Nova Books

Paul Eddy, Flint (Berkley, 2000)

I originally picked up Flint after reading a few reviews of the novel that said its first chapter was one of the most brutal the reviewers had ever read. So I went into the first chapter with somewhat diminished expectations; my reading tends to be a bit more extreme than that of most reviewers. I was not disappointed. That said, Eddy's writing in that first chapter has a very likable (to a certain sort of reader) deadpan feel about it when describing the violence; he doesn't get as far into detail as does, say, Peter Sotos in some of the more affecting passages in Parasite, but the journalistic style will definitely throw some people off.

Once you get past the first chapter to the parts of the book reviewers haven't dwelt on, you find yourself with an exceptionally readable, fast-paced thriller. This is straight genre writing, to be sure, but it's genre writing at its best; the main characters are rich and complex, the minor characters are less so but still well-drawn, the action refuses to let up. Perhaps the thing that most impresses me about the book is that during roughly the first two-thirds of its length, you will need to take copious notes if you want to try and keep score of the bouncing timeframe. However, if you don't take notes, you'll still be okay; you never have any idea when the events are taking place, but that becomes a minor annoyance at best (and it's usually a showstopper for me). This is a thriller, and a fast-paced one, where you're more interested in the character development than the timeline, and that is a rare thing indeed.

A fine first effort. I can't wait to read the second book in the series. *** ½

This reads like a crime novel that was written in a hurry and under pressure. In some places it shows, such as one villian being in possession of a VHS tape splicing machine. You cannot splice VHS tape and no such machine exists. You can dub and dubbing machines exist. But this error passed not only the author but also his editors.
Little if any original thought is given to the characters. They say and do nothing that you could not have predicted. The plot conforms to one beloved of all journalists who turn to fiction, namely the lone outcast against a corrupt system. It doesn't matter whether you call it 'The Organisation' or 'The Network', it is the same old theme of evil conspiracy at the heart of society. The name of the main character Grace Flint, tells you all you need to know about how lightweight this story is. She is bitter and sharp (Flint) she is a woman at heart (Grace). To conform to what publishers think sell books our Grace is naturally the female equivalent of the boozing, divorced, cynical but fair, dogged police hero. The blurb has the temerity to compare Flint with agent Starling. Neither Flint nor the plot begin to match up to Silence of the Lambs. Character development is nil. Everyone in the book starts the way they mean to go on, and remain cardboard figures in a plot that resembles a cereal packet give away game.
Eddy admits in interviews that he cannnot invent. His facts are minutely researched. But the point of fiction is indeed to make it up. That is what good fiction writers do best. Stand this book next to John Grisham's Pelican Brief and it is immediately apparent that Grisham's characters are more complex, have more interaction between them and his plots a lot more fully thought out. For example to make the ending of Flint a cliff hanger Eddy has our heroine hunted by her own side as a terrorist, when her own bosses know she is nothing of the sort. Our heroine seeks out one of the baddies by posing as a swinger in a Paris swinger club and agrees to return to his apartment. To avoid the obvious happening in the bedroom Flint fakes a sudden migraine of such terrible proportions that the baddie leaves her alone in the flat and jets off somewhere else: in other words 'with one bound our heroine was free' - all very Mills and Boone. Such plots twists creak with disbelef.

...and it held my interest. Once you get used to Mr. Eddy's style (and the fact that he is writing English...not 'Murrican) it moves right along. Another reviewer said one wouldn't warm to the Flint character. Perhaps so, but I wouldn't turn my back to her either.

I read a lot of books of this genre, but for me, this didn't hit the mark.

The opening scene is explosive, but the story goes down from there. In essence, the plot is interesting enough - top-level secret-service agents on both sides of the Atlantic have gone corrupt and Flint sets out on her own mission to catch them - but the details get too complex. You end up having to stop and remember back to previous passages to clarify the latest detail.

I also found myself not caring about the character of Flint. There was nothing there that made me warm to her. However, the other central character, Harry Cohen, is plausible and I did become endeared to him.

The blurb on the front cover, making comparisons to Clarice Starling can be seen as a desperate attempt for an inferior publication to garner sales. Flint should have been able to sell of its own accord, not through dubious association with another authors work.

Finally, the big test for me is the question, "Is this believable?" With this book, I didn't suspend disbelief. I felt all along that it was a work of fiction.

That could describe the novel and is just as apt summing up Grace Flint's main attributes as well.
Flint was an undercover inspector in England, when an undercover operation went south and she was beaten to within an inch of her life. As her body healed with the help of plastic surgery, she teamed up with other law enforcement agencies hoping by climbing back on the horse her emotional healing could begin. As the taut plot unwinds it is obvious that for Flint to feel whole again she needs revenge on the man that beat her.
This is a crisp and clean thriller that harkens to noir fiction in the best sense of the word. Although Eddy writes with a palpable edge the reader isn't exposed to gratuitous voilence and gore.
Flint is at heart an excellent characterization piece and an invitation to the reader to come to know a truly remarkable heroine.
Although there isn't graphic violence lacing this novel Eddy does an admirable job leading his audience into the world's seedier side. Over all an exciting tense effort, not exceptional but it would be a cold reader indeed that didn't feel for Flint's plight and sympathize with her life's challenges as they read this book.

Gemini Man is a good bood but lacks a lot of direction. While the main charachter is interesting and very "deep", we never get to see much because the book is muddled with non essential plot. I much prefer and would recommend Steinbergs The Four Phase Man, as it depicts the insides of lethal assassins actually doing what they are trained to do and in the midst struggling to find peace. Much more interesting and the story actually ends and doesn't leave you asking yourself, "Why in the world did I just read this book?"

