Forster Books

This novel brings you to the late 1700's and offers the drama of a modern romance with all the trials of war while in another era and country.
Twists and turns along with an easy/quick history of early Poland will keep the pages turning. Quickly went to buy the sequel before starting a new book b/c I was up in arms to find out the happenings of these compelling characters.

This book is a page-turner right from the beginning. I loved reading in this time period when men spoke to women like this (from page 23):

"See the two meadow flowers, the yellow and the violet? One is as different from the other as day from night. Yet who will say that one is more beautiful? Oh, a fool might. But only a fool... But do you know what may determine the desirability of one over the other?... The fragrance!"

Be still my heart! If you love that kind of subtle romance, you will love this book.

Anna shows such strength despite the overwhelming tragedies (one after the other) she faces in her young life. And even though she is a Countess, she is very down-to-earth and sensitive to those "under her" although it was a no-no for those of such high society. Her tenderness and innocense makes her so very likable.

The book goes back and forth between family life and what's politically going on in Poland during the late 1700s with the underlying romance throughout. You're always wondering about what will finally happen with Jan Stelnicki. At no point was this book boring!!!

I loved it.

I loved this book. There are so few novels on the market about Poland and Polish history (I don't know of any others!). This is indeed a rare find. The characters are well developed, the descriptions of locations and activities are wonderfully detailed and passionately written. The setting and content about the significant historical moments are woven in expertly. It really is a history lesson embedded in a very fast-moving and dramatic story. Yes, sometimes it may be a bit overly dramatic, but I really enjoy that rich, gossipy style. So cool that it is based on REAL journal entries. These characters come alive and will stay with you well after you are done reading. Great ending, too.

Looking forward to reading Chrimson Sky.

I found this historical fiction text to be absolutely enthralling! It has not only provided me with hours of enjoyable, page-turning reading, but has also given me great insight into my Polish ancestry and heritage. The strength, spirit, and heart of the Polish people--MY people--is wonderfully portrayed within the pages of this book. I'm so looking forward to receiving Mr. Martin's sequel, Against a Crimson Sky. I'm sure I'll not be disappointed!

I found the book very engaging. I loved the characters and can't wait to find out what happens next.

A book to keep by the bedside; tales to enjoy again and again. A haven for those familiar with the genre, and, for the novice, a menu of the fine writers of dark imagination.

Nearly fifty years ago, in the mid-sized Midwestern town where I spent many of my formative years, with some windfall paper route money, I purchased the Modern Library edition of "Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural" (published by Random House, edited by Herbert A Wise and Phyllis Fraser). That particular edition was eventually worn out from extensive reading and re-reading and had long since disappeared from my possession; but several months ago, at a Montgomery County Public Library sale in Troy, North Carolina, thanks the alertness of my sharp-eyed wife, I purchased, for a mere pittance, the *original* edition of this book, published in 1944; it was like encountering a long-lost friend! The dedication page consists of an Old Scotch Invocation: "FROM GHOULIES AND GHOSTIES AND LONG-LEGGED BEASTIES AND THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT, GOOD LORD DELIVER US!". Of interest also is that on the publication page the following appears: "THIS IS A WARTIME BOOK - The Text is complete and unabridged, but every effort has been made to comply with the Government's request to conserve essential materials." It was in my Modern Library edition that, as a teen-ager, I first read classic supernatural stories by Algernon Blackwood (the well-known "Ancient Sorceries" and the lesser-known "Confession" [but not "The Willows" or "The Wendigo"]), F(rancis) Marion Crawford ("The Screaming Skull" [but not "The Upper Berth"]), M(ontague) R(hodes) James ("Casting the Runes" [my favorite of all of his 30 stories] and "Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad"; both stories, incidentally, illustrate James's adroit and effective handling of understatement), H(oward) P(hilips) Lovecraft ("The Rats in the Walls" and "The Dunwich Horror"), Arthur Machen ("The Great God Pan" [but not "The Inmost Light"]), Oliver Onions ("The Beckoning Fair One"), Edgar Allan Poe (the well-known story "The Black Cat" and the lesser-known but even more disturbing "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"), and Edgar Lukas White (the eerie "Lunkundoo"). Also among the 52 stories in this collection are some powerfully-effective adventure stories: Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game", Geoffrey Household's "Taboo", Carl Stephenson's "Leiningen versus the Ants", and H.G. Wells's "Pollock and the Porroh Man". (Undoubtedly because of the publication date, there is nothing here by Robert Aickman [e.g., "The Inner Room"], Clive Barker [e.g., "In the Hills, The Cities"], Stephen King [e.g., "Dolan's Cadillac" {terror} or "The Mist" {supernatural/preternatural], or Joyce Carol Oates [e.g., "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"]). The editors provide an Introduction, an Introduction to the Notes, and interesting and comprehensive biographical sketches of each of the authors. Over the past few months, I have enjoyed becoming re-acquainted with these stories. Although there now exist more modern collections of these types of stories (e.g. David Hartwell's "The Dark Descent", "The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories", and "Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories"), this out-of-print book is well worth acquiring, if you should be fortunate enough to happen upon it in an estate collection auction, at a library sale, in a thrift store, or at a used-book seller's.

