New York Books

Tony Cavalucci is a second generation NYPD police officer whose family life may be more hazardous than his job on the streets. As New Year's Eve approaches, the department ramps up for the crowds and the threats the Time's Square celebration always brings.

But the job isn't the only stressor on Tony's life. He has finally found the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and his dysfunctional family can't stand her or her four year old son. Christmas dinner is a disaster as his family, blind to their own hypocrisy, attacks Michele and her four-year old, illegitimate son. But through her eyes, he begins to see his family in a different light and doesn't like what he sees. But he can't totally walk away from his family either. Will they be able to reach a compromise, or will Tony continue to live alone in his small basement apartment?

That isn't the only complication in this hectic holiday week. His mother returns unexpectedly into his world. An alcoholic, she's shows up a changed woman. While at rehab, she made the decision to try to right some of the wrongs she'd committed while drinking. A recovering alcoholic himself, Tony begins to let her re-enter her life, in controlled amounts.

The Crossroads has a unique perspective. F.P. Lione brings the experience and the voice of a NYPD police officer to the writing, giving it a distinct feel and voice.

"The Crossroads" is the mesmerizing sequel to "The Deuce," written by husband and wife team F.P. Lione. It continues the story of NYPD cop Tony Cavalucci, struggling to apply his new found faith in God to his job and his relationships, especially those with his family.

Tony's week didn't start out well. Christmas Eve dinner with his family was horrible. They treated his new girlfriend, Michele, and her little boy Stevie so rudely it was hard for even Tony to believe. Tony can understand why Michele left upset. But he can only do so much, right? They're his family, and these destructive family gatherings are normal to him. But Michele doesn't want Stevie around that environment, and while she loves Tony, she puts a hold on their relationship so she can pray and think about what is best for her and Stevie.

Seeking God's wisdom and guidance is a brand new experience for Tony. But his partner Joe Fiore continues to help him, encouraging him to pray and pointing him to Bible verses that apply to the situations going on in his life. I appreciate the fact that the Lione's don't make Tony an "instant" Christian, automatically knowing all the right things to say and do now that he is a believer. He is still battling with past temptations. It's hard for him not to turn to old habits, such as drinking, when things get tough. But step by step we see Tony learn to view life, including his family relationships, with the new eyes that God is giving him.

Frank & Pam Lione have a rare talent of taking ordinary events and relationships we all relate to and making them so interesting you don't want to stop turning the page. It's also a realistic glimpse into the lives of NYPD's finest. While this book stands on its own and can certainly be read without reading "The Deuce" first, I think readers will enjoy the books more if they start at the beginning with Tony. I highly recommend the Midtown Blues series, and look forward to reading "The Skells," next in the series soon.

Tony Cavalucci has just helped arrest Santa Claus and The Grinch, and it only goes downhill from there on his busy midnight tour. Soon he's facing a machette-wielding bandit, just praying he won't have to shoot the guy. It's all in a night's work for this ten-year NYPD veteran whose story began in F.P. Lione's previous book, The Deuce.

The days before New Year's are busy ones in New York, where "The Crossroads of the World become the Center of the Universe as the eyes of the planet look to Times Square." It's also a chance for Tony to earn some overtime and he welcomes the diversion from his Italian family's disapproval of his girlfriend and her young son. When Christmas Eve dinner at his grandmother's becomes a near brawl as passionate family members verbally (and even physically) duke it out, Tony realizes he has to choose his loyalties fast--before he loses the only woman he's ever wanted to marry.

With his overtime detail of checking cars for bombs in the parking garages with his partner, Joe Fiore, there isn't much time for pondering his family troubles. It's fast and furious during the holidays in The City That Never Sleeps, and Tony wrestles more than once with hitting the bottle again. He's been sober for five months and he's proud of it, but the stresses are enough to stretch any guy to his breaking point. Will he have the strength to do what he knows is right or will he relapse into his old hard-living ways?

A brand new Christian, Tony refreshingly doesn't have it all together. He still smokes. He's still tempted to drink and look at women. But there is a difference in his life. He gets his job done, but with more compassion now. He helps a rookie cop the old-timers would've ostracized. He doesn't hate the perps like he used to. He's a work-in-progress, and he knows it, but he's truly making an effort to live out what he now believes. If The Deuce was all about Tony's journey toward God, The Crossroads is all about his struggle to live out his faith when life, and the people around him, go crazy.

As in The Deuce, you'll be treated to more cop lingo, like a "bus" for an ambulance, and "RMP" for Radio Motor Patrol vehicle, but I appreciated how the authors took even more care to explain unfamiliar terms, often including a definition in parentheses. And although Tony's often tedious directions of where he and Fiore travel on patrol (we drove down this street, then turned down that, then headed east on this) will probably be appreciated best by those familiar with New York City, it does give you the feel for their intimate knowledge of the streets.

Frank & Pam Lione aren't afraid to get down and dirty in their stark portrayal of a cop's life, but they never resort to anything gratuitous. The encounters Tony and Joe experience run the gamut: from the humorous (the bar-fight encounter of the men dressed as Santa and the Grinch), and the gruesome (pulling the personal effects off a dead man in a multiple car accident) to the downright bizarre (an eerie man who sleeps in a coffin). Here's a novel that reveals the true 411 of policework--it's not all chase scenes and gun battles.

