite stores in Manhattan (one of the best reasons for reading this series is to "feel" New York City in its descriptions). While on the bus, sitting in the back, Alice notices a plain sort of young woman get on the bus with a beat-up-looking shopping bag and a cat carrier; she sits a few seats from Alice. Within a few stops, the woman has reached into her shopping bag and pulled out a gun, firing several shots at her fellow passengers before leaping off the bus and running, another bus passenger chasing after her.

A few passengers die from the incident, including the young college student who'd gotten off the bus to chase the shooter. Alice is of course badly shaken, and soon after the RETRO branch of Manhattan's police force - a special branch dedicated to solving old, unsolved crimes that Alice used to work with - calls The Cat Woman (Alice) back into work, trying to find a connection with the bus shooting, and a very simliar incident that had happend on another NYC bus a few years earlier. Currently on hiatus from filming the new "Sopranos"-like cable tv show she's just gotten a big role in (and happy in a new relationship with a co-star from the show), the actress/cat sitter takes the RETRO assignment and begins looking into both cases.

This is one of the better Alice Nestleton mysteries of late, actually taking an improbable (though original and attention-grabbing) beginning, and styling a pretty plausible mystery around it. To further complicate things, Alice's sometime-on, sometime-off boyfriend Tony has come back to town, and this time Alice decides to end her relationship with him for good. And the odd thing in this one is, the cat was completely incidental. There is, for the first time in the history of this "Cat" series, absolutely no real reason for the cat in the story to be there. VERY odd.

But again, overall this is a good and fairly plausible mystery. What bothers me about it - and has bothered me about the last several Nestleton books - is Alice herself. I can't quite put my finger on it except to say that the character has changed too much in the last few books; she seems more distant, not as psychologically sound, and says and thinks things that sometimes don't seem rational to the Alice Nestleton earlier in the series (and believe me, I have read them all) - her character has really evolved oddly.

But I would give this book 3-4 stars based on the story, which is much more simplistic and straightforward than the few previous to it were.

And even though the ending may have signaled this as the last book, I liked it; it was very fitting to Alice and Tony both, and more within their characters. If this is goodbye I will miss the series very much - I read each one soon as it's released - but maybe it's also about due.

Congrats Alice, perennially-out-of-work Broadway actress, on a job well done!! We'll miss you!

For once, everything seems to be going Alice Nestleton's way. She has a good role in a television series that looks like it is going to be picked up by the network and she has a new beau who is also starring in the same series. She is on a bus taking her to her favorite department store when a non-descript lady holding a shopping bag and a cat starts firing at everyone.

People are killed but the woman escapes. Shortly after Alice gives her testimony to the police. RETRO, the Cold Case Division of NYPD, offer Alice a six week lucrative contract to investigate a possible link between the bus shooting and a similar incident that happened three years ago. Try as she might she can't uncover a connection but she must be doing something right because Tony Basillio gets knifed in her darkened apartment. More affected by Tony's pain than she expected, Alice puts a plan in motion to flush out the killer.

A CAT ON THE BUS is a delightful cozy that stars an intrepid heroine who likes adversity better than peace and harmony. Though why RETRO hired Alice is questionable, her bumbling investigation leads to connections that make the plot more credible. For the first time Alice does some soul searching to decide what she really wants and then goes after it. Lydia Adamson scores again with this winning mystery.

Harriet Klausner

I purchased this while on a schoool trip to New York, and found it moderately entertaining. I have no idea how accurate a portrayal of Tokyo it is (have to pester my friend about that...) and frankly I don't care... it's a fun, easy read and an even better re-read. The complete story line is some what forgettable, but the characters aren't. If you want a realistic portrayal of Japanese culture then this probably isn't for you, but if you want to slaughter a few helplesss hours with an entertaining mystery story read this one, chances are, you won't be disappointed.

Dreaming Pachinko is clearly Adamson's finest outing to date. Building on characters introduced in Suckerpunch and Popsicle, Pachinko features a dense, suspenseful mystery, intertwined with the usual colorful, feaky, oddball characters we are used to seeing in Adamson's Japan. Read the book in three days while on vacation. Great summer reading. Great in the fall, winter or spring too!!

This is considerably more gloomy, with images of fire-bombed Tokyo, suicide, and unhappy lives lived. I'm not squeemish about such topics, but I had hoped they would be underlined with the same humor and intelligence as his prior efforts, Tokyo Suckerpuch and Hokkaido Popsicle. Unfortunately, the story feels more forced, and the humor is lacking, though not entirely absent. If you liked the previous two, get this one as well, but hold out hope that the next Billy Chaka adventure returns to his prior excitement.

The title did catch my eye, and this is the first chance I have had to read Isaac Adamson, but I can promise you it will not be the last. Adamson takes you down a very intriging and winding path of magazine reporter Billy Chaka beginning with a Japanese Teen Idol, a beautiful girl, her friend, and enemies going back 60 years. The novel is as ingriging as it is a entertaining. The look at Tokyo is wonderful, and will suprise, and educate you at every turn. This lightning fast adventure will keep you turning pages, and staying up much later than you planned.