Canada Books

Ben is very well written, very eloquent. He is an extremely informative writer. He gives the whole picture and helps me to have a sharp grasp of the procedures and the tastes that he has experienced. To me, Ben is greatly appreciated.

As a homebrewer and beer enthusiast who travels quite a bit, I have been looking for a manageable beer guide/road map. Thanks to Mr. Myers et al. for providing just that. Let the journey begin!!

When traveling throughout North America this pocket size 'thirst inducer' is a must! Prost to Ben Meyers! ­Merf, Product Development Bert Grant's Ales

Mr. Myers' book cuts through the fluff and BS put out by most brewery PR wonks, and tells the craft beer story like it REALLY is. I laughed, I cried, I ordered another beer (from Ben's recommended list, of course). His inights into Northwest beers are particularly inspired. I've also found that the book works great as an unusually tall beer coaster, too!

Being a busy brewer, I seldom get the chance to travel far and sample the efforts of other North American brewers. Reading 'Best American Beers' has changed my priorities. I'm hitting the road with a tremendous thirst thanks to Myers' factual, concise descriptions and ridiculously witty prose!

Simply captivating and better written than a Canadian mining story has any right to be.

About how a gang of off-beat penny stock mining promoters (led by "Toxic Bob" Friedland, ex-hippie, convicted LSD dealer, alleged environmental disaster perpetrator and one time school chum of Steve Jobs) took some of the world's largest mining companies on a dizzying auction for some desolate caribou pasture that just happened to contain some of the richest ore deposits ever discovered.

Bob Friedland is the loadstar of the story: a vain and loathsome character but brilliant as an auctioneer of fear and greed as he escalates the bidding into the stratosphere.

This book contains some valuable lessons for executives and the stock buying public. For executives: have your temperature checked regularly for "deal fever": walk away when the bidding gets too intense, you're probably overpaying. For the public: Beware of Toxic Bob's inside tips that to prop up an overvalued stock you need a dynamic impressario with a "good story" and some theatrical "props". Brings to mind certain Silicon Valley impressarios....

Tremendous read for anybody who has an interest in this sector, or for that matter good business books. Good insights on the tactics used in making a deal for a world class deposit (at least in a seller's market). I started yesterday morning and couldn't put it down all day. My wife did make me walk the dog, and I took a few trips to frig, but was so engrossed I finished it all yesterday. That's saying something because I usually only finish about a fourth of the books I start.

The real story that reads better than fiction. The book gives a great background for the current activity that is starting again in one of the largest mineral discoveries in Canada.

Although it starts out a bit slow, it is a well written and , for the most part, accurate. I worked at INCO and was involved in the early stages of the acquisition and can say that the description of events and personalities was very accurate.

I was lucky enough to work on the Voisey's Bay discovery. Jacquie interviewed almost all of the players; she did did an excellent job of catching the excitement we all felt in Labrador during 1994-1995. Her book tends to confirm many "rumors" too.

This book is all about the trust in God, how he brings Nicole and Anne through their hard times in live, how He is their guide and strong Hand that keeps them.
Really, this book (and the rest of the series previous) are really worth reading.

This is my second favorite of the series, my very favorite being "The Meeting Place." Unlike "The Sacred Shore", the book preceding it, "The Birthright" brings out the character of Anne as well as that of Nicole, rather like "The Meeting Place" did with their moms, Catherine and Louise. I always felt that Anne is "short-changed" in the other books in the series, and am glad to see her getting more equal treatment here.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and hope to continue with the next one. Normally, I find Oke's book dull or too detailed to enjoy, but this series with Bunn is outstanding. Try it!

This book is great! It's been a while since I read the first two books in this series, and I was surprised that it was so easy for me to pick up right where they left off.

This is the story of Nicole's journey to England to take her place as the heir to her Uncle Charles. Her ideas of duty and responsibility, but also her need for change and to find her own place in the world are at the heart of the novel.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot--especially the surprise ending, but needless to say, this book will keep you charmed through the end--through all the heartache, sorrow and joy that comes through in colonial America.

After being reunited with her birth parents in Nova Scotia and after saying a tearful goodbye to her Louisiana parents, Nicole has a yearning for more. She and Anne become close friends and Nicole loves her parents, but there is something calling to her, dividing her allegiance. Her Uncle Charles has asked for her to go to England and become his heir, and she considers doing just that. After prayer and consideration, she decides to leave.

