Truman Books

Margaret Truman knows how to craft a novel and although the story of Joe Wilcox and his journalistic integry is put to question and makes for an interesting read, the book is absolutely riddled with cliche. Murder At The Washington Tribune is not an entirely bad read, albeit a bit slow and clunky at times. It has just enough to keep you interested and wondering. However ... ahhh ... as a reporter Joe Wilcox is virtually handed the name of the person who may have killed a young female reporter at the paper about 120 pages in, courtesy of the young women's parents. Wilcox never considers looking into this angle. Flew past him like a Roger Clemens fast ball. Twenty five years of crime reporting and what becomes a major clue goes unreported. Wilcox, the newspaper reporter has, of course, a beautiful daughter in television. Chalk another cliche up. Anyway, the dialog between the two is often pedestrian and dumb. They're constantly sharing sources for stories and get irritated with each other when one of two holds back information for their own employer. As I think about it, there's another cliche at every page. Wilcox' boss is a "tough" Metro News Editor in constant need of the latest scoop. Cliche. Wilcox' wife is a stay-at-homer, all too eager to please and have dinner cooked when he arrives home. Cliche. The main female police officer investigating the murders has a life so cliche -- failed marriage, amazing good looks, high morality -- that she could be a piece of swiss cheese. Cliche. Then, there's the long lost brother whose past creates the books sense of mystery, but he turns out to be medium spicy. You see everything he does or is going to do coming a mile away. The last chapter of the book? CLICHE. Just read for yourself. The one redeeming part of this book is the issues facing newspapers across the country: Integrity. Revenue. The conflict between tabloid journalism and real news journalism. For exploring this angle, I give Ms. Truman thumbs up. For the rest of the book, cut the cliches.

I found myself pulled into this mystery. I've read a number of the Capital Crimes Series and feel this is one of the best ones that the author's written. I was guessing all the way until the end to figure out who the murderer was. I highly recommend this book. It is well written and the attention to detail was good without being overwhelming.

Susan K. Behm, author of The Journey, Secrets in Paradise, and Civilized Savages.

Margaret Truman is one of my favorite writers. I learn about DC politics and the city while getting a good yarn, and usually can't put them down. Unlike other mystery writers, I do not skip her words -- I do nto "speed read" but savor the whole book!

I found this book to be a bit of a departure from Truman's other novels and I have to say I really enjoyed it and found it to be a breath of fresh air. Not that Truman's other novels aren't spectacular, they really are! This book however is quite special in that the main character turns takes a path that strays away from the straight and narrow. With books where Mac Smith is the main character, we are used to him taking the high road, so this is definitely a departure from that way of thinking!

Joe Wilcox, a respected, but aging reporter finds himself in a moral dilemma when he has the opportunity to gain some fame in the autumn of his career. One thing leads to another and soon he finds himself losing is journalistic integrity in order to show up a young, hot shot reporter. To add further intrigue, someone from his past shows up on the scene that has a lot more to hide than the reader first realizes.

This complicated tale of deception and murder in the Nation's capitol should not be missed!

Murder at the Washington Tribune by Margaret Truman is not the worst book I've read this year (I'll reserve that dubious honor for Patricia Cornwell's Predator). And it's not even really that bad. It's just not that good either.

I have to applaud Ms. Truman for venturing away from her usual Washington series starring attorney Mac Smith and coming up with an entirely new set of characters for this novel. I generally enjoy her mysteries, with the combination of Washington insider intrigue, solid mystery writing, and good characters.

This book, however is not so much a mystery as a journey into the temptation of and subsequent fall from grace of a good man. As such, the mystery, the murder of a young journalist takes second place to the relationship between veteran news reporter Joe Wilcox, his daughter, hotshot television reporter Roberta Wilcox and MPD detective Edith Vargas-Swayze.

Also entering the mix is Joe's brother Michael, newly arrived in Washington after years spent in a mental institution after his killing of a teen-age girl. Truman mixes all these characters together, and tosses in a few other mysteries as well-- the murder of another reporter and the killing of an elderly veteran. Sometimes she loses some of the threads-- I don't believe the murder of the second reporter is ever solved, and the resolution of the murder of the first reporter is no big surprise-- the surprise is that no one tumbled to it sooner.

Ultimately the murders in this book are merely window dressing for the true story, which is the downfall of Joe Wilcox. There's nothing terribly wrong with that, however Ms. Truman could have given her story more oomf if she had devoted as much time and energy toward the mysteries as she did to Joe's story. As it is, the reader is left at the end feeling dissatisfied-- not only are all the questions not answered, but there just doesn't seem to have been any purpose to the whole book.

The mystery is obvious and while the characters are engaging, very little happens besides the crime that sets off the novel. There is plenty of wading through verbose descriptions and conversation however. This book might be welcome as distraction but it is not a rewarding, informative or particularly pleasant read because it is hollow and devoid of meaning or even a challenging plot.

Another of Truman's books that's hard to put down and keeps one guessing to the end. She definitely knows D.C., both inside and out.

However - It might be my age (G) but so many characters are included in her books I have difficulties keeping them all straight - still a good read though.

I'm also not too impressed with the way she starts many of her stories (this one included) with something/someone that has little or absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the story...but I still enjoyed the book.

My suggestion would be to make sure you space out the time between reading Truman's books. If two or more are read back to back, one can see how much alike most of her stories are...only a change in name, location, and "who-dunnit."

