Nova Books

I first read this book when it appeared in paperback. I picked it up in the grocery store of all places just for something to read. I quickly became caught up in the story and was literally unable to put it down. I loved the scroll story of Sabina and her travels to find the Redeemer as much as the actual story of Dr. Alexander and her adventures as she tries to unravel the mystery of where the seventh scroll is.

I have read it many times since and never fail to be inspired by Sabina's message. I was not offended by the content, I found it very human.

I feel this book brings up many questions about what we know of Christianity. It certainly made me stop and think.

Overall an excellent book. OH, and to the writer who said she felt comparisons to the DaVinci Code, I point out this book was written well prior to that one and in my opinion was not only better written but also had a much more plausible story line. (I found it hard to believe Sophie could be so ignorant of everything. I really grew annoyed with her as the story progressed.)

This review refers to the abridged audio version.

This abridgement is a prime example why I normally do NOT read abridged versions! The story is so chopped up that it sounds more like a summary. In one scene, for instance, the heroine has escaped and is in another country - without any info on how she got there.

Even putting aside the problems inherent with abridgements, though, the plot of this book was so full of clichés and preaching that it was almost unbearable at times.

How many books (and movies) are we going to have with a beautiful, young, single historian/archeologist (who, of course, all by herself makes an important find that will turn all religion upside down) then hooks up with a handsome, young, single male (who may be a friend or a foe) to save the find from the evil government/church hierarchy. And, naturally, the two fall in love, sleep together, and solve all the puzzles at the end. Zzzzzzzzzz........

I happen to be a feminist who applauds attempts to balance the gender scales in religion, but books like this are just laughable.

Another pet peeve is that the author's references to the internet were, in turn, completely outdated and absolutely absurd. POSSIBLE SPOILER: For instance, with one keystroke, she's supposedly able to transmit a file to "every one of the millions of computers linked to the internet." Why not just have her capable of flying? If an author is going to include science and technology, make it real.

All in all, a big thumbs down, especially for the abridged audio version.

This is a book that once finished, you think about for many days to come. I could hardly put it down, and was anxious to pick it up again. Bravo!

I borrowed this book from a library, it seemed like it might be interesting, so I gave it 30 pages. 130 pages later, I had lunch. Since it was my day off, I had the luxury of finishing this book after dinner.

So...it is a great "page turner". But more that that, it makes you think very hard about what religion is all about.

The story is that of an archaeologist who discovers some ancient scrolls giving new light on the origins of Christianity. The scrolls tells of an "early Christian era" woman's search for the Redeemer, the importance of women in early Christianity, and what she learned on her journey.

The tale of the archaeologist, and her friends, and their efforts to bring the scrolls to light is riveting, fast-paced, and compelling.

I hope that I do not demean either author, but, I could not help noticing the similarity with the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Both authors have recognized the importance of women in church history. They also both recognize the importance of Mary Magdalene.

Last comment....this is a book that gives me faith...I think that that is a good thing.

I casually picked this book up from the library a number of years ago and was immediately interested in the story. I read it cover to cover and then returned it to the library. I had since forgotten the title and author of the book, but I was constantly reminded that I had greatly enjoyed reading it. More recently as I have further explored my religious (or non-religious as the case may be) faith, I have been more haunted by the memory of this long lost book I once read. Biting the bullet, I spent a lovely bit of time reading over the titles under the keywords "egypt" and "fiction" from the same library. I finally came across the right title and my mind truly cleared. This was the mystery book. Now that my search is over, I have my very own copy of this treasure so that I will not let it fade from me again.

Yes, I loved this book, from the writing to the story all the stwist & turns and the characters. I really enjoyed it. It was my very first book from Karen Robards and I for one am not disappointed.

I've had this book for some time but kept putting it aside because the reviews were so lousy. Well, thanks to a weekend 'bug' I was homebound and bored and decided to pick up the book and read. I am SO glad I did. I kept all the negatives I read in the back of my mind and one by one, eliminated them. Yes, Steve (alias Frankenstein) was rude to our heroine but as the story develops and their love bloomed, their interaction greatly improved.

I'm not much for ghost stories and that's the only negative comment I'll make. It had a great ending and everyone got what they deserved.

I loved both these books, and it's no wonder, because they're the same book!! The same plot lines, the same characters, the same story line, etc, etc. Both books keep you on the edge of your seat, you love the romance and the action, even though they're scene for scene the exact same thing. Buy them both, they're both worth the read!!!

Okay, first of all, this was my first Karen Robards book and I have a hard time thinking I might read another one. I was so incrdibly disappointed with this story!

1. Why do we have to read the lyrics to songs over and over again? that was ridiculous! I don't need to read entire paragraphs of the lyrics to "Ghostbusters"!
2. I got really annoyed with the fact that she referred to him - even after they had slept together - as Frankenstein!!! What was up with that?
3. The ghost that kept appearing was a really silly side plot, especially the ending! (Although, I liked the part with the Mother and Aunt.)

This book took me days and days to read! I couldn't stay interested in it long enough!

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Summer is a divorced young woman, formerly a model, who now cleans toilets for a living to make ends meet. Her biggest contract is with a local funeral parlor. When her cleaning crew bails on her, she is left to do the job herself. As if a funeral parlor in the middle of the night isn't creepy enough, finding a dead man who isn't really dead, and who takes her prisoner, is a terrifying experience for the young woman.

