Caskets Books

Now before we even get started I want to make something crystal clear, even though there is comedy throughout the book it never overshadows and takes over the story. What's that mean in layman's terms? This isn't a beach book that only requires a quarter of your attention with the option to skim. This story involves you, sucking you in page-by-page until your heart's racing right along with the characters. And yes, Strand is aware of the hurdles that must be jumped in order to create something unique, but don't worry he came prepared. Been-there-done-that situations are acknowledged, stereotypes are noted, and the setting is welcomed - then all are thrown out the door without even a pat or kiss.

Kicking off with intrigue, the pace picks up speed as you delve deeper into Mayhem's world and never loosens its vise until the end. I promise that by the time you close the book, the momentum that was created and sustained throughout will leave you breathless with beads of sweat dripping down your face. The setting is detailed, but not overwhelming. The location is random. It can be any back-road, in any town, and that is what makes it memorable. Between the eerie atmosphere and the scent of perspiration mixed with blood, Strand manages to evoke pure desperation.

With gallant honesty and tense prose, Strand's style of writing is easy to read, but very intense. He keeps it simple without dumbing it down. With nothing to prove or preach about, he pens his tale for entertainment for both you and himself. Yes, I actually do think this is one author who laughs out loud when he reads over the banter and sarcastic remarks during editing. You can tell he had fun writing this, and that is just as important as the story itself. Taking a somewhat conventional story in which focuses more on the characters and less on the actions, he exposes what would happen in reality. Bringing forth characters that while are not always brave or admirable, are true. Mayhem's life may constantly be filled with danger and adventure, but it's the bond between all the characters that truly makes this story. Their interaction with both each other and the group of adversaries is what endears you to them. They elicit sympathy and respect, friendship and affection.

My only complaint - I must now abuse my credit cards in order to get everything and anything Jeff Strand has ever written! I suggest you do the same.

Andrew Mayhem has had trouble finding a steady job. Let's face it, with Andrew's track record of killing people (in self defense, of course) getting hired is not easy. And anyone in close proximity to Andrew always ends up having his awful luck spill over onto him. But Andrew is really trying to be a responsible adult. He has two kids and a pregnant wife to consider. So no more accepting jobs in a bar from beautiful women offering him lots of money or jobs that pays big money for one night of work. Things are looking up for Andrew.

His best friend, Roger Tanglen, seems to be having better luck too. Roger now has a gorgeous blond girlfriend named Samantha. Andrew cannot help but feel threatened by Samantha though. Andrew was in short supply of friends and he feared Samantha might take Roger away. So Helen, Andrew's wife, decides they all need take a vacation for a short while.

Andrew rents a camper (pays extra for insurance too since he is now being responsible) and they all take off for Wreitzer Park. Someone suggests a short cut, but Andrew's luck has proven bad when it comes to short cuts. Therefore, Andrew refuses to stray from the map. So that is how they end up trapped in the woods by crazy people wanting to take them to a mad scientist's lab. Andrew's luck remains constant.

***** I have often been quoted as saying that this author, Jeff Strand, is one sick puppy. Well, I now stand corrected. Jeff Strand is NOT one sick puppy. Jeff Strand is one totally insane, foaming at the mouth, rabid demon. And yes, you may quote me on that too. This is the third book featuring Andrew Mayhem and his rotten luck. If you do not like your horror involving children and innocents being killed and/or tortured, do NOT read this. If you like your horror to be at its worst, but with some laughter thrown in, then this is the book for you! There were parts that had me laughing aloud and there were parts where I wondered if I really wanted to continue reading. Sound like a book for you? Then snatch up this book as soon as you can. Highly recommended for totally sick people. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Andrew Mayhem seems to have learned his lesson. He has stopped taking money from strange women in coffee shops to do vague odd jobs, has resolved to be more responsible, and has even gotten a (gasp!) real job. After the adventures chronicled in his previous two books (Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary) and Single White Psychopath Seeks Same), a vacation is in order, but he just cannot seem to stay out of trouble. That is unlucky for him, but lucky for us, because Jeff Strand's Casket for Sale (Only Used Once) is another terrific blend of humor and horror.

