I have been a longtime Hawaii Five - O fan and was delighted to hear that someone had finally done an episode guide and critical review of the long running series. But, I'm sorry to say, this ain't it, folks. The author has already explained why she could not meet with the stars and crew for research on this book, making one wonder, frankly, why the publisher bought it. As an episode guide it is only so-so; most of the symposis are sketchy at best, assuming one already has a knowledge of all 12 years worth of episodes. The 'critical review' part of the book is primarily recitations of likes and dislikes by the author and her friends. Some are perfectly valid and some are unbelievably trivial. Note the thrashing the final episode Woe To Wo Fat receives. Although not a strong episode to begin with, the author totally misses the point to the ending - it's tongue in cheek! After 12 years, I think 5-0 was entitled to a laugh, especially when Wo pulls out the proverbial file while in jail. There is nothing in the book that cannot be gleaned by public resources, i.e. old magazine articles, Honolulu newspapers, etc. Perhaps the author had more sources than this - maybe these were the items 'deleted' by the publisher, but the end result is a rather bland, overpriced episode guide. Sorry, but Steve McGarrett & team deserved better than this!

I'm glad I have this book - it's a handy resource when I need to find out if someone ever appeared on the series (though some of the names in the index are out of order - John Lennon, for example, who btw is not THE John Lennon) or in a particular episode.

However, as an "episode guide," it's of limited usefulness; if you happen to remember each episode by name that's fine, but if you are reading one of these entries and trying to figure out if it's one you've seen, good luck. I was really hoping for a brief synopsis of each episode. That would make for a much bigger book, granted, but also a more useful one. We are talking about nearly 300 episodes here - some of us (and even historians) might need a little help.

This might be excusable if the episode writeups were lighter on opinion and heavier on relevant information. "The Guarnerius Caper," for example, is the story of a Soviet violinist whose instrument is stolen, causing considerable diplomatic discomfort. Hawaii Five-O often did episodes about political relations with make-believe nations; this is one of the few episodes that acknowledges real-life politics: the Cold War. Is any of this mentioned in Rhodes's discussion of the episode? Sadly, no.

Thus, as a "critical history," it is even more disappointing than the episode guide. It's a sketchy history at best, and reads more like a fan's personal memoir. Criticism is far more credible when the author tries to be objective; at times it seems Rhodes is writing a love poem to Steve McGarrett (and/or Jack Lord). She makes a catty remark about someone who quit the show to pursue other interests (Zulu wanted to do comedy), and editorializes on the worthlessness of basketball (the show was sometimes pre-empted by basketball during its original run).

She also makes nonsensical observations. For example, she says it was a sad social comment that "The Child Stealers" passed up a healthy Asian boy in favor of a white one. Since neither of the kidnappers were Asian and they were trying to pass off the kidnapped children as their own, it wasn't sad - it was necessary.)

Nevertheless, I do feel the book's a keeper. No one else has taken the time to compile a book like this, and it was sorely needed. While it comes up short both as an episode guide and as a critical history, it's still a good read. There are fewer photos than some of us would like (I'll look again, but I don't recall seeing any photos of Duke or Ben), but many of the photos are rarities, and that was a treat. Rhodes's enthusiasm leaves objectivity by the wayside, but it also gives the book a lively voice that makes you want to bask in the genius of one episode after another. The book was written with care and love, and it shows.

Although a fan of the gritty "realism" of the current cop shows like "NYPD," "Law & Order," and the late-lamented "Homicide: Life on the Streets," I still get excited when I think about the 12 years that I spent "hooked" on the police tactics of one Steve McGarrett and his crack team of detectives. No show, before or since, had such a look and sound.

The music, the scenery, the guest performers, story synopses, Jack Lord's hair, and Wo Fat are all lovingly included in this chronicle. At a little over 300 pages the book brings to the light many interesting tid-bits about the production of this long-running cop show.

It is for fans and television historians that this book is intended and it does its task marvelously.

