Texas Books

I stayed awake until the wee hours of the morning to finish this book. I could not put it down! Well-written and suspenseful, this book will keep you turning the pages. Once finished, you will want to read more of James Pence's work. Excellent read, I highly recommend it.

A serial killer is roaming the halls of Sentinel Health Systems. Is he a doctor faithfully making his rounds? Is he a grief counselor comforting a weeping family member? Or could he be an unassuming nurse prepping someone for surgery? The Angel, as he's dubbed himself, could be anyone. And he's dedicated his life to setting people free--with or without their permission.

Dr. Lori Westlake is a general practitioner at SHS whose euthanasia sympathies have already landed her in hot water. So when she's secretly invited to become a member of the Circle of Peace, a clandestine euthanasia society operating within SHS, she sees it as venue for her convictions. But Lori's sister, Dr. Katharine Bainbridge who also works at SHS, suspects something's amiss in the facility. She believes people are dying who shouldn't be dying, and she's determined to find out why.

Caught between her core beliefs and Kate's suspicions, Lori struggles with whether to join the Circle. To do so means breaking the law, and she's not sure she wants to risk her reputation. How far is she willing to go? Before she has the chance to find out, one of her own patients dies for no apparent reason, and Lori is accused of murder. Her only hope of finding the truth comes from an unlikely source: a retired police detective who's dying of Lou Gehrig's disease.

Anyone who's read James Pence's previous novel Blind Sight already knows he's a capable thriller writer. The Angel continues in the Pence tradition of character-driven suspense, but takes it to an even higher level. The scenes are short and punchy, which keeps things moving at a comfortable thriller pace, and there are enough clues for savvy readers to possibly guess the Angel's true identity (always a fun game), but not enough to be completely certain until the tense climax.

And even though the story is predominantly Lori's, Pence also gives numerous scenes to his detective character, Charles Hamisch. Through Charles's eyes, we catch a glimpse of just how devastating and unpredictable Lou Gehrig's disease can be as sufferers become trapped inside their own bodies, mental faculties fully intact. "That's what drove him [Charles] crazy. Each day was different. Some mornings he woke up feeling strong and on top of the world. Other days, just climbing out of bed required Herculean effort."

The Angel tactfully explores both sides of the euthanasia debate. Only toward the end of the story are we led gently to the Biblical perspective of the sanctity of all life, no matter the challenges. Lori's transformation from skeptic to believer might seem slightly abrupt, but it's still a nice moment of hope amidst her dire circumstances.

Part mystery, part thriller, and part issue novel, The Angel will have you pondering even as it leaves you breathless.

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

"The Angel" is a wonderful book. I had a hard time putting it down. If you are a reader that loves suspense, this is the book for you.

The book, "The Angel," by James H. Pence, is a thought-provoking and chilling story on the subject of euthanasia. The story begins in a hospital in Dallas Texas, called Sentinel Health Systems (or SHS). It all begins when a woman who has had a massive stroke and is in a perpetual coma is admitted into the hospital for treatment. One of the young workers there sees how it has impacted the woman's husband, and notices how that, as long as she stays alive yet incapacitated, he remains in a stupor, and can't seem to function well as a father. The worker then decides to help end that indecision. Sneaking into the patients room at night, he empties into the woman's IV tubing a large dose of insulin, killing her by morning. He then attends her funeral, and observes that, though deeply sad, the woman's husband is no longer struck with indecision, and can resume his role as a father.
The worker is encouraged by what he sees, and decides to devote his life to setting people free of suffering. He takes the name "The Angel" as an alias and begins his new career. He starts an organization in the SHS facility known as "The Circle of Peace," which is devoted to help euthanize any patients in the hospital if they request it, or if they are unable to express their own wishes (such as in a vegetative state), their family members can request it for them. Unbeknownst to the other members though, the Angel gradually reaches a level of action far greater than the "death if wanted" policy held by the group. It isn't long before he sets about "mercifully killing" disadvantaged people such as the homeless... whether they wish it or not.

