I had a bad feeling about this one, when within the first few pages the author refers to a German Corps commander as a colonel. This would be at least a two star general. And unfortunately it did not stop there. The author uses catch phrases and words associated with WWII, but not quite in the right context. I understand that it is a work of fiction, but at least some nod to reality should have been made. The author is very knowledgable about New York and does an OK job developing the characters, but he shows his ignorance of the realities of Nazi Germany and the German army and Gestapo of the time.

I almost did not finish reading this book. It is hard to get started and the flow is very disjointed. The author uses a date and time chronology to frame the story, however he interweaves each substory within the chapters, instead of one chapter at a time like most authors do. This makes it very hard to follow what is going on and to pick up where you left off when the sub stories change.

The only exciting part to me was about the last 50 pages, but even that was soured with an anticlimatic ending that did not fully explain the fate of all of the characters. Also, no epilogue, leaves the reader wondering how America fares in the war.

If you are interested in an intrigue story set in WWII and do not care too much about any historical background, then you might like this story. If you want an alternative history novel of WWII based on the facts available, stay away.

Rutman turns in a spectacular story in Clash of Eagles. Set prior to American involvement in World War II, he explores what might have happened had President Roosevelt kept the United States out of the European conflict. When Britain falls to the blitzkreig, America is left to stand alone when the Nazi war machine moves across the Atlantic and down through New England into New York. This is a moving tale of political intrigue, romance, and honor. It explores the depth of pride and love that Americans feel for their country and becomes a powerful testament to the determination of the human spirit. Also, for those who like those sorts of things, there are lots of explosions.

Not Chesbro's best Mongo book, but any Mongo adventure is a good read (at least for me). Substitute 1997 U.S. Congress and its majority leader into the political references, add recent headlines of dubious CIA activities, mix in voodoo, violent, gory deaths, and stir with Mongo and bother Garth in some near-death experiences. The result is paranoia, politics and adventure (not necessarily in that order).

Mongo is one of those few characters who never wears thin. Chesbro's plots are always on the goofy-paranoid side, and this one is no exception. Don't get me wrong, the plot moves along and holds together, but one has to suspend disbelief immediately upon opening the book. But don't read this or any Mongo mystery for the plot, as fun and fantastic as it may be. Read it for the character, Mongo, and his brother and friends. There is no more likable character, detective or otherwise, in fiction. Chesbro's narrative voice is always pitched perfectly, and even if you don't buy his politics, you can't help but like him. Read it. Then go back and read them all

Uffindell clearly spent lots of time walking the battlefield and has an excellent knowledge of it. He is also enthusiatic about his subject and the book is a good read. However, it is bad history. Too often, the myths about the campaign are repeated as fact. Too often questionable statements by Uffindell's hero Wellington are taken at face value. Of course, the British did nothing worng in this campaign and foreigners like the Prince of Orange, Dornberg and Ziethen are to blame for Wellington's errors. This book is very much inferior to Hofschroer's work.

"Eagles Last Triumph" is an outstanding treatment of the Waterloo Campaign, with special focus on the battle of Ligny, 2 days prior to the more commonly known battle of Waterloo. Uffindell counts on a variety of primary and secondary sources. Nor does he depend heavily on British accounts; German, French and Dutch-Belgian sources are used as well, balancing the writing so that the reader can understand the why of the decisions made by the battlefield commmanders. There are maps, though not many of them, but clear and relevant to the accounts in the book. His after-battle analysis, leading to the impact the twin battles of Quatre-Bras and Ligny had 2 days later on their more famous cousins, Waterloo and Wavre, is excellent. Through it, you may (as I have) come away convinced that Ligny, though a French tactical victory, was a strategic defeat in that it was the best chance in the campaign for Napoleon to destroy one of the armies he faced during the campaign. If the Prussian army had been destroyed at Ligny, Waterloo would not have been fought. Strongly recommended for all readers.

This edition featuring Idaville's most famous detective includes a few mysteries that are rather challenging to solve. The challenge arises largely because of how long ago Sobol wrote the stories; solutions require knowing some quaint traditions or niceties that are not really part of today's society. Though perhaps a bit weak in terms of the evidence truly incriminating the criminal, the stories are fun and well-told.

i think it was very tough to solve the cases. but very cool

The book Fly Like an Eagle is not very exciting and does not have any action, and that is what I like in a book. That is why I rated it a three. If the book had more action and more exciting parts, I would have liked it better. The book was not as bad as some books I have read but it was not great either. I like the book because he cheats on his girl friend while he is on his trip.