A well-researched and entertaining critique!

I don't want to spoil the story for those who haven't read it. I'll just say that I did not like the ending. It reminded me of the movie "Cheaters" which I saw on HBO last year (and which was about a high school teacher who allows his students to cheat).

My thumb is down for Lord of the Deep.

This is a great read! I would have never thought I could get caught up in the excitement of "landing the big one!" In this young adult book by Graham Salisbury, that is exactly what happened. Graham's description of events drew me into the drama of the moment, and I could almost feel the
salt air misting on me. Excellent!

Lord Of The Deep is a great action and adventure story, but it is more than that as well.

Mikey is growing up and on an outing with his father Bill, who charters his fishing boat, Mikey tastes young love ,stirring new emotions and feelings inside of him. Already struggling with new feelings, Bill makes a decision that goes against the rules after the catch of a 'big ' one, Mikey does not approve of Bill's decision and is troubled over it. He learns not all things in life are black and white.Not all decisions are made on what is correct.

Perhaps some readers will feel that this story should have had a different ending then the one it did. However, I believe the author wanted to show that what we feel are right decisions are not always made by the ones that we think the highest of.
Growing up is not easy and pretending that adults will always practice what they preach is often a fairy-tale, as hard as we might try; decisions may be based on reasons unknown to others. Right or wrong!

I liked Lord of The Deep. It was a fast pace, quick read. Kept my attention from beginning to end,and that is what a good book is all about!

I recommend it.

Shirley Johnson/Reviewer

As the winner of the 2002 Boston Globe/ Horn Book Award for best fiction publihsed in the USA, LORD OF THE DEEP is surely misunderstood. Some readers seem to want pat answers. Others seem to want the book to "educate" their young readers. This book does neither. What it does is provide a glimpse at the gray areas in real life, and an opportunity to relfect upon one's own feelings about how to resolve a difficult issue. You have to read with more than gratuitous answers in mind to ride this book through its study in human nature.

Bored one afternoon,pretty and adventurous Jessica decides to enter a pineapple recipe contest that she has found in a magazine.A few months later she finds that she has won for having made the weirdest pineapple treat the judges have ever seen.The prize is not a lifetime supply of pineapple as she and her twin,Elizabeth,feared.It is a trip to Hawaii!!Excited,Jessica is soon heading to Hawaii with a handful of her many friends.But what none of them expected is for their vacation to be such an odd one.Long story short!,Janet becomes convinced she is a princess called Keiko,Lila believes she has been cursed by a piece of jewellery and Lila has had it up to here with her father's blonde girlfriend whose name is Bambi.(she would love to Thumper).It is just a very fun and amusing novel that is great for kids and young teens.

I think this book is excellent! sheer brillant!
I love the part when Lila burps in the restaurant I burst out laughing when I read it

Girls shouldn't miss this book(especially Sweet Valley fans),as it is great!And full of fun and adventure and hilarity. Jessica + The Unicorns + a barely-chaperoned trip to..HAWAII = Fun and Disaster!

I approached this book thinking that it would yield insights into how and why the United States was so poorly prepared for the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. It seemed appropriate in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, to see if the United States had failed to learn from the past and had thereby condenmed itself to a repeat.

What I found between the covers of "Verdict of History" was a thick skulled and fatuous account that, in a nutshell, said "this stuff just happens, and no one is to blame". As anyone who read "The Valor of Ignorance" (Homer Lea), "Strategy", by Lidell Hart, the writings of Thucydides (a successful ancient Greek General) or other books on military strategy and the nature of warfare realized, the Japanese attack on the US Pacific Fleet was predictable -- and in fact was first discussed in military and political circles as a likely event as early as 1905.

The author [...] asserts that Roosevelt's administration was not derelict in exercising its duty or responsibility to defend the United States, and then he provides hundreds of pages of text indicating that they were (At Dawn, They Slept ... and in the afternoon and evening as well, apparently). Mr. Prange seems to have done a great deal of research but learned absolutely nothing from it. Regrettably, that's par for the course with academic writers.

