In "A Stone in Heaven," Dominic Flandry finds friendship, maybe even love, after many years of being totally alone.

After "A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows," Flandry's life stood in ruins. His Emperor, unbeknownst to him at the time, was dead; his sons were incompetent. His love was dead; his son was dead; he didn't believe in his job any longer, and he'd taken out his biggest adversary.

So, what was left? This book shows the answer: plenty.

The younger son of Hans Molitor now holds the throne in his incompetent grasp, and worse, does not like Flandry. So, although Flandry is now a Vice-Admiral and commands much respect, he isn't thrown too many assignments. OTOH, he is able to make his own schedule, so when Miriam Abrams, daughter of mentor Max Abrams (his superior in "Ensign Flandry"), manages to get to him to point out a major problem on Ramnau, he leaves.

Once again, he finds intrigue and lots of it, problems, and pain. But unlike "A Knight of Ghost and Shadows," Flandry this time finds more while he's solving the mystery. He and Abrams reach an understanding, and more or less pair off by the end of the book. He also helps solve her problem, take out a would-be Emperor candidate, and rehabilitate his image with Emperor Gerhardt (the younger son of Hans Molitor) in the process, so it's definitely not a wasted trip.

Along the way, we see an older, almost used-up Chives, still serving Flandry as best he can . . . it's heartbreaking, really, although also encouraging. And Flandry's still hanging in there, despite the loss of his love, his son, and most of his reason for living fifteen-plus years before, which is also a very good thing.

Btw, I was really astonished to find out this book is out of print, when "A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows" is not. Let's hope someone pays Anderson's widow for the rights to this excellent book, so people unfamiliar with Anderson will be able to read it for themselves.

Five stars plus, and highly recommended.

Ever heard it said the way to hell is paved with good intentions? Sometimes the way to prison is paved the same way. STONE JUSTICE written by Deborah McMartin & Evelyn Morgan w/a Lawrence King is the story of the abuse, the life, the struggles, the redemption and the execution of Toni Jo Henry. Abused by her father, she left home at the age of thirteen. Though intelligent, the highest grade in school she attained was the sixth and she repeated it three times because she had to work instead of attending class. Nevertheless she tried to make something of herself, but she was thwarted by the great depression and prejudice. That she found true, honest, deep, consuming love and eventually salvation are the only bright spots in the life of this humble, kind, loyal, sweet and charitable woman. Toni Jo Henry never had a chance. Circumstances or people always intervened to crush her every opportunity, her every hope.

This glimpse into the scandalous abuses that abounded in early twentieth century American society is so harsh, so raw, so unforgiving as to be unbelievable. Surely this couldn't happen in America.

This incredible story will make you laugh, it will make you appreciate the progress of the past fifty years in social programs and criminal justice, and it will make you cry.

A top-notch espionage mystery very typical of Colin Forbes, whose plots keep one guessing until the very end as to the answers and outcomes of well-crafted characters. Set and written in 1975, an original idea is the focus for THE STONE LEOPARD. France is about to change its political leanings from NATO to Warsaw Pact. Guy Florian, the new French President lashes out at the 'Americanisation' of Europe and pledges loyalty to the eastern bloc. The French defence minister Alain Blanc is planning to oust him from power, but as Marc Grelle, the Prefect of Police in Paris investigates, he discovers something far more dangerous is afoot. A hostile naval task force reaches the Mediterranean, heading towards France and Spain. What is the significance of the LEOPARD, a World War 2 Resistance leader rumoured dead but still apparently alive? Inside all of this, Grelle discovers a conspiracy worse than Florian's political leanings which could destabilise Europe as we know it. The climax detonates well as events race to their final conclusion. If you can track down a copy, this is well worth the read.

Honored as a choice for the Canadian Children's Book Center, The Stone Lion is a wonderful and fantastic story brilliantly written and superbly illustrated by Bill Slavin, and set in medieval Europe. A young boy learns the magical secret of a winged stone lion atop a cathedral, and is granted a ride upon the lion's back in time to visit his ailing grandmother once more before her final journey. A heartwarming, entertaining, and truly beautifully illustrated picture book story, The Stone Lion is a welcome addition to any personal, school, or community library collection.

My 6-year old daughter recently brought this book home from her school library, and she announced that she likes it more than any other book she has borrowed so far. It portrays a classic theme: the rewards of honesty and selflessness versus the pitfalls of greed and jealousy. The story is set in Tibet, with two brothers, Drashi and Jarlo, portraying "good" and "evil", respectively. The illustrations are gorgeous, and the story is richly interspersed with tidbits about Tibetan culture and customs, with an undercurrent of environmental sensitivity as well. Overall, a wonderful book, and we plan to add this to our home library.

