James Books

This book will change your life. If you have ever wondered how to keep proper Christian perspective, this book is your answer. No fancy formulas, no secret codes, nothing silly. It gives you a single truth (the most important truth, the Gospel truth) to apply to your life in any situation. The book then makes a biblical case for this position, and then gives you amazing ammunition for practical application of this truth in every situation in your life.

It will not steer you wrong. If you are thinking about buying it, stop thinking. It is worth every penny. I recommend it to all my Christian friends, and family, and it would also be an amazing book for non-Christians.

Once you start you wont put it down. It is gripping, easy to read, and at the same time, PACKED with life changing words. CJ is so compassionate, so real. He is your friend and he meets you where you are with beautiful truth that will change you forever.

Fourteen tight chapters that extol the power, grace, and love of the cross ... Mahaney's book wants nothing less than the cross of Christ at the core of our beings. In theology and in practice, in faith and in works, in putting on Christ and putting off sin, the gospel must take center stage. "If there's anything in life we should be passionate about, it's the gospel...passionate in thinking about the gospel, reflecting upon it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world and all of life" (15). The book exudes with Mahaney's characteristic vigor. It is exuberant without being mindless. It's passion is rooted in a deep, biblical understanding of the gospel. It's only right then that begins the book (chapter 2 to be exact) with a meditation on investing Scripture with final authority rather than one's emotions. He proceeds with characteristic wisdom when he writes, "But if you trust your feelings first and foremost, if you exalt your feelings, if you invest your feelings with final authority--they'll deposit you on the emotional roller coaster which so often characterizes our lives" (36).

The majority of the book resonates with various subthemes of the major theme. He moves from a moving exposition of the Suffering Servant in Isa 53 all the way to the unfathomable loneliness of the Savior hanging on the cross at the end of His earthly life. Along the path, he explicates the wrath of a holy God against sin, the utter depravity of mankind, the necessity of blood-sacrifice by the God-man, and the soul-shattering obedience and love of Christ in drinking fully the cup of His Father's fierce wrath. I can honestly say that I was moved at each turn. Mahaney captivates our attention through well-placed quotes from other authors, concisely packaged dense theology, and frequent reminders of the love of God in the gospel. The last feature really balances the argument of the book.

When Mahaney gets to the cross and our lives, he doesn't disappoint. The "me" element of the cross is sin. He writes of who he identifies with the most on Golgotha: "I identify most with the angry mob screaming, 'Crucify Him!' That's who we should all identify with. Because apart from God's grace, this is where we would all be standing, and we're only flattering ourselves to think otherwise" (87). He strongly applies the cross to our sufferings with the result that assurance and joy overflow in our lives no matter what the circumstance. He also manages to tackle legalism and self-condemnation, two joy-robbing, cross-undermining sins that are quickly dispatched (but not with any sense of ease or casualness) with reminders as to the objective realities of the cross and our basic need to believe in what Christ has done. The simplicity of these chapters only elevates our responsibility to indulge ourselves in every aspect of Christ's death.

The penultimate chapter is the most practical. In it, he shares five simple ways that he's used to draw near to the cross each day. The five ways are:
(1) Memorize the Gospel
(2) Pray the Gospel
(3) Sing the Gospel
(4) Review How the Gospel Has Changed You
(5) Study the Gospel
Even here, in a chapter about our practice of the gospel, he ends with the reminder that apart from the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit, these five ways would be merely human deeds.


C.J. Mahaney, as always, is frank. He tells it like it is, especially about himself. The last chapter begins with the Christian equivalent of a smack: "I was smoking pot the first time I heard the gospel." His forthrightness about himself and his own sins don't detract from the message. They serve to enhance it. Such humility puts flesh and blood on what could otherwise be a very dry tome on the centrality of the cross to the Christian life. Instead, we are treated to a rich feast of devotional warmth, practical wisdom, and impassionateed urgency. May we never move on from the cross. May we move only deeper into its glories.

As a guy whose denomination tends to be very doctrinally oriented, this book is a tremendous breath of gospel fresh air. It's one thing to give a textbook definition for "justification", etc. It's another thing entirely to have one's heart opened to the implications of Christ's finished work on the Cross. This book will help you to appreciate and love Christ more. Please read it; cry occasionally; repent; and rise to embrace the Cross of Christ each day of your life. This book will transform you.

This is a book that is focused on the gospel. An easy read but does not sacrifice doctrinal clarity and orthodoxy. This is a great alternative to the "new" emerging Christian messages. Chapters on legalism and condemnation are particularly powerful. Great read for new Christians and Christians needing to kneel at the cross anew.

This book is truly a great one as C.J. Mahaney brings it all back to the cross. A lot of this book includes previous works, "The Cross Centered Life" and "Christ Our Mediator." I also had just listened to C.J.'s sermon from the 2005 Resolved Conference called "Interrogating the Legalist Within" so most of this was review. But if you have yet to read or listen to these, please pick this little book up, you will not be disappointed.

