Perry Books

In 1942 California Helen Kendal receives a phone call. The strange voice identifies himself as her long-lost Uncle Franklin Shore, and tells her secrets to verify his identity. Helen is to contact Perry Mason, bring him to a hotel, and ask for Henry Leech. Helen lives with her Aunt Matilda Shore, whose husband ran off ten years earlier. But her kitten takes sick, and is rushed to the vet (a mysterious poisoning). Later she meets Perry Mason and goes to the hotel. A message redirects them to a place in the hills; when they arrive there they find a dead body in an automobile, and call the police. It is not the uncle; his death would leave a large sum to Helen. Helen returns home alone, as her aunt was taken to the hospital. When she and her boyfriend hear a noise, they investigate. Shots ring out, and her boyfriend is hit. Perry is notified.

When Perry and Della visit the Shore residence, Perry is taken inside where the police ask him to produce the long missing Franklin B. Shore. Della finds Tom Lunk, the gardener, and drives away with him. Lunk tells Perry that Franklin visited his home earlier to spend the night. But they find Franklin has disappeared again. Perry wants Lunk to hide in a hotel, and Della takes him there. But the police find out, and arrest Della for hiding Franklin! Della escapes conviction for hiding Franklin, a material witness, because of the actions of the kitten at Lunk's shack! Lunk can't appear again as a witness because he is killed in a hit-and-run accident. But this results in solving the three murders. The clue again is eye-witness testimony that can't be corroborated. This story shows the variety of events and surprises that will mark future novels.

There is one warning in Chapter 20. Prosecutors have campaigned to sweep away constitutional guarantees, supposedly to fight professional criminals. But the end result was to stack the cards against ordinary citizens because the whole legal procedure has been completely undermined. Can you trust government to see that no known innocent person is ever prosecuted? The prosecution of Della Street provides an answer. Della will be found guilty unless she can prove her innocence! [Was this a veiled criticism of witch hunts?]

Perry mason is in the middle of a plot that is so skillfully planned that even he is baffled. The only clue that helps him solve is a careless kitten. What did the kitten do to help mason solve a case where every suspect seems to have an air tight alibi! The desire to find out what happens next kept me turning pages. So, watch out for the answers & learn a little bit of cat psychology!

It is an interesting case, where Perry Mason defends his secretary, charged with hiding a material witness. As usual, the plot is well developed and the court room drama is highly interesting. A very good novel.

D.A. Hamilton Burger is out for blood this time. While investigating the return of a man missing for ten years, Mason sends Della Street out to interview the man before the police get there. What happens? When the man can't be found by the police, Della is charged with spiriting away a material witness. Burger plans to convict her, then try Mason as an accessory, convict him, then institute disbarrment proceedings against him. This will end Mason's career of legal dramatics and "outwitting the police".

Mason doesn't care anything about a murdered man, a wounded man, or the missing man who is the prime suspect - all he cares about is aquitting Della Street. And since Burger made it personal, Mason refuses to give the true solution to him during or after the trial. After all, if he did so, he'd be "outwitting the police" once again...

The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll, by Erle Stanley Gardner

This book is dedicated to Theodore J. Curphey, M.D., Coroner of Los Angeles County, who is trying to get legal medicine used properly. If autopsies do not use current scientific methods then crimes can escape detection, or innocent persons can be convicted of crimes they did not commit. Dr. Curphey formed the Institute of Legal Medicine to combin the medical schools, the law schools, and the police and sheriff's departments in a practical partnership.

This story is about Mildred Crest, whose world collapses when her boyfriend breaks their engagement, and confesses to embezzlement from the company they work for. Mildred goes for a ride, and picks up a hitchhiker. The car crashes and burns, but Mildred decides to assume the hitchhiker's identity - Fern Driscoll. She finds a new job and apartment, and lives a more reclusive life. But an insurance investigator shows up, and asks "Fern Driscoll" to write a statement about the accident. Mildred went from the frying pan into the fire! So now she consults with Perry Mason about a "personal matter". "Fern" tells about the crash from her point of view (Chapter Three); but Mason knows she didn't tell the whole truth. A stranger shows up, tells "Fern" a story, and Mildred confesses she isn't Fern! And this is just the beginning of this story. Then the insurance investigator is stabbed, and the police investigate this murder.