Highly worth your time, The Crossroads is a story of reconciliation, consecration, and unforgettable extremes.

--Reviewed by C.J. Darlington for Infuze Magazine

Police drama lovers, this is your book! The husband and wife team of "F. P. Lione" (Frank and Pam) are back with THE CROSSROADS, the second installment in the "Midtown Blue" series and follow-up to THE DEUCE. If you haven't read the first novel, stop here and do so. Although this can be read as a stand-alone, you'll miss too much background. Plus, the first one is too good to miss.

The story opens as middle-aged single cop Tony Cavalucci and his New York City police department prepare for the chaos of New Year's Eve in Times Square. Since THE DEUCE, Tony hasn't had a drink for almost six months. His stalwart Christian partner, Joe Fiore, encourages him with scripture verses and pep talks. Tony is dating Michele, a teacher and unmarried mother of four-and-a-half year old Stevie. Although he's thinking about marriage, he's gotten her earrings rather than "the ring" for Christmas.

Tony's volatile extended family continues to give him trouble. "Hey, we put the fun in dysfunctional," says Tony to Joe. When Tony brings Michele and Stevie to his family Christmas get-together, things quickly disintegrate. Muses Tony, "Michele is always so tactful, she would never come out and say they were a bunch of psychopaths." As a result, Michele pulls back from the relationship, and Tony sees his family --- and how he interacts with them --- in a new light. In the process, he and his mother begin a reconciliation of sorts.

This second novel, like the first, still has some rough spots. The authors take care to explain some of the police lingo, but the explanations often feel intrusive and interfere with the flow of the story (a glossary might have served readers better). In some places, one wonders why an abbreviation was used at all (Tony talks about his RDO, then in parenthesis it says "regular day off." Why not just say it?) A consistent problem in both novels is that too many sentences begin consecutively with the same word or words and many of the sentences are the same length. There is also an overuse of the word "I." ("I unlocked the door... I tossed my keys... I had gotten a cell phone...) Although most readers won't consciously register these facts, they will likely find the writing choppy and repetitive in places.

Many things have improved since the first novel, including the mechanics of the characters and the more careful use of details that enhance, rather than bog down, the storyline. What remains the same is the Liones' terrific insider look at New York City and the day-to-day work of policemen working the streets. Both husband and wife are Italian American children of NYPD detectives, and Frank is a veteran of the New York Police Department.

The Liones' Italian-American heritage shows in the wonderful descriptions of food and of family get-togethers. Indeed, anyone reading the plethora of foodie details included here (the cops can't get a bagel without the Liones describing each flavor and topping) will feel compelled to fix a snack while they continue reading. However, beware: the "ick" factor is still in full play from book one. Some of the scenes include Tony helping an alcoholic repeatedly throw up buckets of blood, drunks wetting their pants in the police car, etc.

The Liones have a knack for using humor to leaven some of the darkness of police work, and several of the incidents are so bizarre you figure they must be real (the woman answering the door naked, the man dressed as a vampire in a coffin). I laughed out loud many times while reading, especially at the arrest of Santa Claus (drunk in a bar with The Grinch). The authors also excel at offering interesting, behind-the-scenes police factoids. I found the logistics of handling between 500,000 and a million people in Times Square for New Year's Eve fascinating --- who would have thought the deceptively simple gathering of so many folks on a holiday required such organization and careful handling?

Fans of THE DEUCE will be delighted with this second installment in the "Midtown Blue" series, which offers the same mix of humor, grit, and relationship tangles that made the first novel so interesting.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby. Contact Cindy at (...)

The Crossroads courageously bridges the gap between Christianity and the contemporary culture. With hard-hitting drama and an emotionally charged plot, this book appeals to readers on several levels.

The realism of police work in New York City is captured with the concise writing and personal knowledge of the authors. There is a genuine sense of danger as the officers respond to calls in this precinct. Readers will be on the edge of their seats wondering how each encounter will end.

This second book in the series further explores the relationships between the characters and their family and friends. Tony Cavalucci has committed his life to Christ and now he is trying to live according to his new beliefs. However, there are some serious and long-standing emotional issues between himself and his divorced parents. Readers will watch this character grow in the knowledge of the Lord. It's noteworthy that the authors have portrayed Tony's spiritual development with a sense of realism. His growth as a Christian comes in small, natural steps that blend well with the rest of the novel.

Excellent writing and exceptional dialogue makes each page come alive. The life of a police officer is shown with a clarity that is impressive. The authors captured the fears and uncertainties that surround police work, but contrasted that with the absolute confidence believers have in the Lord. The gospel message is incorporated into the story with skill and sensitivity. Readers will understand the ability of biblical truths to answer today's problems. -- Joyce Handzo, Christian Book Previews.com

John W. Cassell is the "Best of the Best" - a great author. He's witty, captivating, makes you cry and most importantly, he makes you laugh. One can never go wrong reading John W. Cassell. And "Devilliers County Blues 1972" is just another wonderful book by this amazing author.

Devilliers County Blues: 1972 picks up where Hell's Quest: 1971 ends. If you haven't read HQ yet, what are you waiting for? I digress, let me return to Devilliers. Once again John finds himself searching for purpose at the start of a new year. He simply wants to find purpose and healing for a torn soul. On his way to an unannounced visit to friends, his life quite literally goes all kinds of crazy.

