I just wrote a review of Australia Handbook and decided to have a look at the reviews for Lonely Planet's Australia guide. I bought both books as well as Frommer's and Fodor's guides for my trip to Australia. I have used many Lonely Planet guides through the years, but must agree with the comments of other posted reviews--it is oriented almostly solely to young people out looking for a a job picking fruit and wanting to know the latest nightclub hotspot. I did find the first sections of this book to be thorough on the country's history and what to expect, but as for myself and my wife (40 year olds staying in motels and with a rental car) it was useless once we got there. Lonely Planet is also way behind when it comes to listing websites.

These books may serve budget travelers well, but for my money, it's the Frommer's or Moon book.

Australia is such a vast and diverse nation that it is impossible to cover the entire country in one book.

Lonely Planet was a great starting ground. It gave excellent overviews of all of the major cities, the best of the outback, and the superb national parks. Lonely Planet also publishes guides for every Australian state, a few areas, and many smaller guides to dining, and the cities.

My advice to any traveler to Australia is to read LP Australia before departing. Then, once you have a clear idea of what you want to see, read the LP guides specific to that area. Lonely Planet is by far the best for Australia that I have seen out there.

The new 11th edition (May 2002)of this Lonely Planet Guide is excellent. I grew up in Australia and travel back frequently. The publisher is based in Melbourne, so this book has unique "at the source" information and tips. This updated edition solves most of the problems of previous editions. Yes, things change -- so always refer to the most recent edition available. Australia is a fascinating island continent.

The facts were obvious, the absurdity of the Warren Report were flaglanty flaunted, yet many people still never got the truth of JFK's murder. Mark Lane does not offer any final conclusions. He only offers more than enough evidence for two claims; 1.) that if Oswald killed JFK, he couldn't have done so alone, and 2.) the Warren Commission was a scam, dedicated to finding only Oswald's guilt, more concerned with "healing an ailing nation" than with presenting the facts.

As a lawyer, Lane is well-versed in the procedures of court. He presents Oswald's case and the Commission's case with more evidence than you can shake a stick at. It would be difficult to fault Lane for telling it like it is, and it would be even harder to refute his claims. Lane was the man who busted the conspiracy wide open, and while making no deffinite judgments on exactly who perpetrated the conspiracy, he does make a solid case that there was one.

LAne was personally involved with the case, and this works to his advantage in that he had access to a lot of facts. Unfortunately, he has also suffered the attacks of the media, and thus at times becomes a tad defensive. However, this bias is hardly noticeable and in no way detracts from the evidence.

Oswald was innocent, the Warren Commission lied or didn't look for the truth. I urge every American to read this book.

Mark Lane is an attorney who took it upon himself, in the weeks following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his alleged killer Lee Harvey Oswald, to represent Oswald's mother and widow and to try to find any information he could to exonerate Oswald of the president's murder. What he found out is the basis of what I would consider the "original conspiracy theory" -- that Oswald, even if he did pull the trigger, did not act alone in killing JFK. You may have seen Oliver Stone's movie or read one of any number of theories about JFK's murder, ranging from the simple and plausible to the wildly complex. What sets Rush to Judgment apart is that Mark Lane doesn't set forth a theory of who he thinks did kill JFK. He doesn't even say that he is 100 percent sure Oswald didn't do it. What he does posit is that the Warren Commission appointed by President Johnson to investigate the assassination was too quick to finger Oswald as the lone assassin and that its investigations were badly handled, including ignoring evidence and witnesses that could have cast doubt on Oswald's guilt. Another thing that sets this book apart is that it was written only two years after JFK's death, and Mark Lane was thus able to attend many of the Warren Commission hearings personally and to interview many of the witnesses himself. Thus, his conclusions are not based on third-party testimony or hearsay, nor are they influenced by the perspectives of history and the "government conspiracy craze." I urge anyone who is interested in American history, government and/or politics to read this book. It's well-written, not difficult to read, and interesting. Lane presents his information in a scholarly and non-inflammatory manner, even though his conclusions are a powerful indictment of some of the most respected figures in our history. I guarantee that Rush to Judgment will raise many questions in your mind.

Maybe this book will not tell who pulled the trigger. But Mark Lane shows two very important things. First, Oswald COULDN'T have been involved in the assassination of President JFK. Secondly, he shows that there were more people who participated in the assassination of Pres JFK.