England is a contrast to all she's ever known . . . its glitter and bustle are almost too much for her, and she feels useless among the rich trappings and servants.

Anne, meanwhile, is dealing with some devastating news. She decides to go to England. Anne adjusts more quickly to England than Nicole.

Nicole and her uncle have to make some hard decisions. . . .

I didn't find this book as exciting as the others in the series (especially Book 1, my favorite so far), but it is still interesting and integral to the series. The writing is still beautiful and thoughtful and this book is worth the read.

I have had my copy of this book for over 10 years now. My mother read it to my younger siblings and me when I was a tweenage girl. I pick it up and read it every few years and have also read it to my son. He thought it was great, too.

It's a great, old-fashioned fairytale set in today's world. Be warned - It is not an everyone gets along in the end story. The ending ends as it should with everyone getting exactly what they deserve. It makes you wish that there was a little book dragon looking over your shoulder.

I would recommend this book to adults and children alike. It has a moral message that a child as young as 4 or 5 would get but has enough levels to keep everyone entertained.

At 50 I'm still the fantasy freak in the house and found this book as enchanting and enjoyable as any I've read. My wife the murder mystery consumer was totally enthralled by the tale when searching for a diversion from her regular reading. We've both read the tale more than once and have made present to one of our nephews of a hard back version of the book, that's how much we liked it. When you finish reading this book you set it down with a feeling of satisfaction, that everything wrapped up quite nicely, and wonder if there will be another to follow.

I found this book as an adult, but I was totally enchanted, and it became the start of my collection of dragons. This rates with Anne McCaffrey's dragons--friendly dragons. This tale is so enjoyable, yet not predictable. Moral, but not preachy. And kids will love the good guy/bad guy tension.
This is a book every child (and most adults) should have the pleasure of having in their life.

"A Book Dragon" was the very first book I read geared towards fantasy and the mythical creatures we call dragons. I first read this book in grade 6 when everyone else was reading about babysitters or high school twins and it introduced me to a whole other world of mystery, magic and myths. In my mind this lovely tale about the last dragon of his kind who travlelled far and wide to discover the preciousness of the written word is a wonderful book for children and adults alike. It helps us realize that stories such as this and any other form of learning and expanding the mind are the teasure we should be stiving to protect. I adored this book as soon as I read it. I could not put it down. I have looked far and wide for a copy as it would be something I pass on to any future readers in my family.

A Book Dragon is a fabulously written story about a time in which dragons were as common as wolves are today--"Here there bee dragons." I first had this book read to me when I was in fourth grade and I absolutely loved it! I have been trying to find a copy of it for years. It is a story about a dragon named Nonesuch who becomes able to control his size. He finds treasure to guard in books. This is a wonderful story for all ages, and best if read aloud.

This is a fascinating book. It starts out a little detailed and slow but once you get into the debt of the story you cannot put it down. It is horrifying and graphic and tears at your insides as you read the passages. It takes you into the debts of his despair and suffering. You begin to realize how his remembering details such as he did actually helped him make it through the ordeal. You also realize it could happen to anyone.

This book will make you think about countries that pretend to be allies of the United States and Britain. Do we play into their politics only to save face with the world?

This book is uncomfortable to read yet offers hope for the human spirit.
I highly recommend it.

What a horrifying story. Thank you very much, William Sampson, for telling about the terrible things that you experienced. I'm amazed at the incredible detail, dates, names, etc. I wonder how I would have done in a similar situation. The Canadian and British governments should be ashamed. The officials involved probably are.

This book about one man's torture at the hands of Saudi Arabian officials is a must-read. To cover up internal problems, Saudis blamed bombings of Westerners on other Westerners. They then tortured the arrested into confessing. It's hard not to be irate reading this book - Saudi Arabia strikes one as the most dangerous and vile country on Earth. Sampson's survival is testament to the human spirit, and his horrific tale makes for gripping and worrying reading.

Not often you pick up a book and have serious trouble putting it down. William Sampson's narrative of the circumstances and events that overtook him in that xenophobic wasteland of Saudi Arabia will send chills up your spine. A true hero, Sampson describes, in alarming detail, the torture and backward, self-serving mentality of his captors. His ordeal exposes the Canadian and British government's incrediable ignorance and willful lack of concern for one of it's citizens when in crisis in a foreign land. Even when faced with a death sentance (beheading), Sampson showed courage and resolve to not let his captors have the satisfaction of breaking his will.

