I purchased this book to leave on my coffee table in the second home I just purchased in Prescott. There are some great pictures and interesting details about Prescott...unfortunately to call it a "book" is a bit of an overstatement. The item is more of a pamphlet and doesn't take long to thumb through. I expected more for the price.

'Silk Hats' is a very readable and fun book about cowboys, stockmen and ranchers and the struggle to establish ranches in Cochise County, Arizona in the 1880's.

The author is very sympathetic towards the men from back east that created the large corporate ranching operations, based in Tombstone, that dominated the cow business in much of Southeast Arizona during this period.He also delves into the basic conflict between these men, supported by Texas John Slaughter,Wyatt Earp and his brothers,and the local small ranchers, who are characterised in the book as nothing more than low-life rustlers.

Once Cochise County had been given a "good housecleaning" by Slaughter, Earp and company, the big boys were able to expand the herds quickly. Too quickly. The failure of the range due to overgrazing and other poor range management practices in just a few years collapsed the cow business and degraded the pristine high desert grassland. Much of this range still has not recovered 100-plus years later.

When the ranchers fail due to thier own greedy actions, the author laments the passing of an "era" that somehow rings hollow. Every stockman knows, when you exceed the carrying capacity of the range, bad things happen.

I found this book entertaining for most of its length, but ultimately, I was disappointed. Jane Heller clearly has some writing talent and an acerbic sense of humor. The humor in the book is, in fact, its strongest quality. But the trajectory of the basic story line in *Crystal Clear* is indeed crystal clear from about page fifty or so, so there is little real suspense the rest of the way through. There's a "whodunit" aspect to the story, but who the "culprit" is just doesn't seem particularly important, actually. The inevitable resolution of the protagonist's emotional inner conflicts is the actual center of Heller's narrative, and how things will turn out is abundantly clear almost from the beginning. The final portion of the book is very much in the vein of Danielle Steele, and that is NOT a compliment, folks. I would recommend the book to someone looking for a fluffy summer-by-the-pool read that includes some gentle but competently executed satire on the New Age movement. But what frustrates me is that it is very clear that Jane Heller could write something a lot more memorable than this.

CPA Crystal Goldstein decided that she needed to get away from her Manhattan job and her current life which seems to be falling apart. Her fiancé loks like he prefer returning to his former spouse rather than marrying Crystal. She cannot turn to her senior citizen dad for some TLC so, listening to her secretary, Crystal decides to cleanse her soul by vacationing in the Tranquillity Hotel in Sedona, Arizona.

When Crystal signs onto a tour group, she is shocked to learn her ex-spouse Terry, heads the group. Terry, whose irresponsible lifestyle broke the pair apart over two decades ago, wants a second chance with Crystal. However, before they can pursue any potential relationship, one of the guests, Amanda Reid, the self appointed New Age guru, vanishes. Even with the negative vibes emanating from the mysterious disappearance of Amanda, Crystal has reached a personal crossroads that requires decisions affecting the rest of her life.

Jane Heller clearly has lots of writing talent as witnessed by her previous novel, PRINCESS CHAMRING and this tale, CRYSTAL CLEAR. However, her current book is not crystal clear as to what the author intended as she seems to bounce around several genres without successfully blending them into a honed story line. Some people will be turned off by Crystal's acerbic wit that cannonballs many of the characters (personally, this reviewer enjoyed the sidebar humor of this New Yawkish-technique to overwhelm the country rube). Overall, CRYSTAL CLEAR is a good novel that could have been an excellent romantic comedy with who-done-it overtones if a blender and not a superconductor was used.

Harriet Klausner

This is one of the few books I've read that I have laughed out loud to. It's really a fun book and it introduced me to Jane Heller. I've since read all her books, and this remains my favorite.

It's a great summer read, combining mystery, humor, and romance. It's such an easy book to get into- you just immediately connect with the characters (as wacky as they are). If you are new to Jane Heller, or just looking for a mystery, check out this book. It won't keep you guessing, but it will make you laugh.

Colin Fletcher was one of my early "guides" into backpacking, and many of his hiking tips still stand up well as I continue to backpack in my 50's.

