I look forward to April each year knowing that the next Benni Harper edition will be at the book store. I took my time reading STTA simply because I didn't want it to end. Each book is true to the characters of Benni Harper and her husband Gabe and her entire family. Seeing another side of Gabe added to the intrigue of STTA. Also, it was great bringing back Hud! I am amazed at how each book is so completely different from the previous book. While so many authors become stagnant after writing nine or more novels, Earlene keeps growing with each book.

Benni and Gabe's marraige hits a fork in the road. While happiness fills the air around their family with two weddings, Benni and Gabe have some big decisions to make. Benni stumbles across a murder in San Celina after agreeing to help the historical society. How will she work on solving a murder and her marriage at the same time?

I can't wait for April 2003!

Earlene Fowler has written a wonderful series of cozies set on the central California coast and featuring Benni Harper, head of an art co-op and her police chief husband, Gabe. In this ninth book of the series, Benni's best friend Elvia and her grandmother Dove are plannng their respective weddings. At the same time she is busy helping them, Benni is asked to catalogue the letters and keepsakes of a woman named Maple Sullivan who reputedly killed her wealthy husband and ran off with another man. Benni reads Maple's love letters to her husband and has a hard time believing that she could have actually murdered him. The decades old mystery intrigues Benni and it also keeps her mind off her own deteriorating marriage. Gabe has encountered an old girlfriend who makes no secret of the fact that she is out to rekindle their old romance. Fowler seems to hit all the right notes as she continues to develop the characters and situations in this well-written series.

Benni Harper has got too much going on in her life to get involved in an ancient unsolved murder case. She's got to plan for two weddings, a Mardi Gras party, and then there's the little matter of her husband's old girlfriend showing up--and looking very much like she has her claws out for Gabe Harper. Still, once she learns about the 50-year-old murder and the woman who supposedly killed her husband, Benni can't rest until she learns more. How could a marriage that started so well have gone so badly so quickly? At some level, her own marriage problems become transferred to her need to solve the mystery.

Author Earlene Fowler does a wonderful job delivering an emotionally rich mystery. Bennie is a teriffic character with a full set of skills and fears. Her job at the local California museum gives her the ability to track down ancient clues to the long-forgotten mystery--a mystery that still rankles with many of the older residents.

Her concerns about her husband's love, and increasing understanding of the murder make it hard for Bennie to put all of her positive attention on the upcoming weddings, but somehow Fowler manages to pull all of this together into an emotionally satisfying story.

This book was an awsome book. when all the books were about christina sterling and more christina sterling it was BORING! Nobody wanted to read a book about a bratty girl and her snotty i'm to good for everybody horse. Plus most of us Started reading these books Because they were about racing. so as you can guess i was very glad when the authors listened to us and started writing racing again. Christina has the same bond with Star as Ashligh did with Wonder and thats cool but what about Melanie? well in this book Melanie finds the horse of her dreams. Perfect Image is the horse Melanie has always dreamed of. She's smart but stubborn. Melanie see's her potential and wants to turn it into somthing. She convinces Image's owner Fredricka to let her work with the filly. things dont go as planned right away, but throughout the book the bond grows. Melanie has a horse that matches her personality. The ONLY thing I didnt like about this book was the ending.... it was ok but it was almost exactly like the ending of Without Wonder. talk about a repeat. but aside from that i compleatly loved/love this book. if you havent read it buy it or borrow it from someone who has it. if you love throughbred you gotta read this book!

ok i thought this book was great because, image was spoiled and bratty, and not "perfect" like star. and i realy like how there is a little bit of romance in it with melanie and kevin . i still think they like each other. the only thing i don't like is the way it leaves you hanging for the next one to see what will happen with the unrulely filly . i also think that fredricka should sell melanie her image because image is sooooo like melanie headstrong and full of heart. anyway if you haven't read this book you have to read it now it is amazing and everything is different there is finally a race horse who is causing people trouble! this book is one of the most realistic since the first ones!

This book was really great I recomend anyone who has read and liked thoroughbred books to buy this. It is mostly about Melanie and a filly called Perfect Image. Melanie tries to train her but the filly won't cooperate and seems to bring bad luck. I don't like the way it ended leaving you hanging but it was all worth it. Well If you love Thoroughbred books buy this!

