Rat City, with a Seattle setting, is a marvelous read. We rarely read a mystery although we've been big fans of Morse, the British detective of TV. We read Rat City because a fellow poet wrote it. Holy Socrates! What suspense, dialogue and movement. On page one Jake Rossiter takes out (kills) a guy who came into his office to plug him. He didn't even know why the guy was coming after him. "You won't make it," I told him. "You're checking out. Who are you, and why did you try to kill me?" He focused on my ceiling fan and whispered, "Gloria." It was the last thing he ever said. Jake Rossiter undertakes a search to find out why a well-known gangster wanted his head, but he is led into many blind alleys before he comes up with the answers. The story, somewhat reminiscent of Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade series, captures the dialogue and mood of the time of Seattle's corrupt underbelly. You love Rossiter's girl Friday, Miss Jenkins. With this first novel Curt Colbert, a Vietnam veteran, has created a many-faceted character that warrants many more stories. Colbert's writing style and voice keep you turning the pages of this well-written book, which is a real page-turner. (Barb read the book in two days. Couldn't put it down.) We recommend Rat City as a must-read book, even if, like us, you don't usually read mysteries.

Sam Spade, Mike Hammer, and Travis McGee all three rolled up into one will almost equal one Jake Rossiter. Curt Colbert chose a setting in Seattle when Seattle was wide open and wild after WW2 and he made it work. Curt Colbert's sense of humor and irony are clearly on display through the actions of Jake Rossiter and his conscious - Miss Jenkins. Miss Jenkins can more than handle her own with her boss without him even knowing it. Together they make a team to be reckoned with. Curt Colbert keeps you on the edge of your seat with his very first page and you will not want to take the time to put this excellent novel down. There is a reason why he was a Shamus Award nominee for "Rat City". Read his work and find out for yourself.

Rat City author. Curt Colbert, must have been a voracious reader of late 40's and 50's pulp detective fiction. The hard-boiled slightly tawdry Spillane style of book is given an expert make-over-- improved too.

Set in Seattle circa late 1940's, Rat City is part Spillane,
and part transplanted Chandler (yeah, at times Colbert writes that good). This isn't yet another attempted tribute to hard boiled pulps of yester-year however, it's got a unique setting, interesting characters, a leave you breathless pacing and an all out make no appology style. Private dick Jake Rossiter is part Hammer, part Marlow with a bit of Jim Rockford thrown in. The parts gel together well and create an original character you'll have some empathy and respect for.

There's also some excellent well researched historical detail in Rat City, but don't worry, it doesn't slow things down a bit. Oh and you can forget about this one being politically correct or indulging in a big helping of revisionism--not going to happen. What does happen is that Curt Colbert creates some dimension to his female and minority characters which makes the novel feel fresh and vibrantly alive. Rossiter's gal Friday Miss Jenkins is full of surprises as well. Colbert's not going to soft soap how things could have been back in the late 40's, but he can give his characters the kind of dimension in one novel, it took some pulp detective fiction authors many books to partially accomplish.

If you're looking for the kind of tough and tawdry pulpy detective novel no one writes anymore..well this one's for you.
You'll be hooked within 5 pages. Some of the tough as a three day growth of stubble rat-a-tat tough guy lines are memorable and few fall flat.

I wouldn't have thought it possible to write a novel like this without having the whole thing crash and burn avoiding a jay-walking copy-cat at the intersection of Cliche Avenue and Self Parody Boulevard.

I enjoy being pleasantly surprised. This is a splendid genre book and I'm grateful that Curt Colbert created it. I look forward to the next adventures of Jake Rossiter and Miss Jenkins.
I hope there are several more to come.

Oh yeah I should mention that this isn't a book to start right before your bed-time... you'll find yourself staying up much too late with the thing as it's truly difficult to put it down once you start reading it.