At first, the opinion that is conveyed in the novel seems to be that euthanasia, or mercy killing, can be the wise choice, especially for incidents like the one in the preface of the book. But as the plot goes on, euthanasia seems to become less tame and more of a self-gratifying game of playing God with other peoples lives. I hope you will read the book and decide for yourself what might be right or wrong about the controversial subject of euthanasia.

Martin
Age 15
Richardson, Texas

I had a hard time putting this book down--trite phrase, but very true. The plotting was tight, the characters well-drawn, and the story line gripping, with a great ending. As a physician, I was pleased to see all the medical details accurately depicted. Although published as "Christian fiction," this one doesn't hit you over the head with its message--but you do get it. I want to read more by James Pence.

we have all seen the finished products of any artist but knowing what goes through their mind is fascinating at times. It shows us the human side of the artist which makes him more complete as a person - very nicely done

This is a useful book for anyone who is intersested in Richard Avedon's work "In The American West" and should be considered as a companion volume to Avedon's book. It gives a lot of background, both to individual images and to the "In the West" project as a whole: how subjects were found, how the images were photographed, a sense of the time and effort involved, Avedon's method of work, some comments on particular subjects that particularly struck the crew. My only real complaint about the book is that could have contained more information and would have been more interesting as a result. For example, almost no precise technical information is given. Even so, it does help one to understand Avedon's "In the West project", which I consider a significant piece of work.

After seeing the show at the Amon Carter in Ft. Worth, and listening to an incredible talk given by a most knowlegable man there, I ordered three copies of the book. What appears at first to be simple shots of working people, becomes an insightful slice of peoples lives in the American west.

I think this book is amazing. The stories really gives you a deeper understanding of why Richard Avendon picked his subjects. Laura Wilson does a great job documenting the step by step shoots of Richard subjects "In the American West". I really felt after reading the stories and looking at the pictures again, it meant so much more. These pictures showed the truth and some of the people in the photos agreed that "It's how I feel".

I recommended this book to anyone, who is looking to find a sence of meaning to their craft as a artist. This book makes to think about yourself, and what you can do to give depth to your work.

I wish other art book would explain the process of their work. Then more people would enjoy what they see instead of brush it to the side.

The book is a gem. Not only sheds a bit of light into Avedon's technique and working methods, but also brings to life the often sad stories behind the powerful images. Highly recommended. Now, if they would only re-issue the original monograph..

This book was a great read that was almost impossible to put down. People who like golf or just want a good book should definitely pick up this one and get sucked right in. I somewhat connected to Billy because of his sense of humor and the fact we are both caddies at a fancy golf club. Not every chapter ended with a cliffhanger but the ending sure did. The plot was believable which made it a good fiction and stayed away from science fiction. Over all I thought this was a great book and I would recommend it to all.

A terrific book for both golfers and dreamers. Read it, then keep it in your golf bag next to your 7-iron for good luck.

This is a fabulous book. I could not put it away. It was a great story and was very dramatic. It was the ideal book.

When sixteen-year-old caddie Billy Boy, who's lost his mother to cancer and his gifted but war-damaged father to an explosion, finds a very old Bobby Jones seven iron in a roadside ditch, a whiff of magic drifts in on the 1950 Forth Worth, Texas air. The club belongs to famous golf course designer John Bredemus, who soon arrives in search. Bredemus seems to know a little too much about Billy Boy, but the lad needs someone to lean on while he gets his feet under him and the two quickly form an alliance.

By way of reward for finding the club, Bredemus buys supper, and the next morning loans the club to Billy, insisting that he bring it to the Colonial Golf Club, where he's trying to establish himself as a caddie. "It's a very lucky club," Bredemus says.

Sure enough, Colonial Golf Club's most famous member, the legendary Ben Hogan, notices the club and asks Billy Boy if he'd like to carry his bag for a quick nine holes, setting in motion a series of events that culminate in Billy Boy's winner-take-all match with Sonny Stonekiller, the club champion and rival for Billy Boy's flame Sandra Sandpaster.