Our hero finds himself locked up tight in a mental institution, where he is informed of the charges of murder against him. Inside he forms an unexpected alliance that must put aside hatred and misunderstanding if they ever hope to see the light of day again. Soon the improvised teammates discover escape is only the beginning. The truth around them is crazier than they can ever know.

Follow John and his Salt and Pepper Gang as they fight against insanity, the police, the media, and the Mafia. The odds are squarely stacked against them. Surely death is the only way out. You will find yourself wrapped tight at each twist and turn. When the mystery is finally solved, the ending is quite literally explosive. Now you can join the Salt and Pepper Gang and cheer them on as they battle impossible odds. The year 1973 promises to be one to remember, if only anyone lives to see it.

I read this work of John Cassell's out of order. Hell's Quest takes place in the year before Devillier's County Blues, but I was taking the book on vacation and HQ is a larger tome and the airlines are getting picky about weight limits so in went the smaller of the two volumes. Now I am anxiously awaiting my flight home so I can start on HQ!
I have become friends with Brother John through the Amazon Shorts program and he is an amusing, insightful and creative correspondent. I have also read some of his other books and stories and thoroughly enjoyed them. But not even his earlier works prepared me for the thrill ride that is DCB. I like to write, and read, stories that have a twist in the tail (or even tale). DCB has surprises in abundance, combined with the usual cast of believeable and sympathethic characters and a clear feel for the times in which the action takes place. John weaves in political and social commentary without ever taking away from the story or, for that matter, even seeming to comment at all.
John can also write effective erotic passages without the anatomical detail beloved by some authors....read the account of the protagonist's encounter with Luella in the guard tower and see if you agree. He can write just as effectively of violence without recourse to graphic detail....read of the capture at the farm house and tell me that you don't feel the horror.
As I said, I have become friends with John and some may view this review as slightly biased. For the nitpicker, there are flaws to be found, but show me a four hundred page book without flaws and I'll shake your hand. If you want a book that entertains, makes you think, recalls a turbulent time with astonishing clarity, twists your mind like a pretzel with its surprises and plot twists and, finally, leaves you satisfied as you close its final page.....this is a book for you.

Discovered this book quite by accident whilst visiting the product page of Up The Down Staircase. Its author had submitted a review I found to be literary in its quality, logical in its argument. So I purchased DeV.

On one level this is the story of an individual trapped, not knowing how he came to be so, amongst others in an insane asylum. On another, it is the story of the legal system of America in 1972, the various decision-makers within it, and the author's un-stayed opinion of their worth and performance.

On both levels Mr. Cassell does an outstanding job of relating a thrilling cops and robbers type of story, a story complicated by the fact we really don't know who the good chaps are, do we? Indeed the reader must needs make that judgment for himself as the surface viewpoint pits a distinguished American entrepreneur and philanthropist against people of not at all similar social rank.

The judgement is not all difficult at the end, but the plot is compelling, John and his fellow escapees sympathetic as the drama unfolds. I might add there is an excellent collection of secondary characters who add considerable spice to the story. These include the solicitor Horowitz, the policemen Gariglia, Gardner, Marcuso and Pelligrini, the siren Louella, the bright and fetching Lindsey, not to mention Woodstock and Moonbeam!

A few surprises, some grisly psychological touches, some very clever villians and an overall winner of a story makes DeVilliers County Blues a must-read.

Discovered this book quite by accident whilst visiting the product page of Up The Down Staircase. Its author had submitted a review I found to be literary in its quality, logical in its argument. So I purchased DeV.

On one level this is the story of an individual trapped, not knowing how he came to be so, amongst others in an insane asylum. On another, it is the story of the legal system of America in 1972, the various decision-makers within it, and the author's un-stayed opinion of their worth and performance.

On both levels Mr. Cassell does an outstanding job of relating a thrilling cops and robbers type of story, a story complicated by the fact we really don't know who the good chaps are, do we? Indeed the reader must needs make that judgment for himself as the surface viewpoint pits a distinguished American entrepreneur and philanthropist against people of not at all similar social rank.

The judgement is not all difficult at the end, but the plot is compelling, John and his fellow escapees sympathetic as the drama unfolds. I might add there is an excellent collection of secondary characters who add considerable spice to the story. These include the solicitor Horowitz, the policemen Gariglia, Gardner, Marcuso and Pelligrini, the siren Louella, the bright and fetching Lindsey, not to mention Woodstock and Moonbeam!

A few surprises, some grisly psychological touches, some very clever villians and an overall winner of a story makes DeVilliers County Blues a must-read.

i loved this book. i felt as though i was right there with him and his family through every phase of their lives. this book had everything going for it, sadness, chaos, happiness, tragedy. it was so personal and you just felt as though the author let you in to share with him.

This book will be enjoyed by all who read it for it is a story of survival from the ashes of the Holocaust. This book is also an excellent book club selection that will spark much thought and conversation.

Joseph Berger has written a story that needed to be told, but he has included too much extraneous material about his own life. Much of what he tells reveals what it was like growing up as the child of a refugee, but who cares whether or not he dated in high school?