C.J. continues to bring out the cross in everything in this dissertation of the cross centered life. C.J. goes into understanding the cross in defining our lives, feelings (experience), God's love, Gethsemane, our part in the cross (sin), our suffering, legalism, condemnation (with much more) and then just the practical application.

C.J. gives five practical ways to live a cross centered life:

1. Memorize the Gospel: Memorize those scriptures that remind us of the gospel (2 Cor 5:21; Romans 8:31-34; Isaiah 53:3-6)

2. Pray the Gospel: Since the Gospel is the reason we can approach such a holy God, continue to pray the Gospel as a reminder of why you can speak to such an awesome God.

3. Sing the Gospel: Find songs and CD's whose focus in on the great and glorious Gospel and not on man. Those songs that concentrate on what He has done for us.

4. Review How the Gospel Has Changed You: Looking to your past, not for condemnation's sake, but for the reminder of mercy and grace

5. Study the Gospel: Don't only study books on the Gospel or only on the New Testament, but study the Old Testament and see Christ's fulfillment of It. Making sure that our studies don't leave the Gospel behind but builds itself upon It.

I would really recommend this to any and all Christians. Great reminders of how the Cross should impact our lives and how it has freed us from condemnation and the errors of legalism.

A thorough analysis of all aspects of the legacy and lives of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. The author attempts to dispel the notion that Martin was some saint who single-handedly achieved everything that was achieved in civil rights, and that Malcolm was a dangerous hate-mongering demagogue.

Taking a more even-handed approach, Cone explains how the two leaders were both great in their own way, how they complemented each other and how there were far more similarities between them than were presented by the media. Also the two were very convergent in their views late in their lives. This is an especially useful book for those who dismiss and disdain Malcolm X.

A great achievement, the only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that Cone repeats himself quite a bit making the book a bit more bloated than it should have been.

Great book. Insightful writing.

I purchased this book for my American Religious Diversity class and found that it gives you a clear timeline of the Civil Rights Movement and how Martin viewed it as the American dream and how Malcolm viewed it as a nightmare. The book's chapters follow the Civil Rights Movement chronologically by date and discuss Martin's and Malcolm's personal lives, religious obligations, beliefs, priorities, and virtually every other aspect in enough detail to give you a clear picture of the time. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Civil Rights Movement.

Dr. Cone really points out the differences between Dr King and Malcolm X like no one else. But more importantly he sees so many simalaities. For erxample Malcom X encouraged blacks to go to Christian churches and get involved in social isues. Further, Dr Cone points out that Malcolm X wanted to go to Law School!!.

Also it is interesting that Dr. King refused to debate their respective postions.

Every time I am in Harlem at Lennox Ave and 125th St. I reflect on Dr Cone's masterpiece.

Have all children and adults read this book.

Darrell Pone,MD
Old Westbury, NY

Dr James Cone's MARTIN AND MALCOLM AND AMERICA: A DREAM OR A NIGHTMARE is one of the best books I've encountered.

Cone discusses the rhetorical strategies of Martin Luther King, Jr, and Malcolm X as they applied to their particular audiences: King to the South and Malcolm X to the North. Cone argues that Martin King's strategy of non-violent protest, while effective in the extremely segregated and anti-integrationist South, was not effective in the North (particularly in cities like Chicago and Detroit) because the discourse and policy of "integration" was already superficially accepted by Northeners. The "liberal" North found King's rhetoric to be more or less agreeable even as the structures of discrimination continued to subject black people to a brutal double-standard. Thus Malcolm X's policy of Black Nationalism (separatist rather than integrationist) that allowed for violence epitomized by the slogan "by any means necessary" was more successful in the North because it more effectively confronted personal and systematic racism. Long story short: two different rhetors with different rhetorics because of different situations, different audiences, with different immediate goals. Interestingly, near the close of both men's lives--Malcolm X killed in 1965 and Martin King in 1968--Malcolm began to sound a little more like Martin; and Martin began to speak even more forcefully, not unlike Malcolm had been known to do previously.

I had the great luxury of hearing Dr Cone present a lecture based on the book back in 1992. Twelve years later, my assesment of the book remains constant: Outstanding.

Midnight Rain is an outstanding thriller by a very talented up and coming writer named James Newman. It is a very smooth read, and the characterization of the 12 year old protagonist in the story is very well executed. Ditto for the immersion in late 1970's pop culture that is subtly infused all throughout. This book carries a great tension all throughout, and delivers a strong ending. I highly recommend James Newman's work and will definitely be buying other books by him.

Midnight Rain by James Newman

I was lucky enough to get an autographed copy of "Midnight Rain" from James Newman. When I got it and started reading it I was hooked.

The book, "Midnight Rain" centers around a twelve year old boy named Kyle Mackey. His father is dead and his mother is an alcoholic. Kyles older brother Dan, is about to leave for college. Kyle goes off to what he calls his, "Secret Place" located in the woods, while there he witnesses a murder. Young Cassandra Belle Roarke is murdered by two men little Kyle knows.

What happens next will keep you thoroughly immersed in the story. I don't want to give away the entire plot in case some of you have yet to read this novel, and read it you should!

