Nova Books

I started with Black Ice, I've been hooked on Connelly books ever since.

I will say I was hesitant on this book, I don't normally like first person styles, in fact I hate them. But after realizing that good old Harry was somehow involved in a sequel book to The Poet, I knew that I had to read it.

I'm very glad that I purchased it and forced myself to read it. There wasn't so much forcing after the first few chapters.

Anyhow, its a wonderful thrill ride, certainly a book that I would recommend to others.

This book is the book where the Poet is introduced. It is an intriguing story about murders of policemen and small children, murders most foul. We are soon lead in the right direction, pointing to someone with knowledge of law enforcement. It is also clear that the murderer is a rather evil person with no care for the anger and hurt he is bringing in to peoples lives. As with so many mass murderers, he seems to be charged by them.

As the net draws closer, we get suspicions here and there, and we're drawn in a couple of different directions. The revealing of the murderer is somewhat predictable at that point, but I may be biased, as I had read some of Connelly's later books.

I am a huge fan of Connelly, I am especially fond of the Harry Bosch novels. This is not one of them, although it has connections to Harry Bosch. If you are interested in a good crime story, this is definitely it. Exciting from beginning to end, and it gives you the urge to read more.

Jack McEvoy is a crime-beat reporter in Denver whose twin brother, Sean McEvoy, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after obsessing over the murder and mutilation of a girl. Jack starts asking the kind of questions that only a journalist would think of, and bingo . . . he finds that there's something strange going on: There have been a lot of so-called suicides of police officers who have been investigating the murders of children and those who teach and tend them. The link seems to be that they all left notes that contain quote from Edgar Allen Poe.

Soon, Jack is on the hunt and his investigation draws the attention of the FBI when he tries to access a data base of police suicides. Can Jack find out what's going on . . . or will the FBI stonewall him?

This story doesn't start off as fast as most books about serial killers do. That's a shame. With a more powerful beginning, this story would be a classic. But be patient; the story speeds up as it goes.

One of the most appealing parts of this book is looking at the challenge of investigating crimes as a journalist rather than as a law enforcement professional. I think you'll find the contrast to be interesting.

The book also features lots of opportunities to get to know the serial killer so character development is excellent for building tension and interest.

Like another reviewer here, this was my first Connelly novel and I went into it with no preconceptions as I was completely unfamiliar with his work. It grabbed me from the first page and kept me engrossed right up to page 500. I enjoyed the author's writing style: spare, yet sufficiently descriptive. It put me in mind of the show Dragnet, without the over-the-top posturing. Rather than go into too much detail, he gives the reader enough to get a good sense of the place and the people, and then moves the action along. His characters speak as real people would and they are smart and recognizable, without being cliche. The storyline was well plotted, a bit of murder, a bit of mystery, some romance and a few twists along the way.

****Spoilers Ahead****

If I have one criticism, it is the final act of the book with the major plot twist. I found it a bit forced and insufficiently justified. After setting the reader up with red herrings involving the female lead, Connelly seems to have felt the need to throw in a really off the wall surprise ending that was more unbelievable than surprising. It's as though he watched one too many M. Night Shyamalan movies. Though the book was terrific, it would have been even better without that ending, which isn't even a real ending as I learned when I saw there was a sequel! Oh well, guess I'll be reading The Narrows next.

I've read a number of Connelly books recently and this has been the most mindbending. I was really not prepared for the end and it took me some moments to wrap my brain around it. As in life, the answers still leave you with questions. I like that. It's also interesting to see Connelly writing in first person and in a much more narrative style than some of his more recent Bosch work - which is clean, lean, mean and finely edited by comparison. In my humble opinion, you don't have to read Connelly's books in order. Each can certainly stand on its own and you can recognize the characters emerging and developing over his years of outwitting us in print.

Armstrong bursts onto the writing scene with her first novel of The Women of the Otherworld series, "Bitten." In this werewolf-gone-bad story, the main character, Elena Michaels must face her past and herself if she is going to help stop a killer and protect those who care about her the most.

A bit different than the average werewolf book I've read, I found the characters to be believable and engaging. It has an edge to it that is gritty and more real than a lot of the "supernatural" books out there. The story moved along nicely, with a bit of romance on the side, but not so much as to detract from the storyline. I will warn though that there is the occasional graphic violence. Still, if you have a strong stomach, it's a great read.

Elena Michaels is determined to go it alone. She doesn't need the pack. She doesn't need Clay, the werewolf who misled her, made her believe he loved her, and then turned her into one of them without her permission, without even telling her what he was. To make matters worse, it turns out she's the only female werewolf in the world. That's right. Elena's the Only One and so not interested in dealing with the inevitable "attention" this brings her way. So she leaves the pack and moves to Toronto where she gets a job as a journalist and finds a nice, normal boyfriend to cuddle with. Problem is, she can't outrun her past and she can't escape the call of the wolf.

Her troubles intensify when the pack needs her help and Jeremy, the Alpha, calls her home to help them solve a string of grisly murders. They suspect some mutts (rogue wolves) of causing the mayhem and Elena's specialty just happens to be tracking mutts. Unable to refuse Jeremy's summons, Elena reluctantly returns to the compound in upstate New York. Gritting her teeth in anticipation of the welcome she'll receive. Turns out Clay's been waiting for her this whole time, insisting he's still in love with her and always has been. Elena's pretty sure she's still in love with him, too. But none of this stops them from bickering like teenagers and snarling at each other every chance they get.

