Nova Books

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.

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.

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.

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.

I liked it because both main characters were well developed and the plot was unusual about man out west and two of his friends ordering brides from overseas. Three women were matched up with the three men, sight unseen. When the women arrived, they married right away. It was a fun and interesting read, which revealed the adjustments that were involved in making the marriages work. One did not. Donnigan felt a strong responsibility to teach his children and prepare them for life after death, but had to search the scriptures himself to find out about God and how to get to heaven because there was no church near by. It was a very enjoyable read!

I loved this book it was only the second book of Okes I ever read and it was awesome

This is my very favorite Janette Oke book. Although it is rather "warm and fuzzy," Kathleen and Donnigan are both very realistic and well-written characters who have faults and problems. Being a mail-order bride is difficult, and they don't have an ideal relationship. Life in the west was hard and there were often tragedies, but they overcome the trials of farming and raising a large family. I really love how this romance isn't just about Kathleen and Donnigan growing to love each other, but also each of falling in love with Jesus Christ, who brings them totally together. A Bride for Donnigan is a wonderful book for anyone who enjoys Christian fiction or western fiction.

I really enjoyed this book, but I wouldn't say it was my favorite.

It left curious of what was going to happen, and it was very interesting, and well written.

I thought it was a good ending, even though I was kind of thinking, "that's it?" And it kind of left me with unanswered questions--but the ending was a good message.

I personally like the "Canadian West" book series by Janette Oke better, but overall, this was good.

i have always loved this book. i have read it many times. and i am sure i will read it many more time to come. janette oke is a wonderful author and i have everyone of her books. i have told many of my friends to read this book. so i would say the same to anyone else. i hope you enjoy it too.

This is the first time I have read anything by this author. I have now purchased 3 more books by Hannah. I read Luanne Rice, Danielle Steel and Nicholas Sparks. I buy their books the day they hit the shelves. Since I was headed to the beach for a two week vacation and they had not come out with a new book I had to have something for the beach chair reading.
I purchased Distant Shores. I now have visited the local book store and bought 3 more to read! I hope this is enough to get me through another 10 days! If not, I'm sure there are more books out there by Hannah.
Try a book by her if you want to read and not have to really think too much; a great beach chair book!!!


GREAT Summer READ!!

I love love love Kristin Hannah. This is the first time I have really been inspired to write a review. I think this book is inspirational even though it is not a self-help book. So what if it contains a hundred cliches. I think most all of us can relate to one or two of them. I think this book is for anyone looking for even the slightest bit of inspiration to get themn going on working towards a goal or even just to say "yeah, I think I want to take up ______ again". But if you not looking for inspiration, then read this book anyways. Kristin Hannah always touches the heart with her books!

Okay, I wrote inspiration too many times. Sorry, like I said - first review!!

This is my first Kristin Hannah's book and generally I liked it. It is easy to read and it involves emotionally. The only problem with the plot is that it's too flat and predictable.

A desperate housewife finds herself in a vacuum. She has plenty of money and time but she does not know what to do with her life. Her children are grown up, her husband is busy with his own career and suddenly all her skills of being a good wife and a perfect mother are not required anymore. In a desperate attempt to find something to fill the emptiness Elizabeth rediscovers her forgotten talent. And I'd say this solution is too easy. The heroine not only has money, freedom and time, she also has a talent. Isn't it too much? I mean, this Elizabeth is way too perfect - she's a patient and supportive wife, she's a great mom, understanding and all, she's a great artist and after all these years of doing nothing with her abandoned gift she still appears to be able to create some piece of art. The cure for her problems seems to be too obvious to be interesting. There's no serious obstacle for her to find a way to raise her self-esteem.

Elizabeth's husband is also a kind of cliché - handsome, popular, rich and famous. On his way of reconsidering their marriage he faces many temptations that constantly come in form of a young, pretty and sexy woman. And here too, all characters are too beautiful and perfect to be real. Men in the world of women literature are weak and easily manipulated, and Jack doesn't make an exception. His infidelity to Elizabeth is given as something inevitable and rather forgivable, while Elizabeth's shy attempt to dive into a relationship with another man is from the very beginning doomed to be a failure. Another dull cliché...