-- Writer, Poet, Critic, Christopher J. Jarmick is the author of the critically acclaimed mystery suspense thriller, The Glass Cocoon (with Serena F. Holder).

This is one the best books that I have ever read. It is thoroughly researched and I learned things that I had no idea ever happened even though I grew up in the Washington, DC area. This book could easily be included in a high school history ciriculum about segregation in fact it is far more inclusive than any high school history text that I have ever seen. I would love to sit down with the author and discuss the stadium and the general atmosphere at the time. If the author ever considers writing a history of Griffith Stadium I would love to give him some personal insights. I can be reached at JT, PO Box 231 Poolesville, MD 20837. Again.....great job by a great author!

A new book has hit the bookshelves that will be of interest to baseball fans, and to students of the history of baseball and history of black-white relations in urban America. Brad Snyder is author of Beyond the Shadow of the Senators: The Untold History of the Homestead Grays and the Integration of Baseball (2003, Contemporary Books: Chicago, 418 pp.). The book develops several themes in exacting detail (125 pages of footnotes!). First, Snyder explains why the Clark Griffith was not the first baseball club owner to hire black players...missing a huge opportunity as Washington became a black majority city in the 1950s. Clark Griffith and Sam Posey, owner of the Grays, both had a vested interest in maintaining segregated baseball. Critical income to support for his Washington Senators was provided by renting Griffith Stadium to the Homesteads (100% of concessions plus large percent of the gate receipts). Posey did not have the financial means to construct another ballpark in or near D.C., and he knew the Negro leagues would disappear if the major leagues were integrated. Second, the book follows the career of Sam Lacy, an aggressive advocate of integration in the major leagues, writing for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper. Having grown-up in segregated Washington, and failing to make it as a player in the Negro Leagues, Lacy had plenty of motivation to lead the campaign to integrate the major leagues. Lacy had to live with the irony of having contributed to integration, but at the price of losing the Negro Leagues, the blame for which was not Lacy's alone, but for which he was attacked by some. Lacy is quoted as saying: "While I didn't like to attack an institution [the Negro Leagues], I certainly didn't want to support or stand by idly and see a symbol for frustration." The third theme developed in Snyder's book is the rich baseball legacy of the Homestead Grays, led by Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson. The team was a dynasty during the early and late 1930s in the Negro Leagues. The Grays were able to turn a profit in Washington, which is why they played the majority of their home game in D.C. rather than remain in Pittsburgh. One chapter is devoted to how "Satchel Paige Saves the Grays," by attracting a large attendance to games in which he pitched for the Kansas City Monarchs against the Grays in a number of classic games. Clark Griffith, Sam Lacy, and Buck Leonard are all in Baseball's Hall of Fame. Snyder does an excellent job of describing their intertwined lives while documenting an important era in the history of baseball and the nation. Griffith Stadium was situated in the heart of a thriving black neighborhood in the 1930s and 1940s. One cannot help but wonder how the sad performance of the Washington Senators in the late 1940s through the 1950s might have been altered if Calvin Griffith had hired Buck Leonard, Josh Gibson, and other members of the Homestead Grays who were playing in his ballpark under his watchful eye. The Griffith family is partly to blame for why Washington has not enjoyed major league baseball for over 30 years. By not leading the move to hire black players, Griffith and his adopted son, Calvin, alienated a generation of baseball fans in the nation's capitol, and true to his segregationist attitude, missed a chance at making history.

Beyond a doubt this is a well documented, interesting to read, important addition to the history of black baseball in America.
Snyder recreates the era of parallel universes for black and white Americans when contact between the races was rare. All baseball fans were cheated out of seeing the best players compete because some had darker skins than others. The frustations of ballplayers who knew that they could compete but where denied the opportunity is presented against the background of a segregated America.
As a public libray director and an individual baseball book collector I heartily recommend this title.

Boring, Unless you run across words about someone you've met, or wines you are interested in, then, the authors merely repeated timeworn anecdotes. The description of the wine making process was interesting at first, but you've really got to be into it to keep slogging through.