Steve is local hero, fallen on hard times as a result of one bad decision that tears his life apart. Now he is on the run from drug lords, dirty cops, and then some when he is attacked and left for dead in the funeral home. Believing Summer to be an accomplice to his assailants, he takes her hostage to make his escape. On the run from more bad guys than one can count, they take to the woods where staying hidden until the case is solved can mean their lives. Neither Summer nor Steve expect that in the middle of it all, a passion would blossom between them that they are unable to fight.

Walking After Midnight is a dark tale, filled with violence and conflict, but tempered with softer moments. Muffy the dog steals the show on more than one occasion, as does a certain ghost who pops up frequently. The plot is strong, with multiple threads seemingly unrelated that when woven together provide a surprisingly complex story. The romance however, doesn't quite live up to the expectations of readers. There is not enough development of Steve and Summer's relationship to make their new love feel believable, when all they do is whine and snipe at each other

This story should be a compelling romantic suspense to keep readers on the edges of their seats, but never quite delivers. Perhaps that is due to the medium here in which it was presented, and the narrator of the tale. Ms. Williams' performance left something to be desired. Summer's role is much better portrayed, and the narrative portions are very well done. However, the narrator seemed unable to master the masculine portions of the dialogue, making Steve sound rude and domineering, and completely full of himself.

However, loyal fans of Karen Robards will be sure to snap this book up and enjoy adding it to their collection.

? Kelley A. Hartsell, February 2006. All rights reserved.

This was a great book - it was packed with information. Sometimes it had a little bit too much detail in certain sections and it got a little bit boring. Overall, it was really interesting and I was glad that it was so well written as opposed to a quick read that leaves you with more questions. Highly recommended.

Sarah Bradford has written a very complete story from Jackie's childhood to her death. There is lots of details about Jackie, as well as her husbands, JFK and Onassis. The book also focuses on JFK's affairs, and how much it hurt Jackie.

Even before Jack died, Jackie was determined to be free from the Kennedy family. To separate from the Kennedy family, Jackie used wit and charm and focused on her children and her own interests, like art.

One of the highlights of the book for me was how Jackie restored the White House. She asked for free donations, like a valuable portrait of Ben Franklin. She enlists the help of experts.Everyone seems willing to help her, because of her charisma and her position as first lady.

I have no way to know how accurate this book is, but the author cites a lot of other books for research. Jackie was a very intelligent and determined lady. It is a shame that she died at only 64 years old.I enjoyed reading it.

My comments concern the narrator of the audio cd who felt that she had to change her voice inflection when she read quotes of various people. She talked in a soft wispery tone when quoting Jackie, however, she continued to use that same voice for any of the females quoted. She then attempted a deeper tone for the male voices. Due to all the voice shifting it was disruptive and the reading did not flow. Since it was a narrative and not a play it would have been more pleasing to the ear if the narrator did the entire reading in her natural voice.

Jackie Kennedy was the closest thing that America ever got to home-grown royalty. Her birth and upbringing in New York City, refinement, etiquette, and Olympian cool ... Jackie radiated a deep mystery that remains. She was iconic in her need for privacy and protectiveness of it. A woman of another era who remains enigmatic and unique in her persona ... an American icon who seems both American yet not typical of the United States. A sophisticate, debutant of the year, equestrienne, well-manner, posh Park Avenue social doyenne who intrigued the world until she died in 1994. Fluent in several language, a writer of poetry, political wife, patron of the arts, native New Yorker, and poised like any Queen in Europe. She wasn't perfect but she was Jackie. America may never see another quite like her.

It was fantastic to be able to grasp a better understanding of the stoic, graceful beauty that was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It was great to see the different facets of her personality from political darling to yacht hopping party girl. Her desire to control and veneer everything that happened in her life was inspiring. Couldn't put it down, was consistantly interesting throughout.

Another winner by Jack Du Brul.
Lost quite a bit of sleep as I could not put it down.
The mix of old KGB and present Arab caracter is well though of and
there is never a dull moment in the whole book
The usual addition of romance is also made with good taste and Aggie is
smart enough to help Philip Mercer get out of a very bad situation.
Nice ending too.
Highly recommended

Guy Dombrowski

I'll say this about books - they do have a certain appeal that is more far reaching than movies or television.

With a novel, you can tell a very long story - something that would take an actual mini-series or full blown series for television, and for the most part, certainly wouldn't cut it on the big screen. You just wouldn't be able to tell the entire story in the typical two to three hours time you have for a major motion picture.

And, to top it off, the reader is able to picture the main characters, locations and so forth in his or her mind. They have an idea how things will look.

Quite often, when a book is translated into a different media, such as television or a movie, the reader can sometimes be disappointed by the person chosen for the role of a certain character, or the way a location, piece of technology, etc. happens to appear.

Plus, the biggest advantage of a novel is that it is only limited to the authors, and thus the readers imagination.

A novel can be very complex, have a twisted plot that seems, at first, to be difficult to follow, and many details can seem totally random until they're fully brought into the light.

Movies and television can do this as well, but many times subtle nuances can be missed or entirely lost.

The thing that I really enjoy about the novels written by Jack Du Brul is that they're not limited to a movie or the television. If they were, they'd lose a great deal.

His novels are powerfully written adventures, with far larger than life characters and situations that totally boggle the mind.

And, they're complex... the plots often cover entire decades; take a literal lifetime to come to into play.

Oh, and lets not forget that the ramifications that are introduced will quite literally change the face of the world as we know it.

I have to admit that for many years most of the adventure novels I've read have been pulp - mainly men's adventure.

It wasn't until around the turn of the millennium that I finally discovered that there were more to adventure novels than Mack Bolan, Deathlands, and others of their ilk.