This time the trouble is not really Andrew's fault, however. With his wife Helen, and their two children Kyle and Theresa, along with Andrew's friend Roger and his new girlfriend Samantha (who Andrew despises, though he doesn't know why) along, he made sure the camper's gas tank was full, and he even heeded the mysterious warning from the old man at the "Last Chance 4 Gas" station ("I want to check the expiration date on their beef jerky," Roger quips. "I'm guessing late eighties.") that Wreitzer Park (their chosen destination) is full of "bad, dangerous, and deadly elements."

After some argument that perhaps Andrew is being too responsible, they decide to turn back the way they came, but after about two miles, their passage is hindered by a green truck parked in the middle of the road. Soon after discovering that the truck does not intend to move, and that Andrew is going to have to drive the camper backwards until they get to another turnaround point, they are blocked at the rear by another green truck.

Looks like those bad, dangerous, and deadly elements weren't at Wreitzer Park, after all. It is just as they find out that the denizens of these oddly similar vehicles are named Ghoul, Troll, Goblin, Ogre, and Witch, that Andrew realizes that he has, despite his best efforts to the contrary, gotten his loved ones mixed up in yet another misadventure, one that will cause him to experience paralysis, limb loss, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a cyborg!

Echoing the choice to show Roger's side of the events chronicled in Single White Psychopath Seeks Same, Helen gets her turn at the keyboard in Casket for Sale (Only Used Once), and it is much more successful this time around. Helen is the most fascinating discovery in this novel; her turns in the previous chronicles consisted primarily of responses to Andrew's ineptitude, but here she comes to full flower, as the newly pregnant mother is forced to protect her children from a high-class killer dressed in red and named Medusa somewhere in the wilds of Georgia.

Casket for Sale (Only Used Once) offers the most intense time I have had reading a novel in years -- and I didn't think it could get more intense than some of the scenes in Single White Psychopath Seeks Same! If it weren't for the consistent thread of humor that runs throughout, and often helps to break the tension, that intensity would, I think, have been overwhelming. From the myriad scenes of torture to a mind-boggling drug experience involving a near filicide to an escape from a moving truck filled with modified corpses (a true white-knuckler!), Strand has let it all hang out in this final (say it ain't so!) appearance from Andrew Mayhem.

I read this without having first read any of the previous books in the series and particularly liked the fact that the author didn't bore me to death with back story and managed to allude to his past adventures in a snidely funny way.

This was one wacky book. Something about the writing reminded me of Joe Landsale who also successfully mixes humor and atrocity. I had been warned that this book wasn't quite as disturbing as the previous books so I was quite shocked at some of the violent turns this book took! I can only imagine what happened in the previous books and now I have to find them ;)

As I was reading, I could almost see the writer with a mad smile on his face, gleefully rubbing his hands together, while he plotted one over-the-top scene after another. I enjoyed this book a lot even when I thought some of the plot turns were quite ridiculous.

Andrew Mayhem has had trouble finding a steady job. Let's face it, with Andrew's track record of killing people (in self defense, of course) getting hired is not easy. And anyone in close proximity to Andrew always ends up having his awful luck spill over onto him. But Andrew is really trying to be a responsible adult. He has two kids and a pregnant wife to consider. So no more accepting jobs in a bar from beautiful women offering him lots of money or jobs that pays big money for one night of work. Things are looking up for Andrew.

His best friend, Roger Tanglen, seems to be having better luck too. Roger now has a gorgeous blond girlfriend named Samantha. Andrew cannot help but feel threatened by Samantha though. Andrew was in short supply of friends and he feared Samantha might take Roger away. So Helen, Andrew's wife, decides they all need take a vacation for a short while.