[...]

I'm a big fan of 'At Dawn We Slept' and 'December 7, 1941,' the first two books in Gordon W. Prange's Pearl Harbor trilogy. 'Verdict of History,' in which he shifts his focus from 'what happened' to 'why it happened,' however, is more troubling. Prange himself died before the publication of his trilogy. The work was finished by his two co-authors, Goldstein and Dillon, and so I'm tempted to hold them responsible for the things I find most disappointing in this volume.

Part of the problem is the title, which I hope Prange himself didn't have a hand in. As Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn sagely pointed out in 'Liberty or Equality,' the verdict of *history* and the verdict of *historians* are two (often very different) things. I would hope a historian of Prange's skill would not be so presumptuous as to claim to speak for all history. The opinions of talented historians are valuable. But relatively few judgments can ever be final (Henry Clausen's Pearl Harbor book has this problem in spades).

The larger issue seems to have been the release, after Prange's death, of John Toland's 'Infamy,' which breathed new life into the so-called 'revisionist' theory that Franklin Roosevelt knew of and/or deliberately provoked the attack. According to their introduction to this volume, Goldstein and Dillon deliberately expanded and refocused Prange's work in order to respond more thoroughly to the 'revisionist anti-Roosevelt thesis,' which they reject.

They concede that Roosevelt 'might have been ill-advised' or insufficiently 'dynamic' in his leadership. But their central thesis is the mainstream one that Pearl Harbor was due to sub-standard naval and military intelligence systems and failures by the on-scene commanders.

In the end, though, Prange is at pains to point out something that often is overlooked in the 'who do we blame' debate: the magnitude of the Japanese achievement. Pearl Harbor was a massive strategic undertaking -- one the Imperial Navy executed nearly to perfection. Students of the attack do well to remember that attention rightly focuses on the Japanese side of the equation as much as on the American.

I've read a lot of Pearl Harbor history, and recommend Stinnett's recent 'Day of Deceit,' which I think is the most important piece of new Pearl Harbor scholarship in some time. But I readily admit I don't believe anyone has all the answers yet. Prange's seminal work (the sum of his three volumes) is an important part of the dialectic that presents arguments and interpretations and helps us get a clearer picture of what really led up to the Day of Infamy.

Over the years, there has developed a "revisionist" group of historians who claimed FDR Knew in advance about the impending attack on Pearl Harbor and he did nothing to stop it. In this excellent book by Gordon Prange, this somewhat questionable viewpoint is thoroughly destroyed. One of the revisionists' claims is that the radio stations on the West Coast were able to track the Japanese fleet due to their radio signals. This is impossible, since the Japanese fleet NEVER broke radio silence, and, in fact, had their transmitters removed from thier radios all together. Mitsuo Fuchida, the pilot who led the attack, also said that "the force maintained the strictest radio silence throughout the cruise". Revisionists also believed, according to Prange, that if the Japanese task force would have been discovered, it would have turned back. Again, this is not true. The Japanese hoped to attain surprise, but if they were to have been discovered, they were prepared to fight all the way to Pearl Harbor to deliver their attack. What Prange attempts to achieve in this excellent book is who really was to blame? In this aspect, the War Department and the commanders, Kimmel and Short, are held responsible. Prange comes down hard on the War Department for failing to notify the commanders of the intercepted "bomb plot" message. This message, intercepted by "Magic", was transmitted to Japan by a Japanese spy. It broke Pearl Harbor into several sections, which, in effect, could be interpreted as a bombing grid. This information was not transmitted to Kimmel and Short, and could have proven invaluable. But the bulk of the blame appears to fall on Kimmel, Short, and the subordinate commanders. Kimmel and Short both grossly misinterpreted the "War Warning" message dated November 27, 1941, and sent to them by Washington. Short only alerted his troops against possible sabotage and maintained his training schedule. The War Department is also to blame here, because they failed to follow up to make sure Short understood the meaning of the message. Kimmel also failed to grasp the meaning of this message, and, unfortunately, communication between the army and navy was poor at best, so very little information was shared between the commands. One must also realize, and Prange makes excellent reference to this in the book, is that the Japanese placed tremendous amounts of time, thought, and training into this mission, and they must be credited with the success of the attack. America's belief of their huge superiority in both ships and personnel was totally destroyed. Prange also covers each of the resulting investigations fully and includes excellent testimony throughout the book. In summary, this is an excellent book about the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and does a good job of refuting the revisionists and acurately placing blame.

