The novel traces the unprincipled efforts of Jonathan
Cartright to rise to the top of a small, respected machine
tool company located in the industrial mid-west. Obsessed
by his need to succeed, he becomes completely unhinged both
morally and ethically as he schemes and plots to get ahead.
His wife, his friends, his employers are all cut down by his
single-minded struggle. Eventually he reaches his goal.
But soon afterwards he finds himself on the garbage heap of
failure, a fitting reward for running over everybody in his
way. Slowly he realizes the enormity of the carnage that he
created and the absurdity of unbridled ambition. At the
novel's end he has taken a few hesitant steps towards
building a new life from the rubble of the old.

Up the corporate ladder: who wins? who loses? You may not decide until the last pages of "A Chase After Wind", a tough, smart first novel about American business and the men and women who manipulate and are manipulated by its ephemeral promise and their own vanity. Jonathan Cartwright, its frustrated anti-hero, has a wife, two children, and a middle-management job in a big corporation. He comes to believe he has the chops to run the company and discovers he is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. In his upwardly mobile campaing--and Mr. Craig, a former executive with a large corporation, writes expertly in the language of the board room, water cooler, and after-hours conferences over a few drinks--Jonathan is encouraged by shadowy characters who have much to gain if he wins. He makes his bold bid. but caught in the process are his wife, his best friend, and the beautiful woman he falls in love with. As the game of high-level office politics continues, he becomes more of a pawn and less his own hero. But suddenly and startingly, the reader is left to reflect on a way of life that can tear down even as it lifts up. Mr. Craig has written a fascinating, challenging--and uncomfortable--American story.

This thoroughly enjoyable book tells the story of a young man sacrificing integrity in the interests of ambition and greed. What makes the book especially interesting is the way it captures the world of corporate business with its atmosphere of conflict and competition; a character study of the psychological pressures involved in "getting ahead". A very readable book.

This is the first book I've picked up by Dean Koontz and I love his command of the English language. He has such a wonderful way of explaining things and illuminating certain details. His writing skills really impressed me.

This had the potential of a five star story but fell short in a few areas. The biggest one was his characters. While you learn to understand the motivations of the main character, Benjamin Chase, a war hero with a past that he is not particularly proud of, the rest of the characters just don't make any sense to me.

For instance, we have a homicide detective who has 1) the ring of the killer, which is a BIG clue that should lead right to the killer, and 2) somebody claiming to be in contact with the killer. He can't figure nor seems to do anything with the vital clue (#1). He also ignores Ben (#2). The detective believes Ben originally, but gives up on him too easily and on such false pretenses. I can almost understand taking the cop/guard but he could have left the phone tap behind so Ben could record the incoming calls. Was it being put to use elsewhere? I doubt it.

It seems like the murder victim had some lousy friends. His "lover" couldn't care less he had died or that she, too, had witness something utterly horrifying. She was shocked at first, but recovered quickly. A little too quickly. In fact, a lot too quickly. The best friend also doesn't care because, hey, we all die anyways. I don't know, I think most teenagers would have a little bit more reflection on their own immortality.

And then there is the shrink... WHERE TO BEGIN???? I'll leave it at that.

And I can't go over the victim's parents without giving too much of the story away, but there that doesn't add up either.

Ben also picks up a love interest during the course of this story. This story would be better without even mentioning her. It added to the story's disbelief.

The basic plot of the story started off good. There is a psychopath who wants to execute others for their sins. Okay, that is fairly believable. But then at the end you find out the true motivation of the killer. Oh, boy. Boy, oh boy, oh boy. I won't give it away, but he should have stuck with the original idea.

I will probably give the author another shot sometime in the future. As I stated, his writing ability is wonderful. Hopefully other stories are a little bit more thought out and more believable.

I liked 'Chase.' It was read quite well by the narrator and you do start to feel much empathy for Ben Chase, who is a young, struggling Vietnam hero who is feeling anything but heroic. As Ben drinks whiskey and eats apples in the solitary of his apartment day by day, the reader is right there with him, sipping along, staring at the bare, white walls of his drab one-room studio apartment. He is miserably content in his solitude, only venturing out to see his psychiatrist. But then he witnesses the murder of a young man, and his protective shell begins to be chipped away -- and not always by the right people and circumstances. The true identity of the stalker/murderer is hidden well throughout the book; I did not begin to figure it out until toward the end. Another plus to this book is that Ben Chase is a modern, Shakespearan tragic hero with an evolving tragic flaw that the reader discovers as the book goes along.