This is a 'must read' book for anyone concerned with 'human rights', 'international relations' and 'politics.

Like the book Night, by Elie Weisel, this book shows how even a man imprisoned can fight his captors with the strength of his mind (and body). Samson is challenged in ways many of us "soft" Americans cannot dream of; yet he rises to the challenges and finds ways to stay sane in an insane situation. He learns how he can live without even basic necessities (giving up books is harder than giving up food) so that his torturers cannot use these privileges against him. Samson shows us when he "fails" himself and when he triumphs.
To think that a citizen of a Western country can be abandoned by his country in order to keep good relations is an outrage that needs to be corrected. Samson shared with us his trial so that we might see the truth and perhaps others would be spared.
Thanks so much for this well written, eye-opening book. You are a true hero.

The "auteur" moniker that seems to hang ominously like a dead albatross around David Cronenberg's directorial neck is an overly misapplied reputation which requires a bit of deconstruction.

Essentially, when you hear the term auteur, the suggestion that typically applies is that the director in question--in this case, David Cronenberg--is a snotty type who doesn't budge not even the width of an atom for his particular creative vision. Everything on-set by definition must be done to the letter of the man himself, an inflexible character. Auteur, in this highly pejorative sense, is the closest thing to a Mussolini-type dictatorship which one could experience on the film set. Horrors.

But I'd certainly have to disagree.

David Cronenberg, according to many of the players who have worked under him (not toiled, collaborated!), especially in the case of Maria Belo and Viggo Mortensen, lately of A History of Violence, have nothing but rave reviews for the man. Even former porn-star Marilyn Chambers in The Brood had fantastic things to say about the Toronto-based director.

Few so-called auteurs seem to be as democratic as Cronenberg. He places a great emphasis upon his actors' appearance on screen, and much is discussed of how he generally will permit heaps of retakes for various scenes if a given actor feels as though they didn't pull off a scene correctly, or with particular aplomb.

He's one of the smartest directors in Hollywood. He's extremely well read (evidenced by his fluidity of speech during interviews--I've watched them), he's maginificently outspoken, and he knows his material so very well, especially when he writes the scripts himself. What's more is that he's adamant about shooting his films in his native Canada. In a North American industry where most Canadian would-be talent darts south of the border faster than Scotty's teleporter might, Cronenberg has stuck it out in places like the old movie studios at Kleinberg, Ontario and in the provincial captial, Toronto to establish a solid reputation north of the 45th parallel.

If you've never had the chance to hear Cronenberg speak on screen, you're really missing out. See if you can pick up the film called Spider...which starts Rafe Fiennes and Gabriel Byrne, which also contains an excellent segment on the director speaking about his various travails in attempting to land 11th-hour financing for that picture (which nearly capsized because they couldn't land the cash). I'm not raving for nothing--he doesn't miss a beat, this Cronenberg guy. He knows his stuff cold, and so do the people who entitle him to do what he does. They know they're in good hands, and Cronenberg always seems to deliver the goodies.

In terms of the book itself, I've fallen head over heels in love with this "directors speaking about themselves" series. After having first read Cassavetes on Cassavetes in New Zealand, Kieslowski on Kieslowski in the Czech Republic, and now Cronenberg on Cronenberg here in Prague (with Herzog on Herzog waiting anxiously in the wings), you're going to be hardpressed to find better biographical data on these giants of indie cinema other than what you'll read here. Martin Scorsese has even been profiled in this series...from what I've heard, it's one of the thickest of them all. Oh poor bank account...

This book rocks (!!!) because you're getting an uncensored take on the author's views. The book is Cronenberg at his vintage best, cussing, intimately describing various details (especially the final insert on his film CRASH, the "real" CRASH, not the Oscar-winning impostor!) of the sex scenes between his actors Holly Hunter, James Spader, and Elias Koteas, and some keen insider details from the period of cinematic history in Canada back in the old "tax shelter" days, when finance was freely available. When guys like David Cronenberg were only looking for scripts to fit the bill, because they were swimming in Canadian dollars. Those were the days, and Cronenberg pays due homage to the era -- it's what made him who he is today, and without the access to the money back in those days, his destiny might've turned out slightly differently. It's what he describes as his transition from "filmmaker" to "movie maker," a la Hollywood, bigger budgets, bigger stars, and box-office coups.