Great main charachter, just wish we could have seen more of him in action.

A US secret agent (one of their best) gets caught after blowing up a Russian nuclear plant, thus killing thousands of innocent people. The Russians place him in their prison for six years and then release him back to US. This agent simply lacks any emotion and US wonders if he can fit into their or any society, so they place him in a European psychiatric institution, where he is observed and tested. He escapes and all hell breaks loose. Excellent debut novel from Steinberg, very psychological. Great ending.

If you, like myself, have been searching for an author that captures you like the early Ludlum, Morrel or Lustbader, then look no further. I enjoyed this book so much that I bought the audio version for a trip to Houston. I have always enjoyed the "antihero" with a dark past, and you can't get much darker than this one. I hope there is a sequel out there in the future!

also recommend: All Richard Steinberg's and Steve Alten's books

Richard Steinberg managed to grab my attention in the first few pages with this well-written and crafty novel. I enjoyed the plot line and Steinberg's ability to only feed the reader as much information as was needed to keep the story flowing. There was never really a point in the novel where I knew EXACTLY where Steinberg was leading me.

I liked the fact that this book demonstrated the ability for humans to be formed by instruction and/or manipulation, which can lead to unbelievable changes and amazing behavior. The American espionage agent Brian Newman makes for a great character. But it was even more interesting to read about how the people around him reacted to his reputation when they came in his presence. He is a man to be feared, respected, and quite possibly killed for the safety of mankind (or at least the people who have to be around him).

This is a novel that delves deep into the recesses of government plots and the human mind; and does both very well. This is a hard book to stop reading, and with a few small failures - corny lines like Newman saying, after six years of captivity, "I must say, I approve of the direction skirt lengths are going." or the fact that the guards pulled back the hammer on their weapons, when in all likelihood the guards would have had hammerless weapons. None of this takes away from the overall really awesome writing style of Richard Steinberg. As soon as I finish writing this review, I am going to see what else this author has written. I hope there's more out there!

If you looking for a captivating read, you've found it! Buy a copy, new or used, and if you can't find that, check it out at the library. It is a good read!

See ya next review.

I was walking through one of the outlets of a bookshop chain that had gone bankrupt when I came across Gemini Man. Seeing as how everything was 50% off, I picked it up along with several other books. For a few weeks it just sat there on my bookshelf until finally, with nothing left to read, I picked it up. I took it down the shore with me and two days later, I was a Richard Steinberg fan. Even the beautiful scenery of the ocean (and the women that play in it) couldn't pull me away from this book. It was utterly amazing. The whole concept of the book is so new and fresh that you have no choice but to read it. But be warned. Once you pick this book up you won't put it down. It's great from start to finish. A must for anyone interested in a good story with just the right amount of action. The Gemini Man is by far one of the best books I have ever read.

Sometimes the best intentions at innovative approaches result in something akin to torture. I suspect that Susan Power was envisioning a novel approach to the NA Novel genre. Instead, she sold herself short - and her readers along with her. It was expertly crafted short stories disconnectedly telling differing tales of the same connected story lines, some without resolution and some surprisingly with. Obvious talent such as this should not have as its supreme result a book so unworthy of representing the author. Let us pray she fixes these flaws and continues to hone her amazing story telling gift.

Power certainly does not make this an easy read. At first glance you can read through it and be happy, then you start really reading it, and it never ends! There are so many messages in this book than I care to count, and our class disected this book till I wanted to puke. However, in defence of Power, it was well written and if I had read on my own, not only would my knowledge of Native American life been increased dramatically, I would have enjoyed it!

I have also met Power, very nice woman, and she can most certainly tell a story.

The editorial and other customer reviews do a good job of covering the characters and basic plot, so I won't go into that.

This has to be the best book I've read in months. It's practically lyrical, the sentences are so pretty. The dust jacket is more than a little off on the plot, so don't read that. It's a collection of self contained stories about a messed up family living on a reservation in North Dakota.

Each story is narrated by a different person and takes place a random number of years before the last one. The effect is that each new chapter gives you a different understanding of the events in the previous chapters, until you get back to the "present" time from the first chapter, where you have a completely new take on everyone involved.

It's unusual to find a short story collection this good from such a new author. I highly recommend it.

This is an interesting book that gives us a series of stories about Sioux spirituality. The stories are loosely interconnected with each other and tell of people who maintain an ability to employ a sort of black magic. With this "gift" they communicate with past generations, conjure up love potions, compel others to self destruction, and other bizarre phenomena. Within these stories is a generally clear view of life in a modern day Indian reservation. The author, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation who grew up in Chicago, gives an inside view of a live fairly removed from mainstream America. I got the feeling that there was a fair amount of autobiographical material included in these stories.

I was prepared to give this book a "3 Star" rating until I noticed how well the author pulled things together towards the end. I had made the mistake of reading the book one story at a time spaced in between my other reading. I finished the last third of the book in a day's time and was able to catch the inter-relationships of the stories. Still, I was not as drawn into the spiritual magic as others may be. I don't discredit this phenomena but I suspect there are others who will get more out of the book than I did. I did enjoy a lot of the local flavor. I don't ever recall seeing any other novel that mentioned my wife's hometown of Mandaree, North Dakota. I have come to appreciate that there is a real element of spiritual magic through her Hidatsa/Mandan roots. Of the many stories and incidents that she has shared with me, I do vividly recall the night after her mother's funeral. My wife expressed her aprehension about going to bed that night because she was sure her mother's spirit would come to visit. That night, about 2AM, our house dog started barking. He never barks indoors at night and, when I got up to look around, nothing explained his outburst. I was puzzled, my wife wasn't. Susan Powers shares a lot of this in "The Grass Dancer" but on a much larger scale.

