2. The description on the back of the book. If you read the back of the paperback you'll get a different impression of the story than what you'll find inside. Two of the items it plays on are Streeter, which I mentioned hardly seems to be that well detailed, and Streeter's client's steamy daughter (who is barely in the book). What it amounts to, is that I feel the book falsely advertised itself. I think we all take the reviews that are shown on the cover of a book like "A Masterpiece ..." with a grain of salt, but I take what the overall description of the book to be a statement of fact and not a polished spin on the story. If the book had described itself as is, it probably would have amounted to more in my eyes.

What does this all mean? It means if you don't have high expectations you might enjoy this book. However, if you are looking for a top notch story or character, you should probably try Robert Parker's Spenser books instead

A businessman who owns a couple of pizza parlors and a catering business hires Streeter when he feels he is in danger from a group trying to buy one of his properties as part of a proposed development. The plot thickens as various operators try to make money by fair means or foul. Many of the criminal element are not overly bright. Streeter is joined by a new woman associate who knows how to wiggle her bottom to extract information from men whose egos are bigger than their brains.

Overall, it is an interesting tale with various subplots. Streeter only shoots as a last resort (not really a make-my-day type), and has little luck with women (he does not end up in bed). There is some unexpected justice as people are hoisted on their own petards, and some people find out who their friends are.

1. Pland and design for water conservation from the start. 2. Create practical turf areas. 3. Use plants that are appropriate for your area. 4. Consider adding soil improvements such as compost, manure, etc. 5. Use mulches where possible, such as wood chips, rock, etc. 6. Irrigate efficiently. 7. Plan for an appropriate maintenance system for your landscape.

The Xeriscape Plant guide provides a lot of good information on low-water use plants for dry areas, which are not only found in the Sonoran Desert but in many other places in the west as well. The book provide details on companion plants, advantages and disadvantages of specific plants and even offers photos of specific plants in different seasons. It is part of a 3-book series,and all three are worth having if you are interested in specific information on low water plants, designing a xeric garden and providing the right kind of care.

When the price for crickets rises to eight cents a head, Stella the Stargazer wonders why she left her secure but boring job as an accountant. Though bordering on poverty, Stella realizes that becoming an astrological columnist for the Denver Daily Orion was needed for her sanity. Still she needs extra cash so that her spoiled pet anoles, Fluffy and Lips, continue to dine on gourmet crickets. Stella accepts a job as an assistant director at the Magic Circle Theater. She quickly understands that her main task is to intercede between the owner, Barbara Steadman and everyone else because the boss drives them crazy.

Stella's job radically changes when she finds Barbara barely alive as she hangs from a prop. The prime suspect is Barbara's teenage son, but Stella thinks the lad is just the fall guy. She begins her own investigation and quickly concludes that the real culprit will do anything to shut down this theatrical group, including eliminating a particular stargazer.

DEAD ON HER FEET, the latest Stella amateur sleuth tale is a humorous tale that does not take its characters seriously yet still provides an enjoyable twisting mystery for readers. That ability to mix a jocular, offbeat cast inside an intelligent who-done-it demonstrates the talent of Christine T. Jorgensen. Stella's column and her boy friend add to the enjoyment. This particular novel is one of the more entertaining books in one of the better series that the genre offers.

Harriet Klausner

"A Mountain in the Wind" is indeed how John lived his life and this wonderful book is filled with his love for humanity, his respect for nature, his own personal inner strength and his spiritual beliefs. His sudden, tragic death moved people around the world. Wherever John may be today, I hope he truly does have, "Sunshine on his Shoulder" and the peace and contentment he believed in. For fans of Denver, this is a five star book and highly recommended reading.

Throughout the book, Christine often refers to lyrics in John's songs to further witness his spirituality and to provide more indepth analysis of his message. She has also included 8 pages of color photos of John and ends the book with a series of moving essays comprising a beautiful memorial to John by the author herself.

I truly believe you have to be a spiritual person to fully appreciate John Denver - his music, his message - the man himself. So kudos to Christine for enlightening us about the inner John plus also for portraying a powerful blueprint for us to transform our own lives through spiritual discovery and growth.