I never put the book down from the time I started reading it until the very last page. I was totally enthralled in the story after starting it and I'm sure you will be too.

While this may not be a "horror" novel, it did have it's truly breathtaking moments, along with interesting characters and plot twists. Midnight Rain is a suspenseful and excellently written page-turner that begs to be read in one sitting.

I bought this book from James when I met him, Brian Keene and Jim Moore at a booksigning in June. I didn't know much about James or his book but I read the description of it online before I met him and what I read made me look forward to reading it. I'm glad I did too.

This is James's debut novel and it is very well put together. Plot, pacing, characterization are all well done and the story hits the ground running.

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The story is set in the 1970's in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains in a fictional town called Midnight. While it is not a real town,we have all been there. Either for summer camp or driving though on a road trip. He captures the small town feel wonderfully. Fairs, local traditions, familiarity with neighbors, etc. is all done wonderfully.

The main character Kyle, witnesses a murder early on. It is carried out by a person of authority in the town and Kyle must decide what to do. With a horible drunken mother (his description of her despicable selfishness and denial is probably the best of the book although it causes the reader great hatred for her as well) a dead father, and a brother about to go off to college, young Kyle is really left on his own to figure things out.

The book is fast paced for the most part, though I got a tad sidetracked in a divergent storyline involving a bike that may or may not be missing, and I thought the whole bike angle could have been used for bigger scares.

As we get further along, Kyle discovers secrets with other murders, his mother's relationships. his brothers possible involvement with the dead girl, and plenty of tense action.

If a book can make you care for a character and, at times, put you in their shoes, then a writer has succeeded in doing what he was supposed to do. James has writtena fine book. i would give it a 5 out of 5 and I can't wait to read what he does next.

A coming of age tale... told in the vein of The Body... blah blah yadda yadda - whatever! This is an amazing novel that transports readers back to their own childhood and into the lives, turmoil, and tramas of the characters and town itself, without exertion or assumption. And it warrants blurbage unique to it, not comparison to other works.

The story itself IS a coming of age tale, but it's much more than that. Kyle is not only dealing with the loss of his childhood because of a witnessed murder, but is also tortured by burden upon burden as he tries to figure out what to do - and the situation just keeps getting worse! Everything from trust that is lost to further victims, causes guilt, anxiety, and hopeless that follows Kyle like a rain cloud in a Warner Bros. cartoon.

The atmosphere is simply sublime! The clever sprinkling of actual historical events, and other subtle nuances, bring you right back to your own childhood. Nothing feels forced or even seriously attempted, it just flows and sucks you right in.

The characters are perfect; flawed, natural, and described in enough detail that you can see them, but vague enough for you to replace them with figures from your own past. Pace and style are something akin to a carnival ride. Anticipation, excitement, and nail biting action are delivered in a casual, personal manner that keeps your attention and makes you part of the town.

Did I like it? Well I absorbed it in no time flat and then told all my friends and some lady at the grocery store that they needed to read it. I didn't like it, I loved it!

I've never heard of James Newman and I picked up MIDNIGHT RAIN on the strong recommendation of a friend. After reading this book, I'm surprised that Mr. Newman isn't better known. This novel is that good.

MIDNIGHT RAIN is a relatively simple story of a 12-year old boy who witnesses a terrible crime in a small town, and all the consequences that result. I read the novel in one sitting, and found myself in constant suspense. There were moments when I dreaded turning the page, because I was afraid of what was going to happen next. In a way, this novel reminded me of Stephen King's CARRIE: simply written yet tremendously effective.

If Newman can write more books like this, he has a fine future ahead of him. Highly recommended.

As someone who has been "allergic" to mold my whole life and suffered horribly in any building with mold, this book helps the average person understand the how and why of mold effects on the body. It also gives detailed, specific information on how to detect mold, remediate a home or office and most important how to test people for the effects of mold exposure and what can be done to get healthy. I recommend anyone who has ever had any possible exposure to mold in a school, home or office get this book.

As someone who grew up with horrific mold allergies and had to live with the skin rashes, sinus infections and asthma that accompanied any exposure, I found Mold Illness Made Simple to be a wonderful, funny, enligtening book that helped me understand why mold so affected me and what I could do to be well in the future. Given that mold exists in many unsuspecting places like large stores, schools and even in our homes, I think anyone would benefit from reading this book.

The well laid out information in this book has improved the well being of my family. It is a quick read containing invaluable facts and simple, cost effective solutions such as how to test for mold in the home, as well as the diagnostic codes needed to test for toxins in the body. Mold Illness Made Simple is an ideal resource for a young scholar wishing to learn more about science and the environment. The authors and illustrator are commended for their unique format.

This book saved me from wasting $3,000 on some "special" filter my heater&AC guy wanted to sell me!

A wealth of knowledge on a pervasive problem.

Easy to follow information for adults too busy to read a large academic work. If you thought you knew everything about the air you breathe, think again and get the latest information of common ailments affecting you at work, home, and elsewhere.