Susan Power's THE GRASS DANCER, although billed as a novel, is a series of tightly bound stories centered around the thematic core of a Sioux myth. Separately, these stories, many of which have been previously published in high-quality magazines such as The Atlantic and The Paris Review, are excellent, but read as a whole, one after the other, they form a powerful whole - a novel, if you will. The world Ms. Power creates it at once current and ancient, with legends and tales of ancestors so entwined with the present day that the Native American characters seem less like individuals and more like highlighted segments on a multi-branched and infinitely continuing time line. But that is not to say that Ms. Power creates simple characters. Her people are complex and often troubled, struggling with the magic that swirls around them.

The individual stories tell the larger one of Native Americans, in particular the Sioux, and their battles, both physical and metaphysical, with the white men who invaded their land. This is not a historical novel, however, but rather a lyrically psychological one, where myth becomes fact. The pivotal legend that embraces all the characters in The Grass Dancer is the one of Red Dress, a Sioux woman with breath the scent of plums and a spirit that guides a long line of women to their destinies, both tragic and exhilarating. Charlene, a direct descendent from Red Dress, is in love with Harley, a descendent of Red Dress's husband Ghost Horse. But Harley keeps in his heart the spirit of another woman. Charlene's grandmother, Mercury, uses Red Dress's magic to control men and to wrest Charlene from her mother. Lydia, who is mute by choice, survives her husband and son, dead because of her anger with the magic of Red Dress. The magic in this novel has such force that when Red Dress finally tells her own story, we cannot wait to see what kind of mortal she was that gave rise to such spiritual power. Sadly, the Red Dress story is the weakest of the book. Her motivation to lure white men to their deaths, ultimately bringing on her own, seems flimsy. However, Red Dress as a spirit has become so poignant through the other stories that her final appearance in the novel is perhaps one of the most moving passages.

Susan Power is an extraordinarily gifted writer with a taste for language that makes a reader want to linger over her words. Her imagination is so precise that it is difficult to accept that her characters do not exist beyond the pages.

I enjoyed the book, but the last chapter was kind of a dumping ground for everything. Somehow the author of the last chapter threw it all together to end the story --- but it was a mish mosh that I didn't follow very well. I read it because a couple of my favorite writers were in the "pack" --- Mary Jane Clark, particularly. The last chapter was too long and just a mess, in my opinion.

The Phonenix, contrary to the one located on Gay Street, is an upscale spa for the rich and famous. The scene of five murders, this time the characters are all interrelated, which is uncovered in the final chapter. It was all rather convoluted, being the artistic endeavors of thirteen prominent writers, each for one chapter. This is the result of a project to copy the serial novels of the Thirties in which Agatha Cristie was involved. In 'Agatha,' the movie, she was incognito "shadowing" her nemesis in a steam room in England about the same time she was writing such (living a dream). Our Phoenix building downtown has been renovated into high priced condos for strange folks who moved here and think it is novel to live on the main street of this town. No Spa there, however, you have to go to Powell to the Fitness Center to find the hot tub and steam room.

The Phoenix in this story in segments is a place of myster with drugs, adoptions, murders all involved until the Chapter 13 which explains all in detail to the survivors who are all family, interrelated in a weird way. "A family, rising phoenixlike from the ashes." Caroline thanked God for bringint this man into her life; Tennessee congressman Doug Blessing with some secrets of his own. She hadd not "forced her way to freedom" because of an anticipated "need for Doug's more delicate plumbing." This written by a mystery writer as opposed to a romance novelist who would be more explicit. Just a slightly different way of phrasing, which I always used in the book reviews I gave to the literary club -- it was fun to confuse those who weren't napping. The Phoenix had a mud room with its own secret stash.

Some of the gathering of strong personalities include the beautiful made model (Adonis), the kinky actress, the green-haired rock star who went through N.A., the detective Toscana who sometimes acted like God ("and Toscana saw that it was good."), Dante, t he masseur, and Geoff, the assitant pastry chef. The sociopathic personality responsible for the deaths had no conscience, and was evil with no sense of honor. Knowledge was her weapon. A person can only ask, to be granted a wish for anything.

Led by Nevada Barr based this confusing story showing how a character can be killed in a spa. I review another book wherin the pivotal chatacter was killed in the steam room of the notel spa shortly before his scheduled assignation with the main person. So, this premise is nothing new, nor the format. What is different is t he freedom of each of these authors to develop their own characters and circumstances leading to the next sequence of unusual, never-thought-of-before things a client could do at this exclusive Phoenix Spa. This serial format started in 1931 with 'The Floating Admiral' which was serialized in England. Marcia Talley, editor, discovers a link with that first collaboration and declares, "We have come full circle."

Two more recent such workings are 'Naked Came the Stranger ' (1969) by "Newsday" and 'Naked Came the Manatee' serialized in the "Miami Herald."

This is a readable tale for a rainy evening, but using thirteen authhors for the thirteen chapters resulted in some extreme changes of direction. It sounded like a cast of characters with multiple personality disorders. Some chapters are better than others. Caroline's raid on the kitchen is really funny. But other chapters don't seem to come across as well. A few situations are transparent, and others are a bit of a stretch. Perhaps it ended up with too many twists and turns.