This is yet another one of the books that was required for my Arts & Humanities class "The Horror Story"...I must say that I'm quite glad that I was introduced to this novel.

This book houses some of the greatest horror stories since the genre came into existence. I have a new appreciation for Edgar Allen Poe. Algernon Blackwood is an AMAZING writer, quite possibly my new favorite. There is even a story written by O. Henry!

This book could easily be considered a bible among those who are horror-genre fans. I can't say much else about this book other than IN MY OPINION it is worth the money you will spend on it and the time you will spend reading it.

This book is, quite simply, the best collection of 19th and early-20th century short fiction of the dark variety in existence. First published in the 1940s, this single (albeit fat) volume is a goldmine of the roots of modern horror, a great way to see where today's horror heavyweights got their inspiration and influence.

Some authors whose stories appear within: Bierce, Blackwood, Dickens, Faulkner, Hawthorne, Hemingway, James (both Henry & M.R.), Kipling, Lovecraft, Machen, Poe, Wells, and many more, a good mixture of horror genre regulars and more conventional or 'literary' authors to whom dark fiction was a departure from the norm. If many of those above names are unfamiliar to you and you consider yourself a fan of dark fiction, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

[Sidenote: The book also contains two of my all-time favorite short stories from two slightly lesser-known authors: Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," and W.W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw." As far as I know, this is the only single volume that includes both. The latter story is, in my humble opinion, THE most perfect scary story of all time.]

Once again: Wagner & Wise's collection is the best thing of its kind.

If you're looking for a little fear on your pallet, this book will dish it out in buckets. The authors are old world craftsmen who wrote these stories on dark and stormy nights. As you read, the wind will howl, dead children will laugh, and the scurry of rats will make you look around your room. Drink a glass of wine, eat dark chocolate, and curl up to this one in bed. Dead men do write good tales.

The true test of a thriller is in keeping the book and rereading again! This is one of those. I have read Hostile Witness, Silent Witness and Privileged Witness. Loved following the same characters through all three books. I am still waiting for the 4th book to bring us up to date with Hannah, Josie's mother, all of the folks so vividly described in exciting detail as the book moves at lightening speed, keeping me up nights to finish.

I haven't read many legal thrillers in the past few years, but I think I am going to have to add more books of this genre to my future reading list - especially those written by Rebecca Forster. Hostile Witness is just a fantastic, completely absorbing read, the kind of book that makes you hate your job because having to get up early for work means having to set the novel aside in the wee hours of the morning just so you can get a few hours of sleep. Any thriller is best judged by the number of hours' sleep you miss, and Hostile Witness is right up there with the best of them.

Usually, legal thrillers have a few passages that are dry and boring or feature cardboard characters lacking any spark of life in them. Not so with Hostile Witness. Forster has given life to some vivid, remarkably human characters - the heroic, sympathetic lawyer who puts a painful past behind her to defend a young girl accused of arson and murder; the 16-year-old defendant, a troubled teen lost in emotional chaos and harboring shocking secrets, the girls' seriously dysfunctional mother and step-father seemingly hiding behind mysterious secrets of their own, the hard-nosed yet somehow slightly noble prosecuting attorney, even the victim himself, a man already dead when the novel begins.