Circumstantial evidence is the best evidence, unless it is misinterpreted. Eyewitness evidence can be deadly and dangerous because there is often no corroboration for this testimony (Chapter Twelve). Whenever a person was unjustly convicted, it is usually on eyewitness evidence. Most people cannot recognize a stranger seen for a few seconds (Chapter Thirteen). Would a prosecution witness who testified falsely be liable for perjury (Chapter Fifteen)? [NO!] Chapter Seventeen has the last day of the preliminary hearing. Mason's cross-examination brings out the hidden facts that will clear his client. It wasn't just the ice picks that were duplicated! There is another shocking surprise, and a happy ending. Mildred Crest has all charges dismissed, current and potential. [Does part of this story remind you of "The Talented Mr. Ripley"?]

Mildred, a heart-broken girl, wants to run away from everything. When a hitchhiking girl killed herself, Mildred takes her identity to live a completely new life.

It is crazy to replace oneself with a complete stranger. It would be an artificial story if Mildred's despair were not convincingly described. And it would be tiresome if her misery were tediously described. Gardner describes her hopeless feeling concisely but convincingly. He is an excellent writer. No more explanation will be needed. Please enjoy how Mason brilliantly rescues Mildred from predicament.

This book is written in 1958. The general public is so strict to an unmarried pregnant woman that she will be driven to suicide. It is interesting how times has changed.

Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) wrote more than one hundred novels over the course of his long career. A trial lawyer himself, Gardner's best known creation was Perry Mason, a flamboyant criminal defense attorney who earns his large fees by virtue of a remarkable talent for using the law to uncover the truth on the witness stand.

Although Gardner's Perry Mason novels were formula, Gardner was at the peak of his powers during the 1950s--and at his best he was able to combine a twisty plot, impressive courtroom scenes, and his tendency to staccato dialogue to tremendous effect. Written in 1958, THE CASE OF THE FOOT-LOOSE DOLL offers Gardner at his best.

An attractive secretary in Oceanside, California, Mildred Crest is looking forward to her marriage to the town's most eligible bachelor--but is stunned when he abandons her under highly dubious circumstances. Dazed and distraught, she gets in her car and simply goes as far and as fast as she can... until an unforeseen accident offers her the opportunity to escape the past once and for all.

Or so it seems. But the past has a way of catching up with you--and in Mildred's case it isn't just her own past that she has to worry about. Before too long the question of murder arises, and Mildred finds herself in desperate need of legendary Los Angeles attorney Perry Mason.

Law, police procedure, and science has changed quite a bit since Gardner wrote this book, but that is part of the fun. And in this instance Gardner anticipates the modern phenomena of identity theft in a most unexpected way. Fans will enjoy it and newcomers will find it a delight. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This is my favorite Perry Mason Mystery. It has the feel of an Alfred Hitchcock mystery. A woman who is running away from life is in a one car accident in which her passenger, a hitchhiker, is killed and mutilated beyond recognition. So she begins a new life, assuming the identity of the hitchhiker. All goes well until an insurance adjuster figures out her secret and tries to blackmail her.

The Case of the Lucky Loser

The 'Foreword' lists a number of men who formed the Texas Law Enforcement Foundation. Its purpose is to educate citizens about their civic responsibilities in the field of law enforcement, and lists the topics. Public understanding and co-operation are needed for efficient law enforcement. Organized crime is becoming stronger, juvenile delinquency is on the increase. This dedication is to those citizens of Texas who worked for a new concept of law enforcement.