First of all, to enjoy this sort of novel, you have to be able to appreciate what's going on behind the scenes: backstabbing; plot-twisting; character reinventions. And I'm not talking about the story itself. I'm talking about what the 13 authors are trying to do to each other!
The genre originated wonderfully with the august members of the British Detection Club way back in 1931, in a "serial" novel in which the various authors contrived ways to skullduggle not only the reader but each other and try to make it almost impossible for the final writer to wrap everything up neatly and tie it with a bowknot. That effort, "The Floating Admiral," is still the very best of its type. More recently, it's been done with sparkling wit by the Miami bunch including Carl Hiassen and Dave Barry in a delicious romp entitled "Naked Came the Manatee."
Now it's been tackled by a baker's dozen of America's female mystery writers. Yes, the plot is silly. Yes, the characters aren't all that fully developed. But who cares? The enjoyment of this book, as the others, is in seeing what each successive writer is doing to skewer what has already been written (without, however, contradicting it) and send the story reeling in a provocatively new direction. New openings are abruptly cut off at the knees. (Is she dead? Or is she only concussive?) Contrasting scenarios challenge what you think you've already assuredly figured out.
It doesn't really matter who winds up having done what to whom. If you're enjoying the wicked twists being perpetrated not by the characters but by their creators, then what you're looking for is how the final writer responds to the challenge of wrapping everything up with no loose ends and no plot spins left twisting in the wind--not even the yellow polkadot bikini! And in this regard, Laurie King shines splendidly.
As I closed the book, I was imagining the final dinner party those naughty thirteen were having after they all got to read King's inventive closure, and what a laugh they were enjoying. But the laughter is not at our expense. We share in it.

When I saw this awhile back at my local library, I was intrigued with the concept but very skeptical of the results. In this serial novel written to benefit Breast Cancer Research, Marcia Talley brought together thirteen female mystery authors together to create a serial novel. The thirteen authors are: Nevada Barr, Nora Roberts, Nancy Pickard, Lisa Scottoline, Perri O'Shaughnessy, J. A. Jance, Faye Kellerman, Mary Jane Clark, Anne Perry, Diana Gabaldon, Val McDermid, Laurie R. King and the editor herself, Marcia Talley, who also adds a chapter. With that much talent and totally different writing styles and perceptions involved, I expected a choppy, uneven novel. While that does happen in a couple of places, overall the merge is very good with plenty of surprising twists and turns to keep the reader guessing all the way to the end.

The novel opens with quite a cast of characters that have brought to the very upscale Phoenix Spa in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Featured front and center is Caroline Blessing, the young wife of a recently elected congressman and her overpowering mother, Hilda Finch. Two weeks earlier, Caroline's father, Hamlin Finch died due to throat cancer no doubt because of all the angry words trapped in his throat to Caroline's thinking. Hilda is a real piece of work and always gets her way by any means possible. Hilda has strongly insisted that she come to the Spa with her and Caroline, full of resentment, has done as she asked. Hilda knows the owner, Claudia de Vries from their first year at Brown University and their relationship is clearly not the best.

Soon after introducing a number of characters, the Spa owner is found dead in a mud bath and clearly a victim of strangulation. Detective Vince Toscana, far from his beloved home in Philadelphia, is called to investigate and soon finds the fellow guests are less than helpful. Almost all of them have secrets and as rich, important people simply can't be bothered with a little problem of murder in their midst. What follows is a Colombo style movie of the week literary version with homage to Agatha Christie as the bodies begin to fall and his investigation seems to go nowhere. Caroline is forced to help against her wishes and uncovers more about her life and her past than she ever wanted to know.

Overall, this is a well-written novel and it flows from start to finish. There is the occasional glitch as one author or another takes a character off on a different tangent, but overall this book works surprisingly well. The glitches are very minor and if anything, seem to add to the work and to remind the reader that this was a serial novel in the tradition of Naked Came the Manatee and Naked Came The Stranger. If you are looking for a work that symbolizes each author's unique writing style then this novel is not for you. But if you are interested in seeing how thirteen literary voices could be blended into one style, you won't be disappointed. A bit melodramatic at times, this is still one very good read.

Written by a formre newspaper reporter in Tennessee who, after graduating from Harvard Law School, settled in New York City. This is like a female prototype of THE FIRM only instead of enticing a bright law grad to Memphis, she is encompassed in a high-powered Manhattan firm.

She feels honored to be chosen as an associate attorney of such a prestigious group. Her first assignment is to a controversial case of sexual harassment(quite over the head for a novice, young lawyer, no matter how bright she is). Her glamorous senior partner receives a mysterious e-mail luring her to an equivocal death. Or is it?

Kate has to go on the defense trying to figure out who did the old girl in, as many suspects surface. There may be two or more meanings to 'equivocal death,' homicide, accident, suicide or natural death. It could be any of her colleagues or, could it be the hairdressser? You must read to see how things end in just a few weeks.

Kate decides to move on with her life as these seedy cases are not what she was trained for at Harvard to face and to endure such harsh treatment.

This is a riveting crime story on a high level. No one is immune from murderous urges and the need for revenge, but most of us are sane enough not to follow through. This is a first novel, which got my attention. Since then, she has written IDENTITY IN DEMOCRACY and THE ANNIVERSARY.

It seems every cliche ever written is in this drawn out tale that is unrealistic and uninteresting. Luckily my copy came from the library so no money was wasted...just time not well spent.

If you are looking for a good read to divert you at the end of a busy day -- or a busy week -- this fills the bill. Equivocal Death has all the ingredients of escape: violence, romance, sordid sex, comtemporary social issues, and a glimse into a rarified world few inhabit.

This passed my first test: I couldn't stop reading until I finished it. And then I was sorry I'd read it so fast, because I had enjoyed it so much.

A week later, I knew it had passed my second test: I was still thinking about it.

But how is this different? Any good murder-mystery has to pass those two tests.

What's different is that in most mysteries, the central character is a paragon. she is clever and savy, he's takes care of others; we're secure in the knowledge that our hero or heroine is worthy of the role, and will live to triumph. Not so with Kate Paine. She's naive, compliant, and so self-centered she can't see anyone else's problems. In spite of that -- or because of it? -- I cheered at her triumphs, cringed at her terrifying attacks, and didn't know till the very end just how it would turn out.