And despite all this criticism... well, I enjoed the book. It's not perfect, but it's not bad either...

I really enjoyed this book. KH has a style of writing that really captures the reader's attention. She never fails to entertain. Birdie and Jack had been married for 24 yrs. and everything seemed to fall apart. Daughters Jamie and Steph were away at college and Birdie was restless. Jack moves to NY and finds the single life grand.

I stayed up until 3:30 am to finish this book. I found it very well written & made me think about adding to my life as a mother & wife. It was definitely a page turner.

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.

This is a very entertaining novel and a perfect thing to read on a cold winter day.

This is the most thought-provoking book in the entire Rina Lazarus and Peter Decker series. Some of the books in the series are light reading, but this one is really deep on so many levels. A lot of loose ends are tied up about Rina's earlier life, important details that will matter to long-time fans of the book series.

WOW! This is my second Faye Kellerman, and I didn't like the first, but THIS was absolutely wonderful! Faye really got the reader into the character's minds and released information about their dark and stormy pasts at just the right time, like when you would find out more personal details about a friend.

The pace is incredibly quick. I couldn't put this one down. She has a delightful talent for characterization. Suspense was killing me. I look forward to reading more from this author!

The book starts off well, as a mystery should, with the events of the murder of Dr. Sparks. But then it spends the next 300 or so pages batting back and forth, and not really going anywhere. Plus the relationship between Rita Lazarus' deceased husband and the priest are totally incongruious, as I'm sure Kellerman realized when she threw in this rather burdensome plot twist.
However, the end of the book really does pull some surprises. You just have to plod through the middle to get there. Not her best work.

This was my first Faye Kellerman novel involving Dectective Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. I thoroughly enjoyed it, read the sequel, and then the first novel in the Peter Decker/ Rina Lazarus series, Ritual Bath, piqued by how these two characters met, and how their relationship evolves.

The best novels in this series employ gripping, page turning mysteries, the human aspect of the evolving relationship between Peter and Rina, and explanations of Judaism in somewhat the same way as Harry Kemelman's Rabbi David Small mysteries, or the older G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries, the latter combining great mysteries with interesting explications of Catholicism.

Warning: You might get hooked to the series!

I am a huge Terry Brooks fan. This book does not disappoint. I have introduced my grandson to Terry Brooks, and he enjoyed this book as much as I did.

While Brooks is not a great comedic fantasy author (see Terry Pratchett for someone who is) he is generally a good fantasy author. I keep listening to the Landover CDs hoping to get past Cameron Beierle's horrible readings and I can't.

Apparently the original audiobooks were done by "Dick Hill" and released on cassette only. These new CDs suffer greatly from issues like:

*Frequent mispronunciations of words (Foliage becomes "foilage" for instance);
*a completely phony sounding "hard boiled detective" voice for Ben Holliday (I am convinced Beierle is NOT a native english speaker as he often rolls his Rs or makes a soft "D" instead of an "R".);
*Randomly changing pronunciations of character names (the fairly simple word "paladin" is usually mispronounced "puhLADin" although in book 2 he freely changes back and forth between the two pronunciations.
*His female voices are atrocious. Willow sounds like Carol Channing imitating Marilyn Monroe's "happy birthday, mister president" performance. Willow pronounces "Ben" something like "Byeeeeehn".

Wizard at Large particularly suffers from having inappropriate pauses in the middle of passages where one would expect an editor to remove the dead space. In fact the whole series seems like nobody did any kind of production oversight or direction of the audiobooks at all.

On the plus side, Cameron does a fine job with second and third tier characters like Questor Thews, Abernathy and the G'home Gnomes.