There is no better guide for knowing the ins and outs of wineries throughout California. Large and small wineries they are all there. Forget some of the reviews. The background of each winery is great reading...

A vast array of information not easily available. Reliable reviews of the wines of virtually every known winery, and reliable comments about the future development and direction of wineries.

JAYNE KRENTZ did an excellent job with this mystery/romance thriller. I loved how she weaved the love story around the surprise death of a resident in Witt's End. How about the name of that town? Right away we should have known that some strange things were going to happen in a town with the name Witt's End. Basically, everyone in that small town were at their wits' end. The town was dying unless someone gave it a "shot in the arm": and, a shot it got, opening of a mail-order company for the products they offered.

They say, opposites attrack. It sure was true in this book. Who would have expected the big-time businessman to fall for a strange lady of unconventional qualities from Witt's End. His doing so demonstrated that he too was at his wits' end for relationships. He gambled away his rich family inheritance for this free-spirited lady. In the process, he relives his childhood years and discovers he never was treated like a real member of the family and that his lost was really not a lost at all but it was a enlightment and a gain.

The mysterious Witt's End held secrets of its own but when discovered one-at-a-time those secrets constructed a bond with that town that could not be ignored.

Krentz, kept me interested right up to the end and I am sure you will be too.

I truly enjoy Ms. Krentz's books, and Hidden Talents is one of my favorites. The character development is great, the chemistry between Serenity and Caleb is wonderful, and who can resist the quirky, off-beat inhabitants of Witt's End? Pick this one up and see if you can find a bottle of "Ole Hogwash" (a Witt's End product) to drink while you read. Enjoy!ps - If you enjoyed this one, be sure to try Absolutely Positively, Trust Me and Deep Waters. You won't be disappointed!

Yes, I have read this book several times. It is just as good the fourth time as the first. If you like your books with strong male and female characters, you will like Jayne Krentz. Serenity is not like many female characters I have read, she is gentle but strong, caring and loyal. I love her uniqueness and her 'alternative' lifestyle. Caleb is a man who never really knew if he was loved and does not really believe it exists. The two meet amidst a murder mystery which they try to solve as well as putting their own lives back together. What a great couple. And I loved the secondary characters! I think you will too.

This book provides a good "intro" for a newcomer to DC- especially if you will be relying on the metro for transportation, as it lists what metro lines to take to local shopping centres. This may seem trivial, but when you need a can opener two days after moving and have no car it becomes very important.

The only problms is that the info is very likly to become dated very quickly- especially the restaurant guide. Newer establishments and attractions weren't listed. As well, there seems to be a bias to certain areas with more "trendy" attractions, and a glossing over of less popular (and less expensive to live in) areas.

As a recent college graduate and a new arrival to the DC area, I have found "Mastering DC" to be a fantastic resource. It gives the details without the fluff that I have found in many of the DC guidebooks. In addition to information on the immediate DC Metro area, it also gives in depth coverage of the surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia, which I have found useful. The recommendations are opinionated without seeming biased and the descriptions are enjoyable to read.

I recommend this book as a gift to anyone with a loved one or friend moving to the area!

This is a great book for those relocating to DC, VA, or MD. It explains the different neighborhoods and cultures, gives tips to getting past the utility and licensing red tape, and has some fun weekend acitivity suggestions, too. It's certainly not the definitive book on DC, but it has a useful level of detail on a broad array of topics.

I moved from Indiana about 6 months ago and this book was worth the price about 10 times over.

