This haunting mystery has to be The Great American Novel. I see echoes of Faulkner, Hemingway, McCullers, Kesey, Warren, Rawlings, etc. The author, R. E. Mather, is one of the best writers of our times, and as a personal acquaintance of the characters involved, she gives special insights into these unsolved suicides or murders. This mystifying story of small-town life during World War II will remain in my memory for a long, long time.

Once I read the first page of this mystery novel, I was hooked, couldn't let it go till I finished. It's unusual for an engrossing mystery to also recreate an accurate picture of a fascinating historical era, in this instance World War II. Mather's style of writing and the honesty of the content remind me of Hemingway. I'd be willing to bet I know the remote little town that is the setting of these murders, or possible suicides, because every colorful detail rings true.

A great read for mystery fans. I could not put the book down. But in one way this book is different than most mystery novels. I felt a strong emotional connection to the main characters. To me, the losses suffered by the Lincoln family were symbolic of the loss of the American family.

This book was simply wonderful. I did not think that it was just a book for ages 9-12, I think that older kids will like it too. It deals not only with kid stuff, but in its own way some adult matters like racism and being overly-protective. The story had me hooked. I couldn't put it down! I just kept reading and reading page after page. The charactors are so real. It was like I met them while reading it! It is a REALLY good book, I enjoyed it thoroughly, cover to cover. I hope this review makes you want to read this book too. I really liked it!

I think this book is fantastic. You should read this book.

This is the type of book that you cannot put down, so find a cozy corner and curl up with a copy! You'll find the descriptions so vivid that you are easily drawn into the story and become an active participant in the action. The author obviously did her homework in historical research, and the reader will gain much insight into the world of our Native Americans at a difficult time in their history. Enjoy!

Captivating. Simply, captivating. If any novel needs to be made into a movie, this would be it. The story is strong, fast paced and even historically accurate. The imagery and the characters are so 'alive' you cannot help but to keep reading. I anxiously await the next title this author puts out. I would be sorely surprised if this did not become a best seller. Well done.

I found I couldn't put this book down. The action is fast paced, and the plot and characters fully fleshed out. Great imagery abounds. Amazing insight into the lives of the Apache. Very enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

I am a 14 year old male. I needed to read an easy short book in one week for school, so I picked up this piece of [junk]. This book revolves around a "normal, average, every-day" girl (like we need another one of THEM). She and her friend experience an earthquake. Big deal. This was pure torture trying to get through this garbage. As if us teenagers don't get stereotyped enough, this author describes a "cool" teenager as the head-phone-wearing, couch-potato, MTV-loving punk. I laughed out loud. Joe Cottonwood, the [person] that wrote this, is horrible at dialogue. He describes teenagers talking: "Like Totally for sure whatever!" Does he even have kids!? I don't mean to be a little wise-[butt], but I think I could write better sub-plots. I'm a writer, and this book actually inspired me more. If there are novels out there that are this bad.. I could write an Epic! Compare this to someone like Harper Lee.. it's kind of funny. But in the more younger category, this one ranks way below Lois Sachar. This guy tries to be descriptive, like he knows he's good. Sometimes it's okay. But mostly it just makes you want to slap some sense into him. He needs to learn how to build better characters. Too plain, and too original. This is coming out of a 14 year old too.. so does this tell the author something?

This book is about two former friends who see each other for the first time in a long time. Their parents are going to the world series together. While they are visiting there is a massive earthquake. What will happen?

I liked this book because of the intense description. Another reason is because of the plot of the story. My favorite character was Sydney because he acts just like a little boy should. He likes bllod, guts, and war movies. The best part of the book was when the earthquake hit. The reason is because the author made it very real. It made you feel like it happened to you. The ending is disappointing because I wanted something else to happened.

This is the best book for all ages to relive the disastrous Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. As you read this book or any of Cottonwood's novels it easy to bond and relate with the characters. This book makes you feel like you are living out the disaster with the family. A must read!

Adventures of Boone Barnaby is a classic for boys and girls alike. Boone and his friends trying to raise money for the their soccer team to go to the champianship by holding a Trashathon was the funniest part. The quick whit of the characters and the creative twist of events left my class wondering if it was wrong to think unkindly about the old miser in the story. A great tool for discussions about fairness, truth, and justice. I read this to my sixth graders and they ALL recommended it to the fifth grade class!

As a native of the Bayou State, there are many people (and kinds of people) I recognize in this book. Too bad it's out of print, yet Amazon.Com found it for me.

Raymond Strother did a great job of capturing the world he knows very well - having experienced it first hand - of Louisiana politics.

An easy, and enjoyable read.

This book is a delighful overview of Mr Adams' years of photographing cotton woods. The book, part of a larger series by the publishers is not as well printed as it could be, most of the other books in the series have been wonderfully reproduced. This book however I feel lets Mr Adams down slightly in it's quality of printing. The quiet poetics of Mr Adams' work is still apparent - if you know of him and his work already - first time readers of his images however may find it difficult to understand him and his work based on this book alone. Still this is a small [inexpensive] book which would be good to keep on the shelves to show students for example.

By day, Cottonwood Hall was an eerie, whispering monument to dread. By night, terror took shape and walked the dark hallways of the psychiatric rest home housed in an antebellum mansion... and frightened the unlucky to death. Nurse Amanda Matthews worried that her patients weren't getting well. Instead, they were mysteriously dying. Beneath the moaning cottonwoods, there was only one man she could trust. Only Dr. Len Percy had the strength to share the dreadful secret of Cottonwood Hall. A good read! In the style of Mary Higgins Clark, you will never guess the ending!

Joe Cottonwood's "Famous Potatoes" is an "on-the-road" story uneasily weded to mystical elements more at home in a Richard Brautigan novel. Vietnam vet Willy Middlebrook is framed for a murder he didn't commit and becomes a fugitive forced to explore the bright and dark sides of human nature in the seedier parts of America's cities. Middlebrook sinks into the faceless society that America has become. Middlebrook efforts to escape the authorities reveals the kindness of those who aid him and the ugliness of those who thwart him or just view him indifferently.

This would have been a good novel reflecting the anger and frustration of the post-war 1970s, but Cottonwood disrupts the flow at times with ghostly encounters that muddy the narrative. Even taking that shortcoming into consideration, this book will make you think. Cottonwood has a gift for story telling and for capturing America's mood in the early 1970s.