The protagonist of the novel is Josie Baylor-Bates, a lawyer who finds herself back in the criminal defense game she left some years ago. Not only is she still dealing with the pain of being abandoned by her mother when she was just a young girl, she is haunted by an old case. An accused murderer she successfully defended (and truly believed to be innocent) turned around and killed again - only this time it was her own children. The sense of guilt that tragedy engendered in Josie led her to abandon criminal defense cases altogether and settle down in a quiet beach community with a quiet little legal practice. Then an old college roommate turns up at her door and begs her to defend her daughter. This will be no ordinary case; it will, in fact, explode all over the media. The girl, Hannah Sheraton, is accused of killing her step-grandfather, a man who just happened to be a prominent justice on the California Supreme Court. In the middle of everything is Hannah's step-father, the governor's choice to take his father's place on the high bench. The case has media circus written all over it - even before a series of shocking revelations about the murdered judge come to light, but Josie agrees to take the case after meeting Hannah. She sees a little bit of herself in the young girl, a frightened lass with deep emotional troubles manifested outwardly in obsessive-compulsive behavior, self-mutilation, and a powerful overdependence on her mother.

Convinced of her client's innocence, Josie's defense of the girl runs into a number of obstacles, including the girl's own mother and step-father, neither of whom, Josie comes to believe, has Hannah's best interests at heart. All too soon, this case has become intensely personal for Josie, and that leads her to question her own motivations. Forster does a wonderful job of developing these characters, showing you increasingly significant cracks in their facades while holding out on the goods until the very end. You have your suspicions, but you just don't know the truth about what is really going on and who is really responsible for the victim's death until the very end.

The novel's most memorable moments take place inside the courtroom, culminating in some unforgettable moments of witness testimony, but the case takes drastic turns (more than once) away from all the cameras and watching eyes. It's an emotional roller coaster for Josie, trying to deal with her own personal baggage alongside the heavy burdens placed upon her by Hannah's incredibly dysfunctional family and the intense pressures of such a high profile trial. A wondrously human heart beats inside the chest of this particular lawyer, though, and that - plus a beautifully constructed plot - is what makes Hostile Witness a novel you just can't put down.

Forster is a terrific writer with a great feel for the small details that make characters come alive. If you're like me, always looking for a new author, do yourself a favor and track down this one. Hostile Witness is a fine, fine read.

An on line pal of mine recommended Rebecca Forster's new book to me, Silent Witness. As soon as I got my copy and started reading, I quite literally could not put this book down. It grabbed me from the opening scene and wouldn't let go until the thrilling conclusion. I had never read this author before and I can promise you that I will be tracking down more books by her. The book has great legal detail, suspense till the very end, and the characters are so well developed. I wish I didn't have to wait until next February for Silent Witness! Don't miss this book!

I like a good deal. You know how when you go to the grocery store and you find your favorite cereal is buy one get one free, you almost feel like you've won some sort of lottery. Now, you know the store has upped the base price of the cereal, but you still snatch it up and through it your cart. There is a great feel to a two for one deal. That's how I have always felt about a good courtroom drama. You're getting two dramas for the price of one. The first drama is outside the courtroom. The incident, the lives affected, secrets, conspiracies and so much more pepper the events leading up to a trial. Then the trial, the legal maneuverings, the back room deals, the attorneys and judges, you can't get much better than that.

Recently there has been more and more legal thrillers that forgo the courtroom. The lawyer turned detective who solves the mystery without even filing a motion. While these books are often quite entertaining, I sometimes feel like I missed something. In Hostile Witness by Rebecca Forster we get the whole enchilada.

Josie Baylor-Bates is a talented yet flawed attorney. Tortured by her past and by her success as a criminal defense attorney, all Josie wants now is to settle into a small neighborhood practice taking care of wills and eveyday legal problems. Then her old college roomate Linda Sheraton shows up at her door, her daughter having just been arrested for the murder of her step-grandfather, a California Supreme Court Justice. This was exactly the kind of high profile case that Josie wanted to avoid. Josie's intentions were to meet with the girl, get her through the bail hearing then hand her off to a qualified attorney, but after meeting with Hannah she can't get the image of the beautiful yet troubled girl out of her head. Putting everything at risk, her new practice, her relationship with her boyfriend and even her life, Josie takes on the case with a passion. A passion for a girl everyone believes is guilty.