See if you can also catch a special "director's series" DVD from the American Film Insitute (AFI). It's called "The Directors: David Cronenberg," and he's one of (I believe) several directors profiled, with clips from their various films (I've watched most of 'em). Catch some early clips of Canadian actor Michael Ironside, who is still stupendous, IMHO, even in his later years. That infamous "head exploding scene" from Scanners, still to this day, is something else. It's buried somewhere on that DVD I'm talking about.

So I think I've said enough about completely irrelevant things. If you're looking to be entertained, see if you can pick up a copy. It's not heavy lifting, reading-wise, and it's packed with factoids, anecdotes, and details.

--ADM in Prague

Dude, it's really hard to stop David Cronenberg from yapping about his films. this, though, is a good thing. The man is very well spoken ,even if he doesn't think shivers and videodrome aren't comedies. this book, my friend, make me feel good.

Or at least I did until I gave away the second edition as a gift but it meant a lot. The current edition is fourth and came out after The Crash. To the people who know only his films it will be surprising Cronenberg came from a literary background and how much his films are intellectual. The man also possesses mean dry wit which shows up when talking about his ex wife and personal enemies like censors or would be do-gooders (fellow Canadian writer Margaret Atwood). To those who do not know about the author as much as they should this is a great book. Those who love Cronenberg's films probably own this already. I am waiting for a new edition to come out, the one to include the making of Existenz and his new film Spider and I'm buying!

"Cronenberg on Cronenberg" is a great start for anyone who wants further insight on David's work, specially his early films. One musn't hesitate, this is the basic fan purchase.

A semi-autobiographical look into the world of David Cronenberg and how he came to make films of grotsque, yet, captivating life of media, biology and society. You will read about his influences in his early childhood life and then, eventually, virtually being the only Canadian film director with a promise. Cronenberg seems humble in his writing, yet, you get a sense of high intelligence. Definately reccomended! It is a good read, moves along nicely and you will be quite fascinated by his personal accounts of his world and what inspires him.

This book is incredible, I've owned it for a year now, and still have not managed to finish the entire book. The information is tightly packed, and it's unforgiving to pass by and not pay any attention to its details. The book strives slowly, meticulously separating each crowd type, and categorizing its habits. From there on Elias takes his historical, and anthropological interpretations of many different civilizations, and introduces us to the impact of crowds in such investigations.

Canetti's book is somewhat strange; it is also gripping and often uncannily accurate about the nature of power. At the same time it is full of conceptual nodes and holes that reflect the peculiarities of his own life and the times in which he lived (e.g., can the world's wide array of political arrangements be reduced to the narrow spectrum of paranoid rulers, their enablers, and the preponderant human majority of quasi-slaves that Canetti presents as typical throughout all of human history?) Taking into account his own early life as an "undesirable element" (a Jew) who was not fully welcome in the land of his birth (Bulgaria) and who was then cast out of the society of his adolescence and early manhood in Vienna (where he acquired his higher education and the language of his thought and writing) his focus in Crowds and Power makes sense in a very personal way -- had you led his life with all of its insults you too might have arrived at similar conclusions about the dismal nature of "power relationships" among people, especially if you came of age during the pan-European turmoils of the first half of twentieth century, a very bad time for the human race.

The work is "Nietzschean" in its construction and often in its tone (and, from the light shed on human thinking, there are shades of Kafka in the work as well - man as beset, mortified and made anxious by the social walls that surround him and metastasize in growth and shape in his mind.) As in Nietzsche, there are idiosyncratic topic groupings and unexpected leaps between groupings. Canetti illuminates his central point by setting intellectual bonfires in a circle around it. There are strikingly original chapters that deal with topics such as "transformation" (the key to understanding totemism), "the mask", and the blatant intrusiveness of asking any but the simplest question. The style is often aphoristic, and many of its aphorisms are slaps in the reader's face, prodding us gently with the message that it's time to wake up.