I can't wait for the movie! Or for Gutman's next book.

Having read a number of legal thrillers, Equivocal Death is simply a favorite. It is well written, the plot made me want to say up all night reading, and the authors' subtext of contemporary feminist issues made it more interesting and engaging. In short, I highly recommend it.

At last, a legal thriller with a psychologically and emotional complex female lead. In many ways this novel breaks the rules when it comes to what we expect of our lead character. I can't divulge more on this point without giving away too much of the plot.

I must say that the most satisfying thing about the book is the way in which Amy Gutman plays on the somewhat "normal" psychological profile of a young woman with a bit of an imposter complex, who, due to her own personal history and the over-assuming law firm culture, completely subordinates her own needs and physical well-being for her corporate sponsors. In an utterly chilling moment, her intense sense of loyalty to her employer crosses over from dutiful to dangerous.

After completing Equivocal Death, I had that sweet ambivalence that only comes at the end of a wonderful event. I felt the investment had been well worth the wait. All of the pieces came together. Yet, at the sime time, I felt a sense of emptiness and loss rush in. It's over and I just got to know the protagonist, Kate and the other characters.

Of the fourteen James Bond books written by Ian Fleming, Goldfinger is the seventh, and when I finished it, I'd reached the halfway point in the series. With the previous book, Dr. No, we got the first true Bond villain, the man with truly megalomaniacal plans that is typical of most of the movies. In Goldfinger, we get another such villain, plus a new first: the first villain's sidekick. These sidekicks are usually the supertough hired muscle, and few are more intimidating than Goldfinger's servant, Oddjob.

Goldfinger actually begins similarly to Moonraker. In the earlier novel, Bond is initially introduced to the villain Hugo Drax when trying to catch him cheating at bridge. In this book, the game is canasta, but Bond still catches Goldfinger in the act. Auric Goldfinger is an extremely wealthy man with an obsession for gold and a mysterious past. With little in the way of scruples and possible ties to SMERSH, Bond's chance encounter develops into an assignment to derail Goldfinger's smuggling operations.

A second "chance" encounter will lead to a golf game between the two, with Goldfinger trying again to cheat to victory. Later, Bond will begin to get the goods on his foe, but will eventually wind up in Goldfinger's clutches. Like all Bond villains, Goldfinger is interested in explanatory monologues and elaborate schemes, in this case, one involving the theft of all the gold in Fort Knox.

Although it has some of the stuff that would later become cliches, this novel is still Fleming at his peak, maybe just slightly less good than From Russia With Love and Dr. No. If you're a Bond fan, this will definitely not disappoint.

More dodgy card players. This book was fun reading, being a canasta player at the time. Bond busts Goldfinger using a spotter to cheat, and makes him pay back what he owes to people.

Not knowing who he is, when Bond is back with MI6 resources available, he checks him out, and finds out he is a gold smuggler, and even worse, is working for those SMERSH super villain types.

Goldfinger has an audacious plan to bust into Fort Knox with some serious weaponry, and using nerve gas. Leiter and Bond work to oppose him, but Goldfinger has some seriously talented help. Pussy Galore and her Catwoman crew of acrobatic purloiners, and Oddjob, the asian anti-John Steed.

Luckily, during this book, Bond has more Q-Branch toys.

Very rarely does a film improve upon the source novel. I wrote a review of one, King's Ransom, which was made into a vastly superior film by Akira Kurosawa called High and Low. Goldfinger, the film, is one of the classic Bonds -- my favorite, to be sure. The novel, in contrast, is too long, is illogical in some parts, offensive in others and makes the reader realize what a superb job screenwriter Richard Maibaum did in adapting it for the film. These weaknesses stand out in particular:

First, the behavior of villain Auric Goldfinger is completely illogical during the torture scene. You might remember the terrific laser beam scene in the film where Goldfinger, played by Gert Frobe, threatens to slice James Bond, played by the great Sean Connery, in half. In the film, Bond gets out of the mess by bluffing, making Goldfinger believe that he knows all about Operation Grand Slam, Goldfinger's plan to blow up Fort Knox. Goldfinger reasons that he can keep the CIA and the British Secret Service at bay by keeping Bond alive and making them think that Bond is his guest, not his prisoner.

The novel, in contrast, has Goldfinger threaten Bond with a saw. Bond doesn't mention Operation Grand Slam and has been a constant thorn in Goldfinger's side. Goldfinger has Bond dead to rights and, unlike in the laser beam scene in the film, has no logical reason to spare his life. However, just before Bond is about to be sawed in half, Goldfinger inexplicably spares him and forces Bond to pose as his secretary. There's a running joke that Bond villains seal their own fate by devising elaborate ways to kill him that allow Bond to escape. However, Goldfinger's action in this scene in the novel completely defy logic and cripple the story's credibility. Bond novels are an escape from reality -- an adult comic book -- but this plot development makes absolutely no sense.

In the novel, Goldfinger's plan is to rob Fort Knox of its gold supply. Fleming, unlike Richard Maibaum, apparently never realized how logistically impossible this is. Connery rightfully points out in the film that to rob Fort Knox would require a whole fleet of trucks and several days to complete. Maibaum's plan, while still fantastic, makes more sense -- detonating a nuclear weapon in Fort Knox to irradiate the U.S. gold supply and drive the value of his own supply up ten times over.

