Windsor Books

This was my second Elizabeth Adler novel and I was surprised at how different this was from the Italian romance she also wrote. The story is exceptionally good but really graphic at times. I hurried over several passages because these are not the kind of images I want to carry around in my head. It pains me to think there are these kinds of people in the world. I'll continue to read Ms. Adler but probably pick one of her romance novels with exotic settings next time.

Elizabeth Adler turns it up a notch in her thrilling "Now or Never" set in the Boston area. Detective Harry Jordan tries to find who has been killing female college students, and he decides to try and get Mallory Malone, a tough yet secretly vulnerable crime show host to help him nap the killer. They first cannot abide each other, but find themselves falling passionately in love with each other, and boy, is this novel steamy. Mallory is one of Adler's best heroines to date, and I like Harry, who became a cop in spite of his old-money wealth. Good mystery, but it is wrapped up a little too convineatly as the killer has a secret connection to Mallory.

This is a great book with a great balancing act between a love story and a thriller. It's very readable and the main characters are loveable. The reason I am giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because the graphic descriptions of the murders were too horrific for my sensibilities. I believe the book would have been just as readable without some of the gruesome details of the murders.

Well written, fun and exciting plot, and I loved the charactors. A great book!!

This is part crime story and part romance. The plot (in particular, the romance aspect) is a bit predictable, but the suspense, graphic descriptions and action more than make up for it. This is not for 'faint of heart' readers, but for those who aren't overly squeamish, this is one fascinating ride.

As this fifth book of the AMELIA PEABODY series opens the Emerson's, renouned Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson, his outspoken wife, Amelia and their son Ramses are preparing to return to their home in England. They are planning to enjoy a peaceful summer there, writing up their discoveries for publication in the scholarly journals and spending some quiet time with their extended family, the Walter Emersons. What they had not forseen was that the Peabody side of the family would intrude. One of Amelia's deadbeat brothers has intruded into the family circle with the purpose of dumping his children, Percy and Violet, on Amelia for a few weeks. The other unforeseeable intrusion on their quiet break was the arrival of a mysterious Egyptian priest, a priest of the sort who presided over the burials of the pharoahs, has been appearing in the British museum pronouncing curses.

As is the norm for this series, the mystery aspect shares, or is at times, overshadowed by, the scenes of family life. Ramses is now coming into his own as a character, the annoying lisp is gone, and he and Amelia are engaged in a full fledged battle of wits, he to pursue his many interests and she to keep the destruction and mayhem that seems to follow him to a minimum with the end goal of his survival to adulthood. Amelia's point of view is, as always, delightful. Fans will, in particular, enjoy the ongoing competition between Emerson and Amelia to solve the mysteries first, a contest that is now increasingly including Ramses.

Those who are unfamiliar with this series would be better served to begin at the beginning and proceed in order. Even long time fans might wish to at least review the earlier novels before starting this one as the overall story arc is more of a factor in this series than is typical in most mystery series.

Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters is the fifth book in the Amelia Peabody series. Amelia and her husband Emerson, Egyptologists and English gentry, return to England with their precocious son Ramses to find a "curse" haunting the British Museum and a reporter "friend" of theirs publishing that they are on the case to investigate. Two deaths and a kidnapped female reporter add to the suspense. The story is really only the excuse to peek in on the lives of Amelia, Emerson and Ramses, one of the most amusingly fascinating families in literary mysteries. The stories are written as though taken from Amelia's journal and she writes with asperity. It is a clever author who can write a scene through the eyes of a character while giving the impression that it may not have happened just the way the character said and while adding insight to said character. Amelia's versions of events may not always be completely trustworthy, and occasionally her interpretation of events is hilarious, even to the other characters involved. Peters writes with a bright wit and a flair for romance. Amelia and Emerson are madly in love and lust with each other and the bedroom door shuts on the reader rather regularly, although not before a bit of double entendre dialogue. The word precocious for Ramses doesn't begin to describe the boy. He is preternaturally intelligent and often poses rather pointed questions about matters he doesn't quite understand. His rescuing his parents may grow a bit old if it continues as the series goes on, but he adds a tartness to his scenes. A new cast of characters has been added with the addition of some household staff, and I hope that they return. Simply said: Peters is a delight to read, and I space out the reading of her books so that I don't read through them all too quickly and have to wait for the next in the series.

Elizabeth Peters was born and brought up in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's famed Oriental Institute. Peters was named Grand Master at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986 and Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar Awards in 1998. She lives in a historic farmhouse in western Maryland.

The Amelia Peabody books may or may not be an acquired taste, personally I love them. They are set in Victorian times when there were still very strict rules of etiquette and polite behaviour was the norm. Although most of the books are set in Egypt, in the desert under very trying conditions and extremely hot weather the `English' way of life was still expected to be adhered to, sometimes with quite hilarious consequences.

Amelia Peabody is Elizabeth Peters' best loved and brilliant creation, a thoroughly Victorian feminist who takes the stuffy world of archaeology by storm with her no nonsense dress sense and forthright opinions.

A night watchman is found dead in the British Museum, in of all places the Egyptian Mummy Room. The watchman has a look of sheer terror etched upon his face. This immediately starts the British press talking of ancient Egyptian Curses set up to protect the long dead from the living. People even begin to ask the question, `can fear kill?' Amelia immediately takes on her practical attitude and discounts all such theories as stuff and nonsense. Husband Emerson and her son Ramses do everything in their power to ensure that Amelia does not become another victim of whoever perpetrated the crime and there are many twists and turns before the murder can be brought to justice.

If you've never treated yourself to an Amelia Peabody mystery, lose no more time! These are engaging and wonderfully witty books, and the only thing wrong with them is that they aren't a thousand pages long!

Deeds of the Disturber is temporally toward the middle of the series, and one of the best. It's a great mystery, and you'll enjoy the characters and the eloquent Victorian-toned writing style!

This is my first Amelia Peabody and Elizabeth Peters mystery. The novel is set in Victorian times. Peabody, as her husband, Emerson, calls her, is in London with the entire family. This includes Ramses, their precocious young son, and her young niece, Violet, and nephew, Percy. The latter two are the offspring of her very disagreeable brother, James, who foisted them off for a long period of at least six weeks.

The typical who-done-it mystery ensues in the British museum, with a mummy playing a prominent role. By the way, did you know that ground mummy has been used as a medicinal treatment for various diseases?