Andrew rents a camper (pays extra for insurance too since he is now being responsible) and they all take off for Wreitzer Park. Someone suggests a short cut, but Andrew's luck has proven bad when it comes to short cuts. Therefore, Andrew refuses to stray from the map. So that is how they end up trapped in the woods by crazy people wanting to take them to a mad scientist's lab. Andrew's luck remains constant.

***** I have often been quoted as saying that this author, Jeff Strand, is one sick puppy. Well, I now stand corrected. Jeff Strand is NOT one sick puppy. Jeff Strand is one totally insane, foaming at the mouth, rabid demon. And yes, you may quote me on that too. This is the third book featuring Andrew Mayhem and his rotten luck. If you do not like your horror involving children and innocents being killed and/or tortured, do NOT read this. If you like your horror to be at its worst, but with some laughter thrown in, then this is the book for you! There were parts that had me laughing aloud and there were parts where I wondered if I really wanted to continue reading. Sound like a book for you? Then snatch up this book as soon as you can. Highly recommended for totally sick people. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Norman Denny's (pen name: Norman Dale) The Casket and the Sword is a fantastic book for elementary age kids. I probably read and re-read it 4-5 times as I was growing up. I'd give it an A+ in the area of children's fiction any day.

I've been looking for this book off and on for years. I, too, read and re-read it many times as a kid and still remember it fondly as an intelligent tale of adventure and intrique. Highly recommended, even today.

Yes, Yes. It is time for another raving (-ly mad) book review from the mind of Sussex Tech Sophmore, Tom Duff. Please use caution...this review may not make any sense, and may induce headaches, leg cramping, and paranoia. Dear fellow readers, I want to first start off by telling you that I have not read this book as of yet. I plan to in the very near future though, as I feel a strange connection to the authors. You see, Mr. Montimuro and Mr. Higbe are teachers at the school I attend, Sussex County Technical School, in Sparta, NJ. I feel that anything that is written by a person in my area is worth reading. By the title, "Provolone in the Casket: Memoirs of a Mortician", it seems to already titilate my senses. Please enjoy reading this book, and remember, though Sussex Tech may not be strong in Football, we make up for it in the culinary arts department's secret underground funeral home. Yum!

I graduated from Sussex Tech in 1999, proud to have had Mr. Montimurro as a teacher & a friend. He's seen some interesting things in his line of work, and told our class many a good story; the best I found out he saved for the book! Well written & enjoyable even if you're not invovled in mortuary science.

This novel is the first by author Richard Polseno, and creates a dark storyline with unusual characters. The plot is created through chapters that are out of time sequence and created in an artistic way to bring everything together in the last few chapters. This book is an exceptional piece which will make you grimace at times, but keep you intrigued with a plot line that keeps you reading to the end. Overall, the book is an excellent piece.

This fine and convincing book is about the interpretation of the religious carvings on a small ivory casket dated to 390 a.d. Tkacz used typology -- the study of "Old Testment people and events as prefiguring the Messiah" to present a comprehensive theory as to the casket's fifty-nine carvings. What makes this book so valuable for the mainstream is that all its many scholarly quotations are presented in English, and the writing is patient and clear. Anyone fascinated by the early centuries of Christianity, by the questions as to what the early Christians believed and how they expressed themselves pictorially will be impressed by this book, if not perhaps enthralled. The book provides an experience during which one learns about Scriptural interpretation as one learns about the complexity of this precious relic. A rewarding read.

I have to admit it. I can't get enough of R. Austin Freeman. I shall
be very disappointed when I have read all of his mysteries, then like
Conan Doyle and Christie, no more.
I had mistakenly assumed the "The Magic Casket" was one mystery only.
It is a collection of nine of Freeman's mysteries. Every one is so
good it leaves you wanting more. Freeman wrote his mysteries at a time
when in the late 1800's and early to mid 1900's,mysteries were much
better written than today. His books are rather hard to find as are
many more jewels from that era. If you like very intelligently
written mysteries, don'tmiss any of Freeman's.