This book has the historical consequence that the Warren Commission can't be trusted. As a reader of the Warren Commission Volumes, I testify to the fact that that investigation was a joke. Mark Lane shows conclusively, the failure of investigating who the real murderers were, and their failure in explaining why Oswald was the "murderer".

Lucky to have found this one in a "salvage store" that was copyright was 1953. Contains so much information amd simplified that its hard to put down. Enjoyed Mr.Weaver's prospective and I am curious to know more about the author...

At a time when fundamental economic understanding appears lacking, this book (though simplified) makes basic economic principles easy to understand. It is written in a simple format easily understood by all age groups, young folks (junior high school) as well as adults.
I have introduced all of my children to this book and they all agree that it enabled them to have a much better grasp on the realities of economics. If you find Econ 101 boring, read this book. It will provide ample incentive to "dig into" the subject. A "must read."

This book can create a general framwork around human history like not too many books that I have read. Expressed in clear language and organized in short, thought provoking sections.

What a curious book this one is, joining three main narrative threads: spiritual journals of the author's experiences in desolate terrains, emotional journals of the author's mother's protracted and painful death, and historical chronicles of monastic places and practices. The candor, humility, and knowledge of the author is everywhere evident. Lane has as deep an awareness of theological writings as he has passionate appreciation for some fine desert writers (neither naturalists nor ecologists fits them better). I cannot say every page of this book provided easy going or smooth engagement, but that can hardly be said to be the point of the book. The author mentions the relative ordinariness of the lives of those who seek spiritual focus in these places. The ordinariness of these lives makes the strange ferocity of the surrounding landscapes more portentous. I came to this book seeking description of the fierce landscapes and was rewarded. The rest of the book made for bracing enrichment of the sort I can't say I commonly read (grief memoirs & theology).

This book is a gem for anyone who appreciates monasticism and the beauty and spirituality of the desert. It contains some of the freshest theological insights I have come across in quite awhile.

This is a most amazing book, impossible to classify. It is written on a number of levels at once; if you have read 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', which broke new ground twenty years or so ago, you will know what I mean. The whole book is about prayer, in one way or another; I found it marvellous and beautifully written. If you are a desert dweller, this one is for you. The exploration of desert and mountain landscapes goes hand in hand with a reading of the apophatic traditions of prayer. "The desert practice of contemplative prayer abandons, on principle, all experiences of God or the self. It simply insists that being present before God, in a silence beyond words, is an end in itself....In the practice of contemplation, one comes eventually to embrace an apophatic anthropology, letting go of everything one might have imagined as constituting the self - one's thoughts, one's desires, all one's compulsive needs. Joined in the silence of prayer to a God beyond knowing, I no longer have to scramble to sustain a fragile ego but discern instead the source and ground of my being in the fierce landscape of God alone. One's self is ever a tenuous thing, discovered only in relinquishment. I recognize it finally as a vast, empty expanse opening out on to the incomparable desert of God". (pp 12-13) . . . "Apophatic spirituality has to start at the point where every other possibility ends. Whether we arrive there by means of a moment of stark extremity in our lives or (metaphorically) by way of entry into a high desert landscape, the sense of inadequacy remains the same. Prayer without words can only begin where loss is reckoned as total"

The Wendover Whale is a chance to remember about dreams that don't have to come true, about possibilities and how we choose to approach and subsequently handle situations that are perceived as out of the ordinary. To find the goal of the characters (building a boat in the desert) "sort of silly" as Ms. Taylor said in her review, presents the closed mind of someone who has forgotten the excitement of slipping into a slightly farfetched adventure like those in Harold and the Purple Crayon or the Elmer and the Dragon Series. I was first introduced to the Wendover Whale as a screenplay and although I preferred it in that presentation, I found the adaptation to a novel very pleasing. I do take exception to the simpler elements of copy-editing that seem to have been neglected in this printing. There are quite a few spelling errors and although it is a working part of the story to refer to the action in a cross-tense form, I found a couple of times that it read as if someone had just forgotten to transpose tenses. There are a few Robbins-esque passages that tend to ramble on in abit of a mid-hippie disjointedness, but hidden inside each of these are fine gems of insight. It can be dangerous to approach a piece of fiction with such strong preconceptions that a person can get angry at the author for not writing the book you've decided you wanted to read. Then go write it yourself! If you are not motivated, get yourself a copy of The Wendover Whale instead and embark on a wondeful journey and an entirely pleasurable read!