His trip down the Colorado provides more inspiration for what can be achieved as you get wiser and, oh yes, older, too.

This isn't an "adventure" story in the trite sense, nor a river guide. It's a sharing of a person's thoughts. Fletcher is a different kind of person than most of us, but his musings cause me to think about my own life strategies and outcomes.

-- P.C.

I did a whitewater rafting trip last year through Canyonlands NP and this book brought the wonderful memories of that trip - the beauty of the scenery and excitement of the rapids - back to me full force. I LOVED this book. Colin Fletcher's descriptions really bring you to the river and its surrounding beauty. I love how he describes everything, and how he goes off on tangents back to memories of his own life. This book is well worth the read!

This is a book for those looking to take some quiet time to think about life, the river, and the environment. It is not a logistical book for those wishing to duplicate the experience. Fletcher's journey reveals the river from the perspective of an elderly man traveling at a slow pace (6 months) who is absorbing the spirit and feel of the Colorado and reflecting upon a lifetime of wilderness travel. It is slow, methodical, and at times a little tedious, but rich in detail and thoughtfulness.

This is a book for the thoughtful and reflective, not the pump-me-up, thrill seeker. The little mistakes the author makes are usually pointed out by himself, and they mark the book as authentic in that Colin is a lot like the rest of us in his amateur knowledge of the details of wildlife. He differs, though, in his ability to tell the story, a unique story, of adventure and life.

As was previously mentioned in a previous review, I expected something a lot more impressive from MTV. However, I was not impressed with the characters or the plot. The story seemed to drag on forever without direction, and then just in the very last chapter seemed to address the issues that should have been the main portion of the book. Thank goodness I found it in a library!

Ms. Troy, undoubtedly, has a unique and vibrant voice. The prose is elegant. However, the novel, itself, tends to float too much for its own good. Conversations are brief and although they are relatively realistic, they are overshadowed by the deluge of descriptive passages. In collusion with this lack of human interaction, I found the character's actions difficult to understand. These characters are almost more capricious than believable. More characters than human. All of these points could have been nullified if the ending had been a definite, poetic moment, with some sort of clear meaning. But ultimately, the extended (and not exceedingly relevent) metaphor of floating dominates the book and leads to meaningless oblivion, not far from the senselessness of action which Ms. Troy seems to be trying to convey. Why do these people do these things? Why are they attractive (is this the vapidness of the Marlboro man, etc...)? Why WAS this 220 page book written? A good first work? Sure. But worthy of inordinate amounts of praise? No. I hope Ms. Troy continues to work and perhaps we shall see great things of her. Writing is more than talent. Writing should meliorate the mind and spirit.

I am only halfway through this book, and I already have so much to say I can't wait to write the review!!! On the other reviews, I agree with most of them...I feel like I know the characters, I love them all. The scenes are beautiful, you can see them happening and they'll haunt you for days. Some of them, like the memory in the beginning of the feild of wildflowers, make me want to cry because they're so GOOD! But the plot DOES drift around alot, I am always proud of my comprehension at the end of each chapter, It can be alot to keep straight. But the characters are hardly "Trailor park trash." The book does a wonderful job of showing what makes these people tick, and I can relate to each one.

This is a third in a trilogy - the Pirate, the Adventurer and the Cowboy. The heroines are romance writers and then end up finding their fictional hero in real life.

In this one, Margaret Lark became involved with Rafe Cassidy, not knowing he was out to ruin her boss in a business deal. When she learns, she presumes he was only sleeping with her to gain information and so she admits her mistake to her bossy. It was a traumatic time, with her leaving her job, Rafe accusing her of betraying him. But she has pulled herself around, writing full time and loving it. The book takes up at the wedding on the second Heroine, where Margaret is a bridesmaid. So goes home thinking of Rafe and the disaster of a year ago, and is shocked to find Rafe waiting inside her apartment.

He says he has come to ask her to marrying him, but she makes is plain there is no chance of that. He informs her that his mother and her father were getting married and he was buying out her father's business. So she is forced to to Rafe's ranch to find out what is going on.

Plot is very simplistic, but JAK creates a lot of snappy nattering between the characters. A pleasant read, with a few giggles along the way.