The best parts of this book were those about his mother's life and about how she managed in the United States as a refugee. Berger's writing is more journalism than story telling. He's got all the facts, but none of his descriptions flare above the mundane. His mother's reminisences are far more artistic, and reveal more than the words on the page.

New York Times journalist Joseph Berger has created a masterful, evocative and moving account of the ever-present duality of his life: his identity as an acculturated American child of Holocaust survivors. This duality gives his account of his mother's life and his own evolution from a bewildered refugee child into an accomplished American a poignancy and power. "Displaced Persons" will stand as an important contribution, not only to our understanding of the long-term implications of being a survivor of the Holocaust, but of the unique burdens, pressures and responsibilities children of survivors inherit from their parents.

Berger is acutely aware of "the unmentioned sorrow that was the subtext to everything [his] parents said or did." Haunted by memories, devastated by enormous loss, handicapped by their arrival in America in their twenties and driven to provide security for their families, Holocaust survivors often perceive their children as replacements of beloved family members who perished and as repositories of hopes and dreams denied them. Worried about their children's safety, happiness and future, Berger muses about his parents' perspective, "What could I say about the dread and suspicion with which they encountered a world that had proven maliciously fickle?"

As the author emerges from childhood, he begins to chafe from his mother's protective, controlling instincts and desires to assert himself as his own man. Berger's wrenching analysis of his status becomes the overarching theme of his memoir. "I saw myself now an an American...I would no more be the timid refugee boy with one leg planted in the fearful shtetls of Poland, with a mother ever vigilant that no more perils come to the remnants of her kin." It is this unspoken loving tension between Joseph and his mother, Rachel, that gives "Persons" its dynamism.

Alternating between two narratives, one his own and the other the gripping account of his mother's survival, Berger deftly intermingles past and present. Aware of his distinct heritage, the young Berger recognizes others in his impoverished Manhattan neighborhood who share his background. "We knew one another, knew in our young bellies that our parents were the same dazed and damaged lot, had the same refugee awkwardness, the same whiff about them of marrow bones and carp." Now attempting to wrest coherence in America, Holocaust survivors tend to frustrate Berger with their problem solving techniques. Berger prefers the American way of standing up directly; survivors "were always scraping by on a willingness to do what was necessary to survive, even if that meant surrendering pride or principle."

Raw emotion floods "Displaced Persons." Rachel's symbolic mourning of a dead child in Warsaw at the onset of World War II serves to remind us that she has no "mental picture" of the actual murder of her family. Unspoken grief undulates throughout the memoir. Berger's stoic father Marcus scarcely articulates his unfathomable sense of loss; nearly half a century passes before he can utter the names of his sisters. Guilt ebbs and flows in Rachel's description of her survival. Anguished over refusing to bring non-kosher food to her hungry brother during World War II, she has never forgiven heself, calling it "the worst thing I ever did in my life."

Yet life surges and humor emerges in Berger's descriptions of growing up in New York City in the 1950s and 60s. With both parents working at dreary, tiring jobs, the author experiences a freedom of movement he admits he would never conceive of allowing his own daughter today. His descriptions of his initial exploration of Manhattan reveal the sheer joy of discovery, the incredible exuberance of youthful hopes and the awesome sense of possibilities Berger recognizes in his new home. Berger's frantic disposal of an illicit girlie magazine carries universal appeal; he becomes an American everyboy. His struggles with self-confidence, academic competition and sexual frustrations are those of not only his generation, but of those before and after.

Written with conviction and compassion, "Displaced Persons" is that kind of memoir that not only describes, but instructs. Through the author's descriptions of his resolute, stubborn and proud mother, survivors attain an identity beyond that of suffering and loss. His own life's story shapes our understanding of the purpose of our national experience and the sacredness of an American identity. Treating both the Holocuast in its past brutality and its implications for the second-generation children of survivors, the memoir blends sorrow and joy, heartache and hope, pain and redemption.

My father's story parallels Joseph Berger's in eerie ways...they were both at the Schlactensee DP Camp and the Landsberg-Am-Lech DP camp...Berger's mother's story of her youth could be my grandmother's, from an unpleasant step-mother to the flight East to Russia. My father was born during my grandparents' refuge in the USSR, and crossed illegally with his family into Poland after the war ended. I have always been close to my grandparents, but this book brought clarity and insight into topics they don't generally discuss...the duality that immigrant survivors (the displaced persons) felt between their new lives in America and the tragedy and loss left in Europe. When I look at my grandparents' happy faces at family occasions---graduations, weddings, bar mitzvahs, birthday parties---I wonder if the events make them remember times similar back in Lithuania. Berger's story, beautifully written and researched, is a must-read.

Retired NYPD Det. Al Sheppard is too humble to say so...but he is a True Hero! E-Man is an excellent book...a riveting account of his years with the prestigious Emergency Services Unit of the NYPD. There is an old saying "When a Civilian needs help, they call the Police. When Cops need help...they call the Emergency Services Unit...ESU!" I've known Al for some 17 years...and although I knew a lot about his 20 years of service with NYPD, even I didn't know most of his (and his fellow officer's) courageous exploits...detailed in this book. Buy it, read it, but be warned...You will have trouble putting this book down! --- Dr. J. Hill, Professor of Criminal Justice & Retired NJ Street Cop.