The scenes where members of the pack interact as a motley, roughhousing family are extremely well done. As are Elena's painful transformations from human to wolf form. The undeniable sense of freedom and belonging she feels back with the pack is vivid and tangible and I found myself wrapped up in finding out the fate of these vulnerable, larger-than-life characters. Elena's external and internal conflicts were well-plotted and compelling and the book builds strongly toward an intense showdown between the pack and the mutts. Only in the last few pages is anything resolved and, unfortunately, I felt the internal conflict was wrapped up entirely too quickly. Elena and Clay's relationship was wonderfully messy and complicated, with layer upon layer of distrust and longing. The book itself was almost 400 pages and trying to clean the mess up in just the last six pages left me dissatisfied and upset. I liked the whole tangled web and felt it deserved a more careful treatment in the end. I am still wrestling over whether or not to pick up the sequel, Stolen (Women of the Otherworld, Book 2).

I didn't know what to expect with this book. Elena is the only female werewolf. She was bitten by her then boyfriend Clay and survived the change. Determined to not let it change her life, she moves to Toronto and becomes a reporter. She tries to keep her human boyfriend in the dark. But, of course, things happen and she has to go back "home" to the pack.

With the return home comes everything she tried to leave behind. She tries to make the decision of where she is going, what she wants to do, and does she really want the family offered to her.

I really like the detail that went into this book. It was really well done. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

This book is one of the most infuriating books I've ever finished. Firstly, the characters are flat and unlikable. Secondly, they're dumb. We are told repeatedly that some of them are smart, but they do INSIPIDLY stupid things. For example, they know that someone nearby is trying to kill them, yet they all go to bed at the same time. Brilliant. The only good thing I can say about this book is that it has saved me from reading anything else by the same author.

At first, this book bored me witless -- it was so slow to start. For a while there, I wondered if I could be bothered finishing it. The writing style seemed a bit pedestrian, and the trivial plot points seemed to be written about at length while the important matters were glossed over.

But then the story picked up pace. Things started happening, interesting, suspenseful things. I started to care about the heroine and those around her, and understand their motivations. I started to (for the most part) rather enjoy the book.

Maybe because this was the author's first novel, it took her a while to get into stride...but when she did, she really ran with it.

By the time the book was over, I was glad I read it. In the balance of things, I considered that its flaws were outweighed by its pluses. But I also felt a weird sense of deja vu, like I'd somehow read the book before...and then I realised, it was basically more or less the same story as another book I once read, 'Blood and Chocolate' by Annette Curtis Klause. Of course, 'Blood and Chocolate' predates 'Bitten' by a couple of years, so if anyone was copying anyone else, it was 'Bitten' copying 'Blood and Chocolate'. I really enjoyed 'Blood and Chocolate', so maybe that's why I didn't mind 'Bitten'.

As far as contemporary paranormal fantasy stories go, I would definitely rate 'Bitten' much lower than 'Moon Called' and the other Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs...those are just about my favourite series of books, though, so maybe it's not fair to compare them. But I would still rate 'Bitten' light years ahead of the incredibly dull and atrociously written 'Twilight'...if anyone can please explain to me the huge success of 'Twilight', I would appreciate it...I suspect it involves some sort of dark magic that befuddles readers, or perhaps a gypsy curse, or something in the water supply, or some sort of teenage hormonal imbalance that makes girls like stories about useless heroines and really horrible but good looking blokes...I don't know...

By the way, a number of the other reviews for 'Bitten' gave me a bit of a chuckle...it would seem that some of the people who read this book either skimmed over important facts and therefore didn't understand a lot of aspects of the story and characters, or the reviewers are just not the brightest sparks and lack some very basic comprehension skills. There's so many inaccuracies and misconceptions in those reviews, this is one of those instances where maybe you'd be better off judging the book by its cover than by some of its reviews.

This book could easily be transposed as an academic study in a scholarly journal or as a "how to" article in one of those business school reviews that cater to the deep anxieties of high-powered executives. The same material that Michael Lewis has collected could be used by an academic to formulate hypotheses, validate theories, and construct models of business behavior. In fact, a growing subset of management science deals with the phenomenon that Lewis describes in his narrative and that is known in the academic literature as serial entrepreneurship.

In this respect, one could very well transform the portrait of Jim Clark into a diagram of the five abilities that a serial entrepreneur needs to cultivate:
- the ability to repeatably recognize a market. Jim Clark is after markets worth billions of dollars, and strives to stay ahead of the curve by identifying business opportunities that Microsoft has not yet seized.
- the ability to repeatably create a product or service. Jim Clark started with a chip that allowed computer to do 3D graphics, then moved on to pioneering the browser business with Netscape, then his attention turned to the healthcare market and then again to personal finance, markets for which he offered innovative business models.
- the ability to repeatably motivate individuals/teams and build an entire organization to follow in his/her pursuit. People joined the bandwagon because Jim Clark offered them the promise to become incredibly rich, but also because his ventures were simply the place to be in the Silicon Valley.
- the ability to delegate and surround themselves with talent that complements their own. Jim Clark is compared to a conceptual artist who comes up with the idea and let the other do all the actual work.
- the ability to reinvent oneself. As the author notes, "other people grew old, he stayed new".

Or the article could list the lessons that one learns from creating more than three successful ventures:
- Don't Draw Business Plans. Jim Clark's notion of a business plan is to identify a trillion dollar-worth market, gather enough bright people and throw them at the problem so that something good will come out of it.
- Don't Fall In Love With The Product. It doesn't really matter what the company is trying to sell, so long as it is identified as an Internet company. When Clark assembled a team of engineers to "fix the US health care system", as the team leader acknowledges, "no one knew a fucking thing about health care".
- Stick To Your Guns. As an observer remarks, this is clearly a bad trait if you stick to your guns when you're clearly wrong, but Jim Clark and his team of bright engineers were "almost always right".
- Leave When the Party Starts. Jim Clark becomes disinterested as soon as his ventures take off the ground, and very soon moves on to the next challenge.
- It's OK to Fail. Jim Clark predicted that the future of information technology laid in interactive TV, then let others face disaster on the basis of his failed diagnosis. The same engineers who spent months designing an unmarketable device could then be drawn into his next venture.
- Never Look Back. "I don't give a shit about the past", says Clark.
- When to Stop. That is precisely the lesson that a serial entrepreneur like Jim Clark never learns.

