Like, I suspect, many readers of the Bethany series, the changing of the guard in the White House from a republican to a democrat caused the Tom Bethany character to be unmasked. Where, in the earlier works, Bethany is portrayed as a man cynical of government (note his references to Albert Jay Nock's early works) it becomes apparent in the novel "Half Nelson" that the character speaks out against government only so long as there is a republican to be despised.

Doolittle fumbled the ball, in my view, by allowing his glee that a democrat occupies the White House to show through into the Bethany character's personality, changing Bethany's attitude from that of a free thinker who despises government corruption into that of a partisan party supporter.

I'm glad that the author dropped all pretense and revealed himself, the series was becoming tiresome anyway.

Dear Jerome,

Don't mean for this rhyme to be shoddy

You certainly might find it oddy

You made my whole year

When what should appear

That wonderful book Scissors, Body.

Your writing skills I have been sold

My boasting your talents gets old

I tell all my friends,

Their ears I must bend

Some threaten me with Strangle Holds!

But still I remain cool and smug

Your books I continue to plug

You are funny and gallant

You have all the right talent

You deserve a humongous Bear Hug.

Your publishers should take great stock

"Out of Print"!--Your fans are in shock!

Are their heads filled with lumber?

We want rank, files and number

We'll put all of them in Head Lock(s)

Your fans need to know who to sway

We want to get into the fray

Although we don't wrestle

There must be some vessel

To teach us the Half Nelson Soiree

I really don't want to get gory

But I've called Montel, Phil and Maury

The stifling of writers

Has made fans turn fighters

There should be no way to Kill Story(ies).

Bombing Officer should be on top

You have written not one single flop

I hope you did guess

I wish you success

Just promise that you'll never stop.

The wry, likable Tom Bethany, a bit of a mystery man himself, sets out to find out whether an unscrupulous newspaper owner is responsible for the death of the paper's former owner and along the way, deliver justice to the bad guys.

There may be more information about the newspaper industry and the issue of chain ownership than some may like, but even if you don't care that your local paper might be owned by a bloodless corporation 3,000 miles away, you can appreciate Bethany's methods, self-deprecating style, and the author's very smooth delivery of a good story. The entire story has a ring of truth, populated by far too many less than scrupulous people trying to scrape by in life. Author Jerome Doolittle delivers a great deal of amusing comment on politics and contemporary culture, though you may like it a bit more if you're a Democrat than a Republican. Everyone, though, who has suffered through watching the wrong people advance in the corporate culture should appreciate this sentence, offered in a side riff about office politics and the military: "You can learn a lot about what's wrong with the world by watching how the scum beats the cream to the top."

Doolittle brings a fascinating series of careers that feed the colorful detailsof his novels: speechwriter for Jimmy Carter, war correspondent, café owner in Laos. Kill story is the sixth in the Tom Bethany series. Read him for whatever reasons, but read him for a wonderfully good time and yet another twist on the standard private investigator story.

In this book, Butler, for many years a senior Methodist minister in the Central Valley of California proposes a "two story line" reading of the Gospel of John, in which chapters 11-13 are taken to be keys to Jesus' inauguration of a new form of universal ministry. Mary and Martha are, the author concludes, included in this new form and intent of ordination for all of Jesus' disciples. This unfolds by means of a complicated system of hidden signs which, the author argues, parallel the intentions of the Fourth Gospel with transformation of the priestly caste system of the Pentateuch. The capstone is Mary's intended anointing of Jesus which, by Jesus' words "Let Her Keep It," turns the anointing upon Mary (her odination to ministry), as the sign and seal of the anointing of all of Jesus' disciples.

"Let Her Keep It" by Thomas W. Butler is a well crafted exploration of Mosaic oracles known as 'semeia' in ritual symbolic gestures found in first century Judaism. Butler applies intuitive detective work, spiritual insight and scriptural scholarship to the Gospel of John, gaining a fresh perspective, exposing a deeper layer of significance and uncovers cohesive connections between elements that have been viewed previously as separate events. His inclusion of directly translated material from the Greek text is a real plus for those struggling with the language barrier and for those who have been taught a prejudice against certain translation editions.