I cant wait till part 2 of E man comes out and hopefully it will.....I have read books by Schmetterer before....that is why this one caught my eye....The Coffey Files....and also Tom Walker has a new book out no one should miss.....A no put down amazing book.....by the author of Ft Apache the Bronx....we are lucky to have authors such as al sheppard schmetter and walker....readers like myself who like REal stories...need them...

Al Sheppard has done an excellent job of capturing what life as an E-Man is about. We have a saying, "Know your job, do your job" and Sheppard is a fine example of that.

From
An active E-Man

E-Man is a powerful collection of vignettes that showcase the excitement and energy of life in the NYPD Emergency Services Unit. It captures the true flavor of life in the streets without the sterilized writing you so often see in memoirs written by professionals trying to capture the essence of another's experiences. Schmetterer, the co-author, is to be complemented for not falling into that trap and thereby allowing us to experience Al Sheppard's life as an E Man as if we were there.

This book is as gripping and as exciting as the other reviews say it is. The only problem is its atrocious writing style, which is so bad that it obstructs the understanding of the content of the book. I had to reread many passages several times to figure out what Sheppard really meant. Topics are disorganized, digressions are sudden and often without appropriate context, grammar mistakes and typos abound (i.e. it's a 9mm submachine gun, not ".9 mm"; one rappels with a rope, not "repels"), police jargon and New York specific idioms are not always explained, and so on. Clearly, nobody proofread the manuscript before publication.

On the other hand, the rambling, conversational feel of Sheppard's writing style serves in a way to authenticate the story. His adventures don't have the life sucked out of them by the blandness and distance that would be imposed by an active co-author. You really feel like you are talking to the man who lived the story, rather than hearing it second-hand.

And what a story it is! Sheppard makes it clear that NYPD ESU is an incredible organization. If you are at all interested in the workings of SWAT teams, rescue operations, or anything related, this book is, despite its flaws, a must-read.

Excellent book -- tons of great restaurants, classic ethnic recipes to make when you get home, indexes by ethnicitiy and locale make places easy to find, explanations and introductions are interesting and informative. If you live in or will visit Queens, this is a great book to have.

Excellent book, beautifully printed, with fascinating information on the foods of many different countries. As Queens County (in New York) has over 150 different ethnicities (the most ethnically diverse county in the US), this is a very welcome addition, and quite obviously a labor of love. Even though it originally came out in 2005, it is still worth purchasing for the great food descriptions of various cultures and the recipes included at the back of each chapter.

In a city that offers thousand of possibilities for food lovers, one needs a very talented and focused Suzanne Parker to separate the wheat from the chafe.
Ms. Parker did a great job in unveiling the cuisines of so many nationalities, and also included excellent recipes for those among us who dare to try.

Organized by ethnic cuisine, this book is a wonderful guide to the vast restaurant scene in Queens, which is underrepresented in both restaurant guides and the New York media. The author has included descriptions of the various cuisines and dishes, and also contact information and easy to follow directions for how to get to each restaurant. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves to eat and wants to get to know New York better.

This book is really quite something. It is jam packed with recipes, restaurant information, and unforgettable facts the likes of which I have never come across in any other cookbook or restaurant guide. This book fills a niche that has been empty far too long.

Growing up in Brooklyn certainly has it's own cachet, but I, a female, growing up in Massachusetts at the same time as E B, found so much that was familiar. The book is a wonderful treatise on growing up anywhere, but E B and his friends are so special that I didn't want to finish reading it. It was a splendid "read".

The book really took me back I grew up in East Flatbush in Bklyn in the 50's. It was a little before my time but I did remember alot of the places he talked about. I recommend this book to anyone it is fast reading,enjoyable and you just feel like your part of EB's many friends. I just emaied a few of my old friends an am passing the book on to one of them and telling the rest to go out an get a copy you won't be sorry. I wish there were more books like this out there I tell my children all the time about how great it was to grow up the 50's.

Gave a great deal of insight into the development of friendships and lifetime committments. "Bobby saves Jerry" and they remain friends for a lifetime. Just beautiful---Would love to see a sequel to this book. Interested in knowing the stories of the characters as they matured, including their successes, joys, heartaches and disappointments.

EB exceeded all of my expectations, and I am a very discriminating reader. It's a charming memoir of a very special time, and of a group of kids that everyone can see a part of themselves in. The backdrop of Flatbush, Brooklyn of the 40s and 50s adds a wonderful, nostalgic touch. How great to read something touching and good in today's times of turmoil and questionable ethics. I recommend it whole-heartedly.

I grew up in a small town, but I married a boy from Brooklyn who went to St. Vincent Ferrer. For 40+ years I have heard the stories of that life and those times, and it was a thrill to have it all documented is such a charming and factual manner. Bert Kemp put on paper what my husband has told me through the years.

Totally portable, accurate and inexpensive. I would not venture out in Manhattan without this booklet in my bag.

I bought this book a little over a year ago and have used it for several business trips. It is small and easy to carry, doesn't look touristy, and gives me a lot of confidence getting around Manhattan. The best $ I ever spent. You know how some people just seem to "know" New York even though they don't live there? Well, that's me now.

Certainly veteran New Yorkers will snicker that they don't need "Fodor's Flashmaps New York" to get around town. And they may very well be right. However, as a New Yorker with many international friends I field countless queries about what to do in New York City when you get here. Let's be honest...the Big Apple is gigantic. And no matter how well versed you are about New York City...things change so quickly in this town that it is smart to have this tidy little book around just in case you happen to suffer from brainlock.