Unusual typologies and word-usages abound (e.g., "increase pack", "lamentation pack", "crowd crystals", "command stings", "paralytic sensibility", and, most importantly, his catholic terms "Crowd" and "Survivor", each of which embraces a wealth of pathologies.) These oddities are not a product of faulty translation, since Canetti knew English well enough not to allow his key terms to be misrepresented by a lazy choice in that language. The work ranges widely through history, cultural anthropology, psychology, and evolutionary theory as these analytical frameworks were applied in his day to the explanation of specific behavior patterns in men, monkeys, and other animals, all within his general interpretation that discrete pieces of evidence from these disciplines fall under the heading of "the crowd phenomenon", either literally or metaphorically.

We are left with considering men to be either Survivors or Slaves. The only "free" man who avoids the "sting" built into every command and its acceptance or rejection is the man who altogether evades situations in which commands are given and responded to. By avoiding the normal situation of playing a part in a social hierarchy he becomes free; such a man has to be, by definition, marginal, perhaps even a social isolate. (Canetti was well-known for his individualism and his prickliness, brutally self-illuminated in Party in the Blitz - one wonders if he considered his behavior to be the tokens of such a hypothetical "free man"?) There is something in Canetti's typology that is akin to Raul Hilberg's Holocaust-studies classification of hundreds of millions of Europeans as either perpetrators, victims, or (not entirely innocent) bystanders - for Canetti seems to see human history as a sort of continuous political holocaust, a repetitive nightmare of power relations from which we cannot awake.

Canetti's Survivor runs the gamut from the winner of a duel or contest through the warrior (especially the warrior as a general or commander of troops) through the ordinary king to the most paranoid (and therefore bloodthirsty) absolute ruler -- undoubtedly the unsavory careers of Hitler and Stalin were prompting him in this typological direction. The ultimate Survivor best differentiates himself from the Crowd by standing alone amid a pile of corpses his commands have created; yet he remains anxious that the vast majority of humanity (i.e., the dead) will still try to interfere in his life, control his thoughts, and suck him into their bleak vortex. Canetti lived long enough to entertain the cases of Mao or Pol Pot, and these could only strengthen his conviction about the correctness of his analysis of power and its recurring tendency to manifest itself in psychotic demi-godly rulers.

In spite of the level of Germanic abstraction and reification in the presentation of his ideas about power, much of the evidentiary material he draws upon is still useful in the analysis of contemporary social and ideological phenomena. Some of the material is surprisingly germane today -- who could have guessed the present temporal consequences of the basic outlook of Shiite Islam, which, sixty years ago, he characterized as a wounded and resentful cult of lamentation that could only be soothed and healed by a yearned-for apocalyptic ending of human history? Wounded beasts are dangerous, especially when new-found wealth is coupled to old resentments.

He summarizes his equations by his closing comments on the case of Daniel Paul Schreber. (On a parenthetical note, reading of Schreber's father's exploits -- inventing devices to physically restrain his own children -- goes a long way toward explaining not only the substance of many of Schreber's delusions, but also the popularity in 19th century Germany of illustrated childhood discipline manuals, some of them presented in darkly comical form, e.g., Heinrich Hoffmann's Struwwelpeter. What dark roads this mania led to, hardly comical, is left to the reader's imagination.) Schreber became the demented sounding-board of Kraeplein, Bleuler, Freud and many other observors who wished to generalize about something (and even everything) important about all of us, based on minute examination of the delusions of this most famous, and most eloquent, late Victorian madman. The correct medical diagnosis of Schreber's condition was that he suffered from "paranoid schizophrenia" accompanied by florid delusions of grandeur. According to Canetti it is these attributes which also characterize history's great men, and what delusional power over man and the universe Schreber wielded in his fantasies, those great men have wielded over our bodies and minds. It's a grim picture and may even be an accurate one.

The work concludes with a brief epilogue in which hope of escape from our almost biological thralldom to power might be based on our understanding the roots of our craven condition as they are diagnosed by the author. If the success of the "talking cure" in psychiatry is taken as our model, then we're still in for a long and gloomy night.

Well, if I'd ever once been a cockeyed optimist or a believer in the inherent goodness of humanity, this book would certainly have knocked the foundations out from under me and brought all my idealism crashing down. Fortunately, I guess, I already stand in the after-world of shattered illusions and so Canetti's *Crowds and Power* didn't disturb my uninterruptedly black view of human nature with even the briefest flicker of light. It only gave me another way to look at a bleak landscape.