But of course Michael Lewis' book has very little in common with a business review article. Readers who find management books profoundly boring and uninteresting can still be attracted to this story, which evokes at times Moby Dick or The Great Gatsby. Michael Lewis is to the dot-com era what F. Scott Fitzgerald was to the Jazz Age. As the internet boom has now receded into the past, this book will remain as a monument to the follies and hopes of the internet bubble era.

A must read for any entrepreneur or intrapreneur(someone within a company who must innovate). Lewis opens with stories about Jim Clark -- reknown Silicon Valley entrepreneur and innovator and his boat that 'built Netscape"...the book talks about Netscape which Lewis says launched the Information age (it may or may not have but it certainly ushered in the IPO era and online businesses. Interesting what has since happened to Silicon Graphics and Healtheon that was supposed to turn the health care industry 'on it's head'. The inside cover talks about --- what else-- Paradigm shift in American culture-- from conventional business models (the old economy) to the new economy. Yet in retrospect we know that a mix of the best of both is really probably the way to go. The titles of the chapter are more clever than the chapters themselves. I personally would have liked to see more about different innovators not just Clarke but then I didn't write the book. The chapter titles include "Pasts in a Box" Disorganization Man, Home of the Future God Mode -- How Chickents Become Pork, Cheese Sandwiches for Breakfast, Chasing Ghosts, The Turning Point and The New New Thing....

If you have read any of Michael Lewis's other books and found them enjoyable (either writing style or topic), you will find this a good read, worthy of your time. You will learn a little about the atmosphere of Silicon Valley during the height of the bubble / late 90s as well as about a very unique figure who helped (over exagerated, per Economist) start it all.

I'm a big fan of Michael Lewis. He usually brings characters and situations to life and provides a perspective on a situation that introduces me to a new way of looking at things. That's not the case here.

I get the feeling when Michael Lewis got permission to follow Jim Clark around for several months to write about him he thought he'd hit the mother load of great book material. Here was a guy who had traipsed through the daunting world of technology with a seeming Midas touch. Heck, the man had started Silicon Graphics and Netscape.

As I read the book, however, something strange happened, I started wondering, "When did Michael Lewis realize he was following the most improbably boring man in the world?" Jim Clark should be fascinating; he starts huge companies and turns venture capitalists on their ears, he flies helicopters, rides motorcycles and builds ludicrously complex, large and expensive sailboats. Jim Clark is a man who is never satisfied and always striving for the "New, New Thing." Yet somehow, Jim Clark is also apparently stone cold dull.

In the course of the whole book, not one Jim Clark quote is interesting, entertaining, or insightful. It doesn't seem like Clark won't open up to Lewis, it's more like he's a one-dimensional guy. Lewis writes the book in a way that indicates that he's an author that knows he's got nothing but has invested far too much time in research to try to turn back. The book becomes focused on the attempt to get Clark's newest technology-laden boat ready for an Atlantic crossing; hardly what I'm guessing Lewis set out to write.

The crossing itself turns out to be a non-event and unfortunately the book does to. Don't despair though, read Moneyball or Liar's Poker or Blindside and you'll find that Michael Lewis can, and usually does, deliver the goods in spades.

"The New New Thing" tells two stories. The first is the story of Jim Clark, a technical entrepreneur who founded three companies -- Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon -- that achieved phenomenal heights during the Internet boom of the 1990's. Clark is, to say the least, an interesting character; at least two of Clark's business associates are quoted in the book calling him a "maniac". Clark is driven almost entirely by an unending greed, so for me at least, he quickly became an unsympathetic character around which to hang an entire book. Another criticism I have is that far too many pages of the book are spent on Clark's quest to build and debug Hyperion, the world's largest computer-controlled sailboat. These sections were a distraction from the rest of the narrative. (By the way, it's pretty clear that although they may have been smart, the people writing the software for Hyperion -- including Clark himself -- were all pretty lousy software engineers.)

The second story is that of Silicon Valley, and it doesn't come off looking much better than Clark. Lewis seems to have been granted incredible access to Clark's life, which included the ability to interview and attend meetings with the Valley's top movers and shakers -- the engineers, senior managers, and venture capitalists who fund them. As a computer scientist who has lived and worked in the Valley since 1991, I found this material to be enlightening, and certainly the strongest part of the book. Perhaps most fascinating is the way the decisions of the venture capital (VC) firms and investment banks are based so much on perception rather than sound reasoning. For example, one minute the VCs are writing off their Healtheon investments as a total loss, but the next minute -- when Clark offers to invest $40M of his own money in the failing venture -- they all clamor to invest more in it. Sadly, during the "irrational exuberance" of the late 1990's, this was actually a winning strategy.

One danger in writing a book about the new new thing -- at the height of the Internet bubble no less -- is that it can quickly become old. And this book has not aged well. Yes, Jim Clark was the first person in Silicon Valley to have founded three companies with a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion, and yes, he made himself and many others around him obscenely rich. But most of the companies he started have not been lasting successes: as of this writing in 2007, Silicon Graphics is dying, having lost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in each of the last four fiscal years; Netscape was acquired by AOL, whose subsequent acquisition by Time Warner nearly killed the latter company; Healtheon merged with WebMD, whose business model is substantially less ambitious than Clark's original concept for the company; and myCFO, the newest new enterprise mentioned at the end of the book, morphed into a company that offered illegal tax shelters to wealthy clients, came under investigation by the IRS, and was eventually sold for only one third of the original money poured into it. Toward the end of the book, Lewis also wryly mocks John Doerr's VC firm Kleiner Perkins for paying $25M for a 33% stake in Google, which he writes "consisted of a pair of Stanford graduate students who had a piece of software that might or might not make it easier to search the Internet." Poor Kleiner Perkins. Their Google investment was obviously a terrible mistake.