And then of course sometimes friends ask for help for things for the kids or for their young teens. Moreover, some queries are specifically for daylight hours, nightlife, weekend activities or happenings in boroughs outside of Manhattan. This text can help. Additionally, Fodor's includes essential telephone numbers for hotels, places of worship, ballparks, schools and universities, airports, transportation, museums, art galleries, parks, shopping, dining, theaters, movies, libraries, consulates, hospitals and hip nightlife activities. Fodor's even provides zip codes but no e-mail addresses.

This book is a great tool. It's small and can easily slip into the inside of your sports coat or if you have a normal size purse, just pop it in and you're set. Or better yet...carry it around in your back pocket (it fits). There are 61 maps and thousands of listings. It will help you walk around, take buses, ride the subways or take railways into the suburbs. In my opinion it clearly is worth the investment for metropolitans or for anyone who wants to visit New York City. One thing is for sure...it will save you plenty of time, and as everyone knows...time is an important commodity.

Bert Ruiz

I donýt know how the conversation started, but I was at the Union Square store of a major competitor of Amazon, letýs just call it FarmStructures & Nobel Booksellers, and the security guard told me that he had relied on this book as a native New Yorker for years. So I bought it.

And now *I* have relied on it for years.

Whether you are looking for where the ýDý train crosses the ý7ý or where exactly Cornelia Street is anyway, this book is excellent. Museums, movie theaters, road maps and highways are all here. The shopping and restaurants sections are good for out-of-towners looking for the classics, less useful for New Yorkers looking for the next new thing, obviously.

Itýs small, convenient, and well-drafted (the maps themselves are different colors so you can readily find what youýre looking for as you flip through ý yellow is street /subway; pink is daytime attractions; black/blue for nighttime attractions). All in all, anybody living in or visiting New York frequently would find this useful. If you are a one-time tourist, though, youýre probably better off going with something more comprehensive like Lonely Planet.

Enjoy!

I highly recommend that when you visit NYC you carry a copy of Flashmaps with you. It's a convenient subway and bus map, shows you all the neighborhoods, museums, post offices, etc. But the thing I use the most is the cross street lookup, which I relied on not just while new in NYC but also as a long-time resident.
I discovered the NYC Flashmaps many years ago when I asked a limo driver exactly where a business address was. He pulled out his Flashmaps, turned to the cross street page and told me the exact cross street in well... a flash. He told me no professional driver and no New Yorker should be without it. I bought my first copy that day and have been telling residents and vistors alike for years.

I read Mrs. Slate's first novel ("The House on Sprucewood Lane"), and found it hard to get into, but about halfway through, I could tolerate it and then found it suspenseful enough to want to finish. The first novel's sentence structure was, I thought, filled with way too many and unnecessary metaphors, and clearly seemed like a first attempt, for both the author and the editor. The verbose style seemed irritating to me even though the story was a good one. BUT, look out! This second novel is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I can hardly put it down! All that excess and verbosity from the first novel - gone. As a matter of fact, I'm half-way through "A Fractured Truth" and I just had to stop long enough to recommend this with more then the highest honors, in my opinion, in both style and story content. I'll let you know when I finish it if it remains as SUPERB as it is so far.

I just discovered that I can't write a second comment, but that I can add to this one. I finished the book and it was SUPERB all the way through. I was disappointed when it ended. I loved the story, twists, and characters. It was truly a page-turner. I can't wait until Mrs. Slate's next novel.

Kate

This book deserves best-seller status. As other reviewers noted, heroine Grace Leshansky has just been released from prison, where she spent 7 years for killing her husband. As Grace begins to adjust to a new scaled-down life -- her husband had already destroyed her bank account -- she tries to learn more about her father, a gambler whose debts had led to frequent confrontations with "enforcers."

Author Caroline Slate weaves multiple threads in and out, moving us from present to past effortlessly and skillfully. She keeps us interested in the characters . And, most important, she makes us care about characters whose flaws are both serious and obvious.

Grace admits she can be gullible -- and she manages to attract some of the best liars on the planet. Grace's father George, a George Burns wannabe, has earned Grace's love and trust while providing an erratic but eventful home life. Each character embodies a level of complexity rarely found in heroes, let alone minor charactersi

After reading the book through, I went back to re-trace some missing parts. All the strands were tied neatly, except for a mention of Grace's "stalking" her grandfatrher: it wasn't clear when she acually did find and follow him.

I hope Slate writes more fiction like this one - and gets more publicity and fame, too! A wonderful, thought-provoking all around "good read."

After killing her husband, Grace Leshansky plea bargained a five to fifteen year sentence for manslaughter and was released after seven years. During her prison time she pushed all her friends away except for Sheilah Donlan who not only picked her up from the penitentiary but also got her an apartment and a job in her headhunting business. Now Grace has to adjust to life on the outside knowing that she killed the man who took away her livelihood, her father her and her self-respect.

In the first weeks of freedom, Grace realizes her parole officer is a battered wife who hates her, makes friends with a con man like her dead husband, and reconnects with her first love Michael, whose father is indirectly responsible for the mess her life is in. Michael's dad, serving a life sentence, is also the only man who can help her find the father she wants to see one last time.