This story is about the daughter of the famous John Brown and her summer she spent being his lookout on the farm he rented in Maryland. John Brown is famous for his fighting against slavery, but sometimes he goes too far. Some of his sons have refused to join him in Maryland after their experiences in his Kansas expedition. But others go along, including Annie and her sister-in-law Martha. Marth cleans the house and cooks while Annie keeps watch on the porch all day, making sure no one passing by becomes aware of the men stashed upstairs in the house. Annie's love Dauphin Thompson comes along with his brother, along with another pair of brothers and some other men. The men become restless over the days, waiting for the raid on Harper's Ferry to happen. As the raid gets pushed back farther and farther, Dauphin pushes Annie away. The ending is sad, but the story awesome. You really should read this book.

Mine Eyes Have Seen is a terrific novel about a teenage girl named Annie Brown, daughter of the infamous John Brown who lead the attack on Harpers Ferry, and the inner turmoil she goes through as she helps her father prepare for the attack. The book gives insight into his sadistic nature and his quest for abolition and recounts exactly how he was able to hold a federal arsenal without gaining suspicion. It is wonderful and it held my attention. I could hardly put it down. Everyone should read it.

This book was a definate GRABBER. Who couldn't love it? Beats me! I learned a whole lot. Well, you probably want to hear the story now, so here it goes: Annie Brown has been called by her father (the famous John Brown) to be the "watchdog" of his little hideout. The deal is, he is planning this raid at Harper's Ferry, to show his views on slavery. So, he is housing about 20 or so men in this house, and Annie is assigned to watch on the porch to see if anyone comes by and finds out. Well, that dreadful raid holds a sadness down on Annie: it threatens to seperate her and her love/fiance, Dauphin Thompson. So, it's really sad. Especially when you hear about the raid results. You are practically depressed yourself when you find out about what happens to Annie's fiance, brothers, and simply the men she grew attached to at the cabin. It's SO sad! Well, that is what makes it even more worth reading. I guarrantee you'll love this, so read it!

I thought this was an exciting book with excellent morals. Most parts of this amazingly exciting book left me wanting to keep reading the book. I liked this book becasue there was a mystery character and I wanted to keep reading to find out more about him. I also liked this book becasue it is a realistic event that could happen. I loved how through the book there was always an event that made me want to continue reading to find out what happens. A character that got my attention was Scout. She was a strong-willed and courageous girl who knew when to stand up for what is right. After all that she went through inb her life, she stood tall and proud and didn't let much get her down. Any type of audience should enjoy this book. It deals with many aspects on life and I recommend this book for everyone to read.

I htought this was an exciting book with excellent morals. Most parts of this amazingly exciting book left me wanting to keep reading the book. I liked this book becasue there was a mystery character and I wanted to keep reading to find out more about him. I also liked this book becasue it is a realistic event that could happen. I loved how through the book there was always an event that made me want to continue reading to find out what happens. A character that got my attention was Scout. She was a strong-willed and courageous girl who knew when to stand up for what is right. After all that she went through inb her life, she stood tall and proud and didn't let much get her down. Any type of audience should enjoy this book. It deals with many aspects on life and I recommend this book for everyone to read.

Told through the eyes of a child who does not see the humor in much of what she says, this story deals with the most vital issues of life--family, neighbors, prejudices, growing up. Family for Scout and Jem Finch is Atticus, their father, and Calpurnia, their caregiver in his absence. Prejudices Lee explores include religion, race, and class. As Scout matures, she learns to think for herself and can see the world from the perspective of Tom Robinson, Mayella Ewell, and Boo Radley. A delightful book, the simple tale told by an eight year old child covers all the tragedy and depth of which the human spirit is capable.

I'm not telling tales out of school by saying that Harper is Clegg...it's on the copyright page. That said, let's start. BAD KARMA is Doug Clegg Lite. It's primarily character-driven and paces like a shark cruising the bay for a human snack. It's a tale of Trey Campbell, a psychiatrist for the criminally insane. It also "stars" Agnes Hatcher, the female Hanibal Lecter of the hospital. Trey is on vacation when, during a very spooky and effective scene, Agnes escapes...and goes looking for Trey to right a wrong that Agnes believes was done to her over 100 years ago. Follow me so far? Trey is on a California island called Catalina with his family and Agnes comes out to spoil it...forever! Anything else about the plot is pure spoiler. I liked this novel quite a bit...but if you LOVE Clegg, take this one with a grain of salt. When I think of Clegg's novels like GOAT DANCE, NEVERLAND, THE CHILDREN'S HOUR and DARK OF THE EYE, I think about well-written deep characterizations, subplots above subplots and scenes of terror and, occasionally, eye grabbing gore. Harper is into fast moving scenes, a character introduction that's brief enough so you can follow along and heart-stopping action. It may not be the most original novel ever written, but it's well written and fun. It's a slim novel that will be able to be read in one or two sittings and well worth the time...until the new Clegg novel, THE HALLOWEEN MAN, hits stores in late '98. Recommended for Clegg fans and fans of high-paced non-thinking action.