If all this seems a little too pat, never fear. "Billy Boy" is great fun and a terrific golf read and Shrake's plot beautifully set up. You'll find yourself rooting hard for Billy Boy to win out. I recommend it for those who love sports adventure themes.

Art Tirrell is the author of The VITAMAN Effect a baseball yarn with a special twist. Available on Kindle now, and in print August 2008.

There are reasons why golf is described as 90 percent mental. It's primarily to sell golf literature like Shrake's novel. Ever read an intriguing golf book about swing plane and hip rotation?

Shrake's book is one in a long line like it. The main character, Billy, loses both his parents in a matter of weeks, and it is up to him to make it on his own. Set in Texas during the 1950s, two of Texas' golfing "Gods" guide Billy from being a caddie to beating the upstart young club champion. This book has all the cliched elements, including John Bredemus' role as a guardian angel, who unveils the mental elements of game, and Hogan, who teaches Billy "the secret" of the swing.

Had Sharke not written such a wonderful story, I would have cast it in the lot with all the other bad golf novels out there. There are life lessons more than golf lessons inside, including the drive to gain independence and what it means to honor yourself and family.

I just wish a golf novel could written without all those "Gods" watching down.

Informative, great writing style, illuminating, entertaining, the preservation of recipes from this era...the tops. I can't say enough about how spectacular this book is.

When the name "Big Thicket" is mentioned to about anyone in East Texas, huge trees with dew-dripping moss and dense underbrush come to mind. But after reading Wanda Landrey's BOARDIN' IN THE THICKET, all I can think of are good country recipes and amusing homespun stories.

Boardin in The Thicket is a "must have" for anyone wanting to put the country back in cooking.

In todays fast-paced world, it's refreshing to read a book such as Wanda Landrey's "Boardin' In the Thicket". In her book, Landrey recreates the ambiance of a time when people would sit on their porches and rock and weave a tale or two.

Boarding in the Thicket is a collection of not only delightful stories but mouth-watering recipes. The sweet potato casserole from the Commercial Hotel in Kountz, Texas is a must at our house every Thanksgiving!

Ahem! first there was Travis,30, the oldest son of Eugenia, who is determined to have some grandchildren -- then there is Tanner,27, who has been lost for about 10 years -- ah, and then the Sheriff of Fort Worth, Tucker Burnett.
Well to get the grandchildren the she desires, Eugenia sets about finding wives for her boys. None of her sons wants her help.

Travis, the rancher, is now married to Rose, the young lady his mother thought was just right for him, and he had tried to drive off. Now they have a twinkle in their eye.
Mama has been corresponding with Elizabeth Anderson from Georgia on behalf of her son, Tucker. The Sheriff is not happy with his mother when she reveals arrival date for Beth.

Suddenly Tanner has shown up in the middle of a hold-up in which he was supposed to participate. Yup! he got Elizabeth shot. He spends weeks helping her to recuperate while someone is pushing him to return to Sam Bass's outlaws. What a mix-up. Tanner is torn between his two duties.

Well, just say that they make it hot and heavy, with a little kissing on the side. Now Elizabeth feels a bit guilty [but who can tell] and Tanner's guilt stems from the fact that he cannot offer her any kind of life. He doesn't expect to live through a shoot-out with Bass and his gang.

Oh, hell! he finds out that Elizabeth's intended is Sheriff Tucker Burnett, his own brother. Now his guilt has intensified as he will not hurt his brother.
But why does his brother seem to ignore Beth. [You have to chuckle at all the undercurrents].
Tanner still has his traumatic dreams and Beth comes to his room to wake him, yeah, why didn't Travis and Rose hear his moanings and groanings.
Oh well, one more time for the road? Yikes!

Now we are getting to the good part -- Tanner's secrets are exposed - first to Beth - then a little later to his two brothers, Beth doesn't even know all.
Would have liked some action to be a bit more threatening and dangerous instead of all the emotional mumble-jumble. But as I maintain, don't try to out-guess the author. The plot was still darn good.
OH! yes - great cover. Love that face.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED except for the --M [lack of morality] but you can't have it all, mores the shame.

