"The Serpent's Coil" is a companion book to "Grey Seas Under" and continues the story of ocean-going salvage tug operations in the Atlantic. "Grey Seas Under" chronicled the adventures of the tugboat 'Foundation Franklin' before and during World War II. "The Serpent's Coil" takes place after the war and tells the tale of ships battered by the consuming fury of not one but three hurricanes (the "serpent's coil" of the title) in the autumn of 1948.

The author blends mystery, life-and-death adventure, and humor in his tale of rescue and salvage operations on 'the Great Western Ocean.' The mystery centers around the disappearance of so many ex-wartime Liberty freighters in mid-ocean. Most of them were in ballast when they vanished, and it was assumed but never proven that shifting ballast caused the freighters to turn turtle and sink so rapidly that no message could be transmitted on the 'how' or 'why' of their plight.

'Leicester' was an ex-Liberty freighter fitted out in peace-time rig, newly under the command of Captain Hamish Lawson. He met his ship for the first time while she was taking ballast---"a sludge of sand and gravel dredged from the bottom of the [Thames]"---in preparation for a voyage to New York. Lawson had originally been scheduled to take command of another ex-Liberty freighter (called Sam-ships by the sailors, because they were built for the wartime Lend Lease program by 'Uncle Sam'), but the 'Samkey' had disappeared on route to Cuba. "'Leicester' was the twin sister to 'Samkey'; built in the same yards, to the identical design. The only difference was that she was younger by a year..."

Captain Lawson's freighter was halfway between Ireland and Nova Scotia on the Great Circle route to New York when the first storm struck. 'Leicester' rolled more than her Master liked, but she weathered the gale easily enough. His main worry was the ship's malfunctioning radio, without which he couldn't receive weather reports or transmit his own position. The Atlantic was not a good place to be in the middle of the hurricane season, without a radio.

Sure enough on the morning of September 14th, the crew of the 'Leicester' found themselves sailing under another threatening sky:

"Lawson watched the ominous black arch [of the hurricane bar] for a quarter of an hour, and even during this short interval it seemed to grow, humping up from the horizon, spreading east and west. Above it, and around the hemisphere of sky, the high clouds were thickening, growing more opaque. A light, aimless breeze that seemed to come erratically from every point of the compass had begun to play about the ship. Lawson noticed that there were no gulls or other seabirds anywhere in sight."

The Sam-ship tried to dodge the hurricane, but it was much too late for such maneuvers. Within the hour, 'Leicester' found herself enmeshed in the roaring hell of "The Serpent's Coil."

Mowat certainly knows how to tell a suspenseful sea story! The rest of his book describes the travails of 'Leicester' as she founders but does not sink amidst the coils of the first hurricane. Her adventures afterward are entwined with those of the salvage and rescue tugs, 'Foundation Lillian' and 'Foundation Josephine,' plus another, even more savage hurricane that struck while the Sam-ship lay helplessly at what was supposed to be a safe mooring.

"The Serpent's Coil" and its even more exciting companion, "Grey Seas Under" are gripping testaments to the daring and skill of Canada's master seamen. Even the sections of these books that were strictly concerned with salvage operations kept me reading ahead at full steam.

The Etichs telled to a teen-ager with fairness and honesty.
A book that leaves the last word to a son who grows up.
A book to read, to discuss, to share with a son.
A must read for all the sons, parents, teachers and educators.

But Micki Lane is not the victim type. She acknowledges that the peril exists, but refuses to succumb to it. She is able, and willing, to do whatever it takes to see the mystery through and get to the bottom of these strange murders.As a chemist, she participates in the gathering of forensic evidence. Incidentally, these passages offer a fascinating, and unique, touch, to this legal thriller. As a lawyer, she understands the legal implications to those involved and is perfectly capable of protecting her own legal interests and those of her friends and colleagues. She can also just pull a pistol out of her purse and use it when necessary.

Still, returning to a life left behind long ago holds other dangers for Micki, whose husband and young son are away for the summer. Not to her safety, but to her sense of personal security. Old flame Roy, an undercover cop working on the case, re-enters her life and intrudes on her comfort zone. Her re-emerging feelings for him confound her, disturb her and affect her judgment. Sexual tension runs high, and continues to build, pretty much commensurate with the level of suspense surrounding the question of who exactly is behind these murders.

