With the presidential election right around the corner, Kaiji Kawaguchi's political manga makes it's timely arrival. The plot revolves around a young Japanese reporter and the Asian-American presidential candidate that it is his job to cover. While the art was very good, and the idea behind it was intriguing, I'm afraid I wasn't terribly immpressed with Kawaguchi-san's work. Perhaps it is a doubt as to whether a Nihon-jin can really understand the American political system, perhaps it is just that he hits too close to home. The story has potential, I'll say that much. I won't give up on it yet.

Having been born and raised in the Texas that Kawaguchi attempts to capture in his portrayal (done fairly well, IMHO, if a bit stereotyped), I think I can safely say that if Yamaoka really had walked into a Texas bar and given that pitch on gun control, he never would have walked back out again. Well, he would have, but only on a stretcher. Other than that, it's good book, and that ends on a cliffhanger, no less.

The mangaka (manga creator) of Eagle is Kaiji Kawaguchi, who is famous for his manga The Silent Service, which English language critics have called "reminiscent of Tom Clancy", because it utilized the rogue submarine premise of The Hunt for Red October. Eagle is a both a commentary on politics in modern America and a somewhat soap-operatic story of relationships. At the beginning of the story, reporter Takashi Jo is called to his boyhood home on Okinawa, a small island in the Japanese archipelago, to identify the body of his mother. While he is going through his mother's apartment, he notices that the picture of his father, an American soldier who he never knew, is missing from its customary place. Shortly after this, he learns that he has been assigned to go to America to cover the campaign of Kenneth Yamaoka, a Democratic senator from New York who has recently announced that he will campaign for the Democratic nomination for president. The reason for his selection is baffling to Takashi, and to his colleagues and superiors - he has never covered politics or international affairs, and he admits to himself that his articles were merely filler for the local editions of the paper he works for, the Maicho Shimbun.

Takashi learns, not long after arriving in America, that the reason for his selection was personal, not because of his professional qualifications. As a reporter, he has to struggle to maintain his objectivity in the face of ambivalent feelings about Senator Yamaoka, animosity from the Senator's wife Patricia, his love for the Senator's adopted daughter and press secretary, Rachel, and the shifting political currents around the charismatic senator. The first four volumes of Eagle (about 100 pages each) have been released both individually and as part of an omnibus edition which combines the four volumes into one paperback. Kawaguchi traces the senator's personal history, telling the story of his transformation from enlisted soldier to influential lawyer to politician, and reveals enough of the behind the scenes story and the public events - fundraisers, debates, and primaries - of Yamaoka's campaign to make the reader want to know more.

Kawaguchi's drawings are more realistic than those of most of the manga which have been translated and released in America; they couldn't be called superdeformed or kawaii (cute) by any stretch of the imagination. The artistic style goes well with the story and mood of this manga. I'm definitely hooked, and I can't wait to read the four forthcoming volumes of this series, to see what happens next.

Pretty bad, just sort of stupid, not that compelling, and no interesting field of knowledge that goes with it.

I'll admit that I only picked up "Infinity's Child" because it was on the bargain books pile, but when it came time to sit down and read the book, I was quite enraptured.

First off, Stein has written a strong heroine in Sally Benedict. Finally pregnant after a very long time trying, Sally is the editor of a local newspaper in a small town. When graves start to turn up violated - and Sally tracks down that all those graves belong to one family line - her own - things go for a macabre spin pretty quickly. The plot isn't trite - nor are you left totally in the dark. It's a delicate balance to teeter on the edge of having no clue and having just enough clues to jack up the tension, but Stein does it right. This is not a deep novel, but it's full of good thrills.

Sally's husband, Sally herself, and the villains of this book make it a very worthwhile read. It's a "turn the lights on and cover yourself with a blanket," sort of read, and if you enjoyed Ann Werner's "The People Next Door," (or another thriller with a fantastic heroine) you'll definately like this one!

'Nathan

In the past several years, many novels have been written about the manipulation of human genes. Unfortunately, most of the stories have similar plot lines. "Infinity's Child" is different. The plot is strongly personalized as it revolves around the heroine's pregnency. The author creates a readable, if not compelling, story. I didn't find myself staying up until the middle of the night turning pages. On the positive side, Stein creates a series of bad guys that crosses almost every job description. There are bad cops, bad journalists, bad medical personnel, mad scientists, and of course, the obligatory hit man. About the only career that escapes is the law. Furthermore, not until the last few pages do we find out who the bad guys really are. There are a couple of characters that you think are bad, then good, then bad, etc. This is a nice touch. And up until the final few pages, I couldn't speculate how the heroine was going to pull off the figurative escape. I! t wasn't easily predictable, but it was also slightly unsatisfying. The biggest fault I can find with the story, is that the author doesn't clearly connect the heroine's child with the scientists' research. But then again, we are dealing with a whole new area.