Set in Texas in the 1870's, Tanner Burnett is disguised as a banker on a stage bound for Fort Worth. When the outlaws he works with rob the stage, Elizabeth Anderson is accidentally shot. Tanner rushes her back to San Antonio to find a doctor. Dealing with ghosts from his past, Tanner cannot cope with another death on his conscious. He pretends to be Beth's husband as he cares for her in a San Antonio hotel room. Beth is traveling out west as a mail order bride. She is also escaping ghosts from her past. When Tanner escorts Beth to her Fort Worth, he encounters the family he has not seen in over ten years. Beth finds she is engaged to Tanner's younger brother, Tucker Burnett. Tanner and Beth do not know that Beth never wrote to Tucker, she actually was writing to his meddling mama, Eugenia Burnett.
It is a touching family reunion and all parties must adjust to the changes of the past eleven years. Tanner and Beth both have secrets from their Civil War tragedies. Everyone has to learn how to trust again. This installment in the "Burnett Brides" trilogy is leaps and bounds better than the first, The Rancher Takes a Wife. It contains the emotional development that the first is sadly lacking, but the atmosphere is much darker because it deals with heavier issues. 4.25/5

Sylvia McDaniel is now one of my favorite authors. Her books, especially "Outlaw," are fresh and natural. Her people are fun and likeable. This story of a man returning to his family home after a terrible experience with war is poignent and heart-warming.

Beth Anderson is forced to leave behind her childhood home at the end of the Civil War and all its accompanying tradegies. Shamed and alone, she accepts an offer from Texas to become a mail order bride, knowing nothing of Eugenia Burnett and her matchmaking ways. Since Eugenia had success in pairing up her oldest son and his new wife, Rose, the crafty woman decides she'll try to find a good woman for her wayward son Tucker. Eugenia has never given up on her middle son, Tanner who ran off to join the war, even though the Army belives him dead. But no one has seen or heard from Tanner in a decade. But Eugenia is right, Tanner is alive and running with outlaws. He's a dangerous man who figures he's got nothing left to lose. But when a stage robbery attempt goes bad, Tanner does his best to save the stage driver from being shot. Instead, Beth takes the bullet. No matter how hardened Tanner believes his heart is, he can't leave Beth alone to die. So he takes her to San Antonio and cares for her himself. But he does not count on being so drawn to the woman of quiet courage or how deeply her sad past will affect him. Beth is drawn to the man she sees underneath the fast guns and grim eyes. Though they try to resist each other, love is inevitable. It becomes equally complicated when Tanner runs into his youngest brother, Tucker, and discovers Beth is intended for him. The sparks fly and the dialogue is both humorous and poignant in this story of redemption and homecoming. Well worth reading.

Tanner Burnett hadn't been home in a long time, and he wasn't planning on a trip now. But when an innocent young woman is shot during a holdup he was involved in, Tanner feels responsible for getting her to her destination as soon as she is able to travel again. The young outlaw didn't plan on having his heart captured by his beautiful victim. But he knew a life such as the one he lead had no room for love, after all he had been on the run for years. But Tanner is an honorable man, even if he is an outlaw, so he fufills his promise to see her safely to Fort Worth, and right into the bosom of his long-lost family. Seems the lady was to be married to his brother Travis, the sheriff!

Elizabeth Anderson is on the run herself from an unsavory past. Putting herself up as a mail-order bride, she has been corresponding with Mr. Burnett of Fort Worth, Texas and has agreed to become his bride. But when she is waylaid by the hold-up and forced to spend her recuperation time in the company of the handsome and sexy Tanner, she finds she regrets her decision to marry the unknown Mr. Burnett. While she has fallen in love with Tanner, Elizabeth is determined to make a new life for herself, and sacrifices her chance at love for honor. She insists on Tanner taking her on to Fort Worth, where she will keep her promise to become Mrs. Burnett. Imagine her surprise when she discovers Tanner is also a Burnett!