On a negative note for 'Chase,' I felt Ben's love interest needed more character development; it's like she's just thrown in there suddenly. The book goes rather slow at times, and I found myself wondering if an abridged version might have been better. Also, this might just be a personal thing, but I had different expectations for what type of person the killer would be, so it was a strange ending and resolution at the end for me. But perhaps that adds to the mystique of the book, and you yourself might like that.

Now, as for the short story, "Down in the Darkness," I loved it so much that I listened to it twice so I, the second time around, could hear those subtley wound clues a virgin listen may have missed. The story from the very beginning grabs your attention and holds on tight until the end. Just what is the story behind the disappearing cellar in this new house? And what is down there? These are the questions you'll be urgently asking yourself as you explore the cellar with 'Jes.' The sights, smells and anxious but curious horror that Jes feels truly come to life. And the end will lead you on a path of self-introspection that makes you question your own motives and feelings at times. This short story is a concise work of art -- not too long, not too short -- your daily dose of Koontz at his best. Needless to say, I highly recommend it, and while I give 'Chase' a 4, I give this short story a 5++!

Dean Koontz is the best writer on earth, I have all his books and I read them over and over

A fun novel, recommended to me by Bob Gore, who knew that I liked pirates (especially as seen in Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides). Bob said that Chase the Morning wasn't as good, and he was right, but it was still worth reading, and worth examining to discover why it isn't as good.

First off, the story. Steve's a hollow young urban professional in some modern European city in which the residents speak English, visit pubs, drive nifty sports cars fast, and engage in shipping and receiving. Steve decides to chase a whim one night and finds himself rescuing a dimunitive fellow from the intent of three dark fiends. No fantasy involved however. The dimunitive fellow is just a short guy, and the fiends are simple muggers. Wrong. These people were using swords. Steve tries to shrug off the incident, although it is the most exciting thing that has happened to him in quite a long time. And he can't quite forget it, and finds himself again down by the shipyard. In no time, he finds himself involved completely, as he again saves the short guy's life, watches some kind of voodoo creature escape from a bail of hay, and then has his secretary abducted by the fiends (the "wolves").

It's not On Stranger Tides or A.A. Attanasio's Wyvern. There is a real sense of two different worlds colliding in Chase the Morning, rather than some alternate world (On Stranger Tides) or some new world that strangely resembles our own, but is consistent within itself (Wyvern). Chase the Morning is a fantasy novel in which someone from the real world finds fantastical things happening to them. This can be okay, except most readers are so familiar with the genre (which ranges from C.S. Lewis' "Narnia," to Stephen R. Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant"), that the new author should know what's been done. Rohan seems somewhat attune to the genre, but I think it's obvious that he missed the Donaldson books in particular, and that his work suffers from it. In fact, trying to compare Chase the Morning with Lord Foul's Bain better brings out the problems with Rohan's book than trying to compare it with Powers, in which the only things really shared there is an idea of a milieu. That's because Steve is supposed to be an anti-hero, like Donaldson's Thomas Covenant. It's tough to write a story in which your main protagonist is an anti-hero, because a reader's first inclination is to identify with the protagonist of the story, especially in a field like fantasy, where the hero is often a thinly veiled wish fulfillment character of the reader (see Orson Scott Card's widely successful "Ender" books for the clearest recent example of the same). Covenant works because he is an intensely unlikeable character; he is often so intensely unliked that readers can't make it through the first part of Lord Foul's Bain because they can't, and don't want to try to, understand Covenant. Donaldson overcomes the problem by allowing minor characters to become personifications of the reader: the mother of the girl he rapes in the third chapter (and who knows of his atrocity) takes Covenant to the lords not because of what he could mean to "the Land" but because she hopes that they will be able to punish him (which she is unable to do because of his "power") or because she hopes that something good can become of his evil deed (that the lords can use him to save the Land). This is complex stuff for a fantasy novel.

Rohan's Steve, on the other hand, is a likable character. Oh, sure, he's described as hollow, but I think most readers wouldn't necessarily find that a damning description. Steve's unlikable traits are always described (told) to the reader; when the action gets going, Steve's always doing the heroic thing (shown). The reader translates this as Steve's the hero, so when the plot rolls around to using the fact that Steve's a dweeb who is worthless as a human, the reader's inclination is to say, "What?" So Chase the Morning is a flawed book. Rohan is someone with potential, though, because he realized that without the anti-hero idea, his novel was just another rehash of the same ol' dropping the modern character in the fantasy world. That is, Rohan is at least trying to go beyond formula, and while he fails, one should applaud the effort.