Josey Rose held promise for me in the beginning, but the author kept insisting on going into the "dark places". Because I did like most of the characters, I read through to the end. I think she would have been wiser to have less bad things happen, and make the good things prevail in the end. I could handle the "cousin" incest to a point...but having him find out it was his Mom, and still wanting to be with her in a "lovers" way. Sorry...this will not be a book I pass along to friends.

The book started out wonderfully, and I liked it in the end. I was full of great imagery, and a good enough story, but I found the end to be painfully obvious before the big surprise is revealed. That's the only thing I didn't really like.

I was really impressed with the depth of Wood's characters. Like a previous reviewer, I wish also that the story did not end so bleak and almost hopeless. The incest theme did not turn me off; but I wonder if Wood's decision to make the story end the way it did (as opposed to a happier ending) was related to trying to not fully confront the incest issue.

The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.

I had no trouble getting into this book and was looking forward to a good read, but about a third of the way through the plot slowed down and I grew increasingly bored until the ending, which I read but found implausible. All in all, I thought the writing and style were good but I didn't get attached to any of the characters and didn't find myself caring about the outcome.

Will Keats is an unemployed school counselor, but lives welldue to the money he has inherited. Will lives with his significantother Adrienne and her eight-year old daughter Olivia in Tocqueville, Georgia. Will loves Adrienne and seems to care deeply for Olivia. However, he soon learns how much he loves the child too when she is kidnapped. The police are stymied by a lack of clues and no ransom note.

Everyone initially thinks that Adrienne's former husband Byron committed the act. Byron, who detests Will, has a perfect alibi and passes a lie detector test. Through a few lucky breaks, the police identify and locate the abductor, but find him dead execution style. Olivia remains missing. Acting on an unusual tip from an unlikely source, Will risks his life to go out on his own to rescue his "daughter."

MUSKRAT COURAGE is a fast paced, moving drama that focuses on the impact a kidnapping has on the remaining family members. The characters are well drawn and likable, making it easy for readers to care what happens to them. As time (and the pages) passes, a growing sense of horror and despair for the safety of Olivia grips the audience. Phillip Lawson tells a superb story that keeps reader interest at the highest levels.

In the first two books in this series, the main character, Lewis Cole, was constantly sweating...in this book, he's constantly shaking...the author would have you believe that it's due to the dangerous situations in which Lewis Cole finds himself...I think it's because he realizes what thin ice this series is on with this latest offering...Nazi uranium, indeed! Like the latest offerings from Robert Parker, this book seems to be written to fill pages and put money in the bank.

I am beginning to believe that the same person is behind the spate of ugly reviews lately emanating from Publishers Weekly. Certainly, it's a shock every time to finish reading an enjoyable book and come to the site to post a review only to discover yet another nasty attack by a PW reviewer. Given that I come to the table with my critical faculties intact, a long-term knowledge of what goes into the writing of a book, and a healthy respect for the effort, I'm at a loss to comprehend why anyone would be so negative about this book.

Bottom line: I stayed up until after 3 a.m. this morning to finish this latest entry in the Lewis Cole series. That should say it all. Bad books don't keep you up long past your bedtime. And food, as well as roads taken, are a staple of most mysteries. That said, Killer Waves is compellingly readable, with a particularly well-fleshed cast of characters (most notably Keith Emerson--a touchingly rendered portrait of a man driven to self-hatred by well-founded fear.)

While the PW reviewer may have found the core thesis of this book far-fetched, I guess he neglected to read the author's note at the back of the book citing the true facts upon which he based his narrative. Truth, indeed, can be far stranger than fiction.

Cole's capitulation in the face of governmental coercion--literally stripping him of every last thing he owns --is very believable. They want his help; he says no. They'll force him to help. Works for me. And given his background as, in essence, a Pentagon researcher, Lewis doggedly goes forward, snapping and barking at his "masters" every so often in a viable depiction of man who'll do what he has to do but won't stand on his hind legs and do tricks for bisquits.

There is a most surprising twist at the climax of the book. I thought I saw this one coming but the author had a double whammy planned; one that is very nicely executed. In all, a diverting book with some interesting historical facts. And, finally, there is something heartfelt and believable in Cole's tracking of the space shuttle Endeavour.

Once again, ignore that PW review and get this book. It's well-worth reading.
Recommended.

This book is a real page turner and the scary thing is that the premise of the story is based on fact. Missing Nazi uranium. If you enjoy a good spy story than I highly recommend this book.

