I am a Louis Lamour fan.. Ralph Compton is just as good.. I Have read "DEATH RIDES A CHESTNUT MARE" and "THE SHADOW OF A NOOSE".. I can't wait to get the third in the triology..

This book was as good as all the outhers i have read by Ralph Compton. Mystery,adventer, and realism of what it was like to live in the mid 1800,s. I have lost count on just how many of his books i have read. But i have never been disapponted with any of them. Only wish he could write a lot faster. I have also read Death rides a chestnut mare. Can not wait for the third book to come out. Demon,s pass is also wounderful.

In The Shadow of a Noose,Ralph Cotton entrails us with saloon scenes and trail drive scenes so vivid they are are more like looking at old Remington paintings than reading words on a page. Danielle and her twin brothers are the kind of young people you actually worry about from page to page until you see they have found safety at least for awhile. Old western dialogue and old time pride and honor keep these charactors always in the thick of things. Yet, as rough and tough as these people are, you still see them as vulnurable children and want give them advice. Interaction between brother and sister over their mother's death are touching and deep, and scenes of violence and vengence are breathtaking. Bravo Mr. Cotton. I look forward to Misery Express. You and Mr. Compton Write the kind of western we all grew up on. Please don't change.

Knight Winthrop, the confirmed bachelor and cynic of marriage, is thrown off balance with the beautiful Lily and her ex-fiance's children. I loved this book for the humor and love shared between the children and adults especially. It is the most exciting and enticing book of the trilogy. But, forewarning don't expect this in Night Storm...it's horrible. Three cheers for Night Shadow, though.

This one left me unsure as to my feelings for it. I LOVED the children, and the first third and last part-after their marriage-I loved, but the part in between . . . I hated the fact that Knight absolutely refused to believe that Lily was NOT, in fact, a prostitute. But I stayed up long into the night reading it anyway. I HAD to find out what happened. I was shaking during that whole portion of the book! I still didn't like it as much as Night Fire though, which has got to be one of the best books I have ever read. This book is worth reading, but it left me with mixed feelings.

I have read this book four times now. It is well written, with humor, adventure, and WHOA! quite the explicit love making! (I'm truly in love with Knight!)...

I traveled to Costa Rica for a study abroad program with my college, and I found The New Key to Costa Rica to be the perfect guide book. I loved all of the recomendations the book offered while I was in Costa Rica: places to visit, places to eat, places to stay, etc. So, when I planned to return to Costa Rica I consulted the book again. However, I do not suggest using Americas Tours and Travel to buy tickets to Costa Rica, as the book suggested. I did, and I regret it. This is my only complaint about the book. Otherwise, it is the best that can be offered.

I used a previous edition of this book as a guide when I was an exchange student in Costa Rica. This book contained everything that I needed. I spoke little Spanish in the beginning of my stay, and this book helped me to travel the country with easy. It contains information about everything from restaurants to travel to ecological information. Prior to using the New Key, I had never used a travel book. After using it, I wanted to buy a travel guide for every trip. Though I have now used several travel books, unfortunately, I have never found another book that is so comprehensive and useful as the New Key. This book explains a lot of inside information that one needs to know and hotel and restaurant tips. I highly recommend it. I only wish the makers of the New Key would do New Key books for other places,especially other Central American countries. I would buy any New Key book even if it were over my own home city so that I could let my visitors use it. I would buy the full set without hesitation. My few words can hardly do justice to this excellent book. If there were a nobel prize for travel books, this book would have won it. If you are taking a trip to Costa Rica, buy it!

Also newly updated is Beatrice Blake and Anne Becher's New Key To Costa Rica, which promotes eco travel and outdoor adventures. Opinionated reviews cover both historic sites and outdoor adventure journeys, making for an absorbing and revealing guide.

