However, the bad side of this book is an unfortunate thing about the publisher: the many typos! For some reason Capall Bann does not seem to even try to edit its books. I have read quite a few of them and it's always the ame story. The errors are very annoying and distracting. Too bad, because they put out such good titles!

In conclusion, for women who want the female perspective, this is a good book to have. If we want to read more on such an under-developed subject, we must support the authors that are out there researching and writing. Let's hope some more titles on women's Northern mysteries are written that are edited better than this otherwise worthy book!

But he's also, as I say, a fine poet and, on paper, a brilliant, take-no-prisoners critic (as well as being a Professor of Poetry, if that means anything to you.) His essays, selected here from sixteen years' work, range from the wildly celebratory - he goes into raptures about John Clare, and into orbit about Elizabeth Bishop's selected letters - to the unanswerably damning, such as his classic exposure of Conor Cruise O'Brien as being a shifty, self-serving closet Unionist. (The fact that O'Brien much later publicly aligned himself with the Unionists only went to show how prescient Paulin can be.)

I personally think that Paulin is too much involved with a certain canon of Eng Lit. By no means the usual suspects, however, as witnessed by his championing of such relatively outre figures as Clare, the Ulster novelist George Birmingham and the English poet Peter Reading; but still, there's something sentimental about his evangelical love of anything vernacular. He certainly hasn't shouted very loud about the most remarkable efforts in vernacular writing in the last 20 years - the poetry of Tom Leonard, the fiction of James Kelman, the rise of rap, the 90s explosion of young UK and Irish dramatists. He should get out of the study a bit more. Still, he's a good man to have on your side, and he never kids himself that poetry exists in isolation from the rest of the world. That's an achievement in itself.

Set in the tumultuous Ireland of the 1960s and 1970s, Breakfast on Pluto is the story of a transvestite named Paddy "Pussy" Braden, a character who uses the silly and the sentimental as a shield against the horrors of the modern world.

The book is written as a memoir. Paddy, who has a crush on his psychologist, Terence, pens the memoir, ostensibly for the benefit of Terence and his (Paddy's) own analysis, but he does harbor ulterior motives all his own. The tone of the novel is flirtatious, effusive and, at times, completely unreliable. The details of Paddy's life are predictably sordid, unsavory and truly awful.

Paddy has been abandoned by just about everyone and Breakfast on Pluto is thus a novel about loss and love and the loss of love, about violence and loveless sex and even encroaching insanity. McCabe, however, is such a talented writer that he can, and does, relate these depressing details in a prose style so vivid, so utterly original and lively and witty that Paddy Braden becomes almost charming. He is, by turns, caustic, sardonic, colorful, naïve, explosive, poignant and yes, even hilarious. He is simply one of the most audacious characters I have ever met, and this audacity, combined with the glee with which he relates the horrible events in which he take sheer delight, only makes him all the more compelling.

The son of a priest and a beautiful woman who looked like Mitzi Gaynor, Paddy grew up in patriarchal, provincial Ireland unloved and unwanted in the home of a wicked foster mother. Paddy is not a character who was able to transcend the bad and turn negatives into positives. The absence of maternal affection in his life affects him deeply and he turns to silly, attention-getting antics.

As Paddy matures, his penchant for women's clothing grows. It is a penchant that certainly doesn't endear him to his neighbors. Paddy, though, really doesn't care. Although it might be hard to believe, some of the book's funniest and most poignant moments, as well as some of the best dialogue, come when Paddy's frilly and fussy sensibilities clash with the grim reality of civil war.

A recurring theme of McCabe's is his perception of hypocrisy in the Catholic church. In Breakfast on Pluto, McCabe explores this perceived hypocrisy in an eccentric and hilarious manner. Nowhere is it highlighted better than in a scene where Paddy goes into a church to confront his father. We realize that Paddy: sodomite, thief, liar, cheat, is no more of a sinner than is his sanctimonious father or the pious souls who come into the priest's confessional to bare their sins and be purified.

