I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Somehow Jack Polidoro has managed to combine Faulkneresque timing and intrigue with a Crichton-like realism. Although some of the mature moments might make D.H. Lawrence blush, Dr. Polidoro's descriptions of familiar landscapes and places are hauntingly precise.

Flying in or out of Logan Airport will never be the same for me. It's a good read!

Jack Polidoro has written a novel that reads like non fiction. I could not put it down. His research amazed me and was well done. Polidoro does not bore the reader with too much detail. As the novel unfolds, the reader will be caught up in a few unexpected suspenseful events that make you feel you are there. This book is a great read for everyone; and I hope Polidoro will continue with his great writing style and publish another book soon; he's on top of my list of great writers.

Jack Polidoro grabs the readers attention from the start. He puts the reader right into the lives of the people who are the players in this book. He begins by telling just enough to whet one's appetite making the reader hungry for more of the story. His eye for detail is amazing, one would have to believe that the author himself is a pilot and has been through a crash landing in open water. Once the serious actions began to take place, I found myself riveted to the book to the degree that I could not put it down until I had completed it. Polidoro manages to come up with an unexpected domino affect as a result of the first tragedy to take place. He has just enough twists and turns in his novel to peak the interest of any reader. Had I not read the nature of the plot, I might have been hesitant to take another flight on a commercial airline. This is one book that has it all, suspense, romance, intrigue, and fast action. I would recommend it as a great read for everyone.

I, too, found this book in a used bookstore and bought it on a whim three years ago. I think I've read it about 10 times since then--and I still laugh out loud.

I love this book! I was hoping that John Boston had written another, but it doesn't look like it.

I've never read another book as lightning-strike sharp and witty! This is the kind of book that makes you wish you could spend a day with the author just shootin' the breeze. In what other book can an entire motorcycle gang "trip" and sustain the amount of damage that they did?! Mr. Boston truly deserves unending kudos!!

I bought this book about 5 years ago simply because of the cover illustration. I have never laughed so much in my life, its a fantastic read that I just could not put down. I still go back to it every couple of months to read it all over again and it has still not lost its appeal !
An exceptional book that hopefully won't be John Boston's last.

Mickey, who is a Boston Terrier, has written this delightful little book of philosophical limericks. He reminds us that it is the everyday things in life, like neighbors and friends, and four poster beds, that really matter. Every day is precious. "A Boston's World" is for dog lovers and others, as well. You will treasure this little volume.

I really appreciated the author's view of her Boston Terrier's life. I enjoyed the pictures and related to the author's perspective, being an owner or two dogs.

Mickey's outllook gives any dog owner a view of life coming from a different angle - truly looking at life from a dog's view makes us think differently about our two-legged friends. "The more we see of people the more we love our dogs." They have a much better attitude about life and Mickey is the BEST!

Boston's Gun Bible stands alone as the very best all-around reference for firearms owners. Not only does it cover practical rifles, pistols, and shotguns in detail, but it has a wealth of valuable information on related subjects such as optics, practical carry, training, legal issues, and legislative issues. The new expanded and updated edition (with 200 extra pages) is fantastic!

This weighty tome is an absolute MUST for all gun owners. At $28 it isn't cheap, but as I stated before in reviewing the previous edition, it is worth every penny.

Boston's observations and conclusions about guns are precisely researched, scientific, and relatively dispassionate. Unlike many other writers in the firearms field, Boston has consistently shown that he is willing to change his mind when presented with logical evidence.

This is a book that may very well save the life of yourself or a loved one. It is also a highly influential book that may contribute in the long run to the restoration of our Constitutional Republic and freedom around the world. Boston's Gun Bible doesn't just whine about the decline of our God-given Constitutional liberties. Rather, it shows practical solutions that individual Citizens can and must take to insure the liberty of future generations. It is nothing short of a monumental work of non-fiction!

Don't just buy one copy. Buy two! You will soon find that you'll need an extra copy to lend out to family members and friends.

OBTW, if you already have the older edition, then I strongly suggest that you buy the new expanded and updated edition. This valuable new information is well worth the investment.