Perry Mason receives a phone call from a young woman who won't give her name. She wants Perry to attend a trial and give his conclusions. The trial starts in less than an hour, but Perry agrees to go. A young man is on trial for hit and run, manslaughter. Ted Balfour's attorney shows his skill in his cross-examination of George Dempster (Chapter Two), and Myrtle Anne Haley (Chapter Three). The problem with this eyewitness testimony is given in Chapters Four and Five. Further discussions with various people bring out the hidden facts (Chapter Nine). Investigations reveal hidden evidence and relationships. Chapter Fourteen warns against gambling with strangers, and reveals another level to this puzzling case. It becomes more complicated by Chapter Fifteen, which also tells how a family-controlled business can use "business expenses" to give tax-free money to family members.

It appears that Ted Balfour will be convicted, based on the testimony of his step-mother and his company's trouble-shooter. But Perry notices a discrepancy between the victim's driver license and his fingerprints, which leads to the surprising conclusion, and a victory for his client. [The secret is similar to the one in Graham Greene's "The Third Man".] This story will educate the reader as to cross-examination, where a witness is tested by opposing counsel.

Perry Mason is the creation of Erle Stanley Gardner, like James Bond. But the James Bond is only a Detective, but Perry Mason is a lawyer as well as a Detective. It's nice to read how Perry detects and fight to get his client's freedom from the black hole. There are also other interesting characters other than Perry Mason. 1: Della Street - Mason's ever - faithful gal Friday. 2: Paul Drake - Head of Drake Detective Agency and right hand of Mason 3: Hamilton Burger - The grizzly bear of D. A and ancient rival of Perry Mason The Case of the Lucky Loser is the best creation of Gardner.

The story starts with the voice on the phone, which was young and silky. The women it belonged to touched soothing in Perry Mason's cool, legalistic mind. The offer she made was too intriguing to pass up. But what began as a request for a simple courtroom visit turned into a intrigue of baffling complexity - as well as one of the most cleverly rigged frame -ups of Perry Mason's career. It's a case of a family blessed with million and riddled with scandal, a case of accidental manslaughter that explodes into a charge of air - tight murder, a case of a corpse dying not once, but twice.

To save his client, Perry will have to break all the rules - and more than one law. Perry Mason is a roller coaster of thrill and Mystery World.
The Case of the Lucky Loser is written by Erle Stanley Gardner, who is The World's #1 Best-selling Mystery Writer... Erle Stanley Gardner, born a century ago, Criminal Lawyer and all - time #1 mystery author Erle Stanley Gardner wrote close to 150 novels that have sold 300 million copies worldwide. Today, the great Gardner tradition continues with many of his classics back in print, as well as brand - new addition to the ever - popular series starring the incomparable Perry Mason.

This case is solidly plotted and masterfully suspenseful. The most dazzling case in Perry Mason's career where he has to solve the case of a corpse dying twice. Gardner smoothly mixes the ingredients like rivalry, betrayal, love, family honour & prepares a dish that is hard to resist. So, I strongly recommend this book!

Perry Mason is the creation of Erle Stanley Gardner, like James Bond. But the James Bond is only a Detective, but Perry Mason is a lawyer as well as a Detective. It's nice to read how Perry detects and fight to get his client's freedom from the black hole. There are also other interesting characters other than Perry Mason. 1: Della Street - Mason's ever - faithful gal Friday. 2: Paul Drake - Head of Drake Detective Agency and right hand of Mason 3: Hamilton Burger - The grizzly bear of D. A and ancient rival of Perry Mason The Case of the Lucky Loser is the best creation of Gardner.

The story starts with the voice on the phone, which was young and silky. The women it belonged to touched soothing in Perry Mason's cool, legalistic mind. The offer she made was too intriguing to pass up. But what began as a request for a simple courtroom visit turned into a intrigue of baffling complexity - as well as one of the most cleverly rigged frame -ups of Perry Mason's career. It's a case of a family blessed with million and riddled with scandal, a case of accidental manslaughter that explodes into a charge of air - tight murder, a case of a corpse dying not once, but twice.