Sylvia McDaniel brings us another intriguing story of love in the Old West with her second installment of The Burnett Brides series. The Outlaw Takes A Wife is a tale filled with sensual romance, heartwrenching drama, and a wonderful happy-ever-after ending. Everything a great romance needs! McDaniel has also done her historical research of the period, and includes the fascinating tale of the legendary outlaw Sam Bass within this story. Look for the final installment of the Burnett brothers' story in The Marshall Takes A Wife, due out in July, 2001.

Sharon Galligar Chance, Times Record News

A woman's reflections on life, family and the never-ending pursuit of happiness from a poor dirt farmers perspective of the 1930's and `40's.

Betty Grant Henshaw's story begins in the 1930's dust bowl regions of Oklahoma and concludes in the farming districts of California. Her father was the typical hard working man who did everything possible to keep his large family together. A true icon.

Mrs. Henshaw's stories of growing-up in these times are a keepsake insight as to how life was a colossal struggle and the smallest things were much appreciated by all.
Filled with heart, spirit and compassion.

VERY WELL WRITTEEN. BRING THAT TIME BACK TO LIFE.

A finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award, Children of the Dust: An Okie Family Story is the personal memoir of author Betty Grant Henshaw, who was born into a large family of tenant farmers in Oklahoma during the terrible time of the Dust Bowl. Her father, Bill, worked himself to exhaustion striving to provide for his wife and nine children; eventually his family had to migrate to California, where he worked in the fields in hundred-degree heat. Yet he instilled respect for hard work in his children, and kept family solidarity through trying times. Highly recommended as a powerful and profound story of salt-of-the-earth people proudly doing their best to survive.

This book is a joy to read. It is a story so intimately told that one feels a kindred spirit with the author and her family. Many of us who lived through the great depression and life in the west can share some of her memories, and we can relive many of the experiences in our own childhoods.
I highly recommend this book.
Audrey DeMott

This book really brings to life what it meant to be a young girl growing up in Oklahoma during the dust bowl. The struggles the family goes through and survives as the father tries to make a living as a sharecropper are fascinating. This was a world of real poverty but also great family love. Reading a history of this time through one family's experiences is a great story.

"....In this universe of painted manuscripts [from ancient Mexico) an extraordinary volume has recently appeared--a study of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis by Eloise Quiñones Keber. This primary source for the study of Aztec history and ritual is one of the few surviving codices from this culture and presents to the reader a treasury of information about the people of Mesoamerica. This high-quality facimile edition focuses especially on the Aztecs prior to and after the Conquest. But above all, congratulations go to Quiñones Keber, whose excellent work and years of dedication and research have been recognized by the granting of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award, given...in 1996 for her 'outstanding contribution to humanistic learning.' The University of Texas Press is also to be congratulated for this superior production, as is the Getty Foundation, which has made the fine volume available to scholars, libraires, and art lovers...."

"Few codices exist that provide scholars of the Aztecs (Nahuas) with a pictorial version of native depiction of the Aztecs' origins, culture, and history prior to and after the Spanish conquest that began in 1519. Among them is a manuscript now housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale of France, the so-called Codex Telleriano-Remensis, named after the man who contributed it to the library of Louis XIV....Fifty folios in length, this fragile and irreplaceable source was microfilmed in color in 1990. Thanks to the interest of the University of Texas Press and a subvention from the Getty Grant Program, a full-color published facsimile of the images and commentary is now available to scholars, students, and others fascinated by the Aztecs. Splendidly annotated by Dr. Quiñones Keber, a well-known specialist in Mesoamerican art and iconography, this volume truly must be seen to be fully appreciated...."