I have personally and unknowingly dealt with massive mold exposure at my workplace, leaving me with a multitude of ill-effects. This is a very nice overview that has definitively enlightened me from a comical perspective. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to know the facts in a concise format.

Martha Pearl is a spunky wonderful character. More than that, she is a wonderful Southern cook. Her son,James, shares her sense of humor and love of cooking. I adore the way she puts him in his place when he wants to "fuss" with her recipes. I am almost through with the entire cookbook. I have laughed and underlined and referenced. It is a great, wonderful read. Knowing recipes as I do, I can tell you that you can trust this book to give you great food. Don't wait. Don't even put this on your wish list. It's a keeper. Yum

Jim Villas is one of our better cookbook and culinary memoir writers, while remaining a throwback to the likes of James Beard and Craig Claiborne. His affinity to Claiborne is especially strong, as both are unreconstituted Bourbon drinking Southerners who live(d) on Eastern Long Island and wrote for the `Eastern Establishment' publishing powers. Villas' special talent seems to be in recapturing what is most familiar and most comfortable about food for Americans. This is certainly true of his most recent cookbooks `Crazy for Casseroles' and `Biscuit Bliss'. His most recent collection of culinary essays and opinions `Stalking the Green Fairy' brings out this orientation in well written essays, but no book represents his culinary roots and inclinations quite as well as this book, cowritten with his mother.

On the face of it, this book would seem to be a transcription of mother Martha Pearl's little black recipe book into a form which William Morrow can publish and we can read and effectively translate into reproductions of Mrs. Villas favorite dishes. The back story of the book seems to be much more complicated than this, as Mrs. Villas' written recipes were sketchy, poorly handwritten, and done only as an aide d'memoire for someone who cooked almost entirely by experience, and look and feel, just like every other traditional southern cook whose praxis has been memorialized in writing. Thus, Villas had to do anthropology by observing his mother at work and doing his best to estimate amounts from quantities doled out by hand and eye. This too was made difficult by an entirely familiar friendly antagonism between mother and son in the kitchen. A running theme is that Mother Villas and son agree that Jimmy simply could never quite reproduce the quality of his mother's own recipes, in spite of years spent at studying and writing about the world's cuisines. Some of the repartee which documents this antagonism is a little difficult to believe, as when Miss Martha cannot find any `White Lily' or other soft southern flour in Jimmy's East Hampton kitchen with which to make biscuits. I've been cooking regularly for less than three years and I have a regular supply of `White Lily' shipped to the Lehigh Valley from Tennessee like clockwork.

I am glad I am skeptical of Jimmy's inability to reproduce Miss Martha's recipes, as if this were gospel, it would bode ill for your or my ability to make the recipes in this book into something remotely like the jewels which appear on Martha Pearl's North Carolina dinner table. In fact, I think a fairly well practiced cook with average equipment will do quite well with these recipes thank you.

The best things about the collection of recipes in this book are that practically all of the classic southern recipes are represented here and, in spite of the crack about doing anthropology, true practitioners of this cuisine are interpreting the recipes for us. With all due respect to Villas' friend Paula Wolfert, there is no observation and interpretation going on here. This is the real deal, where cook and scribe are part of the culture on which they report.

Just as Italy has it's `oil line' separating the butter from the olive oil cuisines of North and South, I think the Mason-Dixon line could double as the mayonnaise line, as I suspect that beginning in Maryland, sales of Hellmans doubles per capita as you cross each state border from Maryland to the Carolinas. Both Villas are on very safe culinary grounds here, as they typically specify either Hellmans or homemade, AND, the Hellmans brands of mayonnaise are consistent winners in `Cooks Illustrated' taste tests.

Most recipes in this book are fairly easy, although they are typically more picky about some details of method and ingredients than fellow Southerner Paula Deen of Savannah. They are also a lot pickier about the details of method than my own mother whose ideal recipe is Deen's spiral bound church fundraiser cookbook style. Of course, Miss Martha and my mother share a passion for the very freshest corn and tomatoes in season. There are also significant differences between Deen and the Villas in even a basic recipe such as pimento cheese spread. I suspect the Villas' interpretation is more traditional and it is certainly in line with Mother Villas' cardinal rule of not messing around with the taste of the main ingredients by adding a lot of extras. Their recipe for my favorite creamed chipped beef is a good example, as it is almost exactly the same as the recipe from Mississippian Craig Claiborne, but without the addition of Worcestershire sauce.

The recipe chapters fill all the niches you expect in a traditional southern cuisine, including Breakfast and Brunch; Canapes, Appetizers, and Snacks; Soups and Stews; Salads; Meats; Poultry and Game; Seafood; Casseroles; Vegetables; Breads; Desserts; Cookies and Confections; Pickles, Relishes and Preserves; Sauces and Dressings; and Beverages. With the chapter on preserving, the book covers more than most compendia of Southern cooking.