Terry Brooks returns to Landover with yet another stunning tale of adventure and danger. Less than a year after nearly losing the kingdom of Landover to the duplicitous wizard Meeks, Ben Holiday once again finds himself fighting for his life. The mess begins when Questor Thews, the court wizard and half-brother to the vanquished Meeks, rushes into the garden room to announce triumphantly that he has finally found a way to change Abernathy, the court scribe, back to his human form after more than twenty years. The spell requires just one thing, a catalist that will separate the man from the dog in Abernathy, thereby allowing the transformation to take place. Unfortunately, the only item within easy reach that could possibly serve this purpose is Ben's enchanted medallion. Despite the danger posed by such an act, Ben reluctantly hands over the medallion, giving Questor the Ok to work his magic. But as we all know, Questor's magic doesn't always work the way he intends, and sometimes the results can be devastating. A sneeze on the part of Questor sends the magic spinning wildly out of control with catastrophic consequences. Not only does Abernathy fail to change back, but he's also sucked down into a strange well of light that carries him off to an unknown land...along with Ben's medallion. The mystery only deepens when, almost immediately after Abernathy vanishes, a mysterious bottle appears where the scribe once stood. Though at first nobody knows neither the origin nor the nature of the bottle, Questor remembers an event in his past that sheds a disturbing light on Abernathy's situation.
The bottle, Questor confesses, is an old relic of Meeks, the former court wizard, which the old man often gave to the son of the last king of Landover to play with. The bottle, Questor reveals, is the prison of a powerful genie-like demon who appears when summoned and obeys the command of its master. This creature, called a Darkling, draws the power for its magics from the darker side of a person's nature, anger, hatred, envy, greed, etc. The more powerful and cruel its master, the stronger the demon. Since the bottle was last in the possession of Michel Ard Rhi, the son of the last king, Questor can only deduce that Abernathy was sent to the place where the bottle was kept. Abernathy, it turns out, was sent back to Earth, to wherever Michel Ard Rhi lived. The situation only gets worse when Philip and Sot, friends of Ben's from the north, steal the bottle, believing it to be a pretty trinket. Now, Ben must not only recover his missing medallion and Abernathy, but also track down and regain possession of the bottle before it's opened.
Despite the seriousness of Abernathy's situation, he is not completely without help. After waking up to find himself scrunched into a display case, he encounters a little girl named Elizabeth, who reveals that he's in Woodenville, Washington. More specifically, he's inside the castle of Graum Wythe, which is ruled by a man named Michel Ard Rhi. Abernathy decides to tell Elizabeth the truth about him and urges her to help him escape from the castle before Michel learns of his presence. Elizabeth readily agrees, and the two of them set about forming a plan to beat the clock and get Abernathy safely away before his old enemy learns of his presence. Will Ben recover the bottle and find a way to exchange it for Abernathy? Will Elizabeth and Abernathy find a way to elude Michel before it's too late? The climactic battle at the end will answer that question quite nicely.
All in all I liked the presentation of this book. I'd read the unabridged Library of Congress version and liked it, but the Brilliance Audio abridgment was even better. Very little indeed was left out, and once again Dick Hill delivers a quality performance. My only complaint was his portrayal of the Darkling, but even that really wasn't that bad. He does manage to convey the fawning yet sinister nature of the creature quite nicely. If you haven't read this book yet and you enjoyed the first two novels in the series, pick up this book. Once again, Brooks delivers a masterpiece.

The landover works are very well done, with stand out characters. Action, missteps, all done with great skill. Keep up the good work!!

If you like books like this one, might I suggest another I've recently come across. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly recommend it.

I read all of Terry Brooks books as a kid and thought I'd re-read a bunch of them for fun. Picked up most of the books at a used book store on a whim.

While I liked "Magical Kingdom For Sale", this one was just based on the dumbest premise of all. Seriously, the entire premise of this book is stupid. The King has one magical amulet that is the most important thing in the world and he gives it away by page 30. The rest of the book is just listening to the stupid antics of him trying to get it back. Blah, blah and blah. I just couldn't get past the main plot thread.