Hostile Witness is more than just a legal thriller. It is a story of motherhood and abandonment, both physical and emotional. It is also the launch of a new series with an intriguing new protagonist. Like Ben Kincaid or Dismas Hardy, this is a character that you'll want to follow. Along with a strong and complicated hero, Forster creates an intriguing cast of peripheral characters. Archer, the solid as a rock boyfriend and private investigator. Rudy Klein, the honest and well intentioned prosecutor and Hannah the troubled young girl stuck in the eye of the tornado. These characters are the glue that hold this story, and most likely future entries into this series, together.

Hostile Witness is an excellent start of an interesting new series. The pace was brisk and readable. The story sucks you in immediately, and the ending is full of thrills and surprises. For anyone who reads this novel, I suggest after completing it going back to reread the first couple of chapters. Doing this will show you how truly well this book was put together.

I borrowed this book from a friend to read during my lunch break and I could not put it down. It was well written and I felt as though I knew the characters at the end. I especially liked Amy.

Amanda and Marcus were both believable characters and their journey to love was very touching. I am definitely going to get a copy to add to my collection.

Keep up the good work Ms. Forster

Ms. Forster helps readers to understand the battle of the sexes. Beyond desire helped me to challege rejection in a positive way. I would have given up if faced with the conflicts Kate and Luke faced. Challenges in love regarding something you want can bring negative feelings and a defeatist attitude. Ms. Forster helped me not to take it all so personally. I learned to deal better with all the "Jessyes" in the world. Don't let them ruffle your feathers. I read about feelings that I have and felt better knowing that I was not "weird" for feeling I have when in the battle of love. Maybe too insecure. Ms. Forster, Thank you. Your book was a lesson in psychology. It was my first read but will not be my last.

Loved this book I also wanted to slap their heads together especially Marcus. I can understand his dilemma his es wife really worked a number on him that made have too much pride that he felt bought and stupidly walked and left the best thing that ever happened to him and Amy. Of course things work out in the end but I loved the characters in this book. Luke the supporting brother, rooting for the heroine Amanda, Amy the lovely daughter and Marcus the handsome hero - it took the knocks of life to teach him real beauty in a woman. He admitted the old rich Marcus would not ahve even looked at her (he loved them, fair and willowy in this fickle days). Many of our brothers are like that sad to say....

Ms Forster has done it again. Loved this book to death. Love how Amanda brought that stick in the mud, uptight Marcus to his knees. That's right girlfriend, make him beg! Much love to a great author, please keep up the good work!

Beyond Desire was my first encounter with romance. What a wonderful choice. Since that time I have everything Ms. Forester writes. She is such a skilled author. You are never disappointed when you purchase any of her work. I loved the characters in this book. I really was impressed with Amy the little girl. She seemed to seal the relationship with Marcus and Amanda. Amanda was a very intelligent woman with alot going for her. Marcus was smart, but he was really stubborn. I loved his brother too. Can't wait for his story.

You Go Gwynne!

This author's books have everything..suspense, on the edge of your seat...descriptions of the people in the storyline that touch the heart, intense anger at the bad guys...reading, just PRAYING that the lies being told on the good guys will surface and bring it all down to where it should end. Then she always trips my thinking up with elements that I never dreamed to be there...love her endings and wait anxiously for the next book...

Again, these characters are so believable you can really get into the storylines. I am glad I discovered this author - she is definitely on the top of my lists now.

Sequels not as good as the original? Well, here's a case that sometimes they can be just as good if not better. I found Silent Witness to be slow in the beginning, as the characters and puzzle pieces were introduced, but once the action started.... let's just say I had to cancel a date and she wasn't happy. The shocking sucker-punch ending is better than anything Mickey Spillane, the king of shocker endings, ever cooked up, and the ramifications of such a revelation are discussed with an no-holds-barred honesty not often found in genre fiction. In other words, there are no easy answers and Rebecca Forster isn't afraid to say so. Silent Witness. Grab it. Read it. Love it. Buy the next episode....

Rebeccasreads recommends SILENT WITNESS as a humdinger of a thriller with lots of emotional twists & legal turns!

