Overall, this book was pretty good. It started off to be very interesting, but slowed down in the middle. When the plot focused on The Horridus, I.R. Shroud, and CAY it was engrossing. However, all the extraneous stuff about the main character's personal relationships with women was just tedious reading. The story again speeds up at the end and I found myself reading through the last few chapters very quickly. It was well written and a pretty good read, but I don't understand those who say they couldn't put it down. Maybe they were referring to the last few chapters. If you are from Orange County in California, you will enjoy reading all the references to real life locations. It helped bring the story to life for me.

It's been well over ten years since I read T. Jefferson Parker's LAGUNA HEAT. I remember that it was a good book. For whatever reason, I didn't follow up on Mr. Parker's other works as he continued to write. That was my mistake! Thankfully, I've rediscovered him. I just finished WHERE SERPENTS LIE and though the novel was written over two years ago, I have to place it on my list of best books that I've read so far in the new millennium. The story deals with Sergeant Terry Naughton, head of the Crimes Against Youth Division of the Orange County Sheriff Department in Southern California, and his hunt for the Horridus, a man who preys on young children. Two years before, Terry suffered the lost of his five-year-old son, Matt, in a swimming accident. He still feels the immense pain of the tragedy, not to mention the sense of failure and regret he experienced when he and his wife could no longer live together after what happened. Terry now pours all of his energy into trying to save as many children as possible from the human monsters out there, who secretly hunt, sexually abuse, and kill these innocents as a means to fulfilling their sick desires. There is one man who calls himself the Horridus, and he's the worst of the monsters. His pleasure comes in the form of kidnapping the children right out of their homes, then using them to complete his dark fantasies before feeding them to his thirty-foot long python. Now, in my opinion, this is definitely a guy you want to do a "Dirty Harry" on. Terry feels the same way. His one goal is to put this predator down the hard way, hopefully before he kills again. As Terry gets deeper into the hunt, he's suddenly sidetracked when mysterious pictures of him having sex with a minor are discovered by members of his department while checking out a crime scene. Terry knows that he is innocent, but few others seem to believe him. The question is who's setting him up for the big fall? Who has the most to gain? Is it the Horridus, or is it possibly one of the members of his department? Terry quickly finds himself on suspension while an investigation is started into the incriminating pictures. He refuses, however, to just sit back and wait, especially while the Horridus is still kidnapping children. With or without the help of his department, he's determined to nail this guy. He simply has to do it before he finds himself in jail on false charges. WHERE SERPENTS LIE will surprise you again and again. Just when you think you know where it's going, there will be a twist that takes you in a completely different direction. You may at times feel sick as Mr. Parker delves into the hideous side of human nature, but at no point will you stop rooting for our hero to put down this evil specimen of humanity. The writing is taunt and the suspense is relentless. Mr. Parker has created a hero with a tormented soul in the character of Terry Naughton, and your heart will go out to him at the ending when he's forced to look at himself and the people around him, realizing that monsters can come in many different disguises. This is certainly the kind of book you will try to read in one day. Don't rush it. Savor the anticipation and excitement of each page, and take your time. Allow yourself at least two days of delightful enjoyment. I'm now getting ready to start Mr. Parker's next novel, THE BLUE HOUR. From the blurb on the back cover, it appears to be every bit as good as this one was.

Orange County has some terrific mystery authors who have produced some extraordinary mystery books. John Shannon's Orange Curtain, Kent Braithwaite's Wonderland Murders, and Carol Lachnit's Janie's Law immediately come to mind. T. Jefferson Parker is the top of the class, and his Where Serpents Lie is one of his darkest and most haunting books. I loved Mr. Parker's mastery of his detailed setting and his capturing the Orange County lifestyle. The reptile store featured in this novel really exists! His plot was fresh. I enjoy the way Parker creates new characters for almost every book. Where Serpents Lie is a dark book. It is well-written. I'm glad I read it.

this book was perfect i think. it filled in all the blanks about why cindy left, where champion went, etc. what it doesnt answer though, is where max went. one thing i was upset with in this is that once again, the author didnt follow the other books. in this it says that Jazzman, who sired Star, was once a Jumper??? no......he was mike's first prize racehorse. i think this book was needed to fill in blanks and did. but the author was smart cuz the book didnt compleate everything and left that for the cindys bold start. hopefully that book will answer all the remaining questions and bring the series up to date.

one word. WOW. This book explained everything! what happened to Champion, what happened to Cindy, the missing baby ect.. i LOVED how this book was put together and the whole Cindy dealing with the way they treat women in the UAE, that was cool! this is one of my fave TB books, because its not a "normal" book it has interesting subjects and a great story line! as for the whole Cindy & Ben thing, i TOTALLY think something should happen with them! And something with Champion, like Ashliegh and Mike have to deal with seeing him again! I cant wait till the next book! Mary- YOU ROCK! awesome book!