if you liked Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon, you're going to really love BAD KARMA by Andrew Harper. This book kept me up reading until it was nearly morning and this is tough to do since I have no problem putting most books down. The author Andrew Harper wastes no words or time getting the action going and upping the suspense at every turn. BAD KARMA is one of the freshest and truly terrifying thrillers I've read in years and Agnes Hatcher is one of the best murderesses I've ever found in literature.

See what you think. I really enjoyed this book.

Ellie Lassiter

Bad Karma, by Andrew Harper, is a chilling tale of obsession and revenge. Trey Campbell, a psychiatrist at the Darden State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, is enjoying a long overdue vacation with his family on Catalina Island, off the California coast. Meanwhile, the most dangerous inmate at Darden State, Agnes Hatcher, escapes. Nicknamed "the Surgeon" and "the Gorgon," Agnes can sense what motivates people, and she enjoys performing "surgery" on her victims. In her twisted sense of reality, Agnes feels that Trey has deserted her, and now that she's free, she'll stop at nothing to teach Trey a lesson.

Bad Karma is a fast-paced psychological thriller reminiscent of James Patterson's novels. The tiny chapters and nailbiting suspense keep the reader turning the pages. Andrew Harper is the pseudonym of horror writer Douglas Clegg, and he doesn't miss a beat in changing genres to straight thrillers. This book is quite graphic and definitely not for the squeamish, but if you're in the mood for nonstop suspense and psychological terror, give Bad Karma a try.

This book was great! I found out so much about the olsen twins. I learned so many things that I didn't know. This book is great for all olsen twin fans. I am very glad that I read it! I would definitely recommend it to anybody who likes the olsen twins.

There Official Biography is a hit! The famous third-teen year old girls tell all about there elary days on Full House, there many CDS, videos, books, movies, and fashion dolls and video games, and there travels. Theres also some pitures of the twins growing up from babies to teenagers. I think any olsen fan should own this great book. I love it!

The pictures in here are GREAT. There are a bunch from babies to now. I like them because they are candid, some of them anyway. The writing was excellent. Plus there was a lot of stuff in here I didn't know, some of it just cool facts about twins or TV stuff that were barely about the twins. Read this book: It is so cool.

This book was one of the best books I have ever read. Not only are the characters EXCELLENT, everything is described in perfect detail so that you know exactly what everything looks like around you. Arilyn Moonblade, Danilo Thann, and Elaith Craulnober are great examples of how she is great with charcters. Read the book and you'll finish it within 2 days. you'll just keep reading. a great Harpers novel and good for any Forgotten Realm reader or Fantasy fan.

I loved this book.It was really good.If you like any of the forgotten realms books then you'll love this one.It has everything in it you like about books.I liked that it has some comedic stuff in it.It's about this girl Arilyn Moonblade who inhereits a sword.There's this assassin who follows her.He kills someone and it just so happens that she's always near it.And he leaves the Harper sign somewhere on the victim.She finds a man named Danilo Thann and they try to find the assassin together.I would tell you more but I obviously wouldn't want to spoil anything for you now would I?Anyway go read the book and I'm sure you'll love it too.

The first book in the much heralded and well deserved Songs & Swords series is simply one of the best novels in the Forgotten Realms line. For those of you who haven't yet read Elaine Cunningham...brace yourselves. Her writing style is just addicting. Throughout this first book she introduces the reader to a pair that you'll surely grow attached to: Arilyn Moonblade and Danilo Thann. Their mission to discover the mystery of the unaccountable deaths of various Harpers is really quite engaging. Then, when you meet such personalities as Kymil Nimesin and Elaith "The Serpent" Craulnober, it gets to the point where you're all of a sudden putting Ms. Cunningham in the same league as R.A. Salvatore and the DL duo Weis & Hickman.

I can't spoil any of the intriguing plot developments but the story in Elfshadow is very complex and refreshing. I highly recommend this title by Elaine Cunningham, and I can guarantee that if you enjoy fantasy done right, you'll finish this book and immediately pick up the next book in the series Elfsong without a second thought.

