Nova Books

In McCaffrey's Freedom's Landing, Earth has been conquered, subjugated by the Catteni, a race of aliens whose great physical strength stems from their own homeworld's intense gravity. Humans have been turned into slaves, forcibly performing whatever tasks their Catteni masters dictate to them.

Kris Bjornsen is a young woman who had the nerve to fight back, in her own small way, by stealing her Catteni master's personal transport. Living in hiding on the Catteni world of Barevi, Kris ultimately ends up meeting Zainal, a Catteni that winds up changing her life forever.

Now, because of a crime Zainal committed, both Kris and Zainal (along with many other humans, and several different species of aliens, too) wind up stranded on an uninhabited world.

Kris and Zainal, along with several hundred other humans and aliens, must go to great lengths to survive this hostile world. And they do, using this new world to build a colony free from the watchful eye of their harsh Catteni overlords. But this world they have been stranded on is not all it seems, and its secrets may lead to their burgeoning colony's survival, or its ultimate destruction.

Freedom's Landing was my first sortie into an Anne McCaffrey created Universe. Despite some flaws, I enjoyed the overall premise and its intermingling plots.

The idea of using slave labor to explore/colonize a planet was an interesting concept, however, I thought the author could have gone a bit more into the moral/ethical issues of such a policy, instead of just using it as a guiding framework for her story.

Kris and Zainal's blossoming romance was artfully done, with each character clearly growing into the role of being comfortable as the other's partner. Kris and Zainal's very different backgrounds provide for a very interesting friction on their romantic progress.

I also found other, more minor details, to be extremely believable. The idea of putting together this new colony is a lot of awful hard work, and the author notes this in the fact that she is constantly emphasizing how tired the characters are at the end of each of their arduous days.

Despite McCaffrey's well-crafted story, some of the prose was a bit clumsy and hard to get through at times. Especially when it came to each individual character's own unique speech patterns. I commend the author on attempting to enhance each of her characters by providing them with (all too realistic) varying ways of speaking based on their backgrounds. But McCaffrey does not pull this detail off well, and it, at times, makes getting through characters' dialogue a bit tedious.

Despite some minor drawbacks, McCaffrey's tale was engaging and moved along quite well. I look forward to delving into this story's subsequent tales.

I was hooked on the series as soon as I got started with the first book. Although skeptical of the content, being a Dragonriders fan, I also liked her Acorna series, so tried this one. The issues addressed here are touchy - Anne is moving into much more aggressive explorations of social problems and cultural values than in Dragonriders or her stand-alone works.

I think this is appropriate for teens and up, not younger kids, who may be unable to process the broader concepts, or just be scared by the content. World invasion and domination are scary. Add slavery and sexual exploitation. None of this was in the Pern series, so don't expect the same easy ride.

For example, the Zainal - Chris romance confronts us with racial taboos. Catteni are grey-skinned with yellow eyes, and bigger than average humans. Chris is a Scandinavian-type blonde woman. Then we are confronted with the realities of how people of different social or racial groups are treated as slaves. Slavery has persisted in human culture and touches a nerve in many of us, not just Blacks or exploited women. Anne pushes the issue by turning it into a "what-if". What if our whole species were treated as slaves? What if slavery were inter-galactic? Do the same mores apply?

Chuck and the para-military people become leaders on Botany, organizing others to be able to survive. This naturally happens in a crisis - the tough guy becomes "tribal" leader. Chuck is a realistic human, with doubts and fears, but sound thinking. He listens to Chris plead to spare Zainal's life at the landing, because he knows information they can use. Later, she grows to care for the big Catteni, never realizing how important he would be to them later, as an elite son of the Emassi caste.

Other issues: do we care for the mentally disabled among us? The physically disabled? Why or why not? Do we share social responsibility for one another? Is racism always wrong? What if it is inter-species racism? What defines a living being as a "person"? There are 5 or 6 species "dropped" on Botany. Are they all equal?

These issues make the book gripping, sometimes troubling, and a good source for classroom or family discussions. I think it is a great series for practicing active thinking, because it offers the chance to be entertained, yet to question our values and assumptions.

It is a rich book, and I did not find many editing errors. The last book has them, though, and is the weakest in the series. And no, there is no "bodice-ripping" here. There is some intense sexual encounter, but tastefully done - not on the order of an Anne Rice or Danielle Steele book. Events seem natural, not contrived.

This series is not for the faint hearted, or for strict adherents of fantasy or SF genre. They will be unhappy. Like all of Anne's books, this one focuses on people, and their emotional selves, more than gadgets or external sightseeing. Critics should remember that Anne has been frustrated by entrapment in the series of Pern too long, because that was what people pushed her to produce so much of. At over 80 y/o let her write the stories she wants to write, while we still have her - and yes, let's get her a good editor to keep them all tidy!