The drama takes place in a Texas prison called Green River State Penitentiary. The atmosphere is tense, and the prisoners are grouped along racially divided lines. The prison is run by Warden Hobbes, an intelligent, erudite man, who is not wrapped too tight. He sets the stage for a prison uprising that is bloody and violent. There are a few good guys, and a lot of bad guys in this prison. One of the good guys is Ray Klein, a medical doctor who was sent to prison for a rape that he did not commit.

Ray works in the prison infirmary while doing his time, and while there, he has made the acquaintance of a visiting doctor, Juliette Devlin. There is a very strong attraction between the two, and it is safe to say that they are falling in love. Unaware of the looming uprising, Ray learns that he is to be paroled the next day. Suddenly, that news is eclipsed, when all hell breaks loose in the prison. The uprising has been started by a sociopathic prisoner, aided by a host of seriously deranged individuals, who are in prison for crimes they actually committed.

Unfortunately, Dr. Devlin finds herself stuck in the prison infirmary during the uprising. Her presence becomes known, and she becomes the object of lust for a number of prisoners, most of whom have lacked female companionship for an extended period of time. She locks herself in the infirmary, hoping to keep out the sex starved hordes of prisoners, who are eager to party with her, should they be successful in gaining entry to the infirmary. Ray hears of this and is off to the rescue, no longer content to sit out the riot in his cell, waiting for his parole day to arrive. The problem is that the author opts for self indulgence at this point and gives in to his own male fantasy. He has Dr. Devlin voluntarily have sex with two prisoners, while wild hordes of others are battering down the infirmary door in hopes of making her their girl toy. This is highly implausible and makes the book go on somewhat of a downward spiral. Nonetheless, this is still a solid debut novel.

I first picked this book up on accident right after it was written. I have since read it twice and will again.
The great thing about this book besides it's well written roller coaster ride is the fact that it operates on 3 different levels: Physical, spiritual and philosophical, and the character development is as riveting as the action.
I highly recommend!

This has been one of the best books I have ever read. It really gets into the mind of the criminals jailed and shows how the system works and doesn't work. This book is hard to put down and it keeps you going until the climactic ending. I have recommended it many times over and everyone has loved it.

It's quite difficult for a writer to cross the Atlantic in either direction, so it has to be a plus that Willocks's origin only shows once or twice. For the rest, he manages the genre pretty well: the brutal rubs shoulders with the the sentimental, and cliche with overwriting. He strings clauses together with "and" when the sexuality gets romantic. Here's a gem:
"Then Devlin did the one thing in the world that could comfort him and if ... and he wondered ... She reached up under his towel and put her hand on his cock."
The obviousness of the book suggests Willocks is writing with an eye for the movies. The prison is full of racism and the writer's vision is full of inverse racism. There's Whirlwind Wilson, a hurrican Carter type who ensures the blacks are righteous muthas, the hero is called Klein and heroine is called - of course! - Devlin! Is the movie going to play Irish music every time she appears? The warden is named Hobbes - one for the philosophy buffs - and speaks like Hannibal Lecter.
Devlin bedding Whirlwind Wilson is a bit gratuitous, though. The book's a bit too long as well.
It's also funny that in the Epilogue it states that one of the characters waited in vain for his book of the events to be made into a film. Sounds prophetic to me.

Doctor Ray Klein is a prisoner in the hellhole known as Green River State Penitentiary, Texas' toughest prison. He has made a good life for himself there, using his medical skills to win the respect of his fellow inmates. In non-medical matters, his actions are governed by a motto he has taped to his mirror: NOT MY F***ING BUSINESS. This policy has kept him alive and sane.

As the novel begins, Klein obtains the prize he has been seeking: parole. In twenty-four hours, he will emerge from Green River a free man. But fate is not kind. Shortly after he receives the good news, a riot, induced by the machinations of a manic depressive warden, erupts. Klein does his best to avoid trouble, but is forced to take a more active role when he learns that a colleague, Dr. Juliette Devlin, is trapped in the infirmary on the other side of the facility. Accompanied by a ragtag group of convicts (one inmate asks, "Where's Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen?"), he travels through the very bowels of the prison to rescue her.