Caroline Slate lives up to the promise she's shown in her debut novel THE HOUSE ON SPRUCEWOOD LANE with her second novel, a powerful work about a woman who is driven to murder, but somehow hooks the reader's sympathy even before all the facts are revealed. The protagonist's relationship with her friends, her lover, and her father ring so true that the audience will shed tears for a woman who was deliberately pushed to her limit by an expert manipulator and brilliant con man. A FRACTURED TRUTH is a compelling powerful story.

Harriet Klausner

"A Fractured Truth" grabs your attention and keeps you engrossed. I lit candles and read "A Fractured Truth" from the night of August 14th through the night of August 15th. I almost forgot the heat, darkness and lack of water. I wonderful escape into a world of fascinating people.

A Fractured Truth is one of the most suspenseful novels I have recently read. The dark language and building of tension kept me turning the pages until the wee hours of the night. I couldn't put it down. Grace Leshanky is convicted of murdering her husband. When she's released on parole, she has difficulty getting on with her life. As the story progresses, the reader gets a glimpse into Grace's life and the sort of marriage she and her husband had. What develops is a twisted story that takes the reader in a whole other direction. As said earlier, I couldn't put this book down. Are you in the bargain for an intelligent, sinister thriller? I recommended A Fractured Truth.

This is a book that helps you see the world with fresh eyes and a generous heart. Jim Atwell has a knack for elevating the experiences of daily life - some charming and quirky, others poignant and painful, some just seemingly mundane - into the realm of the profound, the beautiful and the joyful. Though his world may seem circumscribed by the tiny, rural community of Fly Creek in upstate New York, that is simply the window through which we walk with him into a wider world of human behavior as he ponders the world of meaning in the doleful eyes of sheep, the world fame of the town kazoo band, and the lives of neighbors who befriend and transform him from a citified academic escaping the pain of his young wife's death into a new and vibrant, occasionally adept, farmer. These are tales that can give guidance to anyone intrigued by a life's journey.

Writers and illustrators worth their salt MUST add colors, or tangibly bring life, to images discussed and presented in their writings. Otherwise, their words and illustrations should naturally die on the vine.

In their current book, From Fly Creek, with Jim Atwell's words, and Anne Geddes-Atwell's illustrations, nothing dies at all. With his written observations and her magnificent illustrations, they do the positive things, and so much more. They poignantly paint such vivid and meaningful pictures. As readers, we must now use a different set of glasses, and view things through humans' AND animals' eyes. What an opportunity! To see and experience life through another perspective. Hey, not bad!

Anne Geddes-Atwell's illustrations are superb! They strike the graphic and visual chords that we all need to hear and feel. They enhance the pictures and text exactly when they need to appear. Jim's and Anne's creative talents add to more than the arithmetic total of their individual contributions. As readers, we are able to experience and enjoy their combined talents and offerings. Better still, we'll remember them individually on the levels we need to.

Several years ago, circumstances brought Jim to Fly Creek. He needed what that New York local community had to offer. Fly Creek needed the writing and visual talents that he and Anne ultimately brought to local readers. The rest, as some might say, is recorded history.

Excuse me, but have you ever fed hungry animals on a cold morning? If not, don't bother me with you're your small problems. The Atwell's have dealt with these, as well as bigger ones. Please read Chapter 2 of From Fly Creek. Then tell me about your insignificant concerns. Pardon me, while I don't care.

I have more encouraging words about future chapters. However, for now, I'll blow them off. Just buy the book. Believe me, you'll be better off for having done so.

Buy this book, NOW! Otherwise, you're missing a part of life you'll need.

Reading From Fly Creek is like listening to a good-humored friend, a friend looking at the passing parade from a country setting. Atwell's tales of unique persons and lively creatures are so filled with fine detail that "we are there," wherever he wants to take us. The song of his prose enchants us, especially when writing about Cooperstown's baseball aura and the Salvation Army kettle incident. And, oh yes, don't miss the delightful sketch of the mouse in the bed or the last page's inspiring motto. This is a book to read and re-read. Frances Fowler, California

I have been reading Jim Atwell's columns in the Coopertown Crier for a couple of years now and liked them so much I went back into the archives for more of Fly Creek's history and people. These essays are in the very best tradition of observational writings of authors like James Heriot and Bill Bryson. You will find yourself transported to and become part of this community whose people will become your neighbors and friends.

Jim Atwell is an immensely talented author. The powerful imagery found on each page of From Fly Creek: Starting Again In Leatherstocking Country will enchant and awaken your imagination. This lyrical, deeply felt but unsentimental, distinguished book of non-fiction is destined to win the Pulitzer Prize.

I got this book to read to my kids. It's amazing even on the first page! I LOVE this book. Can't wait to get to the end. Such an easy read!!!!