Twenty-eight years ago, Katherine was abandoned as an infant on the NY waterfront. Now she is searching for her identity. But the TV newsman who loves her will stop her in any way he can to keep a deadly secret buried. A cold-blooded killer is tracking them both-to a lost fortune and the last witness to his Nazi past. Action packed. Hard to put down.

Levy and Scott-Clark are excellent story tellers, and do they ever have a story to tell. Tracing the history of imperial green jade, or jadeite, they begin in the late 18th century with Chinese emperor Qianlong and 400 rivetting pages later end in present day Myanmar. Along the way the reader is exposed to the unrestrained profligacy of the Chinese emperors and the equally unrestrained ignorance and arrogance of the British colonialists. There is scheming and plots within plots as players in the Chinese dynasties kill their own progeny to ensure a malleable emperor will succeed. The plundering by the British of the old Imperial summer palace is shocking, and the primitive warfare of the Kachin in Burma is horrifying. Levy and Scott-Clark's descriptions put the reader right into the midst of the action: the writing is so effective that you can feel the clinging humidity of the Burmese jungle as 19th century British explorers plod along in search for the mines from whence the jadeite is extracted.

Also of tremendous interest were the passages about the Dowager Empress Cixi. If all you know about the last emperor Pu Yi is from the wonderful movie "The Last Emperor," this book will help round out some of the events and issues driving the Pu Yi story along that were alluded to in the movie. Besides, the movie's only allusion to Cixi is in the very beginning when the toddler Pu Yi is brought to the Forbidden City. Levy and Scott-Clark reveal to the reader from where Cixi came and how her desire for the jadeite was often at the core of her political machinations.

And then there are the final chapters that reveal a scenario so horrifying, so shocking that even the surrealistic visions of Francis Ford Coppola in "Apocolypse Now" cannot compare.

This is definitely the best book I've read so far this year, and probably the best book I've read in the past five years. After reading this book you will not be able to look at another piece of jadeite, no matter how beautiful, and not whince because now you know the stone's infamous history.

Stone Of Help opens with the rejoicing in the aftermath of Lystra's deliverance from invading forces. Deirdre, imprisoned by a treacherous uncle, has been reunited with her soldier husband, Roman, and her father, Galapos-now ruler of Lystra. Deirdre, Galapos, and the entire Lystran army have sworn allegiance to Roman's God, who saved them from the enemy, and Deirdre is joyfully awaiting the birth of her first chilld.

But there are problems in war-ravaged Lystra. Renegade soldiers and slave traders prey on the citizenry, and there is no money in the treasury to pay for protection. Although Galapos's new laws have given them unprecedented rights, the villagers constantly bicker and complain. And the unrest in the kingdom is matched by a disquiet in Deirdre's heart-a spirit of ingratitude that soons turns to pride and peevishness toward her loving but preoccupied husband and father.

Then the real trouble starts. Lured away from Roman through her own wilfullness, Deirdre is forced to give birth in a hillside cave, then kidnapped by renegades. Soon she finds herself bound in a rough cart, jolting over rutted roads toward slavery in the palace of Sheva, the proud and cruel monarch of George.

Why doesn't God intervene? He will, in a way so heartrending and astonishing Deirdre could never convieve of it. But first she has some growing up to do-with the help of a filthy baby, a hungry field hand, and a feeble old slave named Josef. What she learns, and what happens to her family while she is learning it, form the heart of this grippin tale

I would recommend this book as a good introduction to the subject, although I believe the "stone" of Israel refers to the "Urim-Thummim" (see bibleprophet.com/Elijah012.html) that is in the hands of Elijah who is a priest of Zadokite descent. I also agree with the author that the second witness is a woman.

The Stone of Pithan is the story of the next phase of human evolution. A mysterious shaman miraculously cures a young girl in a run down hospital. A physicist discovers an ancient book that contains a drawing of a double helix and a form of mathematics that surpasses current scientific knowledge. A geneticist is exiled to a remote island when fanatical right wing extremists open fire on a crowd of demonstrators. The stock market takes a dramatic slump when a mysterious malaise begins to spread throughout the world. All these events become woven together by bizarre coincidences, and a new religion emerges that is based on Chaos Theory. This religion embraces current scientific knowledge but rejects the concepts of free will and chance as illusions.