While Rebecca Forster's characters are rough & passionate, they are almost incoherent & I found myself growling to have Archer & Josie say something straight-up & complete. & Archer really, really needs some therapy, sorry, Big Guy, it isn't as bad as you think!

Thank the stars, attorneys can speak whole thoughts all the way through. Everyone mostly comes off as the genuine article, with all the flaws of greed, deception, arrogance, neediness, stupidity, stubbornness & faint-heartedness, along with the pathos of people learning to trust, love & make whole lives out of their fragmented hearts.

A satisfying evening's read! I certainly want to catch up with her first legal thriller HOSTILE WITNESS.

In Rebecca Forster's second legal thriller featuring Josie Baylor-Bates the courtroom is down played and the personal angst is amped up to high. As Josie is trying to settle into a seminormal existence, her life is thrown for a loop one more time. Her photographer boyfriend Archer past is ripped wide open when a civil lawsuit brings new evidence to life that he may just have killed his late wives mentally challenged son, Tim.

Usually, I stop to analyze the ins and outs of a book, and whether it was enjoyable to me. simple for the most part. This book was slightly different. The subject matter of this book hit too close to home. The motive of the case was that Tim was viewed as a burden, a roadblock between Archer and his wife. This burden got to great, and Archer found a good way to get rid of the kid, just let him fall off a ride at an amusement park ride, seemingly a tragic accident.

The reason this book hit so close to him is that I work in an institution, much like the one that Tim came from in this book. The author did a good job with the struggles of the parents and families, maybe too good of a job at some points. Reaching into Archer's mind you find the prosecutions belief in the motive not to far off from the truth. To Archer, Tim was a burden. A child stuck in a man's body, given to moments of violence and other uncontrollable behavior. While you are supposed to feel somewhat sorry for Archer, I had trouble finding any sympathy for the man, and Josie's ardent struggle to free the man from jeopardy, while compelling, I couldn't share in her angst as much as I did in her previous tale.

Yet, beyond the personal issues, the author did a great job with this tale. The tale is so well plotted and full of subtext that you find yourself engrossed in many aspects of the life of Josie. Forster did an excellent job portraying the struggles of people involved in the lives of the mentally challenged, from administrators, to direct care employees, to the parents. Tim, while staying human, is portrayed as a pawn in a chess game that no one really understood, except maybe his mother. On other levels, Josie's struggle with Hannah, the troubled girl she has taken as her charge, relates so well with the past it only ups the ante of the tale.

I have to admit, this one was hard for me. It was a great read, but I found myself getting angry at parts, not with the author, but with the characters within. This is definitely not a light and breezy book, it deals with true issues that often get brush under the table. While this book isn't as much a legal tale as her last, it does deal with some interesting ethical questions, especially about when a lawyer becomes too personally involved in a case.

Another sensational read by Gwen.
Swept Away was awesome. Veronica and Schyler were meant to be with each other before they even met. They were joined together by deceit and lies and through their search for truth, they swept away the debris of their lives and had an everlasting love. This is a can't put down romance which I exspect from Mrs. Forester.

This is the story of Veronica and Schyler. They meet when Schyler accuses Veronica of not handling a forster care case right, but the sparks fly, and they end up falling in love. Trouble comes when Veronica realizes he is the adoptive son of her real father who she never knew. Read how they overcome everything to become a good couple.

Forster has done it again. "Swept Away" was a great story. I really enjoyed this book. Again Forster has a plot that contains issues that a lot of people face in their lives. A love story that transends all obstacles! Much love Forster!!

This is the first book I've read by Gwynne Forster and I have to say I can't wait to get my hands on all the others. Mrs. Forster wasn't dubbed a romance icon for nothing. This book was in a word, "Magnificant". I enjoyed her cut to the chase writing style. There's no beating around the bush with this novel.

OOH! The chemistry between Veronica and Schyler was just "all that". Love poured off the two of them from the moment they met.

I use romance novels as and escape from the real world every now and then. I thank you, Mrs. Forster, for the respite.

I thoroughly enjoyed these characters. This was my first book by Gwynne Forster but it will not be my last.