This book is a massive--and for the most part massively entertaining--indictment of the human being at virtually every level of its existence. Whether alone, in packs, or full-sized crowds, our goal is not just survival, but to be the last man standing beside a pile of corpses. No kidding. Crudely put, that's the bottom line, but its how Canetti adds up the facts to arrive at his thesis, or, perhaps more accurately, subtracts all the subterfuges we hide behind, that provides the real fascination of *Crowds and Power.*

Somewhat reminiscent at times of Frazer's *Golden Bough,* Canetti's masterpiece explores, in part, ancient as well as more recent, but still `primitive' native cultures to reveal the power principle that drives civilizations and those who rule them. At the same time, he shows how the same ruthless dynamic is at work in modern society and in practically all human relationships. Animal behavior, paranoid schizophrenics, the hidden symbolism in the act of standing up, it's all brought to bear. Canetti's dazzling insights and audacious intellectual leaps, some more convincing than others, are startling, shocking--and maybe even true. The teeth in their smooth rows as mankind's first inspiration for order, weapons, and eventually prisons? Is it possible? We laugh when someone trips and falls because it reminds us--in less `civilized' times--of the fatal stumble of prey. As Canetti succinctly puts it, "Laughter is our physical reaction to the escape of potential food."

Supporting ideas and examples for such unsettling observations come from the most unexpected places and yet somehow they all come together through the medium of Canetti's astounding intellect to provide a powerful and plausible view of life that you're going to have to put out of your mind the next time you find yourself at a party, in the office, or in a crowded theater--well, really anywhere you find yourself confronted with other people. You see, they all have one driving passion: to survive you.

There's a short cautionary epilogue to the book in which Canetti holds out some scant hope, but you get the sense that he really didn't feel it.

At times, *Crowds and Power* becomes mired in its own attempt at comprehensiveness; excerpts from source material, for instance, is either too long or repetitive or both and some of Canetti's theories seem more the result of poetic imagination than philosophical speculation. But these are small caveats beside a work of such monumental scholarship and scope--a courageous work that stares relentlessly at the darkest places in the human psyche and doesn't once squint. If you follow Canetti's lead, you'll surely come away changed by what you see.

In this essay you will explore the turns and bends, ins and outs, of the mind of one of the most transcendental writers of the twentieth century. He will tell you -without sparing any concept, any idea, any word- his vision of the nature of human beings and their relations. It is a penetrating perspective. Very original. And harsh.
Read the book to its very last page. The way you appreciate the world, your world, will never, ever, be the same.

It requires a deeply individual experience to understand 'Crowds and Power'. According to Canetti, The concept of crowd is ontologically prior to Man; a crowd is not just a bunch of people. In one of the most illuminating books ever written, Canetti takes one through two of the most important traits that have shaped Man's destiny on this planet - the formation of crowds and the facet of power. This is not a book about crowds. Its about Man. What emerges is no mere dry academic treatise, but an absolutely fascinating journey through topics such as the rain dances of the Pueblo Indians, the finger exercises of monkeys, and the hallucinations of alcoholics.

The kaliedoscopic journey for the reader includes a vast range of topics from Australian aborigines,pueblo indians, jivaro indians, etruscans to ants, monkeys, kangaroos to Islam, Christianity, Judaism. This is anthropology at its best. The study psychology of crowds in human history: crowd behaviour, crowd symbols, types of crowds, crowd mentalities; the individual vs the crowd, the crowd in contemporary history; there are anecdotes about everything from primitive tribal cultures, ancient African rulers, modern European history etc... For example, in describing the psychology of mass fear as it relates to its twin, the desire to out-survive others, he cites unexpected examples: burial customs in rural India in which a strenuous attempt is made to appease the spirit of the child if it dies a preventable death; the peculiar madness of Roman emperors; and the Viking warriors' tradition of piling up a mound of stones before going into battle.

Canetti defines crowd as a cumulation of small units into a large ensemble, causing it to become something entirely different from the units that make it up. He sees nature as the teacher that taught man to behave as a crowd, as a liquid. For example, for the Germans, it is the forest with its innumerable trees, standing vertically, that has inspired the German soul since time primordial in its aspiration to become a marching liquid. For the Arabs, it is the sand of the desert. For the Dutch, it is the threatening sea itself. For the Mongols, the horse.

Having read this book to three to five-year-olds at Halloween for three years running and having it be a HUGE hit every time, I decided to get my own copy. The children love the repetitiveness of it and the spooky pictures. The tension builds and builds right to the end when everything turns out to be just fine. (Note: That's a total of 180 children with very big eyes and almost no wiggles!)