To save his client, Perry will have to break all the rules - and more than one law. Perry Mason is a roller coaster of thrill and Mystery World.
The Case of the Lucky Loser is written by Erle Stanley Gardner, who is The World's #1 Best-selling Mystery Writer... Erle Stanley Gardner, born a century ago, Criminal Lawyer and all - time #1 mystery author Erle Stanley Gardner wrote close to 150 novels that have sold 300 million copies worldwide. Today, the great Gardner tradition continues with many of his classics back in print, as well as brand - new addition to the ever - popular series starring the incomparable Perry Mason.

This book was a great read! It affords the reader a voyeuristic view into the engineering / automotive / upper to middle manager's world. When you read this book, you feel as if you are a fly on the wall. You feel very much a part of the story. And this book makes you think! I very much enjoyed its thought provoking content, its local (Michigan) flavor, and the aforementioned voyeuristic view into the engineering manager world.

This story weaves many valuable and far reaching concepts into an entertaining tale of people coping with the need to invent new technology and also live full lives. I recommend this book to anyone who develops new products or wonders how it can be done better.

As you are entertained, you find yourself thinking about your own business. The light bulb goes on! Why are we in business? We may all need to be reminded at times.

After 22 years in business and industry I can say that someone has finally written a management book that ties it all together. What "The Goal" did for manufacturing, "The Chase" will do for all business processes in general. Though it is written as a business novel, and the scenario is engineering based, the story and methods employed here are universal. I have had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Daneshgari at some of his seminars. I distinctly remember him because he called his job as being that of a "process detective" and the service that his firm provides as that of "an implementation company." He makes it very clear, in person and in his book, that he doesn't want to be called a "consultant" or even more trendily, a "resultant." The main wise-man character in this book, Damon Esphehani, is an amusing and thinly disguised nom-de-guerre for Parviz himself, lecturing to the other characters in his book, much in the same way he lectures to his students at the University of Michigan. Dr. Daneshgari's main theme in this book, "The faster you learn, the faster you learn" rings very true, and this book proceeds to clearly explain the process to fix the whole, and not a part, of a dysfunctional system or process. Destined to be a word-of-mouth management classic, this book is already creating a buzz among the consulting community, who frequently make their living by selling only partial solutions. Like "The Goal," some of the barbs shot at standard management practices in this book are so inflammatory that some of the issues broached in this book are best treated through the business novel format used here. To have done this book as a standard academic management text would have required endless peer-review and life-long defense of the concepts, while under this method, we all get to enjoy a wonderful story and learn at the same time.

Excellent book, a must for any rock music fan. Author John Perry has several books in this series and I loved them all. Crank up that trivia and play it loud!
Steveritt

Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy

This is the real Who; the Rock'n Roll years when they wrote disposable hits that lasted all the way to the next one, a few weeks later. They just happened to be some of the greatest tunes ever written and MBBB is the account of how they came to be.

Author John Perry was one of the most elegant Rock'n Roll guitarists, and it shows. He knows his stuff; how the group set about producing its sounds, the history of the Who's management (surely one of the more colourful in the business) and he has viewed unique early material in the BBC's archives.

This is a great story, a cracking read and you earn a lot on the way.

Excellent book, and very funny. Most Who books are so serious. Not a all like The Who I know. The chapter on 'I'm a Boy', and the stuff about Zeppelin, I couldn't stop laughing.

Dave Marsh's 'Before I Get Old' is very thorough, but it's a bit dry. You can tell Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy is written by a musician by the way the author conveys the feel of the music.

Tells you more about Townshend's best song than any other book I've come across.

Great pictures too.

A thoroughly well researched, entertaining and witty look into the madcap world of the Who and their rather fine music...buy this book now, or your life shall feel empty.