As the book gains momentum, so does the cycle of violence and counter-violence and Paddy, for a time, escapes to England where things are different, but not much better. From this point on, the book deals in real trouble: torture, murder and betrayal.

While some of the campy plotline has been left behind, Paddy's unique voice can still be heard. As his problems reach grotesque proportions, Paddy seeks his salvation, in, of all things, a bottle of Chanel No. 5. Even when Paddy returns to Ireland (for what Irishman can remain out of Ireland for long?), his indomitable spirit keeps him afloat. The silly and the sentimental are, for Paddy Braden, more than song lyrics. They are, sadly, his only source of hope.

The novel, Breakfast on Pluto by Patrick McCabe is a prime example of "smart literature". An appropriate definition of smart literature is, "a book you have to think about to like". I am guilty of turning my brain off the first time I read this piece of work. I thought it was vulgar and uncontrolled. When I actually turned my brain on for the second reading, I learned how wrong it was in that assumption.

This novel follows the story of a young transvestite prostitute in Ireland who was abandoned at birth. He is searching for love, money, revenge, and his mother. The Northern Ireland War is the stunning backdrop for this novel. The conversation and insight by the protagonist is intriguing and his struggles to find himself and his mother are heart wrenching. When he finally spirals down in to depression and insanity, the reader feels the innocent little boy trying to grasp at one last little piece of a dream. His vengeful fits explode like searing fire off of the pages.

Breakfast on Pluto is a short, fast read. If your brain is on, that is. If you don't get it the first time, read it again and the piece will fall together like a Chanel scented puzzle. Some people may be turned off to the graphic sex and rape, (I was one of them) but it is crucial to the story. This is a book that deserves to be read and Patrick McCabe is an author that deserves to be highly credited for his work. For a rating of this book, I give it a 4 out of 5 stars. (Hey, that 2 time reading irked me a lot at first, what can I say.)

The CD is chilling and awsome in the recital of the Havamal and vibration of the runes. I highly reccomend it.

Following this section is an excellent piece on runic divination including the nine worlds of Nordic mythology and how they relate to the conscious. Divination methods discussed include the basic fourfold wheel and the more detailed eightfold wheel techniques. This is followed by a very informative section on runic magic and traditional magic techniques and beliefs. Each of the traditional Scandinavian gods is presented with a detailed profile that includes their name in Norse, English, Dutch, and German, their primary element, secondary element, color, number, totem animals, personal sigils, magical items, the purpose for which they are typically invoked and the runes used for them.

The book ends with a chapter on feminine mysteries that includes a short piece on the practice of Seith (mostly the casting spells and enchantments), an examination of Odin and how he related to the feminine mysteries, and detailed profiles of the feminine gods such as Frigga and Freyja. For those who are interested in runes, northern magic beliefs and systems, or just a detailed account of how runes and magic were used historically and what they meant to the people of that time it is a highly recommended read.

I really didn't feel like reading this book because I have never liked books that are about wars and conflicts all over the world. I'd rather read books that make me feel happy than books that make me feel depressed. This book left me a little depressed but I don't regret reading it! The book really got me thinking about all these issues and wondering about how I would react and which decisions I would make. I came to the conclusion that I should be very thankful that this is not happening over here, because it could happen to anyone. And I honestly don't know what I would do in a situation like this!
That is why I liked reading this book, it is not just a list of things that happened, it almost makes you feel the same things as the main character.

When Michael Dillon's mistress is offered a job in London, he is finally forced into a series of difficult decisions : to leave his insecure, bulimic wife; to request a transfer from his Belfast hotel manager's job; to finally flee an Ireland which he loathes. But, that night, after he has been unable to confront his wife with his decision, IRA gunmen break into their home. They hold her hostage and demand that he park his explosives laden car opposite a dining room in the hotel where a prominent Ulster Unionist clergyman will be speaking. Dillon finds himself on the horns of an appalling moral dilemma : do as the terrorists say and blow up dozens of friends, coworkers and other innocents; or alert the police and risk getting his unloved wife killed. His eventual choice sets in motion a chain of events which will require subsequent, intertwining moral choices and which can not end happily.