Just like each of my reviews of her "Murder In/At ..." books.

The most interesting thing about this book is that Truman really knows her Washington. Otherwise, this quick and easy read is standard formula fare. Her characters are mildly interesting, and this book plays on the Russian mafia as the evil ones. Good book to read at the beach.

I have read many of Margaret Truman's books and enjoyed some of them. This one is ok for light reading.......but don't believe we need her editorial on all the
Republicans in Washington. Adds nothing to the story by taking nasty little digs
at them. She would do well to stick to mystery in these books and if she has a
'beef' with the Republicans.......write a book about that. The two don't mix

This is the most interesting and exciting of the Margaret Truman mysteries that I have read. Congressman Paul Latham has been nominated by the President to be Secretary of State. Then, he is found lying dead beneath the Statue of Freedom, a pistol clutched in his hand. Rumors swirl about suicide because of impending disclosure of illegal activity with a billionaire supporter or sexual harrasment charges by a secretary. But the medical examiner finds that it is not suicide. It is murder. As suspects are eliminated, the FBI finds that hired killers, members of the Russian mafia, are loose in Washington. But for whom do they work? When suspicion turns to the man controlling the killers, the story becomes intense, as the suspect uses his hired killers to protect himself. All in all, it is a good story, and you get the usual, wonderful insight into Washington.

I just read Lin Stone's delightful and wonderful book on the subject of tax sales. It was very interesting, though somewhat light reading that was also informative. It left me wanting more, but unfortunately that more does not exist. The subject of Tax Sales is given only minimal coverage by most real estate authors. And for good reason, it is a difficult subject where 50 different states have 50 different tax sale laws. Additionally most authors know little or nothing about the subject. Do the liens transfer with the property? What is the period of owner redemption? Tax Sales are probably the most treacherous form of real estate investment. Seller disclosures, consumer protection and other statutory safeguards for the real estate buyer just plain do NOT exist in the tax sale arena. You could end up buying a toxic waste dump, a cliff, a wetland, a tiny sliver of land, a flood plain, a landlocked parcel or even underwater property at tax sales. I've seen all of the above at tax sale. Nobody will tell you about the property shortcomings, only your own research can overcome those obstacles. Most of the tax sale properties are junk; many are worthless or have expensive problems like bad title; you have to distinguish the gems or at least the diamond in the rough. There are only two other books, by Hendricks and Moskowitz, on tax sales that are even worth reading. If you're serious read all three. Lin Stone tells a tale that is easy to read, but is somewhat lacking in depth. Big print and lots of white space make the book seem bigger than it really is. Stone does have chapters on internet and adverse possession that are unique, fun and very interesting. But chapters on Fannie Mae, Hud, VA, etc. are out of place, unnecessary, and filler. The chapters on finding the properties was enlightening. The chapter on buying a house was much to short as Stone concentrates on land. In the back of the book the list of states does not include all 50, obviously a conscious omission by the author. All and all the book was informative, offered insight that only an experience tax sale buyer/author can offer. It would be an excellent choice for beginners, but would probably be too shallow for the experienced tax sale buyer. Also some of the points made are not universal to different state tax sales. As I said earlier it is a difficult subject because of the vast difference of state law. This book is a beginning but by no means assume expertise after reading. Lin Stone's book will help, but be careful out there!

This book goes into great detail in describing ways to buy land. Unfortunately, this is no book for the novice. If you are looking for entry-level information on how to buy land cheaply you would do well to bypass this one and find something else. On the other hand, if you have some real estate savy this book will give you some real strategies to help you in your search.

I bought this book and hope to learn something which I don't know. Very disappointed!!! About 30% of the materials written in the book (such as jokes, stories, a little history) is not really in relating to the subject of the book, which is tax land sale. 50% of the materials might be on the subject, however they are not very useful. At maximum, only 20% is useful information...

This book should be titled "How to Fill a 189 Page Book with 3 Pages of Information". Double spaced large type, lots of white space and irrelevant and useless filler occupy the vast bulk of this tounge-in-cheek, story tellin', vague collection of obsolete, incomplete, good ole' boy jaw-jackin' generalities. The few scattered facts in this book can easily be found by anyone with 3 minutes to spend on Google. On the other hand, it's encouraging to know that your competition in this business includes those who actually thought they learned something from this paperback.

I thinks this book lacks any useful information. She covers the topics in a very superficial way and she does not provide any real depth. If I want to get into Tax Sales and I think that reading this book will help me to do it, I am wrong. I will know a little more about tax sales but not enough to get into this business. I would hope that somebody wrote a book with more in-depth information that really helped you to get started.

Well written, easy to follow and kept you yearning for the next page. Great book

I picked up this book and did not put it down, I finished it in a little over a week.

It is set in Washington and really describes DC and is a classic old fashioned murder mystery. It is very suspenseful and keeps the reader interested. READ IT!! It is really good.

This was my first Margaret Truman book. I enjoyed it and really like her writing style. I agree with some other reviewers that the story was a little lacking but it was a very quick read and I will definately read more of this series as I understand it gets better.

Once I started reading I couldn't hardly put it down until I finished.