"The 16th-century Codex Telleriano-Remensis was a rare colonial enterprise: an intercultural exchange between Indian artists and Spanish overseers. It was created in an attempt to understand Aztec culture in light of its transformed present. The result was a well-organized manuscript with invaluable information about the Aztec calendar, mythology, rituals, history, and politics. Through the centuries, the Codex has been a fruitful source of knowledge for academics and a source of cultural identity and power for the diminishing Aztec (Nahua) survivors. This new edition includes a full-color photographic facsimile of the entire Codex as well as an English translation of the Spanish commentaries that explain the work's intense visual imagery. It contains over 100 pages of brilliant visions of bellicose earth-mother goddesses and other mythical creatures. [Quiñones] Keber is professor of art history at Baruch College and The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. She provides a comprehensive text that complements these images with core information about Aztec culture and gives the reader a deeper appreciation for the art of Aztec manuscript painting. Most people will never see the original manuscript, now well guarded at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, but [Quiñones] Keber provides the immediacy and excitement of actually holding a copy of the ancient text. She has opened a window onto a unique cultural fusion born of the encounter between old and new worlds. Silvia Heredia '95C"

Couple with the Herbal Codex, this lays the superfluous groundwork for the understanding of Spanish/Aztec integration and the loss of indigeniuos knowledge. What this really does is preserves the spiritual awareness the Pre Meso-American people knew as a intimate interaction with Mother Earth/Father Sky representative gods. A must for those needing to know where your place is in the world order and for those whose spiritual growth has stopped. Leads you to the Aztec Calender and, with little promting, shows the coorelational ideas of modern myths, legends, and assumptions that modern religions make. Does time really have one dimension? Does the etheral body remain on this plain or steps to make its assendence to the Higher Divine? With little knowledge of ritual rites, show materialism is a major modern flaw.This helps to bridge old mythogical rituals into understandable terms.

"....In this universe of painted manuscripts [from ancient Mexico) an extraordinary volume has recently appeared--a study of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis by Eloise Quiñones Keber. This primary source for the study of Aztec history and ritual is one of the few surviving codices from this culture and presents to the reader a treasury of information about the people of Mesoamerica. This high-quality facimile edition focuses especially on the Aztecs prior to and after the Conquest. But above all, congratulations go to Quiñones Keber, whose excellent work and years of dedication and research have been recognized by the granting of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award, given...in 1996 for her 'outstanding contribution to humanistic learning.' The University of Texas Press is also to be congratulated for this superior production, as is the Getty Foundation, which has made the fine volume available to scholars, libraires, and art lovers...."

A fine tribute to those who served in our Amphibious Forces.
This is a very well researched book about the men who served on our Amphibious Ships during WWII. The detail can't be found in any other source. It's not just the story of one ship, it's the story of all the ships that helped win the war.
In addition to being incredibly well researched it is very readable and a must read of those who served, their families and those who want to learn about this part of our history.
Russ Padden - Webmaster for Amphibious Forces of WWII

I served on an AKA (USS Yancey AKA-83) during the Korean War. I am the historian for the Yancey and found the story of the Tate similar to the Yancey's experience during WW2. The Yancey was in commission for about 25 years was a part of Antartic expedition (Natl Geo.Oct 47'), the Korean War, the Cuban blockade and was in both the Pacfic and Atlantic fleet. I was very pleased to read about the day to day experiences of the AKAs in the Tate story

Last night I was reading this book well past midnight. I could not put it down until I saw how the Tate and her sister ships came through a series of unrelenting kamikaze attacks. The narrative in this book is riveting. I read it to gain insight into my father's WWII experience. He served aboard the USS Ormsby (APA-49). I was particularly interested in the many first-person stories that provide windows into the lives and experiences of sailors aboard these ships. I was surprised to find how well I was able to follow the combat sequences. I usually get lost in a jumble of unit designations, but the author took great care with charts, maps and verbal descriptions so I was able to understand what was going on and why. He explained the complex choreography of amphibious assault in a way that even I could understand. It is a great read.

I was an officer on one of the USS Tate's sister ships in the early 1960's, and I'm in contact with numerous shipmates from WWII. This book presents an accurate account of life aboard an attack cargo ship. Additionally, it gives interesting and informative accounts of the amphibious landing support mission in the Pacific. No other book has ever done either of these, though the famous "Away All Boats" dealt well with shipboard life in a fictional way. Combat Loaded is well-written from both the historic and human point of view. I read every word of it, and I found it hard to put down.