At every turn of the page in this book, I find myself nodding in agreement over choices of methods and ingredients. The use of torn bread pieces in place of breadcrumbs in meat loaf agrees with all my best sources for this delicacy. Patties for frying and doughs for rising are all chilled in the fridge for the righteous length of times to either firm up or relax. Miss Martha does share with Miss Paula the tendency to use canned soup and store-bought croutons in casseroles and such, but the application is judicious. Note that the coverage of the North Carolina speciality, pork barbecue, is a bit light. Do not depend on this book for much smoke work.

I really liked this book. It was a perfect mix of authentic, doable recipes and stories to make them and the authors come to life. Real home cooking with a good read thrown into the bargain.

Like me, many of you have probably come across stacks of so-called southern cookbooks that are full of non-southern recipes! I was beginning to think that no one had published an accurate accounting of deep south cooking.

Then, I found this book! It is by far the best and most authentic southern cookbook I've ever seen, and I regularly use many of the recipes.

My family and I are from Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas, and like so many other southerners, we're very particular about getting food just right. After moving out west , I longed to have a greater selection of the southern recipes I enjoyed as a child, but unfortunately, the family cookbook that was passed down to me only contained a limited number of recipes. (Like Villa says, it is typical for southerners to not have recipes written down.)

Anyway, this is a highly recommended book. It won't disappoint!!

I have spent hours since this book arrived last week just trying to decide which dishes to make first. I ended up making a "Southern" dinner for my Wisconsin mate using the Calabash Cole Slaw and "Brown Paper Bag" BBQ Chicken (I used a Reynolds Hot Bag, thank you!) from this book and Cheddar Cheese Grits from Martha Phelps Stamps' "New Southern Basics" (ISBN # 1581822413 -- another excellent Southern cookbook). It was a big hit and nothing was wasted (next day: grits with breakfast, cole slaw and chicken for lunch!).

As a bonus you get the story behind many of the recipes and running commentary from Villas' mother on many of the recipes. It is clearly a give-and-take mother and son relationship when he says his mother drives him crazy over this or that ingredient and she implies that his version of the family recipe is a little "uppity". She says Jimmy makes his hush puppies with yellow corn meal, but she prefers white. It is both bitchy and sweet at the same time!

I already have my next meal planned from this wonderful book and can recommend it for the cole slaw and BBQ chicken recipes alone - not to mention the lively stories and commentary. Enjoy.

This is the cookbook I can pull out and count on to produce a wonderful dish every single time. I haven't come across a dud yet. Martha Pearl is delightful (and yes I AM hinting for a dinner invitation) and so are her recipes. The macaroni and cheese is a family favorite that already has stains on the page because I make it so often. The pecan coffee cake is another recipe I have made many times and always get compliments on. I live near Charlotte and keep hoping to run into Jimmy and Martha Pearl picking over the Silver Queen corn at the farmer's market. I would unabashedly tell her what a devoted fan she has made of this transplanted Yankee.

Highly recommended for landscape design and
development of native gardens

I am a plant freak, and I am a gardening book freak. I have many, many books, probably too many. Literally. So many books that I've bought that looked interesting at the store have wound up sitting on the shelf, never to be opened again. This is one that will never even get to the shelf.

This book is so comprehensive, so informative, so beautiful to look at, and so danged readable that I find myself seeking it out whenever I've got a free moment. How many gardening books have you bought lately that poured forth all the information you could possibly want? How many have you bought lately that were a lot of fun to read? Now, how many can you name that do both at the same time? A precious few, but this one does.

Timber Press celebrated their 25th Anniversary this past year, and I did something I never do, I wrote the company a letter. In essence, what I said was this, "I never mind buying a Timber Press Book, often sight unseen, because I know it will be good." This book is excellent, even by Timber Press standards.

If you have any interest in trees or gardening, you will find this book a "must have." Informative, enjoyable, beautiful. What else could you want?

This outstanding new book will become one of the primary references for all kinds of information about native woody plants of North America. Many of the plant descriptions have far more detailed information on culture, diseases, and ornamental characteristics than the widely known reference books by Michael Dirr (the 'standards' by which all other woody plant references are judged). While the intent is to provide information and promote the ornamental characteristics of native woody plants, for home gardeners and landscape professionals, this will also prove to be a valuble reference for naturalists and others mainly interested in these plants in the native, rather than the cultivated, landscape. The photographs are outstanding, and will certainly promote interest in many little known and underutilized woody plants. I never knew there were so many native North American oaks! As a botanist and later home gardener with a life-long interest in woody plants, there are few books in the past decade which have been published with this level of detail and value.

Guy Sternberg and Jim Wilson's Native Trees For North American Landscapes represents a lifetime of research and work: the authors provide an in-depth technical catalog of detail on native trees and their environments, providing tree 'profiles' which describe flowers, fruit, plant ranges, and culture. Sections outlining best seasonal features are particularly useful, telling gardeners which plants are showiest per season. Stunning photos and outlines of common cultivation problems and solutions make Native Trees For North American Landscapes a solid, invaluable reference for landscapers, libraries and home gardens alike.