The first book in Margaret Truman's Capital Crimes series is moderately entertaining, but no more. The Secretary of State is killed in the White House; the President appoints his inexperienced Junior Counsel to head up the investigation. There's a lot of talk, an action sequence, some more talk, another murder, some more talk, and then it all ends rather hurriedly.

The book's main strength is the way it hints that bigger, darker things are at stake. But it has no real sense of urgency or structure. For example: couldn't the investigators have made a list of all people who had access to the relevant part of the White House at the relevant time, and worked through them one by one? Instead, they seem to be poking around at random. You can never tell whether or not they're really making progress. Another example: the hero didn't vote for the President, has no investigative experience, and yet is put in charge of the investigation. This could be a fascinating hook to explore the President's mixed motivations and the hero's ambition, but it too goes nowhere. The characterization throughout is fairly flat, with only the central puzzle holding the reader's attention.

Oh, and... I guessed the murderer, and more or less the motive. Fun, and somewhat atmospheric just by virtue of its setting, but by no means great.

Readers interested in Christopher Bakken's After Greece but deterred by the harshly critical review posted here as "Turnip Juice" should ignore the first two paragraphs of that review and skip to the end, where the writer advises readers to "borrow [After Greece] from your friends who lost the T.S. Eliot Prize and got a 'free' copy." The knowledge that losers of this contest received a free copy of the winning book immediately identifies the writer from Dallas as one of those losers, and a bitter, graceless loser at that.

More importantly, reviews like "Turnip Juice" point out a serious flaw in the Amazon "open review" policy: without screening, anyone with a personal vendetta can have their opinion posted in a place that could have an actual impact on the book's sales. If you want to find out more about After Greece, wait until reviews appear in reputable journals, where the editorial staff will make sure that the review writer is qualified (unbiased) to review the book. Or, better yet, buy the book yourself and make up your own mind.

The title of Christopher Bakken's fully achieved first book of poems--"After Greece"--has multiple meanings. On the one hand, it alludes to the title of a poem by the late James Merrill, and Bakken is very much a poet of the line of Stevens, Frost, Bishop, Swenson, and Merrill. Like them, Bakken is a master craftsman. Like Merrill in particular, Bakken spent (and continues to spend) a significant portion of his days in Greece. Many of his poems juxtapose the ancient ruins of the West (and Byzantine East) with the holocaust-haunted,forever suprising,forever contradictory world of modern Greece. But the jutapositions are themselves mysterious, elegiac, epiphanic riddles. In its broadest sense, "After Greece" signifies our situation, late in the game of civilization. More narrowly, Bakken confronts the challenges of a neo-Romantic, modern American poet whose belated pilgrimage to Mount Helicon is overdetermined, almost absurdly so. But Bakken turns his lateness into an ever early candor. He has the lyric gift, the formal mastery, the wit and strength of invention, to make new myths--myths of self-creation in a world in which the sun must bear no name.

Christopher Bakken's _After Greece_, which won the 2001 T.S. Eliot prize, gives a whole new meaning to the word `boring'; as a sleep aid, it leaves Vicks' NyQuil in the dust. The reader suffers through yet another lifeless collection of contemporary academic poems--if you tried to bleed that book, you'd get turnip juice out of it, a pale liquid as thin as green tea and a whole lot less flavorful.

Rilke wrote that the poet is "holding far into the doors of the dead / a bowl with ripe fruit worthy of praise." In his long string of ekphrastic poems written in Greece, Bakken certainly got hold of the bowl, but the fruit is conspicuously absent. He made the classical mistake Nietzsche tried to warn us against in _The Birth of Tragedy_; instead of working hard to reach a balance between Apollo and Dionysos, he opted for reason and order and totally forgot the darker, but far more alive, side of human experience. Finishing _After Greece_, one feels glutted with artifacts and wants to ask Bakken if he lives in a museum. Where are his friends and family? Does he ever feel love, lust, or despair? What would he die for? Even his lover becomes a background for more sacred caves, statues, and temples, more history and dust-a prop.

The tepid style of _After Greece_ bothered me even more than its soporific content. I'm speechless that Neil Arditi could describe Bakken as "a master craftsman." Bakken's style is, at best, indistinguishable from that of a thousand contemporary poets; at worst, it's something I wouldn't let my Introduction to Creative Writing students get away with. For example, "Home Thoughts, from Abroad" starts with this memorable line: "Even farther than that, the first thing that goes..." The sentence structure is awkward; the line does not contain any concrete noun to grab the reader's attention, and the only verb is a weak `goes.' This line is like a crushed beer can at the bottom of the ocean, so battered that no hermit crab with a bit of self-respect would want to live in it.

Don't buy _After Greece_, but borrow it from your friends who lost the T.S. Eliot Prize and got a `free' copy. Borrow it, and read it; twenty years from now, Mr. Bakken will be struggling to destroy all the leftover copies of _After Greece_. Knowing that someone, somewhere, has read it will be his punishment. Meanwhile, spend your hard-earned cash on Cathy Smith Bowers' _Traveling in Time of Danger_, a far messier, riskier, and sweeter book.

