Brown Books

I have read both of Del Vecchio's earlier books and looked forward to the release of Carry Me Home for a number of years. I certainly hope it is reprinted since I gave away my only copy. The book is an excellent story about the returning Vietnam vets and an inspiration to present day persons in all walks of life. DelVecchio is my favorite author.

I have read both of Del Vecchio's earlier books and looked forward to the release of Carry Me Home for a number of years. I certainly hope it is reprinted since I gave away my only copy. The book is an excellent story about the returning Vietnam vets and an inspiration to present day persons in all walks of life. DelVecchio is my favorite author.

I have read both of Del Vecchio's earlier books and looked forward to the release of Carry Me Home for a number of years. I certainly hope it is reprinted since I gave away my only copy. The book is an excellent story about the returning Vietnam vets and an inspiration to present day persons in all walks of life. DelVecchio is my favorite author.

I remember seeing the film "The Deer Hunter" years ago and being blown away by the excellent performances, characters, and story. I never thought I'd see or hear of anything like that movie again, but thankfully I was wrong.

"Carry Me Home" is "The Deer Hunter" in print. Don't infer any hidden meaning from that sentence; the plots of the two are as different as night and day. But they both deal with the same subject - the aftermath of the Vietnam war, what that means to several men (and women) in small-town America, and how each of them deals with it.

The two main characters in this book are Robert Wapinski and Anthony Pisano, of Mill Creek Falls, PA. In such an environment it seems incredible that these two men apparently never met before the events in this novel, but that's what Del Vecchio seems to imply. And it really doesn't matter whether they did or not, because their lives become more and more intertwined as the story unfolds.

Their lives take radically different turns. Robert becomes moderately successful as a real estate broker and then as a pioneer in the solar and ecology field. Tony, on the other hand, drops out of society - he just can't handle what people think about him as a Vietnam vet (and more importantly, he can't handle what he thinks about himself as a Vietnam vet). That statement, including the parenthetical comment, may not make any sense unless you know something of the history of US involvement in Vietnam (e.g., Lt William Calley and the My Lai massacre). But Tony does try for a little while - he courts and marries a girl and has two children, but the pressure just becomes too much for him. And even though Robert seems able to integrate himself back into society, he too is haunted by what happened and what he did in Vietnam.

What these two men do to heal themselves and other vets forms the crux of this story, and Del Vecchio never falters in the telling of it until the very end. At that point he seems to deal too much in psychology and not in the people themselves. But until then this is a fantastic story of a subject that not too many novels deal with. The Chicago Sun-Times said of Del Vecchio's "The 13th Valley", "...quite simply, THE novel about the Vietnam war." Well, quite simply, "Carry Me Home" is THE novel about that war's aftermath.

I know John Del Vecchio, he's a friend of my ex-girlfrind's mother and I met him on several occasions. He was always such a nice guy to me and I bought this book because of several recomendations and because he's just a genuine, nice guy. I read the book and was blown away by his attention to detail and emotional weight. Being to young to remember the Vietnam war, this was an interesting lesson in coping with the seriousness of war and a country that doesn't want you back. The story is very involved and very fine tuned. Though not exactly light reading, the book is involving and beckons you to read on.

I had a chance to discuss the book with him a while after I read it and expressed my admiration and respect for him and his book. He was gracious and said he was working on a new book. This soon turned out to be "Darkness Falls"...Another great book by Del Vecchio. "Carry Me Home" requires dedication to read, but you're left with a real connection with the characters and a feeling of accomplishment...

EXCELLENT!! An eye-opener! Accurate data. Everyone should read this book and be enlightened.

I have not finished this book. The author's descriptions of Mary are off-putting. For example: "If early images are correct, she had a small straight mouth, a thin chiseled nose, and a drawn look that was sometimes sorrowful. She was of medium height and had brown hair with dark bangs and eyebrows, her face neither long nor round but oval, her hands and fingers tapered, delicate, and long. She was a regular peasant in a small, regular hillside house, and her life had been one of prayer and toil: drawing water, cooking, and repairing clothes. She had subsisted on fruit, fish, and bread; in manner always serene and demure...."

