When her picture appears in a national magazine for an act of heroism, Allie Newman receives an unexpected visit from a private investigator. Her wealthy grandfather recognized the remarkable similarity of appearance of her photo to her mother, and sends Joel Kennedy to discover the truth. Allie believes that her mother ran away with another man when she was three. But Joel brings proof that it was not her mother ran away, but her father, taking her with him. Allie is not the first woman whose dreams he had shattered, or whose life he would change forever.

Allie's grandfather has been diagnosed leukemia, and hopes that Allie can provide bone marrow for a transplant. A woman who comes to rescue of those in need, Allie does not hesitate to offer blood for testing of compatibility. But her trusting nature also lands her in the lap of a family with their own agenda. Her cousins view with her suspicion, concerned that their grandfather might change the will in her favor. Others in the household drop innuendo and suspicion in her lap, forcing Allie to learn the truth regarding her mother. Even Joel seems to have his own agenda, one he does not openly reveal to Molly.

Issues of self-identity become a powerful theme in Janice Carter's THE REAL ALLIE NEWMAN. While other authors have addressed this theme, Carter maintains an unusually even hand, never allowing her mature heroine to sink into the self-pitying quagmire that many heroines experience when discovering that the story of parentage had been concealed. The book occurs during the course of a single week: a short period of time for such profound revelations. Nevertheless, Allie approaches the revelations regarding her father and mother with grace. She demonstrates profound maturity and remarkable self-assurance as she examines the ramifications of the discovery that her father has a past and she has a family of which she had no previous knowledge. Rather than being angry regarding the secrets of the past, Allie accepts the opportunity to meet her extended family and to learn about her mother, even if it is a rather unsavory view. Hero Joel is a bit tougher to grow close to, concealing his identity and struggling to maintain distance from Allie because of a conflict of interests. Nevertheless, he does provide an anchor when Allie feels cast adrift, and his role adds a dimension of intrigue that keeps the plot moving nicely along. An interesting afternoon's read, THE REAL ALLIE NEWMAN comes recommended.

In Kingston, Ontario, college math teacher Allie Newman bikes on a path in training for a triathlete event when she observes an elderly man and a dog fall into the Caturaqui River when the edge gives way. Allie rescues the blind man and his Seeing Eye dog leading to her appearance in People's magazine.

Private investigator Joel Kennedy arrives from Michigan claiming that her father, who died ten months ago, ran away with her when she was three. Her grandfather Spiro Kostakis saw the People picture that he claims is the spitting image of his deceased daughter. He wants to see Allie for several reasons, but especially because he suffers from leukemia and she is his last hope for a match for a needed bone marrow transplant. Joel shows a photo that matches one she owns so Allie agrees to meet her family. However, as Joel and Allie become better acquainted they fall in love, but with threats to her life she wonders whether she can trust him.

Fans of romantic suspense are in for a treat with THE REAL ALLIE NEWMAN, an exhilarating tale that runs at a pace that the heroine would want to achieve in a triathlon. The story line moves forward rather quickly, but takes enough time to insure that the reader fully appreciates the inane goodness of Allie and the internal conflict ripping Joel asunder. Though the Michigan cast never fully develops except for being creepy bad people that even a mother would question kinship let alone a long lost relative, readers will have a good time perusing Janice Carter' fine tale.

Harriet Klausner

Allie Newman works in a Kingston, Ontario health food store with her stepmother and trains for a triathelon. When she rescues a drowning man and makes headlines, she comes to the attention of Private Investigator Joel Kennedy who is seeking the lost daughter of a Greek tycoon who desperately need a bone marrow transplant. Incontravertible evidence proves Allie is Spiro Kostakis' long lost granddaughter, and the old man greets her with open arms when Joel arrives with her at the Grosse Pointe mansion. The rest of the family views her arrival differently. Threatening notes, a near accident, and insinuations by family members make Allie wonder if anyone but Joel can be trusted. Her trust in him is shattered when he is forced to reveal the real reason for his presence.