In a century which gave us a near infinitude of horrifying statements and sentiments, I've always found the following, from E. M. Forster, to be the most disturbing :

If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.

The monstrous selfishness of this remark, gussied up in the guise of loyalty, is a fitting epitaph for an era that lionized the Hollywood Ten and vilified Linda Tripp. All too few authors and other intellectuals were willing to seriously question the full implications of such an attitude; Brian Moore is the exception. Combining elements of everything from The Desperate Hours to The Informer to The Heart of the Matter, Moore explores a series of moral questions, and manages to do so in the midst of a compulsively readable thriller.

One of the most insipid canards going, accepted even by conservatives who should know better, is that the Left produces all of the great literature. As we look back on the 20th Century, it seems increasingly evident that it is the small group of writers on the Right, many of them Catholic, who actually produced the Century's most important and enduring body of work, among them : T. S. Eliot; George Orwell; Evelyn Waugh; J.R.R. Tolkein; C. S. Lewis; Flannery O'Connor; Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; Andre Dubus; Frederick Buechner; Tom Wolfe; and Brian Moore. (Even Graham Greene, who--when both were alive--referred to Moore as his "favorite living writer," was at his unintentional best in books like Heart of the Matter and End of the Affair, where he did not even realize that he was writing from a conservative viewpoint.) If you've never read anything by Brian Moore, truly one of the most underrated and unread great authors of recent years, Lies of Silence is as good a place to start as any.

GRADE: A

Well, in "The House On Hope Street", Danielle Steel touches upon these feelings, worries, and thoughts that anyone who has ever loved another has had.

This is a simple story about a woman [Liz] who has the "Norman Rockwell" life. She has a loving husband, a blissful marriage of 18 years, five wonderful children, and a happy (almost a little too perfect) family. Her and her husband ran a successful family law practice and Liz had everything she ever wanted from life and felt her life would end just the way she envisioned. Then, one fateful Christmas day her perfectly painted life would be shredded when her husband [Jack] meets an early death as he left for, what was supposed to be, a ten minute trip back to the office.

Now, Liz finds herself barely keeping her head above water while simultaneously being both parents, raising five children (one with special needs), maintaining a two-person law practice, and trying to make it from one day to the next picking up the pieces of her shredded "Norman Rockwell" picture-perfect life.

Liz battles from one holiday to the next, trying to make it through life without Jack. Then, a new figure is painted into Liz's life when an accident with her oldest son, Peter, brings Dr. Bill Webster. As Bill mends her broken son, he also begins to inadvertently mend her broken heart... and ironically... Liz begins to unconsciously mend his as well.

Can Liz write a new chapter in her life... turning the pages with Jack and moving on from the past to begin a new chapter with unwritten pages involving Bill?

Can Bill find a way to overcome his past and find the courage to fight his fears and hesitations in order to find a new sense of peace and happiness with Liz and her children?

I gave the book 4 stars (3 for being a average book [and 3 is in-between 5] and an additional star for great characters).

"The House On Hope Street" is somewhat predicable. Ok, let's face it! If you read the synopsis on the book, you pretty much know how the book is going to turn out... at least... you think you do until you hit a couple of twists that may cause you to question (just for a moment) your precognition skills. If you own movies, then think about this: why buy a movie since you know how it's going to end because you most likely have seen it before? Even though we may know or have an idea of how something is going to end... sometimes experiencing the journey is still worth it. "The House On Hope Street" may be predictable... but it has GREAT characters (especially the children) and as predictable as the book may have been... it was still worth the journey.

With each new book, I find myself to be in less of a hurry to buy the book. I do hope that if Beatrice Small does continue with the series Skye's Legacy, she puts a bit more zest into the stories.