I have not seen the Blessed Mother, but I would be surprised if her expression is "drawn." And I doubt her manner was "always serene and demure." A "regular peasant"? The mother of God, while pregnant, traveled to see her pregnant cousin and stay with her till the birth of her child. At a wedding, she basically told her Son to turn the water into wine.

Contrast the author's description with the words of Julian of Norwich (admittedly a saint and the first woman to write a book in English): "a simple maid and meek, so young she seemed like a mere child--yet the very same age when she conceived. And God showed me then something of the wisdom and truth of her soul In particular, I saw her attitude toward God, her Maker, how she marveled with great reverence when he wished to be born of her, who was a mere and simple creature he himself had made. It was this wisdom, this truth, seeing how great was her Maker compared to her own littleness, that made her say to Gabriel, 'Behold me, God's handmaid.' Then I knew for certain that she was more worthy and more full of grace than all the rest of God's creation, with the sole exception of the manhood of Christ."

Also, I personally dislike the notion that Mary's life was one of "prayer and toil." What about relationships with people? And she had a Little Boy. Didn't she play with Him? I feel, think and believe her life was one of LOVE.

So, the visions are interesting, but the author defeats himself more than a little with perilously distracting--and highly debatable--asides.

Always, always and always believe in the Son Of God: Jesus Christ. It is through Him that You will obtain Salvation.
Believe in the Commandments, and Pray for yourself, the Dead, the Poor, and to and for Christ Jesus. It is Through Him that you will be able to meet the Father, so Worship Him and Love Him, as well as Trust Him. We Live in End Times, so Please believe in Christ....the Millineum is so close.

The best book I have ever read on the appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It chronicals every one through the centuries. The author did an amazing job. I will order his other books as he is that good of a researcher and writer.

Wonderful, wonderful book!! Everyone should read this book, as there is much enlightenment to be found in this particular book. It helped me as a Protestant Pastor to understand the Virgin Mary, and Catholic doctrine.

A below "review" on this site (if it hasn't already been removed) accuses me of "stealing" comedians' material via a "legal loophole."

Which is a not only a misreading of US Copyright Law, but misrepresents the content of my book, my methods for compiling it, and my intent.

Up to 100 comedians directly contributed jokes to me for this book; and the material gathered under the Fair Use provision of US Copyright law is not only correctly contributed to each comedian, but in addition I have, whenever possible, provided contact information for comedians, so that readers who like the glimpse of a comedian's act provided, can then contact the comedian and buy the CD, DVD of his/her act or find out where to see that comedian live or on TV.

The Fair Use provision of the US Copyright laws is no mere "legal loophole" -- it has not only provided the basis for the compiling of every other quote book in existence in the USA for at least 100 years, but is the underpinning of every news report you read (or hear), and every history book written in the United States. Fair Use has not only been upheld by the Supreme Court, it has been championed by every free speech advocate imaginable, including the ACLU.

If my intent had been to "steal" I could have printed the quotes without attribution (which happens all too often on the internet, usually by those unfamiliar with US Copyright law or fair use, in any sense.) And I certainly wouldn't have gone to the trouble to provide comedian credits, bios and contact information (including email or website addresses, whenever possible.)

But as a reporter on the comedy scene for over 20 years -- including as the comedy critic for the LA Weekly for over a dozens years, and also freelance for the Los Angeles Times, Mademoiselle magazine and other newspapers and magazines -- that would be unlikely to be my intent.

This is basically a smart-ass version of Bartlett's Quotations -- and what a terrific deal. 3000+ quotes for $16.95. And they're not the same quotes that you see in all the other quote collections -- no Mark Twain, no Oscar Wilde, no Dorothy Parker. These quotes are all refreshingly contemporary -- culled by the author from a ton of standup performances. If you're looking for funny/fresh observations to use in a speech or article, this is the perfect reference. (And kudos to the book's illustrator -- the oddball chapter openers are delightful!)

i'm usually lazy writing book reviews, but this book is quite good and i think it deserves my compliments. I bought this book b/c the it's a relatively clean joke book and seems to be better than the other books that i glanced thru when i was at the book store. When i started reading it, it was much better than i expected. not everything in this book is funny, but the majority is. it's not a dumb joke book, it's witty & clever & right into the point. it's worth my money. everyone who has a sense of humor would definitely love this book.