After the much deserved, raving reviews of her earlier work, it is glaringly obvious while reading this novel that McCrumb is trying too hard to live up to her own standards, and the results lead to a very disappointing effort. This author is a "natural" storyteller, and that's why her previous books were so fresh and applauded. While reading The Rosewood Casket, the reader is often aware of the author's erratic attemtps to please the critics, and this truly effects the flow and believability of her natural storytelling. There are many groan inducing passages throughout the novel, many highly forced and completely unbelievable, and many appears to be rushed without much thought being put into them. The overall feeling after completion is that it was basically a very silly and mediocre tale, laced with moments of the author's natural gifts, alas, fleeting moments, but, not nearly enough to ever recommend this book.

I was searching one day on Amazon.com for books realting to Appalachia and ran across 'The Rosewood Casket'. After reading the summary I quickly ordered the book. I fell in love with it quick. I fininshed it that night and quickly ordered more. I feel like I know Nora Bonesteel and all the others. I love how she intertwines history with her stories. I can't wait for more.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." The Rosewood Casket demonstrates how true this old saying is. McCrumb cleverly melds historical figure Daniel Boone with novel character Clayt Stargill, making this close to a time travel mystery with history repeating itself. The timeless tensions inherent in relationships - father/son, brother/brother, husband/wife, friend/friend, nature/man - play a pivotal role in this story that revolves around basic questions about who owns the land. The resolution of the central mystery involving the apparition in the woods is chilling.
McCrumb is a skilled, elegant writer - her prose is a pleasure to read.

That's just one thing you will learn from this book. Whether you are from the Appalachains or visit there you will be transported in Sharyn McCrumb's books. She not only accurately decribes the land but the people and culture as well.

If Sharyn McCrumb wrote the book you know it will be great. She is a wonderful author and all of her books are so good. She makes you feel like you are there and that you know the people that you are reading about. From the first to the last page it's got you. Do read this wonderful book.

The father has saved Rosewood so that when he dies his sons will built him a casket. The sons all live in different places and have not seen each other for a while but they all come back to do this for their father.

Excellent book

This was my very first Doctor Who novel. I was delighted with how much fun I had reading this book! I believe the characterizations were shot on, the story was fresh, and it was another brilliant adventure with the Doctor and Rose Tyler! I look forward to catching more of the Who novels. :)

I really enjoy all the Doctor Who books. They are funny and just plain fun entertainment.

If you enjoy the Doctor Who television show, start reading the books based on the new series immediately! Well written and enjoyable, they are a welcome addition to the Doctor Who family. Doctor Who: The Resurrection Casket is fast-paced and could easily be an episode itself. The author stays true to the television characters while breathing new
life into the story. I highly recommend this book!

I haven't been a "Whovian" for a long time - I enjoyed Dr. Who every so often back in college (starting with Doctor 4, Tom Baker), but when it went off PBS, I didn't really miss it. But I just went nuts over Doctor 10, David Tennant, and his joyous approach to playing the long-lived, two-tender-hearted, eager, often childlike Doctor. After enjoying the second season, Tennant's first, I decided to try out the first three novels. Of the three, Resurrection Casket is my favorite.

Author Justin Richards captures not only the voices and presence of the actors who created the (current) roles, but like the television episode writers do, he's created a supporting cast of likeable, interesting backdrop characters for Rose and the Doctor to play against. His Doctor is hyper, caring, and brilliant, as he should be, and his Rose is as tender as she is tough, and she's always quick on the uptake. He handles the science of the fantastic world of Dr. Who deftly, mixing the fantasy elements just well enough to allow the Doctor his world of hard science. Richards' story is well-crafted and compelling, with a few nifty twists and turns, and a very polite scary monster named Kevin.

What more could you want?