This very slender book is based on the premise "what if an American battleship had escaped from Pearl Harbor during the attack and given chase to the Japanese fleet?" The writing is actually very good, and the naval dialogue is well-done. There are a number of typos, and a small line drawing of a scantily-clad woman appears a couple of times for some inexplicable reason. There are the obligatory sex scenes which are not explicit and which are well-written, but not very well staged, if that makes any sense. It's as if a sixteen year old, hormones raging, decided what would happen, and a novelist were commissioned to draft the text. The naval action is well-designed to camouflage some factual problems in the story, i.e. how does a 15-20 knots battleship succeed in catching a 30 knot carrier task force, or engaging it, but the books ends far too abruptly. In my opinion, what the book really needed was a far broader plot that (1) paid far more attention to the loss at Pearl as a motivating factor for revenge, and (2) ended the book with the battleship's return. The carnage at Pearl - even what the ship's crew could have seen as they exited the harbor before the second wave - should have been gone into a little more, and served as a white-hot motivating factor for getting revenge on the carriers. As written, the chase is a pretty cool, bloodless affair, and I really missed a good ending wrapping it up.

Looking for a good book to read this summer while you're lounging around the pool? Look no further if you're a fan of naval sagas. (This was my first.) At just over 200 small pages of large print, "On a Blood-Stained Sea" is an enjoyable read for a lazy afternoon, especially if you're tight with Evelyn Wood.

Mr. Houston has crafted his novella around an intriguing premise: What might happen if an American battleship had escaped the Japanese onslaught at Pearl harbor and then chased the Japanese fleet as they sailed home? Like the dog that chases a car down the street, the logical next question is what do the Americans do if they catch the Japanese fleet? For the answer you'll have to read the exciting, action-packed climax.

By the way, did I mention the gratuitous sex? Although the four female castaways presented an interesting dilemma to the crew, Mr. Houston could have played it more PG-13 than R. Speaking of which, all the ingredients are there for a better-than-average made-for-TV movie. But, don't wait for the movie - read the novel now.

There seems to be some confusion on how a twenty-knot U.S. Battleship could catch a thirty-knot Japanese Fleet after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I became interested in this scenario after reading "The Pearl Harbor Papers: Inside the Japanese Plans," by Donald M. Goldstein & Katherine V. Dillon where I found evidence of the Japanese withdrawal to Kure Naval Base after the attack.

The Imperial Japanese Navy steamed north at twenty-six knots, to avoid the (remote) possibility of air attack, up to approximately forty degrees North latitude. Once in the clear they turned east and slowed to fourteen knots their ordinary cruising speed (to conserve fuel), sometimes slowing to nine knots due to heavy weather. Six oil-tankers accompanied the Japanese fleet and refueling, especially for their escorting destroyers, was an on-going concern. The fleet typically slowed to twelve knots for this maneuver which took most of the day, the Japanese didn't have alongside refueling as the U.S. fleet did, but the tanker dragged the oil-hose astern for the destroyers to pick up. So, the Japanese didn't steam home at thirty knots, it was more likely fourteen knots.

Their route home must also be considered, they did not steam straight for Japan, but went up and around Midway Island, again to avoid the possibility of air attack. So, while the Japanese took a circuitous route home at fourteen knots a U.S. battleship could, upon exiting Pearl Harbor after the attack, steam directly for a point some seven hundred miles north of Midway Island at twenty knots (this class of battleship had a cruising radius of 6,800 miles at that speed) and indeed make an interception, especially as it carried four scout planes.