Michael Lewis is a great writer, but I enjoyed two of his other books far more: Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street and Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.

All in all, "The New New Thing" does a good job of exposing the underbelly of Silicon Valley capitalism. But its focus on Clark and companies born out of the Internet bubble gives a distorted picture of the challenges in founding and running a technical startup. For a more accurate depiction, I recommend Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure.

On the advice of a sometime sailer / daily co-worker, I read Sebastian Junger's non-fiction "The Perfect Storm" well before it became famous and a movie and enjoyed it, although I know zilch about commercial fishing. A tragic story.

Linda was mentioned in Junger's book, as a fellow Captain fishing the North Atlantic's Grand Banks and I recently went looking for her book. Very well done, also much different.

While Junger's introduced the reader to the general nature of the business, the weather, and the risks, Linda's focuses on the day-to-day of a trip ... the preparation, the on-board work (a lot!), the crew's interpersonal relationships (complex), the captain's role (challenging in ways you've never thought about), the fish, the ice, the other boats, the fishing strategy (more sophisticated than you expect!), the economics of when to head back, the pay, the owner, etc., etc. Linda's clearly very good at her job. Very readable, thoruoghly enjoyable, if you like nature and the outdoors, or especially the ocean, I think you'd enjoy this one!

I've always heard good things about Ms. Greenlaw's writings. I must admit that this story swept me right in. It does a great describe describing the pressures and personalities that would have to come together in the Grand Bank. Great stuff, looking forward to reading more by this author.

After seeing the movie and reading the book, The Perfect Storm, I became very interested in reading more about the captain of the Hannah Boden, (sister ship of the Andrea Gail) Linda Greenlaw. When I found out she was a writer, I immediately jumped on-line to get one of her books. This book is her first. She writes about a specific fishing trip she commanded and all the trials and tribulations of getting a good catch and bringing it home. Although she down plays the fact that she is a female captain of an ocean fishing boat, I think she is amazing. I have become a big fan! Highly recommend this and I can't wait to read more about her.

I am listening to this book. Greenlaw has made the mistake of reading it herself. She's a terrible reader. She swallows words and stops in the middle of sentences. Plus her writing ain't the greatest. I don't mean her storytelling, which is good. I mean that her sentence structure is awful and if I hear her say "lay" once more when she means "lie," I'll scream. Where was the editor?

Linda Greenlaw captained an American sword boat. By itself, this is an accomplishment worthy of respect. More than that, she became one of the most successful captains in the fleet. And as "The Hungry Ocean" attests, she is also an accomplished writer with a fine eye for detail. I don't say things like this often, but this is a woman who "walks the walk", AND "talks the talk." A woman to be admired.

Forced by international law to fish a thousand miles from their home ports, Americans who go after swordfish need to be tough, self-reliant and resourceful. In their business, things like surface water temperature, thermoclines, currents, and the corners formed by the Gulf Stream currents as they meander, can mean the difference between a morning boatful of worthless sharks and two tons of prime swordfish. Each night, thirty miles of carefully positioned line carrying thousands of baited hooks set to just the right depth are set adrift in the warm waters of the stream - only to be hauled back aboard the next morning, foot by foot, hopefully including a good number of fish.

How did Linda Greenlaw come to captain one of these vessels? As she details life aboard a sword boat, she also describes scenes from her childhood and young adult years - little things that eventually let the reader feel as if we know this woman and wish we were friends.

It's the story of one trip aboard her sword boat that carries the read, however, and in her description of these events she is at her best as a writer. In rich detail, life on the fishing grounds is shown; crew problems, mechanical troubles, the potential pitfalls and snarls. There is no time off. The crew works round the clock for as long as three weeks with hardly a moment to rest.

That's the business of working a sword boat, and it is a fascinating picture indeed. I'd recommend this one to everyone who loves the water.

I typically like Nora Roberts books, they are fun, quick, and a little twist at the end. This one just didn't do much for me. I realized I had read over half of the book before anything happened! There were just too many words and not enough story. I never really cared for the characters, none of them were convincing to me. I liked the end and had it figured out long before I got to it, but the book ended so abruptly. It felt like the author had to get a certain number of pages, got there, wrapped it up and got it published.

This is the second book I ever read by the author, and I have to admit it got me hooked on her books and romace novels in general. I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between the main protaginists, but found the secondary romantic relationships just as compelling. The twists and turns of the suspense will have you turning the pages. Tory may have come back for herself, but in order for her to heal, she soon discovers that she has to solve the mystery of Hope's death.

Carolina Moon was my first introduction to Nora Roberts. It is a wonderful book that keeps you engaged. The murder mystery and medium like abilities are well written and exciting. The murder mystery is very suspensful. I enjoy the spoiled,damaged but has a big heart, Faith. Tory is a strong leading female and I loved Cade and Tory's romance. It is definitely a book I would recommend to others.

Nora Roberts is as talented in suspense as she is in romance. This was a very good read.

Tory Bodeen and Hope Lavelle were inseparable eight year olds. When Tory is unable to meet Hope at their special place after a beating from her father, Hope is goes alone and is murdered. Due to her psychic ability, Tory is able to see it as it happens and leads the Lavelle's to Hope. Unfortunately it is too late, and no one believes her about her gift. She hasn't been back for 18 years but is compelled to return because Tory's murder still haunts her.