In the novel, Pussy Galore begins as a hardened lesbian who has no interest in Bond whatsoever. Of course, by the end of the novel, Bond has "heterosexualized" and overwhelmed her with his masculine charms. It's a very 1950's view of homosexualtiy -- that is, that a homosexual could be "cured" of his/her sexual desires like it was a disease. The attitude seems very backward and ignorant by today's standards.

The film strongly suggests Pussy's lesbianism, but it also shows Pussy, played by Honor Blackman, flirting suggestively with Bond. Blackman's Pussy may have lesbian tendencies, but she clearly also has a strong attraction to the opposite sex. When she falls for Bond, it makes sense, unlike in the novel. Bond still converts her, but the conversion stressed is more along the lines of Pussy joining the good guys rather than going from staunch lesbianism to being a Bond girl.

The film has a lot of Asian villains. Harold Sakata is terrific as Goldfinger's superpowered Korean henchman Oddjob, Burt Kwouk (Kato in the Pink Panther films) is Mr. Ling, a Chinese nuclear scientist who supplies Goldfinger with the bomb and most of Goldfinger's henchmen are Korean. However, the film, for the most part, avoids extreme racial stereotyping. Many of the villains are Asian, but there's no suggestion that simply being Asian is a source of evil. Asians would later play a prominent heroic role in You Only Live Twice.

The novel, in contrast, is vicously racist in nature. The nadir of this being Bond's statement that Koreans "are lower than apes." It's hard to believe that even in the pre-civil rights era of the 1950's, this statement could slip by without triggering a major protest from an Asian rights group. Today, it seems so ugly and hateful that I immediately lost a lot of respect for Ian Fleming. This is his hero who believes these vile things, so clearly what Bond believes, Fleming believes -- there's no way to separate the two. One wonders which other racial groups Fleming was bigoted against. It's a disgraceful moment in the Bond saga and a shameful comment on Fleming's view of the world.

Novels like Casino Royale, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice are classics and rank among my favorite novels. Goldfinger, however, falls way short of that standard. When I finished Goldfinger, I was left wishing that I had not read it and instead had left my impression of the story to the vastly superior film. The novel not only disappointed me, it made me think much less of Ian Fleming as a person.

You won't find perhaps the most quoted lines from "Goldfinger" in the novel that were heard in the film:

Bond: "Do you expect me to talk?"
Goldfinger: "No, Mister Bond, I expect you to die."

That's because the filmmakers, in this case anyway, wisely decided to rewrite the entire story for their script.

I've been rereading all of the 007 novels and have just finished reading Andrew Lycett's insightful biography of Ian Fleming, so I've been pretty immersed in the whole James Bond experience (why not? It is, after all, 2007). I bought the new special edition DVD collections and can't wait for "Casino Royale" to hit DVD this spring as seeing it several times in the theatres.

Of the first seven novels, I'm standing by "Casino Royale" and "From Russia, With Love" as the best. I liked them 20 years ago and I like them now.

But I would probably put "Goldfinger" with "Moonraker": worth reading but not as good as the others.

The ambitious plot to rob Fort Knox just doesn't come off. Bond himself even sums up the absurdity of it in the film version ("...now you've only got a few hours before the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines show up to make you put it all back"). In the novel, Goldfinger proposes to use a small atomic device to blast the safes of Fort Knox--a explosion that would probably require some serious excavating to get the irradiated gold loaded up and out of there. In the film, he wants to blast the US gold supply with a dirty bomb to increase the value of his own stockpile.

Goldfinger's plan and Lex Luthor's San Andreas land scheme from the first Superman movie are the two great evil plots of hero movies, as far as I'm concerned.
As Bond concedes in the film, "My apologies, Goldfinger, it's an inspired plan."

Although she has the most infamous name of all the Bond girls, Pussy Galore shows up as an afterthought, an undeveloped character whose sexuality is gossiped about and then chucked aside for the obligatory final coupling with 007. Fleming devotes far more time to Bond's golf game with Goldfinger than he does Pussy's character. The movie spends more time fleshing her character out!

Some scenes were actually funny, such as when Oddjob demonstrates his karate by splintering Goldfinger's staircase and fireplace before dinner as Goldfinger admits that he doesn't really care for his house. It was also funny and somewhat racist for Goldfinger to hand over his pet cat to feed Oddjob when kitty got blamed for something. There were actually two foul swipes in this novel: the insistence that Koreans love eating cats and that American Southerners rape their sisters (Pussy Galore asks Bond at one point, "What do you call a little girl in the South who can outrun her brother? A virgin.")

The novel was more interesting this time when I pictured new 007 Daniel Craig in the scenes. The "blunt instrument" Bond makes more sense in this one.

But here's something I've almost never said about any adaption: the movie was better.

First of all, let me disclose that I really like all of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, and I particularly like and admire Fleming's lean, understated style of prose. Fleming is underrated as a writer, and James Bond is more than a comic book cutout character.

Goldfinger as a novel has some appealing attributes. The scene in which Bond plays a game of golf with Auric Goldfinger (with the stakes higher than they seem) is a masterpiece. Goldfinger the villain is an ingenious character. The reason I deprived this novel of two stars is first of all that the ending is tacked on almost as an afterthought. Sorry, it just didn't work, and it almost seemed like Fleming reached his page limit, and realized that he needed to wrap up the novel in the next twenty or so pages. Secondly, "Operation Grand Slam" involving a hodgpodge of criminals, seemed highly underdeveloped, and SMERSH would not have dared have a Soviet vessel upload the goal and hightail it to Russia. Nor would it have involved the sweepings of the US underworld in such a plan. It just did not work. Now mind, the idea of robbing Fort Knox is brilliant, and Fleming could have made it work. But here, in my opinion, it did not.