Many of the previous reviews either rave or absolutely rant about this book, but I think both are unfair representations for potential readers. The books proponents note that Costello writes well and provides interesting "insiders" perspectives of campaign politics from a secret service agent's point of view, the operations of an Internet business, and modern family life. He really does do a good job of describing the lives of the characters and weaving their narratives together. As for the naysayers, they are correct that the story has no plot and you never really care about a particular character and when the book is done, it isn't something that leaves you wanting more. I am sure this was intentional by Costello, but for my money and I think many casual readers, it is not really what they want. I will not remember Big If in a year, I do not want Costello to come out with a sequel to quinch my thirst for this story, and it isn't the first book I'll ever recommend to any friend. It was worth the short time it took to read, but it would be a better library book, one you don't have to pay for and won't take up space on your shelf for more than a month because you won't want to read it again in the future.

I bought this book largely because I remember enjoying Signifying Rappers, his collaboration with David Foster Wallace. This book, though, is much better. It's quite marvelously well-written, accurately observed, and often funny. There's not much plot: for a couple months we more or less follow Vi, a Secret Service agent guarding a nameless vice president, and her hacker brother Jens, who is struggling to build a stupid computer game for a company called BigIf. Instead of a plot most of the action comes in seeing the upsided-down and backward way various things in the novel reflect each other (e.g., Vi is involved with setting up the rules for constructing an abstract "dome" around the VP in which he can't get shot, Jens is constructing an abstract world in which his character is a shooter). Problem is (for me, anyway), Costell evokes the characters so well that you start wanting to know what happens to them, and basically this isn't that kind of novel. Still, I greatly enjoyed reading it.

Mark Costello is a federal prosecutor from Boston whose first book was Bag Men, published under the name of John Flood. With Big If, he writes a novel that defies easy classification. Big If is politically suspenseful, humorous, domestic, and literary, with a few elements of near-futuristic science fiction. Like George Orwell (who wrote about British society in 1948 and disguised it slightly to come up with 1984), Costello writes with a great deal of insight into contemporary culture.

As the Vice President makes his way around the country on the campaign trail, the Secret Service people who protect him each deal with their own monsters and visions of potential disaster. Gretchen, a survivor of the L.A. riots of 1965 and 1991, has to balance the pressures of single motherhood with her highly demanding job. Tashmo's having marital problems dating back to his days with Felker on the Reagan team. Always alert for potential assassins, Vi is in conflict with her brother Jens, a programmer who designs monsters for a web-action survival game called Big If. Bobbie just wants to make it through the campaign alive so she can land another wealthy husband. As in Lawrence Kasden's 1992 movie Grand Canyon, the unexpected strikes again and again, keeping the reader glued to the page.

The result is a funny, suspenseful, and truthful book of great interest to anyone who grew up American in the last 50 years, whether you're usually drawn to political suspense or not.

I've been hooked on retellings of the Beauty/Beast tale for years. I hunt down, seek out and snap up anything that smacks of a retelling. That's why when I saw this title and read the blurb, I rushed to the checkout with this little book.

The ingredients were there--hero with facial deformity, lovely heroine who grows to love the ugly man with a heart of gold, an isolated setting. What was missing were really good heartfelt scenes between Alix and Lee (the B &B). I kept feeling that I was being cheated of the deepest moments of emotion--the passion of the beauty for the beast and vice versa. There is a certain coolness in the telling, like the wintry countryside, and it left me...wanting.

For hard-core B&B aficionados, I say you might as well read it, but don't expect everything to end lovely and beautifully with a HEA. Just enjoy another version of our fave tale.

BTW, if you haven't read Charlotte Vale Allen's NIGHT MAGIC, there's a wonderful B&B retelling with correlation to Phantom of the Opera. I believe it's still in print.

Mir

I love all retellings of Beauty and the Beast and admit to being addicted, so of course I had to read this modern version. It was exactly the type of book I dream of writing. You fall in love with Lee along with Alix. You begin to hate Mark. The characters are all so real, you can feel their pain with them. I loved this book so much, and it is something any fan of B&TB should definitley read! The only sore spot is the ending. I really don't see why Wilson chose to do what she did, but the book is still very beautiful.