The artwork is beautiful and detailed. My three year old loves to find the cat in each picture and to find the faces in the windows, walls, and curtains. One can always find something new in the paintings. The story uses repetitious wording, so he can virtually read it to me. We have read this book many times, yet neither of us ever gets bored with it.

What a surprise--and disappointment--to see the cover of this book in green instead of brown as my copy is!! Green makes the book look like spring and fun. Back to my brown picture with a castle in the background in fog and mist and browns! A real invitation to a scary experience just as Ruth Brown, the author/illustrator intends!

Even the title page has cobwebs and mushrooms and spiders and a tiny, little mouse caught up in the browns of the book. So we begin: "Once upon a time there was a dark, dark moor." The browns and grays and strip of purples and touch of yellow show a desolate moor. Oh, wait, not so desolate! What do I see in the blowing, dark grasses? Hide, little rabbits and mice, here comes the owl looking for you! Look, in the distance! What is that? A dark dark wood?

"On the moor there was a dark, dark wood." How many creatures can you find hiding there? Way up on the hill is a dark, dark castle. Look carefully, there's the black cat we saw on the cover. He has taken us to a dark, dark door. Inside in the dark, dark hall there are gargoyles and cobwebs and shadows and that black cat.

As the cat takes the reader deeper and deeper into the darkness of the great house, things get scarier and scarier. How the story ends sometimes makes children laugh, sometimes annoyed, but never scared! That's all I will say!

This book is a wonderful Halloween treat because it has such an unexpected ending! A must for all library collections!

This "Dark Dark Tale" by Ruth Brown is simple, short and sports a gothic flair. The illustrations (also by Brown) are nothing short of brilliant. Brown the artist captures the fog, shadows and light of her own dark dark little world. Perfect for preschoolers (my two year old loves it and always anticipates the ending), it holds their attention (there can't be more than 120 words in the entire book) with the repetative prose that children love. Perfect for lovers of children literature and childrens illustrations as well (which is what drew me to the book in the first place). We love it and read it daily.

A wonderful choice for young children at Halloween or any time of year. Reading this aloud is lots of fun -- you can make it seem scary as you go through each page, then watch your child's reaction at the end. My son wanted me to read this over and over. We also have fun looking for all the little critters in the forest: owls, bats, tiny glowing eyes peeking out of the dark places, the cat, even a badger!

Some of my favorite authors are Canadian. Cheryl Tardif is a new addition to the ranks of Margaret Atwood, Tanya Huff, and a host of others.

Arson is probably the deadliest five letter word and definitely a curse to any firefighter or criminalist. Solving arson cases and especially preventing recidivism in an arsonist takes special training. A future Canadian FBI has developed a crack team of investigators to help solve these types of crimes. The three are led by Matthew Divine, hence the name of the book. Divine makes no appearances and seems more like the mysterious "Charlie" of the Angels' boss.

Jasi (Jasmine) McLellan, is a Pyro psychic who can breathe smoke from either the conflagration or cremains of a crime and join minds with the arsonist. Natassia, a recent Russian emigre, is a Victim Empath, who literally talks to dead people and 'empties' their psychic aura when she reads them. Ben rounds out the team (and provides a love interest for Natassia) as a profiler and empath. For this book, they are joined by arson investigator, Brandon Walsh, who initially doesn't believe in any of their gifts and serves as an interesting antagonist.

The team's facing a serial arsonist. The crime that comes to their attention is the incineration of Dr. Norman Washburn at his lakeside cabin. The physician is trussed up in IV tubing, soaked with gasoline, and set ablaze. What gets them called in is that the physician is the 'illegitimate father' of a notable politician from that area.

"He needed killin'" is a common phrase in the South and unfortunately, there's not much sympathy for the victim in this case. Nor for one of the prior victims, foster mother Charlotte Foreman, who died in a similar manner, unfortunately, Samantha, one of Charlotte's foster kids, was witness and the arsonist killed her as well.

It's clear that the arsonist is working from a 'dead list' and will strike again so it's imperative the team tracks him down quickly. The issue is--can Jasi work with Brandon when the sparks literally are flying between them? And can they untangle the Gordian knot of clues in before perhaps another innocent victim goes out in a blaze?