Cindy's Desert Adventure takes you back, through Cindy's old diary, to the year after Champion won at Dubai. Cindy's eagerly progressing in the racing world, and is happy with her life working at Whitebrook. But Cindy's world gets thrown upside down after a freak accident, and Champion is sent away to live with Sheik al-Rihani in Dubai. Cindy, not able to bear losing the stallion, leaves her home and goes with him as a full-time groom. But life in the UAE is very different than she expected . . .

I really enjoyed this book, especially since it answered all the questions we had when Thoroughbred skipped a generation. I can't wait to find out what happens in Cindy's Bold Start, another Lost Diary Special, which takes place in New York. The book was fun to read; the story wasn't written in a diary format, but contained entries from Cindy's diary throughout the chapter. 5 Stars- A must-read for a Thoroughbred fan.

I'm finding it difficult to be terrified by fiction these days. Nazareth Hill is entertaining, the psychological excalation somewhat fun, and its elusive gore-ghosts neat to watch out for. Its conclusion is inevitable--though not down to the least detail, nevertheless inevitable. Some of the metaphors, especially the more obvious spider one, feel ocassionally forced...the inevibility of once being trapped, eventually undergoing the torture of desanguination--i.e., you will die...The language in this book is pretty smart, pretty formal--sometimes not stage-shy enough.

This is the story of Nazareth Hill. The ghosts are incidental in a sense to human psychological makeup. And this view leads to my primary criticism: fleshless ghosts reign a-okay, but other characters could be more fleshed out. After all, the more critical demons reside in their own hearts and heads, not in the walls of Nazareth Hill.

Ramsey Campbell's Nazareth Hill has most of the elements of a Caitlin Kiernan comic book. A haunted mansion sets the scene for an atypical haint story, where the protagonist is a teenaged punk/goth chick (Amy) who is tragically misunderstood by everyone, including her increasingly-bizarre fundamentalist Christian father (Oswald). So far, it doesn't sound that atypical, but the differences are in the details and language.

The story is rather surreal. The religious school Amy attends is chock-full of teachers with good moral hygiene and strange grammar. Odd word choices occur throughout the novel in the conversations between Amy and her boyfriend (they're prone to uttering polysyllabic and biting one-word commentary). The strangest cadence belongs to Oswald, who speaks in an increasingly stilted and formal manner when he's not desperately reciting simplistic children's prayers. At first, the word choice made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the book, but after a while, it felt appropriate, although never natural. I'm certain this unnatural language is wholly intentional.

Nazareth Hill is a story of mental illness, asylum history, and a dysfunctional family par excellence. None of the characters are likeable, but I could feel empathy developing, despite my personal dislike for Amy. The book has a perfect haunted house story ambience, and gathers creepiness as it goes, something like a woolly spider egg tottering down a dust hill.

This is only the second Campbell book I've read and already he's one of my favorite authors. I find him fabulously able at writing suspenseful scenes that make me cringe (in a good way!). "Nazareth Hill" caught me unawares -- a rare, "slow-boil" horror novel in this time of easy, in-your-face, bombastic scares. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have been reading Thoroughbred books for a while now and was really excited about this book. It's about Ashleigh when she lived back at Edgardale (before the virus) and trying to cope with snobby girls at a riding school and her wish for a horse.

The first time I read this book, I thought it was pretty good, but not extremely exciting. It's low-key compared to the others, without much of a plot. (the only conflict is resolved early in the book) Though some parts are good, I have to admit most of it is kind of boring. I tried to read it again and couldn't even make it through, it was so boring! If you really want to read it, I'd advise checking it out at the library and reading it once instead of buying. It's not the type of book I'll read over and over, unlike most of the other Thoroughbred books.

I have read every single Thoroughbred book, and I also own all of them. I love them. Maybe they are for younger kids, but I have been reading them since I was 11, (I'm 18 now), and I still rush to the store every time a new one comes out. They are the best. I met my best friend because of them. I do have a couple of questions though. 1. Where did Parker come from, I thought Brad and Lavinia's baby was named Ross? 2. What happened to Ashleigh's baby from #17? 3. What happens between book #23 & #24? I think it's time for a new Special Edition? Also, I think that after the ASHLEIGH series goes on for awhile, there should be a SAMANTHA series. She is much more interesting. She is my favorite character. I was mad when the books went to Cindy. BRING SAMANTHA BACK IN HER OWN SERIES!! Otherwise, I think these books are great. I would recomend them to anyone. All you people out there who are whining about little details, (like book covers, #9, #18, and Dead Heat being alike) need to get a life. Nothing is perfect. Just enjoy the books!