The family is VERY wealthy, residing in a mansion in London replete with servants of every sort, including footmen. Their language is quite florid. Peabody and Ramses use about 40 words for what Spenser (of the Robert Parker series) would say in three!

At first, I thought that this story is so "talky" that I couldn't get through it. Then, I began to get into the mood of the socioeconomic milieu and enjoy it. To me, the mystery was an aside to portrait of the wealthy, elegant, intelligent, educated Victorian family. At breakfast Peabody tells a servant, "Take this toast away. . . it has become quite leathery." She shops for custom-made frocks and tea gowns. The children wear sailor suits with hats and Violet wears ruffles and ribbons.

Particularly amusing are the most discreet innuendos to Peabody and Emerson's busy and most satisfying sex life. Face it, it's difficult to be spontaneous in a house filled with servants who assist in dressing, undressing, filling the bath, delivering mail, announcing guests and tea time, dinner time, etc.

Violet, a rather slow child, is noted for her tendency to gobble every teacake, biscuit and muffin within reach. Peabody notices that she is inflating like a frog and attempts, generally futilely, to restrict her consumption of sweets.

Unlike the rest of the clan, dear Violet is a creature of few words. When Percy and Ramses suffer their frequent mishaps, usually involving tussles between them, Violet utters phrases such as, "Dead! Dead!" or "Nasty! Nasty!"

In short, the mystery seemed to be an excuse for displaying the opulence of the British Victorian era and the eccentricities of the Emerson-Peabody entourage, an amusing setting well-worth visiting.

What an inspiration that Maya Angelou is to the world. Her story shows there is hope for everyone in any circumstance to overcome and make a difference to this world. If you don't know her story, this is a must read!! You'll love it.

Maya Angelou continues her life story in Gather Together In My Name. She candidly describes her experiences being a young mother, experimenting with the temptations life presents, and her mistakes. Through it all the reader grows from her experience alongside her. Another page turning examination of the experience of life written with boldness, beauty, and simplicity.

I always as a little girl looked up to Maya Angelou, I always thought she was wonderful. But I didn't know why she was such a wonderful person. Now I understand why. So what if she was a prositute , she had a good reason . She was in love and young. You only live once.I look at life differently now since I read the book. It showed me just because somebody does something it doesn't make them a bad person but they have a reason.

GATHER TOGETHER IN MY NAME is a difficult book to read. Oh, not because of Angelou's syntax, vocabulary or sentence structure. On the contrary, she writes in a clear, direct style that, if anything, may be a little too unembellished for some readers' pleasure. Now and then, to convey an effect more distinctly to the reader, her words suggest the patois of the speaker whom she is quoting. But no, the difficulty does not lie in the words, but rather in the message. It is painful to experience, even vicariously, the feelings of entrapment, abandonment, and repeated failure that Angelou presents to us. It is frustrating to see her heading from one failed endeavor to another, from one jilting to another, from one desperate attempt "to find her niche" to another.

How could anyone be so naive? How could anyone be so gullible? How could anyone be such a victim? The reader must remind himself, however, that, at the time of her life depicted in this book, Angelou is not the accomplished writer and poet of her later years. She is a confused, culturally lost teenager with a child and has experienced little besides rejection for her entire young life. She is very much an innocent girl with a growing resentment of the world around her but with a trusting optimism and an over-developed faith in her own worth, all of which combine to make her quite vulnerable to those who would prey upon her.

She is the product of a failed marriage and was sent by her father to be raised by his mother in Stamps, Arkansas in the 1940's, a location and era in which being Black was not a positive attribute. Though GATHER TOGETHER deals with her later teenage years, we do get a few glimpses of the segregated society into which she had been born. After having sampled the bitter workaday world of menial jobs in California, she returns to her Southern childhood home without the necessary subservience required of a Black and insults the supercilious clerks in a store in the white part of town, after which she must be hurriedly sent back to California to avoid the inevitable vengeance of the "white boys." The effect of growing up in this kind of hostile, demeaning environment must be kept in mind if the reader is to have any hope at understanding the formative influences that produced the attitudes that we witness in the Angelou of this book.

One quite understandable result of her upbringing is that the young Angelou (though not yet known by that name) has no social relationship whatsoever with Caucasian society. To say that she distrusts that society is not quite accurate, for the word "distrust" suggests that she has examined the society and found it deceitful. However, at this point in her life, she has not even examined it. Black and White society and culture are so different, so mutually exclusive, that they exist on different worlds or in different dimensions, and "never the twain shall meet." Because, perhaps, of her total alienation from Caucasian society and culture, the young Angelou seems to trust Blacks uncritically, even though other Blacks are the consistent source of her painful lessons in life--used by one while his girlfriend is elsewhere, maneuvered into prostitution by another, her baby stolen by a third--Angelou still clings to Black society. But, then, what other option had she?

I worry somewhat that younger readers who cannot relate to the legally segregated United States that endured into the 1960s will not find this personal history very believable. I worry also that those who have not lived in the South (even in the 21st century!) or near a ghetto will find the cultural stigma and limitations of being Black extreme and unrealistic. There are those readers who, not understanding the very real social, cultural, economic, and even legal shackles that bound Blacks long after the physical shackles of slavery were shed, will feel that Angelou is, at the very least, exaggerating the conditions which she had to endure and will place more blame upon her for bringing about her own tribulations than is warranted. However, those readers are the very ones who should take the book to heart, for it may help them comprehend just a little bit more of America's dark underbelly than white, middle-class America normally sees. They will find the message difficult and bitter to assimilate, yet it is a part of our country's history and needs to be learned.

There were times as I was reading this book that I cringed and thought to myself "How could she be so stupid." But I had to remind myself of her tender age in this story. She did a lot of things at a young age that many of us may never do in our entire lifetime. Prostitution, Pimping and drugs. This book had so much purpose and that's why I call it "One of the best book that I read all year". It's written like a novel so it doesn't come off preachy or like a self help book. Maya Angelou tells a portion of her story. She uncovers layers of clothing and bares the naked truth of her young adulthood. To me this is not just a story of a black woman and a black womans struggles; this is a story about hard knocks and people of all races and nationalities experience them. "Rita" felt like she had to make her own way, she felt like she needed all of the answers at once. No one was going to take care of her and son. And at the same time, while she felt the burdens of independence, she also felt the emptieness and lonlieness that we all feel some time or another just because we are human. "Rita" made a lot of poor decisions, but that's not the reason that we know her today. We don't know her because she was once a madam on the West Coast, or a prostitute in Stockton, or a cook in Oakland. We know her because she found God's plan for her life and stuck with it.