This was my first Jayne Krentz book and I loved it. It was great to have a book about people in a real relationship who had some real problems. Rafe's determination to win Maggie back was charming and refreshing. It was nice to see two characters having heart to heart talks about their problems as well as some steamy romance.

"The Cowboy" (book three of three, after "The Pirate" and "The Adventurer") is the best of this five-star trilogy. If you're planning to buy one, you might as well buy all three and read them in order.

As is the case with the other 2 books in this short story series, the hero in "The Cowboy" can be exasperatingly alpha at times, but he makes amends well enough to the heroine and some how Krentz - as usual - pulls it off wonderfully. I wanted this last story to go on and on well after the 246 pages were done!

John Culbertson continues his story of life in the Arizona Territory that began in his first book, Operation Tuscaloosa. In the sequel, A Sniper in the Arizona, Culbertson traces events following Operation Tuscaloosa that led him to attending Sniper School in DaNang and putting to use his training in the area of operation around An Hoa. The story is interesting, but alas, not as compelling as the author's first book. I missed the Glossary that the first book contained. And, although tribute is paid in the Appendix to CPT J.A. Graham, who was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor, the man's contribution to the story was scant at best. All in all, however, A Sniper in the Arizona is worth reading as an informative sequel about events in I Corps in 1967. Of particular note are the author's comments about the introduction of the M-16. These reflect the "horror stories" we heard about the weapon, but were fortunate enough not to experience 2 years later when I was issued an M-16A1 model. Thanks John, for another fine read!

Although Mr. Culbertson was a trained Marine sniper, the book only covers the day to day grinds and missions of the Marines in Arizona Territory. It is excellent reading, the accounts are factual and gripping, but I was interested more in his sniping missions and encounters. I enjoyed the presented material and would recommend it to others. If your looking for "sniper" related material to read, this book is not for you! I salute Mr. Culbertson, and all American Forces, for their efforts in Vietnam!

I am surprised at the reaction of some readers to their expectations of a book with the word Sniper" in the title! They are overlooking the true picture of day to day life in Vietnam. A SNIPER IN THE ARIZONA reports true events in the Marine First Division Sniper School and exhibits detailed sniper tactics as well as marksmanship training and actual sniper school curriclae for over 95 pages. Anyone who thinks Vietnam Snipers operated alone in Vietnam and made fantastic shots at a mile distant needs to go to Hollywood, because that is the only place such ridiculous events ever happened. The battles and combat action in A SNIPER IN THE ARIZONA are documented in US Marine Corps history. Lt. Col. Ronald J. Brown USMC Ret. Marine History and Museums author highly recommends A SNIPER IN THE ARIZONA to Marine infantry going overseas, because of the tactical tips and combat accuracy of the book. Anyone who thinks this account is not spicy enough will never understand the true events of Marine combat in Vietnam.

I plan to hike from one rim of the Grand Canyon down into the Canyon and ascend to the other rim. Having recently seen Colin Fletcher's book on a list of the "100 Greatest Adveture Stories" compiled on behalf of National Geographic Explorer Magazine, I thought it would be a worthwhile read. Captivated by his initial view of the Grand Canyon in 1962, Fletcher developed a well conceived plan and completed his two month trek the following summer. Not a "how to book," there are useful insights about hiking and backpacking in the Grand Canyon to be gleaned from the book. Though Fletcher clearly faced danger and hardship, he could have escaped the canyon if necessary, he had regular supply drops along the way, and people knew roughly where he would be on his journey. Fletcher's story is not a tale of desparate survival such as Shackleton's "South" or Krakauer's "Into Thin Air." Those looking for a story of that genre will be disappointed. Fletcher's journey would be better viewed as a spiritual pilgrimage as he contemplates the age of the earth, the web of life and man's place in all of it. At times, Fletcher's ruminations seem a bit contrived and grasping, but the overall message that man is a bit player is thought provoking. Though man may be a bit player in the spectacle of earth's natural history, yet we have quickly developed capabilities to wreak havoc. Fletcher's closing ideas about the importance of protecting special places like the Grand Canyon are compelling.