This was a great book. When I started reading it, I just couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this book to a horse lover. It also a good book to read before you start buying and reading all the rest of the books. It sure is a great starter to show people how horeses really feel and how Joanna Campbell writes the series. I just can't wait to get started on the rest of the thoroughbred books!

Have you wanted to read a book where the author decides to "rip out" one of the chapters, or leaves a blank page for you to 'draw' one of the characters? Would you enjoy a story which takes many chapters before the hero manages to be born? This 18th-Century tale is touchingly told. The characters are real, and fascinating. It's not their fault that their story is frequently and impishly interrupted by outlandish "digressions" on the part of an author so creative that his modern descendants are considered to be Joyce and Beckett, as well as many others. Would you enjoy a chapter on Chapters? About buttonholes? About whether parents and their children are kin to each other? A chapter on curses? Poor Laurence Sterne has so much trouble getting two of his characters down the stairs that he finally calls in a "critic" to help! Advice on reading such an unusual, even unique, book: read the first several chapters, then stop and reread them. Continue that process and soon the book will feel quite familiar, and that's when the fun really starts. The Oxford World's Classics edition follows the first edition of the book, and is preferred. Amazon also offers the fully-annotated edition, the "Florida" edition, in three volumes.

This is one of my favorites. It's not a book to rush through so that you can check it off on your lifetime reading plan. It's a profoundly human and wonderfully funny tale that needs to be savored. It was originally published in nine small volumes over a period of six years or so and no one at that time thought they had to sit down and read all nine volumes at once. This is a book you need to spend time with, pick up when it suits you or when you need to be refreshed and let one of the great writers in the language chat you up for awhile about the lovable Shandy family. Ignore the nonsense on the back of the Penguin edition about it being a novel about novel writing. This is a book about life. Two of its characters, Walter and Toby Shandy, rank with the best of Shakespeare, Fielding and Dickens. There are some truly great belly laughs, some really thoughtful philosophy and even a tear or two. Sterne's hobby horse theory is an extremely acute behavioral insight. If you give it a chance, you'll end up being very grateful to Laurence Sterne for adding such a beautiful piece to the literature of English speaking people.

I'm so glad I didn't do English Lit at college. I've just read the customer reviews of this wonderful book and seen how being forced to read something you wouldn't normally read makes you bitter, twisted and intent on ensuring no-one else gets pleasure out of it. It also makes you cemented in your opinion that if you don't like it, it must have no redeeming feature (after, all "I did a degree in Eng Lit, so I must know what I'm talking about"). All great difficult books suffer from this -- Ulysses, At Swim-Two-Birds, Lanark, The Trial, and that's just the 20th century. Oh well. People should read what they want, when they want: they should also accept that there is little out there with no value, it's taste that causes us to like different things.

That said, what do I think of it? I think it's one of the most fun reads there is, once you get yourself back into an 18thC mode of reading (MTV has so much to answer for with our attention spans). Also, forget all this bunk about it being postmodern or deliberately experimenting with the novel. When this was written, there WAS no novel, that came in the 19thC. Before this there was Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe and little else that could be called a novel. All Sterne was doing was writing to entertain, and that he does marvelously. He had no boundaries to push - they weren't there - so he made his own (and they just happened to be a long way away from where he originally sat).

Anyway -- if you like the idea of a book that coined the phrase "cock and bull story", includes blank pages to show discretion when two characters make love, that draws wiggling lines indicating the authors impression of the amount of digression in the previous pages, you'll love it. But just stop if you don't like it, instead of perseveering and then taking it out on everyone.

The first book on the language that you should get? Maybe. But if you're looking for advanced and "pushing the envelope" stuff, you're better off somewhere else. Every topic starts off great, but falls short when it comes to examples. They show the proper format for each line of code, but no real-world examples. It's like if they couldn't write some code themselves and only copied what the Help file already teaches you. The CD is useless. There are many options out there and this one is around the middle of my list.

Overall it is a good book. At least 1/2 of the topics can be found in Microsoft documentation. But the presentation of each topic is very clear. Also, there is some interesting advanced topics. They always provide source code to illustrate their point. This is an advantage to a beginning VB programmer. I've always liked their "1001 Tips" books as a source for quick source code examples. John Dunbar. www.helptalk.com - VB moderated support. www.dunbarco.com - Custom Programming for Windows and the Internet

The authors of this book are very honest to light on and/or cover every topic you need or you search for, soon or later whatever your level in visual basic

I've just read Glory's Triumph and I think that the book was good, but not the best of all the TB books. Cindy thinks that Glory can be the fastest horse in the world. Cindy meet the trainer Ben Carwell who once trained Glory and he thought that Glory could become a fantstic horse. But Glory is afraid of something when he's on the track.