Five hundred years have passed since Empress Tathea was driven into exile, there to discover a book of mystical teachings which was to change her life and charge her with a newfound mission to battle against the evil the Book foretold. The immortal Tathea has spent centuries awaiting the events the Book has predicted: the time has come, but she seems destined to stand alone without the warriors and true love predicted as her allies. Anne Perry has created an emotionally-charged, fast-paced story in Come Armageddon which proves hard to put down.

On many worlds, the battle between good and evil is being fought. On one such orb, Asmodeus is thought to be a myth and the word of God has only been alive for five centuries. Tathea, who brought the Book into the word and spread its teaching, is over five hundred years old but worries because she knows the time of Armageddon is getting closer. On the Island at the Edge of the world she waits for the warriors who will take up the spiritual battle of the evil one.

Tathea and her friend realize, almost too late, that all Asmodeus has to do is wait for them to die out to win the battle. To prevent this from happening, Sadokhor, whom Tathea regards as a son, enters the portal that leads to Hell and encourages the spirits of those who turned away from the light, to walk the Earth. This starts the time of Armageddon and Asmodeus is forced to use his minions to spread sin across the land, leading to man's fall. Stripped of everything, with only her faith to guide her, Tathea must endure a final confrontation with Asmodeus for the souls of mankind.

Anne Perry is a master storyteller who has written an epic tale rich in characterizations and strong in plot. Readers will find such depth in the story line that they will want to peruse the novel many times to get the full impact to COME ARMAGEDDON'S multiple meanings. Though hard as it is to imagine, this sequel to the terrific TATHEA is even more compelling and powerful.

Harriet Klausner

Anne Perry has written the most important work (including her previous masterpiece, Tathea) since Sigrid Undset (the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature) did so in 1928 for Kristin Lavransdatter. With the brilliance of our history's greatest poets, philosophers, mystics, metaphysicians, and not to exclude experts in theology, spirituality, as well as law (both man and God's), this author goes where no author has ever gone before.

The book cannot be catagorized as any cookie cutter genre other than a masterpiece in art from a Master whether that be in painting, or sculpture. How would we categorize Da Vinci's Pieta as a genre?

Moreover, I not only related to all of her magnificently brave characters (Tathea, most of all) but I wept through much of the book for its depth of wisdom, and profound beauty in story, scope, and frankly, prophecy for this world right now. My prayer is that everyone would have the courage Ms. Perry did in laying it on the line by showing us just how fragile humankind is as a race; and that whatever one's belief-or-not, if faced with the darkest evil (and we will all face it one time or another), God is the only one who can save this world gone so terribley awry.

I will never, ever, be without this book in my possession if only to give me hope in times when I truly feel that I cannot go on.

Five hundred years since being granted immortality and being exiled, Tathea finds herself involved in the final struggle between good and evil. She had hoped for peace and oblivion in the time she spent in the Lost Lands, but instead is given a mission, spread the teachings of the Great Book as armor for the people who would have to stand against the enemy, Asmodeous.

Tathea had counted on having an army help her make her stand, but instead finds that the final battle is one that comes down to just her as the herald of good against the ultimate evil. Can one woman keep darkness from engulfing the universe?

***** As Tolkien, Lewis, and others have before, Anne Perry skillfully creates an allegorical epic of the major themes of the Bible. Without being too obvious, her message is made clear. Her final chapter, when Tathea's quest ends, is poetry worthy of the Wisdom books. *****

Another wonderful book from Jane Langton. One of my favorite "cozy" mystery writers. She writes with a decidedly eccentric quirkiness that makes her books stand out from the crowd. Full of irony, and loving touches, her books are 1990's quaint without being old fashioned. She spins a lovely web.

I was a bit reluctant to begin this Homer Kelly mystery - my third (after getting hooked with Escher Twist and then Dark Nantucket Noon). The reason for my reluctance was the subject matter - churches and organists. Sounded boring. I know very little about either of those things and couldn't imagine wanting to learn more.

Well, once I started reading, I couldn't put this book down! I loved the characters (Rosie, Alan, Pip, Charlie, Harold Oates, Barbara Inch, even Debbie Buffington), and I was completely taken by surprise at the end -- yet it all added up so perfectly.