Fly Like an Eagle is about a teenager named Ace whose father takes him on a road trip across the country to try and find his (Ace's) real grandfather. Ace's dad was left in an orphanage after his mother died, and is now determined to find his birth father. At first Ace isn't too keen on the idea of leaving his home and spending his summer in a yellow Volkeswagon, but his father takes him on a trip he'll never forget. To find out what happens, read Fly Like an Eagle. You might be surprised.:)

This is, I suspect, an attempt to emulate Mary Higgins Clark -an unsuccessful attempt. My advice: Stay with The Real Thing.

On Mother's Day, 13 year old Jenny Newhall's biological mother appears unannounced to daughter and adoptive parents. The Mother & Child Reunion is short-lived, though, as Mother Linda is soon found dead in a dumpster. Adoptive parents Karen and Greg come under suspicion. The suspense and thrills are diluted with several subplots of "Can These Marriages Be Saved?" Jenny runs a close 2d to Diane Mott Davidson's Arch as Bratty Fictional Kid Who Readers Couldn't Care Less About. This book could become a Lifetime TV Network movie - I vote for "Judging Amy"s Jessica Tuck (Jillian) to play Glenda Emery. Reviewed by TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer.

Mother's Day hooked me right away with its vivid character descriptions and the sense of doom that hung over them. First off, there's the body of the girl found in the river. Then, as soon as Jenny Newhall (adopted daughter of main characters Greg and Karen Newhall) didn't show up for the Mother's Day brunch, the reader knows right away that something is amiss. Then when Jenny's real mother Linda appears, the reader is drawn even further into the lives of the characters. Everyone is shocked and confused. But someone knows why Linda is back. Someone knows her connections from long ago, and now the danger REALLY begins for everyone!

MacDonald's description of the characters, specifically their emotions, helps to draw the reader in: Karen's love for Jenny, Jenny's happiness at meeting her birth mother....and eventually Karen and Jenny's total fear, anger, and terror at the secrets they learn. The hatred of the killer and the final scenes of the book are very intense, and will make your heart pound! The ending was shocking, a total surprise.

An excellent book for those who love suspense and mystery!

Despite the fact that I generally enjoy comic British writing, and have on occasion watched the TV version of Rumpole with amusement, I found this collection of short Rumpole stories rather tedious. Having never read any of the extensive Rumpole series, I figured this collection of six stories would be a good place to test the waters. What I found was a series of predictable tales, populated by thin characters that offer little variety in their foibles from story to story. And while you could make the same case for P.G. Wodehouse's creations, the difference is that he had the Midas touch when it came to language and wit, whereas Mortimer's prose is generally uninspired. After a while, the curmudgeonly grumblings of Rumpole get rather old, as does the sharp tongue of his wife (She Who Must Be Obeyed), the pathetic philandering Erskine Brown, and the doddering foolishness of Uncle Tom. While the cut and thrust of the courtroom scenes do impart a sense of vigor and wit to the proceedings, they are the only bright lights in what are otherwise remarkably dull and predictable stories. Perhaps lawyers find Mortimer's prose remarkable, I, on the other hand, do not.

This is a really funny story, well told by Leo McKern, who IS Rumpole. (There are other Rumpole readers, but his is the best, even if you never saw his tv version) For Rumpole of the Bailey fans, you have all the usual cast, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Erskine Brown cheating on Portia, Uncle Tom, and Soapy Sam Ballard, head of Chambers. Lots of fun and really a pleasure to listen to. Couldn't even tell it was abridged. I'm a lawyer and I listen to mine evey fun months to get recharged

I cannot give a review of the entire book, as I have only read one of the short stories contained in it. I read the one entitled, "Rumpole of the Younger Generation." I felt like I was wasting my time, because all I was reading was a synopsis of a former triumph of this man. The case might have been exciting, but the author did not play fair, and the guilty party was obvious. I did not like this story very much, and can only hope that the rest of them are better than this one was.

The inaugural book in the Rumpole saga presents one of the great characters of British crime fiction. It's Holmes with humor (excuse me; humour), Bertie Wooster with brains. A collection of short stories, all revolve around Horace Rumpole, a self-described "Old Bailey hack". He practices (almost) exclusively as a defense barrister, specializing in hopeless causes, spouting poetry and cigar ash with equal gusto. The book provides the background for the accompanying series on "PBS", and it is at least as much a credit to Leo McKern's portrayal of Horace Rumpole as it is to author John Mortimer's skill that the stories--now contained in three massive omnibuses--have such deep appeal.