Cade Lavelle has always had a soft spot for Tory, and was left feeling empty when she left so many years ago. When he tries to get close to Tory, she rebuffs him because her second sight offends most people she comes in contact with. They feel uncomfortable about the secrets that are revealed to her. Cade eventually wins her over with his sexiness and charm. When Hope's killer takes another life, they realize they can't move forward until the past is put to rest.

The characters in this story are so strong and well developed. Tory and Cade are wonderful, but so are the supporting characters like Wade and Faith. The romance is to die for, and the mystery will draw you in and keep you guessing until the very end.

Since 007 is back in action, under a powerful Daniel Craig, its nice to look to Ian Fleming books. In this adventure Bond is more vulnerable than ever, since his wife, Tracy, were killed by Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Fleming give us once again a wonderful construction for 007 personality. Exploring the dark side of his creation, and a interesting oriental background.

First off, this isn't a spy film so much as it is a superhero adventure (part of the reason Connery became disenchanted with the role) and on that level it's a blast. Gadget and gimmick ladden, it takes the bigger and better formula to the nth degree. Even when looking overweight and bored, Sean Connery still has more screen presence than Roger Moore on his best day. Donald Pleasance as Blofeld was a substitute for a Czech actor who looked more like Santa Claus than the evil leader of SPECTRE. (One of his men, Burt Kwong, is the same guy who played the Chinese scientist in GOLDFINGER and Sellers sidekick Kato in the Pink Panther films.) Look for others from previous and future Bonds like Shane Rimmer and Ed Bishop. Only significent new extra is "Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond". Terrific aerial photography by the late Johnny Jordan and a pretty good score. John Barry once said of his effort, "It's what Joe Blow thinks is Japanese." The last of the 1960's Connery Bonds.

I got the dvd faster than I expexted which is good, it just the box of dvd was broken, but thanks anyway

No doubt about it. This is the quintessiential Bond flick. Why? Because it delivers action packed excitement, torrid romance, a very exotic locale and perhaps the greatest Bond theme song ever. The movie pulls you in and you can't turn it off! For a 1960's film, the effects are really good and the Japanese actors (and actresses!) are believable and sexy. There's plenty of action, what with a great helicopter dogfight, high tech Bond weapons and Ninja warrors. My only criticism is that when the Soviet spacecraft is launched in space (later to be intercepted) they show a GEMINI space launch!!! UGGH! But this faux pas not outstanding, it is the only Bond film I recall when James has his cocktail STIRRED NOT SHAKEN! This is a blast. Excitement galore. SEE IT!

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It's difficult to believe that this movie is more than 40 years old (counting from the date of this review)!!

(Sir) Sean Connery made six EON (or "official") movies with him starring as James Bond. They were: (1) Dr. No (1962) (2) From Russia with Love (1963) (3) Goldfinger (1964) (4) Thunderball (1965) (5) You Only Live Twice (1967) and (6) Diamonds are Forever (1971).

As you can see from the above list, this movie is the fifth spy film of the British Bond series. As well, it is the fifth to star Connery as the fictional MI6 agent Commander James Bond (code number 007).

This movie is based on the 1964 novel of the same name as the movie by Ian Fleming (1908 to 1964).

Briefly, Bond is told to go to Japan after American and Russian spacecraft mysteriously disappear in orbit. With each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War, Bond travels secretly (he's thought to be dead) to a remote Japanese island is find out who is behind these spacecraft disappearances and comes face to face with Ernst Blofeld (Donald Pleasence), known as "number one" since he is head of SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion).

This movie reveals the appearance of Blofeld who was previously a partially unseen character.

The title song is sung by Nancy Sinatra.

Connery brings his characteristic savoir fare to the role. As well, there are beautiful Japanese Bond girls in this movie.

There are gadgets in this movie courtesy of Q. The main gadget is a Wallis WA-116 Series 1 gyroplane (similar to a helicopter but smaller) code named "Little Nellie." Bond tell us that, "She's a wonderful girl." You'll have to watch this movie to see why.

M and Miss Moneypenny also make an appearance.

This movie was filmed mainly in Japan and London, England.

Total box office for this movie was about one-hundred eleven million, six hundred thousand dollars. In today's dollars, that's about seven-hundred and twenty million, four hundred thousand.

For Bond enthusiasts, they will notice Charles Gray in a small part as a British contact living in Japan. He went on to play Blofeld in the next and last Bond movie starring Connery. Also Burt Kwouk has a bit part in this movie. He's the one that played "Kato" in the Pink Panther series starring Peter Sellers.

Personally, I don't understand why this movie gets such a bad rap. In my opinion, it showed considerable imagination, especially in the last half.

I only had two minor problems with this movie. First, Bond presumably unexpectedly encounters a locked safe. He just happens to have a safe cracking device on him to open it! (It's amazing it wasn't broken since he has a gruelling fight just before he encountered the safe.) Second, again unexpectedly, Bond has to climb down a very tall structure. Again, he just happens to have suction cups on him to aid him in this task!!

The DVD (the one released in May, 2007) is flawless in picture and sound quality. The picture has been digitally restored and I'm sure the picture is just as good (if not better!!) than when it was released over 40 years ago. As well, there is one extra in the form of an audio commentary.

Finally, here is some information to consider. This DVD is actually the first disc of the two-disc "Ultimate Edition." Bond fanatics might want to purchase this two-disc Ultimate Edition since the second disc has "the best collection of special features ever assembled for Bond." (Unfortunately, the Ultimate Edition is no longer available but it can be purchased second-hand).