Kris Bjornsen is a carefree student at Colorado University when the alien Catteni arrive on Earth. Then she becomes one of thousands kidnapped and transported to a Catteni planet, where she wakes from stasis to find herself a slave. Rebelling against her Catteni masters - something Terrans do a great deal more often than most enslaved species - earns her another trip aboard one of their ships, this time to a world that Catteni explorers have marked for eventual settlement. The Catteni method for confirming a new planet's suitability for colonization is both simple and brutal: they drop a substantial population of slaves there, with minimal supplies and survival gear, and then wait to see what happens.

The drop of Terrans and several other enslaved species on this planet also includes one Catteni, an aristocrat sentenced to exile. At first Kris, who already knows Zainal from encountering him while they were both fugitives from Catteni justice, is the only Terran not inclined to execute him as soon as the others discover his presence. But as the castaways struggle to stay alive on the world they decide to call Botany, they soon realize that Zainal's knowledge of this place - however sketchy, since he had no idea he'd wind up dropped there along with the slaves! - may well be all that makes their survival possible.

An old-fashioned yet decidedly romantic science fiction adventure that takes familiar themes and plot devices, and does such interesting things with them that I didn't mind its lack of originality one bit. I'm glad I've already got the next two books in this four-book series waiting on my "to be read" pile!

The first book of four and the best of the four. An engaging example of the Mistresse's hand.

The follow-on books complete the story, but are not as good as this "kickoff" book. Still worth reading however. I don't think McCaffrey can write a bad book.

Another in the series with Freedoms Challenge. See my review there.

I thought the storyline was very compelling, though not as humorous as some of the other books of this type I've recently read. And I can't say I really identified with any of the characters - they were very over the top - a bit over done, really. The little bit about the psychic at the end seemed overly contrived, and cheesy, but the ending was comfortably predictable. It's a nice, fluffy-quick read, but I would put it fairly far down the list of recommended books.

This book was just fun! It was not a "classic" just light and entertaining. Loved it!

It may be because of the on-target reading by Tanya Eby, but I found this book the best of the Bridget Jones, British slacker youth novels, including BJ herself. While I understand the attraction of wish-fulfillment fantasy, the disparity between the heroine and the hero she ultimately acquires makes King Midas and the Beggar Girl seem equal. We learn to love the heroines and wish them well, but frequently, we wonder what the perfect (rich, handsome and charming) hero sees in her. The liveliness of the narrator, Mel, makes us glad when she finds her imperfect hero. References to English popular culture may be a barrier for some American readers, however.

This was a really cute story, with characters you could like. Colgan does a great job of making us root for the main character even as she loves someone else's fiance. There are silly situations that are laugh out loud, and yet this book was never dumbed-down. If you're looking for a quick, funny, enjoyable read, I'd recommend Amanda's Wedding hands down.

Melanie has been pals with Fran and Amanda since grade school. Now all grown up, Mel is a bit of a doormat; Fran is a slam hound; and Amanda is still a conniving back-stabber. Amanda was always pretty mean to the two of them, particularly after her father struck it rich from an invention and whisked the family to green pastures, and now sees herself as much more "posh" than her former pals, but nevertheless likes to brag and make them feel small.

Mel has always been a bit of a pushover. She hates her job, does not really care for her roommate, manages to have casual sex with a guy she thinks is creepy, and is lonely since the supposed love of her life (Alex, a would-be rocker), deserted her without word to find himself in America. Alex suddenly returns and wants to resume the relationship. Or does he just want a place to hang his hat?

When Amanda announces that she is engaged to Fraser (who also happens to be the man that Mel had an unrequited crush on in college) so that she can attain a title and a crumbling castle, Fran and Mel band together with Fraser's brother Angus to throw a wrench in the nuptials to keep Amanda from getting yet another thing handed to her on a silver plate.

While planning their diabolical scheme, Mel is betrayed by those she thought were closest to her and summons the courage to stand up for herself. Several potential beaus are tossed around (including Alex, Angus, Fraser, co-worker Steve, and Nick, the tallest accountant in the world), but you'll have to wait until the end to find out who she walks off into the sunset with.

It is a really engaging story about love and friendship and choosing to trust and believe in both. Of course these Londoners drink so much, you might just get a contact high from all the whiskey and wine! But it is a great story - I found it hard to put down!

Very poorly written novel! Just in the first part of the book, he interogates a rider, yet Priest who was driving behind him in another car is nowhere! Sometimes the plot is written with the characters making so illogical decisions and events so improbable as to create near impossible situations. How a headlight dropping causes enough noise to be noticed, but subsequent scrabbling along a gravel railbed does not and why the villian does not pick up the headlamp are but a few examples.

Parallel Lies revolves around a murder on a Northern Union Railroad freight car. A former DC Homocide detective, Peter Tyler, retired after the bad press of beating a child abuser, is called in on a temporary contract to handle the investigation by the National Transportation Security Board. The murder becomes complicated and leads Tyler to stumble on a series of derailments, apparently the result of sabotage. Northern Union is covering up the derailments, apparently because of its upcoming launching of a new and revolutionary high speed train. Tyler has to work around both NUR and the NTSB as he becomes convinced the real threat is the new high speed train, about to embark on its maiden voyage with celebrities and press.