I think I can best reveal how I felt about The Wendover Whale, by responding to Miss Taylor's review. The only thing I found predictable about the book, was my desire that the young boy would realize his dream, and this desire provided a great deal of suspense when the dangers of failure were imminent. Miss Taylor's comment about "no major publisher picking up the book," puts a human face on the theme of the story. Here is a new writer (Mr. Lane) unable to overcome the obstacles of entering the closed world of publishing, pursuing his own convictions (or dreams) by self-publishing. I was very interested in the many well defined characters; especially the character of the young boy and his relationship to Cap, an old sea salt, and the boy and his father, as well as Cap's relationship with his very intelligent, insightful dog. I found the book meaningful and enjoyable.

Having spent my youth dreaming of boats and time on the ocean, I could not have had a more enjoyable stay with Jim Lane's landlubbing characters. The story represents the essence of the pull of the ocean, a draw that everyone seems to notice, and that many find overpowering. The translation of a phenonmenon with such simplicity, leaves the reader to embrace the concept in his or her own terms. My feeling is that this story has everything to do with the ocean, in direct contrast with the setting in the Great Salt Desert. Many of the author's writing techniques represent a style that will undoubtedly be embraced by today's newer generations of readers. Among the techniques I noticed: a willingness to express opinions about the world (and the characters in the story), references to regional events that give insights about the author and storyline, and finally, the refusal to pigeonhole this novel with a specific type of reader or age group. To any reader, (other than those offended by language used in PG-13 movies!) I would recommend this book, and say that it will give you a taste of the salty sea that you may not have appreciated before.

This story had great potential but was totally unbelievable. The plot, the dialogue, the characters - didn't believe Jake could really be that smart or quick thinking. I couldn't wait to finish the book - I wouldn't have except I didn't have anything else with me to switch over to.

Mr. Lyons stopped me from doing anything else for a full day. I couldn't put this book down. I had to find out what was going to happen next.
The book revolves around a college senior who is willing to do whatever it takes to make his dreams a reality. The way things unfold and the way Jake feels about those events is what makes this book tick for me. You can actually follow Jakes line of thinking and in a sick and twisted way sympathize with him.
I enjoyed the book and I'm impressed with the author.
Be warned though if you're the least bit squeamish you may not want to pick up this book. The first death in the story is very brutal.

This is this writer's first novel & I will be anxiously awaiting & anticipating more to come! For a debut work, I found it to be exceptional. The psychological suspense & intrigue is top-notch, the dialogue is taut & surprises are around every corner. I read it in record time, feeling drawn back to it with every spare minute I could devote. Andrew Lyons is a talent & should have a very bright future ahead of him as a writer in this genre if he continues in the tradition of "Darkness In Him!"

Exciting romantic suspense????? Obviously Harriet Klausner read a different book. Maybe something by Susan Andersen? I have to agree with Disappointment from New York. I WANTED to like this book. Reinventing Romeo was a fun read. However, I found myself skipping great portions of Romancing Riley. Too much "head" conversation and not enough real conversation. Riley was just too much period - not sympathetic. Again, I agree with New York. Just could not like Riley. I hope Ms. Lane's next book is better, but the brief preview in the back of Romancing Riley did not bode well.

I really liked Riley at the beginning of this book. I mean, I really, really liked her. She was fun, independent, and sassy. She was the first romance heroine I've ever encountered with short, spiky dyed hair, a dog collar, and a navel ring. She was everything most romance heroines are not. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I didn't find her unsympathetic at all. I found her a refreshing break from the cotton-candy pink of most other romance heroines. Her careless sexuality, far from being off-putting, was more based in reality. If you like Carrie Brandshaw and pals of Sex and the City, you'd really like Riley.

Where this book started to derail for me was when the hero, Zap, who I found to be totally arrogant and annoying, started to change Riley. Plain dresses and ordinary hair styles & color came first, along with the removal of her body jewelry. At the end, it leaves the impression that only those cotton-candy-pink heroines who are demure and shy about sexuality deserve to be loved. And that I don't like at all.

Talk about mismatched lovers. Riley and Zap aren't star-crossed, they're galaxy-crossed, and Riley isn't the standard romance heroine by a long shot. But flashy, trashy Riley is warm-hearted, loyal and vibrant, and Zap, with his Midwestern manners and ideals is her perfect foil. If you're looking for a vivacious romp, with characters who aren't cookie-cutter all-American, then don't look any further. This one's a keeper. As for the teaser chapter? Clown showgirls, ATF agents and male strippers? Personally, I can't wait.