I pick up Robert B. Parker whenever I want a solid plot that comes out of well-developed characters. Pastime is the follow up of "Early Autumn." Ten years after Spenser had rescued Paul from his inept parents, Paul's mother has gone missing, and he wants Spenser's help finding her. Their detecting leads them to believe she might be caught in the crossfire between mob figures who don't care if she gets hurt.

Spenser is a hound for truth, even if he could get killed looking for the answers. My only complaint with Parker's writing (and I'm nit-picking) is "he/she/I said," tags at almost every line. Although you never have to wonder who's speaking, you have to push the tags into the background to enjoy the otherwise seamless storytelling. Parker writes out of the depth of human character, and his stories always come out resonant.

The actual plot of this novel felt more than a little thin, puffed up with a great deal of extraneous information about Paul's and Spenser's childhoods, along with annoying descriptions of what everyone was wearing and what color their garments were. It isn't necessary for a writer to tell every detail about a character or his furniture or his drinks or his food. The story does pick up somewhat in the end, but not enough to save the book completely.

The characters are OK--no better than that. Paul is boring. Hawk is a minor figure in this book. The gangsters are OK, with the exception of Gerry who is quite good. Ditto for the atmosphere. Some of the dialogue is excellent, if not quite attached to the plot. Doing tricks and funny asides with the dialogue doesn't mask the thin nature of the story.

P.S. I did like the dog. She appears in subsequent Spenser novels.

In this somewhat haunting note in the Spenser series, Paul Giacomin comes to Spenser asking for help in tracking down his mother, who has gone missing. Never the best of mothers - having often abandoned Paul to his own devices when he was younger, causing Paul to develop as a very neurotic youngster before Spenser took him under his wing in Early Autumn (as Paul says at one point "she used to literally hide under the bed . . . but I would find her") - Patty Giacomin had nonetheless kept in at least loose contact with her son through the years. However, when he had recently left several messages on her machine and then stopped by her house to find no one there, he became concerned. Spenser also suspects that Paul is seeking some resolution of the issues from his childhood, as he is now engaged to his significant other Paige and planning on marrying in the next year or so.

When Spenser begins investigating, he becomes concerned that he will learn something about which Paul would rather not know. Paul nonetheless insists on being involved every step of the way. Because of the nature of the investigation and the strain it puts on Paul, Spenser finds that talking about his own background and history to Paul helps distract the boy. (Up until now, much of this information has been a mystery to not only the characters, but also the reader.) Susan manages to get even more out of him. This makes for fascinating reading.

When Spenser's investigations lead to evidence that Patty's new boyfriend may have been involved with Gerry Broz, things begin to turn ugly.

This is a very revealing book, in many ways. We learn a great deal about Spenser; we learn a few things about Hawk. We see that Paul, despite all his hard work over the years, is inside still very much the insecure young boy yearning for his mother's affection and attention. We see some great interactions with Joe Broz and his son, Gerry - there are several very interesting parallels and contrasts which can be drawn between Joe Broz and Gerry's relationship vs. that of Patty Giacomin and Paul. Although Patty is not around by the end of the book, because of her dysfunctional approach to relationships (and as predicted by both Spenser and Paul in the book), I suspect this is not the last we will be seeing of her.

I have to say that my heart almost literally broke for Vinnie Morris, for the decision he had to make toward the end of the book. Vinnie may be a crook, but he is a crook with honor and I felt bad for him being put into the position he was in. I hope we'll see him again in the future, in a better situation.

A very strong recommend from me for any fans of Spenser, not to mention anyone who is a fan of a well-crafted action/suspense tale. I would also STRONGLY recommend that, if you are new to the series, you NOT start with this book; not that it necessarily would be impossible to follow the plot without having read the earlier books, but it would ruin some of the thrill of reading the earlier books and speculating on why Spenser is the way he is.

I've read most of Robert B. Parker's books, and this is definitely one of the better ones. This novel is technically a sequel to an earlier novel called EARLY AUTUMN, but you don't have to read that book to enjoy this one.

The plot of this novel is nothing special, but PASTIME is unique because it reveals a lot of details about Spenser's early life. This novel also marks the first appearance of Pearl the Wonder Dog, who has appeared in many subsequent Spenser books. Parker obviously loves dogs, and the passages of this novel describing Pearl's behavior are very funny.

I'm not a huge fan of most of the Spenser books after 1990, but this is definitely one of the stronger ones. If you like Parker's writing style, you should find this book a lot of fun, and it's short enough to read in one sitting.

The beginning chapters of PASTIME used a dramatically different stye from previous books I've read in the Spenser series. As other reviewers have helpfully described, this one's personal, and as such, to me it felt warm and "homey" (though, after the first chapters, the Spenser/Hawk/mob grit got going with full guts and grandeur... then paused periodically for more cozy "cookie" breaks).

Loved the story opening featuring Pearl's entry into the Spenser/Silverman family. Parker has a knack for drawing dogs to life on paper, in their cuddly, lapping, mysterious ways. I have to admit that I love animals, and any story which realistically captures their caricatures usually has me hopelessly hooked.

In fact, pets work so well to draw me into a book, that I was shocked, yes, to read the concluding statement of a delightfully edgy-eloquent review on this novel. I was so impressed, I was ready to click the "Yes" vote, wishing I could click it repeatedly and have each mouse tap add to the tally. Then, oh my. I read the final statement in the review: "But I still hate that damn dog."

I could not do it. Couldn't click "Yes" on a review which ended with that comment. You have no idea how much conflict I felt, wanting so badly to praise and honor that review. But, to vote against a dog? Could not.

Also could not vote "No." The review was too exquisite, and to love or not to love a dog is not the question; it's a matter of taste and heart, not of reviewing talent, or of a review being helpful or not.

BIG sigh. I almost went into a rash of hives of "does not compute" with that click-or-not conflict.