Authors like James Rollins, Preston and Child, Clive Cussler, just to name a handful. These authors helped me learn that there was far more to adventure than generic terrorists, non stop gun battles, fake chest hair and trashy women - you know the kind of things that you typically saw in the long running men's adventure novels.

And I am very glad.

Oh, sure, these elements exist in the works by the authors I mentioned, and let's face it, you kind of need these aspects in order to have a good adventure novel, but they're usually not as exaggerated as one would expect.

Charon's Landing deals with an old plot set up by the soviets during the cold war in order to cripple the American's supply of oil.

I can't give away too much as it would ruin the novel for anyone who wants to read it. In fact, what I just said is a pretty major spoiler in on itself, but not enough to ruin it for anyone. After all, the novel is a hefty four hundred plus pages.

Jack Du Brul's hero, Phillip Mercer, once again gets involved in a global spanning plot. An old enemy, having disappeared a year before, re-surfaces once again to try and enact this old cold war plan and to get revenge on Mercer.

I'll admit, I still find it rather difficult to believe that a geologist can be a hero, one that has skills that would put professional soldiers to shame.

But, then again, who'd have thought that an archaeologist would have gained such fame - and you know very well who I'm talking about.

So, because of this, I can set aside my sceptic views and enjoy the novel.

One thing I have to point out - there are characters that are introduced in the novel that are not what they seem at first. I won't mention any names, but at the beginning of the novel there were two, count them - two characters I thought would turn out to be adversaries going up against Mercer.

I was wrong.

And I love that! The sign of a great writer in my view.

Oh, and if you want location, the novel spans from Washington to Alaska, and even to the Middle East. One of the things I consider integral to a good novel - location, location, location!

Clive Cussler wasn't kidding when he said that Jack Du Brul is a master adventure writer. His books are really worth picking up and reading.

5 out of 5

There is no Amazon rating between 4-star and 5-star, but I would actually give this book a 4.5-star (close to perfect). This is the first book I've read of Jack Du Brul's, but it definitely will not be the last. Just excellently written: Believable and compelling characters written into a complex, multi-threaded story that keeps you turning those pages just as fast as you can digest them. A MASTER THRILLER!!

As others have said, the book is just too long. I enjoyed the arctic setting and the introduction of new characters like the Petroleum Minister of the UAE. I also enjoy the character of Mercer who shows a new side in his interactions with Aggie in this book. Unfortunately, the constant pacing is choppy and this leads to the book being slow. Major disasters are not averted and instead of dealing with the consequences, the characters just jump to the next attack. Even the cover is a letdown as it shows a huge oil rig (which I think would make a cool setting) that only appears in one small part of the book.
If you want to read DuBrul, I recommend The Medusa Stone or Pandora's Curse, unless you have a lot of time to spend on this one.

In a bold move the President of the United States decides to end America's dependance on foriegn oil. He plans to develop renewable energy and develop Alaska's oil reserves. He is going to open up the Artic Wildlife Refuge. America will at last have their own energy supply. Forces
in the Middle East have other plans. An oil minister Hassan bin-Rufti hires a former KGB colonel to implement an old KBG plan valled Charon's
landing. This would destroy the Alaska pipeline. There are other plans for
the KGB colonel(Ivan Kerikov) to implement. Rufti also wants to kill the United Arab Emirates oil minister Prince Khalid Al-Khuddari. Rufti also has a plan to dominate the Middle East. Kerikov joins forces with PEAL(Planetary Enviroment Action League) to do the damage on the Alaska pipeline. It is up to out hero Dr. Philip Mercer to stop this worldwide
conspiracy. Mercer has his hands full. A very entertaining read.

This is one the best books I have ever read. The story was superb and I will be reading all Buffa's novels. This is most read for everyone who likes a good book... make sure you have time, its a turn pager!!!

This is Buffa's first work and his first book that I have read. (In fairness I will read "Prosecution" to see if I am judging him too hastily.) Instead of being about one case, it is about a series of seemingly unconnected felony trials handled by defense attorney Joe Antonelli. I have been a trial attorney practicing law in a metro area for over 25 years now and I find Antonelli to be, well, just not believeable. He certainly is unlike any attorney I have ever encountered. Too slick, too rich, too successful. The story line of the book was weak and easy to figure out. Don't waste your time on this guy. Stick with Grisham.

"The Defense", Dudley W. Buffa, NY, Henry Holt & Co., 1997 ISBN 0-8050-5307-7, HC, 309 pg., 9 1/4" x 6 1/4".


This 1st Joseph Antonelli novel finds protagonist as an overly successful criminal defense attorney who agrees to request by Judge Leopold Rifkin to defend a probably guilty Johnny Morel, drug dealer & con man, charged with rape of his 12-year-old stepdaughter Michelle Walker. Acquitted, he is murdered & wife Denise Morel is charged with his murder, a case Antonelli declinded. She's convicted of murder but gets early release from prison for good behavior - but then she's found dead in the house of Judge Rifkin who's charged with her killing. Antonelli becomes his defense attorney.

We are introduced to colorful prosecutors, defense attorneys & a spiteful DA and to Antonelli's live-in girl friends, firstly Lisa then sexy Alexandra, the bright, blonde paralegal assistant who'd dampen sales of Viagra.

This story has accounting of 4 trials: -- the 3 criminal trials are of Johnny Morel, Denise Morel & Judge Rifkin. We are provided a vivid profile of machinations & passions influencing outcomes of civil/criminal trial and of philosphy on the justice system & critical factors which may usher murder.