I've read everything by this author and enjoyed every book....except this one. Perhaps it was because I have developed such expectations based on his past works. There were too many segments where things just dragged on and situations that just repeated themselves. Lily and Pete were too shallow and neurotic for my tastes, although somewhat improving by the book's end. The ending was a nice twist but not enough to push the overall rating of this book higher. I've certainly missed Charlotte's works lately and hope she will have something new coming out soon.

It took a while for this one to get going - after 50 pages I thought that I was going to put it down. But then it heated-up. In addition to being a solid read, with an excellent plot line, I actually learnt about the French Resistance in WW2. I am not a fan of war history, so actually learning something while enjoying the suspense of the novel was a bonus. I will recommend this Aaron Elkin novels to friends - as it was the first book by Elkin that I read, I'll try to track down others of his as well.

Suspense takes a turn for the sinister when a tale is set in foreign locales. Edgar Award winner Aaron Elkins knows this well and utilizes it to perfection in his latest thriller "Turncoat." Following on the heels of his acclaimed "Loot" and "Skeleton Dance," we knew it would be a riveting read. We weren't disappointed.

Opening lines set the scene and pique interest: "For everybody else in America it was the day JFK was killed in Dallas. For me, it would always be the day Lily's father turned up on our doorstep...P>Elkins's portrait of good and evil is stunning in every way. "Turncoat" is a taut thriller, and startling reminder of how the present is affected by the past.

- Gail Cooke

"the prophet who prophesies will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord ONLY IF HIS PREDICTION COMES TRUE."(Jer.28:9)

This is the inerrant litmus test of Bible prophecy: 100% Definitive Factuality in ADVANCE of freely chosen agent decisions, 0% error rate. Openism is DOA,AWOL,Mene-Mene-Tekel-Uparsin at this point! The handwriting is on the wall!

"Hear the Word of the Lord all you exiles in Babylon. This is what the Lord Almighty says about Ahab and Zedekiah who are prophesying lies to you in My Name. 'I will hand them over to King Neb. and he will put them to death before your very eyes. Because of them, all the exiles from Judah in Babylon will use this curse: The Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.'"

An irrefutable case of EXHAUSTIVE DEFINITIVE DIVINE FOREKNOWN FACTUALITY about the future free decisions of Ahab; Zedekiah; King of Babylon specifically using fire for execution; and all exiles using the exact, precisely predicted curse based on the free decisions of Ahab, Zedekiah, King (all inextricably interlinked) in the OMNI-Mind of God, freely played out in time

Openism's 'extensive indefinite forecasting' cannot account for such prophecies. (Too many to list here - see separate reviews for 'Beyond the Bounds'; 'God Under Fire'; 'Bound Only Once'.)

Why must Gregory Boyd set up a hyper-Calvinist view as straw antagonist, then make his 'case' for why his Open Theory is the 'most Biblical' (compared to what??)? Ajarism (Free Futures are seen by God as through an ajar door darkly) can't help but seem more palatable by comparison with the ultra-Calvinist
'Closed door known but to God' or Liberal Process 'Wide-Open door unknown to God'.

The nebulous argument for 'Infinite Intelligence' to compensate for 'Non-infinite knowledge of free futures' (known as Divine Nescience,i.e Ignorance) is verbal legerdemain for denial of genuine, meaningful OMNI-science as the Bible teaches.

God is, according to Boydian theory, MULTI-scient or MAXIMI-scient (God knows a lot, more than anyone, the maximum logically knowable, but not quite EVERYTHING as the Bible says).

Instead, Gregory makes God out to be of such great intellect to work around His deemed lack of Infinite Foreknowledge of all future mortal free Shalls and Shall nots, Wills and Will nots. Boyd invents a new sub-Attribute to compensate for eviscerating another Attribute to allow God to come out O.K. in the end.

But it backfires. It only creates a deity in a limited human's intellectual image. In exchange for the Biblical Jesus of Infinite awareness, foresight, prescience and precise knowledge of all Space-Time events/decisions from Eternity Past to Eternity Future and all in between, we are left with a supreme weather forecaster or chess grandmaster. However as we all know, weathermen are often surprised, wrong, erroneous and mistaken. Garry Kasparov and IBM's Deep Blue have both lost against each other. Is this the sort of Jesus that Gregory Boyd sincerely believes in, trying to persuade others to accept,too?

'Infinite Intelligence' is woeful consolation for 'knowing' free agent futures as predominantly possibles, maybes, contingents, risky what-ifs, potentials, probables, likelihoods,
projections, indeterminates, variables, random chance, unpredictabilities, uncertainties that may after all not materialize to divine expectations/forecasts.