The title of Christopher Bakken's fully achieved first book of poems--"After Greece"--has multiple meanings. On the one hand, it alludes to the title of a poem by the late James Merrill, and Bakken is very much a poet of the line of Stevens, Frost, Bishop, Swenson, and Merrill. Like them, Bakken is a master craftsman. Like Merrill in particular, Bakken spent (and continues to spend) a significant portion of his days in Greece. Many of his poems juxtapose the ancient ruins of the West (and Byzantine East) with the holocaust-haunted,forever suprising,forever contradictory world of modern Greece. But the jutapositions are themselves mysterious, elegiac, epiphanic riddles. In its broadest sense, "After Greece" signifies our situation, late in the game of civilization. More narrowly, Bakken confronts the challenges of a neo-Romantic, modern American poet whose belated pilgrimage to Mount Helicon is overdetermined, almost absurdly so. But Bakken turns his lateness into an ever early candor. He has the lyric gift, the formal mastery, the wit and strength of invention, to make new myths--myths of self-creation in a world in which the sun must bear no name.

A profound sense of history (the very moving history of Greece) haunts this writer and these strong, strong poems. I loved the clarity and music here, the lyric sweep, the sensual depth, the vision. Very much worth checking out.

Emissaries to Malastare was an above average graphic novel. The binding and artwork were good, but the story had some minor flaws. The story is a conflict is going on between two races and the Jedi Council sends 6 representitives to hold talks for peace. The Council sends Mace Windu, Yaddle, Plo Koon (who finally talks,and what he has to say is cool), Even Piell, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and A'sharad Hett. An immediate flaw is Even Piell. On several pages his name is Evan Piell, and on other he is called Even Piell. This TPB was saved by its ending, however. There is a short at the back of the book about Mace Windu (joined by Depa Billaba) going to Nar Shadda to stop a Hutt smuggling operation at the Circus Horrificus. This graphic novel had excellent references. Quinlan Vos was shown, as was Villie, and Malakili was shown at his job (Malakili was the Rancor-Keeper at Jabba's Palace- Episode 6). Finally, ETM had great binding. Overall, a good buy. Not required, but still very good.

Emissaries to Malastare is actually challenging to rate. Its high page count is more like two separate stories; though interconnected, the second different but for its loose relation to the first. The quality of the first fades very noticeably past the midpoint, but with shabbier fare out there this won't disappoint.

And with the Dark Woman starting off the comic with a quick duel against young A'Sharad, there's no need to hide that smile---anymore than why my fascination of this character can be explained. Perhaps it's her sharp tongue and haunting prowess, or the way she disappears in thin air. More likely it's her sharper looks.

The quality of art is smooth and commendable, though not of Twilight's exemplary performance. Malastare is a world with enough diversity for creative opportunity, and with the methane mists of a Podracer circuit parallelling a consular summit, it was well done indeed. But when the business on Malastare ends midway, as does the level of art. The investigation on Nar Shadda has shoddy art quality, unforgivable with the standards now available. A den of smuggler inequity Nar Shadda may be, the art doesn't need to be as badly done as unpicturesque the polluted environment may be.

Dialogue came in a fashionable bag: stylish for all seasons. With half the Jedi Council there to broker a peace accord, you can expect diplomatic etiquette polished to a mirror. The devious players spoke devious, the sybarites their own way.

The world is Dug populated but Gran dominated. Adding Lannik terrorists to the party and you get duplicitous danger swirled with traitorous betrayal. Selbulba is back along with his other Podracer faces, and with the twin-headed race commentators mouthing good humour you have yourself an enjoyable read.

You'll be treated to some nice touches here, from a half-headed Hutt and Villie the shifty Devaronian to revisiting the Smuggler's Moon, where continuity from Dark Empire was faithfully preserved. The Fode-Beed team was hilarious with their advertiser endorsements.

The focus started off with Master Piell and his Lannik ties to the summit, yet A'Sharad and Ki-Adi-Mundi wants their screen time too. Once Malastare is done, Mace Windu and Depa Billaba become the spotlight, thus making this seem more like two tales rather than one encompassing one.

Overall, this is one comic that cannot be missed out on for those seeking both a fun and delightful read.

This is a review of the Dark horse comic called STAR WAR: REPUBLIC - EMISSARIES TO MALASTARE, issues #13 to 18, also known as STAR WARS: ONGOING, VOLUME 3. What ever its name is I am reviewing ISBN: 1569715159 TPB issued august, 2001. It continues the story presented in OUTLANDER following Hett's son as a trainee at the Jedi Temple in Coruscant (or do we now call it corussaunt). Dark horse has placed this comic on its timeline as happening before TPM but the cover says it takes place just after.

This is where Dark horse turns a corner for me with this comic. Most of the art is of 4 star quality. The story is 3.5 stars, so I have to round up to a 4.

Got to thank Dark horse for it's individual pictures of the key characters and names. This is something that is sometimes missing, and when missing it can get confusing, guessing who is who.

The story is interesting. Seems three creatures are from Malastare, Dugs (Sebulba and Podracing are from Malastare). Jedi Even Piell (same race as Yoda?) is from Malastare. The Gran are from Malastare. We also learn that Adi Gallia is of Corellia. The Dugs are slaves on Malastare. Six Jedi go to Malastare to help negotiate a treaty but everything seems to be a trap. The negotiation were timed to take place at the same time as the galaxies biggest Podrace. There is lots of action and the art and inks are very good.

Word of caution. As of the new production procedures that create great looking comics, the binding quality has dropped off seriously. My comics seem to just fall apart with minor handling. This is not a problem I had experienced in the past. You must never touch your comic or open it if you wish to avoid damage to the binding.