This book is hard-edged, brutal and claustrophobic, full of horrifying detail. Willocks puts you inside the prison with the rest of the convicts--it becomes your world, your only point of reference. Willocks is eloquent and painfully direct. He spares the reader nothing. Green River Rising is a harrowing fictional trip through a very realistic hell--be prepared.

Science is beginning to lay the groundwork for intelligent design and massive explosions with extreme variation in species in short time periods is best solved with ID not evolution, which is accepted as the adaptations within species, but this book explains why. Elohim is ET and is responsible for life on Earth, the theory is on the table. Read this book and then go see Expelled, No Intelligence Required, this Atheistic solution deserves some attention.

I did not want to read this book because I was thinking of "heavens gate cult" but I kept going and when I complete the first part of genesis I started to jump I thought that I was going to get a heart failure :) LOL this book has change my life so much and now I know who we are and what we are jeje
love to all humanity

I liked this book a lot. It is not a science book. It is a book for ordinary people who can enjoy an alternative view of the Bible. You can see most of this book on the Rael.org website along with some other free downloads and get a sense for the author and the movement.

This book is the biggest mindf*** for Christians ever written. On the one hand it convincingly describes how all of the Kabbalah, Old Testiment and N.T., plus gnostic texts basically originate from Alien contacts, but then these Aliens, called Elohim, are shown to be highly scientific, and slightly hedonistic, agnostics! Honestly, I could not stop laughing because the way it is presented, it all makes sense. It really is a fascinating read and one that will impact you --in the head, the heart, and the gut, as in belly laughs.

Demonstrated Truth is, of course, another matter. Christians might see this book as yet another utterly fantstic work of the Devil, along with the entire fossil record.... which they are also forced to deny --due to their irrational idolotry of a literal (but man made), Genesis. Whatever....

This book is against macro-biological evolution, in favor of Elohim design, but admits some micro evolution does occur after genetic patterns are placed. It advocates: high tech, freer sex (but never pedophilia), good science, rationalism, and friendly aliens called Elohim. It recommends, a new form of politics called geniocracy, which is government by geniuses instead of puppets of the corporotocracy like idiot W, elected by a media manipulated democracy.

The Elohim do not like a number of things about our religions, economy, governments, and cultures here on the Earth, and seek to change them before we kill ourselves, grow even dumber, and before they can land here as friends to share about 26,000 years of their progress.

They don't particularly like being shot at by fighter jets or being called "Gods" by primitive idiots, either. These are not acceptible ways to treat our older brothers, and our "creators"! Got that people! I personally like the things the Elohim want to share, and I don't like the things they object to, so I guess I'm with them.

Watch out for Nibiru, it's coming soon!

Peace and good laughs

I read this as a free e-book out of curiosity. I am always looking for new ideas and manners of perception, particularly those that might be transformative.

I did not find this anywhere as engrossing or artfully woven as Barbara Marciniak's tales of the Pleiadians. It also was nowhere as sophisticated as the Seth material.

Generally speaking, I have nothing against the content of the book. Yes, I do believe in life on other planets, and yes, it's quite possible we were designed by more advanced beings. None of this is outlandish in my view. As for sensuality, indeed, we need to break the chains that make sex into a taboo, but, Rael's version of indiscriminate sex is equally pathological - it not only devalues the act of sexual exchange and those involved in it - it is hardly nourishing or fulfilling in the long run. Both extremes are apt to cause an imbalance. As for the issue of cloning: it is a matter of time before this becomes a reality. It is inevitable.

What I do take issue with is Rael's assertion of prophet-hood; it is ludicrous. Additionally, the persona that jumps out of the pages is that of a highly manipulative, hedonistic narcissist who's found the ultimate "free-ride" after his other ventures failed. None the less, this is certainly an intelligent and resourceful man who can make others do his bidding.