It is here that the equally nebulous Boydian concept of 'Theo-Repentism' must be triggered to explain how Jesus handles free futures that don't work out as anticipated. When confronted with new information, or in relating to free decision makers, the Eternal Lord Jesus then changes the divine mind, repents (of wrong-doing, wrong-guessing,wrong-imagining, wrong-thinking,wrong-prognosticating, wrong-speaking,wrong-predicting, wrong-prophesying, etc.) or regrets, rues prior decisions based on incomplete data, wishing they could be do-overs or in need of retraction or repair. Infinite Intelligence kicks in at this stage for 'divine damage control' to salvage a draw and prevent checkmate from all the free-ranging opponents who act/decide contrary to the limits of divine predictability in the chaotic chessgame/meteorology of life.

Sound puzzling? It is. Especially when you read the seminal book by Gregory Boyd that started it all: 'Trinity & Process' (see separate review), based on Hartshorne's 'Omnipotence & Other Theological Mistakes' (see review where you discover that Boyd's Omnipotence is no less limited than his Omniscience).

It seems OMNI (Latin for All) cannot mean OMNI anymore, at least for Open Theorists. What then becomes of OMNI-presence? Infiniteness? Eternality?
Transcendence? OMNI-sapience (ALL-Wise)? What happens to all the Historic-Evangelically understood Trinitarian Attributes? How are they Openistly redefined/updated for modern consumption? Only God knows (or, maybe He doesn't? Stay tuned!)

Most unfortunate that books like this which incorporate non-evangelical 'theology' alongside historic Christianity are distributed for uncritical consumption by a non-discerning readership. Seeking wider respectability, Openism/Ajar Theory merely shows with every published page how far Boyd-Pinnock-Sanders have headed AWAY from the Bible and TOWARD a vivid, free agent imagination a la borrowed elements of Hartshorne's Processistic, non-Scriptural philosophic fabrications.

The LORD said it best in Job 42:7 "I am angry with you..because you have not spoken of Me what is right."

This book rates 3 stars for including 3 Biblical/Evangelical views, but subtract stars for Gregory's use of contemporary philosophic presuppositions applied to selective misinterpreted Bible texts to provide a marginal audience the latest heterodox option to counter the straw antagonist of hyper-Calvinism.

Ultimately can't persuade in any cogent, balanced, unbiased way.

The OMNITrue One Who has Eternal Exhaustively Divine Definitive Foreknown Factuality of ALL Free Futures, Infinitely Uninformable ,Unrepentable,Inerrant, Incorrectible, Infallible, OMNI-Present (Ever-Present I AM in ALL point-moments of space-time: Length-Width-Height-Past-Present-Future), Eternal, Limitlessly Aware,OMNI-Relational,Interactive LORD Jesus said,

"Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?"

Just one Scripture from Jesus settles the Foreknowledge Issue once for all:

"I AM TELLING YOU NOW BEFORE IT HAPPENS SO THAT WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN YOU WILL BELIEVE THAT I AM HE." (John 13:19)
Not forecasting, possibilizing, but TELLING. Not if, but WHEN.
Not may,might,could,perhaps should, but DOES happen. 0% Uncertain. 100% definite. That's genuine Omniscience. Amen.

Interesting that this book would present as one of the "evangelical" options of what God knows and when He can know it:
the curious notion that God possesses EXTENSIVE INDEFINITE FORECASTING (a la weather prognosticator or chess grandmaster) subject to all the iffiness and unknowable randomness of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and Chaos Theory working themselves out in a fallen world unbeknownst in advance to the Creator! Boyd's presupposition is THE FUTURE DOES NOT EXIST YET, EVEN FOR THE OMNISCIENT/ETERNAL CREATOR GOD, except as mere possibilities yet to be freely actualized.
Therefore He is the deity of what is humanly,logically possible.