It's a good story and worth a couple of rainy or cold evenings. Pearson gets too wordy at times and the plot strains credability at times. But, overall, Pearson is a good story teller and the suspense is worthwhile.

I dont read very many books. In fact I could say none at all, but once I read Parallel Lies, I could not put the book down. The suspense in this book kept me reading. I really enjoyed reading this book and recommend this to everyone to read.

In this recent novel, Ridley Pearson deals with the American railroad system and a search for vengeance. Umberto Alvarez lost his family to death when a train crushed their car at a gated crossing. He knows the Northern Union Railroad is covering up the truth and he wants a public apology for the deaths they caused. Systematically, he has managed to derail freight trains of Northern Union's every six weeks or so as he works to the ultimate destruction of a test of a high-speed passenger carrying train.

Peter Tyler is the investigator for the National Transportation Board and has his own inner demons to deal with. After a long and distinguished police career, Peter met up with a child molester as the creep was bashing the bay's head against the wall. Something snapped deep inside him and Peter began to beat the molester's head against the wall, just like he had done to the baby. While understandable, Peter's actions became part of a media firestorm since the molester was black and Peter was white. In the aftermath, Peter with his reputation savaged in the media, lost his job, his career, his family and is days away from eviction. So, when tossed temporary work to investigate a current derailment, he leaps at the chance and he has to make it work.

The trail will lead him cross country as he discovers the clash between corporate greed, politics and the quest of one man to find vengeance from those who have wronged him. While these are fairly stock characters and Mr. Pearson does not plow new ground that has not been covered better in his other novels, this is still a fairly good read. The action is fast paced and the premise is all too plausible today. For more information on this book as well as his many other books visit his website at www.ridleypearson.com.

Some places in the story are slow to read, otherwise it was a good read overall. Makes you feel for the guy who did the derailments because the railroad company killed his family with a major cover-up. This story could be made into a good movie.

I am a first time reader of Dorothy Allison, and I was not at all impressed with this novel. I sort of struggled through it, forced myself to finish it.

The first thing I noticed was all the characters' personalities kind of melted together, the dialogue did not provide them with individual voices, poor character development. The girls as children spoke just the same as the adults - clearly not age appropriate language.
New characters continually appeared, which made me stumble. And so many important scenes of real ACTION were left out and just referred to! Just when I thought we were getting to the good stuff.

And lastly, the novel could be dirtier. 400+ pages and only allusions to sex? Please.

Bought this on a clearance rack and can now see why it hadn't sold. The characters were unexciting, and the story dragged on and on. I read 4 books while having this one unfinished on my night stand. I've never read any of Allison's other novels, but after reading this one, I don't think I'll jump on the chance. Dede was the most interesting character, and even she couldn't keep me involved.

Ugh! This book was a gift, so of course I read it. Don't waste your time! I read it a year ago and it still sticks in my head as one of the worst books I have read in quite some time.

Another "Top of the list". The first 50-75 pgs were a little slow, but then I didn't want to put it down!
The way the story weaves the lives of Mom and daughter, leaving the life they knew in CA behind, to search the two daughters left behind in GA... is sad, intriguing, cryptic and dynamic all in one!
Recommended, just to see how the lives of the women of Cayro, Georgia come out on Top, together!!

"Caveweller," Dorothy Allison's second novel, is nearly overwhelmed by the number of stories it relates. Yet somehow Allison holds everything together in this deeply collective portrait of a mother and her three daughters and the often troubled, sometimes impoverished lives they lead.

The novel has the feel of a multigenerational saga, but its span is barely a decade (with a few flashbacks to an earlier era). A trilogy of sorts, the book presents a series of interrelated family crises; its tragedies and triumphs occur at seemingly random and usually unexpected moments. Newly widowed, Delia Byrd, a recovering singer from a briefly famous rock band, flees with her daughter Cissy to her hometown in Georgia and attempts to reconcile herself with the two daughters she left to a violent husband from an earlier marriage. A claustrophobic tension permeates the resulting relationships: the townsfolk despise this prodigal woman who "abandoned" her daughters for a spin in the limelight; Cissy is homesick for her friends in the fast life in Los Angeles; Delia's first husband is dying of cancer; and her two daughters, with the support of their grandmother, despise and ignore the mother they never knew.

Then the novel shifts both perspective and gears, slowing down quite a bit to focus on the journey through adolescence by Delia's three daughters. Cissy discovers the escapist joy of spelunking, exploring the dark wombs of local caves and losing herself in the odd comfort of pitch-blackness. Her two sisters, the religiously righteous Amanda and the amorally rebellious Dede, confront emotional upheavals that challenge the extremes of their worldviews. And hovering in the background are neighborhood women who offer guidance and love to the four women, as well as humor and insight to the reader.