As has been noted in other reviews, there is a split in the book's narrative that, at first glance, makes the story seem somewhat disconnected. In fact, what appears to be the case is that the five issues collected here are actually a trilogy (set on Malastare) and duology (set on Nar Shaddaa). Though the two stories do have some common elements, and namely a common enemy, they're really two separate stories, instead of a single five-part adventure. Dark Horse does readers no favors by putting the cover art in five consecutive pages at the end of the book. It would help readers a great deal if they would instead present the storylines with their covers intact so as to make clear where one book ends and the next begins. We'd then come a lot closer to experiencing the books as the serialized adventures they were originally meant to be.

This fact makes the title of the collected volume a little misleading. Indeed, the volume is really misnamed. It almost would've been better to have simply called the work, "Jedi Emissaries", "A Failure of Diplomacy", or in some other way to have de-emphasized the whole Malastare angle. It's kinda hard to justify the current title, given that the last 64 pages don't take place on Malastare at all.

Likewise, my other frustration with the book is that the author's wrongly place the book "shortly before the Battle of Naboo"--which clearly cannot be the case. Anakin is seen as living in the Jedi Temple, fully wearing the standard padawan "uniform", which he only gets after the Battle of Naboo.

These doubts aside, there's a lot here to admire. The art, though not on a par with the higher echelon of DC, Marvel, and independent illustrators, is certainly on the higher end of Dark Horse's contributions to the STAR WARS franchise. It's not the best stuff they've ever put out, but it's closer to the best than not. Those used to the more conceptual, stylized art in, say, SANDMAN, BATMAN: YEAR ONE, or KINGDOM COME, will find the work here more reminiscent of "special" issues of "ordinary" comic books. And that's really what they are. EMISSARIES is from the first half of the second year of Dark Horse's main STAR WARS title. It's the beginning of the better art that would come to dominate much of Dark Horse's monthly output.

The two storylines--that of the diplomatic mission to Malastare and the police action on Nar Shada--effectively demonstrate the differing styles of Jedi, and there's a deft mixture of high action, solid Jedi philosophy, Sith manipulation, and appropriate comedy.

What's most intriguing to me, however, is the care with which the writers take with the franchise. It's important to remember that this book pre-dates the release of Episode II. Yet it feels like it could have been written today. Though the return of Sebulba is most obviously relating the book to Episode I, the Tusken padawan character deftly foreshadows Anakin's development in Episodes II and III, and also amplifies Dark Horse's own previous storylines. More than that, relationships described herein, like that between Mace and his ex-padawan Depa, would later surface in novels like SHATTERPOINT. Now that the film saga is complete, and the prequel-era expanded universe is much better-developed, it's fascinating to see how well-integrated even these early Dark Horse efforts are into entire universe.

Indeed, I would argue that this book is, in a way that's not typical with most comics, perhaps more relevant today than it was on first publication.

After having read the excellent Crimson Empire books, I wanted another taste of Star Wars graphic novels, and when glancing at it in the store, I was impressed by the nice action and artwork. I saw the story had lots to do with Mace Windu, and wanted to read it.

I brought the book home and started reading. The book has two barely related stories, one about an attempt at making peace (which six members (half) of the Jedi Council fail to accomplish) and the second which ends unsatisfyingly with a "perhaps the chancellor can exert enough influence on Nal Hutta to shut this place down."

The art is very nice, and a few scenes are interesting, but overall, a very unsatisfying book. I left the book on a table and reached for it a day later before realizing "oh yeah--I'd already finished it"--the story is that unmemorable.

Do yourself a favor and try the Crimson Empire books instead.

1. If your book is THE GREAT MAYOR and your premise is that Mayor La Guardia made the modern city of New York, then you might consider not devoting 60% of the book to the time when he was not mayor.

2. Quips and asides -- why have these become acceptable in non-fiction? Interesting digressions used to go in footnotes, where they belong, and not inserted so as to confuse the direction of paragraphs that already have enough trouble figuring out where they're going.

3. Interpreting historical figures through modern eyes -- a fatal flaw for historians. They're supposed to be able to show history -- not decry that LaGuardia's support for black and women New Yorkers wasn't that of a modern person. At least we are spared La Guardia's opinion of gays, lesbians, and the trans-gendered.

4. Maps, anyone? Even native New Yorkers only carry a map of their own borough in their head. If you're making the premise that La Guardia changed New York, maps could have pointed out lots of areas of change.

5. Meticulously researched? I'm not that impressed. Pull out the secondary sources and the New York newspapers, and there's not all that much left.

6. And just thuddingly bad prose. Even the most favorable reviews find it jarring.

I have never been to New York and confess that I don't know as much as I should about the history of that great city. I was very pleased to find that Alyn Brodsky's book was not only educational but entertaining. I admit there were some parts that probably would appeal more to scholars and historians than to an average reader, but overall the book was fascinating. Mr. Brodsky did an excellent job presenting not only the huge number of facts and figures, but also the human, personal sides of the mayor and his people.