I'm a standup comic and I contribute jokes to Judy for her joke books. I've connected with many new fans who found me through the jokes in Judy's books. I'm glad I let Judy use my material, because despite my film and tv credits, it was Judy's use of my jokes that convinced my family that maybe this comedy thing of Basil's might pan out into something real. Thanks Judy. Her books are also great for speechwriters who need a joke about a specific topic. Her books are organized like Bartlett's Quotations, but with jokes that are actually funny.

I noticed that someone claims that Judy Brown has illegally published comedians jokes in Comedy Thesaurus. I am one of the contributors to the book and I can say that I sent Ms. Brown 15 jokes, at no charge and with my permission, to include in her book The Comedy Thesaurus. I have also contributed jokes to her book, Squeaky Clean Comedy. I must say that my dealings with Judy have been a pleasure.
All in all the Comedy Thesaurus is a great book. Buy it!

Definately, this is one of the best Anthropology-oriented books I've read, academically or for pleasure. The fact that it is mostly exerpts from actual ethnographies helps to get points across while still more than keeping my attention.

Well Done

got this book for an anthro class at my University. its basically just a compilation of short stories (3 pages - 10 pages) about case studies in anthro. its an easy read and actually was pretty interesting.

The book came fast and it was brand new. The book was crisp. It's a soft covered book but it still made that new hard-textbook sound. :0)

I've used this collection off and on for years in teaching Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. It's a great book, a real standard in anthropology. Honestly, I think the relevance and quality of the essays varies from edition to edition. I liked the 11th more than the 12th. Sometimes a 'favorite' essay gets replaced; and then in the next edition it is returned. Go figure.

I note that sellers of used copies are claiming that the 11th edition is virtually the same as the 12th, that nearly every article is the same. THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how often I have students believe this and buy the 11th edition, then struggle all semester because they don't have the chapters I've assigned. Only someone who has never used the book in class, either as a student or a teacher, would make such an egregiously wrong claim. So, if you're looking for a nice, cheap, used version, make sure that you buy the edition being used in your class. Most teachers will not assign every single chapter in the book; most select 8-12 chapters, and they can well be the chapters that are not in the older edition.

Caveat Emptor ...

This text was used in my introductory anthropolgy class, and I thoroughly enjoyed the readings. The text includes many case studies of differing cultures without being overly technical. I found this text easy to read, but very thought provoking. Highly recommended!

I love this book! Great as a gift or just to feast your eyes on celebrities. Top Quality Book - and I know what's sexy! - Kristy Welsh, Author of "Good Credit is Sexy"

though some of the featured celebrities weren't on my "sexy" list, they were presented very well and the photography was high quality. entertaining and creative shots, worth the price if not just for the alice in wonderland shot of drew barrymore on the first page. also includes some random text; very intelligent, provocative and fun. i keep this book out for frequent viewing.

Actually, I have two favorite celebrity photography books: this one and Rolling Stone: Photographers. I am an avid autograph collector; so, I use these books whenever I hear about a celebrity being in the area. At the moment, I have this book signed by Denis Leary and Stephen Dorf..with more to come, I hope. About the only photograph I didn't like was the two-pager of Alicia Silverstone. It doesn't really look like her. This is definitely a great book to have on the coffee table for company while you're still getting ready. :)

I cannot remember ever seeing a book of photography as filled with fun as this collection of images from Us Magazine. The humor is solid and clean, something that comedians have a hard time duplicating. The book is greatly enhanced by the special genius of Mark Seliger for this type of work.

Before going further, let me caution you that some images are of partially undressed women that would earn this material an R rating (on the soft side) if it were contained in a motion picture.

The photographs are reproduced in both color and black-and-white. The reproduction quality is very high, and the editors have chosen well where to use two-page spreads and where not to. Although not every image displays good-humored fun, about two-thirds of them do. The book probably would have worked even better if every image had followed that theme. In most cases, the image itself is a happy one that also contains a joke about the celebrity involved . . . creating two ways to have a fun with the image.