Fleeting fame, domestic violence, rural poverty, troubled romance, moral ambiguity, Southern life, and a veneer of folk rock--Allison is so casual about linking her themes and her stories, that there are moments (particular after the climatic "resolution" of Delia's homecoming) that the book almost doesn't cohere. Meandering, yes; unfocused, perhaps--but I suppose, so is life, and there is no denying the recognizable realness of the four lead characters. And, in the end, everything comes together, surprisingly yet satisfyingly.

I read this because it sounded like a 21st century take on "The Great Gatsby" and was entertained, moved, changed even. A novel I think about still, some five years after reading it. I recommend it to anyone who, as Jane Austen says, cares about love and money.. what she actually says is, "I write about love and money, what else is there?" This is a good book about both.

I was quite disappointed in this book. None of the characters are particularly well drawn or interesting, and their lives are similarly empty. I was looking forward to reading "Today's Gatsby", as one of the cover blurbs claims. Instead, this isn't even as good a story as an average one out of People Magazine. I'm not sure what the author was trying to do -- chronicle the lives of the well-heeled, or deride them; in the end, she did neither, nor did she succeed in capturing my interest.

I found this book to be a facinating tale of people in general. From the rich and well educated to the drop out. This book is well written and the audio tapes were great!

Can't say I got anything useful out of this bitty book. It lacked substance and didn't seem worth reading. Which was a pity as the writer is clearly capable of writing well. The purpose of writing this book was unclear to me.

This book attempted an ambitious feat - to transport "The Great Gatsby" to the present day, but the author's reach was higher than her grasp. The characters behaved more like thirtysomethings - and yes, I do know people of the same class in real life, and they definitely do not behave like these characters. Anyway, the characters were for the most part, tissue thin, dull, and/or unlikeable, especially the woman for whom we were supposed to believe most of the males had been carrying a torch for since prep school. Yet, other reviewers have raved over this book, and its "fine writing" so maybe it's worth a shot.

Like all of Card's books I have read (around 10), this one is very well crafted. The character development is full, with a richness that only he brings to a novel. The story is well written and strong. It never plods along, but moves quickly, though it doesn't rush.

Read it in 2 days. Picked it up and just kept going. Not science fiction like Ender's Game and not as good of a novel as Ender's, but still Card's wonderful style. The characters are well rounded and the story takes you in until you can't stop.

Orson Scott Card's science fiction has always been characterized by strong character internalization and wonderment over the unknown (essentially a mystery element, but not in the who-dunnit sense). These virtues translate well into his forays into the horror field. There is an unsettling disquiet as to what is coming next that creates an erie, spookiness (no hack and slash gorefests here) that surprised me. I also think that the internalizations, as well as key elements of the plot, itself (sorry, don't want to give anything away by being more specific) suggest that one of the scariest things is for others to truly know what we are thinking about ourselves and others. A nice change of pace and a compelling read. Donald J. Bingle, Author of Forced Conversion.

It was a little slow getting into, and the characters are completely unbelievable. But the storyline was still compelling, and by the time it reached its climax it had me on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next. I think I'm glad I listened to an abridged version, it kept the story very compact and engrossing - it was more of a really good short story than a decent novel, and it could have been pared down even further and still retained the ambiance and core tale.

The only thing that really bothered me was the very, very, very end. There was a paragraph or two at the end that was preachy and sappy and annoying. It could definitely been cut off, and detracted from an otherwise strong ending.

The Good: The book moves along smartly. The story is interesting enough to keep you reading. It will no doubt make a smart movie script, if it hasn't already (I don't keep up as I should...)

The Bad:
The characters ring false. The entire story of Fears' rise to wealth feels contrived and unconvincing. I never felt that Card made an effort to get into the head of an unexpectedly rich computer geek; instead, it seemed that Card needed his character to be rich and gullible, and any set of circumstances that resulted in same would have done as well. One never sees how one development flows naturally from the combination of character and circumstance. When Mad and Tin embark on a program of cultivating politicians, we're simply told they embark on a program of cultivating politicians; we don't see the interaction, we're given no examples of how they exploit pet causes to enlist them, nothing at all to convince us that real people are influencing real people. We're presented with a plot sketch rather than a plot and asked to accept that Card has established Mad's bonafides as an ambitious and power-hungry manipulator.

This sets up a real problem with the book. When every development in the story feels forced and unnatural, then the sense of being manipulated and anticipated by Mad loses all impact. The party at which he met Mad was so unconvincing the first time around, that there is no head-slapping moment later in the book when it is revealed that it was a set-up. Card doesn't even bother naming the hostess, as important as she is to the story; she is the stereotypical grande dame, cleverly referred to in the book as 'the grande dame.' She isn't a person, she's a couple of lines of world-weary clever banter attached to a desultory description.

Which leads me to a problem I've encountered in Cards' books before: the Wunderkind. Without offering a spoiler, I can only say that the reader is presented with a character who is yet another preteen operating at the highest levels of adult sophistication, without prior development preparing the reader to accept it. Lapses into childish behavior that are clearly intended as jarring departures from sophistication fail, because the sophistication has been asserted rather than established.