It's difficult to write a credible multiple point of view novel, because each character has to have his or her own 'voice'. Ms. Tardif manages to do that with the four primary characters. In addition, Jasi slips into the arsonist's mind and Natassia gives voice to the victims.

The alternate world Ms. Tardif has created is also interesting combined with a very Canadian feel. It still blows my mind that a criminal investigator would be taking a taxi anywhere, I'm so used to the US agents with their G-rides.

My only gripes are more than average copy-editing problems and Jasi missing some critical questions on one cab driver interrogation. I realize she did it to keep the suspense going, but that was at the cost of the character and unworthy of her talents. A veteran agent, like Jasi, would have asked more questions and eliminated the subject right there.

My next stop is to purchase Ms. Tardif's second book, "Divine Justice". Merry Christmas to me!

Things get really hot in this paranormal thriller when a serial arsonist murders three people, one of whom is the father of a politician on the rise. Set in British Columbia at a time in the near future, the case is assigned to a very special team of investigators with psychic abilities.

Leading the team is agent Jasmine McLellan, a Pyro-Psychic who can visit the remains of an arsonist's target and reconstruct the crime through the mind of the perpetrator. The other two members are Ben, a Psychometric Empath who can check you out by just touching your bare skin, and Natassia, a Victim Empath, who can reverse the saying that dead men tell no tales. The three form a very closely knit group, so that when they are ordered to temporarily expand the group by one, things get really tense, especially when the newest member is tall, rugged and handsome, but most of all, a skeptic.

The trail blows hot and cold as it leads them across British Columbia, as do the emotions, but the thing is, how many more people does the arsonist intend to kill, and how are the victims connected to each other?

The author combines murder, arson, adultery, blackmail, abuse and much more in this fast-paced book that you'll just have to read in one sitting. The only problem with it is that there is a book two mentioned, and I don't yet have a copy in my hands.


Amanda Richards, August 28, 2007

Jasmine McLellan and her team of psychically-gifted CFBI agents race against the clock to discover the identity of a serial arsonist/murderer. The reader is swept along through plot twists, profiling, even politics as 'Jasi', herself, enters the mind of the killer.
Highly emotional, yet intriguing, "Divine Intervention" is the first of the 'Divine Series' by Ms Tardif, who has already made a name for herself with "Whale Song" and "The River".
"Divine Intervention" is set in southern British Columbia, Canada in the not-too-distant future, and is as well-written and moving as her previous novels. And for excitement and thrills, it surely doesn't disappoint! Divine Intervention

A serial arsonist is on the loose, and they may strike again. Jasi's team of psychically gifted individuals is set on the case. Another member, albeit sceptical, is later added to the case, even though this adds unwanted friction within the group dynamics. The team uses their gifts to gain valuable clues, leading them down a twisty path across British Columbia to the most likely suspect; but the clues do not always point in the right direction. The arsonist will strike again. Will Jasi and her team discover who the culprit is in time? Or will they be too late?

Tardif writes a unique crime thriller set in British Columbia. Her use of psychically gifted characters adds to the uniqueness of the story, as well as adding extra layers. Through the use of the characters' gift, the reader can see the twisted minds of the criminal as well as the victims, who are just as twisted, if not more so, than the criminal. Jasi's team is a very tight-knit group, who have worked on several cases together. The new member to the team adds some tension and conflict between the members. This added friction contributes another dimension to the story. Tardif leads the readers on an exciting adventure as the characters gain clues, struggling against time to solve the case before the arsonist strikes again.

Cheryl Tardif was born in Vancouver, B.C., and has lived at different locations across Canada and Bermuda. She has also published the novels Whale Song and The River. There are more books in the works and waiting to be published, including the much anticipate second book in the Divine series, Divine Justice.

A crime novel at its best, with a Canadian twist, this book is a really thrilling page-turner, and is highly recommended by: Margaret Orford, Allbooks Reviews.

If you are a mystery fan then Divine Intervention will definately appeal to you. But this story is more than your average murder mystery. It is a futuristic mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat right until the very end wondering just who did it.

Like a fly getting trapped in a spiders web this story will keep you entangled right until the very end.

Whale song was great, but Cheryl Tardifs stories just keep on getting better. I cannot wait until her next one.

Ian Lyon Poet, Artist and soon to be Author.

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Other books to read for relaxation: Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul; Everyday Miracles; and, The Language of Poetry Forms.

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