Here are my favorite images in the book:

Drew Barrymore (cover shot) holding boxing globes up as a visual bra as she stands in a sparring pose in a boxing ring by Mark Seliger;

Elizabeth Shue nude holding a dog by Mark Seliger;

Patrick Swayze in a slip by Mary Ellen Mark;

Emma Thompson undressed but covered by the bottom of a stage curtain wrapped around her by Neil Davenport;

A puckish looking Hugh Grant by Jon Ragel;

Kato Kaelin in a swimming pool that magnifies the size of his torso by Mary Ellen Mark;

Jodie Foster laughing by Mark Seliger;

Ashley Judd as Marilyn Monroe wrapped in a sheet in bed by Mark Seliger;

Jason Priestley as an urban cowboy tough guy by Lance Staedler;

Whoopi Goldberg looking alarmed by Mark Seliger;

Helen Hunt half-wearing a man's white shirt with a wistful smile by Mark Seliger;

Sharon Stone looking like a 40's pinup or a 50's Playboy model with lots of fluff by Andrew MacPherson;

Julie Louis-Dreyfus spitting water like a fountain statue by Jon Ragel;

Garry Shandling seriously sitting in business attire in front of a burning desk he cannot see behind him by Mark Seliger;

Leonardo DiCaprio thinking in mismatched, outrageous clothing by Mark Seliger;

Kennedy wearing a veil, and using an arm and a hand to create modesty over an otherwise nude body in a take-off on the classic ways to pose nude women without being too revealing by Mark Seliger;

Smiling Rosie Perez by Dewey Nicks;

Sting in a bathtub with rubber duckies by Max Vadukul;

Siegfried and Roy doing an illusion by Mark Seliger;

Juliette Lewis featuring her face and the soles of her feet by Peggy Sirota;

Smiling Lisa Kudrow by Davis Factor;

Matthew Perry by Andrew D. Berstein;

Gamine-like Sandra Bullock by Kate Garner;

a funny, foreshortened Paul Hartman by Mark Seliger; and

David Schwimmer curtseying in a t-shirt and khakis.

"You are a vision of nowness" is the description of this book written inside. I personally found the images more timeless than that. You get a sense of what is universally appealing at all times and to almost all people.

After looking at these happy images, think about the ways that fun appeals to your better nature. How can you experience that kind of fun more often? How can you surround yourself with an environment that teems with such fun? How can you extend and share that fun with others?

Have a great giggle . . . as often as possible!

In this book, there are lots of pictures of celebrities. There is also a selection of quotes from celebrities. It is worth the money.

In "D.W., Go to Your Room!" D.W. is playing with her baby sister, Kate, but doesn't want to share her blocks. When she shouts at Kate and threatens to pinch her, she gets sent straight up to her room!

D.W. thinks that this is a very unfair punishment. She compares herself to a "prisoner" and a "servant girl." She even dreams of running away with Grandma Thora. But when D.W. is asked to look after Kate while Mom makes dinner, D.W. realizes just how mean she was.

This is a sweet story for anyone with a younger / baby sibling, or for any Arthur or D.W. fan. Arthur doesn't really feature in this book, though he is seen a few times.

In D.W. Go To Your Room! Kate knocks down D.W.'s blocks. Mom says D.W. go to your room! So D.W. stomps up to her room. It reminded me of when my little brother knocked my blocks down. But you should read this book because it's blockalicious. If you like blocks and your brother or sister knocks your blocks down, You will love it!

Here as in all of Mr. Brown's spectacular Arthur series you'll find a fun tale, illustrations you want to keep looking at to find all the little details, and the story of the goings-on in the (mis)adventures of the old familiar characters, but in this one there's something more that's especially neat. After DW gets sent to her room for hurting Baby Kate and generally acting up, she at first broods over what she feels like is her unfair lot in life, and then Brown gets really cool and makes you think about the way a child DW's age experiences time in relation to how an adult does. To DW as to all children, ten minutes banishment is a gulf of quasi-intolerable length and if a grown-up stops to think about that, it's a fairly deep topic, this perception of time.

great book....even my 2 yr old daughter loves it and she has had it since she was one....easy to read!! got it in hardcover. I recommend board book format if offered for younger readers.