Schyler Henderson and Veronica Overton share more than they realize when they first become enchanted with one another. However being on opposite sides of the court case Schyler has brought against the child services agency that Veronica heads does not provide them with the immediate trust with that attraction. Veronica's agency is exonerated but she takes a leave of absence to reevaluate her career options. Schyler is passionate about children lost in an uncaring child welfare system because of the years he spent lost in that same system until he was adopted by Richard Henderson a man he loves deeply. Richard gave Schyler the home filled with love he needed and Schyler filled the void created in Richard when his wife abandoned him taking his daughter.

Veroncia's mother dies and she learns that the man she was raised to know as father was not and her mothers last request was for Veronica to find her real father, when she finds him she does not expect to find Schyler. Although Schyler desires a relationship with Veronica he is loyal to his dad and can't fully accept her distrust of Richard. Veronica has many questions about her life she needs answers to, she wants something more with Schyler but not on his terms. They both have to overcome obstacles of the past and learn to accept the love they feel for one another and allow that love to bridge their past with their future. I also loved Jenny as the homeless woman that their lives touched on their journey to a happy tomorrow for them all.

I like how this book shows how Gehry's architecture progressed from his Senior Thesis Project to his recent works. It's interesting how simple his architecture once was, to how much more complex it is now. Buy this book, you will always enjoy it.

i did not have a good impression of gehry until i got this book. i got it because i had to know what this guy is thinking when he comes up with what i thought was "ugly" stuff (i now feel ashamed to admit that). now i see the beauty of his work.
my eyes have been opened. i now have a greater respect for what he is doing.
the photography is amazing...the book provides sketches and insight into what gehry is trying to do.
must have for architectural students/interns

This book represents all what Frank Gehry is. With beautiful photos and good texts, you can know all work of this that's one of the best architets of actuality. Frank Gehry's Complete Works must be bought and read, it's like a bible of desconstrutivism architetury. The price is wonderfull and the quality too. I love it.

This is a book to people who have a bad idea of gehry work, like i had, because is amazing how the author made an retrospective of gehry work with so much quality and quantity work. And remember, this book is really "cheap" because is very good. IN MY OPINION, JUST BUY IT!

Architecture is my first love although I am a Art History Major. So without any dobt I knew this publication would be right up my ally. To say the least I was not dissappointed. A brief, illustrated synopsis was given on all projects right up to the current "Music Experience" extravaganza. One point I found of particular interest was that in most of the Bios it gave the Budget that Gehry had to work in. It is a massive book and printed on top quality stock. One that will last a lifetime in my Library. It is a book worthy of any one interested in cutting edge design. Although alot of the projects are in Europe as they seem to be more accepting of his progressive designs the commissioned works in America are just as fine. I can only anticipate the "New Guggenheim"in New York.

The best parts of this book are the detailed photographs of all the exercises, included in both a large format (one per page) and a small format (so that you can see many exercises per page). The only thing that would make the book even better would be if the small photographs were offered separately on water-resistant material, so that you could bring 'em into the pool. I'll probably photocopy those pages, and laminate them, so that I can do that.

The book has a helpful appendix of commercial resources with products such as an in-pool exercise station, and Aqua Tunes. Some of the companies appear to have gone out of business in the 11 years since the book was first published--to be expected.

By the way, the average rating here would be 5, but one reviewer apparently forgot to add the star rating, while still offering the book a glowing review.

I recently had a knee replacement. My doctor suggested water therapy.

This book yeilded several specific therapies to improve the flex in my knee.

I had a devastating knee injury about five and one half months ago (the doctor stated that I may never be able to obtain my pre-injury range of motion)The traditional rehab was going very slowly and very painfully. I asked my physician if I could exercise in the water, and after his approval, I started with the workouts in this book along with my prescribed rehab. I have gained 80% of my pre-injury range of motion and on a good start with my strength and balance with VERY little pain!! My physical therapist said I started improving much more rapidly after starting the water workouts and I have already exceeded the expected post-operative range of motion. I could not have done it without the water workouts!!

This guide is helpful for persons with physical limitations and provide safe non-impact exercises. It would be helpful if the guide would inform the purchaser that assistive devices would aid with the routines.