Danger and suspense will keep the reader on her toes. Allie's attraction to Joel adds spark; Joel's struggle to distance himself from Allie adds tension. Joel seems less developed than Allie, who is brilliant, and the family members are a little over the top, but all makes for an exciting read. Recommended.

Fragile material for pre-school children. The cartoons lost their movements easily.

My 18 month old son just loves this book. It's definately his favorite book. He loves the pop up animals. He loves to say the animal sounds. I recommend it highly.

This is a wonderful book for children just learning their animal sounds. I have twin 18 month old boys and they scream every time I bring it out. I read it to them and they will say the animal sound. I highly recommend it!

As usual for the Chaosium series, editor Price gushes academically about minor entries in the Lovecraftian Derby, and it's never more evident than in this collection of Lin Carter's mythos tales. Carter was a supremely talented editor and a good heroic fantasy writer (I love his Throngor novels) but his mythos writing falls prey to juvenile adoration and extremely flimsy plotting. Price's attempts to defend Carter's over-categorization of the mythos merely exacerbates the silliness of most of Carter's work. Interesting for mythos completists, but newcomers should seek other books in this series that deal with multiple authors (highly recommended: "The Hastur Cycle" and "The Nyarlathotep Cycle").

Robert M. Price and Chaosium Books have scored big again with the latest entry in their growing "Call of Cthulhu Fiction" catalog which explores aspects of Lovecraftian fiction. Price introduces the whole and each entry in The Xothic Legend with his quite considerable and thorough literary, religious and Lovecraftian erudition and iconoclastic wit. Lin Carter's take on the Mythos in his Xothic Legend Tales is an hommage to, and a pastiche of, both Lovecraft and Col. James Churchward (of "The Lost Continent of Mu" fame). The stories are entertaining, sometimes reverential to their subject matter, and offer the classic Cthulhu Mythos frisson of long-expected terror. A good place for the beginning reader of Mythos Horror, and a must for anyone exploring the background and effoliation of the genre.

These are the "Big Kahuna's" of Supernatural Horror. A very well compiled selection of Cthulhu Mythos by Chaosium & Robert Price. Price's introductions to the short stories are educational and perhaps even a bit witty. His writing is even better.
A 'Must Have' for Weird Tale, Lovecraft, or any horror fan.

This is an excellent collection of american folktales which both I and my siblings have enjoyed. It is well written and very enjoyable on the whole.

I had to buy this book for an education class i am taking, and I very much enjoyed it. It is a wonderfully told collection of American Folk Tales which both me and my siblings have enjoyed.

An artist's earier work always sheds light on furture endevours. Keith Carter has photograpghed his east Texas homeland with respect and love. The land is rich and full of stories. Who are these people? Where is this place? What is going on here? Why did he make this picture? These are the questions you ask when you move through the Carter landscape. Keith has turned his eye towards simple, beautiful things and people. His compostions are full of air and earth. You can revisit this work over and over, pulling out more thread with each turn. If you like Keith Carter, you should get this book. If you don't know anything about him, get this book because it's an earlier book and his eyes change over time. This is the dense taproot. From here all else blooms.

This is an early book and well seen.You should buy this book because Keith Carter is good for the soul.

A really nice book, but lacking color photos. These works are in beautiful surroundings (primarily Nova Scotia), but not a single color photo.
The text and the drawings are very nice, and include ample information for such a small book with so many projects, but if you have seen any of his work in the architecture periodicals, you will understand why these projects would have been much better presented in color.

An outstanding summary of the works of Lyons! Similar in photographic quality and descriptive drawings to the Contemporary World Architects or Ten Houses series. The book contains a great biography at its beginning and follows with work that is incredibly well planned and finely detailed. The influence of Glenn Mercutt, Louis Kahn, and Perter Forbes are evident in many places throught his buildings. Lyons draws upon his incredible historical recall to create buildings that are well suited to their social and physical context. Very nice!