This is one of, if not the best book about trees you can buy. It is informative for the amateur as well as the pro. The pictures are beautiful, my favorite is of the Burr Oak photographed in a horse pasture. I waited over a year for this book, well worth it! I consider myself an amateur arborist and would highly reccomend this book to anyone with an interest in trees and nature in general. I do not see an underlying agenda by the author, just useful information and honest opinions.

Hmm, how do you make a kicking Science Fiction series novel?

Take Area 51...
Add in alien sex,
an APC/Jeep war,
an underground battle,
an ... whupping in an elevator,
samurai,
ninjas,
"injuns" with M-16's,
rumors of dinosaurs,
the alleged death of a main character,
a mysterious being who can rejuvenate the ancient and crippled,
a hot tub sex scene,
and mix it ALL together with a little Viva Las Vegas...

I think you can come close to perfection with this one. Most people talk about the middle book of a trilogy being slow or weak? This was the exception to that rule. The first book was much less full than this one, and this one had a lot of energy to it, despite all the plot points, or maybe even BECAUSE of all the vibrant energy plugged into it.

Just awesome.

I've been reading Outlanders since the first book and there's been plenty of surprsies along the way, none of shocked me like Tigers of Heaven!

This is one of the best books in the series, if not THE best. It's exciting, action-packed, full of unexpected twists and turns. There's plenty of shooting in this book, but it's not a simple shoot-em-up.

I don't want to give away the plot, but it seems like the world of Kane, Brigid, Grant and the rest of the gang at Cerberus are in for some major changes...none of them good. I really can't recommend this book highly enough.

This book was very well paced, the continued shifting in perceptions of the main characters towards Who Is The Enemy is always a welcome treatment, lending as it does a more intricate layer to the overly simplified plotline. The protagonists' morphing into semi-allies is also well done, I'll have to admit.

Hey Kids: This series has become more important than Deathlands because it handles a wider range of mythologies, if you can dig it. The series, though, is now more vulnerable than ever for devolving into stream of consciousness drivel from main characters. Let us hope it does not fall into that bottomless chasm as it threatened to do when the characters were spiritually transported to parallel universes.

I also would like to see more technological doodads flitting about in forthcoming novels. I certainly liked the volume that talked about the Aurora craft and its capabilities. I also hope that perhaps this series can nestle more snuggly into more UFO paranoia and Area 51 mythos. As I find that world fun to immerse myself in for a time, and apparently other readers do as well, judging from the "Area 51" novels from Tom Dougherty. And as Dean Koontz has aptly demonstrated in his Wyvern Base series, there's a lot of paranoidal mythos-spinning yarn concerning abandoned high-tech military bases. Perhaps a half-buried Crystal Palace R&D facility would be appropos in one of the future installments maybe?

As usual this latest outlanders installment has soured far beyond my wildest expectations. This wild rollcoaster ride of unexpected plot twists and shifting perceptions of both the barons and the main characters, carries this novel well beyond the sterotypical adventure/sci fi novel. With a War brewing among the barons and a strange imperator with power beyond that of even Balam, the author takes the reader on a journey of revealations and sudden unexpected events that leave the reader shocked and breathless. Who will survive? Just when you think you have things figured out and you know where each character stands things shift and a whole new prespective is revealed. In this second novel in the imperator wars trilogy the author dangles some answers to questions left unanswered in Doom Dynasty while not really given the reader what they really want. With so many questions left unanswered as this second novel ends it will leave you salivating for more.

Tigers of Heaven

This novel is one of the best Mark has written to date. It begins where Doom Dynasty left off, with Kane in the Clutches of Baron Cobalt in Area 51. I will not go into the details of what was happening to him, as it would spoil it for the reader.

Suffice to say, the reader is treated a rare glimpse into the mind and society of the Hybrid race, how they react, their views on humanity and each other, emotions, etc.

While Kane is held captive, Grant, Brigid as well as a small team of natives leave the Darks in the Titano (the name the War Wag was Christened), on a desperate rescue mission.

Along the way they encounter a group of Magistrates led by none other than Baron Sharpe himself, and an uneasy alliance is formed between both parties, as their final destination, AREA 51, remains the same. Even though their collective reasons for hitting the mythical base are different.

The novel is action packed, as you would expect, but it also gives a long overdue insight into the Albino Domi's mind, and the how's and whys she reacts the way she does. It also fleshes out this character even more so.

To add icing to the cake, several new characters are introduced in the novel, well some really re-introduced, that could prove to be great friends, or deadly foes. These characters range from several Hybrids, to Magistrates as well as the Tigers of Heaven (introduced for the first time in Outer Darkness).

Even though the Tigers play only a small role in the novel, the events that take place on their island off the western coast will play significantly in upcoming novels. We're talking some very high tech, very unusual occurrences.

Also, there is something that happens in the novel that will shock any long time reader. Well two things, if you count what happens to Grant.

Enjoy, it is well worth the read, and I personally can't wait to get my hand on Purgatory Road. Which incidentally, has Kane, Brigid and Grant prominently displayed on the cover.