In addition, I must mention once again that the illustrations really add to the book, especially with the look of the organs and the architecture. Because they are created by the author, they give a great insight into her perception as she is writing, yet she never reveals so much that your own imagination of the happenings is affected.

Kudos to another fine mystery by Jane Langton! I will be returning to the library for another Homer Kelly mystery ASAP.

Another wonderful book from Jane Langton. One of my favorite "cozy" mystery writers. She writes with a decidedly eccentric quirkiness that makes her books stand out from the crowd. Full of irony, and loving touches, her books are 1990's quaint without being old fashioned. She spins a lovely web.

The hero of "Divine Inspiration" is an organist who is "voicing" a new organ just installed in a church damaged by a mysterious fire. He befriends a toddler who is making his way up the steps of the church one day, then locates the baby's home and discovers that the fatherless child's mother - herself an accomplished organist - is mysteriously missing. Our hero falls in love with both the child and the child's mother, whom he has never met except through her photos and mementoes in the baby's home.

Jane Langton's delightful Homer Kelly mysteries are just what the doctor ordered for a rainy afternoon. What makes these books special are, of course, her charming line drawings, her spellbinding plots, and her humor, which has a Dickensian ability to expose the pompous, the greedy, the pretentious. What distinguishes the Langton mysteries (apart from the line drawings) is that you always come away from them having learned something - in this case, all about organs, which was of particular interest to me. "Divine Inspiration" is a divine read.

The radical religious right has always used fear, guilt and shame - to attack slaves, women, homosexuals and those they disagree with. They seem to expect homosexuals to act like limp-wristed pansies and run away.

Well, meet Reverend Troy Perry and learn why you don't have to be afraid any more.

For those of us who have been driven out of our churches and told we're "evil, perverted and disgusting" by the church, Reverent Troy Perry says that we don't have to take it any more. He says "God didn't create homsexuals so that God would have someone to hate."

For anyone who cares about the liberating power of faith and love, this book is mandatory reading.

Ian Taylor
Author: Never Say "NO COMMENT" - How Spin Doctors Answer Questions.

I first read this book in 1992. I was going to school in Florence, Alabama and I drove 70 miles one-way to Huntsville, Alabama to a gay/lesbian bookstore. I read that book in one afternoon. It brought tears of joy to my eyes and my heart was deeply touched at the courage of Rev. Troy Perry He is an inspiration to all gay/lesbian people everywhere.Words just cannot describe how I feel.

I discovered this book by accident in an Edinburgh book shop in 1993. I had no active interest in religion at that time but for some reason I felt compelled to buy it. I "devoured" the book in 24 hours and have re-read it several times since.

The book is an honest and inspiring account of Rev Perry's life and the circumstances surrounding the formation of the Metropolitan Community Church. As well as his own testimony, we are treated to the stories of many other people who have helped made MCC what it is in the 19 countries world-wide where its congregations (now over 300 in number) minister.

Two years later I helped found MCC in Edinburgh, Scotland as a result of reading this book. No other book as had such a direct impact on my day to day life.

Even if you are not religious, this book will gave you an insight on the striggles of lesbian and gay people of faith within a Christian church which has often closed its ears to Christ's message of inclusivity and hope.

In 1968, a full year before the Stonewall Riots that began the historic start of the gay liberation movement in the United States, a young gay minister started a church that would change the lives of countless gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and straight people throughout the world. Meeting with just 12 people in his living room, Reverend Troy Perry began a ministry of hope and healing that continues to this day to more than 300 congregations in 19 different nations.

This incredible book, written by Reverend Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, and co-authored by Thomas Swicegood, details the early life of both Reverend Perry and UFMCC. Rather than simply a chronological retelling of the histories, the book is divided into individual themes: Reverend Perry's childhood, his struggles to accept his homosexuality, the history of women in the MCC churches, international outreach of the denomination, the impact of AIDS on the denomination, and other topics.