When my son was 2, this was his favorite book for many months running, and he's not even a big cars fan, much more of a train fan! I think he liked it that the text was so simple and easy to cue by looking at the pictures. He memorized the whole thing very easily. The pictures are the kind that often appeal to young kids---very clear and standing out against white background. He especially liked it that the last page says "say goodbye, car" giving the book a clear ending.

We bought this book for our two year old son, and he absolutely loved it. Loved it so much,in fact, that he loved it to death, and currently carries around only the empty shell saying "cars...cars!" since he wore out the pages quite a while ago. we are getting him a new copy, since he is quite distressed that the old one is so damaged! It is a cheerful, brilliantly colored book, designed for any little car enthusiast. It's delightful rhymes will leave your child quoting from it in no time, and begging you to read it to them over and over.

The questions are indeed challenging mental exercises but make a better puzzle book than a set of IQ tests. Both the title and what is advertised on the cover are notoriously misleading. The cover reads, "Calculate Your IQ in One Hour." However, not halfway into the brief introduction, the authors acknowledge that the tests are not standardized and therefore an IQ score will NOT be given. Instead we are presented with cateqories for each range of scores. A total of 8-9 correct answers out of 20 is considered "average", followed by 10-11 designated "good", 12-13 is labeled "very good", etc. The authors present no equivalence between these scores and ranges of IQ scores, leaving the reader to wonder whether "average" pertains to the general population or the Mensa elite. Also, successfully answering many questions rely too much on the reader's vocabulary instead of reasoning powers which IQ tests are supposed to measure. For example, unless you're a student of church architecture, you're not likely to know that a "reredos" is a decorated wall in a church and no amount of intelligence can help you if you don't know the definition. So while I tested well on reasoning questions, my score was often shot down by unfamiliar words. This sort of frusteration has been voiced by several reviewers of other books by Carter and Russell. In sum, the book contains some excellent exercises as practice IQ test questions but will not give you an IQ score. It's probably fair to say that doing well on these tests may indicate future success on standard IQ tests but don't lose sleep over a mediocre score...

I have been always reading books by russel,as he is the editor of the mensa puzzle magazines.I have bought a lot of his books,like Picture Puzzles ect.and I find it a great way to while away your time.One last good thing is that as your IQ can decrease by 30 points after 3 weeks of mental idlness, this is a great way to maintain it.Russel has certainly kept his standard

This is a cute little book for very little hands. The bugs are fanciful but still real. Unfortunately, it has a total of about 7 pages and the bugs will soon leave them. These pop ups mostly come out of the page centers, and are easily torn off -- even by very young babies. This is a good book for a stocking stuffer or to tie on a present, but it won't last.

This is the very first book my son would sit still for! He loves the vivid colors, simple text, and the great pop-out bugs! The tiny size of the book is perfect for his little hands! I bought every Baby Bug pop-up book I could find because of this one.

If you like vampires, tortured heroes, and more action, intrigue, and suspense than a faint heart can handle, DARK CHANGELING is the book of your dreams--and it might just give you nightmares. Roger Sean Gallagher Darvell, MD, has a thriving psychiatric practice, is a practicing Catholic, and has an unholy appetite for human blood. He is fighting his own demons when a serial killer appears on the scene, a killer who drinks human blood, and Roger is asked to profile the killer. Before he can start, Roger meets Sylvia LaMotte, a self-described vampire immortal, at a party and begins to learn of his own dark beginnings--beginnings that overwhelmed his upbringing by the "ephemeral family" that adopted him.

Set in the present day, beautifully written, DARK CHANGELING has a very sympathetic hero, one that is tormented by his horrible hunger and determined to find out just who and what he is. Roger also has to deal with the killer, the outcast vampire that is taking human life and making sure Roger is aware of exactly what is going on. This book is a winner, on every level, but don't read it at night unless every light in the house is turned on and all the doors and windows are locked. Ms. Carter has written a book that is full of chills, shivers, and blood--enjoy. I did.

In this dark romance, Margaret L. Carter spans the world of the supernatural to bring forth a delightful read. Her settings are rich and detailed, her characters full of depth. Ms. Carter has wrought a winner.