I stumbled across this book while browsing in search of a good read to enjoy over lunch. This was my first journey into Ford country and I found it delightful and surprising. For me the plot line and characters carried me back to Travis McGee days. In many ways it was a retread of several of John McDonald's McGee mysteries. A mysterious death and suspicions of foul play. The P.I. slowly unraveling the tapestry of the suspect's personality and discovering a long, dark thread that leads backward into a web of deceit and darkness. If you've read McDonald you know the tale already, but this does not prevent the story being well received. The setting in the Northwest is well-placed and described. The supporting characters are enjoyable. The bad guys are appropriately bad and even if you realize where the plot is going there are a couple of surprises along the way that bring delight. A good read and I will now be hunting for other books of the series.

This is as good or better than the old Travis McGee stories by John MacDonald. Great plot, wonderful characters, crackling dialogue...author Ford is a superior talent. When someone this good writes a novel, their work almost defies description because the result is like magic. You are transported, informed, entranced, amused, and entertained. Try Ford's series of Leo Waterman, Private Eye, novels. You'll be glad you did. Also... please ignore the luke warm endorsements on the back covers of his books. They don't do the author justice; he is BETTER than they say.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot reminded me of some John D. McDonald books where Travis McGee backtracks an evil killer. Plus Leo Waterman has a hilarious sidekick--a foul mouthed New York phototgrapher--that helps him Some of the scenes with the photographer are laugh out loud funny. One negative is Ford's characterization of the minister which showed some anti-Christian bigotry on the part of the author.

When one of her staff members is killed, artificial intelligence personality Turing Hopper suspects that she may also be a target. The only clues are the role-playing game that the victim spent so much time playing, and his strange lack of a true identity. Turing assigned her two friends to find out more about the game and more about what Ray Santiago did before he became Ray Santiago and joined her company. What she doesn't expect is that she'll be sending her friends into danger--or that Santiago's killers just might be a threat for a bright artificial intelligence--like her.

Author Donna Andrews does an excellent job making computer crime approachable, using non-technical language and humanizing her computer-program protagonist (as well as providing a couple of very human sidekicks). Turing's concerns about turning into HAL (from 2001) and worries about following the law and respecting privacy add to reader safety. The role-playing game that Andrews describes is also believable, even as it spills out from the computer into the real-world of Washington D.C. Andrews is a skilled writer and provides a page-turning thrill-ride.

Although I liked Turing (despite her occasional descents into self-appraisal, I found sidekick Maude a little harder to like. Her moonlighting for Turing's company sounded unethical to me. Worse, she didn't seem to hesitate to shoot to kill, even when she wasn't fully aware of the situation. Nor did she seem to suffer any ethical consequences after she'd actually killed. The hints at the use of games for pedophilia also struck an incongruous note. Although this was an important justification for Santiago's initial involvement, Andrews should either have made this a bigger element or left it out.

CLICK HERE FOR MURDER isn't a perfect story, but it is a well written and entertaining adventure. The use of an artificial intelligence character creates an enjoyable alternate spin to the usual mystery novel and Andrews develops this story line convincingly, in a way that will be enjoyable both to computer professionals and to those who remain a bit concerned about the role of computers in our lives.

'Click Here for Murder' is the second book in a new series featuring Turig Hopper, an Artificial Intelligence Personality. In this installment, a talented system engineer that is working on creating a secure new 'home' for Turig is murdered. As Turig and coworkers / friends decide to look into Ray's murder, they discover that Ray Santiago does not really exist. Not only is the group concerned about how well they knew Ray, his access to the passwords that could shut Turig down introduces a new urgency to solving the crime.

Assisted by Maude, a coworker at Turig's birth company, and Tim, a new private detective, Turig discovers that Ray was involved in a virtual reality game that had moved into the physical world as a live action role play. This plot line adds intensity to the story, and smoothes the introduction of a new character, Claudia, a private detective from Florida. After a chase involving a good mix of technology and old fashioned 'who dun-it,' the group solves Ray's murder while setting up the reader nicely for the 3rd entrant in the series.

Donna Andrews does a great job intertwining technology and crime. Turig's intelligence allows for a challenging story line, but her nascent personality prevents the book from becoming impersonal. This is a fun read that both mystery lovers and technologists will enjoy, with unique characters that catch the reader's attention.