Maybe this is a good place to note that I'm beyond impressed with the variety of customer review posts on Amazon, including many of the spitting, hissing ones. It's this priceless collection of contrasting opinions (some of them profound, most of them interesting) on products which brought me to Amazon's pages; it's what keeps me here (in addition to Amazon's entertaining, colorful, graphics lush, public-carnival atmosphere, of course).

That out of the way, I'll slip out of my moody reverie mode and continue on with a review.

Laughed out loud at the "Boink Brain" term Spenser used for Susan's ex, and a couple clips describing Pearl antics.

Had a difficult time connecting my habitual reading rhythm for a Spenser novel to the first scenes including Paul Giacomin. The mood of those scenes seemed like Spenser might have allowed a somewhat "in process" character, like a son in his late teens, early 20's, to work/write with him on the Paul parts. At first I felt a loss with the seemingly diminished spark, snap, and sizzle of Parker's style, though there were a few perky passages:

>> "I was sixteen," I (Spenser) said. "And she sat in front of me in French class."
"Sixteen," Paul said. "You had a childhood?" <<

Then I began to contemplate the significance of the title using the word "Pastime" which, beyond the obvious allusions to Parker's welcome and interesting inclusions of Spenser's personal history, hinted at how one passes his time (usually meaning personal, leisure, home-life time, a quality of which most P.I.'s do not possess in any card count, and certainly not in Spades). At that point, I almost achieved a consciousness-shift into the home-base of "duh."

What's more, after reading into the scene from which Paul was excluded, between Spenser and Vinnie Morris, I began to see what was happening with the subtled-down-syntax, the artistic demand of it. I enjoyed the warm humor around Vinnie's attempts to understand and reconcile Paul's (e-mo-tion-al) need to find and understand his mother, and Spenser's support of that process.

"She got something he wants?" (Vinnie's question)
"His past," I (Spenser) said.
Vinnie looked at me some more and tossed his foot some more.
"His past." Vinnie said.
I nodded.
"What the f... is that supposed to mean?" <<

In contrast to the ooie-gooie, warm-fuzzy personal parts in this one, the tense bar scene was all the more effectively enthralling, with Spenser, Hawk, Gerry Broze-and-bodyguards being brought up to and down from a sit-u-a-tion of guns-drawn-every-which-way. Vinnie, you done good with your timed entry and smooth actions there!

In fact, all scenes including Vinnie were an effective contrast to the increased personal lives drama in this # 18 Spenser offering. Possibly the most telling of these was Vinnie's difficulty attempting to understand (or NOT to understand?) Paul's need to find his mother (see quote above). Psychobabble not being a part of the gangster-mob-mystique, Vinnie's puzzlement around Spenser's concern for Paul's emotional struggle was comical. What? The kid's not in mortal danger, not playing for mortal stakes, and Spenser has dropped everything to help him find a worthless woman who doesn't want to be found?

As to Spenser's childhood info, I enjoyed all of it, especially the explanations he gave on why/how he became a good cook, and why he continues to cook for himself, which tied in perfectly to his unique but so appropriate childhood.

As to some of the more typical macho male machinations (yet even this one was warmed by Pearl's presence) I became deeply engrossed in the struggle-through-the-wilderness scene, the wet, drippy forest with a leg-wounded Spenser and domesticated Pearl making their slow, heavy, water-logged way away from the stalking, tracker-enhanced bad guys.

PASTIME was a rainy day heaven, raining every-which-way, from peaceful, to harsh-in-a-marsh, almost constantly throughout the plot, ... AFTER the Sunny Scene One with Spenser, Susan, and Paul's variation on Ozzie & Harriet, kid, dog, and picket-fence-in-progress, with the requisite pretty pitcher of iced-tea brewing in the house. Yeah, Susan was doing that! Also, with awkward intensity, she cooked a meal for Paul and Spenser; the concoction was some type of honey-marinated, chopped-up chicken.

Iconic dichotomies of Ideal Vs Real in this plot were prime, posed perfectly:

-- From the impotent face off of Ozzie Dear to Mommie Patty.

-- From Spenser's parenting of Paul paired off with Joe Broze's unsung, unplaced, bio-son, Gerry (contrasted to Joe's "true" son, Vinnie).

-- From the architectural "glory" of The Commons, Formal Gardens, Designer Parks, manmade (from tax-dollar-dues) ponds stocked with loons; to the some-pastimes-never-die, all-night-diner, coffee-and-pie-house, open-24-hours (featuring hard-cooked apples w/core pieces, but good cherries, and thick, heavy, white-porcelain mugs).

-- From the backdrop of a Capitol building glowing through the pinnacle of night, to "fragrant bums" covered in newspaper, shedding rain with cardboard tents:

>> To our left Beacon street went up the hill to the State House, its gold dome lit and visible from everywhere, its Bulfinch front pretending that what went on inside were matters of gravity and import. The wind that had, in the late afternoon, slanted the rain in hard as I left police headquarters, had died with the daylight, and the rain, softer now, came down in near perfect silence. <<

Having finished the book and reflected upon the unique style of PASTIME featuring an Ozzie side of Spenser being exposed to his favorite gangster types, confusing the heck out of them to the point of increasing the normal edges of comedy; I realized that I had enjoyed this book even more than I had thought, as I was skipping through the lighter read of it, even as it took place mostly in the rain (not in Spain; but in and around Boston).

Loved the ending scene with Spenser and Susan. I began marking passages to quote, but the marks wouldn't end until every word in the scene was included. So, I suppose you may have to read the book to get it.

With ongoing ruminations of respect for this fascinating series,
Linda G. Shelnutt

This was the first book by this author that I have read and perhaps this is the reason why I liked (and still like) it so much. The heroine was wonderful, determined, courageous, ready to fight for the man she loved and ready to do whatever it took to win his respect, affection and maybe even love. It was lovely to see how the feelings between them grew and developed. And this book had a fair share of the famous AQ humor. I loved it!

I have read every book written by Amanda Quick and loved them all. I always want the hero to realize that he has found his mate and that is what happens in Seduction. Like all of the Amada Quick stories this is a quick read and it fills my romance addiction - what more could you want?

Any Amanda Quick novel is a good read. I loved Seduction because it was the first book that I ever read by this author. I loved the characters and the premise of the book.

I never liked books with weak heroines. Quick's books always have strong female characters. They can take care of themselves and don't necessarily have to have a male to complete them. The women have opinions and minds of their own.