What I liked about this story is Rohan creates a concept that has so many possibilities that he could write and endless series of books off it(here he has written 4 so far). I didn't know what to expect next in the story because it was totally different then any other fantasy I've ever read. Highly recommend though I would have rated it higher if it was easier to get a hold of the complete series here in the United States. I would more highly recommend his Winter of the World series, but this is definitely a great read too.

If you can get hold of this book, do. Rohan manages the difficult 'crossing of the line' between the real world and Fantasy with consumate skill. His wordsmithing is superb when it comes to crafting an 'almost visible' fantasy world. The book takes the reader into a world of tall ships and then into the blood and passion soaked heart of the 16th century Caribbean - and then into the heart of voodoo. The characters - such as Gyp the pilot and Mad Mall are vibrant. I loved it. The plot twists and shakes and allows us windows into the frailties which make us human. Yet it is a triumphal book. It's time it was reprinted.

The shorter tales are good but are really like imperfect sketches made in study for the grand finale piece Death in Venice. Most of the tales deal with sensual longing which is never satisfied or consummated and that gets a bit tiring unless you see the sensual longing representing some higher longing as well, the sensual longing perhaps being one in the same with spiritual and artistic longing. That way you are more in the frame of mind to see that Death in Venice is not just about an older mans lust for a younger man but a prolonged meditation about time and art and all those highly valued goods. I have to confess I get tired of Mann pretty quick because he dwells on the same themes over and over again but if you are a student of fiction he really is one of those writers who has much to teach. Still it sometimes seems to me that Mann's characters would be better off if they occasionally just went ahead and did it. That may sound to be an awful oversimplification but I think they would feel better and their already instable identities and worlds would not constantly be shaken to the ground by those too long suppressed desires. As for the spirit and artistic sense, they too would be happier, much more contented, with the occasional release and renewal of energies, a bit of fleshen contact would connect them to something more real than their "thoughts" about things. Anyway if you haven't already read Death in Venice you are lucky because it is a great read, though a strange and sometimes disturbed one. If you like your main characters made of more earthy substance than Mann's suffering spirits read D.H. Lawrence who also loved Italy by the way and who contemplated time and art in a much more relaxed manner.

This collection of Thomas Mann's early short works presents one of the greatest authors of the 20th Century in an expert and fluent translation, unbowdlerized.The title story, Death in Venice, is an example of lush late Romanticism in its most extravagent and vivid form. Mann, as always, dramatizes the tension between the bourgeois life of strict propriety, symbolized by the renowned Gustav Aschenbach, the protagonist, a literary titan specializing in learned tomes, and the seductions of art and beauty as symbolized by Venice and Tadzio, the focus of Aschenbach's fatal obsession. Some might find the description of the dissolution and its content as repugnant. But if you allow yourself to visualize the words as written and at least allow yourself to feel something of what Aschenbach is feeling, you will be transported outside of yourself strangely and hauntingly .The other stories, including Tonio Kroger, an earlier work that brought Mann great renown after the publication of Buddenbrooks, his first novel, are also wonderful examples of how the tensions of art and life, growing up and thinking affect their main characters. Not to be ignored is the sexual tension that pervades all of Mann's work and is deeply embedded in his consciousness. (I highly recommend Anthony Heilbut's critical biography of Mann for an understanding of the man, his work and the context of German life, literature and history in which it was written.)

Like many German writers, Thomas Mann contained the cancerous seed of anti-semitism, which rears its ugly head in these stories, now and then, and he has a tendency toward pedantry, going on and on in an abstract vein about the strengths and weaknesses of the outsider, the artist, the sensualist, ho-hum. When I was younger, I worshiped his writing, and Buddenbrooks was one of my favorite novels of all time (still is).

Despite my recent and more mature awareness of his weaknesses, he remains a surprising, brilliant writer. His prose style is dynamic and I continue to emulate that. I was amused to find, however, that I liked the lesser known stories. I found "Death In Venice" ponderous. I liked the stories about the incestuous twins, the tragic man who was dwarfed from a childhood fall, the cuckolded buffoon who is talked into wearing a tutu at a community recital and the eccentric who is compelled to continually mutiliate his dog and heal him. Now these are what I would call real "case histories." I'm sure Mann would scorn me for being partial to these, scornfulness being one of his main attitudes in life. His very disdain of pretension, however, seems like a pretension in itself. Still - his command of language is like no other's.