All these criticisms aside, I enjoyed "Goldfinger" the novel, and I recommend it, along with all of the other Bond novels, to anyone who enjoys good writing, a suspension of one's critical facilities for an afternoon, and, of course, James Bond.

The book arrived promptly, in good condition, and I can recomend this seller, thanks, I will buy again

Unlike many of the other reviewers, I LOVED this book. Read it in 2 days. I concur with what "Publishers Weekly" put on the back cover -- "The reader keeps turning pages just to make sure the heroines find the happiness they deserve."

I read a lot of Nora Roberts, Suzanne Brockmann, etc., so I have a lot of books within this genre with which to compare and contrast this book, and I say 5 stars Eileen!

I got this book in a box of many others, and although i wasn't sure if this book was interesting at all, i decided to read the book, and I definetly do not regret reading it. "One Last Dance" is one of the best books I've read for a while. I think the story is very good. I personaly found Daphne and Alex's lives boring at the begining, but closer to the end, all of the charactors were fasinating people.
I really liked how the bood ended, what with Jonny and Daphne, and Alex and Jim ending up back together, and Kitty ending up with Sean. I think what happened to Lydia Seagrave is VERY depressing, but not everything is gonna end up perfectly.

The story line was pretty good, but it had too many pages. The story could have been told on half as many pages. I read part of the book - got so bored with it - put it down for several months - and then finally picked it back up and finished it. I was disappointed that Kitty's Tea Room wasn't visited very often in the book and it didn't play a big role in the book, and that her sticky buns (and other foods) weren't described more. I did not like what happened to the mother at the very end.

I read the first quarter of the book, but then lost interest and skimmed the rest. Something was lacking with the characters. The mother pleading innocent from the beginning left little mystery, figured the husband was cheating on her. I wouldn't recommend anyone buy this. I don't even know what happened to the mother and really don't care.

Like many of the other reviewers, I did not initially realize that Stephen White has an entire series featuring Dr. Alan Gregory. I started off reading Blinded, Manner of Death and then Remote Control before finally discovering this first book in the Alan Gregory series. I am now completely hooked and am happily working my way through the rest of the series.

Kudos to Stephen White for creating a protaganist who is smart and saavy, but also very human. White does an excellent job with character development, and even secondary characters like Lauren and Sam Purdy are multi-dimensional and surprising at times. White is equally talented at created gripping and complex plots, and I have yet to be disappointed with Alan Gregory's adventures.

Thank you, Stephen White!

I really enjoyed reading this, the first in the Alan Gregory series. I have read most all the other books and this filled in some blanks in Alan's history. A very good start to a great character.

Boulder clinical psychologist Alan Gregory is shocked when his patient Karen Hart commits suicide, especially since she had apparently been making considerable progress in therapy. But even more disturbing are reports in the newspaper from anonymous sources that he was intimately involved with the patient, a clear violation of professional standards. Beyond this scenario, the book serves as an introduction to the lengthy Gregory series and to the Boulder, CO area, where it seems there is a staggering preponderance of professionals.

The allegations hurt his practice, driving away some patients, but worse over the next few months two more patients die: one in an auto accident and one murdered. Other incidents occur and Alan begins to suspect the involvement of a new patient. But investigations are stymied when issues of patient confidentiality prevent Alan from being forthcoming with his attorney, Boulder detective Sam Purdy, and assistant DA Lauren Crowder. There is a certain amount of edification in this situation as Alan is convinced that transference, even psychotic, is at work.

Alan's professional difficulties come at a time when his private life is very unsettled. His television producer wife Meredith now lives in San Francisco with their remaining tie being Cicero, their dog. He is intrigued by Lauren, but her sudden revelation of a debilitating medical condition is perspective shifting, to say the least. The Boulder area is well described including its notoriety for being a bicycling capital, a passion for Alan.

The plot is not the strongest part of the book: some loose ends and not quite believable and consistent. However, overall the book is interesting, especially the characters, and moves at a decent pace and is actually rather suspenseful. The author establishes characters that are sufficiently appealing to encourage reading of the next installment.

Author, Stephen White has composed a page-turning story about psychologist, Alan Gregory. The first of this doctors many ill fates, begins with the false accusation of sexual misconduct against one of his patients who has committed suicide. Of course, his professional, legal, and personal problems don't end there, that is just the beginning.

This was a good read, and one that I would recommend. It is now my privileged to delve into this long running series.

Stephen White's "Privileged Information" kicks off his series of thrillers featuring Alan Gregory, a clinical psychologist based in Boulder. Alan is a successful therapist in private practice with one partner. His career is thriving, although he's going through a rough separation from his wife. Alan is hit with what therapists perhaps dread most - a client suicide. The client was an attractive young woman whom Alan had no inkling was suicidal. He begins to doubt his clinical acumen and then things deteriorate even further; specifically, Alan is accused of having a sexual relationship with this client that precipitated her suicide. However, because of therapist-client confidentiality, Alan cannot release information about the client's treatment that would help clear his name. That is, he cannot release this "privileged information" until he is sued. So Alan sits back and watches his clients flee. When more of his clients wind up dead, Alan realizes that it's more than bad luck. Thus, our neurotic therapist is drawn into the world of intrepid crime solvers.

"Privileged Information" is a breezy fun read. Making the main character a clinical psychologist is a fun lark, and puts the book in contrast to the typical thriller. Furthermore, the book depicts the life and career of a psychologist fairly accurately, helped no doubt by the Stephen White's personal experience as a clinical psychologist. However, Alan is clearly of the psychodynamic bent, so some readers may find the descriptions of "psychotic transference" and the therapy processes to be a bit melodramatic. In addition, focusing so much of the plot on client confidentiality gets a bit repetitive after awhile. However, these are rather minor quibbles about a solid thriller. Overall, I enjoyed "Privileged Information" and would definitely consider reading additional entries in the series.