In conclusion, this is the last serious James Bond movie starring Sean Connery. Because of this, this movie is a must-see!!

(1967; 2 hr; wide screen; 32 scenes)

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My purchase of "A Caress of Twilight" was in MP3 format. I listen to my MP3 collection on both my MP3 player and my ipod. It works great on my MP3 player, but to my disappointment this MP3 is not ipod ready. I would like to have known that before I made my purchase. Better yet I would have liked the MP3 to be ipod ready. Ipods aren't going away. I would rather buy my MP3s on disk rather than downloading them, but I won't give up my ipod.

I found it to be slow at times, but very well written. I like the course the story takes and the fantasy world created. I can't wait to hear what happens in her next adventure.

The quality of the book was excellent. Its' like it was brand new.It came with the swiftness and I really appreciate that. Thanks Amazon

Just what I LOVE in my fiction, Sex, Blood and an orgy or two. If these ideas offend you then don't pick up this book :)

P.S. Book one in the set is "Kiss of Shadows" A Kiss of Shadows (Meredith Gentry, Book 1)

A large part of the whole Sidhe political conflict is the issue of succession. This means that whoever of the next generation that can produce a child is likely to get to be the boss, or at least, stay alive.

It doesn't really look too good for Meredith, because she has copious amounts of faerie meat in her bed, but none of them knock her up. Pretty likely, the problem is hers.

We get to see a few Sidhe powers and other information as the Grey agency helps out an actress who is really Sidhe.

Are plots the center of murder mysteries? Or are the characters the center? I think that highly intelligent authors sometimes get carried away and try to do too much. That's the weakness of Blood Work. But if you don't mind a plot from Mars, you may find that the paths of Mars and Venus eventually intersect on Earth.

Blood Work is a novel filled with more imagination than I can ever hope to muster. As a result, the story becomes dizzying in its complications towards the end. What will hold your attention throughout is the riveting portrayal of retired FBI-profiler, Terry McCaleb, as he tries to track down the murderer of the woman whose heart saved McCaleb's life while recovering from the transplant surgery.

To me, the most interesting parts of the book relate to what it would be like to receive a heart transplant and to have a chance to do something for the donor's family by sorting out a murderer. That's about as interesting a premise as you can have. I'm sure you'll think about it often after you read the book.

On the other hand, I was less than thrilled by the shifts in pace within the book. It starts slow and gently . . . but is moving at breakneck pace near the end. The beginning is too slow, and the end is too fast. It's more contrast than most readers can easily absorb.

Michael Connelly also relies a bit too much on his ability to tie an infinite number of facts together into a plot. It's overkill. But I had to be impressed by the imagination that can do that.

If you haven't read other stories by Michael Connelly about Terry McCaleb, be sure you start with this one. It will enrich your appreciation of the later stories.

If you want to have some extra fun with the book, keep track of the different ways that the book's title fits into the story. You'll be amazed at how many different references are appropriate. I don't recall too many novels that use more than three such references. Connelly moves well beyond such a modest target.

Pay attention to the details. They matter!

MC can write awfully better than this. I bought this book because I wanted to relax and read a good thriller and I got uneasy and bored. The main story is OK if and only if you can find it along its pages. The story has overly loopholes that it could be a strainer.

The hero in Michael Connelly's Blood Work is ex-FBI agent Terrell (Terry) McCaleb, who's recuperating from a heart transplant when Graciella Rivers steps onto his houseboat asking him to come out of retirement and find her sister's killer. Why should he? The answer is simple, Gloria River's was the heart donor who gave Terry his new heart. This leaves Terry no choice and he goes after the killer. It seems like a store robbery gone bad, but then Terry's FBI profiling instincts get ruffled and believes it was only supposed to look like a random act. He suspects there's a serial killer at work here, a predator.

Connelly departs from his straightfoward mystery/suspense novels with this story that centers on a retired FBI agent searching for the killer of the donor of his new heart. Terry McCaleb is 8 weeks out from a heart transplant when he learns of the donor's murder. Her persuasive and attractive sister spurs McCaleb to jump start the cold case of the hunt for the killer. It takes some unforeseen turns as the former FBI investigator faces his own past and the dilemma of gaining a new chance on life from someone else's loss.

Connelly, as usual, pens a suspenseful page turner. The heart transplant issue causes some missteps I think because such a patient probably would not be able to do some of the things McCaleb does or suffers without more severe physical problems. That question is present throughout the action of the book and is a part of the conflict he faces. It also limits the usual tough-guy (Bosch type) of character in Connelly's books. Other than that issue, the book is first rate.

Blood Work is based on a captivating premise: a retired FBI ace is persuaded by a stranger to investigate the murder of her sister. The recipient of a heart transplant, Terry McCaleb accepts and soon discovers that the victim was the donor of his new heart and therefore his savior. A most promising framework on which to build a police procedural.

The McCaleb novels are a departure for author Connelly, who is well known for his sharp, edgy Harry Bosch novels. Unfortunately, this new hero cannot hold a candle to Harry with respect to charisma and simple humanity. For some reason, Connelly resorted to a series of facile discoveries and coincidences to bring this mystery to its conclusion. Some of these contrivances are just too much to swallow. It didn't take long, for example, for Terry to find the exact beach location where the perpetrator hides out, and this along the southern California coast, no less.

I'll probably read the next McCaleb novel, but with lower expectations that I hold for dear Harry.

Eno's was local, very local. In a small southern town like Margrave, Georgia, everyone knows eachother. It was law. Southern hospitality welcomed strangers, wanderers, riffraff, ramblers. So when Jack Reacher saw the local PD come at the diner like hell on wheels, well, they were there for him. Had to be. Locals, they'd get a quiet reprimand, and eased out slowly, no fuss, no mess.