I'm not sure I believe it, but there it is: amazon has Trial Run listed as out of print. Amazing.

By now I should be inured to the pace of a Dick Francis novel, which is roughly equivalent to that of a marathon turf stakes at Ascot: in order to conserve energy, the horses start off slow, knowing they have a couple of thousand meters ahead of them; the pace picks up after you get round to the backstretch the first time, and the finish is furious. Francis spent too much time on the backs of nags at Royal Ascot to forget that, I guess. And thus you know that the first three or four chapters of a Francis mystery are likely to bog down. Stick with it; it's almost always worth the trip.

Randall Drew has been forced into retirement (like many of Francis' jockeys). In this case, it's because the jockey club has seen fit to outlaw riding with glasses, and contacts and Drew don't mix well. Drew, friend and lover to English royalty, is tabbed by the Prince to investigate shadowy claims of threats to a Royal who wants to ride in the 1980 Moscow olympics, threats that are backed up by the death of a German olympic rider, supposedly of a heart attack-- but foul play is suspected. Drew heads off to Moscow, and the fun begins.

If you know Francis, you already know whether you're going to buy this or not, I suspect. Francis mysteries are basically formulaic. Ex-jockey becomes amateur detective, ex-jockey discovers something nasty is happening at a track somewhere, ex-jockey investigates, ex-jockey gets into scrapes, ex-jockey gets out of scrapes, ex-jockey solves crime. It's good clean mindless fun, and this one has nothing about it that stands out from the others, save its rather odd location (which seems quaint given the collapse of the cold war nowadays). Good if you like Francis, bad if you don't, and not a book I'd suggest as a jumping-off point if you don't know his work (try Odds Against or Enquiry instead, where Francis is on his home turf).

I do like Dick Francis novels, and I do admit, as many other reviewers have said, that there is a certain predictability to the plots of many of them. What I find myself looking for, in mancy cases, is the philosophy beyond the plot. In this case, the plot is about an attempt to sabotage the Moscow Olympics. The plot holds together well, but what I enjoyed about this book is that it is a glimpse of the end of cold war Russia (of course from a British perspective) and it is an attempt to think about the personal decisions that humans make which shape of our lives and about personal freedom.

I think Francis does a good job with these rather weighty themes, within the framework of the mystery/thriller genre that he has perfected over time.

I wanted to read this book because 1)it's a period book (WW2) 2)Danielle Steele wrote it. I agree with most of the previous reviews regarding the repetition of Kate going back to Joe even though he breaks her heart. I kept thinking "surely she will wake up and move on" and that kept me reading, wondering how she would get over Joe for good. I was disappointed in the end to see she never really did get over him. I have loved Danielle Steele's books in the past, easy reading yet can't put down. This one I wish I had put down for good about half way through!

Lone Eagle is the best book Danielle Steel has written, and I have read all of them. It has all the elements Steel's fans like: romance, suspense, wealth, and surprises. It is very good reading, easy to read. The setting in this book is veryb fitting, and while reading, I couldn't help but think I was watching the entire book unfold, instead of my reading it.

It is told in flashback style, "against a vivid backdrop of war and thrilling innovation. Danielle Steel breathes life into history, weaving an intensely human story that spans three decades. With rare insight and emotional power, she brings to life a tale of love and sacrifice, of holding on and letting go, of survival in the face of unthinkable loss. It is a novel of extraordinary grace and compassion from a master storyteller."

I was amazed by this historical tale, all the facts were very real to the reader and not something an author would make up to make the story complete. For instance, Steel mentions something and you immediately think, "I can't believe that is happening, but I know it's true" for whatever reason.

The storyline is one you won't forget. And, this book will be your favorite. Memories begin when a woman receives a phone call that her lover is dead. You will go back in time with her as she recalls the last 3 decades.

Get this book. You won't put it down until you are finished reading. Steel's book couldn't get any better. --

I've read every book Danielle Steel's written and have only been dissapointed a time or two. Lone Eagle is one of my favorites. I read it during a difficult time in my marriage and it really helped me through. In typical Steel style, it is somewhat predictably romantic, but true fans won't be dissapointed.