Colin Fletcher's THE MAN WHO WALKED THROUGH TIME is as alluring as the Grand Canyon itself. Why? It successfully fuses human spirit with rock, water, bush, and animal. We walk the Tonto plateau above the Colorado River with Mr. Fletcher and even beyond because our senses are stimulated to wonder, sometimes worry, about what's around the next bend. We feel the heat, we experience the spiney shaft of a cactus plant, we see the ravens soar above in desert skies, and we pray that we will make it to the next cache of supplies and cool water. For those of us seemingly locked into the corporate world of time, pressure, and demands for productive performance, this book provides necessary relief. And yet, there are different pressures, different times, and different demands for productive performance in the midst of that incredibly alluring Grand Canyon far below the world of the rim. Time is measured in penetrating silence. Pressure is felt on the feet and in the stomach. High performance is demanded in scaling a steep angle of loose and crumbling rock

Colin Fletcher makes you feel you are by his side walking the entire length of the Grand Canyon National Park from border to border, West to East, over an entire season. The solitude and peace of this jouney is still with me after reading this story 21 years ago! You will be entertained throughout the trip with Colin's wealth of knowledge on Hiking, Nature, Geology, History, and his ever-dry sense of humor! I felt like he became an old friend with whom I wanted to visit again and again. -- Those who like this book will likely enjoy 'The 1000-Mile Summer' (California trek) and 'The Winds of Mara' (set in Africa) also by the author.

I waited eagerly for Mapson's sequel, and initially found it to be as engaging as Hank and Chloe. However, in the last pages, I became disenchanted. The conclusion felt forced and implausible, as if Mapson's publisher had threatened her into completing the book before she was ready. I felt betrayed by Chloe and her inability to make a choice, and the fact that Mapson does not lay out any consequences for Chloe's actions. Also, the inconsistency in Chloe's character -- first, strong and decisive, then weak and imprisoned by conflicting emotion -- bothered me.

This sequel to "Hank and Chloe" literally starts where the former novel left us, with Chloe returning to Hank, pregnant with his child. The setting is now the red rocks of Arizona, an Indian reservation and is described beautifully by Mapson. Chloe is still rough around the edges as she prepares for the birth of her child, and tries to have a settled relationship for the first time in her life.

The problem is that Chloe, like a wild horse, is not broken or even easily tamed. Like the horse she can't bring herself not to ride while pregnant, her very nature keeps her from settling happily into domesticity. Chloe is akin to the horses that run wild in the canyons, and although she loves Hank, her nature is restless. When she meets Junior Whitebear, a romantic triangle ensues, much to Hank's dismay. The reader is left with the feeling that this triangle is never fully resolved, but all three players have come to their own private terms with it.

It was a treat to see the well-fleshed out characters return from "Hank and Chloe", such as Hank's uptight parents, and Chloe's young friend Kit. In addition, Chloe discovers the truth about her own parentage.

I only gave this book four stars, chiefly because of the ambiguous ending. It seemed strained that the three main characters could be resigned to the fate Mapson gave them without much more strife. In additon, the futuristic epilogue about the offspring of Hank and Chloe seemed a bit contrived.

However, if you love a picturesque setting and an interesting, entertaining love story with grit, you'll love reading about the further exploits of Chloe.

I thought this novel was great and I'm looking forward
to reading the first book about them.

I felt sympathetic towards Chloe's headstrong ways, and
her guilt about horseback riding probably leading to
the breech birth and damaged uterus. Her character was
engaging and realistic.

Both Hank and Junior Whitebear were strong sensitive
men and while the ending was a tiny bit contrived it
worked for me. Why shouldn't Chloey have it both ways?

I'm looking forward to reading Mapson's other books.