I was in a bed for 9 weeks with a herniated disc. My wife found this book in the library. I happen to live in Florida and was able to use this book to keep myself somewhat active and not become a cripple because of the pain I was in on land. 15 years later I am in great shape at 50 love the water and this book, and still read in now and then to remind me of the form to use and the benifits.I need a new one becaus eits been so used.

Twenty Years A-Growing, or Fiche Bliain ag Fás in its original Irish, is a humorous and well written book about the sometimes hard life at the great western island, An Blascaod Mór, off the cost of Ireland. It tells about the everyday of the islanders in the beginning of the century in a surprisingly modern and lively way. The language of the Island was Irish, and although the Great Blasket is now abandoned, the Irish language still lives on in the mainland parishes in this area. I strongly recommend this book to everyone interested in Ireland, its culture, the Irish language or readerswho just want a fun and good book. I myself have only read the whole of it in its Irish original, but the passes I've read in English shows a well-done translation

I haven't yet read the book but I will submit a review when completed. However the book came highly recommended to me by many people. they found it a delightful memoir and as i just returend from the Dingle Peninsula, i wanted to read it myself.

Twenty Years A-Growing by Maurice O'Sullivan is one heck of a "coming of age" story. I'd never even heard of it until a friend of mine told me that he was reading it. I'm sure glad he did. This is a great book!

I've actually read several coming of age stories recently. I didn't plan to...it just kind of occurred that way. Some of them were really good (David Copperfield by Dickens being one of them); but none of them, Copperfield included, spoke to my heart like Twenty Years A-Growing.

Twenty Years A-Growing was translated into English from Gaelic. I personally find this astounding. They (whoever "they" might be) say a book always loses something in translation. Yet Twenty Years absolutely sings in English...the translation is so powerful that the original must truly be a thing of beauty.

It is an autobiographical tale of growing up in the Blasket Islands off the coast of Ireland around the time of the first world war. For me at least, it was a thing of wonder to be able to enter into this world which has since moved on. It is a story told in a wonderfully simple yet almost lyrically beautiful way. Each chapter is a story in itself. The story as a whole slowly ingrains itself upon your heart and mind.

I felt an affinity with Maurice and his friend Thomas. The adventures they find themselves in ring true even as they entertain the reader. Likewise, the character of the grandfather in particular now feels like an old friend to me now. I particularly appreciated some of the wisdom he espouses to Maurice.

I dare anyone to read this book and not be charmed by the lives of these wonderful people who lived almost a hundred years ago in a kind of societal setting that seems all at once foreign, yet somehow more sane than today's world of constant "time management" in pursuit of hollow "muchness" and "manyness."

It does not happen often that I do not to want a book to end. I usually approach the end of a book with satisfaction. Rarely am I left wanting more. Yet that was the case with Twenty Years A-Growing. It is a truly special book.

Twenty Years A-Growing by Maurice O'Sullivan is one heck of a "coming of age" story. I'd never even heard of it until a friend of mine told me that he was reading it. I'm sure glad he did. This is a great book!

I've actually read several coming of age stories recently. I didn't plan to...it just kind of occurred that way. Some of them were really good (David Copperfield by Dickens being one of them); but none of them, Copperfield included, spoke to my heart like Twenty Years A-Growing.

Twenty Years A-Growing was translated into English from Gaelic. I personally find this astounding. They (whoever "they" might be) say a book always loses something in translation. Yet Twenty Years absolutely sings in English...the translation is so powerful that the original must truly be a thing of beauty.

It is an autobiographical tale of growing up in the Blasket Islands off the coast of Ireland around the time of the first world war. For me at least, it was a thing of wonder to be able to enter into this world which has since moved on. It is a story told in a wonderfully simple yet almost lyrically beautiful way. Each chapter is a story in itself. The story as a whole slowly ingrains itself upon your heart and mind.

I felt an affinity with Maurice and his friend Thomas. The adventures they find themselves in ring true even as they entertain the reader. Likewise, the character of the grandfather in particular now feels like an old friend to me. I particularly appreciated some of the wisdom he espouses to Maurice.

I dare anyone to read this book and not be charmed by the lives of these wonderful people who lived almost a hundred years ago in a kind of societal setting that seems all at once foreign, yet somehow more sane than today's world of constant "time management" in pursuit of hollow "muchness" and "manyness."