Alyn Brodsky's "The Great Mayor" seems ambivalent about the life and career of Fiorello La Guardia. Brodsky at times leans too favorably upon the often irratic behavior of the Little Flower in the consular service, in Congress, and in City Hall. Nevertheless, his portrayal of Fiorello's decline both politically and personally is quite frank and adds dimension to this well-researched and well-documented work.
A real treat that Brodsky's book offers is a perceptive political history of the City of New York and its characters. Tammany Hall receives a drubbing, as does Robert Moses, the venerated creator of the New York parks system.
Unfortunately, the book is poorly edited and suffers from a generous sprinkling of obvious syntax errors. A truly magnificent biography would not have seen such missteps. In the end, "The Great Mayor" remains a noteworthy contribution to the body of works about New York's history. It deserves to be read - and will be read moderately quickly - by fans of the Big Apple.

The title of Alyn Brodsky's history, "The Great Mayor: Fiorello La Guardia and the Making of the City of New York" suggests that his book will discuss two things: Mayor LaGuardia and how he shaped New York City. He delivers on both promises and then some. (Although I might argue that a more precise subtitle would be "...the Making of the Modern City of New York.")

This is a research-filled tome, but by no means dry. LaGuardia was too feisty a character to be made to look bland--and Brodsky lets LaGuardia exhibit all his unbridled emotions. But he doesn't let the reader forget the mind--the brilliance--behind the bellowings, poundings, and outrages. All of LaGuardia's ingenius (and some of his few not-so-ingenius) proposals and enactments are presented here--not just during his terms as mayor of the City of New York, but as a lawyer, congressman, and commander of America's brand new air force.

But this book is not an appeal for LaGuardia's sainthood. There was too much sulking, too much mean-spiritednes, too much selfishness to even think of such a canonization. What is testimony to Fiorello's greatness is that his greatness is still remembered to this day, in spite of the warts and all. So much for fulfilling the first promise.

In responding to the second promise, Brodsky clearly presents the City of New York before LaGuardia's career and the City after LaGuardia's career. The corruption, mismanagement, Tammany-domination of the City during the first three decades of the 20th Century are extensively rendered. And although these three things certainly did not go away after LaGuardia's leadership, they certainly were corrected to an enormous degree. And, who knows, if he had had his way, maybe they might have been eliminated all together.

Style-wise, the book is quite readable. I didn't fret over the occasional syntactical confusions but some of the metaphors and similes were jaw-droppingly bad. But I'm picking at stupid things here. "The Great Mayor: Fiorello La Guardia and the Making of the City of New York" is a book as great as the mayor it wants us to remember.

That guy from Katonah must be a moron. Maybe he can't read at all. The book is an excellent, well-researched biography and an easy read. Brodsky does a wonderful job of bringing to life a man who was a real character and who defined NYC as we know it. He stands out all the more as a man of principle when compared to the kind of creeps we see today in politics. Admittedly FLG seemed to change into a bit of a megalomaniac toward the end of his career, but he still accomplished a great deal both for NYC and for the people of the US, whom he saw as his constituency. This is a first-class book. I highly recommend it.

lets just say...i knew "whodunit" within 20 pages of reading the book. then i read the last chapter, and thanked goodness i didn't waste my time reading the entire book.

This is a typical Margaret Truman mystery. The plot is simple, the characters are well-drawn, and we get more of Margaret Truman's wonderful insight into Washington. A law clerk at the Supreme Court is found shot to death while he sits in the chair of the Chief Justice. Lieutenant Martin Teller of the Washington police and Susanna Pincher of the Justice Department investigate the murder. They find that the Supreme Court is not the high-minded place they imagined. It is a hot bed of intrigue, backbiting, and politics, especially under a right wing Chief Justice and President. The law clerk had dug up dirt on all the Justices and was using it claw his way to the White House. Thus, we have plenty of suspects in high places. It makes for a tangled web and a relaxing mystery to read.

Murder is not a subject that one thinks of when one considers the somber, hallowed halls of the stately granite structure that abuts the U. S. Capitol grounds. Yet the author makes the crime in the sacred highest court in the land indeed seem plausible. The reader is spellbound throughout the narrative of this page-turner. The insight into the behind-the-scenes working of the court gives even more credibility to this mystery. This is a welcome addition to the spectular crime series.

The cop had his moments, but on the whole the characters were not very well drawn, and the manner in which they interrelated were slapdash. Maybe it was just typical of the disco era in which this book was written, but I thought the dialogue was atrocious. The puzzle was not all that compelling, and the author's political overtones seemed both simplistic and schizophrenic.

Final verdict: a poor attempt at mystery fiction.

The third in Truman's "Murder in Washington" series is better than the first two, but not much. The plotting is familiar: well-known figure killed in a capital landmark -- this time the Supreme Court, female attorney works the case, and turning the pages yields a half dozen viable suspects. Most readers will have narrowed the field to one or two candidates with fifty pages left, and those who have read Truman before will have no trouble predicting the end. However, "Supreme Court" is better than "White House" and "Capital Hill" because Truman has done more homework and gives us more background. Fewer DC restaurants and more peeks inside the Supreme Court. A good book, not a great one.

I love the venue of M. Truman's mysteries. She a first rate writer. The many twists held my interest until it ended.

Geoffrey James is the British Ambassador. His earlier posting had been Iran. Geoffrey James dies. His personal valet, Nuri Hafez, disappears. Salvatore Morizio, MPD, and Connie Lake work together.

Morizio finds that his morgue is invaded by the British. The ambassador was poisoned by ricin it is determined, one of the world's most toxic substances. Captain Morizio is ordered to appear at a press conference. In the announcement of the death, America is dubbed the host country. Next it develops that Nuri Hafez is designated the murderer and a warrant is issued for his arrest.