This is the second of the Turing Hopper mysteries. In it, Turing discovers that Ray Santiago, a friend of hers, has been murdered. Because Turing is an artificial intelligence personality (AIP), she can't very well look into his murder by himself, so she enlists the help of other friends of hers and Ray's: Maude and Tim. Finding out who murdered Ray isn't just a justice thing - whoever murdered Ray also stole his laptop, which puts Turing and the other AIPs in danger. Maude, Tim, and Turing's investigation takes them into unfamiliar territory: a dark, violent computer game and even live-action roleplaying (LARP).

I actually think this book deserves a 4.5. It was better than the first book. It didn't feel as bogged down by Turing and her agonizing over whether the things she was doing were morally correct. She still analyzes herself, and several times she wonders is she's becoming Hal-like, but it didn't feel like Turing's mental dialogue was trying to take over the book. I thought Tim and Maude were great in this book. Tim was still trying to adjust to being a PI, and his part of the investigation led to a new addition to the group: another PI named Claudia. Claudia was really interesting, tough and professional but still very likeable, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about her in the next book. It'll probably help to have read the first book, since that book sets up nicely what Turing is and what she can do. This second book also occaisionally refers to events from the first book. However, since the series isn't too far along, I don't think starting with this book would be too confusing. I definitely recommend this book and the series.

Dear Will presents an uncommon look inside the life of the educated common man, Will Gerard, literary agent. Ackerman presents his male characters, both 41-year-old Will and his twenty-something nephew Ted, as warm individuals who like so many men are not well equipped to deal in the emotional world of relationships. Ackerman's male characters are not only believable, but sympathetic. The book is worth reading just to get to know these characters and see how they deal with the situations--some real, some unreal--they encounter.
The first 120 pages focus primarily on Will's burgeoning relationship with Annie, a one dimensional character obsessed with having a child. The reader is asked to endure a slow, torturous on-again off-again routine where Will expresses uncertainty about becoming a father of Annie's child, and Annie says no baby, no relationship. Because all of this serious business takes place within the first four months of their relationship, the reader is expected to believe that Will feels something real for this woman who only sees babies. After beating the Will-Annie relationship to death, Ackerman treats us to an uncommon uncle-nephew relationship that permits the real (male to male!) discussion of relationships, a humorous effort to get a manuscript out of the hands of an eccentric author, and Will's successful effort to solve the mystery of a lost child he was not aware he had created twenty years before.
As a man, I hope we see more characters like Will Gerard struggling to learn the language of relationships.

Will Gerard, 41, a newly famous literary agent, is set up with successful lawyer Annie Leonard, 39, and it's love at first sight. Unfortunately, Annie's biological clock is ticking so loudly that all other conversations are drowned out. Only 45 days into their relationship they are having absurdly boring, circuitous arguments about her need to get pregnant and his unwillingness to commit. These passages in the book make me itch to get past them and on to something more interesting. Page after page of "what if" and "why won't you" and "let's wait"...so boring and so overdone.

However, the book is thoroughly redeemed by the other subplots. Will's nephew Teddy is taking a year off college (actually he flunked out), and is living with and working for Will as a sort of apprentice. His humor and advice and relationship dilemmas are amusing and heart-warming.

Will is also pursuing an eccentric, reclusive author who is procrastinating on submitting his Civil War historical fiction novel for which he has already received a $100,000 advance. Will's antics to track him down and extricate the manuscript are sometimes hysterical and provide a vehicle for an interesting exposure to the publishing industry.

And if that isn't enough, Will receives a letter from a 20 year old girl, who purportedly wants Will to review her journal, but she broadly hints that she thinks he may be her father. Thus starts a protracted, poignant inner dialogue regarding Lucy, the long-lost love from his teenage years.