The Resurrection Casket is a 10th-Doctor tie-in novel, an original story by Justin Richards featuring David Tennant's Doctor with Rose Tyler. In this story, the TARDIS is drawn into a sort of mechanical dead-spot in space, where something called a zek drains the power of all electronic technology, leaving an area of floating hulks of abandoned ships, also haunted by krarks, sort of space-borne giant sharks that feed on the oxygen inside the ships and any living being they can get their fangs on. The few people who live on the planets of the area get by on steam power, even in their spacefaring vessels. The result is a Treasure-Island-inspired tale featuring pirates, evil robots, lost treasure, madman and a monster named Kevin that apologizes politely to his victims before dispatching them.

The plot has far-fetched moments (steam powered spaceships??) but the author is enthusiastic enough in embracing the setting and assumptions and energetic enough in plotting and pacing that I was carried along through the story and quite enjoyed it.


I haven't seen any of the 10th Doctor episodes so I can't speak to the characterization of the Doctor as compared to the TV presentation of Tennant, but the character certainly had the feel of a generic Doctor--full of wonder and enthusiasm, naturally brilliant, and quick to call out the bad guys on their evil ways. It's not high literature by any means, but as a way to fill a Doctor Who craving when new episodes of the show aren't available, it will certainly fill the bill.

I also listened to the audio version of the book downloaded from [...]. I listened to it before reading the book and found it a frustrating experience. The problem is the abridgement--great chunks of description, exposition and even whole characters are lopped out in the interest of time. It leaves a story that is skeletal, with poorly realized characters and motivations and great leaps in the story where the characters suddenly move from point A to point B with no explanation of how they got there.

The one bright spot of the audio version is that David Tennant himself reads it and has a delightful voice, particularly (naturally) when reading the Doctor's own dialogue, and made me look even more forward to seeing his episodes.

However, reading the book made me realize that while still fluffy, the full version with more description, characterization and the complete plot, is a worthwhile experience. I would recommend the audio version only if you are dying to hear David Tennant's voice and have already read the full version; otherwise take a pass and stick with the printed page.

Sorry, while I enjoy reading about Jeff Talbot I think that The Marriage Casket is a really weak read. Sorry, I'll stick with the more popular authors when it comes to mystery.

This was a wonderful read - the mystery plot was great and so was the backstory of Sheila's fight to regain some normalcy in her life. An inspiring and interesting book! While the ending was unexpected, it made perfect sense once you got to it. I can't wait to read more from this author!

I love Deborah Morgan's titles. They all sound gruesome, but actually refer to harmless objects. This is the third "Antique Lover's Mystery" I've read...and hope there's many more to come. And the solution...caught me completely unawares! I haven't read mysteries in years...it was the antique aspect that drew me to this series. But...I just might start looking around for other mysteries to entertain me. Hope the characters are all as well-drawn as Jeff, Sheila, Greer and company!

This is the third of a series by Deborah Morgan and is an interesting read, filled with information about antiques and the life of the "hero" and his family and extended family. We meet a new memer of the family a sister of Sheila, who is a photographer and a very extroverted character. The wife, Sheila has agoraphobia and is house bound....and keeps herself occupied with computer shopping, watching movies and gourmet cooking. In this book, Sheila has found a psychiatrist who will come to the home to help her learn coping skills dealing with her illness. Hopefully this will open doors where Sheila can go "picking" with Jeff, and become a more intricate part of the story. One of the reasons I read this series is that I am an agroaphobic and am very interested in how the author handles this illness.

Ms. Morgan's books were not something that appealed to me initiatlly, but now i am reading the 4th in the series! The characters Jeff talbot, his wife and butler make an intriguing central core for the books plots.
The Marriage Casket is an excellent plot. One i haven't seen too often. I didn't figure this one out and as an avid mystery reader this idoesn't happen too often.

THe bibiliography at the back of this novel, as with her others, is a fine start to those who want to learn more about antiques and such.

An interesting and amusing collection of folklore and old stories about the State of Oregon. Recommemded for a gift to newcomers to the state.