All told, shallow character development and contrived plotting makes this feel more like a movie treatment than a novel to me. On the plus side, I'd go see the movie.

I am a huge Picoult fan, and when I bought this book it actually made it's way through three friends before I got to read it myself. I did not like this book at all. It's an important topic, yes, but it's been done, and in not much different stlye then say, Sleeping with the Enemy, minus the killing, add in the Hollywood scene. It was frightfully long, and I just kept thinking, okay Jodi we get the point he's abusive, he's a tortured soul...don't torture me for it. She could have cut about 100 pages from the book, truly. There was a lot of filler, and unimportant events, and then too many beatings....we get the point already.
However, I give Picoult credit for her understanding of a situation a lot of women are in, staying with an abuser, blaming themselves. Picoult is a MASTER at building her characters, and while I didn't appreciate the story much, or find it new, or in intriguing, her characters ALWAYS are.

This addresses the battered woman syndrome explaining why some continue to stay in these relationships.

I have read every one of Jodi's books except MERCY. I enjoyed all of her books except this one and Songs of the Humpback Whale. Both of these were her earliest novels, and her writing and stories have come a long way over the years.

This book is confusing & disappointing. The central character, Cassie, is amnesic, yet she does remember some things. It is never clear how the amnesia occurred or how she comes to recover from it. I felt that there was far too much going on in the story: Hollywood life, Indian Mythology, anthropology and then add to that the domestic violence theme. The story goes back and forth between the present, the past, the memories, and leaves readers (at least me) lost in the middle.

Jodi Picoult has written a page turner that has you on the edge of your seat. I felt a range of emotion while reading the book. I couldn't put this book down and read it in record time. Great book!!

Officer William Flying Horse is new to the Los Angeles Police Department. The job is quite a bit different from his last place of employment, the Indian reservation on which he grew up. As the child of a white mother and Native American father, Will has always had problems fitting in, the white kid on the reservation, the Indian guy to the rest of the world. The night before he starts his new employment, he discovers an amnesiac woman wandering the streets. The two bond immediately, as Will waits with Jane Doe until someone comes forward to claim her - a husband she can't remember, but who ensures her of the fairy tale life they have together. As you might imagine, however, fairy tales are not often as perfect as they seem.

Quote: "Jane closed her eyes and tried to conjure a face, a gesture, even the pitch of a voice. She shook her head. 'I don't feel married.'"

I am overall a Jodi Picoult fan, but I have not been impressed by the last couple of hers books I read. The plot twists seemed too obvious, the back-and-forth between characters too stilted. This book reminded me of why I enjoy her work so much. She looks into complex situations, complicated characters, and makes all of them understandable and relatable, the "good" ones and the "bad" ones. A great reminder of all things good about Jodi Picoult.

In her debut memoir, The Hungry Ocean, Greenlaw recounted a monthlong swordfishing expedition off the coast of Newfoundland and discussed what it takes to be the world's only female swordfish boat captain. In this second memoir, Greenlaw confronts the joys and perils of living at home. Over forty, with her biological clock ticking, she returns to Isle au Haut, the tiny Maine island that is her birthplace. With hopes of reaffirming ties to her parents and starting a family of her own, she invests in a lobster-fishing business because it is a much "safer" career than swordfishing. But lobsters are scarce, and eligible men are even more elusive. Greenlaw writes about island life with the same plainspoken lyricism and self- effacing humor that elevated her first book to bestselling status. In the middle of the book, she begins to address her fear of loneliness and old age without a spouse or children, as well as the loss of her mother to cancer and the quickly dwindling island population. Unfortunately, she bails out before fully developing any of these compelling themes.

I bought and read this book because my Grandfather, Asbury Arthur [Bob] Gray, was borned in Stonington, Maine; just behind the Opera house on Highland Avenue. His Aunt Millie's stove is still on displayed in the General Store and when I walked through the town for the very first time back in 2001, there were people who looked strangely like my Grandfather all over the place. He was a dear old man, with terrific story telling capabilities, many about the sea since he, like Linda Greenlaw, come from a long line of fishermen. There were tales of exploration, and of terror (like the Great Storm of 1873 where his Grandfather, James H Gray, and the crew of the DH Webb survived by hiding out in the Bay of Chaluer, off the coast of the Prince Edward Islands), and of family (although he lost his mother when he was only 10 and was forced to move to Bath and work in the Iron Works because his Dad and his two brothers were at sea). This book is every bit as good as a conversation with Grandpa Gray, the humor and the charm shines right on through. So does the boredom and the chowder... Thank you Linda for letting us share your little island and your great big hospitality! I enjoyed it immensely.

This book chronicles the life of Linda Greenlaw, the author, during a lobster fishing season. Living on a small island off the coast of Maine, the author allows us into her downeast life. We learn some great information on the lobster fishing industry, as well as the lifestyles of the residents of Isle Au Haut.