The novel is extraordinarily well-written. The reader is wont to read those subsequent novels #2 through #6. Reading Buffa's Antonelli is like eating potato chips, you can't stop with one.

I found it by chance at the back of a dusty shelf in my village library. Hadnt been read for a long time.

It was surprisingly well written: a clear, uncomplicated and crisp style. It told the story in an economical way which but a little wooden. One reviewer compared it unfavourably to a John Grisham, but it was BETTER than that! This had a lot of interesting twists and turns which were too far fetched, but hey...it's only a story.

I did enjoy the cod philosophy and it set me thinking about the issues.

The characters were well rounded and beleivable.

The ending came too suddenly and because of this it lost its effect.

Overall...I would recomend the book.

Joseph Antonelli is a great defense lawyer. According to him he has not lost any case where the defendant was innocent and he has won every case where the defendant was guilty. Judge Leopold Rifkin feels that Antonelli needs a lesson in humility so he gives him a pro bono case.

Johnny Morel is accused of raping his twelve-year-old daughter, Michelle. The prosecution's case is weak and the chief prosecution witness is the girl's drug-addicted mother. Joseph wins the case but everything here is far from over. Several years later, Johnny is found murdered and his wife is the chief suspect. Antonelli does not defend her and she winds up serving a prison term. After she is released from serving her sentence she is found shot dead in the home of Judge Leopold Rifkin.

Buffa does a great job with character development and he keeps the story line moving. The Morels have a deep connection to the judge and unbeknownst to Antonelli, he also shares a connection with the victim. As Buffa's first novel it is a great start. One can see why he was nominated for his last paperback, THE JUDGMENT, an even better work.

Finder has a background in Government and Business that helps make this exciting thriller seem all the more plausible. It is also very interesting to read a novel about blowing up a building in New York that was written pre 9/11. At one point he writes that the only thing that could bring down the towers would be a nuke. Would that were only true. He creates a wonderful villian in Henrik Baumann, and keeps this novel a page turner. Not as good as the best Follett or DeMille, so I did not award this strong tome 5 stars. Nevertheless it is a highly recommended read.

Joseph Finder is one of my favorite authors and I am really looking forward to reading his next corporate thriller, POWER PLAY. ZERO HOUR was written in 1996 and while reading it I saw Finder's talent but also saw how far he has progressed in writing. His novels are so much better now. ZERO HOUR is still very good.

A South African prisoner, Baumman, escapes from captivity with the help of a rich man named Malcom Dyson who wants to hire him. Dyson is living in Europe and holds an immense grudge against the United States. He hires Baumman to carry out a terrorist bombing that will destroy the financial infrastructure of the world. Sarah Cahill is a single mom and an FBI agent with bomb expertise. One of her informants is murdered and this informant has ties to a high ranking Wall Street banker. On Sarah's end, the pieces slowly fall into place that indicate a bomb attack might be coming. Baumman plans his attack very carefully, but makes a few mistakes, and because of some random events, the FBI figures out his plan. The rest of the novel is a cat and mouse game as the FBI is always seemingly one step behind Baumman.

Finder's novels have always been extensively researched, and ZERO HOUR is no exception. However, in this novel, Finder followed a pattern of introducing an subject, then explaining how it worked or its history (the research) then moved on with the story. Because of the inserted research, the story didn't flow seamlessly. I still enjoyed it however, even if it is a by the numbers spy thriller.

The FBI references previous bomb attacks a lot while trying to figure out where Baumman is going to strike next. They reference the Timothy McVeigh Oklahoma City bombing as well as the first World Trade Center bombing. While reading, it gave me a weird feeling knowing about the soon to occur events of 9/11. Finder includes this paragraph after a character asks if a certain amount of C-4 explosives can bring a building down. The character answers: "Yes, some buildings yes, some no. Not a huge building like the World Trade Center." He knew there had been four studies done on the engineering aspects of the World Trade Center complex, which determined based on vibration analysis that the World Trade Center buildings could not be brought down by an bomb short of a nuke.

I believe all Finder fans will enjoy this novel, as well fans of the genre.

I personally love Joseph Finder novels - most are based around corporate business, but The Zero Hour is focused on terrorism...
This novel was written pre 9/11 though there are some passages that reflect what occured on that dreadful day...
Finder through his usual deep plot and deep character development shows that in the real world you cannot be open to strangers (even though you feel comfortable around - may not be who they think they are).
In brief, this book is about a man who wants to get even.
My favorite passage (which wraps up the novel beautifully) can be found on page 232:
"Malcolm and Alexandria Dyson's marriage had long colled, but she had given birth to Pandora, and Pandora was Malcolm Dyson's whole world, the center of his life. He loved his daughter as much as any father had ever loved a daughter. He was obsessed with his Pandora; he could not talk about her without lighting up, without a smaile or a glow.
"Malcolm Dyson was a paraplegic now who carried his anger around in his m otorized chair. Once he had lived for forturne; now he lived for revenge. I'll never walk again, he had once thundered at Lomas, but with Pandora gone, why in the world would I ever want to?"

I love that passage...And I love how Finder writes so beautifully to the point where you as a reader feel compassion for the "evil" people . . .

:) I loved this book and I know you will to! without a doubt this book deserved 5 stars!! * * * * *

I was looking for a story about assassins when I picked up this book. Its premise around a terrorist, sometime assassin, did not fit my interest but I could not put the book down.