As a published fiction writer, I stand in awe of this important piece of non-fiction. It deserves a place of honor on the bookshelf of every freedom-loving Citizen.

Semper Paratus,>Author of the pro-gun novel "Patriots:Surviving the Coming Collapse."

Boston's Gun Bible, written by Kenneth W. Royce, is scholarly and philosophical, as well as passionate, political and technical. It is no accident that Mr. Royce cites the ultra-science fiction/political satire, Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, as "one of the five best novels I have ever read". Like Stephenson's book (Stephenson is postmodern Melville) Royce's "Bible" is a collage, a pastiche, a rich simmering brew of humor, ideas, opinions, cant, rant and instruction.

Given the book's patchwork style, I think it best to review it according to themes. There are three I will consider: 1. Technical Aspects of Firearms; 2. Philosophy of Firearms;
3. Politics. Other themes which are thoughtfully developed in the 848 page book are on the laws governing gun use, women and guns, self-defense, tactics and training, combat rifle history and how to become a rifleman.

The Technical discussion is one of the strongest sections. I came to this book as a complete newbie as far as firearms are concerned. But the technical part of the book rewards careful reading. It is a complete and meticulously considered course on firearms - how to buy them, how to evaluate them, how they work, how to keep them working, etc. Of the 46 chapters in the book 22 are devoted to this one topic. In his sections evaluating various rifles and pistols, Mr. Royce, using a system he devised, rates dozens of rifles and pistols. His system employs "63 criteria...to rate the controls, features and specifications of combat rifles." And while it is true his full system is deployed only against rifles, the system itself is an extremely useful tool for evaluating any firearm, and also comparing firearms among themselves within distinct classes

The Philosophical aspect of the book is as difficult and convoluted as the Technical part is straightforward. On the one hand, this is in the nature of philosophy. On the other, the difficulty has to do with the purpose and meaning of guns in human culture. This topic has no Socrates (unless it is Nietzsche), and Mr. Royce in this book provides what is only a rudimentary outline. (In his other books, none of which I have read, he may articulate more fully his philosophical arguments.) Mr. Royce's view of human society is that it consists of a very large number of sheep-like beings, who are preyed upon by a few rapacious predators and/or bad governments. He seeks to lay out a third position: "those who refuse to be either", and offers as an example, "an armed libertarian".

The core values of the Third Way are the values of the Warrior, and in any number of ways, Mr. Royce drapes the term Warrior in the full regalia of an ancient and venerable tradition. By denying the Warrior as predator (Mr. Royce's Warrior is no berserker, no pirate, no storm trooper and no imperialist) he evokes a sterner, more finely tempered kind of life, where honor, personal responsibility and concern for others hold pride of place. Human life is intrinsically a life of struggle, and in Mr. Royce's view, a person can accept the reality of this and learn to fight, or he can flee this responsibility, outright by becoming prey, or indirectly by delegating his role to other "protectors". Unfortunately, as any reading of history will attest, the protectors all too often themselves become the predators. Only the Warrior, living a value imbued life that explicitly eschews violent domination of others, can move beyond the predator/prey cycle. The state for which the Warrior strives is that of liberty, and the life of liberty in human societies is moved by four forces, symbolized as the soap box (discussion), the ballot box (formulation), the jury box (interpretation) and the cartridge box (decisive action). In the real world, the first three do not exist in a substantive way without the fourth. And for that reason, firearms - "liberty's teeth"-are the necessary though not sufficient conditions to resist servitude.

The Political themes of this book are the most passionate, and the least organized, of all.
Royce very rightly champions the second amendment as not only the safeguard of the right of each individual to keep firearms but the major bulwark against evil doers and tyrannous governments. Scattered throughout the book are many statistics concerning the relationship between gun ownership and crime. Just in case you are wondering, when a society is armed, there is less crime. Any society which disarms its citizens AND maintains a low rate of crime, does so only by sacrificing many of what we still regard as fundamental human rights (i.e. Japan).