Chris

I own this book as well and in reading it to my grandaugther it brought memories of when I was young as well as seeing the excitement in her eyes. You have to read this aloud and it was truly a great experience for her. She always want to hear a story. I do believe we have to keep the stories alive in our children, the tones, the simplicity of life....a history.

I first heard of this book when I was in 5th grade (about 10-11 yrs. old)...I'm 28 now. My African-American teacher would read us stories from it. I remember enjoying the stories so much that I bought this book for my son about 2 yrs. ago. My son is almost 3 now & while he can't read yet, I know he will enjoy the stories as much as I have. This book comes with a CD & is narrated by the author & James Earl Jones...the narration was well done. I listened to the CD & I felt as if I had gone back in time. The narrators are so vivid & they really get your attention. The CD is definitely a plus & the book was well written. I really like that the stories have morals & life lessons that we can learn from. I recommend buying this version of the book because it comes with the CD. I also recommend this book for children 9 & up. This book would be a great addition to anyone's book collection. I hope my review is helpful.

I read this book when I was in elementary school and fell in love with it. Virginia Hamilton really captures the essence of West African story telling and transfers that essence into American form. As an educator and historian, the lessons in this book has stayed with me for well over 18 yrs and I suspect the lessons will remain with me forever. I recommend that this book is on the shelves of every African American family.

As a storyteller and folklorist/historian, it saddens me that so few children today know anything about the joys of hearing a good tale from a wise elder. In Black America in particular, generations of children (including my father, thank God) had the wonderful tales of Brer Rabbit, Little 8 John, Raw head & Bloody Bones, Wiley & The Hairy Man, and the People Who Could Fly (title story) told to them as today's children are familiar with Kim Possible and the Proud Family.

I bought this for my beloved niece when she was eight and pretty soon, she began entertaining the children of the neighborhood with these tales just as I did after listening to my dad and I still do during storytelling gigs today.

Virginia Hamilton (RIP) did a masterful work in leaving this beautiful legacy to a generation where it is fast disappearing. She does a good job in interpreting the likes of Wiley the Hairy man, Raw Head and Bloody Bones (the PC crowd occasionally complains about this being too scary for kids as well as Brer Rabbit-let these crybaby fools go ahead with that sickening Barney the Dinosaur and the care bears). The edition that I bought for my neice was before the CD with Miss Hamilton and voicemaster James Earl Jones came out, but I have younger neices and nephews (and hopefully my own children in the future) that I will certainly look out for this for.

Another reason why this collection is in such need is that often, African-American parents (rightfully) complain about the lack of wholesome entertainment for their children in particular. Unfortunately, most parents of today were not exposed to these stories as I was and this often leads to well-intentioned but foolish recent activities such as the NAACP here in Charleston (SC) complaining about the lack of Black Santa Clauses in the local malls. As Miss Hamilton and those of us raised in the folklore tradition know, we have enough good things of our own culture to pass down to children than to worry of the color of Santa Claus.

Buy this, reconnect with your children, and enjoy.

This book is a trifecta:

1. You get to hear the author read her own writing. If you want to hear Virginia Hamilton and James Earl Jones adding their own special lyrical beauty to the reading of these stories, then purchase this version. Considering that Ms. Hamilton died in 2002, this CD is a must have.

I think it is important for children to hear the author reading their own work. So if you can't get to a book reading by the author, this is the next best thing. And you get to hear it over and over again.

2. The illustrations are magical, delicate, and powerful. Every child (but especially black and white) in this nation should hear the stories in this book. Before they know color issues, they should get to know the beauty and dignity of brown skin. To hear the dignity, power, and humanity of their own heritage or that of someone elses, before a world of anger taints them.

3. At the end of each story is a brief history of the story: it's origin, and variations, and other facts that help the story to become more real and personal, especially for a child who wants to know more about their heritage. This will inspire them to ask questions and (if they're older) do research as it cause me to do.

I dare anyone to read this book and not be changed.

No one has Hilton's power of drawing a reader into the mind and heart of an ordinary bloke. I don't know how he does it; why do I care so much about his characters? He knows how to help the reader to sincerely CARE ABOUT a character, and therefore even his fellow man.

The twist and twist of the plot and timeline can be challenging at times, but well worth the effort.

And I thought the book was absolutely great BEFORE I read the last page!

(BTW, don't confuse this great book with the mediocre chickflick movie of the same name, and I don't recommend watching the movie first, as it might spoil some of the suspense.)

I had first seen the wonderfully sentimental movie, which is one of my favorites.

The book is not so sentimental. In reading the book, I was unprepared for how well-depicted would be the pain of the protagonist's psychological plight, how thought-provoking this book would be about society, and how much an individual could realistically be shown to be at a loss - no matter his external circumstances.

This is very much about someone who senses that once his life had meaning to him, and he had happily occupied a niche in the world - and can't rediscover it. The author is so wonderful in conveying this desperation.

Mr. Hilton also wonderfully conveys the highs and lows of both the well-born establishment, and the utterly displaced, of inter-war England.