It does not happen often that I do not to want a book to end. I usually approach the end of a book with satisfaction. Rarely am I left wanting more. Yet that was the case with Twenty Years A-Growing. It is a truly special book.

This is an extraordinary book, described by the well-know author E.M. Forster as "here is the egg of a seabird - lovely, perfect and laid this very morning".

The author, Muiris Ó Súilleabháin, is an Irish-speaking boy growing up on the Great Blasket Island (An Blascaod Mór). He describes his childhood in the twenties on this 100% Irish-speaking island in Co. Kerry. The population of the island never reached 200, and life there was very archaic - resembling the society in Europe thousands of years ago. Nowhere else in Europe did the shear joy of speaking and love of words live on as here, where thousands of pages of folklore has been collected as well. This love of the language is obvious in this vivid book, in which Muiris presents an affectionate, lively and interesting account of a way of life that no longer is.

Despite being published 70 years ago, the book still feels fresh and manages to blend fond memories and humour in an extraordinary way. This is definitely THE book to buy for anyone interested in the Irish way of life.

I read Beyond Malice, The Mentor, Keeping Counsel, Character Witness, then moved to the series, Hostile Witness, Silent Witness, now Privileged Witness...wow! This is the best one yet...trying to patiently wait for the followup on my by now favorite characters..I feel as if I KNOW them all. Rebecca Forster is one of my very favorite authors. She is right up there with John Grisham, DW Buffa, Richard North Patterson...all of the great authors.
I emailed her to tell her how much I have enjoyed her books, she promptly answered my email. She has another manuscript ready for publication...hope she gets that printed very soon..I don't want to miss any of her future exciting books.
By the way, she also writes under RA Forster...just an FYI so that nobody missed one of her books.
Thank You Rebecca Forster for these wonderful, entertaining, spine tingling legal thrillers! Keep up the great writing! We are waiting!

If you haven't read Rebecca Forster's books yet - they are fantastic! If you like James Patterson - you will love her books too! Great characters!

Ms. Foster has done it again...from her first thriller to the last....she has outdone herself....I think "Privileged Witness" was my favorite....but...I need another one....please

Just finished this latest addition to the Witness series and I highly recommend it. It is well written, captivating, and the plot has many twists. I have read all three in the series and this is even better than the first two books (which were outstanding).

I think the characters are well-developed, especially for a series, and they all have flaws, which is a good thing in a novel. The subplots are good and one in particular (I won't spoil things) is very well developed and creates its own suspense.

Josie Bates is one of the most likeable characters I have read and the author makes you sympathetic to her predicaments.

As a lawyer, I can say that the court scenes are vivid and realistic, which isn't always the case in this genre. From a writer's perspective, the scenes and dialogue are nicely constructed. This author knows how to write. If you want a fun and entertaining read, buy this book.

Although Josie-Baylor-Bates was unable to convince a jury in criminal court that Kevin O'Connell beat up his wife Susan within an inch of life, she won a huge monetary settlement for the victim in Civil Court. After leaving the courtroom, she is accosted by Grace McCreary, the sister of Matthew who Josie was intensely in love with and thought was her soulmate until she discovered he lied about having any family. Matthew's wife jumped off the balcony and was killed and the coroner ruled it a suicide.

However, the police, especially the surprisingly caring Detective Babcock refuses to close the case because he believes that it is not quite as cut and dried as the coroner believes. Nobody is more shocked than Josie when Grace is arrested and reluctantly she agrees to defend her. This puts her back in Matthew's orbit who seems more concerned with his campaign than the plight of his sister's defense. Josie makes a good case at the probable cause hearing but as more and more secrets are revealed, Josie begins to wonder if either her client or her brother is telling the truth. While she is dealing with the McCreary siblings, Kevin is terrorizing her and her ward while looking for Susan.

One day if there is any justice, Rebecca Forster will be a household name because her legal thrillers are on a par with John Grisham, Scott Turow and John Lescroart. Her stylized and intricate plotting and her realistic characterizations make for a fantastic story while her ability to incorporate several sub-plots including one about the protagonist's personal life makes this so much more than an outstanding legal thriller.

Harriet Klausner