With respect to tyrannical governments, Mr. Royce's arguments are not convincing, at least to me. Certainly, he does have history on his side. "Death by government" was a central motif of the twentieth century, and many previous centuries as well. People would do well to be wary of governments. They would do well to be prepared to take action against tyrannous governments. The question is, Do Americans now face such tyranny? Has the time come to step off the soap box, batten down the ballot box, burn the jury box and open the cartridge box? Mr. Royce is convinced that such a time is imminent, but his arguments in this direction are flimsy. The Political side of the book does not answer to the Philosophical side.

This is a strong book, which I recommend most highly for anyone who is interested in firearms, and who wishes to learn more about any of the themes I have outlined. Owning and using guns is a method which, in mature use, inspires careful reflection, as well as considered action.

This has to be Boston's best book yet! I really enjoyed his 1998 book "Boston on Guns & Courage", and this sequel is even better still. Very strong on battle rifles and carbines, gun show purchases, avoiding BATF stings, tactics and training, "gun-control" laws (past, present, and likely future), and much more. I've read it several times now, and always find something new each time I go through its 700+ pages. This book will save you lots of time, money, and hassle. It truly is a "bible" for every American gun owner! Absolutely essential reading!

I was introduced to An Old-Fashioned Girl when I was in fourth grade, and I must have read it hundreds of times since. Now that I am in college, I've read Plato, Aristotle, Dante, and other famous authors. But none of these authors have impacted me as much as this classic by Louisa May Alcott. This book gave me the confidence I needed to hold true to my values, and whenever I am tempted to give in to peer pressure, I just think about Polly and her bronze boots. I love this book, and I'm sure I will continue rereading it until the time I die. A definite classic that leaves you feeling warm inside!

This is a touching book that shows girls simple lives are the best kind of lives. A girl named Polly visits her cousins' at the city. Polly is modest and simple looking girl, compared to Fanny who flirts with all boys and receives flowers from them,and Polly, detests and is ashamed of flirting. Polly isa kind-hearted girl who is always trying to help others including Tom who tries to madden her every second, but Polly manages to find a weak spot in his heart. As Louisa May Alcott always has a twist at the end of the book, this one is no exception. You will be touched to the core of your heart when you read this book , it makes iron into water and steel into liquid. Hope you enjoy it! Cheers! : )

Polly, a poor, old-fashioned girl from the country, comes up tothe city for a long visit with her friend Fanny. Over the basicframework of country mouse/city mouse, Alcott embroiders extensively, adding the themes of peer pressure, societal pressure, riches and their relation to happiness, the rights and proper roles of women, love, 'proper' behaviour vs. right behaviour, and vice-versa. But the story reads like a story, not a dissertation on philosophy. Polly is very human, and her family, though less-well drawn, is collectively a very human family. Tom, Fanny's brother, is the star of the book. "An Old-Fashioned Girl" is filled with humourous incidents, the number of which increases as one grows older. I first read this book when I was seven. I loved it then, when I only got a small part of it. I love it even more now. Those readers who dislike Alcott's moralizing will not love this book, but they will find it better than, say, "Little Men." Ignore the character of Grandma, through whom Alcott voices most of her morals, and concentrate on Polly and Tom, and even the most cantankerous reader would surely, if grudgingly, admit that this book isn't half bad.