When D.W. is playing with her blocks her little sister comes and takes a block and laughs at her. When she takes another one D.W. warns her not to take another one or she'll pinch her and she takes her block back. Kate begins to cry and D.W.'s mother sends her up to her room for 10 minutes until dinner. When D.W. keeps coming out of her room she keeps getting sent back in there. When her mother asks her to watch her sister she realizes how mean she was and hugs Kate. Just then her mother walks in and sees how nice D.W. is being so she lets her come out.

The misadventures of the most lovable high school student turned journalist are not only an essential read but a "must" own for your library!

Dear Lovey Hart, I am desperate is a WONDERFUL book. WONDERFUL. WONDERFUL. WONDERFUL. Waaayyy cool.

Such a wonderful book and so funny regarding how a fairly unsuspecting high school sophomore finds herself in the middle of quite the mess, just trying to do the right thing. Very engaging, wonderfully written. It's too bad that it's out of print. The sequel is great as well.

Dear Lovey Hart, I am Desperate is basically about a high school newspaper decided to start an advice column. The person who will be dispensing advice would write under the name Lovey Hart. Guess who got chosen? Our intrepid heroine of the story. Sure it is fun to give out advice to others, but it seems that it is even more fun to hang around with Chip, the blond hunky editor of the school paper.

Our heroine started out pretty well....even getting a thank you letter from one person who followed her advice and changed her life. But as time went on, Lovey Hart went from savior to scapegoat, as people who followed her advice blindly and ended up worse than where they started. Well, it got to the point where our heroine can't even tell anybody she's Lovey Hart or she would be laughed out of town.

Well the ending is quite interesting. Also a very funny book.

This book is funny and realistic. It's about a girl, Carrie who works for the newspaper. A cute older guy, Chip, asks her to do a secret column, "Dear Lovey Hart", where she answers questions that the readers write in. It starts out fun, she gets tons of letters, helps epople out with serious issues, and gets closer to Chip. Only Carrie's best friend, Claudia also has thing for Chip. Carrie's other best friend, Terry has a thing for a teacher, which leaves her in depression after embarassment and rejection. Marty, Carrie's older guy friend, who's Chip's age, has a crush on Carrie. He wrties to Lovey Hart, asking for information, but when Carrie gives him info, everything goes wrong. Jen, Carrie's little sister soon finds out that Carrie is Lovey Hart. The book countineus and is really exciting and interesting. I strongly reccomend it!

Harlan Coben's short story "Entrapped" is about a woman whose husband goes missing. When she arrives home from the police station, she finds an imposter husband waiting for her and the charade begins.

All of the stories are filled with common elements that make for a great mystery; secrets, deceit, love, lust, drama and of course the most important ingredient, murder. Readers will find at least one of their favorite writer's works and be able to sample several new writers as well.

R. L. Stine tells a tale of a murdering best friend who's left with his victim's "talking" dog. The dog witnessed the whole murder. That, combined with paranoia and guilt, makes for a well written and very imaginative story.

A few of the writers that readers will look forward to include Lee Childs, Ridley Pearson, R.L Stine, Laura Lippman and P.J Parrish.

To sum the book up in one word that would be it, Fantastic!! This is such a wonderful collections of stories. Each story different from the other but all keeping the same themes. My favorites were Safe Enough, Home Front, Till Death Do Us Part and Entrapped. However all were fantastic. I recommend that you get this book, you will not be disappointed.

Anthologies of short stories by different authors are usually a collection of a few gems, a few all right stories and a few fillers. Death Do Us Part is a collection where all but two are great reads, they are not all masterpieces granted, but there are more than the usual number of those as well. I was interested in this book just to read Coben's story Entrapped as I had not read it before when it was first published in 1997, and its pretty hard to come across Mary Higgins Clark's Mystery Magazine let alone that edition to read it anyway. Coben is not the only great author here, so many others have written great tales and the other authors are all freshly published as well. Like all great short story collections, Death Do Us Part gives the reader a chance to sample authors they've heard of but never read before as well as introduces to them lesser known authors to add to their lists of future reads to track down. There's also a brief and very helpful summary of each author at the end of the collection, so those looking know where to begin.