And amazingly, he brilliantly evokes the wonderfully dreamy feeling of being in love. The scenes in which Smitty finds the small town, climbs up to the small lake in the hills, what he sees when he awakens, and the following several days, must be among the most moving in fiction.

I also love how the author shows the differences in personality between the earnest, sweet, easily alarmed, humble Smitty and the somewhat cynical, immensely able, practical-joking, self-deprecating Rainier - much of the difference seems engendered by the way they're treated and their places in life.

I love how subtly the author shows Mrs. Rainier's reaction to Rainier's discoveries - it's just brilliantly done. And the book's ending could not be more satisfying.

This is a more thought-provoking book than Goodbye Mr. Chips - and as much as I enjoyed that, this is a better one. I loved this as much as Hilton's So Well Remembered - which is high praise.

This completes the trilogy of classic James Hilton novels (the other two being "Lost Horizon" and "Goodbye Mr. Chips") which were all made into movies during Hollywood's Golden Era. It is the lesser known of the three novels, although Random Harvest is his most complete work.

The story is a romance, a mystery, a critque on England's class structure, and a parable. Hilton uses the lost years of Charles Rainier as a methaphor for the lost years of the 1920/1930's when England failed to prepare for the next war. Told in flashbacks and bookended by World War I and World War II, the resolution is only revealed in its final sentence that will shock you and change everything that you have just read & thought you understood. You will go back and re-read the book as your perception of all the characters are altered by the surprise ending.

Two cautions: First, see the 1942 Ronald Coleman/ Greer Garson movie AFTER reading the book to see how the ending is handled. Second, the opening few pages are set in an England and of a time that will be unfamiliar to most Americans, but if one continues on, the reader will be deeply rewarded. The ability to be surprised is a rare gift and Hilton delivers.

Random Harvest is my all-time favorite story. It might well be called The Wonderful Story or The Beautiful Story. Who hasn't read James Hilton's Good-buy Mr. Chips or Lost Horizon? This book, in my view, is his best work. It was this work that convinced me Hilton had to be a mystic although I don't know that. I do know that on one level, the earthy one, this is the best romantic novel I've ever read. On another level, social or historical, the work is a bringer of hope- written during WWII about WWI and ending on the eve of WWII the story speaks directly to our own uncertain post 911 era. But most importantly this is a work of spiritual completion. It can be read as the story of two people, or for Jungians in particular the coniunctio (union of opposites), the reconciling of the male and female within each of us, and in another context the "Marriage Feast of the Lamb"... This is, indeed, "The Wonderful Story."

A magnificently engrossing story that takes place over several years and including many twists and turns that make it difficult to write a review that does not give away too much of the plot. It starts with a war injury that brings amnesia induced loss of identity to our main character. The life that he builds from scratch is washed away when a car accident brings back his earlier memory, while losing the memory of his most recent life and identity. The two identities are quite dissimilar making it most difficult for the love of his second life to trace him once again to where he has built an entire life upon his early roots. The clash of his two identities and what he does with the women from both his lives is the crux of the book. Both his lives are truly worthwhile and if only there were a way to combine the best of both parts - but impossible to go back . . . the eventual answer is one of the most breathtakingly satisfying conclusions of all time.

James Hilton's (Goodbye Mr. Chips, Lost Horizon) greatest novel. A romance for the ages. If still possible for you, this is one time the book should definitely be digested before the movie (also great but substantially different).

This book can be summed up with one theme: defer paying taxes for as long as possible. One excellent point that this book does define for you though is how to choose your beneficiaries in the best possible way. As a financial planner this has become one of the most popular questions that I am asked from people whom I meet. This book is a great guide towards answering those questions.

Bravo!

This book is a must read if you're planning to retire wealthy, or at least securely.

And...

Every college student should be required to study this book carefully if they want to avoid all the common mistakes and money pitfalls that 98% of us fall into. I wish I had read this when I was in college... I would be $100,000 wealthier.

- Dave

James Lang has had so much excellent advice for my husband and me that we purchased 7 copies for our adult children and are hopeful they will benefit from the knowledge in the books and cds.

James Lange's Retire Secure, offers great techniques to help persons planning for retirement. He is on the right track - to postpone and minimize the impact of taxes - in order to maximize the retiree's money and extend the spendable income. This book makes a valuable contribution to the field of personal finance - for both the consumers and the professional advisors who serve them.

Reading "Retire Secure" will not alone make you rich. However, if you read and follow Mr. Lange's advice, you will build wealth and then protect it to the fullest extent possible. The book outlines a very clear path to maximize savings using the most effective vehicle available to you. Then it goes on to provide a thorough roadmap to minimizing your tax consequences and maximizing your after tax returns. Finally the book provides several different strategies for passing along wealth to your heirs while once again factoring in the greedy hands of Uncle Sam. The author not only provides you with the theory, as many financial planners do, but backs up his recommendations with solid proofs and confirms them with amusing case studies. Overall this book is an excellent source for information on the use of retirement funds for wealth building and hopefully inheritance to pass on.