And so it begins.

Jack Reacher, late thirties, tall, lean, buzzed cut that said military every which way, is out of a job as a respected and methodical MP with an impeccable record, and is now an honorably discharged civi. And so he goes, a stranger to the world that proves even stranger, and into the wide blue yonder. Or in this case, a happenstance dropoff he insisted to the Grayhound driver so he could hear how Blind Blake, an old guitarist who had passed through Margrave had ended his days. Should have been nothing.

Clean, pristine street. Perfect houses. Subsidies up the wazoo. Too perfect, too creepy Stepford perfect.

And it is.

When he decides to remain, despite the false arrest and all the BS he's getting, Jack Reacher has to stay. Because by another stroke of chance black luck, Margrave has become the killing floor of not only some people who were bad seeds to begin with, but his own brother, Joe Reacher, a genius mastermind in the highly successful anticounterfeiting unit of the Treasury Department, which has eliminated over 90% of all domestic counterfeiting rings.

People who know how to make killing look like an art are on his tail, and with a couple of trusty natives to help him find the rest of the clues, Jack is doing all he can to stay one step ahead. But it's hard, as bodies keep floating to the surface, and their secrets, left unheard.

The classic Great American hero, in that familiar Bond, Die Hard, Indiana Jones and Clancy mold, is given a refreshing and chilling color. Jack Reacher is a man's man, logical, pragmatic, a man who lives day by day and craves freedom, anonymity. He's fierce, knows more about guns and weapons that is comfortable, but in a tight fix, he's the man you want watching your back.

So Child's structure is terse, to the point and simple. No sonnets, but there were some great one liners and interesting introspection that will make you think twice. In a way, simplicity is sometimes the most elegant and clear-cut, especially when the story plot itself is complicated and you want the focus to stay on the main lead and what he's going through. The structure created a very tight and intense play of action, especially physical action, which was so well done. This would make for a great movie.

Child's style, did, tend to reduce the emotional element to something more robotic and clinical but that actually works with a mystery thriller like Killing Floor, and a male lead that Child has created. He makes no apologies for it and I like that Child was able to commit from beginning to end, the nature of this amazing character. Some people got annoyed by a few quirks like style, structure, tenses, or that Jack's too macho, which, to me, were all small issues when you're trying to find something wrong with a book that is nearly perfect.

One or two things will inevitably nag at you, and any book over 400 pages will do that to anyone. But don't let it deter you from reading one of the best mysteries I've read in a long time with a compelling cast of characters, a well researched and plotted story with lots of great scenes and action, and a hero you won't get enough of. I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it.

As far as thrillers go this was very good. The characters were deep and enthralling, keeping your interest all the way through. There was enough suspense to keep you turning the pages, and plenty of action. If you enjoy Lee Child`s Jack Reacher books then this will please you. I`m a series fan and enjoy Child and Michael Connelly books immensely, if you like that kind of thriller read the `Soft Target` books by Conrad Jones. They are unputdownable!! Back to the review, ten out of ten.

I had heard such good things about this novel. Someone even said it was the best in the series.

If this had been my introduction to the Jack Reacher series, I would have never picked up another.

Thank goodness I started with "Persuader" and followed it up with "Without Fail" and then "One Shot" and "The Hard Way" and "Die Trying" and "The Enemy." All easily worth a solid 5 stars. ("The Enemy" is definitely one of my top two Reacher stories. I wish Child would do more about Reacher's time in the army.)

It's only recently that I've started having trouble with various books in the series. Either the stories dragged, (I'm still trying to get beyond page 50 of "Echo Burning") or Jack is almost unrecognizable. (After "Tripwire" and Jack's endless mooning over Jodie, I'm almost afraid to start "Running Blind.")

So to counter this streak of bad luck I thought I'd go back to Reacher's start and read "The Killing Floor" which I had avoided given the story and it's connection with Reacher's brother whom I grew to like in "The Enemy."

The streak continues.

This novel dragged and dragged. Endless (dry) information about this small town in Georgia (?), some blues singer who I'm still not sure is real or fictional and the U.S. Currency system. As another reviewer mentioned, Child's exhaustive use of fragmented sentences, got, well, exhausting. I don't recall their use being so extensive and noticeable in the other novels. But maybe that's because I found those more entertaining.

For a while now, I've had the suspicion that Reacher might be a sociopath, or at least had such tendencies. This novel certainly sealed it for me. Or rather, the Reacher here is, but the level varies in the other novels. I found it disturbing that Reacher spent more time ruminating on how "perfect" and attractive Roscoe was than he did about the fate of his brother. It was almost like had to talk himself into being angry about Joe and the subsequent need to do something. I was never convinced that Jack really felt anger or much upset. (It certainly wasn't stronger than what he felt about Roscoe which was better depicted. Or even the touch of anger about being forced out of the army which was subtle but better done.)

The long and short of is I never connected with or believed in this Reacher. He could have been a stick figure for all the emotion and convincing motivation he had. (A horny stick figure apparently).

There are spurts of action sprinkled throughout the novel. It's too bad the reader has to wade through chapter after chapter to find them. (I'm disappointed enough to say read the section about Reacher's night in prison, skip ahead a hundred or so pages to his figuring out he's being tailed, then skip another hundred or so pages to his trip to NY and read to the end.)

I'm glad I read "Killing Floor" if for no other reason than to be able to say someday that I've read the complete Reacher collection, but needless to say it will not be on my repeat read list.

BTW, "Bad Luck and Trouble" was okay. Less plot more action (which is preferable to this.) Not one of the best, but was a good read overall. Great to see Negley in action. Still working my way to "Nothing to Lose" given the reviews it's received.