In reviewing what the stories within are about I'll start first with my favourite ones (undoubtedly your list would start differently). My list starts with the editor and Coben's story Entrapped. A wife reports her husband missing to police only to discover he is at home. Only the person at home does not look or sound like her husband but he is the same guy the police show her that is in the photograph she gave them. Is she going insane? Could he really be her husband after all?

Wifey a story by normally child and young adult author R. L. Stine proves to the world that he can write sensational stories for any market. Wifey is the nickname Jake a neighbour of Frank the owner has given Frank's dog Ruby since they behave like a married couple and are never apart. Jake hates dogs, but is ecstatic that his neighbour entrusted him to inherit the beast as it showed to the world what Frank thought of their friendship. Ruby though makes Lassie look like Forrest Gump and will stop at nothing to avenge her master's murder.

Till Death Do Us Part, Tim Maleeny. The title story of this collection is the great tale about the sixtieth anniversary of a feud between an old couple who do not believe in divorce. They are both extremely intelligent and every year play the "fair play", dinner game of trying to poison the other through each others dishes.

Lee Child's Safe Enough has a guy from the city taking up work on houses in the country where notices a beautiful women. He stalks her and discovers she has a violent husband When the husband disappears he is the only one who can prove the wife was not around the murder scene when it happened but obviously he can't supply this news to the police to prove her innocence as they will want to know why he was stalking her.

The Home Front by Charles Ardai is set in America while World War II rages on in Europe. Too old to go to war Ray Harper is a government agent who catches petrol retailers selling rationed fuel on the black market. One such arrest is Rick Kelly who is killed in Harper's car as Harper was giving Kelly a lecture about how his actions are helping Hitler and why isn't he over there anyway etc instead of watching the road. Sacked by the government and with injuries Harper is down on his luck and one the streets. Luckily he comes across a kind woman who offers him food and board if he helps her run her garage.

The Last Flight by Bredan DuBois has a man booking a joy flight in the type of plane he flew in the war over the ocean to scatter his wife's ashes and obtain closure.

A Few Small Repairs by Jeff Abbott has a hospital ridden father who is dying a slow painful death asking a son he had disowned to help him end his life.

Blarney by Steve Hockensmith is the tale of a few drinks at the pub by a group of writers after a conference where they run into one of the only non boring speakers. This old Irishman offers to teach them what it is to be a writer if they buy him a pint.

The Masseuse by Tim Wohlforth is the story of a man whose dream comes true when his masseuse offers to cook and pleasure him in exchange for food and board and a bit of spending money while she studies for a new career.

Homecoming by the mother and son team pseudonym Charles Todd, has a wife of a guy fighting in Europe during World War I discovering an intruder in her house, however even though she knows he's there can never seem to find him so wonders if stress is making her go insane.

Part Light, Part Memory is an African slave girl's story of her thirst for vengeance when her father was hung for looking at the American master's wife.

Queeny by Ridley Pearson is the tale of a guy whose wife attracts the attention of a man while running in the park which she tells him about. The wife soon disappears.

One True Love by Laura Lippman is the story of a high class prostitute who is recognised and blackmailed by a parent her son runs into while playing sport.

The Cold, Hard Truth by Rick McMahon is the tale of a rural police office recounting the story of how he first met death row prisoner Jesse Brashear and the cold hard truth that good people can do bad things.

Cyberdatedotcom (note Amazon ridiculously keeps replacing the actual title with [...] so that's as close as I can put) by Tom Savage is the chat room transcript from a dating website where two under aged kids take a liking to each other.

Pushed or Was Fell by Jay Brandon has Walt a loner, meeting a girl, quickly marrying and setting out on cruise ship honeymoon then realising he doesn't love with devastating consequences.

One Shot by P.J. Parrish has Stuart returning to visit his old home which is now for sale and reliving the traumatic changing event of his life.

Heat Lightning, William Krueger although readable is one of the lesser quality contributions to this collection. A story of a guy who is having an affair while his wife lies in a coma in the bedroom upstairs.

Chellini's Solution was the only story I don't really think is worth reading, it's about an Italian guy whose enemies gloat as they tell him his wife is cheating on him and of course the actions he takes afterwards.