In this match of wills between the terrorist, Henrik Baumann, code name "Prince of Darkness" and FBI Agent Sarah Cahill and her task force is an engaging thriller. The author invites us into the minds of Baumann and the FBI task force. Contracted by a businessman seeking revenge on the United States, Baumann, a cold blooded killer, meticulously plans and executes a devastating attack on American soil. He leaves behind him a trail of bodies of those who get in the way, and the FBI is not immune. Agent Cahill, among others, will pay a steep price during the hunt.

The author has a tendency to give information dumps to explain how things work from customs agents to bomb triggers. Sometimes those sections get cumbersome and slow down the story. Some of the "new" technology is actually dated as of this writing.

Agent Cahill and the task force use intellect and vast resources in the race to close in on Baumann. The Prince of Darkness is aptly named as he uses murder and subterfuge as formidable weapons to finish the contract, and he has always completed contracts. The end game is thrilling, heart stopping, and satisfying.

I plan to read more of this author's work.

An encrypted phone call is intercepted by American aothorities.The call
reveals that an act of terrorism is going to be carried out on Wall Street.
This is the plan of billionairo Malcolm Dyson to gain revenge.He was a billionaire in America.He was put on trial and convicted of insider trading.He managed to escape the United States and move to Switzerland
where he cannot be extradited.U.S, Marshalls attempt to arrest him in
Switzerland killing his daughter and wife and crippling him.He wants to get even.
He arranges for South African intelligence agent(terrorist) Henrik Baumann to escape from a South African prison.Baumann has performed many
assassinations for pay.He is a skilled killer and operative.Dyson agrees
to pay Baumann(the Prince of Darkness $10 million to carry out a mission.
Baumann is to plant a virus in the computor system of Manhattan Bank destroying the entire system and rendering the bank insolvent.He is also
going to blow up The National Electronic Transfer Facility also known as
the Network.This is where the computor system is that transacts money transactions from all over the world.The destruction of this system would
close down all financial markets in the world.
F.B.I.agent Sarah Cahill is in charge of stopping Baumann.She has no idea what Baumann looks like.She and a task force are moving at a breakneck pace to stop Baumann before he can gain vengance for Dyson.Cahill's son even comes into play.
This is an outstanding book that you should read.

If you are familiar with the Dragon Rider series, then you will probably like this series too. This book is more in line with the stories written with Mercedies Lackey (Planet Pirates) and takes a look at an assortment of aliens and humans who are captured, dumped on a planet, and how they survive in a hostile universe. There is the underlying thread that no matter what happens, we will always survive which makes the series a riveting read, how do they get out of this next scrape.

What made this series compelling for me was that the Catteni are also slaves as much as anyone else is in the series. What do you do when your bad guys are a sympathetic group of folks. There is also the idea of change, that if you get thrown into change, over time you learn to cope with the situation and eventually learn to adapt to what is happening around you. The strong hero heroine team in the book, with Worry and others made this a very fun read.

The middle volume of a trilogy often has problems. This one does not. That's high praise, indeed, for Anne McCaffrey's writing skill. (Yes, I know there's a fourth "Freedom" novel. But I'm told it's a sequel to the trilogy, not part of a four-book series as I first assumed, by other reviewers who ought to know.)

What are the problems of a trilogy, usually? Pacing can be a big one. None of that here; this story has its own beginning, middle, and ending, and it moves along at good clip even when it's not in the midst of an action sequence. Character develpment can lag, but there's none of that here,either. We learn a lot more about the Catteni "dropee" Zainal, including exactly why he actively embraces being dropped on Botany along with a load of slaves. It's not just for love of human Kris Bjornsen, although that relationship matures and deepens. Zainal has an excellent reason for his emphatic, "I dropped, I stay!" attitude, and it's a fascinating one. By the book's end, we know a great deal more about the mysterious "Farmers" who have tended this planet for centuries (unknown to the Catteni, who dropped their slaves there to test its suitability for colonization). We also know a great deal more about the Catteni, who are finding the native species of their latest conquered world - Terrans - a disruptive influence on their entire empire.

All in all, "Freedom's Choice" is another old-fashioned space adventure with McCaffrey's trademark brand of romance supplying integral plot elements. I was alarmed, though (as has all too often been the case for me in reading McCaffrey!), by the author's absolute inability to grasp what constitutes rape. I'm old enough myself to remember when women were expected to hold the views her characters do on that subject ("It was really my own fault," "He did it because loving me made him crazy," etc.), so I can accept that I'm reading an author who simply hasn't caught up with the times on this subject; but I do hope no other woman or girl comes away from this book with a lingering belief in those dangerous old stereotypes subtly reinforced.

It's not that Freedom's Choice is a "bad book"... it's just that, for this book to make sense, you really have to have read the prior book (Freedom's Landing), and, since the story continues, the book after.

I like stand-alone books. Freedom's Choice is not one.

In Freedom's Choice, the survivors/colonists dumped on the planet Botany by the Catteni work at developing a structured society, fight back against the Catteni (and their overlords, the Eosi), and try to uncover the identity of the "Farmers," who have "colonized" the planet with machines for harvesting grains and meats (it is a bad thing to be captured during these meat-hunting expeditions... you get turned into sausage).

Stll, Anne McCaffrey treats the reader to interesting social and personal dynamics. People are such entertaining creatures!

After reading the first book of this series, I don't know why I felt inclined to read the second. Probably because I liked the story line, even though it was horribly executed. Whatever pathetic reason I had for reading this, take my advice and avoid at all costs. Reread one of her excellent Pern books.