Benni Harper is the wife of a small town sheriff in San Celina, California. She is also an heiress to Jacob Chandler's estate. But who is Jacob Chandler? That's what Benni has to find out. Benni is intrigued and so am I. How does Chandler know her? Why has he named her sole heir in his will? That is the challenge & she has 2 weeks to follow the clues he left for her. I felt like I was playing the board game "CLUE" (Professor Plum did it in the Library with a candlestick). It was great!

Benni finds friends & foes along the way but I found this to be a "wholesome" mystery.

This book has it all; there's a loyal dog, a handsome cop, good friends, & close relatives. I loved the "sit-in" at the local museum to keep it from being moved all orchestrated by the San Celina Seven, headed up by Benni's own grandmother!

Fowler's Benni Harper, is a reoccurring character in a series of books but you don't need to read any of the other books in the series to enjoy Mariner's Compass, but you'll want to.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mariner's Compass, the first book I have read in this series. Benni Harper is a great heroine, self determined, smart and still caring of the people around her. The plot was very well done; I enjoyed trying to figure out with Benni why Jacob Chandler, someone she never met, bequeathed his house to her. As a condition of the will, she had to live in the house and follow the clues he set out for her. As he planned, she did learn about him and his life, with some intrigue and danger built in. The characters were great--I loved her sassy grandma who led a sit in at a local museum and her handsome hispanic sheriff husband. I do care about these characters and Benni and I will read more of this series.

benni harper faces her toughest, most personal mystery to date in mariner's compass, a compelling tale of family history, roots and love. she learns that she's inherited a house from a man she's never met and it soon becomes apparent that although she didn't know him, he certainly knew her. one condition of her inheritance is that she spend two weeks alone in the house jacob chandler willed to her, and the two weeks gives her time to delve into his motives and his murky personality. Spiritual without being preachy, earlene fowler's characters come alive and grow in the pages of her novels with a rare combination of depth and impassioned motivation. the benni harper series is one of the best, and mariner's compass may be the best of the series.

I was surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I was annoyed with Benni for doing stupid things, disappointed at the lack of quilting references, and occasionally frustrated with the writing. However, the most important quality in my enjoyment of a book is caring about the characters - and I quickly cared a lot about Benni and her family and friends. Also, the setting in central California was fresh and different. I look forward to reading more!

This book is a wonderful "cozy" -- the first in a long, strong series by Fowler that sets up the relationship between amateur sleuth Benni Harper and the Chief Gabe Ortiz, one of the sexiest characters in mystery books today. I have read the book and given it as a gift, too. Readers of all ages seem to connect with not only the quirky setting but also the romantic tension and humorous tone. I highly recommend not just this one, but the others in the same series, especially Kansas Troubles and Mariner's Cross -- but I suggest readers start with this one.

This story crosses several different paths. There's the quilting interest, because the main character, Benni Harper is the curator of a small folk-art museum in California. In fact, the story starts with Benni getting ready to have a quilt show. The mystery comes in when Benni discovers the body of a local artist in the museum. Finally, a little romance is provided by the attractive detective who's investigating the murder. He's Police Chief Gabe Ortiz and seems to have more than a little interest in the curator. We also meet Benni's grandmother who adds the humorous touch to the story.

Earlene Fowler has made her characters into real personalities and provides us with a fun and enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

This is an impressive book in scope and execution. It's told through the tortured memories of John Brown's third son, Owen, who survived the doomed attack on Harper's Ferry.

The book pays little attention to the Harper's Ferry adventure and to the Browns' adventures in Kansas, and concentrates instead of the social and familial context of Brown's actions. There is considerably more attention paid to Owen's relationship with his father and his obsessions about sex and human relationships than to the cowboy style adventures in Kansas.

While it is written in a stately and measured tone, it does not have the feel of something written in the late 18th century, and Banks' narrator seems comfortable using words and constructions which sound quite modern. Perhhaps because of this, the book never drags in spite of its enormous length.

The central question the book seems to me to ask his the eternal one about ends justifying means. The Browns' seemed to know that the actions that they took in Kansas were morally wrong--yet they believed, and Owen believes at the time of the writing, that had John Brown and his gang not perpetrated the Pottawatomie massacre that the entire course of American history would be different. They believed that the moderate free-soil politicians would have sold out, that Kansas would be admitted to the Union as a slave state, and that Lincoln would never have been elected and the NORTH would have seceded. Of course we'll never know, but we have to ask ourselves if their actions were justified given what they believed. Definitely shows you the terrorists point of view.

Very good book on a fascinating subject.