Was this scenario likely? No, but it was possible. So, too, was the dawn attack that caught the Japanese completely by surprise, which was not at all improbable given that a confident victor was halfway home unmolested. It is entirely possible that they would drop their guard at that point.

The final question, once the battle commenced why wouldn't a thirty-knot Japanese fleet simply come up to speed and disappear over the horizon out running their twenty-knot opponent? Well, it takes time to work an aircraft carrier up to flank speed and if a battleship was within range it would only take a few minutes and a few sixteen-inch salvos to set it alight (this happened during the battle of Midway when Japanese carriers were dive bombed). Also, the Japanese night formation used in this attack was their actual steaming formation described in "The Pearl Harbor Papers." So, if you're interested, read the book.

Daniel L. Houston

It seems that many thriller readers are looking for a new hero to replace Travis McGee. I never read the McGee novels, but I have been looking for a new series hero and I think I've found the right one. It isn't Lee Child's Jack Reacher, although Reacher is pretty good. It certainly isn't Michael Stone's Streeter, a failed effort at noir/pulp fiction. It is Charles Knief's John Caine. Now, this book does have a couple of flaws but, hey! This ain't higher criticism here. Based on the reviews I've seen, we are all looking for a series character we wouldn't mind having a beer (Chardonnay for Caine, thank you very much) with, someone whose deeds are noble if messy, someone to entertain and maybe feed our fantasies.

John Caine is such a man and Diamond Head is such a book. The writing is good, the characters are fun and believeable and the plot is reasonable. Caine is a loner, not particularly by choice. He has suffered one great loss and will suffer another one before this one is over. The way he deals with other people who come into his life is of greater interest that his feats of derring-do and adds a human dimension that is so lacking in other hero types. I thought the ending was quite good. Not all happy, but no loose ends - except maybe Caine himself. An action hero has to have conflict, generally with the authorities. The laundry list of charges that were almost brought against him seemed a silly way of making the conflict, but at least someone had read the law of piracy and no charges were brought. Piracy! There was real action on the seas, lots of fun, some suspense, bits of nonsense, some sadness. In short, enough to make you wish you were running with Caine than riding the Metro. Enjoy!

Charles Knief's series featuring Hawaiian private investigator John Caine is often compared to John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series, and there are certainly some common points of reference. Both are knights errant with slightly tarnished armor, men of honor who live in a world in which honor is more frequently scorned than praised. Both live simple lives on boats in interesting environments. Both have seen more pain in their lives than they want to remember, yet are still always willing to help out a friend or someone in need.

Charles Knief did a good job writing his first mystery. He's created an interesting, likeable character to build his series upon. I particularly like the Hawaiian setting of "Diamond Head," finding it to be a nice change from the usual locales. The only area in which I found this book lacking was in some of the plotting, which dragged a bit at times, even though it's a short book. It's a good story, but it would have been better if it had been wound a little tighter.

The Travis McGee series has long been one of my favorites and will always hold a special place in my heart. MacDonald captured some magic when he created McGee and Meyer and the "Busted Flush." His death left a hole in the mystery genre that no one can fill. Charles Knief and his creation John Caine, although not able to erase that void, do a good job of reminding the reader what a good mystery -- and a good man -- are.

I'm not familiar with John McDonald's Travis McGee, so hero John Caine is new to me and has reeled me in. I loved this book, learned a lot about Hawaii and became enamored with everything about "Diamond Head." I'm so glad I ordered all three of the John Caine books, including "Sand Dollars" and "Emerald Flash." I finished "Diamond Head" and could hardly wait to start the second book. I wasn't disappointed! So what if it's a little hard to believe how tough the aging ex-SEAL is; so what if he can accomplish more with less than any hero I can think of right now. I don't care--I LOVE IT. If I wanted reality all the time, I'd just turn on the news channel. When I read, I want to be entertained--and boy does Charles Knief entertain in his John Caine novels. The characters, even the crooks like Chawlie Choy, are lovable! Give me more, more more!