It is just okay.

Being a big fan of the film version of The Paper Chase I was kind of expecting a 1940's book that would flesh out the character of Ford and add some depth to the story but what arrived from Amazon was copyright 1978 and had references to mini skirts, getting high, and a quote about Vietnam War protests.

I enjoyed reading it but it was not nearly as good as the movie. It didn't much new plot developments; maybe 15% of the book consists of new things that are not in the film version of The Paper Chase. For example Hart and Ford are at a diner when a guy runs in, snatches a hamburger from the plate of the people next to them at the counter, runs outside and stands there banging on the window and giving them "the finger". Hart, curious, goes out to talk to the fellow and ends up in a fistfight. One benefit was you could be inside Hart's head and know what he was thinking. Susan is much colder to Hart in the book too.

The movie was a masterpiece. The book (at least the 1978 edition that arrived at my house) will only satisfy true fans of the film, desperate, perhaps, to wring a few more drops out of this great story in the manner that a fan of Star Wars might read "A Splinter In the Mind's Eye" (featuring Luke Skywalker as a character).

I know my hometown library lists, in their online catalog, a 1940 edition of the Paper Chase so surely there's an older version floating around. The one I got from Amazon, with it's references to the 1960's, seems like a modern rewrite of the novel, made expressly for fans of the movie.

It's a good book. "...law is rational, people are not." Without getting into the experience of the tradition, one would never know how much fun is to become part of it. One would only know "...how difficult is to extent the tradition." Enjoy!

The TV series based on this book was well done and I would very much like to read the book itself. Being a retired legal secretary, the series depicted many events in the life of a law student, as told to me by attorneys for whom I worked.

Ames and Harber explore this livley energized challenging time in a child's life and provide insights for parents to guide them through this rollar coaster ride between seven and nine years old. The authors aim to offer parents insight on everything from relationships and family life to routines and birthday parties. Each chapter is rich with observation and empirical and anecdotal data. While you may not always agree with the conclusions the authors reach, credit is easily given to the skill with which they are able to articulate their observations. Your Eight Year Old: Lively and Outgoing is a practical systematic guide to better understanding eight year old behavior.

Having bought "Your 6-Year-Old" and found it terrific, we purchased this book when we were going through some problems with our then 8-year-old. "Your 6-year-old" was extremely helpful to us at the time, giving us lots of tools to deal with the changes our daughter was going through. However, "Your 8-Year-Old" didn't seem to go into as much depth as the 6-year-old one did. The descriptions of various personality traits and development phases seemed more general in this book than in the 6-year-old book. Although it was helpful, we felt that it could have gone into more detail.

I am buying this book because I already own "Your two year old" through "Your six year old" written by the same author. The books I have read by this author are succinct and written in a conversational tone. The insight that I've gained into the developmental/behavioral stages of a child in this series have been great.

I read this after reading Isabella (which is the prequel, and the first book written by Chase - review to follow). THE ENGLISH WITCH is the story of Basil Trevelyan, cousin of the hero in Isabella and also the villain. Chase does something similar to Mary Balogh in her various "series", in that she redeems the villain in this book. So, be warned if you do not like this kind of plot.

The plot is not largely set in Albania, despite what the blurbs and the reviews say. If you do not like exotic locales, avoid this book, even though the Albanian scenes are relatively small.

This book, like the other early books by Chase, is a traditional Regency, which means no explicit sex (by and large) and the hero and the heroine behaving within the documented constraints of the Regency society. [I am beginning to different traditional Regencies from Regency historicals, by whether the hero and heroine adhere to social norms and customs or whether they act on the extremes of said customs and whether they behave and think like Regency people or 20th century people. Length alone is no longer a good judge, nor is explicit lovemaking]. If you love the Regency historicals by Chase, some of which are very very good, you will find this book and others like it more disappointing.

I was delighted by this book, which is hard to find and out of print (I obtained my copy via inter-branch loan at my public library). I also deeply regret that Walker and Avon no longer publish traditional Regencies, since both companies published some of the best works by Chase and Jo Beverley (and some others no longer writing Regency romances).

Now to the plot - Basil Trevelyan, the villain of ISABELLA, has redeemed himself by hard work and some service of a mysterious kind (perhaps spying) to the Crown. He has also managed to make his own fortune with the help of Isabella's aunt. Basil is in Greece when a letter from his aunt asks him to help out a young Englishwoman travelling in Albania with her father and fiance, both archaelogists and historians.