Seldom in American history have the actions of one man had so great an impact on human events as did those of John Brown, the famous Abolitionist. Russel Banks' epic novel, Cloudsplitter, recounts the life and times of the enigmatic man who changed the course of a nation. The author imagines John Brown's last-surviving son, an aged Owen Brown, who narrates the story and fills in many historical gaps that still surround the juggernaut unleashed by his fanatical father. The real Owen Brown remains a vague footnote in history. Although he occasionally surfaces like an apparition in some John Brown biographies, Russel Banks takes advantage of this particular gap in history to create his own expansive narrator, sometimes verbose and full of remorse, a living paradox racked with guilt and grandiosity. At his best, Owen tells his story with love and devotion and much largesse. Other times, when he is most guilt-ridden and self-absorbed, the narrative bogs down and becomes suffused with rancor and hate. John Brown the stoic patriarch is cast as a savage self-righteous prophet of biblical proportions, and Owen plays a convincing role as the would be son of Abraham.John Brown was the scourge of "Bleeding Kansas" (Osawatomie Brown) and the martyr of Harpers Ferry (Butcher Brown) but to Banks' Owen Brown, he was also a failed farmer and often made bankrupt by dreams of get-rich schemes. For Owen, in the end, he was a brutal father who destroyed his own family for the sake of the anti-slavery cause. Absolutely nothing stood between John Brown and his God.John Brown died that the slaves might be free...He sired twenty children, but only half lived to be adults, and three of those were killed in his Kansas and Virginia campaigns. With the blessing of Abraham Lincoln, under the command of Robert E. Lee, John Brown was hung in Charleston in 1859.Ironically, John Brown's execution brought together three of the most extraordinary characters in American history. Besides the old zealot himself, there was the marine colonel in charge of the affair, Robert E. Lee, who would later lead the Confederate armies against the Union, and a federal militiaman named John Wilkes Booth, who six years later as a famous actor would perform the last tragic act of the Civil War. Henry David Thoreau compared John Brown's martyrdom to that of Christ. "Some eighteen hundred years ago Christ was crucified; this morning, perchance, Captain Brown was hung. These are the two ends of a chain that is not without its links."And Ralph Waldo Emerson promised that Brown's martyrdom would "make the gallows glorious like the cross."And his soul goes marching on...As Owen tells it, John Brown was consumed by divine wrath. "The man had read every word of his Bible hundreds of times; nothing human beings did with or to one another or themselves shocked him. Only slavery shocked him." From the Ten Commandments, John Brown cobbled together a single imperative that southerners would come to loath: Thou shalt not enslave another human being. John Brown planned his assault on slavery from the high moral ground of the Adirondack Mountains, at the foot of a peak called "Cloudsplitter". His dream was to stretch the Underground Railroad from Alabama to the Canadian border and to eventually crush the Slavocracy through mass insurrection and economic ruin. The raid on Harpers Ferry, the climax of Banks' story (or anticlimax of Owen's) was meant to trigger that insurrection. But the raid failed terribly and resulted only in the capture of the great emancipator himself. What it did trigger, though, was the Civil War. Cloudsplitter is well researched and masterfully written. It is Russel Banks' best effort since Continental Drift (1993). This imaginative, ambitious novel humanizes the legend of John Brown much the way Bruce Olds did in his remarkable first novel, Raising Holy Hell (1995). But even in death, John Brown's juggernaut could not be stopped, and seldom in American history have the actions of one man had so great an impact on human events.Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Russell Banks is a wonder to the literary world! Here we have a man who has invested so much of his time to give a fictionalized account of the life of martyr John Brown and his mysterious son Owen. Banks spent years learning the history of this historic family, and before creating his fictionalized version, he spent a cold winter in the mountains near the location of the Brown Family for many years.

Banks loves to play around with the ideas of truth vs fact, insanity vs sanity, private life vs public scrutiny, and more than anything else, the relationship between father and son. His recreation of the mythical John Brown seems almost too real for comfort, and the imaginative birth of the historically allusive Owen Brown is likewise worthy of praise.

Cloudsplitter is a book of biblical proportions, existing on multiple levels and asking a reader to do, what in today's standards is virtually unheard of, stick with him through the short of 800 page novel. Not many today have what it takes to embark such a monumental effort as Banks has, and his merits are his rewards. This book belongs on your shelves, next to Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" and snuggled up beside James's "The American" for this truly is American Fiction at its most prolific best. It is one for the ages, and Banks can sleep soundly at night, he has done no injustice to John Brown nor the world for bringing such a wonderfully spun tale to life.