Read "Escape from Freedom" by Erich Fromm for his views on why people choose to be chained by such religions.

Intelligent Design is one of the best books I have ever read. For the first time in my life, the bible actually made sense. It explains Genesis and so-called miracles in the bible in a scientific and practical way. It debunks the theory of evolution and gives a believable account of our origins. Like I said, for the first time in my life the bible made sense.

I first read Richard Bode's Beachcombing at Miramar: The Quest for an Authentic Life 10 years ago. Since then, I have re-read it several times. If I had to make a list of books I'd want with me on a desert island, Beachcombing at Miramar would definitely be on my list.

When Richard Bode's four children were grown, and his marriage of thirty years was at an end, he left a successful career on the east coast and moved to Miramar, California. All he took with him was "my van, my clothes, my typewriter, my record player, my unabridged dictionary, and a few favorite books" - and a "check, which if converted to cash, might have filled a shoe box with twenty-dollar bills."

At the start of Beachcombing at Miramar, Bode is living in a beach house, walking the beach daily, and relishing his newly-chosen life of simplicity. But what he is looking for is not so much the flotsam and jetsam of the beach, as an understanding of his own past and the re-invention of himself as the sole creator of his life.

In seventeen essays, Bode uses objects he finds on the beach, conversations with people he meets while beachcombing, and overseen or overheard interactions between other people on the beach to reflect back on his life and how he came to live at Miramar to finally pursue "an authentic life."

There are lessons here that apply to almost all of us, including "how to see with new eyes the choices we make" - choices that can either lead us toward an authentic life where we are in touch with nature and our hearts, or to a lifetime of living an eventually unsatisfying role; choices that can reaffirm our knowledge of ourselves as who we really are, or lead us later to regret decisions that took us away from our true selves; and choices that can lead us to real happiness, rather than resigned compromise.

This lyrically written book takes me not just inside Richard Bode and his life, but leads me to re-examine my own choices every time I read it, and to find more life lessons that I can apply to my own life. I am grateful to him for sharing his beachcombing "finds" with all of us and showing us that it's never too late to lead a life of authenticity.

A beautiful book taking the reader on a journey that most of us only dream about...Richard Bode 'went for it' took the chance to change direction in life in a very dramatic and profound way. I read this book in one night, couldn't put it down and went on to give many copies as gifts. One friend carried this book with her for weeks, to read a few paragraphs throughout the day, when it was possible, for inspiration and relaxation. Read this book,you will never forget it....

This book is full of wisdom. I read it once and immediately started reading it again. There is so much to learn from it and to apply in our life. Everyone goes through a period in their life in which they are looking to find authenticity in themselves, this book will help them find a way. I also bought extra copies to share with my close friends. This is a must have on your home library.

I bought the book based on the reviews read here. Amazingly, reading the disparate views on this book allowed me to understand something I read years ago and have always wondered about the validity of... and that is: "Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself."

I have no idea where I read that but I've always rather doubted what it implied... now I think I'm getting a handle on it... I chose to buy the book because I'd rather heed the words of someone finding reflected in themselves, not outright vituperation but instead almost non judgmental... ahhh... reflection... on the worth of the thing...

Seems almost simple-minded of me to bring it up but then, perhaps simple-mindedness is something I "love or hate about myself"...

When I came across this book, I hoped that I had discovered a treasure. Once in a while I will find a book of nature and introspection that takes a place among my personal classics. This definitely was not one of these jewels. Richard Bode comes across as anything but "authentic". He seems extremely smug and extremely judgemental. If you expect a soul-broadening experience, forget it. He sounds like a rich, nasty, and self-satisfied old spoiled brat and reading his book will only make you feel sour.

The intrigue of what happened to "Crissy" is there but the back and forth of so many characters made it too confusing. Frustration made me drop the book.