Since I do not want to give the whole book away, I'll simply say you have to read it! Thank you, Christine, for your time and effort in writing "A Mountain in the Wind"! I know it was a labor of love for you. And thank you, John, for being her inspiration for the book. It's a treasure! Peace. Carole

The basic story is a venerable one: ordinary folks fighting back against a big corporation (here, Global Pork Rind).

A lot of Proulx's charm as a writer is her ability to humanize and empathize with deeply flawed characters who have been dealt a poor hand. This time, the people of the Texas/Oklahoma panhandle are portrayed more like curiosities or zoological exhibits puzzled over by a clueless outsider, Bob Dollar (Proulx's unique nomenclature has not deserted her, and we will also meet men called Wilfred Beautyrooms and Ribeye Cluke).

Odd names aside, these people just aren't very interesting. Nor are the barren, square flatlands of the Panhandle, baking in the sun and swept by storms. Worse, the people are mean, petty, defiantly backward, racist and downright unpleasant. While no-one would wish for Proulx to sanitize or gloss over the ugly racial politics, here she weirdly seems to come close to endorsing them: the protagonist's half-hearted questioning of whether a local hero's Klan affiliation is something to be proud of is shot down with an defence of the Klan, and nothing more is said on the subject. That the woman enthusing about the Klan is one of the book's more sympathetic characters is unsettling; that the city-boy protagonist gets drawn into this community and comes to love its non-existent charms is bewildering beyond belief. One could be forgiven for thinking that the place would be improved if pig lots replaced the people.

A glimpse of vintage Proust is seen in the entertaining story of a Dutch windmill expert turned oilman; but even this is let down by a preposterous conceit that has a brilliant, sharp, business-savvy man fooled into thinking a twelfth is bigger than a tenth.

Finally, the book is irretrievably ruined by leaving several dangling plot ends, introducing several pointless dead-ends of plotting, and a lazy deus ex machina ending that is telegraphed by the title. No comparison here to the magnificently gentle epiphany that concludes "The Shipping News", just a sloppy dispatch.

So, why three stars? Because the woman writes sentences of iridescent beauty. She is a master of description, of getting scenes, situations, details, people and dialog on paper and always worth reading for that alone.

This book has many likeable characters, including the protagonist, Bob Dollar, a young man trying to find his way in the world, who has the unfortunate job of scouting hog farm sites in the Texas Panhandle for Global Pork Rind. Bob knows nothing about life, hog farms, the Panhandle natives, or how to close a deal, but he loves to read and listen to stories about the history of the Panhandle and the Great Plains.

Other interesting characters are Bob's Uncle Tam, who runs a thrift/junk shop in Denver and whose passion is bakelite plastic "art" pieces; LaVon Fronk, Bob's landlady, who has been compiling the Woolybucket County Rural Compendium for the past 13 years and has LOTS of stories to tell, but not all at once; Cy Frease, who runs the Old Dog Cafe, serves one hot meal a day, befriends Bob and lets him eat for free in exchange for helping in the cafe; and Tater and Ace Crouch, two brothers with differing views of hog farming: it makes Tater sick and he just wants to get away from it, while Ace has a well-articulated philosophy about the inherent destructiveness of such an enterprise.

The thing is, the land is as much a character in this story as any of the people. I understood this by the time I finished listening to it for the first time, which prompted me to immediately listen to the entire 6 hours again, this time paying far more attention to the description.

I like what happens to Bob Dollar in the desolate, dusty little town of Woolybucket. It's not a cliff-hanger or a nail-biter, but it's a sweet story about some real people trying to figure out what matters in life. I like what they came up with. If you're patient and let the feel of the place wash over you, I think you will, too.

The audio version is read by Arliss Howard who gets the accents just about right. A book which might have seemed a bit overwritten on the page (the reason for a four-star rating) is great good fun when read aloud by an actor as deft and humorous as Howard. I'd warmly recommend listening to this book.