This is a great collection of short stories and one you'll want to keep forever. Not as good as this but still a good recent collection of similar stories to these I've read is Dangerous Women, edited by Otto Penzler.

This anthology of 19 truly great mystery stories is presented by the Mystery Writers of America (a fine association of not only authors, but readers too!) is edited by Harlan Coben. It is as perfect as an anthology can be.

Each of the nineteen stories is from an established writer. Most have won or been repeatedly nominated for various awards. No warmed-over, previously published material here: all nineteen stories are original. Nor are there excerpts of the writer's novels: this stuff is fresh and new. Coben wisely doesn't present the author bios until after all the stories and much to credit of editor and authors alike, the bios aren't pure puffery and hyperbole.

I can't tell you what my favorite was, because all nineteen stories are terrific. Jeff Abbott, author of "Panic" and "Fear", two fine thrillers, sets up a tense father-son-wife story. R. L. Stine provides something of a "shaggy dog" story that involves love in a strange way. Harlen Coben presents a story of a very crafty wife. Tim Wohlforth contributes a gem about a man's ideal relationship that leads to an unfortunate bit of snooping. All nineteen stories are simply great reads.

Oh - and if you didn't guess already, all nineteen stories are true to the cover blurb: they involve love, lust and murder.

Good stuff. Not to be missed.

Jerry

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (09/06)

"Mystery Writers of America Presents Death Do Us Part: New Stories about Love, Lust and Murder" is a must read for anyone who loves stories about mystery, misery and murder. Harlan Coben, the editor, brought together some of today's best mystery writers to create this book of 19 short stories, including one of his own "Entrapped". As Coben tells us in the introduction, most of these stories are going to end badly for at least one person, maybe more. The commonalities of the stories end there.

"Queeny", written by Ridley Pearson, is a story about a famous mystery writer whose wife is brutally murdered and he is mistakenly forced to stand trial for it. After what has happened, no matter what the outcome, and I won't tell you what it is, no one can win. Then there is the City electrician in "Safe Enough" by Lee Child, who moves to the country to be with a woman who is suspected of killing her husband, but did she really?
A few war stories come into play, the most poignant one being "Home Coming" by Charles Todd, a story about an English woman who becomes frightened of her home because it feels like someone has invaded it while her husband is away fighting in the war. AND, the most chilling story of all is Cyberdate.com by Tom Savage, which is about two teenage kids (are they really who they say they are?) who meet on the internet and the boy finally convinces the girl to meet in person. How many of us live with that worry about our children doing exactly the same thing? Revenge is even thrown into the mix with stories like "The Last Flight" by Brendan DuBois.

My two personal favorite stories were "Till Death Do Us Part" by Tim Maleeny and "Wifey" by R.L. Shine. "Till Death Do Us Part" is a about a chemist and botanist celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary by each preparing a meal for the other. What is on the menu turns out to be the surprise. "Wifey" is a dog who witnesses the brutal murder of her master and is forced to live with the murderer afterwards. Wifey does not take this lying down.

Other contributors to this collection of great stories are Charles Ardai, Bonnie Hearn Hill, Steve Hockensmith, William Kent Krueger, Rick McMahan, P.J. Parrish, Tim Wohlforth, Jeff Abbott, Jim Fusilli, Laura Lippman and Jay Brandon. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly. The short stories make it great for reading before bed, taking to the beach, or if you have small children and frequent small slots of time to read.

This book is not really for beginners, but I didn't want a book for beginners! I love all the ideas I got from it and cannot wait to try them! I have all of Debbi Brown's books now. I don't have one that I cannot use! Some of these cakes are very involved, but there are ways you can simplify them. Debbie Brown is fairly good at explaining things and demonstrating in photos, so you can understand easier. But, buyer beware: it looks easy, but it is difficult to get your cakes to look like hers.

This book has explained very well how to make it just like what in the book. I found one thing missing is it doesn't tell you about stroage.

I adore this book and had such a hard time choosing which cake to make first. I am a hobby cake decorator and found the cakes reasonable to do. The directions are very clear, but if you are not familiar with some of the techniques, it will take some practice working with the fondant and cake to get the perfect looking cake. My children are constantly flipping through the pages and picking out their next Birthday cakes a year away.