I've read three Marcia Muller mysteries recently. The first two were from her Sharon McCone series, and I found a later McCone much better than an earlier book. Was I astounded to discover that Point Deception (not part of the McCone series) is an awesome story!

Point Deception is seen through the eyes of two scarred individuals. Guy Newberry is a writer whose specialty is finding the secrets of towns in trouble. But he's pretty much given up his lucrative career when his photographer-wife was killed on a joint story three years previous. Rhoda "Rho" Swift is a sheriff's deputy in fictional Soledad County, California. Rho is still haunted by demons from her first crime scene--the grisly murder of eight people living commune-style in Cascada Canyon. The 13 year old crime was never solved, and the county closed ranks to outsiders. The brother of one of the victims convinces Newberry to investigate this unsolved case, and Newberry is intrigued enough to travel from NYC to California.

Newberry faces many obstacles in his investigation. Many townspeople continue to be spooked by the murders. Some refuse to cooperate with him. The sheriff's department made multiple errors that hindered the investigation, which calls suspicion to them as well. But there are several residents who have secrets to share that may shed light on this case. When Newberry arrives, it looks like another killing spree may have started on the eve of the anniversary of the Cascada Canyon murders. This opens up the old wounds and brings the nightmares back. But it also unleashes a chain of events that will ultimately help Newberry and Swift to solve the mystery together.

It is hard for me to believe that Point Deception is written by Marcia Muller--the same author who writes the Sharon McCone series. The writing is hard and gritty and the characters are more deep and tortured. It's a book I'd expect from Michael Connelly. Muller's husband is writer Bill Pronzini, so it's possible that some of his influence has rubbed off. If I were Muller, I'd start a series with Rhoda Swift. I think she's a much more interesting character.

This book is my 1st Marcia Muller - and last.

The plot is old '80's hippy drug CA north-coast retread stuff. The worst part is that the local law (sheriffs) are dumber than dirt and 8 people get killed (unsolved - no wonder) and 13 years later (to the exact date ... dum, dee, dum, dum - hard plot BS to swallow) - 4 more get killed - and leave hairs and tire tracks and Nike tracks all over and - our dumb lady Deputy is - you guessed it - DUMB.

Compared to a Robert B. Parker or an Elmore Leonard or a John D. MacDonald or a leCarre or even a Dick Francis or a Tony Hillerman, this author/book/plot/characters/dialog is zero.

Do yourself a favor - read them first - then read something else.

Point Deception causes me to forgive Muller her less-than-stellar McCone mysteries, published beginning in 2000. These mysteries were filled with setting and location descriptions, more as if she were the set designer for a documentary on San Francisco's history as a city. This would be okay if you lived in San Francisco or were a lover of San Francisco. For those of us where neither is the case, the books were just boring with no real character development. The books leave one feeling that Muller was just fulfilling contract requirements and had lost her muse.

In the book, Point Deception, all is forgiven. Here there is the Muller of earlier years, with a new female heroine and very little set design description. The interest here is a very complex set of murders, seemingly unrelated. The characters are very well developed and explanatory of all the events in the complex train of events leading to the resolution of all of the murders. Muller as well makes social commentary, which had been missing in her other novels written in the 21st century. Notable is the comment about the local people wanting to be paid in cash, due to the fact that governments were increasingly taking larger slices from lowering incomes with ever decreasing benefits in return. Writers who bravely make much-needed social and religious commentary in a knee-jerk society that swallows all the propaganda increasingly spewed out by all the bought medias are always a delight in a world where negative social commentary is just not "positive" enough to be mentioned. Hail to true social commentary where there is a negativity in the culture that is a fact.

This book is the type of excellent work you'd expect from Marcia Muller. I'm just disappointed she didn't seem to follow up and turn Rho Swift into her own series.

I've been reading Sharon McCone for years, but never tried this one out until I saw Rho mentioned as a minor character in "Cyanide Wells." If not for that, I never would've known about her, nor enjoyed such a great read.

Highly recommended.