Amanda Quick's books have a quirkiness about them. Most of her books are fast reads and they keep you laughing most of the tome. I would definitely recommend any of her books.

I was pretty disappointed in this novel. I liked the heroine, but hated the hero. He was such a jerk! I don't mind when they're jerks in the beginning of the story but he was a butt the whole way through. I couldn't understand how she could be in love with this guy. There weren't even moments of a nice guy peeking through. So even though the story was pretty good and the heroine had spunk, the hero ruined the whole thing for me. This is my first time reading this author and I'm afraid to read another one. Oh yah, and he talked down to her like she was a child, and ohhhhhhhh I hate that.

As a period piece, this is a hauntingly accurate one. Mary Wollstonecraft wrote that "marriage was little better than institutionalized prostitution". For the early 19th century woman, as Sophy finds herself, this was played out all to frequently. The jaded Earl of Ravenwood (Julian) offers marriage to a country gentry spinster (Sophy) expecting she can get no better offer and her aging grandparents need the funds he's offering. He'll give her a title and money if she gives him a son and no trouble or scandal. He's essentially buying a broodmare.

Sophy has loved him since she was 18 and thought he a dashing young lord. She agrees to the marriage as long as he agrees to give her time and respect. 1) Doesn't censor her reading, 2) doesn't control her father's inheritance (pocket money to him) and 3) gives her 3 months before consummating their marriage so she can know him better (and he might love her back). A week into the marriage and he's already breaking his word forcing her to sleep with him "as is his husbandly right". She retaliates by drugging him to sleep.

Good for her, I thought. If the man's going to be a pig and go back on his word to his bride, he well deserved any guilt he has over it. But time and time again Sophy lets the man off the hook. She allows him to bully her into sex, gets her pregnant, packs her off to the country, even tell her what she should and should not consider an issue of honor and family loyalty. He's a typical Alpha hero who never really gets his comeuppance.

Sure he was jaded by his first wife's adultery, but he never fully earned his second wife's love or loyalty. As the book closes, (and she is nursing their son after having been manipulated once again to do his bidding in wearing the family jewels) he asks her if she has gotten everything she wanted from the marriage. All I could think was that he got exactly what he wanted (an heir, a loyal wife) and she had surrendered herself to institutional prostitution.

Alas this is typical of Amanda Quick. She writes good mystery plots but has a poor grasp of emotional realism. There are no fireworks just paint-by-numbers plots.

When I bought 44: Dublin Made Me, it was primarily because my mother had been born on the same street, at No. 77, a generation before, in 1917. All I knew of the place was the stories she had told me of her childhood.

As you might guess, I ended up loving the book for itself, and enjoying Sheridan's voice (I buy his other books as I find them). I fell madly in love with his entire family. However, my original purpose was satisfied anyway - Sheridan has painted a wonderful portrait of a place and a culture, which was what I'd been seeking all along.

Peter Sheridan gives a brave and honest account of his formative years growing up in a working class Dublin family, reminiscent of Roddy Doyle's "Paddy Clark: Ha Ha Ha." It is a deeply felt book, full of the frustrations and joys of everyday family life. His parents, in particular, are beautifully renderred. At times, I found the choppiness of Sheridan's style a little jarring, and the final chapters seemed a little rushed, but on balance, I definitely enjoyed the book, and do not hesitate to recommend it.

The story is about Peter growing up with his family in North Dublin and is set in the 1960's. The tightly knit family relations with his own family and those of his extended family of lodgers, which his parents took in to supplement his father's income, forms the backdrop to his story at 44 Seville Place.
The pace of the book has the rhythm of the sixties. The short sentences beat out the rhythm of the sixties and keeps the tempo up-beat throughout the whole of the book. For those who have experienced Dublin in the sixties this book will take you back to that place and that time.
The metaphorical pieces were very touching and masterfully executed. One example of this technique was when Peter tries to get to grips with his emotions concerning the possible loss of his brother Frankie before Frankie goes into surgery. A joy to read.
Da is the Sun and all the minor planets revolve around him. Peter takes to his role as Mercury the messenger with great relish. There is a strong bond between father and son.
I feel this story should not be compared to Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes. A one generation step into the future in Ireland can make a very big difference in how life is experienced.
It was a very enjoyable read whereby the need to laugh out loud in places could not be silenced. However there were places in the book where the need to cry out loud could also not be silenced.

Happiness is in the eye of the individual..to me this was a tragic family life...a mother overburdened with a houseful of children and a self centered husband. All the sader for me to review since I'd read 47 Roses first and knew the father to be less than honest with family.

As if drawn by a gravitational pull, Irish yarns seem to center on the relationship of children with their mothers. In a break from this natural order, Peter Sheridan's memoir, 44 Dublin Made Me turns to the bond of a boy with his father for its compelling tale.

Sheridan writes about his childhood with grace and ease. Readers are catapulted into his large Irish family in 1959 from the first sentence onward.

Peter Sheridan is a good Irish boy who enjoys school and loves the hectic life Dublin offers. His best friend, Andy, hates school but loves traipsing around the city in search of fortune.

The two boys influence each other in both good and bad ways - Andy gets involved with the church after a stint in reform school, and Peter learns to stand up for himself. In the end though, Andy remains the rogue and Peter the goody-two-shoes.

A steady presence throughout the book is Peter's Da. The man has his own outhouse in the garage, preaches to his family like they are his disciples and relies on his wins at the horse races as a major means of income.

Peter is his Da's helper and is ordered to do just about every imaginable task - from climbing up an ariel on the roof to fix the TV's reception to digging holes in the garage to fix water pressure.

When Peter's brother, Frankie, falls ill, their Da finds himself unable to cope. Peter tries to fill in for his father and be someone for his mother to rely on. After his father regains his strength, he and Peter find their friendship stronger.

Peter also runs errands all over the city and helps out with the tenants his parents have taken in.

One of these boarders, Mossie, plays a crucial role in Peter's life. Mossie robs Peter of his innocence, terrifies and scars him so deeply that Peter withdraws inwardly. Unable to find comfort, Peter then seeks solace at the hands of the church.

Illness and deaths make Peter grow up quickly and 44 Dublin Made Me documents his maturation. Andy gets a girl "in trouble" and quickly marries to take responsibility for the situation. As his world changes, Peter adapts.