And, is Micki next?

Micki is a fascinating, complex character. Strong, brilliant and profane, you'd feel safe if she were your lawyer. Genuine, loyal and unpretentious, you'd also love for her to be your friend. She is sometimes afraid, although the fear never conquers or debilitates her. But, like all of us, Micki is flawed, and she may surprise you at times. The really smart, and the really talented, are always like that.

You probably won't figure out the denouement very early into this novel. And that's the beauty of it. You probably won't want to put it down until you finally get there, either.

And I like Micki's loyalty to her women friends. She may be drop-dead gorgeous, but she doesn't view other women as competitors, and seems perfectly happy to go off with a girlfriend for the weekend to shop for antiques.

Dallari Landry is knowledgeable about forensics and the nitty-gritty of running a law practice. The legal community is a small world, and Landry gives us the full flavor of the back-scratching and back-stabbing that goes on in that world. By the time this story winds down, you will understand the irony behind Landry's title, that bayou privilege.

Secondary characters are equally complex and interesting, especially the women: Anna, who slaves away in the crime lab and remains loyal in spite of evidence implicating her boss. Joan, the comically frightened psychologist. Sherry, the legal secretary who could probably run the office just fine without her boss. And then there's LeRoy, the old flame, who looks too damn good to a woman whose husband has been out of town for a while.

Like most lawyers, Micki knows how to use the language. Her profanity is casual, inventive, and evokes the bayou country where she was raised. The best heroines are not the ones who are strong all the time, but the ones who proceed in spite of their fears. Micki is bedeviled as much by phantoms in her own head as those that come out of the bizarre case she helps to solve. Let lesser heroines lay their heads on their pillows and enjoy dreamless sleep. Micki does not sleep that well.

The case that draws Micki, Roy, and Anna back together is an old one they worked a dozen years earlier. Rather than fading away, this murder case has festered. There is greed, official misconduct, and even suspicion among the friends. At the heart of the case is a crumbling antebellum mansion in the bayou, where the forensics experts have a field day gathering evidence.

This is Landry's first novel, and sometimes the material threatens to slide out of her control, but ultimately she will win you over with the energy of her writing, her compassion for her characters, and your suspicion that Michelle "Micki" Lane owes a lot to her creator. It is no coincidence that Landry possesses the same forensic and legal skills she gives her character.

If you love legal thrillers, realistic forensic details, and you're sick and tired of having it dished up from a male perspective, give THE BAYOU PRIVILEGE a try. I can hardly wait for the next installment of the complicated Micki Lane.

This slim book contains his discourse on "Christian Liberty," that is, the relationship to faith and works. All the hearsay finally dies with this book, since you hear Luther's own words on the matter.

He asserts that Christian Liberty is paradoxical, that the Christian is a perfectly free lord to all, but also a perfectly dutiful servant, subject to all. This paradox comes because of man dual nature: spirit and element. His main point is that by the Atonement, we all become free, but because of the atonement, we have an obligation to serve other people in chaity.

I like this edition. The translation is actually a translation, and Mr. Grimm block the text into paragraphs for easier reading. Moreover, he provides the scriptural references that Luther merely alludes to. Thus, the book becomes lecture notes for our review and pondering.

The cover illustration is eye-catching. It shows Luther taking his stand before some potentate. It reflects the energy that you feel in the words, the drive that empowered a man to shake all of Europe. It shows the energy that drove this man to liberty.

This slim book contains his discourse on "Christian Liberty," that is, the relationship to faith and works. All the hearsay finally dies with this book, since you hear Luther's own words on the matter.

He asserts that Christian Liberty is paradoxical, that the Christian is a perfectly free lord to all, but also a perfectly dutiful servant, subject to all. This paradox comes because of man dual nature: spirit and element. His main point is that by the Atonement, we all become free, but because of the atonement, we have an obligation to serve other people in chaity.

I like this edition. The translation is actually a translation, and Mr. Grimm block the text into paragraphs for easier reading. Moreover, he provides the scriptural references that Luther merely alludes to. Thus, the book becomes lecture notes for our review and pondering.

The cover illustration is eye-catching. It shows Luther taking his stand before some potentate. It reflects the energy that you feel in the words, the drive that empowered a man to shake all of Europe. It shows the energy that drove this man to liberty.