Robert McCloskey's classic children's book, Make Way for Ducklings is just as delightful in the year 2002 as it was back when it was first published in 1941. The timeless story of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their eight adorable ducklings is still a fun read for children and parents alike. The story begins as the prospective parents search for a new home suitable for raising their young ones. Mrs. Mallard is clearly the expert in this endeavor and Mr. Mallard is quite relieved when she finally settles on a spot that is not too dangerous or noisy for their young family. The couple make themselves quite at home on a little island in the Charles River of Boston, a quiet oasis within the busy city. Soon the ducklings hatch and Mrs. Mallard sets about teaching them all they need to know in order to live in the city. By now they have made good friends with some of their human neighbors, especially Michael, the policeman. When the family makes its first trip into the city, Michael calls for backup and literally stops traffic all along their path. The people the Mallards encounter are just as pleased to see the ducks as the Mallards are to be there. The reader leaves the family settling comfortably for the night after a day of happily following the Swan boats in the park and eating the peanunts tossed their way. The charm of this book lies in both the heartwarming story and th realistic but idyllic illustrations. McCloskey is quite gifted at portraying the natural world to children in a way that is authentic and familiar. Most children have seen duck families in a nearby pond and witnessed the way the ducklings learn about the world by waddling along after their parents. The sketched illustrations add to the natural feeling of the book. The depiction of the ducks is terrific because they are visually expressive but still look like ducks. Another engaging facet of the story is the positive interaction between animals and humans. The Mallards find a way to live comfortably within a city full of people and their human neighbors are welcoming and accommodating. Overall, this a warm and timeless book. It is just perfect for a parent and child to read together or for a teacher to read to a classroom of younger kids. This is a good selection for children aged 3 to 7.

Children naturally are interested in understanding a parent's perspective on the family. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard's search for a safe home for their future family makes a wonderful story for children and parents to explore and understand more about parental love. Although the book has a 4-8 age reading level, younger children enjoy having it read to them (based on the experiences of my four children). The illustrations are terrific and draw the child's interest very easily. Older children like to reread the story because of its comfortable connection to their more youthful years and reinforcement of their sense of being wanted, loved, and belonging.

To me, the best part of the book is that the locations are actually easy to find in Boston. So if you live in the Boston area or ever come here, you can also take your children to experience the story. I know my younger daughter thought that her first Swan boat ride in the Public Garden was the ultimate moment in her life (up to that point). She kept wanting to know which duck was Mrs. Mallard, and which one was Mr. Mallard. Then she wanted to spot Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack (my favorite name in the book), Pack, and Quack. I had a ball! There are also statues of Mrs. Mallard and her 8 offspring that the children can touch. There's also an annual parade that you can participate in.

If you don't know the story, here's a summary: Mr. and Mrs. Mallard were looking for a place to live where they could raise a family safely. Whenever Mr. Mallard found someplace he liked, Mrs. Mallard worried about foxes and turtles. Finally they got to the pond in the Public Garden in Boston, and were too tired to go on. So they spent the night on the little island there. The next morning they could not find much food, until the people on the Swan boats began to throw them peanuts. But the Mallards were almost run over by a bicycle, so they felt they needed a safer place. They tried several, but each had a drawback. Finally, they found an island in the Charles River not far from the Public Garden that met all their requirements. Michael, the policeman, fed them peanuts. Soon, Mrs. Mallard laid 8 eggs, and stayed to hatch them. After the ducklings were born, they learned to swim and walk single file behind their Mother. One day, she walked them towards the Public Garden. But they could not get across the highway. Michael spotted them and stopped the traffic so they could cross. He called Clancy at the station and told him to send a car to help Mrs. Mallard and the ducklings cross at the Public Garden. When in the pond there, they met Mr. Mallard on the little island. They decided to live there, and followed the Swan boats for peanuts after that.

I have enjoyed reading this story and reading it to children for almost 30 years. I look forward to reading it to my grandchildren when the time comes. It has also been my favorite book to give as a gift to new parents.

Enjoy the wonderful gift of warm family feeling in this book, and leave your stalled thinking about your cares and worries behind. It will remind you what is really important in your life!

I am a student at West Virginia State College and taking a Childrens lit. class. Make way for ducklings is a delightful book and i strongly reccommend it to children of all ages. It's nice to read a book like this that is simple and sweet that all children can enjoy.

Boston Jane was a great book. It is about a girl named Jane Peck. She is asked to be the wife of a man named William Baldt. On her voyage out to the wilderness her best friend Mary dies and she is left with a man named Jehu Scudder who happens to have a crush on her. Jane tells us that life isn't about being popular it's about being yourself and not letting bully's control your life. Read both the books to find out about what happens to her.

While searching the teen shelves at my local libarary, i came across this very exciting read....