Some funny anecdotes and a glimpse into life off the coast of Maine make up this short, quick read, book. Being a resident of Maine, myself, I always like to read authors from here. I have yet to be disappointed.

I laughed alot! Anyone who has ever lived in a small town will relate to this book. If not you will wish you lived in a small town just for the comedy of it! Linda is a good writer. If you have red any of her other books you already know this! I highly recommend this book!

The Lobster Chronicles by Linda Greenlaw is just the sort of work that completely captivates me. For the most part, I find my life quite interesting, do find my life quite interesting and have been fortunate enough to do a lot of the things I wanted to do, and it is turning into a relatively long run, when all is said and done. One of the pleasures I get out of life is learning of other people, their experiences; both exciting, earth shaking, and yes, mundane. Hey, I know about me; I want to know about others. Ms. Greenlaw, by any standard is an interesting person! Her accomplishments are really a bit breath taking as told in the story of her time spent as professional fisherman in her work, The Hungry Ocean.

It this autobiographical work we see a more calm, less dangerous (well, sort of) aspect of here life as she introduces us to her native island, a small hunk of rock off the coast of Maine. She has stopped being a Captain of a commercial fishing boat and has taken up lobster trapping, usually with a crew of one, her father. We get a very nice insight to island life; the closeness, harshness, realities of a very hard way of making a living. We also get a close up view of a way of life that may not be with us much longer. Chronicles such as this are a wonderful way to preserve a history of life in these far reaches of our country. This is something that should not be lost to future generations, even if they can only read about them.

As far as I was concerned, this work was very well written. Granted, it does not have the polish of a "professional" writer, and granted, you may find a few flaws in grammar and syntax here and there, but who really cares? Her story is told in her own words, much as you would hear it if you sat and talked with her for a bit. I find this much more pleasing to the eye, ear and mind than many of the professionally written "autobiographies as told to." Her small village is absolutely infested with interesting characters, she is quite good at descriptive writing and you get a true feel of what it is like at the place and time of which she writes. I take this work to be an oral history, if nothing more, but a wonderful history and quite well done. I cannot imagine anyone with an ounce of imagination, of curiosity of how others live, or wanting to know of things they have not done themselves, being bored with this work. I actually read it in one setting, and I am a pretty slow reader. I simply could not put the thing down.

All in all it was well done. We all have a tale to tell, each of us. Thank goodness there are individuals like Ms. Greenlaw who has the ability to tell theirs. Hope to hear more from this author in the future.

D. Blankenship
The Ozarks

There is much to like about The First Victim. Pearson brings his customary attention to detail to bear in this novel, with some meticulously researched scenes pertaining to police procedure and forensic investigation. Among mystery writers, he may be the best in representing the ways by which modern science can and does contribute to police work.

Topically, The First Victim is quite timely. It engages a critical issue and is very informative. The novel's depiction of illegal immigrant smuggling is vivid, particularly in the sweatshop scenes.

What got in the way of my really enjoying this novel was the character of Stevie McNeal. Since she gets basically equal billing with Boldt and LaMoia, her presence in the novel as a protagonist means that around 1/3 to 1/2 of the police work has been swapped out. It's not a fair trade. McNeal is a gratingly self-absorbed, self-righteous character (the way she is voiced in the audio version adds to her annoying-ness). Her obstinacy seems to substitute for plot strands that could have made this a far more intricate mystery - like, say, Middle of Nowhere or The Art of Deception.

By all means, if you like the Boldt series, you should read this book. It doesn't, though, make a good point of entry into the series. I'm glad that I stumbled upon Middle of Nowhere first and not this one.

Ridley Pearson's protagonist Lou Boldt has become one of my favorite characters, along with Daphne Matthews. Pearson's novels are hard to put down, twists and turns galore. I've read all of the "Boldt" suspense thrillers; I'm hoping Pearson will write many more. Kudos, Patricia Huff (author of : The Mourning Doves)

Lou Boldt and John LaMoia of the Crimes Against Person squad of the Seattle PD are the leads in Ridley Peason's "The First Victim."

A container filled will illegal Chinese aliens goes overboard in Puget Sound, resulting in three deaths. The illegals are headed for either sweatshops or prostitution.

A Chinese/American TV investigative reporter goes undercover to locate the sweatshop. When she is captured, the station's anchor (Stevie McNeal, the reporter's sister by adoption), takes a personal interest.

She arouses the ire of the criminals and interferes with the police work. When things get very sticky, she joins the SPD effort.

The Chinese Triad, slimy INS agents, ships, containers, rendezvous, fake ID's, graveyards, brothels and sweatshops, the media, agency turf wars, SPD politics and an information leak all conspire in the SPD's mission to out think the villains.

The characters, both good guys and bad guys are credible throughout, the pace is resolute and determined (mirroring the police procedures), local color drops you into the Puget Sound area and the dialogue is realistic.

Good plot, sturdy story telling and absorbing character studies.

Maybe a little too much time spent on Boldt and McNeal's introspections on their family lives that fail to advance the plot---but that is a small objection.