With his sharper-than-a-machette dialogue, Robert Parker just can't write a bad book and this is certainly a very good one. But let's start first with the quibbles that separate very good from great, or 5 stars from 4 stars. This reviewer has two. The continual dirty innuendo talk with Susan (otherwise almost invisible in this book) has turned from cute to uncomfortable, and, for the third straight Parker novel, some of the villains escape justice. As he ages, is Parker just talking about sex and is he seeing the world in less certain terms? Whatever, his writing is as brilliant as ever and his plotting in this one is very good indeed, complicated and varied. Mary Lou Buckman, a beautiful blonde damsel in distress, comes to Spenser after her husband is murdered, she says, by a gang of outlaws terrorizing the idle rich in the getaway community of Potshot, Arizona. Spenser, drawing from his past adventures (read that novels), enlists the redoubtable Hawk and five other good-guy villains as a posse and the magnificent seven set out to clean up potshot. Of course they do and of course things aren't quite as they seem, but it's a journey you will be glad to have been along on when you reach the conclusion of this easy read.

Potshot is an improvement over recent Spenser novels. There's more mystery here, the dialogue is in top form, and many characters you haven't read about in years are brought together. I particularly liked the way that Mr. Parker arranged the plot so that Spenser's strong feelings about the right way to do things would be apparent in a new way. My only complaint (why the book got four stars instead of five) is that the last two pages of the ending made no sense to me . . . except as an extreme form of irony. Surely, Mr. Parker isn't as ironic as this seems. Or is he? You'll have to see what you think. Those pages remind me of the ending of The Maltese Falcon in some ways.

Spenser is comfortably encased in his office in Boston when a new client enters, from Potshot, Arizona. The attractive Ms. Mary Lou Buckman has been recently widowed. Her husband was shot after having been threatened by a mysterious gang leader called The Preacher, who runs a protection racket. "They killed my husband." "He wouldn't pay the Dell any money." The local police are making no headway, and a mutual friend from the L.A.P.D., Lieutenant Samuelson, has recommended Spenser.

Arriving in Potshot (a cross between a refurbished ghost town for yuppies and biker heaven in the weeds), everyone praises the late Mr. Buckman, agrees that The Preacher had him killed, and offers no hard evidence. A woman in town begins vamping Spenser, and he gets a sense that some things are not as portrayed. During an interview with The Preacher, he becomes convinced that someone other than the gang killed Buckman.

Taking Susan for a West Coast swing to check things out, Spenser finds that the case is even hotter than he imagined.

Soon, he is assembling the ultimate A-Team of shooters to take on the 40 bad guys in the Dell (The Preacher's gang). You will find Vinnie Morris, Bobby Horse, Chollo, Bernard J. Fortunato, Tedy Sapp, and Hawk on the team. This section is a little briefer than would have been ideal, but there's good fun here.

The mystery and its resolution fit nicely into a typical small town Western plot.

Overall, the book has quite a range. Some sections are like shoot-outs in old Westerns while other parts have funny French and literary plays on words. As a result, this book has something for almost everyone and should be quite popular.

After you finish, ask yourself the question of how you can spot situations where there are more red herrings than real clues to the motives of those you are dealing with. How can you get past the red herrings? What questions should you ask? Mr. Parker's answer is that character will out. I suspect he's right. Look for character clues. If you can't find any, set up the situation to develop some. That's what Spenser's approach to sticking out his neck is all about.

Bang! Who's dead now?

I've read a lot of private eye books. Six hundred would be a conservative estimate. Many are better plotted than Robert B. Parker's books. Few are better written. None are more fun to read. I started reading Spenser when I was 18. I'm 39 now and both of us are still going. I read Parker for the dialogue. For the spareness of his prose and for the unflagging honor of his protagonist. Yes, I sometimes tire of Pearl the Wonder dog. There are days I could live without Susan Silverman. But taken as a whole, the Spenser series stands head and shoulders above most crime fiction. Potshot has a fairly lightweight plot even for Parker, but the dialogue zips along and I really enjoyed the reunion with the various tough guys that Spenser recruits. Parker uses the world views of the members of the group to again show what separates Spenser from his peers. As Parker once noted in an interview, Spenser is a killer of men, but when he won't kill is perhaps more important than when he will. Sure it's a western, but many, if not most of the Spenser novels are updated westerns. If you're looking for a whodunit you're in the wrong place. Go read Ruth Rendell or P.D. James. They are terrific. But if you want to spend some time with a master of minimalist prose and the great bunch of guys he brings with him, give Potshot a try. And when you're done, go back and read Early Autumn. It remains my favorite of the Spenser series.