To summarize: the colonists overcome all challenges with minimal effort, no setbacks, all the while managing to joke around with each other the entire time. However, most of the book is simply spent reading about one boring meeting after another. Which makes sense of course; if you were ripped from your home planet, family, and friends, watched your species get slaughtered and turned into slaves, then get dumped on an empty planet, that's what you would do, right, have a meeting? I hate meetings I have to attend, reading about other people in meetings is simply tedious, especially when the dialog is as banal as it is in this book.

It is obvious that Anne was trying to liven up the book with humor. She can not write humor. The characters are always laughing or grinning or winking or elbow nudging each other to let the reader know that Anne was trying to write a joke. It is basically a book with a laugh track. All the characters are CONSTANTLY winking at each other while making jokes. Anne, if you need to tell the writer you have written a joke, then it was not very funny.

This is a story written so far out in left field that it is kind of entertaining. It is a space romance that is as hard hitting as a soap bubble.

What made the first book in this series so interesting is pretty much lacking here. By this I am talking about the surreal dream like quality that pulled out unusual though inspiring visions to dawdle over. Instead we are presented with a story that follows the most predictable 'read it before' plot lines that seem to float by without struggle.

This might be a good series to read with your kids, but you can find better books in that regards as well (Pullman, Harry Potter, Narnia, and Watership Down).

A young black woman, a rising star in San Francisco's legal arena is found dead at midnight. I white male junkie, brother-in-law of a newspaper writer, is found nearby with the woman's jewelry and the gun that shot her. But two shots were fired and the woman was only shot once.

Bi-racial homicide lieutenant Abe Glitsky is called to the scene and what nobody else there knows is, the dead young woman is his daughter via youthful affair with a deceased African American congresswoman from California. Enraged, he roughs up the junkie, and demands his underlings get a confession, whch they do. Later he begins to believe the junkie didn't commit the murder, but they've got a confession he is responsible for.

The city's embattled DA, who has a history of going easy on criminals, is low in the polls and an election is coming up. She decides to go for the death penalty in this case. Defense attorney Dismas Hardy isn't even sure his clinet is innocent, still he crusades to find the truth and finds a shady lawyer might be involved in this murder, as well as a corrupt retired cop. What he ultimately finds is even more devious than that.

The book has some very well written family scenes. Abe Glitsy with his college age sons and his religious Jewish father after he suffers a heart attack which makes him slow in his investigation, allowing the bad guys to have the edge until the end. There are touching scenes of married affection in the city's night spots on the Hardy's weekly "date night." There is an almost horrifying scene where Dismas Hardy comes home to find his emotionally sensistive preteen daughter strewn across the bed sobbing hysterically and his wife distraught. The daughter had never even thought about suicide until the public school held an indebth student assembly on the subject, it's causes and prevention

I didn't know what to expect from this author. I started reading the book and everything looked like a straight forward murder mystery.

But every so often we would stumble across a seemingly unrelated sub plot. I kind of wondered what it was doing in the book at all.

But wait there are more stray plots, just stick with it, because everything comes together in the end. Not many people can pull off a book like this. It is refreshing to read.

I just order two more titles. That's the best endorsement I can make.

While reading this book, I enjoyed the suspense and the setting (San Francisco). But in the three weeks (and several other completed books) since I finished it, I completely forgot the entire story. Reading the summary brought it back, but not enthusiastically. Being my first Lescroart book, I thought I might pick up another for the setting in SF rather than my attachment to his characters.

I started the series with the last couple of books that Lescroart wrote. They were pretty bad. I should have known that starting with the more recent books might have been a mistake due to the track record of just about every other series ever produced. Authors tend to build up a series by piling one title on top of another and growing an audience. The first books are always the better in my opinion, wether it be Lawrence Block, James Patterson, or Patricia Cornwell. The characters are developed in the first couple of books and after a while the stories start to become mockaries of previous titles.

So I thought that I would give Lescroart another try with one of the earlier books and came across 'Motive.' The story here is very similar to other Lescroart novels in the Dismis Hardy series, but for some almost intangible reason, it is crisper, fresher, and contains a more dire sense of urgency. I think that Lescroart might have been a little less comfortable, still searching for a groove that makes this book struggle and in turn takes the reader on a ride that will leave one guessing til the end how this will all come out.

I think that in the later books, Hardy and Abe become superhuman and a little hard to swallow. Sort of like Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar books where the characters become cartoon impersonations of people. It is a little apparent that in 'Motive,' the characters are heading to this la la land that makes the author treat his characters with kid gloves, but they are not quite there yet. Lescroart has put himself into a bit of a bind. He has produced a series of books that have garnered an audience clamoring for encores. Because the characters are so dear to the author and have already achieved a superhero status of mythic proportions, Lescroart is unwilling to damage this fantasy land and the comic book protagonists are fully realized and do not grow beyond this point. It would be nice to see Lescroart set this series aside and write some stand alone books ala Lehane and really explore the nuances of a character or two. But in the meantime, I would totally recommend this genre book.

Having read and enjoyed Lescroart's more recent novels featuring Dismas Hardy and Abe Glisky, I went back in search of some of his earlier works. I picked up The Hearing in hopes of getting some vintage Lescroart. I was not disappointed. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Lescroart built his usual compelling, page-turning work. For me though, taking this out of order allowed for Lescroart's introduction of a number of characters that I grew to know in subsequent books. This certainly was an unexpected added dimension and source of enjoyment as I went quickly through the book. As might be expected, Lescroart does a great job of bringing out raw human emotion in the characters in a way that adds complexity and depth to the story. All in all, I'm very glad I went back to The Hearing. It was well worth the time.