The characters in this book are so real, so well-written, you will be taken in. I read this book in an obsessed and feverish 4 hours! I couldn't put it down for a second. I was completely surprised at Leland Crompton's personality. Someone so cruelly treated most of his life was delightful and like a breath of fresh air to me. Lee seemed to be a man made purely of feeling. I guess the reason why I absolutely fell in love with Leland's character is because there aren't many people like him. I am fortunate to know one. Someone with such a beautiful heart that it makes him seem even more beautiful outside than he already is. Is it really our appearance (the clothing and makeup) that makes us beautiful, or could it be our personality that brings out our true beauty? Time has a way of changing our appearance but our hearts will always be the same. If you fall in love (can you even call it that?) with someone only because of the way they look, I ask you this: when time takes their beauty away and all that is left is their personality - a personality that you may have always had trouble tolerating but put up with because of their physical appearance - what will you do? Their wealth and beauty, and the physical pleasure will not always be enough. Just something to think about. Something, I am sure, Alix didn't think of when she began her relationship with her previous lovers and with Mark. She realized it, but stayed with him because she had likely not been with better men and was herself somewhat shallow. She had always focused on appearance...until Leland. He showed her what true beauty is made of. :-) Read it! You won't be able to put it down, I promise.

"A Gathering of Days", which tells the story of Catherine Hall, a girl growing up in 1830s New Hampshire, tries hard to make an impact. It really does. However, it just comes up a bit short. The language is quite difficult, and sometimes exaggeratedly old-fashioned. It is also done in journal style. As a result, it is often hard to find the true storyline. In addition, it is not by any means the most exciting book I have ever read. I understand that it is supposed to be low-key and serious, but this is one area where it overachieves its purpose. Many people will say that since I am a male teenager, I missed some of the subtleties and meaning that a girl might have picked up. Well, I first read this book as an assignment in fifth grade, and very few people in my class (in an educationally strong private school) enjoyed it, regardless of gender. Some may still argue that I was too young to appreciate it then. I have also read it since then, hoping that a change in perspective that comes with a different age would give me a different take on it. Sadly, I had the same feelings the second time around. In conclusion, the story has potential, but it is just not carried out right and doesn't provide any "hook" to catch the reader's interest.

This story centers around Catherine Hall, a thirteen-year-old young girl growing up in New Hampshire. The journal format of this novel makes it easy to read and wonderful to share with school age students. Catherine is a tender girl that has lost her mother and must gain instruction on housekeeping skills from her neighbor who is her best friend's mother. Because of the loss of their mother, Catherine keeps house for her father and younger sister, Matty. The main happenings of Catherine's exciting year are that her father remarries and brings a new stepmother and stepbrother to come and live with them, interesting events at school, the issue of slavery and runaway slaves, and a loss and new love interests close to home. One of the most interesting parts of the story is when Catherine encounters a "phantom" of sorts that she aids along his travels. The correspondence of Catherine to future generations is an interesting beginning and end to the book. This is a highly praised and decorated book from the Newberry Medal, School Library Journal's Best Books of the Year for 1979 to the appointment of an American Library Association Notable Children's book. I would highly recommend this book for any read aloud in an age appropriate setting or as a trade book integrated in a social studies curriculum on the time period.

As other reviewers have said, this book gets better as the reader gets older. I read this in grade school (15 years ago!) and never liked it much, but now it's a whole lot better. It's not a fast-paced, super exciting book, but life in the 1830s on a farm wasn't exactly fast-paced either. When Catherine writes that the family was snowed in and she knitted all afternoon, that's exactly what happened. It's not exciting but life can't always be a thrill a minute. I thought the language was appropriate for the times, and the depiction of relationships was appealing. The small pleasures of life are recorded, and the problems of life also weave their way through the journal.

If you hated it when you were young, try it again when you are through high school.

I found this book to be very entertaining. Red is an interesting villain with almost supernatural abilities. I began to wonder if he was going to be like Jason and not be able to be killed. The interaction of Bill and Claire is good, especially when he watches her after she has been kidnapped by Red. The book has a little bit of everything, romance, sex, violence.

This book was difficult for me to read not because it wasn't compelling, it was. I found myself getting more and more angry and wanting to jump into the book and take on Red Sizemore myself. As an avid outdoorsman it was very interesting to read the observations of the woods, the different "survival" skills that the characters employ. This is not a feel good, but certainly worth the read.

If this book had Stephen King's name instead of Charles Gaines, it would have sold a million plus copies. I haven't read a thriller this engaging in quite awhile. Since I spent a good deal of time around the New Hampshire area he writes about, I enjoyed it even more. On the surface, this novel is a suspense thriller, but farther down, it has a lot to say about couples, friendships and relationships. Red Sizemore is one sick character, but we understand why he is the way he is from Gaines' characterization. The author spends more time on Bill and Claire than he does on Dray and Portia, but I don't think that detracts in any way from the book. Survival becomes the central point of the book as the two male characters made their fortune by starting a survival games company years before the book opens. When two men kidnap their wives, they have to call upon these wilderness skills to get them back. While a bit gory in parts, the stalking parts of the book are fascinating. I can't believe this was not made into a movie -- it would be easy to capture on film. A thoroughly enjoying read from cover to cover.