The story starts off with Jane Peck, the main character in the story, in Philadelphia around the 1850s. She is a rather tomboyish, improper child, who adores her father and is interested in his job as a doctor.But, as she grows into a young lady, she is teased because of her behavior, especially by a wealthy bully, and decides to attend Miss Hepplewhite's Young Ladies Academy to improve her manners and apperance.
In the mean time, she falls in love with her fathers's apprentice, William Baldt, who has dreams of sailing, exploring the frontier and starting a lumber business. He leaves Jane, and keeps in touch with her by letters. Finally, he proposes, and she decides to leave for Washington Territory, much to the disapproval of her father.
At the moment she starts her journey, she encounters many hardships, and as she arrives in Shoalwater Bay, set to start her new life right away with William. But things do not go as smoothly as she expected, and through self exploration, her life takes a unexpected twist of fate!
Read Boston Jane to find out!

I don't think I've spent a more enjoyable two days while reading this book! Unless you count the one day it took to read it's sequel Boston Jane: Wilderness Days! A combination of historical fiction, adventure, and romance you come to know Jane so well, she becomes one of the family. It's truly a book for all ages, so girls (ages 12-15), when you finish it, please pass it on to your mothers! It's going to be tough to wait for the third installment due Winter of 2003!

Most 'serious' reviewers of Robert Parker's Spenser books will argue that "A Catskill Eagle" is the best of the series. I won't disagree that it's very, very good, but I think Spenser (and by extension, Parker) is at his best in "Early Autumn".

Primarily, through the books, Spenser has deep relationships only with Susan, and to a lesser extent, Hawk. We really don't know much about him beyond the front he puts up for his clients and his opponents. "Autumn" is the exception to that; we see him treat Paul in much the same way he must have been treated as a child and the same way he would have treated a child of his own, if he'd had one -- with respect and decency. He drags the 'real' Paul out of the shell Paul had constructed to protect himself from his parents and the world and provides him with a sense of worth, teaching him, as Spenser says himself, "what [he] knows" -- boxing, running, carpentering and standing up for something.

The end of the book always gets me. I've always been glad, too, that Paul makes further appearances in other books: Widening Gyre and Playmates, among others. It's interesting to see the relationship between Spenser and Paul grow and develop. It deepens Spenser as a character and gives us one more reason to like him.

This is the seventh novel in Robert B. Parker's Spenser series and by now it is quite clear that whenever you start one of these stories the question is what is the new twist this time around. You can never call one of these novels an unconventional Spenser novel because they all tend to be unique in some key way. in "Early Autumn" our hero is hired by Patti Giacomin to find her son Paul, kidnapped by his father. Spenser finds Paul almost immediately and it quickly becomes clear that neither parent really cares about the boy, who is just a pawn in the wake of an ugly divorce. Paul needs someone to teach him, well, just about everything (except how to shrug; the kid does that really well in response to every question asked by Spenser). "Early Autumn," a metaphor for a 15-year old kid who has to grow up really fast, finds Spenser talking more than any of the previous books, although at the end his detective skills will again come into play. A large chunk of the book is Spenser and Paul talking about a whole bunch of different topics. In doing so, Spenser explains his view of the world, a task usually left to Susan Silverman. There is also an unforgettable twist as Hawk lends a hand at a key moment. As always, Parker's novels are quick reads, perfect for commuting or nice hot baths.

This is one of my two favorite Spenser books (The other is A Savage Place.) Early Autumn was the first Parker book I ever read and also the first suspense/mystery. My parents and brothers all read Spenser but I shunned them, preferring scifi. I was desparate for a read one summer night and my mother pressed this on me, saying "You'll like this if you just give it a chance" I was 15 and I read it that night, reporting back to her bedroom and saying, "Next Book! More! More!"

This book is about Spenser's surrogate fathering of a lost 15 year old boy named Paul who is a pawn in his own life. It is sort of a coming of age novel, but really not because it is told from Spenser's perspective like all the Spenser books.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I highly recommend it to any Spenser fan or to any one who remembers 15 and that lost in your own life feeling.