Butler's exploration of John's Gospel is especially ingenious. By removing the artificial constraints of chapter and verse, (which were a later addition to the text),as he presents what are seemingly separate events he unfolds three interrelated acts of a play. With the thoroughness of Robert Eisenman, and having taken cues from such scholars as Allen Culpepper and Raymond Brown, Butler has gone beyond the boundaries of his predecessors with a plausible new slant on the material. If his conclusions are correct, Butler has opened a door of easy access and facilitated a quantum leap for general readers as well as scholars.

His conclusions support a far broader role for women as recipients of the heritage of Christ's promise to make of us a priestly people.

M. E. Bessette

If you are looking for Stack-n-Whack, this book contains only a couple of examples - the rest of the quilts are 8-pointed stars made by cutting the background squares and triangles in half so you don't have to do set-in "Y" seams. I tried piecing a star this way, and the piecing is a little easier, but it is not that hard to do the set-in seams and I don't like seeing the seams in what should be solid pieces of fabric. I'm a big fan of Bethany's Stack-N-Whack books but was a bit disappointed in this one.

Ms. Reynolds has given those of us who have had so much fun with stack 'n whack many more exciting projects to look forward to. Her clear, precise directions make the patterns easy to use and her illustrations and pictures help to complete a beautiful quilt. I can hardly wait to get started!

Add A Little Spice was a pretty good book about a guy from California named Connor Monroe who goes to a small town in Arkansas trying to convince Gina Calvino and her aunt to sell their families secret combination of spaghetti sauce spices. It was a good book that I had fun reading and is just the perfect light reading book that only has about 180 pages and can be read in a day or two which is perfect if you don't have time to read a book that has over 300 pages or you just finished reading a book that has over a thousand pages and you want something more lightweight and less time consuming!

Cal McKinney is a carefree live for the moment rodeo man. Cal loves the rodeo and had no thoughts of settling down until he met boot designer Serena Davis. Serena wants Cal to be the spokesman for her boot company, but Cal has different ideas. Cal agrees to be the spokesman, but only if he can become a partner in the company. For Serena her boot company is everything and she has no intention of letting Cal have a piece of it. Cal has no intention of going away and he plans to get Serena to change her mind. Meanwhile, Cal wants to see Serena on a more personal level. They are both attracted to each other, but Serena has a secret that keeps her from getting close to anybody. Cal not only has to break down the wall Serena has around her business, but also the one around her heart.

This is a good addition to the Crystal Creek series. I must admit that I did become a bit aggravated with Serena. Cal proves that he will stand by her and love her, but she still insists on pushing him away. If Cal wasn't so determined and hardheaded he might have lost Serena. This book also has brief appearances by characters from previous books. Lynn's story (White Lightning) is up next and I look forward to reading it.

The dead would come back and get you...

The residents of Black Bear Lake thought that evil could never touch such and idyllic spot. But they were wrong.

Thornton Fuller, a young man with the mind of a child, was paralyzed with fear when he told the secret of Black Bear Lake to the children of Rachel Dale and Jay Malone.

Caught in the throws of summer passion, Rachel and Jay savored the serenity of the lake. But soon, Black Bear Lake was anything but tranquil.

Suddenly good was battling evil... and the children's lives were at stake.

I love this book! When the babysitters get two calls and the adress is the same, they don't know what to expect. But Dawn finds out alot when she's undercover. I rated this book a five star because it is one of the best mystery books that I have ever read and because of the fact that it was a very good story at the beginning and at the end everything turned out goodand the family was reunited.

A well known devout christian widow is blackmailed into running for attorney general to bolster the campaign of an evil man for govenor. With faith in God that He will sustain her and the help of her bodygaurd with whom she falls in love, she goes forward in hope that good will prevail over evil. I found the overall theme of faith in God through great trials very uplifting.

I pulled this one from the library shelves and literally finished it in an afternoon. Sweet romance that would be good for the younger girls, too. Miranda (the wild one out of 2 daughters) is being sent to a secluded place where she will be safe and protected from the lunatic that is sending threatening letters her way. Her father, the Senator, is too busy with his political career to be concerned with Miranda- just don't let her tarnish his reputation. Duke, ex-marine that has been hired to look after Miranda is in an accident putting him up in the hospital leaving his oldest son, Quint, to look after her. She is not his "type" so what is there to worry about? Right! And who wants Miranda out of the way? Sweet, sweet story with "love scenes" without the sex.

This book is beautifully illustrated and shows in full color many of the different creatures that you would find in the sea. It offers adventure, infomation and a warm and fuzzy ending!