Paul Pringle, Morizio's embassy contact, is supposed to have been sent back to England. He gets word to Sal to avoid the Geoffrey James murder case, that there are more important things in life. Sal believes the case has not been solved and even though he has been warned off of the case he can't leave it alone. Pringle dies and a secretary at the embassy tells Connie Lake that Pringle had cared about people, a decent man. Nigel Barnsworth, second in command at the embassy, may be in possession of some of the answers.

Morizio had taught Lake that sometimes orders have to be disobeyed to maintain the soul. He is reading THE THIRTIES by Edmund Wilson. Lake and Morizio learn that their apartments have been bugged. Ideas as to the identity of the parties involved include their department, the State Department, and the CIA.

It seems the ricin could have been embedded in synthethetic caviar. Morizio learns that Pringle is linked to the CIA. When Morizio and Lake are suspended they no longer have a base. In England and Denmark connections are made by them to Iranian caviar and cocaine smuggling schemes serving to form the basis of the murders. At one point Lake goes missing in Christiana, an enclave inside of Copenhagen designated a free area, not subject to law enforcement activity, sort of along the lines of an embassy or an Indian tribal region. In the end, Morizio uses Connie's countercultural Danish aunt to help him in the search.

This is well written and exciting.

I have read Ms Truman's books before and I was very disaapointed with this one. It starts out well but hten fizzles right after the Ambassador is murdered. I think that the author should have done her research first and foremost. I would think that someone such as Margaret Truman would know that IRANIANS ARE NOT ARABS and IRANIANS DO NOT SPEAK ARABIC. On top of this, there was just too much rambling in this book. I was skipping pages because either dialogue was too long and drawn out or she spent far too long setting up the seen with some unbelievable characters such as diplomats who repeatedly kept referring to the manners and customs of Arabs when speaking about Iran- or the vague descriptions of the Capsian region, of which her diplomats were supposed to be knowledgeable. Her characters were unbelievable despite her confusion regarding the ethnicities. The love story was more of a distraction rather than an enhancement to the overall story.
I would not reccomend this book unless there were nothing else to read in the house.

Who killed the person? Truman isthe only one who knows. Her expertise in mystery is first rate!

Margaret Truman is getting better with each book. Here she's gone beyond the limiting format (that was getting annoying in her previous books) of having a tough-as-nails but cuddly-as-a-kitten heroine solve the crimes. The plotting in "Embassy Row" is much more carefully crafted, as British Ambassador Geoffrey James dies after his own party under mysterious circumstances. This is the first of Truman's books where you won't have guessed the villain by about 50 pages in. The characters are a bit better, but Truman's efforts at cop-talk and cop-walk still fall woefully short. Hero Sal Morizio makes lots of dumb naive mistakes for a veteran big city detective. He's the least credible of all the characters. Truman also plays some of the same riffs as in her previous books: she spends a lot of time describing D.C. cafes and restaurants, but is woefully uninformed about how government offices actually operate. For example, there is no "British Liaison office at the State Department", and CIA isn't called "the Company" by anyone but callow writers. But the very worst and most annoying mistake in the book is Truman's repeated and insistent assertion that Iranians are Arabs. They aren't, they're Muslim but not Arab.

Overall, "Embassy Row" is better than "Supreme Court" or "White House", but there's still lots of room for improvement.

The Great Scot by Duncan A. Bruce is a fun read and helps see the story of Robert the Bruce as if you were there. Duncan Bruce tells the tale of Robert the Bruce through the eyes of the fictional David Crawford. David happens to be in Dumfries on the day Bruce murders the Red Comyn. He becomes page to Robert the Bruce and from there on is swept up on the Bruce's trail to the Throne of Scotland, battling England and the 3 Edwards, getting recognition from the Pope and ultimately trying to keep Scotland free. David just happens to be in all the right places to give a first hand account of what happened in the historical events critical to the Bruces success, from the battle at Methven, the Spider's Cave, Bannockburn, the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath and the death of Robert himself.
The book is definitely a hero worship tale about Robert, but it is suppose to be the long lost tale of David Crawford so that is believable to a point. A few times though it seemed very cliché but this tries to include all the legends. Robert the Bruce was a great man and did an amazing thing for Scotland, but he was still a man and had his faults of the times. This book hints at them but glorifies his strengths for sure.
I enjoyed The Great Scot and would recommend it to anyone who reads and loves Scottish history and the Wars of Independence, not for the historical value but as entertainment to live the legends rather then learn the history.

Just finished this book on a long plane ride from Europe. I agree with all the critical assessments above. Not greatly written, did not reveal a lot of insight about the Bruce, etc. But I could not put it down. I was interested in "Page Crawford's" story and his outside view of what happened with the Bruce and historical events.
I mostly would have preferred to start the story sooner. In my historical readings and such, I already know most of the events from 1306 on. I am still looking for a good novel on what happened before - what created Robert the Bruce and his quest.
All and all a good read, not a masterpiece, but if you are interested in Scottish history or more directly, Robert the Bruce, you will enjoy and it is a quick read.