Then after Wonders daughter Townsend Princess gets injured in a race which means that she will never get to race again Cindy is afraid that the same could happen to Glory. Cindy was in the #7 heaven after Ashleigh, or Alison which she's called in the Danish version, says that Cindy shall ride Glory when he's training, but after the acident with Princess Cindy can't consentraid about riding Glory. Will Glory ever get on the race track? Glory and Cindy have a special relationship almost like Ash and Wonder so he reacts better when Cindy is on his back.

I like this book because Princess is mentioned a lot in it and so is Ashleigh, who's my favourite character. Ash and Princess also have a special bound. I like Samantha too but she's not mentioned so much in this book. I have read many other rewiews and I understand that Cindy become a little brat. Here in Denmark we only have frome number 1-15 because it takes so long time to get the books translated to Danish I think, so I'm looking forward to read the other TB books.

I practically worship the Thoroughbred books. I give everyone 10. I love hearing about Cindy and Glory is an absolutly amazing horse, flying down the home stretch 20 gazzilion lengths in the lead; but I would really like to hear more about Wonder and Ashleigh. All the same, any Thoroughbred book is good enough for me. I want every single one there is. I have up to #21. I'm dying to get more. I often pretend that I am Ashleigh, Samantha, or Cindy... but nothing could compare to their lives. The Thoroughbred series is the best series in the world! Definatly

I really liked this book, and it was the second I read in the series, I couldn't put it down. But now that I've read more in this series, I see more problems with this book. It's just that Glory winning his first race ever by 20 lengths is slighly outlandish, and something about Cindy just gives me a weird feeling. She's nothing like Ash and Sammy, and I know everyone's different, but she acts like her life depends on Glory's winning, and she doesn't seem to have a whole relationship with the colt. But it's still very good, and I reccomend it.

I give this book 2 stars. I mean, really happy ending. I personally think that Ashleigh shouldn't have given Brad and his wife Lavina (two snotty no good rats)half-interest in Glory. I feel bad for Cindy. Hey, Glory is her horse and Brad+Lavina are ruthless and careless with their horses. I also wonder what happened to Glory. I think that Cindy should own Glory completely. Cindy pretty cool, but my favorite character is Melanie. I hope Joanna Campell will write more books about her and Christina. I also wonder what happened to Cassidy. They should tell more about her.

What can I say? The story kind of doesn't make sence. Like, if Ashleigh was pregnant, why did she ride Glory one day, fall off then suddenly not ride? My my mom was pregnant with me, she ride till she was 8 months along! Like come on!

Another thing about this book is that Glory feaks out with all the other riders. Sure, when I broke my arm and some of my friends rode my horse, he had to get used to there differnt(sp?) riding style, but gallop around and toss them this way and that...um...no. Never.

This book bearly got any stars from me, but I'll be nice cause I like Cindy and Glory *Sometimes*

I really don't get how people could possibly give this book bad reviews. I was a little sad when Ashleigh couldn't ride Glory any more but I was excited about her having a baby. I simply love the Thoroughbred books and I loved this one too. My favorite one is Ashleigh's Christmas Miracle and I've read a lot of them. I strongly suggest you read it along with all the rest. But if you are considering reading Ashleigh's Farewell don't listen to what everyone says because it's a good book and so are all the other Thoroughbred books. There is one for every kind of person and you might just find one you like. I give this book a 4 star rating because I like some of them better. But I've read 1-18,plus Ashleigh's Diary, Samantha's Journey, Ashleigh's Christmas Miracle, and I plan to read Ashleigh's Hope next. I may only be 11, but I know a lot about horses and about these books and I think you should give this book a try. Keep writing Joanna ang I'll keep reading. Signed, Your biggest fan

This book was an eduction for me, since I didn't know much about the worlds of medicine or microbes. The story follows the slow but deadly progress of a harmless bacterium that passes the' trick' of multi-resistance to other, much more dangerous bugs. But 'Omega' isn't at all the end-of-the-world garbage I was afraid it would be. We witness the crisis deepen and develop from the point-of-view of Dr Marcus Ford, as it closes down his ward and affects his personal life. The ending was also much more philosophical and interesting than I expected. The arguments and outlooks of the major characters are challenging and compelling. Just when would you deploy a drug of last resort, knowing it's the last weapon in your armory? A very interesting book indeed.