Amazing story - non-stop reading to the bitter end. Lara Cameron is Sheldon's answer to Donald Trump. She takes us on a "rags to riches" journey starting with her uncaring and distant father (the absence of her mother and twin brother in her life; Lara being the only survivor from that birth) and her rise to the top in the world of real estate development. Sheldon is unbeatable in his list of characters on whom would-be, or could be the nemesis behind Lara's good and bad fortunes along the way. He takes us through many locations beginning in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia then unto Chicago and New York City. Lara makes her mark in this "man's field" and along the way meets up and gets the undying support of Paul Martin, NYC attorney with Mafia connections and banker and financial wizard, Howard Keller, who becomes her right-hand man in all areas of the business. Both men are obsessed with Lara. Lara achieves great success and fortune but yearns for the love that she has missed out on her entire life. She finally finds this love in her knight in shining author (her Lochinvar), world renowned pianist, Philip Alder. What will this love interest do to her connections with Paul Martin and others and of course her career? I high recommend this book to everyone. It is a story that you will not be able to put away until there is no more story to read. Thank you, Mr. Sheldon!

This book is on of the best books i have ever read. It takes the story of a young modern woman and tells you how she can change from rags to riches. I was so into the book, I just couldn't put it down. I reccomend this book to anyone. Sidney Sheldon at his best!!!

I generally like Sheldon's "beach" reads. Usually great fun which decent premises. I'm not hard to please. However, this offering was dismal.

Storylines were picked up and dropped without resolution. Most of the characters were grossly underdeveloped or mere stereotypes. You know going into a Sheldon book that it's not going to be an English Lit assignment, but this one was weak in comparison with his other selections.

This book was something that I read in one day, just to pass the time. I really didn't care about the characters, and Lara seemed just too unreal to be true. She was too much of Scarlet O'Hara in her dealings with a real estate world dominated by men. I only finished it to find out what crisis happened that gave her an empty birthday party, but when I finally came to the end, it wasn't too satisfying.

In this rags-to-riches story, we follow the life of Lara Cameron from her beginnings in Nova Scotia to the United States as a young businesswoman. She emerges from being poor to a real estate developer worth millions, using whatever is necessary to close the deal, be it her brain or her body. Lara's power revolves around the empire she builds (mainly hotels and commercial buildings) and nothing will stop her. She drugs investors and torments tenants to make them leave property she wants to rebuild. Sound disgusting? Not at all!

You'd think with these characters, the reader would hate Lara, but Sidney Sheldon instead shows us her independence, courage and a determination for self-preservation to the point of the reader becoming Lara's ally. The most dramatic evidence to support this devotion is when Sheldon plays on our feelings for Lara during a series of events that could not only leave her penniless but could also convict her of crimes she appears to have committed on her path to the top. Instead of cheering for her demise, I found myself rooting for Lara to once again be successful.

Sidney Sheldon masterfully weaves past and present events to give the history of Lara without losing the reader to boredom. The ensemble cast of support characters are not as vivacious as Lara, but still vivid in their own right.

This tale has enough intrigue and drama to keep even the most finicky reader entertained. I found it an enjoyable way to spend a few days, much like a walk in the city.

I look forward to new Mrs. Pollifax adventures like a kid in a candy store. Opening a new Mrs. Pollifax book is like joining an old friend. Although her earlier adventures are a little more fun, I suspect it is because she was more "unexpected" ;-) at the beginning. Still, as always, it is a fun, enjoyable, entertaining romp!

For anyone new to the Emily Pollifax series, start at the beginning with "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax" and read them in order!

My first "Mrs. Pollifax" novel. With little buildup, the reader is in Syria with Mrs. Pollifax, a CIA biddy, and her sidekick. Their mission is to find and rescue an American girl who has saved a planeload of passengers and then disappeared. They have various adventures until they land in an archeological dig. This was an odd book, and it finally dawned on me that there's minimum violence, in spite of one murder, off screen, and that it's actually a cozy. If Mrs. Pollifax did a bit of knitting and had a cat, the genre would be complete. Instead we have sheep and an unlikely rescue. In spite of the oddball, bloodless scenarios and capers, I rather enjoyed the escapade, and came to like Mrs. Pollifax who seems to be a rather clever old bat.

Mrs Pollifax is someone I discovered by accident a couple of years ago and since then I have been trying to collect the series in which she figures. Delightful is what comes into my mind to describe the books. A new location each time, a new adventure, and absolutely plausible where simple common sense rules the day. In this one, she is off to Africa with barely a clue in her hand - just a mission to locate a girl who did a heroic deed in disarming hijackers and then completely disappears. Mrs P finds her - going from clue to clue, and in the process averts an assassination. The stories never stale, and can be re-read and the enchantment still holds.

Fun fun fun. I highly recommend all of Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax books just for the pure escapist, fun of reading about an "older" woman who knows how to take care of herself!

Emily Pollifax has gone through a lot of dangerous adventures since Dorothy Gilman created her best known character in the '70s. She was known as a super sleuth as a CIA (?) secret agent on assignments in unusual places. Some of the fifteen or so titles called her amazing, elusive, pursued, unexpect, and innocent. She survived many death-defying situations like being locked overnight in a medieval Swiss Castle.

For a Garden Club member from New Brunswick, New Jersey, she found herself in many tight spots, like her espionage assignament in Morrocco, Turkey, in the 'Whirling Dervish.' This one is similar as she balks an airplane terrorist. You can always find her in foreign locales while her husband carries on at home. I can't choose which is my favorite, but Mrs. Gilman has been a most prolific writer and creator of Mrs. Pollifax.