Ridley Pearson's THE FIRST VICTIM tells of a shipping container and the discovery of a scam involving illegal aliens. Scott Rosema provides an engrossing account of intrigue, discovery and an investigation that involves Melissa in a dangerous confrontation.

THE FIRST VICTIM is very well written; however, I can only hope that readers will not come away with the impression that immigration officers are the venal, corrupt cardboard characters portrayed in this book -- i.e., the "bad guys." The customs officers are portrayed, as they should be, as the "good guys."

This book was published in 1999, four years before the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, in which the functions and officers of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the former Customs Service (USCS) were placed in three new agencies: Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), retaining the benefits mission of the old INS; Customs and Border Protection (CBP), retaining the trade, border inspections, and Border Patrol functions of INS and USCS; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), retaining the investigative functions of INS and USCS, and the detention/removal functions of INS.

I am no apologist for the old-and-now-abolished INS. It was a flawed and dysfunctional agency. It needed to be torn down and rebuilt.

Great respect should be accorded/given to the agents and officers of the former Customs Service. Even though their skill sets and expertise(s) were different from those of immigration agents, officers, and Border Patrol, they did their job quite well. Repeat: the agents and officers of the former Customs Service were and are deserving of praise, accolades, and recognition.

It is also useful to remember that Customs dealt with "things," while Immigration dealt with "people."

Both agencies dealt with integrity problems over the years of their existence, and both agencies fielded officers who served with dedication and valor. As long as organized law enforcement agencies have existed, their leaders have had to deal with both integrity issues AND with acts of bravery and valor.

Before the reader comes away with the view of "immigration officers as bad guys," it is worthwhile to learn a bit more.

It is now largely forgotten that a large number of the deputized U.S. Marshals involved in the effort to register James Meredith at the University of Mississippi were, in fact, officers from the border patrol component of the INS. It is also largely forgotten that well over a hundred officers of the INS died in line of duty while enforcing federal law.

One of the final, unclassified, public record staff reports of the 9/11 Commission, 9/11 AND TERRORIST TRAVEL, also sold here on Amazon.com, noted:

"Neither the White House, the Congress, the Department of Justice, nor the INS leadership ever provided the support need for INS enforcement agents to find, detain, and remove illegal aliens, including those with terrorist associations. Throughout the 1990s, about 2,000 immigration special agents were responsible for dealing with the millions of illegal aliens and related immigration crimes in the United States." (page 102)

The unclassified, public record report also stated:

" . . . the agency never received adequate support from its parent department, Justice, the Congress, the White House, or the intelligence community. It is therefore not surprising that INS entered the 1990s as a badly organized agency with a poor self-image and a troubled public reputation. Despite its mandate to secure America's borders, it was not held in high enough regard to be given an active role in counterterrorism efforts. Thus a few creative INS employees struggled to keep our borders safe from terrorists while the rest of the agency, and the government in general, remained mostly oblivious to this mission." (page 90)

Of course, merging INS and Customs, with their investigative and detention/removal functions retained by the ICE bureau, under the direction of former Customs managers, was to be a prescription for "fixing" these problems. Well, if we look at immigration enforcement statistics in the old INS and the new ICE, we can see an actual decrease in productivity from the 1980s and early 1990s to date. A public record 2006 Immigration Policy Center monograph [Jimmy Gomez and Walter Ewing, "Learning from IRCA: Lessons for Comprehensive Immigration Reform," Immigration Policy Center of the American Immigration Law Foundation, 2006] states that, since 1997, arrests of undocumented workers fell from 17552 to 445, cases completed from 7537 to 2194, and notices of intent to fine issued to employers from 862 to 3. A recent public record Congressional Research Service report [CRS on Immigration Enforcement in the U.S., a presentation before the House Committee on the Judiciary, April 27, 2006] also shows a remarkable decrease in completed immigration fraud cases from the mid-1980s to the near-present. Gee, increase the size of the investigative component, and see a decrease in the productivity. It is ironic that the old dysfunctional INS Investigations Division, back in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s, actually outperformed the better funded, larger ICE bureau. Go figure.

It bears repeating: even operating at a disadvantage in terms of agent numbers and funding, it appears that the immigration officers of the abolished INS performed well when compared to today's new-and-improved enforcement component.

Jack Shaw, retired Assistant Commissioner, INS Investigations, in public record testimony before the U.S. Congress, said that the beleaguered special agents of the INS were a "special class" deserving of "recognition."

Maybe those immigration officers weren't so bad after all. :-)

Someday we may see a book that portrays immigration officers -- many of whom have served with valor and dedication in their Nation's interest, and paid the ultimate price -- in a better light than THE FIRST VICTIM does. Hope springs eternal!