If you want to know where this franchise went wrong (and why, every once in a while they haven't), this is the book. Easily the best history of a baseball team I've ever read. It celebrates what there is to celebrate, such as Boston's early successes, 1967, and 1975, and takes an unflinching yet still entertaining look at the rest. New information throughout, from the myth of the curse, Tom Yawkey, to Fenway Park, to the ineptitude of the current acting owner. Although this book is a year old, the reasons why things went wrong this year (and why that's likely to continue barring change) is laid out for you - amazing. Whoever is contemplating buying the Red Sox should read this book and committ it to memory. For the rest of us, it just might get us through til next year.

What a sensational book. I have read Red Sox books in the past, and nothing seemed to capture the essence of the ball club's trials and tribulations than Red Sox Century. This book is as tragic as any classic story and examines 100 years of "what ifs." This book leaves no stone unturned and gives fans the ability to learn and love the former players of seasons past. It is the best Red Sox book I have ever read and will give one a deeper appreciation for the organization and it's tragic history. A futher note of excellence for this book are the points the authors make in putting to rest, the "cursed" theory and many other false misconceptions of the organization. It is a tremendous book and is a must read for any diehard Red Sox fan. Hell, it's a must read for anyone who wants to read a good tearjerker...

For fans wanting some reading during the next 6 months, I can recommend the brand new title RED SOX CENTURY. There have been a lot books over the years which were histories of the Red Sox, but I believe this one is clearly the best. It's a hefty 473 large pages, and very comprehensive. Exhaustive, even.

There are a lot of photographs included. The book is written by Glenn Stout and Dick Johnson, noted for their collaborations on books about Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Jackie Robinson. This will be my standard reference book, but it's also a book with opinions.

RED SOX CENTURY questions a few long-held beliefs, and fears not treading on sacred Yawkey toes. It goes further than any other book to suggest that Tom Yawkey, more than any other person, held the team back from success. Yawkey ownership clearly dominated Red Sox history, spanning from 1934 until the present, in one form or another. Noting that the Red Sox have so very often been one or two players short, the competition (frequently the Yankees) rarely are. The ultimate goal is, of course, a world championship. The "commitment of the franchise to this goal has not matched the devotion of their fans."

Tom Yawkey was one of the wealthiest men of his time, far wealthier than I had ever realized (the authors calculate the money he inherited in 1933 as being equivalent to somewhere between 4 1/2 and 7 billion dollars today.) His lineage is traced back to Johann Georg Jaky, who came to the new world from Germany in 1736. From time to time, Tom Yawkey paid a lot of money for specific players. The purchase price for Joe Cronin was an unheard of $250,000. Sounds like a lot, but Stout and Johnson translate that into 1999 dollars and the equivalent today would be a staggering $37.5 million! Anyone think we could pry loose a player or two from the competition with an outright cash purchase price of $37.5 million?

Yet Yawkey never quite achieved what he could have. Oftentimes, he was out of Boston for months at a time in mid-season. He had a private side - even his own GM Dick O'Connell had no idea that Yawkey had a daughter Julia, adopted by Tom and his first wife Elise. RED SOX CENTURY makes the case that Yawkey never made the moves he could and should have made to see the Red Sox triumph. The refrain is that he held the team back.

While Yawkey is lionized in Boston, Harry Frazee has always been held in contempt. After all, this is the former Sox owner who sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees - and gave them the mortgage on Fenway Park as well. The legend has it that Frazee was forced to sell the Bambino to finance losses caused by gearing up to present the Broadway show NO NO NANETTE. Stout and Johnson make a persuasive case for Frazee fighting for right against the machinations of Ban Johnson in the early days of the American League, and losing out in that struggle. Frazee was hardly broke, though. He died a very, very wealthy man. Frazee was a successful promoter who staged several successful efforts between the sale of Ruth and the opening of NO NO NANETTE.