Alexandra has a problem or rather several problems. She is not interested in marrying her fiance, who has been foisted on her to repay her father's debt to said fiance's father. Furthermore, her fiance is completely uninterested in her as a woman. This would be bad enough; things turn worse when his indifference to his fiancee is interpreted by love-struck Albanian males as encouragement to court Alexandra. One such young Albanian in fact carries off Alexandra, intending to make her his wife. This, not unnaturally, upsets his family for several reasons, one being that Alexandra is known as the "English Witch" for her unearthly beauty.

Alexandra is rescued by Basil, who is pretending to be her secret fiance who has been out in the world making his fortune. Using this story, Alexandra persuades her father to delay her forthcoming marriage. When she returns to England, she has few doubts about her continuing problems. First, there is her unworldly and exasperating father's debts. His creditor will not accept repayment of those debts, preferring a marriage to Alexandra (which is to raise his family socially). Secondly, there is the problem that Alexandra's beauty does not mean that she will win honorable offers. In fact, the beautiful Alexandra Ashmore (?) has been plagued in the past by the most dishonourable proposals possible - which was why her father took her off to Albania and arranged her marriage to suit himself.

Basil, naturally, is not immune to the English Witch. Fortunately for Alexandra, the heir to a dukedom catches sight of her and is determined to make her his bride. Definitely honorable. There are of course some minor problems. Firstly, Basil continues his attentions to Alexandra, although more subtly (partly in an old rivalry with Lord Arden, the new suitor; partly because he is really interested in Alexandra). Secondly, Alexandra's father's debt has grown mysteriously, and she is not sure as to whether she can get out of her engagement (her real one, not her pretend one to Basil). Thirdly, the Marquess of Arden is not the most faithful suitor, tending to be distracted by pretty neighbors and the like. And of course, he has his own idealized view of her, which will not distract him from future womanizing. Basil has a dreadful reputation as well, and in fact, had left England in disgrace.

So Alexandra hardly has great choices. She cannot jilt her fiance, because of her father's debt. She feels she should not marry Arden, because he will be an inconsistent husband and one who intends to keep her on a pedestal. And Basil is out of the question, of course.

Who will Alexandra marry? There is a thwarted elopement (which had me in stitches), there is the sister of Lord Arden who feels (perhaps rightly) that he *must* marry Alexandra, if only because he is throwing away his last chance of redemption otherwise. There is Basil's own strange behavior. There is Alexandra's father who is strongly opposed to any match with Basil. There is of course the Debt. And there are all those relations of Isabella who have a bone to pick with Basil (from his behavior in the previous book).

This was a delightful novel. I was rooting at different times for different men, and wondering how Alexandra would find a satisfactory compromise between the needs of her father, social constraints, and her own wish for a stable and successful marriage. At one time, I thought that she had made the wrong choice - but hoped that her husband would turn out satisfactorily. ...I would strongly recommend this book to any lover of Regency romance - and commend it along with KNAVES WAGER (my favorite Chase book) as worthy of inclusion on the all-time best list. If you can, read ISABELLA before this, to understand precisely why Basil was so abhorrent to Alexandra's father and some of his own relations. However, this novel can stand on its own.

This is a wonderful book with fabulous characters. Loretta Chase heroines are wonderful, full of confidence,and intelligent. The English Witch is full of humor, wittiness and great dialog.

The sequel to ISABELLA (which was wonderful) is fabulous. The characters are clearly drawn, the dialogue witty and the prose, as always, is beautiful. I couldn't put this book down. Loretta Chase is one of the best writers in print today.

Originally written in 1939 (and later revised by the author), this gritty crime novel has got a lot of fine elements in a nicely plotted armed robbery turned murder turned kidnapping. Unfortunately, for me there wasn't enough detail in the motivation of characters to make it at all believable (not that I think believability is always necessary); I'm left with the impression that characterization in this book is rendered by a paragraph which says "Criminal A behaves like this because...." Don't get me wrong, even though I just can't help thinking that every character in this novel is utterly s-t-u-p-i-d, it reads really good and is a great time passer that may serve to inform the reader about what Europeans thought about Americans (Chase (one of his pseudonyms) was an Englishman who learned about America from books). What's most interesting to me is how nobody seems to understand the unfortunate Miss Blandish. No review I have ever read gets her right (certainly none of the others on this page, so don't worry 'bout them givin' nothin' away). Is she the victim of a "fate worse than death"? -- whatever that means today -- or is she the victim of something else? Perhaps the spareness of detail here is what makes this novel work. George Orwell thought it was nothing short of "brilliant." What will you think?