Sheridan's strength is that he writes his story, which could be sad, as hopeful and happy. Rather than just have stories from his childhood strung together as some memoirs do, 44 Dublin Made Me creates a touching story.

In late summer 1862, the Confederate Army is invading the United States of America. Major Nate Starbuck has been given command of the Yellowlegs, a battalion composed of failures and cowards. Starbuck does his best to train the battalion and to lead them to the battle against the northern garrison at Harper's Ferry, and then to the bloody battlefield of Antietam where around twelve thousand men died just in some hours. Starbuck and his friends are struggling to survive, not to be killed by the enemies wearing blue uniforms and also by the enemies behind their backs.

This book is the fourth one in the Starbuck Chronicles. Like other Cornwell's books, this one is an excellent read. However, if you already read Sharpes, you would find a lot of similarities between these two series.

Despite the fact that the entire Starbuck series seems to be a rewriting of the familiar Sharpe series novels, one cannot help but like these books. This, the final addition to the series, is perhaps the one I enjoyed most. Yes, its more of the same but the battle description seems longer in this one than in the others. The theory for how McClellan came to have Lee's plans is interesting and draws in the guerrilla aspects of the war not often touched upon. Cornwell's books are not "great fiction" in the sense of telling a story with deep significance beyond the story, but they are finely spun tales that entertain and that is of value in itself. But do not expect something original in characters - these are Cornwell-templates fleshed out in slightly different situations as with his other novels.

Bernard Cornwell can really tell a story. He keeps my interest from start to finish.

I will quote from Cornwell's book, The Bloody Ground, " 'There are still yankees in the wood,'Starbuck said, pushing down the lever that rammed the revolver's chamber. ' I shot one,'Lucifer said. 'You damn fool, ' STarbuck said fondly. 'They're fighting for your freedom.' ...'but you shouldn't be fighting. Hell, these ba**rds are trying to liberate you...'" -pages 320-321
Cornwell, Benard. The Bloody Ground. Harper Collins Publishers : 1996.
First off, the yankees were not fighting to free Lucifer, Starbuck's servant, or any other black in the South. In fact, at the battle of Sharpsburg where this scene is taking place, the Emancipation Promclimation was still three months away! And even when the document was signed by Lincoln, it did not free a single slave. The Emancipation Pronmclimation was like saying that slavery can live in the U.S. but in Mexico it will be abolished. The goverment made those, "forever free" where they had no control and let those who they did control be oppressed. It was a military move, a right for the military forces of the North to conscript free and inslaved blacks in the South. I am not a lost cause revisonist. If you can state one fact contridicting mine about what I have said then go for it. But I look to historical documents, letters, and quotes for historical fact. I have quoted from a scene in Cornwell's fictional novel, The Bloody Ground. Now let me quote from history itself...
"It is stated in books and papers that Southern children read and study that all the blood shedding and destruction of property of that conflict was because the South rebelled without cause against the best government the world ever saw; that although Southern soldiers were heroes in the field, skillfully massed and led, they and their leaders were rebels and traitors who fought to overthrow the Union, and to preserve human slavery, and that their defeat was necessary for free government and the welfare of the human family.

"As a Confederate soldier and as a citizen of Virginia, I deny the charge, and denounce it as a calumny. We were not rebels; we did not fight to perpetuate human slavery, but for our rights and privileges under a government established over us by our fathers and in defense of our homes." -Richard Henry Lee, Confederate Colonel

"We are not fighting for slavery. We are fighting for independence." Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America


"If the South had only wanted to protect slavery, all they had to do was go along with the original 13th Amendment, offered in early 1861 after several states had seceded, which would have protected slavery for all time in the states where it then existed. This was not inducement enough to bring South Carolina or any others back into the fold. The States of the Confederacy, even today, could block the passage of the 13th Amendment, and certainly could have then. This is why the slaveholders wanted to stay in the Union. Their "property" was protected by the Constitution." -Charlie Lott, historian

"The assertion that the South fought for slavery is Yankee propaganda and a monstrous distortion." -Jefferson Davis

"[Defeat] means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the War, will be impressed by all influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, our maimed veterans as fit objects for their derision, it means the crushing of Southern manhood ... to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties." -Patrick Cleburne, Major General

My three stars for this book is inspired by the wonderfully illustrated battle scenes. The characters in this book are very fine and mold dramatically with the scenes and the story. Though I do not enjoy Cornwell's slander of the South, though fictional, I pray for a fifth book in the series. I believe that Major Starbuck, Captain Truslow, and General Swineyard have many more glorious and tragic stories to live in the coming months and years of the 1862-1865. I would love to see the series continue after ten years waiting for a fifth novel. If we are indeed treated to a continuation of the series, I hope that Bernard Cornwell will give a little more historical truth to the South's cause and its soldiers.

Bloody Ground is the final book in the Starbuck Chronicles and in some ways it's a very strong book and in other ways it's very weak. The plot is almost a rehash of an amalgamation of Sharpe books. That is the problem. Although the book is interesting and fun to read, it's not that original. Major Starbuck is transferred to command of a punishment battalion filled with cowardly officers and corrupt sergeants. His second in command is a situational conformist who wants to rape, pillage and plunder and stay well away from battle. With the help of a drunken but loveable officer named Potter (reminiscent of Harry Price from the Sharpe series), Starbuck must get the battalion in fighting order in time for Antietam. Starbuck has to worry about bullets from behind and in front as the Civil Wars bloodiest day commences. The battle of Antietam is well written and this book is enjoyable enough. In fact, I wish that Cornwell would finish the series and go through the entire war. OVerall a fun and interesting read, but too much like Sharpe

...and it wasn't Wolfe who blinks first.

It is a new year in the brownstone and Archie Goodwin is hopeful that Nero Wolfe be inspired to start earning the yearly income needed to keep their unconventional and expensive household going. Little did he realize that their first client of the year just might tide them through the next twelve months in style. The woman who appeared requesting Wolfe's services had a most unusual assignment in mind, she wanted Wolfe to get the FBI to leave her alone. She had managed to annoy the FBI by sending out thousands of copies of a book critical of the Bureau to everyone she could think of, bringing what had been a rather obscure book to national attention.