To my surprise and delight, I learned - despite the book's less-than-enticing title unless you happen to hail from East Liberty - that this fellow Bathanti is a wonderful writer, far more readable than many of the big names who have managed to secure the services of mammoth marketing machines. My concern now is that his book won't receive the kind of publicity and marketing it deserves.

Joseph Bathanti's anecdotes about growing up fatherless in a working class Italian family are authentic and affecting. But it is his skilled use of language that impresses. During an evening of mischief with his own friends and a rival group, the young narrator finds himself the victim of a ricocheting rock. He doesn't know at first that he's been wounded but eventually feels "the warm scarf of blood on my bare neck." When an ambulance comes to haul off a neighbor felled by a heart attack, he says, "It's red lights spray my bedroom with what looks like blood and fire."

East Liberty is a story of struggle and love, hope and survival, in a blue collar, multi-ethnic neighborhood. And although it is presented as a novel, it reads like an autobiography. If that is not the case, Bathanti's powers of description have convinced me otherwise. There are incidents in East Liberty that will make you laugh out loud and that will resonate with your own experiences, but the stories of his hardworking mother, his stern and culturally eccentric immigrant grandparents, and multi-cultural neighborhood influences are haunting and bring back memories of the "good old days" that were not necessarily so good.

Author Pula complained that in an era when "Irish need not apply," Poles and other Eastern Europeans suffered far worse prejudice. Despite their bloodletting heroism and important battlefield victories -- e.g., the Krzyzanowski Brigade secured Gen. Pope's army at Second Bull Run, and also saved Washington, D.C. from Gen. Robert E. Lee -- The New York Times gave them undeserved, and inaccurate, bad press. That is until after the North's Gettysburg victory, when Krzyzanowski's 11th Corps was hailed as great American heroes.

As for famous Polish-Americans, we must add Pat Benator (Patricia Andrejewski), Jack Benny (Benjamin Kubelsky), Charles Bronson (Charles Buchinski), Mel Brooks (Melvin Kaminsky), Danny Kaye (David Kaminsky), Ted Knight (Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka), Walter Matthau (Walter Matuschanskayasky), Jack Palance (Walter Palanuik), and Stefanie Powers (Stefania Federkiewicz).

A delightful book which reveals the truth of Polish heroism. This book will become a collector's item, I think, once the significance of Krzyzanowski's life overcomes national prejudice (no, the Poles AREN'T Russians). His one-star generalship was stalled in Congress, because our enlightened politicians couldn't pronounce his name. Krzyzanowski and his brigade, without question, deserve a shining gold pavilion in America's Valhalla.

Wladimir Krzyzanowski emigrated to America during Poland's Parition Period, when Austria, Prussia, and Russia divided up the country. First cousin of composer Fredric Chopin, Wladimir arrived in New York City with little money and unable to speak English. Yet through diligence and a strong faith in freedom and America, he became a civil engineer, public speaker, businessman, and Union Army General.

He protected President Lincoln in the White House Guard, and through his many public speaking engagements raised thousands of Civil War volunteers in both New York State and the District of Columbia. Most importantly, as commander of the 58th New York Infantry, he prevented Gen. Robert E. Lee's capture of Washington, D.C. In his highest post as commander of 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 11th Army Corps, he was bestowed the rank of Brigadier General by Congress.

In 1937, fifty years after his death, his remains were moved from New York State to Arlington National Cemetery. During the service, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a radio broadcast eulogizing Gen. Wladimir Krzyzanowski and the Polish-American heritage.

Historially, famous Poles have included Copernicus, Fredric Chopin, Marie Curie, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Casimir Pulaski, and Jack Benny. Millions of Polish-Americans have anglicized their names, thus sadly concealing their true heritage. Pula's original name, I've been told, was Pulaski.

Pula's recent book, "Thaddeus Kosciuszko: The Purest Son of Liberty," is well worth buying. So too, of course, is this excellent 1978 book on Wladimir Krzyzanowski. This hard to find book became distinguished as the Winner of the Kosciuszko Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Award.

Also, I felt the pain of the characters as they lost precious things to the vampire as the novel progresses.
This novel is definitely worth reading.