This book is horrible. After having moved from the mainland to Hawaii and living there for 22 years, I find this book appalling. I do however, congratulate this woman for getting someone to publish this garbage and actually make money from it.

-I am very happy that the author was able to get herself and her two teenage boys out of the Chicago ghetto and to Hawaii. Unfortunatly her book is limited to just her own little experience and is very incomplete for most people. For example she moved their personal belongings as 14 bags of luggage on the airplane. I should think that most people would want very specific info on shipping a household, costs and dangers. All she provides is the 800 # for Matson shipping. There is almost no information about neighbourhoods,schools,property taxes,detailed housing costs,insurance, etc. Also I was suprised to find little info on life and household mantianence in the tropics. The author also is willing to sell you trips to Wal-Mart ($100) or a ride from the airport to your home ($100). Rather than waste your time on this thin little booklet you would be better off getting the local telephone directory. The author is well intended, but needs to include more information.

TO be totally honest, and this comes from one experienced Local Hawaiian gal who has seen too many Houlies move to the Islands un prepaired and go through culture shock in their own country (I guess it would be the same for me If I moved to North Dakota in the winter),call the GTE Hawaiian Tel phone co and buy a copy of the phone directory.l It has white and yellow pages, but more than that it has maps and directories and schedules, info. about cars, licences, pets, local traditions and holidays, you name it I dont think they forgot to put it in. THIs book is better even than a live local in your carry on bag, 'cause sistah we fo' get da tings you need fo' know too ! I left Hawaii as a teen ager for college then moved back almost 10 years later and even with my relatives and friends living there, all those dummies forgot to tell me things to do and not do, like dont bring large or heavy furniture, TV's, your beloved vaccuum, unless you can't live with out it. THe cost even from the west coast it not worth it. In fact I tell people now to bring just your clothes, pets, kids, personal effects like photos, knick knacks, 'cause you can get everything you had on the mainland here and it is cheaper in the long run to buy new than to ship old over. Even for the starving student types, we have great swap meets, garage sales and second hand stores to get kitchen items, TV's and clothes ! Save your money to spend when you get here on yourself. DOnt give it all to the moving companies ! Da book is good fo' da good kine laughs, but I don't see how some people found the info.they needed in it. Lucky them. Not a bad book, but more talk story than talk information. Aloha, a houi hoe, Loea

my old sweetheart is a beautifully written story about the complexity of human relationships and the richness of human experiences. It was presented in a 12-year old girl's perspective of issues such as disillusionment, adultery,and , suicide.
A very moving story that is totally unsentimental.

I loved this novel. It kept me interested until the last page. The book never gets boring

I was student of Susanna Moore in a creative writing class at Yale. I take SERIOUS offense -for Susanna's/Ms. Moor's sake- when I hear someone disrespecting her as I have seen in one review above... Susanna Moore is EXTREMELY APPROACHABLE- perhaps "haughty" only in a fun sense of "playing a character"- but I found her to be more delightfully quirky- with a child's innocence, and yet NOT AT ALL, actually. She was a fine teacher also- able to field a group and be truly honest... I don't remember shat she stopped herself from saying much- kkinda liek another teacher I had before- both of whom could show how teaching is about fearlessness and honesty. I wanted to reply just to clarify that I can't - after numerous classes with Susanna Moore- I think I even used her in a college video documentary- I never, ever experienced a negative side to her character! Seh was completely approachable- and not just by me- by most of the class- I think. Some people thought she was a "character" - but- well- she is- a zany but cool one.