Boyd's Neo-Processistic philosophical theorizing becomes more incoherent with each book. How can God know how He will definitely act in the future if He doesn't know how sinners and demons will definitely behave? If our decisions don't exist until we freely make them, how can God's decisions exist until He freely makes His in response to ours in response to others in response to the devil's in response to... ad infinitum?? If all God can know are ultimately possibles (not actuals, definites), then ALL He can know about future agency is INDEFINITE (MAYBE). Thus Boyd teaches EXTENSIVE INDEFINITE FORECASTING - which he calls Omniscience! Talk about verbal legerdemain! God can only know what is humanly,finitely knowable

A careful study of the Bible shows rather the truth that there is NO LIMIT to the extent (past,present,future) of God's knowledge. It is ETERNALLY EXHAUSTIVE DIVINE DEFINITIVE FOREKNOWN FACTUALITY OF ALL FREE FUTURES-OMNIPRESCIENCE
His understanding is INFINITE. That God definitely knows in advance precisely what sinners and demons WILL/WILL NOT do doesn't mean therefore that they are thus forced to, or thereby lose their agency/moral responsibility. Neither is God to blame for the foreknown exercise of their agency. He retains full final say, ultimate control and awareness as definite in advance of ALL they will choose to do. Because some mortal minds can't reconcile this profundity, Open Theory (Ajarism) is the misbegotten result. With all due respect to sincere but sincerely wrong Gregory Boyd, there is little about Neo-processism or EIF (EXTENSIVE INDEFINITE FORECASTING) that can be understood in any sense as Biblical or Orthodox Truth about God's Attributes such as OMNISCIENCE/OMNIPRESENCE. God is ever PRESENT at every point/moment of space/time, including ALL the FUTURE. The I AM is ALREADY THERE/THEN waiting for us just as He IS with us HERE/NOW.

Otherwise well-written. 1 star for attempting to resurrect the long-discredited 'Nescience' pseudo-theology of the late 19th Century (with some elements of 16th Cent. Socinianism) via a self-refuting misunderstanding of how God interacts with ALL FUTURE MORTAL AGENCY: Comprehensively, and for Open Theorists, Incomprehendible.

Most of the reviews on this page miss the boat entirely. Rather than actually reviewing or recommending DF the reviewers are merely venting their anger because their particular view is challenged.

Pay them no mind. DF is an excellent book. Buy it and read all the views with as much of an open humble mind as you can. It's better than the alternative spoon feeding that is rampant in many circles of Evangelicalism today.

The glossary is a great idea more publishers should follow.

Keep em coming Eddy, Beilby, Gannsle ....etc.

Kaminsky's Toby Peters is a classic hard boiled detective and lives up to the title in this book. It has all the elements of a good L.A. noir story and is handled well. The extra(s) are the inclusion of many historically famous personalities (Raymond Chandler, Judy Garland, Louis B. Mayer, etc.)

That being said this book suffers from the same thing all books written about pre-war L.A. by people who weren't really there. The descriptions and directions tend to sound like someone reading off of a 1940's California map along with pictures from an old Life magazine.

Its fast-paced, short, and to the point. Its worth the time, however you won't remember much of it after you're done.

The dust jacket on the hardcover is apropos. It has a picture of a bleeding Munchkin with a dagger through his heart lying on the Yellow Brick Road.

It's November 1, 1940. The Wizard of OZ premiered last year. FDR is running for a 3rd term. Who is killing former Munchkins? Is Judy Garland in danger? Tobias Leo Pevsner, (a/k/a Toby Peters) P.I. is on the case for MGM. (MGM wants to control publicity spin and avoid official police "blue tape.)

The book, written by a Northwestern University film professor, is a take-off on the "hard-boiled" detective sagas of an earlier age. In a hilarious plot twist, Toby stumbles on some guy he's never heard of who claims to be a writer of detective stories. The guy's name? "Chandler, Raymond Chandler" who tells our hero he has written a couple of books: "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell, My Lovely" - neither of which our hero has ever heard of either. Nonetheless, Mr. Chandler becomes his sometime partner on the case. If you like things Oz, I recommend this book and also the movie "Under the Rainbow" - a spoof of the making of the Wizard of Oz, with Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher trying to manage the mischievous Munchkins.

This book is one of the first mystery novels that I've ever picked up, started, and felt compelled to keep reading until I finished it. Stuart Kaminsky blends the familiar elements of a murder mystery with a good dose of humor and eroticism (don't worry, it's not obscene). The whole book is tied together with the completely unpredictable, sick, yet hilarious conclusion. I'm not a person who reads a lot of mystery novels (or a lot of books in general), but Stuart Kaminsky is the most fun author I have ever read. Murder on the Yellow Brick Road was the first Kaminsky book I read, and it led me to buy 2 more of his books (Dancing in the Dark and The Devil Met a Lady), both of which are similarly fun but not quite as good from a mystery reader standpoint. If you're just looking for a good mystery novel that is also very fun, go ahead and pick up a copy of Murder on the Yellow Brick Road. Oh, and don't let your kids read it.