At first Wolfe was reluctant to take on the task which he judged to be not just difficult but likely impossible. Upon reflection though he decided to make an attempt, to earn the promised retainer he had been offered if nothing else. He was surprised to find that the little jabs he had delivered to the FBI brought quite a response, one that thoroughly annoyed him and made him determined to see the Bureau cease all their harassment of both his client and him. So determined is Wolfe that he is forced to break some of his cardinal rules, including missing meals and even leaving the brownstone on business!

Those who are fans of this series will delight in this one because of the unusual steps Wolfe is driven to in order to achieve success. Those who are unfamiliar with Wolfe and his eccentric ways and househould, will be bewildered by much of the action in this one and so would probably be better served reading some of the other, more conventional entries into the series.

The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout

A widow visits Nero Wolfe with a large check and a large problem. She bought a thousand copies of a book ("The FBI Nobody Knows") and gave them to Congressmen, state legislatures, editors and publishers, etc. Now she and her adult children are being followed day and night, and her phones were tapped. Nero Wolfe says he knows of nothing to stop that. But her large check makes the sale. Wolfe first finds out as much as he can from a well-connected person. A confidential source tells Archie Goodwin about an unsolved murder mystery. So Goodwin starts to investigate the people who knew Morris Althaus, journalist. Relatives, friends, and co-workers are interviewed. There is no guarantee of a solution. But the investigation continues.

Nero Wolfe sets a very clever trap to tempt someone to burglarize his house while he seemed to be away. It works, and leads to a solution that benefits his client by stopping the surveillance. This also leads to clearing an unsolved murder. [This is a very clever story as long as you don't question its plausibility.] Some features of this story are based on historical facts.

When this book came out in 1965, the rampant fear of the FBI was such that many were surprised at Stout's brashness in showing up J. Edgar Hoover. That's a huge thing this book accomplished.

It's a pretty good story, and the plot devices are fully up to par. And the A&E depiction is one of their best, showing Wolfe's insistence on living exactly as he pleases, and asserting the rights of an American citizen as we all should emulate. He is not a fearful man when it comes to people in positions of power.

It's a good plot, well written and good characters. My favorite character was J. Edgar Hoover...

This is escapist literature, and quite good for that. It makes a claim to be about a serious subject, viz. FBI corruption, and I would be interested to know how true that part is. I may even read the book referenced in the book. As with all escapism, there are no real surprises,although there are unexpected incidents. Good stuff.

This was one of Rex Stout's more entertaining Wolfe adventures, which has the inimitable detective going up against J Edgar Hoover and the FBI. The usual plot twists, wisecracks and brilliant deductions prevail, as does Wolfe. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I will admit that I like Michael Pritchard's readings better than the reader on this one, but that was a minor quibble.

Picking up where "Sharpe's Rifles" leaves off, this installments finds Sharpe and his unit in Portugal. They've been under the benign command of Captain Hogan, who surveys the land in anticipation of French invasion. Sharpe happily delays arriving in Lisbon and returning to formal army command, which he fears will strip his battlefield command from him to return him to the quartermaster work he loathes.

As Oporto evacuates before the French invasion, they are sent on a wild goose chase to retrieve Kate Savage, the errant daughter of a wealthy British widow, and to accompany the mysterious Colonel Christopher. He's a foreign office representative who doesn't want their company and we soon learn the nefarious reasons why.

Once again they find themselves cut off and surrounded. Unable to find a way across a river towards Lisbon, they must defend the Savage country house against an overwhelming number of French attackers. Sharpe by now has won his men's respect, and they, his. They do notice, as we the readers already have, that Sharpe has one great weakness - falling in love with regularity.

We get our expected dose of great battlefield detail as fortunes surge back and forth between the British-Portuguese alliance and the French enemy. We get another visit from the Foreign Office's fey Lord Pumphrey, who once again has a dicey mission for Sharpe. And, predictably, British fortunes improve once General Arthur Wellesley, Sharpe's reluctant patron, arrives in Iberia to take command.

Historically, this is an interesting period. The Spanish and Portuguese resistance to Napoleon is considered the first guerrilla war, and Iberia is considered to have been his Vietnam - a large land he conquered but could not hold, sapping his strength in the attempt.

I listened to the unabridged audiobook read by William Gaminara.

The story centers around Sharpe's orders to locate the 19-year-old Kate Savage, who has run away from home. Although Sharpe doesn't know it at the time, Kate is seduced by British Colonel Christopher. Christopher wants her inheritance. He's also up to his eyeballs in treason.

It's 1809 and the British army is stationed in Lisbon when Marshal Soult begins the French invasion of northern Portugal. Sharpe battles the French, saves the girl and exposes Christopher.

As with other Sharpe books, this one is an enjoyable, fast-paced romp in history.

This is another entry on the Sharpe series. It is fun, entertaining and very readable. Cornwell's research is as excellent as usual. He takes some licenses for the shake of the story and continuity, but this is OK. Some people are outraged by the portrait of some of the real historical characters, but historical characters are rarely depicted accurately in historical fiction, so I think this can be forgiven. Besides, usually a more serious account of these characters is given at the end of the book on the Historical Note.

Many people insist in compare this series with Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. I don't think this is fair for any of the series, they are different entities. What they have in common is that once you start you may get hooked and devour one book after another...

And in the literary world today that is a rare and marvelous thing.

Bernard Cornwell's titanic Richard Sharpe series continues with "Sharpe's Havoc: Richard Sharpe and the Campaign in Northern Portugal, Spring 1809." Leading the beefy Irishman Sergeant Harper and the remainder of the 95th Rifles that survived "Sharpe's Rifles," Sharpe finds himself still cut off from the British Army during the Peninsular War. As one can expect from Bernard Cornwell, rollicking adventure ensues.

In "Sharpe's Rifles," Sharpe earned his leadership position with the 95th Rifles, and his hold on his soldiers is stronger here, although by no means complete. And it's fair to say that the Rifles are a wee bit stressed, nearly falling to the French army of Marshall Soult as the French sack the Portuguese city of Oporto. But thanks to Sharpe's courage and notorious luck, the Rifles win through and receive new orders.

Sharpe and the Rifles are to accompany one Colonel Christopher, a Shakespeare-quoting villain from the British Foreign Office. A typically-slick Cornwellian villain, Christopher not only plays both British and French sides for his own profit, he covets the beautiful British ex-pat, Kate. Sharpe, charged with finding the wilful Kate and returning her to her mother, goes into a murderous rage when the cad Christopher marries Kate minutes before Sharpe catches up with her (or so she thinks . . .), only to be even more enraged as Christopher's traitorous nature becomes clear.