My favorite chapters involve the struggles of the early congregations. So many of us who have come to MCC in the past 10 years aren't aware of what the early congregations endured. Some of the more horrific stories involve arson of MCC churches, murder of church members, rejection of the congregations by their local communities, and in one case, an actual cross burning on the grounds of the MCC in Houston, Texas. But within the stories of horror are stories of hope, courage, and a love of God that stands pure and true.

I am unable to complete this review without offering a personal testimony to what this denomination, and this man means to me. For many years I too thought that God couldn't love me because I was gay, but one Sunday in February of 1996 I was taken to Covenant Metropolitan Community Church in Birmingham Alabama by two friends who thought I needed to see what MCC was all about. Reverend Perry was preaching that day in honor of Covenant MCC's 15 year anniversary, and when he told the congregation, "I want you all to turn to each other and say, `You're in the right place,' " tears began to flow from my eyes. I knew that I had found a home and that God loved me after all. Recently Reverend Perry was once again at our church to help us celebrate our 20th anniversary, and I was able to thank him for what he and MCC have done for me and my relationship with God. The tears flowed again, and I wasn't ashamed of a single one of them.

Reverend Perry is one of the most sincere, loving, and genuine Christians you'll ever meet, and I urge you to purchase this book even if you're not a member of an MCC congregation. You will encounter a man who is not a saint, but an ordinary person who has trusted God to give him the strengths and talents to do God's will and make a difference in people's lives.

Does Mrs. Moore remember what she writes? I mean there is so many plot holes in this book it's not even funny! First of all, it's stated that Laurel's best friend Brittany's dad hasn't seen or heard from her mom in years but in the second book her parents are arguing at the doctor's office when she finds out she's HIV postive. And in the first book it's stated that Robyn's dad is away on a flight because he's a pilot but in this book he died a while back. And although this was in the last book and not this one, Megan was dating Luke NOT Liam! I liked it but there were way to many plot holes and it is good to see the whole UGA thing from Laurel's Point of view.

In Equally Yoked, I learned that you have to be 'equally yoked' in all things that you do. You just don't have to be 'equally yoked' in Christ, but in all of your relationships as well.

Reviewed by:
Lauren
OOSA's teen reviewer

High school graduation should have been the time of Laurel Shadrach's life. However, in EQUALLY YOKED, the third installment in Stephanie Perry Moore's Laurel Shadrach series, the title character finds herself once again distracted by the tough decisions she must make regarding her relationship, her friends, and her plans for the future.

With dreamy Branson Price once again in her arms, Laurel thinks that she has it all. To make things even better, a stellar gymnastics performance has college scouts clamoring for her to take spots on their teams, which means big scholarship money. However, with one sprained ankle, Laurel finds her world falling apart. Unable to compete in a match that could have garnered her a full ride to her dream school, she knows her chance of any scholarship is gone. She is even more crushed to learn that her parents don't have the money to send her to an expensive university, or possibly any college.

Making matters worse is her rekindled romance with Branson. After his accident, he swore that he was a changed man. However, it is only a matter of time before Branson is back to his old antics. His drinking and occasional drug use make Laurel wonder if he really is the type of man she wants to be connected with. By graduation day, Branson has booked a hotel room, hoping to get what he was unable to in the past. Although she thought she learned her lesson the first time, Laurel still finds the physical temptation almost unbearable. Laurel's closest friends are also making destructive decisions, and often getting her unknowingly --- and knowingly --- involved in them. One catastrophic night leads to the loss of Laurel's parents' trust and the realization that she is, in fact, "equally yoked" with those she has close relationships with.

On top of it all, Laurel is increasingly aware of strong racial prejudice, even amongst her own friends and family. When her parents decide to house an African American college student for the summer, the reactions of those around her stun and appall Laurel. Finally finding her way to college, Laurel is surprised to learn that her new roommate, Payton Skky, is an African American. College life begins on a stirring note, and Laurel knows that her struggles with racism and many other issues are only beginning.