There are quite a few interesting side notes found throughout the text. In the early Twenties, there was more Boston-area enthusiasm for the Twilight League, which could draw 20,000 fans to Hoyt Field in Cambridge - more than either the Red Sox or the Braves could attract. The level of play was often higher in such leagues, for semipro players could often earn more than major leaguers in this era - and thus often attracted higher quality players.

One amusing line caught my fancy. Discussing why Joe Morgan was replaced as manager by Butch Hobson, they write of the Sox ownership of the period, "They couldn't fire each other, so they fired Joe Morgan...."

There are very few errors that I noted - misspellings such as Elden Auker, Ted Williams' mother May Venzor and Johnny Pesky's birth name, Paveskovich - and a few very minor errors of fact, such as the idea that Pesky had been taken under the wing of former major leaguer Carl Mays (Pesky spent a few days at a camp Mays ran.) These errors are very minor indeed and in no way detract from a masterful job. I do highly recommend this solid, comprehensive work.

-- Bill Nowlin, co-author TED WILLIAMS: A TRIBUTE; FENWAY SAVED; TALES FROM THE RED SOX DUGOUT

As an avid reader of medical mystery/thrillers, ELIXIR rates at the top of my favorites list. Long after memories of other novels I've read have faded, this book will continue to make a lasting impression on me. The concept of longevity is endlessly fascinating, and Gary Braver presents thought-provoking questions surrounding the ethics versus practical aspects of this issue. The reader finds himself/herself immersed in the action-oriented plot, in which the central character handles the implications of his potentially dangerous discovery in a sensitive and realistic way. What helped to set this novel apart from others I have read is the skillful manor in which the author involves the reader in the riveting drama and makes it impossible for him/her to avoid imagining himself/herself dealing with the same fates as the characters. The surprising twist at the end of the book prompted me to do some inner-self searching about my values regarding the length and quality of my own life.

ELIXIR has all the elements of a superb read: an edge-of-your-seat plot, nonstop action, mystery, romance, and sensitive portrayal of realistic characters, with the added fascination of imagining... "what if this could really happen?! " "Would I want it to?!"

I look forward to Gary Braver's next novel, and hope he continues to contribute his high quality writing for years to come.

Elixir is one of those books you just can't put down, literally or figuratively. It's not only great fun to read, but it also contains just the right amount of thought-provoking issues to keep your gray matter cooking.
This fast-paced, well-written tale takes unexpected turns and really does keep you on the edge of your seat (or bed, as I do much of my reading late at night). It plays into one of our most intimate realities -- the fact that we won't live forever, the fact that we will all die, and probably sooner than we'd like to.
I want to live for a long, long time, and I want to be healthy while I'm alive. But, what if it really is possible? What if I'm the only one? What if I'm one of a select few? Who chooses who lives? What happens to everyone else? What happens when the secret's out?
In these times of genetic engineering and medical advances, we're all facing increasingly difficult moral and practical issues. Elixir takes some of these issues and puts the reader in the driver's seat. Gary Braver is a great find -- I can't wait for his next work, and I'll snatch it up as soon as I can!
p.s. I've just started reading Rough Beast, written before Elixir by Gary Goshgarian (aka Gary Braver), and so far it's every bit as gripping as Elixir, although a bit more scary.

As an Active (voting) member of the Science Fiction Writers of America I have the privilege of receiving word of new books on the market I might otherwise miss. A postcard announcing the publication of ELIXIR by Gary Braver arrived in my mailbox about a month ago. Intrigued with the idea of a drug for eternal youth (who isn't! ) I decided to order a copy. What a wonderful surprise to escape the mundane world of editorial deadlines and publishing meetings within my own life and fall into such an exciting world created by author Gary Braver. When I discovered that Gary Braver is a pseudonym for Gary Goshgarian, I was not surprised at all. I have loved Mr. Goshgarian's other books as well, especially THE STONE CIRCLE and the out-of-print ATLANTIS FIRE (which I was able to get hold of through a rare-book search). I wish the publisher would allow Mr. Goshgarian to use his real name from now on so I become aware of his new works a little sooner!