First, in the interest of full disclosure, let me first say that my father served on this ship, so please excuse me for being being a "homer" on this one. Ships such as the Tate and sailors like Dad played an important role in keeping many ships (battleships, carriers, etc") supplied and attacking the enemy. The designation AKA was funny in that the A stood for "attack", which means they had at least one gun.

Tom has done a great job of shedding light on a group of WWII's unsung heros, who faced the same enemy attacks as some of the better known Navel elements. Enjoy the book.

Companions of the Blest was my favorite book this year. The characters were believable and likeable. It's a very interesting story and one I didn't want to end.

An absolute joy to read. The author has done an excellent job of intricately weaving important Texas historical events and characters into the evolution of his fictitious family in modern Hill Country society. I highly recommend it.

Jim Boyd has captured the essence of the people that live on the land in the Texas Hill Country better than any other. His descriptions of this wild, and still untamed part of Texas, put me right out there in the that magical country right along with the characters in the story. I had trouble putting the book down because I longed so much for Mac Taylor and Rene to ride off in the sunset together - unfortunately this was not to be. A really great read. In the past I have been blessed to know many Mac Taylors, my own father was indeed one of them. The author is most correct on this point: the Mac Taylors of the world are disappearing from my own personal view, and I doubt seriously that I'll see many more like them in this lifetime.

Companions of the Blest captures the essence of Texas culture. Reading the book is every bit as good as attending a concert by Willie -- or Ray Price.

The culture portrayed in the book endures in spite of increasing urbanization. Hopefully, the spirit of Mac Taylor and Juanita Navarro will remain a part of who we are and what we stand for.

I greatly enjoyed the book, and I'm buying copies for friends.

An absolute joy to read. The author has done an excellent job of intricately weaving important Texas historical events and characters into the evolution of his fictitious family in modern Hill Country society. I highly recommend it.

I found this book to be much more accurate than any internet source about the same subject. Further credibility is lent by the fact that many of those interviewed reflected upon the same events, from different perspectives (e.g., the so unfortunate death of the their contemporary idol, Marina Raskova). As with all eyewitness accounts, you can also get a grim reality of life during the war in Soviet-held territories. Imaging a mother, who has to put her children into an orphanage, because her skills are needed on the front-line. There is nearly no account at all without mentioning the death of a husband, brother or father in the war - everyone seems to have lost someone very dear. This book is a must-read for every fan of IL-2 Sturmovik air combat simulator.

In this excellent book, surviving Soviet veterans of World War ll are interviewed about their service in the Red Air Force. Not only pilots and navigators, but gunners and ground crew also, relate their experiences of what is commemorated in Russia as the Great Patriotic War. Ms. Noggles'recent photos (taken in the early 1990's) contrast poignantly with the black-and-white photos, taken over half a century ago, of the young airwomen in uniform. I highly recommend this book. Read about the courage and sacrifice of these aviators, and the horrific circumstances and conditions which they endured, and remember that these were perfectly ordinary young Soviet women. Some had personally experienced Stalinist oppression, but when their country's existence was threatened, they all voluntarily joined in her defense.

That's exactly what this book is. Their story. The Soviet Airwomen in WW2 were very overlooked by the international community. This book is one of the best sources of information on them. When you read it you hold your breath during the tense parts, even though you know they make it out fine.

It's amazing how these girls were able to laugh in such a desperate time, and indeed, in many places where it is defined, the girls found that things happened where you just couldn't afford not to laugh. For example, their boots were so big, because they only wore male suits, that when given the command to face another direction, one girl turned the complete opposite direction but her boots stayed in the same place!

I loved this book about the brave women who fought in world war 2. Not many people had known that women flew in combat so long ago. This book will make the readers see what it was like when everybody had to fight. These women are heroines. I like the photos of the women in their old age with all their medals. They look like anybodies Grandmother! I would be proud to know them. This book makes me feel like I do.

A superlative book..action packed! I was astonished at their courage and patriotism. (Who would actually go out on nightly bombing attacks in a PO-2? They did!) Their continual struggle against the Nazis was made so much more burdensome under the unjust tyranical yoke of Communism. What fine women and what a great "eye-opener".