Will's personal journey into an evaluation of his past, why he is still single at 41, why he thinks he doesn't want children, and how he feels about the possibility of being a father to a grown daughter are mostly interesting and realistic. Just speed read through the sections where he and Annie discuss their relationship ad nauseam, and you'll be pleasantly surprised and well entertained.

I must admit that the only reason I picked up this book was because the author's last name happens to be my maiden name. Ackerman presents a male's view of having a family - when the main character, Will, says, (of course not to his latest girlfriend who is desperate at 39 to have a child), "no man ever said having a child was the best thing he DECIDED to do. It was the best thing that HAPPENED," I chuckled and was intrigued with the book. The book presents fun characters with serious thoughts and Will has to confront his past. In doing so, he accepts his future. Maybe the author and I will discover if we have a past connection!

If you're looking for a way to put more meaning into your gift giving, check out this invaluable resource! It demonstrates that a gift is more than just an object--it's the meaning and message behind the gift!

Author Deanna Washington defines the meanings behind hundreds of everyday items, ranging from plants, astrological signs, scents, animals, numbers, food and more. Simply determine the message you want to express with the gift and then look in the book for items that symbolize that meaning. Jot down a few ideas and head for the store!

As the publisher of a website on imaginative gift giving [URL], I'm always looking for ways to turn mundane items into memorable gifts. This book is already dog-eared with use!

I think this is a great reference book. If you have to give a gift for a wedding you can look in here and find something with meaning that isn't expensive. You can wrap it up prettily with a lovely little card explaining the meaning of the gift and you have a much appreciated gift. I am finding that it truly is the thought and not the cost. BUT- it must have much thought and love put into it. Hence, this book. This book is like having someone already do the thinking for you on the meaning. You just need to pick out which gift you like and which meaning you want to attach to it.

Sure you can run out and do some of this research for yourself, but would you? Do you have the time? Would you even think of 1/2 the ideas in this book? I wouldn't have the time nor would I remember what I did research so I'd be doing the same research over and over and over.

If you want a small token of friendship or an inexpensive but nice wedding gift or a expensive gift that has a lot of thought put into it, this is the book to get. It is well researched, well organized and well worth the money.

If you're stuck for a gift on a limited budget (or a generous budget) and you want to give a thoughtful gift that will be remembered long after the wrapping paper has been thrown away, check out Deanna Washington's "The Language of Gifts." Washington has written a resource guide cross-culturally researched and filled with meaning that pulls at your heartstrings, not at your purse. In the eight months since I purchased the book I've bought gifts for birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, baby showers, weddings and now Christmas. None cost more than 10 dollars. And because I knew the "meaning" of the objects I chose, I could briefly explain the symbolism in the context of my relationship and my wishes for the recipient. Because of this book my motto now is, "a gift is worth a thousand words, make it say something." Anyone can give a gift that grabs the heart by using this book. It will help you express the deeper meaning and the emotions behind your gift, which helps create the richest bond of all, the bond of memories and emotions.

Comprehensive in some ways, this book overlooks some of the most dramatic examples of the secrets clearly encoded by the designers of our capital city.

Washington DC was a thoroughly planned city - it did not evolve haphazardly. Those who have looked at a map of DC spot immediately the symmetry that structures the City. This book is a well-researched argument that behind the city structure lies a Masonically-inspired tribute to Virgo. I enjoyed parts of the book, but found that it presumed familiarity and/or sympathy with astrology and could have used a more thorough editing process (I found the book jumped around a lot and I had trouble following some of the themes. I would recommend this book to those who live and work in Washington DC who always suspected there was something suspicious behind the symmetry, but who also have the ability not to get bogged down too much in astrological arcana.

I found this book very interesting and educational. It is full of information of our history as a nation. I would recommend it to all the brothers interested in further education of the masonic faternity. Get ready once you start to read it, you won't believe how the great US of A was built. And still is to some degree. Enjoy!!