I grew up in Nova Scotia,not far from Oak Island and have been interested in the mysterious money pit since the 1950's.Since those days, there has been a continual stream of events,searchings and reports of attempts to solve,evidence reported,stories and books written;but the solution to the mystery is as elusive,but enticing as it was when the search first commenced in 1795.
Several years ago, I became interested in the Knights Templar and the history of their times, as well as the connections with the present day Freemasons and many other secret societies. One doesn't research much about these things without soon discovering the interconnections that endlessly appear.
Is it all nonsense? Absolutely not.The Knights Templar were real.They were persecuted,many secret societies were formed,and still exist,great treasures have disappeared,while present day Freemasons claim they originated in England in 1717 ,and have no connections with past Masonry,there are many things that suggest otherwise,Freemasonry played a prominent part in the formation of America and many important people were members,the Skull and Bones Society is very real,there is ample
evidence that visits were made to North America at least as far back as the Vikings and and ongoing for centuries before Columbus.As North America developed,Europeans used their placenames,personalities and language for naming everything in this "New Land."Many of these names are from times well before Columbus and many are from the countries,and influencial people of those times.The Sinclairs were very real,very influencial,and Roslin cathedral exists,Sinclair was intimately involved with the Templars and Masons;and there seems to be a lot of evidence that he was involved with voyages to Nova Scotia.
There were great conflicts between religions,countries and societies,all of whom had many reasons for doing things in secret and creating reams of misinformation .
In this book, Sora covers all these things and tried to solve some of the mysteries and deduce just who might have constructed the Money Pit on Oak Island.All this history could,and in fact does,fill hundreds of volumes.What Sora does is try to show in 250 pages,what could be the solution to the mystery and why.
While I don't think he has come up with anything really new or original;he has produced a book that is pretty good at introducing it all in a limited summary.
It is obvious ,he has done a lot of research of published material and gives a lot of references for someone who wasnt to read further. However;he has only scratched the surface and limits his references to those that support his arguments.
A search of the web under" Oak Island Money Pit " will give much more information,photographs and opinions.
So,with all this,Sora has put together a good book on the subject,that is a great introduction to many unsolved "secrets";but in the end;all I can do is refer you back to my "Title"

Carefully researched and thought-provoking, The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar offers compelling evidence that the Holy Grail was spirited to North America - more specifically Oak Island in Canada. As such, it should really be read alongside Swords at Sunset by Michael Bradley, as Bradley's book establishes that the Holy Grail was and perhaps still is in Niagara, Ontario and Quebec and Vermont along with much of the Atlantic seaboard. This alone is a compelling reason to read this remarkable book. Also, I've come across a number of reviews suggesting Swords at Sunset be read in tandem with The Da Vinci Code. Now I understand why. I had the pleasure of reading this remarkable book recently and was captivated by Bradley's well framed argument that the Knights Templar brought Holy Grail refugess, descendents of Jesus, to North America long before Columbus ever set foot here. Then I learned that Bradley was a researcher behind the Da Vinci Code movie. The Da Vinci Code book and movie are both highly enjoyable. But what's really fascinating is Bradley's non-fiction book putting the Grail in Canada and the United States centuries ago. I learned a great deal. You should also check out Bradley's great new Grail novel The Magdalene Mandala. All of these books are highly recommended for anyone interested in the Holy Grail.

I put off reading about the KT's involvement with the Oak Island mystery simply because it is a path whose foot steps are difficult to verify never mind follow. Historically steep. So how does Sora do it? I found it to be an enjoyable read, fact filled and well written. How would anyone verify what he is saying or rather the facts he presents? To take his books contents on face value would be to say whats buried on Oak Island is KT related. I reccommend it to any Oak Island enthusiast as its an important angle to the Oak Island mystery needed to be understood. If you're a skeptic I would buy it so you can have something else to poo poo about..Oh what a minute one of the skeptics already has written a review poo poing the book...good for you!

This book is a bit of a stretch if you are looking for FACTS.
It is more of a hodge-podge of fact and fiction leaving the reader with a convoluted mess that is hard to pick through. Speculation abounds and creative license is plentiful in this work.
Although an entertaining read, it presents many very interesting opinions, there are not supportive texts, archeological finds or historical proofs.
Please do enjoy if you are looking for fantasy, historical fiction or could-have-been storylines, but this book is NOT FACT as it is advertised.
If taken as a work of FICTION, this is a fairly good read, but as advertised, it is a poor excuse for history.
So, It would be an average read as fiction, but must be marked down a little due to the fact that it is purported to be fact. This is how I arrive at a 2 out of 5.

That about sums up the author's thesis; the rest of the book is a poorly edited, rehashing of the tired Holy Blood, Holy Grail myth. The author clearly possesses a strong belief in the Priory of Sion, the bloodline of Jesus Christ, and other such nonsense, and uses this venue to air his enthusiasms. Unfortunately, only about 100 pages of this 250+ page book is actually about the Oak Island mystery. To his credit, the author does present a valid theory of the origins of the treasure but unforunately stops there. Just as he gets the story rolling and the reader's excitement bubbling he charts another course and veers away from his thesis. In the end, the reader is left to try and assemble for himself a puzzle that spans about four continents, 3,000 years, and countless secret societies.

Get this one at your local library if you're really interested.