"Sharpe's Havoc" provides all the usual thrills and chills in a Sharpe novel. From the sack of Oporto to Sharpe's lonely defense of a hilltop redoubt to a pitched battle against thousands of French troops with Sir Arthur Wellesley to a murderous race through the mountains of Portugal to halt a fleeing French army, "Sharpe's Havoc" has action and to spare.

Look for lots of fun as Irish bait the English, who bait the Portuguese, while everyone hates the dastardly French and their obscene ideas of rationality and reason. Guaranteed to keep the pages flipping quickly, "Sharpe's Havoc" is a darn good read, even if it doesn't really break any new ground for the Sharpe series. Check it out.

Sharpe's Havoc is another in Sharpe's Rifles series, this one taking place after the first one, but before the 2nd. In this book, Mr. Sharpe is dealing with the French invasion of Portugal in 1809.

In this tale, Mr. Sharpe and his men are tasked to find Ms. Savage (a British lady who lives in Portugal) before the French seize the area and bring her back to Lisbon. However this is interrupted by Colonel Christopher's orders that Mr. Sharpe and his men to stay in Vila Real de Zedes (a small town in the foothill above Oporto, a major city) with Ms. Savage and to not both the French. However, not everything is as it would seem. I don't want to go into anymore details because it'll spoil the story.

As usual, Mr. Cornwell does an outstanding job of following what occurred and inserting his character at the critical moment. Mr. Cornwell has crafted the book very nicely, the story is interesting and makes you look forward to reading more in the series. A solid 4.5 star book in my opinion, however our friends at Amazon don't let me rate them that way and I can't I give it 5 stars. Sorry for those that follow the Sharpe's series!

Falco is back in his beloved Rome with Helena and a new baby girl, tactfully named after both grandmothers, Julia Junilla Laeitana. Falco is out enjoying himself with old friend from his army days, Petro, who is now a member of the Vigiles, when they comes across a gruesome discovery in the fountain they are standing by. A severed human hand. With the possibility of bits of Rome's population floating around the Roman water system it is time for our hero to get involved.

This time he has the help of Petro, who has been suspended from the vigiles for having a rather unfortunate liaison. But of course nothing is easy for Falco. What with more than my jobs worth water board officials, who seem to have a vested interest in keeping things quiet, Falco and Petro seem to be running up a dead end. That is until Julius Frontius an ex-consul who Vespasian has assigned to look into the matter becomes involved. He is certainly able to use his influence and the investigation begins to make progress.

When another girl goes missing Falco begins to realise who the serial killer is, but will he be able to catch them before they strike again . . .

Three Hands in the Fountain (Lindsey Davis, 1996) is quite a disappointment. Although genuinely funny, with good dialogue, the plot is a mess.

The setting is Rome, vividly depicted, and seen through the eyes of a plebeian, with emphasis on the waterworks, "a vital state concern, and had been for centuries. Its bureaucracy was an elaborate mycelium whose black tentacles crept right to the top", and on the bureaucratic complications of the aqueducts. To these waterworks, someone is adding various pieces of human anatomy-gore, with much scope for black comedy. It soon becomes apparent that the murders are linked to the many Roman Games, giving the informer hero Marcus Didius Falco "an excellent excuse to spend much of the next two months enjoying himself in the sporting arenas of our great city-all the while calling it work". The atmosphere of "watching scores of gladiators being sliced up while the Emperor snored discreetly in his gilded box and the best pick-pockets in the world worked the crowds" is vivid and almost tangible.

Setting, therefore, is quite good (although certainly not comparable to the brilliant depiction of Rome in Robert Graves' superb I, CLAUDIUS). What is not so good is the actual plot: the detection is not very good, with few clues to speak of, and no suspects; and the murderer's identity is a complete let-down, completely characterless, and introduced on page 231 of 294. This is not what I expect from an author The Times suggested as being "well suited to assume ... the title Queen of the Historical Whodunnit".

If you've found the other Falco books dull, a story about dismembered bodies should liven things up. This is a wonderful series that everyone should enjoy. Helena does not play as important a role as I would wish, but this is still an excellant book.

This is another great entry in the Marcus Didio Falco series. We learn all about the ancient Roman acqueduct and sewer system as we watch Falco go after a serial killer. (Yes they must have had them even then). Falco is back in Rome with his wife and baby daughter and in urgent need of employment as usual. But he sort of falls into this particular case. He and his friend Petronius are sitting by a non-working fountain taking some much-needed R and R when they discover a severed human hand. This sets them both on a quest to catch a serial killer that it appears has been abducting and killing women for a long time. Like all of Ms. Davis' books this book is great fun. We get to renew our acquaintance with old friends and meet some new ones as well. I can hardly wait for the next episode.

This is my third one. I've read two. One Virgin Too Many, and A Dying Light in Corduba. This one is before Virgin and after Corduba. Junia Junilla Laeitana (partially named after a wine!) has been born to Falco and his 'wife," the aristocratic Helena. Anacrites, Chief Spy and Falco's sworn enemy, is just beginning to come out of convalescence after being beat up in the previous book and being nursed to health by Falco's Ma. Claudia Rufina, a character from the last book, has been engaged to Helena's snotty brother Aelianus. Falco's best friend Petro has been fired from the police force after being unfaithful to his wife with a gangster's daughter, and Petro and Falco have teamed up to form an investigative partnership. They find a human hand in a fountain that is being repaired by a civic workman and rapidly it comes to light that there has been a serial killer at work during the Roman Games for years. This is not good news. The ex-consul Frontinus employs Falco and Petro to stop this person. As usual, Falco and Petro have problems of their own, and Rome's bureaucracy is not entirely helpful, while the actual mystery, particularly in this story is not entirely the point. (I did have a quibble with its resolution, however.) The Local Color of Ancient Rome, and surroundings in this book, is so well conveyed through Falco's dry wit and wary yet hopeful humor that the read is just plain fun. And this mystery particularly wrily displays the struggle with bureaucracy that has been Rome's legacy to the modern day. One scene has Falco and Helena registering the birth of Julia Junilla Laeitana (partially named after a wine!) at the birth registry office and that is quite funny.