Fortune displays personality traits more reminiscent of Skye. Jasmine acted more like the Jasmine of Wild Jasmine. However, I found the character of James Leslie lacking the depth of the James Leslie in Wild Jasmine. I enjoyed meeting Kieran Devers.

In addition, the plot line was not as "cookie-cutter" as her previous recent novels. I was pleased with the refreshing change of pace for Small. I eagerly await Small's next book in the series. I am looking forward to see how Autumn Rose grows up.

We've liked reading this book because it's easy to understand and the story is exciting. Also because we like happy ends. :)

We had to read the book in our English-class and so at the beginnig we were not very pleased. But after reading the first chapter which made a strong impact on us, our interest was caught and we enjoyed the novel more and more.

In this continuation of the Sean Dillon saga, Higgins introduces an unlikely opponent for the combined US/UK intell team as they try to determine who is killing off the Sons of Erin and why. That killer, a woman, is as unlikely as any protagonist Higgins has ever used. Without revealing the person's identity (although the author does so early on), suffice it to say that the concept is improbable and unlikely. It seemed as if Higgins was really reaching for something with this book and the reader needs to suspend disbelief more than is usual for novels of this type.

In the process of leading the reader through the story, Higgins does his usual good job of providing history lessons right where they are needed to give readers the needed background to explain or amplify why he has written a character or scene a certain way. His intertwining of certain historical facts, especially those on Irish rebel history immediately explain why a Protestant Irish American would be a member of the IRA when everyone knows that the enmity between Catholics and Protestants in Ulster is legendary. When Higgins does this, he is at his best.

Another noticeable and at times very annoying feature of this book is that the dialogue Higgins gives the American characters is more British than American. In some cases it is more Irish than American. It almost seems as if Higgins has no knowledge whatever of American idiom and doesn't know how to write using our speech patterns. If you are a fan and doubt this style problem, go back and look closely for it. EVERYONE sounds British. Sean Dillon, the former IRA killer is also inconsistent in his speech patterns as well. Higgins' use of Irish idiom is overdone and also becomes annoying, mostly because it's so unnecessary.

Despite my minor annoyances and critiques here, overall, this is a very enjoyable read. The usual Higgins mastery of scene, atmosphere, characterization, tension and pacing all here. If the reader is familiar with the British cast of characters, this book reads quickly and well because we are all glad to be reunited with Sean Dillon and his boss, Brigadier Charles Ferguson.

Higgins also provides some really despicable opposition to the intelligence folks. One, named Jack Barry is so hoorible that most readers will probably be praying for his death. This is the kind of book one can easily read over a weekend or on the beach. Despite some minor and easily forgivable irritants, THE WHITE HOUSE CONNECTION is another successful and fast ride through the creative mind of Jack Higgins. If he had avoided overuse of British speech patterns and a more than usually unbelievable main character, I would have awarded this book 5 stars; so with these things in mind, I gave it 4 stars.

Fans of Higgins shouldn't miss this one and I recommend to all serious readers of espionage and police procedural novels.

An absolute complete suspension of disbelief is the best way to approach this one as it stretches credulity to beyond the max...but it is great fun. And, what is fiction all about, if not for suspension of disbelief? Some of the situations the protagonists get out of would make James Bond proud.

In the setup, the first quarter of the book is pretty credible and then the fun begins. The action switches between Washington, New York, London and Ireland...lots of Concorde flights, tony parties and champaign between the gun shots. The good guys are interesting characters and the bad guys seem a match for them due to their mole inside the White House. The reader is clued into the mole's identity early on, so we know whodunit...so we have to watch the clock to see if the good guys can figure it out in time.

It was an enjoyable read all in all. The protagonists are continuing characters and it appears their ranks increased by one in "The White House Connections." That's good news for Higgins' fans as he is a prolific writer.

That said, it was "too Brit" and "too IRA" for me to become addicted to the series. It was a fun one-time interlude for someone who prefers the good old American hardboiled mystery. For those who like the British touch, this series is a keeper.