James Hadley Chase is the master of crime fiction, not to be confused with mystery, suspense or simple thrillers. He goes deep into his characters makeup and motivation for crime. No Orchids for Miss Blandish is one of his classics about a crime family kidnapping a rich girl for a ransom. However the relationships that develop between the girl and her captives, and the conflict between the family members go beyond a simple crime. Despite reading it several times, and watching the movie, it has not lost its fascination for me, like many of Chase's books. It is a pity that his books are out of print. I read about 50, and there are more I want to buy if I can find them.

Folks - when reviewing books, PUHLEEZE! Don't give information like above - about the main character's suicide. Now why bother to read the book? Ugh

I admire Gayle Wilson very much and have read nearly all of her books and particularly like her historical novels. Despite Wilson's "Prisoner of the Tower" contribution to this anthology, I simply cannot recommend it.

Kasey Michaels was new to me. This will be the last of her books/stories, however, as it was rather one-dimensional peopled with over-drawn and unsympathetic characters in a plot that defied belief. Just for starters, it was never and is not now legal to get married in England on the spur of the moment, without banns or license and in an inn! What was the author thinking of here? Sadly, this effort was juvenile, unpolished and stretched credibility too far for me.

Lyn Stone is also new to me and, again, I won't be seeking out anything further from her either. Her contribution was boring, stilted, contained credulous dialogue and action and the characters had nothing to cause me to give them a second thought. I struggled to finish it.

Gayle Wilson has a certain speciality which her fans will recognise and most probably relish. She creates flawed, imperfect heros who, despite this, are strong alpha men who don't let a disability stand in their way; instead it becomes a positive attraction to them! However, this time in her contribution, she has created a hero who milks his flaw (scarred face) far beyond anything acceptable and thus his actions are really unbelievably silly. If he is meant to be strong and heroic, he certainly does not behave that way. Wilson's "My Darling Echo" contribution to the anthology "Bride by Arrangement" was so superior to this effort that it makes this one quite insipid. Sorry to be so negative about a writer I always enjoy but in all honesty, I don't understand why she allowed this one to get published. It was not at all up to her usual standards.

So, we have a good author's dubious effort here, sandwiched between two totally forgettable stories. The end result - a sandwich not worth tasting. I'm hugely disappointed!

This was one of Gayle's most romantic and tormented hero's. I fell in love! No wonder Gayle is an award winning author! She is able to create characters that will remain with you long after you have finished her story! A recommended read if you love Gayle Wilson!

I have been a long time fan of AWARD winning author Gayle Wilson. I have all of her books and even duplicate copies of my favorites! "Prisoner of the Tower" was a wonderful tale! I was able to read it in one sitting and enjoyed every moment. If you love Gayle Wilson's historical's and love falling in love with her hero's you will love this story. I purchased "The Wedding Chase" because of Gayle Wilson's "Prisoner of the Tower." Her writing never disappoints. If you are an avid fan of Gayle Wilson and appreciate her skill as an award winning published author, you will love this story. Thanks Gayle for another hero for us to fall in love with!

This book is a disappointment in every way. It's not romantic (Claire & Adrian love each other right away and after that the book focuses mostly on the "suspense" part of the plot), it's not suspenseful (we know who the murderer is from the start) and furthermore, it's not even interesting. What it is instead, is REDUNDANT. Not one but TWO different people try to frame Adrian for murder and of course, Claire manages to get taken hostage by both bad guys, and so needs to be rescued not once, but twice. This book is boring, boring, boring. I had to skim the last third, I just couldn't slog through to the very end. Too bad I paid full price for it.

I love both romance and suspense--Heart of Night manages to satisfy both cravings. It's a little like "La Femme Nikita" set in Elizabethan England. The hero is mysterious and appealing and has lots of wonderful dark shadows in his past, and it's great to watch him as he wrestles his demons. The heroine is vulnerable but strong and gutsy and balances him wonderfully. And the suspense is *scary*!

Great setting, richly realized, also. If you like literate, well-crafted romance with plenty of action and strong emotion, I can absolutely recommend Heart of Night.

It's not often a psychic hero is drawn believably. Adrian, so empathic that just to be touched is to be plunged into someone else's soul, is a rare, exciting exception. His internal torment gives him a delicious vulnerability! Claire has her own pain and self-doubts, is vulnerable too, yet never wimpy. The Elizabethan feel of the story convinced me, the writing is magical and erotic. I definitely recommend this book!