I first read the last 3 Reacher novels ("One Shot", "The Hard Way" and "Bad Luck and Trouble") which I thoroughly enjoyed. Then I tried "Killing Floor", the first of the Reacher novels and was a little disappointed. I assume it was because the character was just being developed. The plot was very choppy. I felt there were a lot of words thrown in to fill the pages but did not add to the story.

I am very happy I read some of his latter works first, otherwise I might not have gone any further with Jack Reacher who I have come to enjoy.

After reading my first Lee Child/Reacher book, I was hooked. Had to buy all 12 written. Still love the character, Reacher ranks right up there with Mitch Rapp. The best part of the character, for me, is he always shows up at the right time, he's brilliant, and always lives. The action is tremendous and non-stop, just love it.

I wish Lee Child would write faster though, I can't wait for #13!

Patty

I agree with most people that this book did not live up to Relic, but it is still a great story. It reads well as an independent book and the setting is very interesting below NYC. I think that it took a little bit too long to really get going, but when it did it was really strong.

Preston and Childs books are just incredible! Very complex, full of ideas you've never been exposed to before (and at times, thankfully). I learn something every time I read one, and I Love Agent Pendergrast!

Reliquary, the sequel to Relic, is basically the same story introduced in Relic. We have the monster in the sub level(s), we have the incompetent chief of police making poor decisions, we have the "fool proof plan" that doesn't work and we have the reporter being lead around by a powerful woman who coerces him to tell the story she wants to hear. I did find the parts about the sub levels of Manhattan interesting and I think the ending of Reliquary is better than that of Relic. The authors would have been better served if they made Relic and Reliquary one book. It seems like once they had a hit with Relic they decided to do Reliquary as an afterthought.

Recently, I read an interview with Douglas Preston where he commented that RELIQUARY was probably the least successful of the "Agent Pendergast" books that he co-writes with Lincoln Child. After reading this book, I'm inclined to agree with him.

RELIQUARY is the second Pendergast novel and a direct sequel to the first book RELIC. It pretty much re-introduces all the major characters of THE RELIC and many additional ones. And this is the major flaw with RELIQUARY: there are simply too many characters and plot threads in this book, which don't really tie together in a satisfaying manner.

There's also a "been there, done that" quality to RELIQUARY that makes it a rather tiresome read. Preston and Child reuse many of the plot devices from THE RELIC, and there is little in this novel that is particularly original or inspired.

And most importantly, Pendergast only plays a supporting role in RELIQUARY, and the novel suffers in every scene where he is absent. Characters like Margot, Smithback and D'Agosta are simply not interesting enough to carry scenes on their own, and all of the other supporting characters are either too bland or cartoonish. I think the smartest move that Preston and Child ever made was to elevate Pendergast as the central character in this series, starting with the next entry, CABINET OF THE CURIOUSITIES.

That being said, I didn't hate RELIQUARY. It's a decent adventure story, and there's no denying that Preston and Child are very intelligent writers. Still, this is far from their best effort, and I wouldn't recommend this to anybody as their first Pendergast book.

'The Reliquary' is a sequel (of sorts) to 'The Relic', but you don't have to read 'The Relic' first to enjoy this associated but independent novel. It's time to get together again with Dr. Margo Green - Assistant Curator of New York Museum Of Natural History, Lt. Vincent D'Agosta - a New York City Detective, Agent Pendergrast from the FBI, Bill Smithback - crime reporter for the New York Post, and Dr. Whitney Frock - now retired Evolutionary Biologist and wheelchair bound.

It's been eighteen months since the Mbwun beast terrorized the Museum Of Natural History, when two skeletons are pulled from the Humboldt Kill canal (called The Cloaca because of its murky raw sewage). One is discovered to be that of wealthy debutant Pamela Wisher (a Paris Hilton type society girl), but the other doesn't even seem to be human. Dr. Margo Green is called in by the Medical Examiner to attempt to identify the skeleton. When the remains are identified to be those of Margo's old colleague Greg Kawakita, Lt. D'Agosta and Agent Pendergrast join her in her search to find out what Greg had been up to, and how his bones became so deformed. The answer lies in two places; the remnants of Greg's burnt out laboratory, and in the tunnels underneath New York from which the two skeletons were flushed from.

Margo's old friend Bill Smithback heads straight to Pamela's upper crust mother to get an exclusive scoop from her. Amazingly, she takes him in and obtains his help with her Take Back Our City campaign. He also manages a meeting with Mephisto, leader of the underground community called Route 666. Mephisto tells Smithback of a new group of "mole people" living deeper, below the Devil's Attic, that he calls "Wrinklers".

When Margo, D'Agosta, Pendergrast, and Smithback put their heads together, they discover a connection between the Wrinklers and what Greg Kawakita was working on before he died. They must unravel the puzzle before the city is torn apart by Mrs. Wisher's Tack Back The City campaign, the angry "mole people" who live far beneath Wisher's elegant apartments, and a police department under pressure to solve the grisly rash of murders. In order to do this, the four must travel deep below New York, into the subterranean tracks, tunnels, aqueducts, old sewers, abandoned stations, and once elegant private waiting rooms.

What really heightened my enjoyment of this book is that prior to it, I read an interesting non-fiction book called 'The Mole People' by Jennifer Toth. Written in 1993, she actually went into the tunnels and spoke with members of the underground society called "moles" or "mole people". In the author's notes at the end of 'Reliquary', Preston and Child also mention Toth's work. If you have the chance or are interested, read 'The Mole People' first and it will enhance what Preston and Child have written about the society in 'Reliquary'. It's just a suggestion, along with reading 'The Relic' first. Both books really augment the pleasure of reading 'Reliquary'. Enjoy!