EQUALLY YOKED marks an important transition in the Laurel Shadrach series. As Laurel starts her first year of college, readers of Moore's Payton Skky series will find a number of situations quite familiar. As Laurel and Payton are roommates, Moore naturally has included many of the same events told through a different perspective. While the books are clearly intended for different audiences, readers of both series may find it a bit repetitive, though the varied perspectives are interesting.

This is an excellent read. Moore develops the issues and characters more thoroughly than in previous installments of the series. As the book concludes, fans will eagerly anticipate Laurel's new adventures in college.

--- Reviewed by Jennifer Crosby

Laurel Casey Shadrach is a high school senior with a perfect boyfriend and a dad who's a pastor. When things start going wrong, will she give into temptation to do things she knows are wrong? Find out when you read this spectacular book. Any Christian teen girl would like this series.

Perry Miller is one of the great founders of the whole academic enterprise called 'American Studies'. In this work he considers the way the religious conceptions of the Puritans and their successors helped form a new society in a new land.

For those wishing to begin learning about Puritan theology, this book is probably the best starting point there is. The book is a collection of essays covering different aspects of the Puritan experience and their belief system. This is intellectual history, and some chapters are quite difficult. Most chapters, however, are highly readable and easy to comprehend. An excellent follow-up book, which disputes the idea of a decline in Puritan piety over the generations, is Harry S. Stout's "The New England Soul." Recommended for any college level reading person.

Perry Miller's collection of essays ranges from his stomping ground of the Puritans to Virginia and elsewhere in colonial history. Throughout, the most blindingly brilliant American intellectual historian of the twentieth century displays his craft. Unlike his magisterial histories of the New England Mind, these tend to be somewhat easier to follow, as his themes were more compact. If you haven't read Perry Miller, you're missing a first-class thinker; at the least, there's no more important colonial historian, although many are more easily accessible.

When I was pursuing my Ph.D. in American history more than twenty years ago Perry Miller's studies of Puritan New England represented required reading on this religious group and its settling in North America. Having just reread this volume, originally published in 1956, Miller's work still offers insight into the Puritan mindset. He argues in this book that the Puritans came to America not so much in search of a better livelihood so much as in search of a better world. The quest for a perfect society motivated them beyond all else. I recommend "Errand into the Wilderness" both as an important statement of the intellectual history of the Puritans and an enthralling reading experience by one of the masters of American colonial history.

"Errand into the Wilderness" is a collection of ten essays, mostly previously published, on various aspects of colonial intellectual history. All but one of them deals with Puritan thought, but the one on the Virginia colony also emphasizes the religious/intellectual nature of the "errand" to create a more perfect society in North America. The Puritans explicitly accepted the mission of an "errand into the wilderness" to establish God's kingdom, serving as a beacon to England of what it should become as well. Essays with titles like, "The Marrow of Puritan Divinity," "The Puritan State and Puritan Society," "The Rhetoric of Sensation," and "The End of the World" trace an overriding concern for the salvation of humanity through increasing "perfection" in this life. The utopian element of Puritan thought comes through clearly in these essays, and they present a compelling element of the American experience. Making the world a better place has long been the "stuff" of the American character.

Miller asks several fascinating questions at the conclusion of this volume. "Can an errand, even an errand into the wilderness, be run indefinitely?...Can a culture, which changes to embody itself in a nation, push itself into such remorseless exertion without ever learning whether it has been sent on its business at some incomprehensible behest, or is obligated to discover a meaning for its dynamism in the very act of running....What will America do--what can American do--with an implacable prophecy that there is a point in time beyond which the very concept of a future becomes meaningless? Protestant America, as well as Catholic, has an implicit commitment to this event. What then happens to the errand?" (p. 217) The Puritan sense of the errand into the wilderness is pervasive in American society to the present. Miller's analysis resonates still.