Duncan Bruce's "The Great Scot" gets five stars for its selection of a protagonist -- Robert the Bruce. While historical fiction is generally dominated by novels surrounding the largest figures in history (Julius Caesar, Hannibal of Carthage, Elizabeth I, Cleopatra, etc.), some of the greatest joys in the genre can be found in stories about lesser-known-but-worthy figures. Robert the Bruce is such a character. Inheriting a noble struggle for freedom against tyranny from the immortal William Wallace (of "Braveheart" fame), Robert the Bruce succeeded where his forebears failed, and he did so in grand style.

But "The Great Scot" does not carry the day. The narrator of the piece is a young man (David) who, as a lad, becomes the Bruce's page. Inexplicably, the Bruce places a huge amount of trust in the boy, who rises to become one of the Bruce's most indispensable men -- although this rise is explained more by the boy's mere presence and devout loyalty than through any great accomplishment on David's part. So far, so-so. But the style of the narration is flat, methodical, and without much insight. In general, the story is a series of "And then this happened . . ." followed by, "the Bruce said this," and "we were all swayed by the Bruce," and "she smiled at the Bruce." It gets tedious -- even the famous battle of Bannockburn, where the Scots wiped out a much larger English force, is told with little more than a rote recitation of events. David is also not around for many of the key events in the novel, which are told to him by folks who are as incapable of spinning a yarn as our narrator.

When comparing this novel to other recent works of historical fiction -- see, for example, David Anthony Durham's "Pride of Carthage," or Bernard Cornwell's "The Last Kingdom" -- "The Great Scot" becomes more of a tedious slog to the finish rather than an enjoyable trek through a bygone era.

There is little to learn about the Bruce, as well, other than he's a good swordsman, a champion with the ladies, prone to the occasional illness, and a firm believer in freedom. None of these traits are surprising, and the Bruce appears to be much more of a cardboard cut-out of a hero than a true man of greatness (he does not compare favorably to Durham's Hannibal, for example, or with Sharon Kay Penman's Henry Curtmantle, or with the Julius Caesar of Conn Iggulden's "Gates of Rome" series -- or any character written by Colleen McCullouch).

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh with this review, but I had high hopes for "The Great Scot." And these were not met. For fans of historical fiction set in the British Isles, there are many other more worthy selections.

FINALLY a novel about Robert Bruce, one of the most, if not THE most, influential figures in Scottish history.
Fascinated by the life of Robert Bruce since my Scottish grandfather related the the legend of "Robert the Bruce and the Spider" to me as a child, I have been waiting for someone to tell this story. It was worth the wait! If you are a fan of adventure and heroism combined with a bit of intrigue and treachery, this book is for you.
Beginning with Bruce's murder of the "Red" Comyn, a bitter rival for the Scottish throne, the tale only gets better. Narrated by Davie Crawford, a long time aid and confidant, the reader learns of Bruce's early defeats, his decision to wage guerilla warfare against the superior English forces which began to turn the tide, and culminates with his ultimate victory over the English at Bannockburn.
With the immediate threat eradicated, "Guid King Robert" still has to face the danger of more invasions while trying to unite Scotland under his rule. Before his death in 1329 he lives to see peace between England and Scotland, final recognition of Scotland as an independent nation, and Papal recognition of his title as "King of Scots".
I really enjoyed this book.

If you let the first 5 chapters influence you - you won't finish this book. They were bad. After that the story finally picked up and the characters becames interesting enough to finish. I think that this is a first look at Robert the Bruce --and agree with the other reviewer that the man has been unjustly over-shadowed by William Wallace thanks to the movie Braveheart. However, that probably happened because there wasn't a story exciting enough about Robert the Bruce to turn it into a movie...this one isn't either.

What's good about it - the character holds an interesting place in history. There are battle references, there is court intrigue, there are murders and kidnappings and mysterious illnesses and all of the things that keep the story interesting so you plod on. It is a fast read and a simple read.

What didn't I like? Robert suffers from a strange malady that appears from time to time and threatens his life. However, the author discusses it almost as though it were unimportant. You never do find out what it might have been. Also - he paints Edward Bruce as much more of a military tactician and the battles are less than vividly portrayed. He also makes it very clear that Robert the Bruce was a womanizer who had mistresses slug out all over Scotland and was more than ready to use them for food, money and protection ...along with other things...when and ONLY when it was convenient to him. He supposedly loved only one woman in his life....yeah right. If anything this makes him less than valiant and noble in my opinion and the book would have been better with fewer women falling into his bed at every turn -- history certainly remembers him for deeds far more interesting.

Lastly, the author obviously has a good grasp on languages. However, he uses it sporadically and his timing is bad. The characters can go on for pages with all of their conversations recounted in English for the reader. Then suddenly when a very important speech is made the author writes it in some phonetic form of Scots and it stops ALL of the momentum he has built to that moment. You slow down and try to figure out what the speech even was and then suddenly everyone is speaking English again and the story goes on. However, the author does this not only in Scots, but French and Latin as well. There is no rhyme or reason as to which lines of which conversations must suddenly appear in another language - but I think it was a bad attempt to show off his linguistic skills and that it was NOT an enhancement for the story.

I understand it is his first work of fiction. It's not terrible but it's certainly not a 5 star book. I won't keep my copy - it's in the library donation box now. I also wouldn't recommend it to anyone. If you like the subject matter - give it a whirl but wait for the paperback price. If you don't - this probably won't make you want to read more about Robert Bruce. It's been suggested I try works by Nigel Tranter instead and that's what I intend to do.