Omega is a chilling medical thriller that immediately caught my attention. It tells about a multi-resistant,fatal bacteria that has taken control of Los Angeles. The story makes you start to wonder about how something as simple as a sore throat can become a nightmare. The story centers around the life of surgeon Marcus Ford. Ford is your average forty something year old going through a mid-life crisis. And not only does he have the stress of a doctor who can save a life one day and not be as lucky the next time,but he's also widowed. And he is having problems trying to understand the nature of his ever-changing, teenage daugther. One day he makes a speech and meets two new people, from that day on his life would never be the same. Before he knows it, his life is out of control.But he must take control of it once again for the sake of his fatally ill daugther.He is Sunny's only hope and he has to struggle against time to get Omega,a drug that may not even exist! I think "Omega" is and outstanding book that can feel so realisic and possible sometimes that it's freightning. I personally read in just hours and I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a book with a great plot and subplots full of twists and turns!

I picked this book up at the airport desperate for something to take my mind off the horrors of the transatlantic read-eye. As it turned out, I chose wisely. From the book's jazzy streetwise opening to its deeply troubling conclusion I was utterly absorbed - and quite reluctant to get off the plane - definitely a first for me. If I had to say what I loved most about this book I would say its simply the writing. Lynch's characters sparkle with wit and every one of them stands out in their own right. You simply can't say that about 9 out of 10 other thrillers, even the well-plotted ones. I'm on the look-out for Mr Lynch's work from now on. Great stuff.

Okay, first I'd like to say that this was a good book and here is how it goes. Christina wants to race Star before the Derby, but Ashleigh says no, it will wear him out. She has a bunch of flash-backs to when Pride was overraced before and during the Triple Crown and she doesn't want that to happen to Star. Every other chapter focuses on Ash and her flashbacks. Anyway, Chris knows Star and knows he wants to race. Then she races Raven and was thinking about Star. She goes for a hole and it's too small and there is a crash. Melanie is furious because Raven is injured badly and might have to be put down. I think Mel acted rudely, but Chris should've paid more attention. To top it all off, Chris sees Parker with another girl, could it be his new girlfriend? So if you want to know if Raven recovers, if Mel forgives Chris, and if Star gets to race. Get this book, it is awesome. The only thing that bugged me is that Melanie has this big surprise that Image is going to race in the Derby. Well...uh...it said in book #51 that Image was racing in the Derby, so what's the giant surprise? Big Mistake!!!! I believe it was in the book number #51 that Ian said to Christina "Do you think you can arrange a three-way dead heat {in the Derby}, between Star, IMAGE, and Gratis?" So why was Christina so surprised, why was Melanie suddenly all excited when apparently she already knew!!! Ahhhhhh! Anyway, it was a good book that really went back to what Thoroughbred si all about. With going back to Pride and all and mentioning some of the older horses. I recomend this book to Thoroughbred readers to get it and read it, even with the mistake that really was the ending of the book, but I will not give away anymore. Hope this review was helpful to you.

This book was great! I was kind of dissapointed that the Kentucky Derby won't be in this book or the next. I found the attitude of Melanie was sometimes a bit to strong. One thing I don't understand is why the author(who is great, by the way) would even think of putting the idea of racing Star again before the Derby. Like hum...let's see he just came back from Californa and placed in the Sanata Anita Derby and Chris wants to race him again? Well it's okay. She get's what she wants right?

This is a great book. Four Stars!

I thought Derby Fever was a great and enjoyable book. Although there are a few things I think I should point out and I'm sure every TB reader has seen these mistakes to. First off in the flashbacks, it said Ashleigh was 18. But if I do recall in book 4 Ashliegh's Dream, she was 24, and that was a few book before Pride raced, so that had to make her at least 28 when she raced Pride. Second of all what the hell happened to Sammy in the flashbacks, I don't remember her being so snotty and angry, I remember her walking on air whenever Pride won the Derby, she was happy not angry. Third of all I noticed on the back cover it said "Think back to the days of old whenever Ashliegh raced Wonder"..well it said absolutely nothing about racing Wonder in the flashbacks, it was focused on Pride. And lastly GET RID OF CHISTINIA'S BRATTY ATTUIDE!!!! I hated her character in this book, she absoloutely had no respect for her mother in this book, I hope her character shapes soon. But all and all it certanly was a treat to see Pride's Triple Crown campiagn for Ashliegh's point of view instead of Samantha's. Raven's accident was certainly suspenseful, made me hold my breath until I found weather she was going to live or die ((I won't sopil it for you)) This certainly was the light at the end of a dark tunnel for this seris.