This book is a mess of every conspiracy under the sun. It was proven false by Budiansky and MANY others. THE KEY documents that CONSPIRACY theorists (like Willey) told us the government was keeping SECRET were DECLASSIFIED in 1998 and 1999 and are at the National Archives at College Park. They state that as of December 1, 1941, only 10 percent of the code groups and 5 percent of the additive groups had been recovered in AN-1 (aka JN-25B). Also a report by OP-20-G on decrypts produced in various Japanese code systems for each month of 1941 reports the number of decrypts in JN-25 as "none" Futhermore a complete internal history of the solution of JN-25, was written at the end of WWII. This document, which provides great cryptologic detail,explains how JN-25 was broken during each period. It fully confirms the testimony of the USN personnel involved. By the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, no JN-25 message had been read for intelligence value.
I'd also like to say that ALL of the Japanese officers involved including, Abe, Chigusa, Fuchida, Fujita, Genda, Goto, Ishiguro, Kusaka, Maki, Matsumoto and Yoshioka all maintain radio silence was strictly observed. Fuses were removed from the transmitters and the transmitter keys were disabled. Read ("The Pearl Harbor Papers") It was NOT possible! Willey, it seems will not engage in defending his work. More that likely he knows that it is outdated.

Mark's book simply fuels the fantasy world of conspiracy "fans". He routinely takes quotes out of context, ignores inconvenient facts and distorts information to promote his own program, that of hate for FDR. Compare this book with Gordon Prange's works. It's easy to tell which person did the work and gives a rational view of the events surrounding this sad day in US history. If you want to see where Wiley has distorted the original information, check out www.ibiblio.org/pha, where thousands of pages of text await the person who doesn't want to be lead by the nose.

Of all the books I've read about Pearl Harbor, this is the best!
The author seems to know a great deal about codebreaking and, if
anybody can nail the betrayal, Willey has done it!

Contrived. Tedious. Irritating. Trying too hard. These are just a few of the ways I would describe "Steppin' on a Rainbow". I can tell that Friedman has talent as a writer. It is a real shame, however, that he insists upon insulting the intelligence of the reader with a constant barrage of quips and one-liners that aren't really even shockingly funny as much as they are merely sour comments made in poor taste (Example: he makes a reference to nurses being gone from the beach with the help of Richard Speck... or something along those lines. I got the joke, such as it was. It just really wasn't very funny or very clever). But this is the only book of Friedman's that I've read so far. I will read others, but I'm not going to be buying them with my own money. I'll borrow the next one or check it out from the library. So far, I may as well have flushed the cost of this oinker down the toilet. The man is skilled as a writer. I just don't know if he's got the talent to back up the skill. This story was dull and contrived. A festival of obnoxious, unlikable characters and plot conveniences. By the end of the book I was hoping that all of the major characters would get killed in a bus crash or something. Not a good sign when the author places himself in the story as the protagonist. Mr. Friedman-- I wish you all the best in the world and a long and happy life... but this story stinks.

This book will feel familiar to Kinky Friedman fans, with the usual cast of characters included. The themes of loyalty and loneliness are well drawn. This book is a classically enjoyable Kinky-style mystery; however, I must downgrade my rating of this tale to a 3-star rating. The character of Stephanie DuPont is so irritating and unlikeable that it is distracting from the whole. Unfortunately, she plays a large role in this mystery, so you cannot skim past her appearances. I hope Kinky's next mystery will be investigating her death.

As a longtime Kinkster fan, i must admit i was ever-so-slightly disappointed with Steppin' on a Rainbow. I thoroughly enjoyed his previous outing ( The Mile High Club) and feel Rainbow is a step backward. NO Ratso! Rambam also makes a very minor appearance. These are stalwart characters who i look forward to seeing in each new adventure. Stephanie DuPont takes on her largest role so far and, i confess, was starting to get up my sleeve before the book ended. however, these are minor qualms and i liked the book, just not as much as his other work-- hence, the 4 star rating. As they say about both pizza and sex, "even when they're bad, they're still better than anything else." I think the Kinkster can be added to that list. .......As a side note, i would encourage anyone who is a fan and hasn't already done so, to get the audio versions of his books as read by Kinky himself. They're really killer bee....