This New York Times Notable Book develops a lyrical love story within the context of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, flood of 1889 that killed 2,200 people. Nora, whose family is one of 100 members of an exclusive gentlemen's club high in the Allegany Mountains behind an earthen dam, would rather roam the deer trails and discover wildflowers and strange insects than socialize with the other blueblooded children and teens. Daniel, a townie, trespasses on the grounds of the club, discovers Nora and her secret places and begins to leave her gifts and notes.

One of Cambor's exquisite paragraphs describes Nora wandering too far out of the bucolic lakeside grounds to look upon a valley where the leaves are covered with soot and the aire filled with smoke.

"A warning that things are not always as they seem, that everything she thought was predictable and certain was ephemeral, passing, and one day the life she knew would change unutterably."

The economic stirrings of the time and the real lives of Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon and Andrew Carnegie frame the imagined lives of those who live and strive in Johnston and those who play in the South Fork Club. Cambor develops living characters with simple strokes of her pen and places them in a totally real landscape.

Reviewed by Judith Helburn
for Story Circle Book Reviews
www.storycirclebookreviews.org
reviewing books by, for, and about women

When I bought this book, I thought I would become more knowledgable about the Johnstown flood, the damage it caused, the nationwide horror such a huge disaster brought about. Instead, the story reminded me of my own area, how class and money still affect both our personal life and the structure and function of the community today, just as in 1889. The community I live in is very similar to the socially stratified area Ms Cambor wrote about in the book. The rich, newly arrived in the last 20 years and drawn by the natural beauty of our area, live in expensive condos or McMansions built on land once occupied by farms or modest homes. They have (and want) no connection to the existing social structure, yet their dollars and political influence seem to rule every facet of our existance, the inflated cost of housing and goods, driving out of industry in the name of beautification at the expense of the decent paying jobs which existed a few decades ago, raising property taxes to pay for amenities not desired by the locals, and which locals cannot afford to pay for. On the site of a large concrete plant which had operated for a hundred years, a developer recently created a huge development of homes for the super-rich, built on LOTS that started at $1 mil. It is fenced, gated, and patrolled to keep out the riff-raff. Locals can only come in to perform services. Seduced by big money, local government allowed the development to be pushed though without abating the toxic effects of displaced concrete byproducts (ph levels the same as houshold bleach) on the beautiful surrounding waterways. Now the rich and famous own multi-million dollar properties on waterfront which is vitually unusable, while plumes of contaminated water extend into Lake Michigan. I am sure that every person who reads this book will be struck by a different aspect, because it is a very multi-faceted work. If you are looking for romance, social conscience, and a very humanistic introduction to the late 1800s, this book will appeal to you. If you enjoyed this book, you might also like "Vindication" by Frances Sherwood, another very well written novelized history.

As a history prof, I see lots of other historical novels that put this one to shame.

The attention of many of the professionals of the state of Johnstown is being attracted to the Dam of Johnstown, near a very large lake. One of the professionals of the state, a lawyer, James Talbot, tells his business manager that the dam is very weak and should be closed down until it undergoes restructuring, for the safety of the people. However, his business manager disagrees with him, justifying himself with the point that, under the Dam are the town's most wealthy people, vacationing in the Clubhouse. He did not want to inconvenience those people due to their wealth and power. Thus, the Dam remained open, to James' disgust.
In Boston, this drew the attention of one young engineer, Mr. Morris, and he began professionally restructuring the dam, strengthening it. Yet, there was a danger and risk involved. If the water reached a certain level inside the dam, it would flood and burst, endangering the lives of the people of Johnstown. After about fifty years, in 1879, the Dam once again began failing, and fell, once again, into very poor condition. Many contractors bought the Dam, to the delight of the Dam's previous owners. All the previous owners wanted most was to get the Dam out of their hands, to be free from responsibility of it, they saw it as a bother. Therefore, when one man went to buy it off of another owner, that owner would be very happy to be free of it. Unfortunately, though contractors bought the Dam, none ever took the responsibility of maintaining it. Instead, they poured out all their energies and money into providing more comfort for the already wealthy environment of the Clubhouse, for the enjoyment of the people. That money could have been invested into repairing the dangerous Dam that was in very faulty condition. No one knew what dangers this Dam could have brought to the people below, monumental dangers.
In the times of the rains, all of Johnstown was flooding. The lake underneath the Dam was flooding as well. Therefore, there was not enough room for the water released from the Dam to fall into, and instead, it would flood into the rest of the town. This is exactly what happened. In 1889, the Dam reached its maximum height, and burst, throwing millions of tons of water into Johnstown, and washing the town away, covering it with water. Everything was lost, and this was the end of Johnstown, due to the flooding of the neglected Dam.
None of the main characters that were described in the novel had a specific role in the plot of the story. Instead, they were all submerged into equal roles in the plot. There was a love story surrounding the main event of the bursting of the Dam and flooding of Johnstown. And the novel described many of the relationships the people of Johnstown had with each other. They seemed to be all united into one family. Every one knew each other. I think this bond within the people contributed greatly to the tragedy of the event. For we felt like we were a part of that union, and to see it completely diminished by the flooding is very emotional. Especially regarding the story of the young love between Nora Talbot, a scientist, and daughter of the lawyer who first took part in the Dam, James Talbot, and Daniel Fallon, a son of one of the characters, a veteran, Frank Fallon.
This novel is more like the telling of a historical event. Although it involves tragedy and romance, the story is centered on the historical event of the flooding of Johnstown due to a neglected Dam, because Nora and Daniel's romance was just beginning to flourish after many years of shy and distant encounters, when their lives were unexpectedly ended due to this flooding. Yet, it is good, because it is the combination of a regular novel, because it includes romance, yet involves historical facts, such as this event of the Dam of Johnstown. Therefore, I could recommend it to anyone who likes reading novels, specifically to a more mature audience, since it also has educational aspects to it. It is a novel centered on a historical event. Yet, if one is easily depressed, reading this book may not be a good idea, for it is very tragic to be sentimentally bonded to a relationship in the book, and then see it all diminish so rapidly. Yet, this was to be expected since the beginning of the novel.