I absolutely love the thorough descriptions that Debbie Brown puts in her books. Step by Step is exactly what I was looking for.

this book is so fun. i am not a cake baker(i plan to take a wilton class or two) but i like to craft. i bought the book for fimo clay ideas. it is wonderful. my daughters (8 and 14) and i have made some of the cakes into clay figurines. it's taken some creativity on our part but these are beautiful pictures and great instructions.

Accounts of the US Air Force and US Navy air engaments.
A good book on the subject, though it can be a bit "dry" to a reader with little knowledge about air warfare.

I was not sure how good of a read this book would be, and figured it would be something I'd shove under the coffee table after a bit and only look at it from time to time. I was wrong. I haven't been able to put it down. There's no better way to hear these stories than to get them directly from the pilots, and that's exactly the idea the author had.

Thanks for a great read, Quizmo.

In this invaluable 2007 volume, ex-USAF fighter pilot Craig Brown presents blow-by-blow accounts of all 56 successful air combats fought by U.S. air units between 1981 and 1999. In terms of accuracy and excitement, Brown's book can't be beat since, in almost all cases, the accounts were supplied by the aircrew involved in the engagement. Air combat enthusiasts will want to add this exciting, well-illustrated book from Schiffer Publishing to their collection post-haste.

The engagements covered in DEBRIEF are a real smorgasbord of aircraft types and geographic locations. Not unexpectedly the Air Force and Navy's top-line fighters - the F-14, F-15 and F-16 - were the main players not to mention the occasional odd-duck like the A-10! Likewise their opponents were a mixed bag of MiGs, Mirages, Sukhois, helos, transports, trainers, etc. With few exceptions the kills were made with AAMs, mainly AIM-7 Sparrows, which may surprise some readers considering the Sparrow's dismal record over North Vietnam.

Though I gave DEBRIEF five stars, to be honest I felt 4 1/2 stars a more appropriate rating. Don't get me wrong: DEBRIEF is a great read and stands as THE definitive account of post-Vietnam War engagements. The air combat junkie in me loves this book. The first-person accounts, though heavy with fighter pilot techno-babble, put you right in the cockpit for some very exciting missions. Then too the narratives are illustrated with hundreds of photographs, mostly in color, of aircrew, aircraft, in-flight formations, ships, squadron patches, etc. and ten artworks depicting specific engagements.

The amateur historian in me, though, wishes Brown had done more with his material. Having compiled all this raw data, he could have made the book much more useful by doing some basic analysis of all those engagements. Specifically, what do all those combats MEAN in terms of modern air combat?

Reading through DEBRIEF, several points easily come to mind: what a killer machine the F-15 is, what a dominant role U.S. AWACS platforms play in modern air combat, the outstanding performance of the AIM-7, etc. So why did the F-15 perform so well? How have AWACs aircraft reshaped air combat? How come the Sparrow performed as well as it did and so on?

Then too I wondered if there were unsuccessful engagements during that timeframe and, if so, why did they fail? When I was doing the research for my MIG KILLERS OF YANKEE STATION I felt it was equally as important to discuss the failures as well as the successes to get the complete story. I would have enjoyed reading Brown's take on fighter combat in the 1980-90 timeframe.

In any case, if you like reading about air combat, pick up a copy of DEBRIEF asap. You won't regret it!

This book is a MUST HAVE for anyone interested in modern military aviation - it covers every successful Air to Air engagement by the US military since the Vietnam war through the present day. Full of first hand accounts and personal photographs of the aircrew and aircraft involved, this is the most comprehensive book on this topic to date. The only thing that would have made this book better would be the addition of the unsuccessful engagements during the same time period, like Michael O'connor's 'Mig Killers of Yankee Station' does. I also recommend - MIG Killers of Yankee Station, Aces Against Japan, Aces Against Germany

I found Debrief to be a excellent collection of First hand accounts of US Air to Air Combat Victories covering the period of 1981 to the Present. The text and photos are first rate. A must have book for anyone interested in Military Aviation history. I am a proud and very satisfied owner of the Debrief book.