Dead mothers are always a good plot device. There is nothing like the absence of a mother to create a suitable amount of angst, heartache, uncertainty, and self-doubt. Think of the Alice books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, where the first couple of books in the series are driven by the fact that pre-teen Alice is growing up without a mother, surrounded by men in her family, and suffers the nagging fear that she is not approaching the formative years of her life with due female influence. And more recently we have had the mother-less Bee from Being Bee, and Jack from The Night Tourist. Now there is Evie Adler in K.L. Going's The Garden of Eve. Her mother is ten months dead from cancer, and Evie is left with her botanist father who has never appreciated--or even understood--magic the way her mother did. He is too much of a scientist to put much stock in fairy tales, or stories in general. When he takes on the job of trying to revive a dead apple orchard in Beaumont, New York, far from their Michigan home, Evie is resentful. They move into a house right next door to a cemetery--but the only cemetery Evie cares about is the one back in Michigan, where her mother is buried. Her father devotes his time to the orchard--but all Evie can think of is the magic garden she used to plan with her mother, a perfect garden with magnificent trees and noble beasts where the three of them would always be together. When Evie is given a seed supposedly from the Garden of Eden, Evie thinks she has her chance to find that perfect garden, and consequently find her mother, too.

There is a lot going on in this book, some of it allegorical and some of it just old fashioned mystery. There is the boy Alex, whom Evie meets hanging around in the cemetery. Is he really dead, as he claims to be? Is the orchard where Evie's father toils really cursed, or has it simply been abandoned? When Evie plants her seed and enters the magical garden--by way of eating an apple, of course!--is she in Eden or is it a trap? There is another Eve who grew up in Beaumont and disappeared many, many years ago. What happened to her? And will Evie find peace after the death of her mother?

Some of the pieces in the book are tied together a little bit too neatly, but for the most part this is an engaging and thoughtful book. Evie is disillusioned without being broken. The father is pragmatically devoted to his work but all open-hearted and open-minded business when Evie needs him most. The supporting characters range from saintly (the dead mother)to utterly convincing (Alex). Readers who like their books with magic and symbolism will enjoy this.

Since her free-spirited mother Tally's passing, Evie has given up her belief in magic and nearly all the activities she had loved to partake in with her mom, like painting and reading bedtime stories. Then another difficult change occurs when her father decides to move them from their home in Michigan to Beaumont, New York. Evie doesn't want to relocate or forget about the memories of the life she once had with her mother nearly a year before. However, her father is anxious for a fresh start.

When Evie and her father arrive in rural Beaumont, Evie can't help but feel a little uneasy about the atmosphere of the place, with its blackened, gnarled trees and seemingly perpetual quiet. Then, when picking up the keys from Maggie, the sister of previous owner Rodney, they learn that many people believe that the town is cursed because of the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Maggie and Rodney's sibling, Eve, and the fact that the once-vibrant orchard's appearance changed shortly after.

Evie's father (a "realist," as he refers to himself) dismisses the story as superstition and thinks that, with his skills, he could help bring the trees and, in effect, the town back to life. Meanwhile, to Evie's dismay, she discovers that their new home is near a cemetery, which is where she meets a boy named Alex, who claims to be a ghost. Despite her initial skepticism, Evie can't help but be intrigued by him and his determination not to be forgotten. Then for her 11th birthday, she receives an unusual gift left behind by Rodney. Along with the story behind the supposed curse and a little help, Evie begins to piece the clues together that may put the past to rest, while revealing some surprises about herself and those she cares about.

On the surface, THE GARDEN OF EVE may appear to be just a whimsical mystery, but underneath is a poignant story about keeping a hold of family, hopes and dreams, even if they don't always seem to be in reach.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle

Evie grieves for her sensitive and imaginative mother, angry that her practical father has taken her far from home to a lonely house by a cemetery. As her father tends to a blackened orchard, Evie befriends a dead boy and an elderly woman who gives her an ancient seed that brings the children to an alternate world. Evie dreams of finding her mother there, but instead discovers the love of her father.

Chapters flow from one to another with suspense that should not frighten the "average" child. My fifth grade daughter and I read this aloud and thoroughly enjoyed the fresh, natural dialogue between Evie and the strange boy, the mysterious magical happenings and the realistic relationship troubles between father and daughter. This might be a good book to read to upper elementary or middle school children dealing with the loss of a parent, or even a sibling as the boy grieves the loss of his brother, but might be disconcerting to some younger children.

The storyline is creative and although the last chapter does wrap up a little too well, we are glad that Evie finds a final, surprising connection to her mother.

Sometimes when bad things happen, the whole world seems shriveled and dark, as if nothing good will ever grow again. But life isn't like that. Really.

Here comes Evie, strong and brave and wise. She's searching for truth, hoping for magic, yearning for comfort. Like Lucky in The Higher Power of Lucky, Evie is trying to make sense of world made barren by the loss of her mother. Like Lucky, Evie needs someone to help answer questions a girl really needs her mother for, especially, "How do I know what is true?" But while Lucky's story stays anchored in the rather imperfect real world, Evie finds her truths through a purer magic in the very best fairy-tale tradition. A ghost-boy, some ancient mysterious seeds, a warm wind swirling over frozen soil--K.L. Going breathes her magic into these elements to bring forth a rich tale of new life after loss. Here in The Garden of Eve, the truth is magic and magic is truth. And if you can't see it with your eyes, maybe you should look "with your ears or your nose, instead."

Read this book. It is beautifully crafted and deeply satisfying. As soon as you finish it, you'll want to share it with someone you care about. As it whispers its truths, it brings comfort and warmth and hope that life can begin again, even when all seems lost.

Janet Gingold
author of Danger, Long Division and Finch Goes Wild