At the end of the 19th Century, America is a nation of vast opportunity and evolving values, certainly obsessed with the vast fortunes amassed by the likes of Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Mellon. Their private resort above the industrialized town of Johnstown, PA, is a jewel in the crown of the vast wealth of these Robber Barons. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Lodge features a man-made lake braced by an ill-repaired dam that ultimately imperils the town resting at its valley floor.

Using personal detail to humanize this disaster, Cambor introduces complex characters from Johnstown as well as one family who summers for a brief two weeks each year at South Fork, albeit a family not of the highest level of that very particular pecking order. In Johnstown we meet Julia of the broken spirit and her husband Frank, helpless against life's random cruelties, their proud son Daniel, and Grace, a runaway from an unbearably lonely life. Representing South Fork is the idealistic Nora, a child of fortune who reaches beyond her personal limitations before everything changes forever.

The novel actually ends with the flood, a vast surge of water from the ruptured dam, unleashing death and devastation that Memorial Day, May 30, 1889, obliterating Johnstown in minutes. I confess I wanted more detail about the actual flood and its physical consequences, who survived and who took responsibility. This is but a small complaint in a rich novel of American life on the cusp of a new century, a time when the American Dream still twinkles in the eye of the working man and when hard work promises a guarantee, security for a man's family after a life of labor. Detail is crafted into every page, days lived in hope and reason, pride and dignity. But, lest I wax too nostalgic, their time is cut short by nature's wrath and the enormous cost of privilege for the few. The novel opens with this quote, setting the tone for the quiet unfolding of catastrophe: "I have been watching you; you were there, unconcerned perhaps, but with the strange distraught air of someone forever expecting a great misfortune, in sunlight, in a beautiful garden" (Maurice Maeterlinck). Indeed, such disasters do create a sense of vigilance, of dreams discarded and the sad loss of innocence.

Beautiful work by Ms. Roberts. A treasure for all women to read and enjoy. The essays are poignant and well documented. This is a book that should live on through history and handed from one woman to another.
recommending also: Founding Mothers,Secret Life Of Bees,Three Junes,Lonely Hunter,Nightmares Echo

This book made me proud to be a woman! I learned a ton about women athletes, scientists, politicians, etc that I never knew. I also learned that even though I'm not a professional athlete, scientist or politician....we share many of the same experiences as women, wives and mothers. It's a great book and well worth the read. I recommend it for all women (and their spouses/significant others).

Interesting history of women in different fields, and, importantly, shows why they don't have the same interests as men in all the same numbers.

Avows that neither gender has the desire to be the other, nor wants the other to be the same as them. Something that many of today's so-call social thinkers seem confused about. Many such thinkers seem not to want either gender to be the way they are, or not to want anyone to be an individual with their own values and choices.

Roberts demonstrates that it is the women who hold a free society together -- who make it a society, who tend to keep associations with old friends and family, while men tend to neglect these. While men and women share more than they differ psychologically, their differences are important. At their best they form a partnership, gaining more from life -- each with different, but overlaping roles.

(I've never had much use for Cokie Roberts as a political commentator, and as shown by the politicians she admires in this book, and as you would expect from government supported radio, NPR personnel are pretty much knee-jerk left wingers, favoring expanded government regulation and management of citizen's lives on all fronts. Fortunately, this is unimportant in this book.)

I remember my mom telling me once that when she asked my grandfather for the money to take the college entrance exam he told her she should go to secretary school like all the other women. There was a time that women weren't allowed to seek their own destiny, be it successful stay at home moms or successful career women. I think my generation of women has forgotten about that and grown too comfortable with delegating our social and political responsibilities. I borrowed a copy of this book from a woman who is my mentor and bought a copy for my mom. But every woman my age and younger should read this so that they remember what came before us, and quite frankly as a career woman who still gets limited by my gender in the workplace, it is important to realize how far we've come and how far we still need to go. I didn't realize how good we have it, having lived on my own, bought my own cars and houses (the book talks about women not being extended lines of credit or losing lines of credit if their husbands died or divorced them --- as late as the 80s). The book has perhaps the best overall message that no matter what path you choose as a woman, what career or life choice, you have that choice now because of the women who came before us... our collective mothers. And it is our calling as daughters to make our mothers proud by not forgetting how valuable that choice is.

This is a gentle book of celebration. Cokie Roberts is an attractive lady from a large family of achievers. She shares part of her life story with the reader and writes valuable information in the form of essays, about amazing women past and present; many of whom we have not been aware of.

I thoroughly enjoyed this easy to read book. I recommend it as encouragement to all women especially those hiding their talents.
Mostly though, it is a reassuring book in that we women are reminded to appreciate each other, ever learning, ever discovering new ways to contribute, even if our best efforts go unnoticed for a time; willing to step back or go forward as the need arises, and always share the credits.

With all due respect to the author, I find the title to be unworthy of this fine book. I am my daughter's mother; some women have no daughters, some daughters have no mother to encourage them - anyway perhaps I haven't gotten the point. Do read this book, enjoy it, and give it your own title!