This book was written by a father for his son upon the boy's high school graduation. A young man, Josh, is a son of divorced parents (his father seems to have forgotten him completely) who lives on the Alabama coast and is taken primarily with surfing and little else. In an effort to assist his mom who makes the meals for Meals on Wheels, he takes to delivering her meals to the area's elderly. He meets up one day with Mr. Davis, an old man who initially seems rather hard to approach but who seems to like the boy. Davis asks Josh if he will help him out by spending some of his free time visiting with him and transcribing his memoirs (perhaps a better word is 'memories' - actually of certain events that happened to him in his life). Josh takes on the project and becomes quite fond of Davis who takes him sailing and takes him to a ball game at his old alma mater. Davis' "remembered" stories all seem to have a 'lesson' or a 'moral' to them and in fact, they help Josh to think about his life and his future - something he had not been doing even though he was ready to graduate and had no idea what to do in his life. Although the book was a touching piece of prose, I found it to be a little unrealistic only on the premise that a high school kid would be so easily turned around and so decidedly changed by a relationship like this. It isn't that I think a kid like this is a lost cause or shouldn't be engaged in a manner like Davis did with Josh, but that the book was a little too neat and tidy to be real. Teenagers and their relationships with the various adults around them are much more messily engaged. They have raging hormones and emotional needs that can be way more complex to work with than just a few visits with a nice old guy with an interesting past. Sorry, I guess I wasn't very moved.

In Ben Erickson's "A Parting Gift", an old man named Will Davis teaches a teenage boy the importance of living life fully and persuing his dreams. I really enjoyed this book becuase it was simple and easy to read. Yet, the novel has deep meaning behind it that teaches you a great lesson. Will was a wise man whom Josh learned from. Through journaling Will's memories, Josh was able to understand the simplicity and beauty of life. As humans today, we often are caught up in the business of everyday tasks that we forget about the beauty of life around us. Will Davis reminds us of that in this heartwarming novel. Our elders can teach us so much through their wisdom of just living. Taking these memories and using them in our lives is a special gift that we should cherish. This novel takes place by the ocean and most of the story is flashbacks from Will's life. This novel is heartwarming, yet it is almost depressing at the same time. Nevertheless I fully enjoyed it and I reccomend "A Parting Gift" to anyone.

As a resident and bayside dweller in the area where this book is set, I was impressed,not only with the author's love and feel for the place, but with the purity and joy of his story. Without an ounce of profanity or lewd sexual situations, Erickson has written a compelling story of the good in man. Mr. Davis is a person that most people would wish to have in their lives and young Josh is his youthful equivalent. Wonderful reading...you'll come away with a warm and contented feeling.

This book ,as usual, contains one elment that's always present in Putney's books. Wisdom. To me, this is why her books are so different from the other authors. I always love her characters. In this book, I love Peregrine, Sara and many others. No matter how many times I reread the book, the characters in it are still as refreshing and as intriguing to me as when I'd first read it. Anyone who loves action, excellent plot would love this book as well as her many others. The memorable events in this book has found its way into my heart!!

This is the 4th book I have read by Ms.Putney, and as always, it was a great read. Though to be honest, I probley wouldn't have picked it up on it's own if I hadn't read Silk and Secrets first, and felt an instant bond with Juliet. I loved Peregrine, and felt his character had alot of depth and had to go through a considerable amount of change due to the plot. The reason he wanted revenge really shocked me, since it is the first I have ever encountered in any romance I have ever read. I had alittle trouble warming up to Sarah at first. She seemed a little flat for the first six or seven chapters, until her and Mikahl got to Sulgrave, then not only did things start to heat up, but I began to understand and warm to Sarah alittle bit more, though I really didn't thaw till the last half of the book. All and all she was a well written character, but like I said, I felt closer to Juliet in Silk and Secrets then to Sarah. I loved the second love story of Jenny and Ben, and wish that Ms. Putney had delved alittle deeper into what they shared. Still, the plot was well exicuted, and the hero and herione were both believable, and likeable. Charles was one of the best villian I have ever come across. And god was he a terrible hypocrite, who got his just rewards in the end. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves sensuality and happy endings in their stories. Another A+ for Ms. Putney.

This was the first book that I had read by Mary and I have to admit I was very impressed. The characters were very well written and the co-characters(so to speak) were just as great. I can't help but wonder about the main characters (Sarah) cousin and what had happened to him in his youth to make him be afraid to love. I certainly picked up on another possible story here. I hope that Mary plans a sequel. Prince Peregrin was a wonderful character, full of twists and turns and unexpected truths. The evil of the story was Sarah's ex-fiancee who couldnt be more evil. All though Mary almost has you feeling sorry for him, due to the love he has for his daughter, it's too bad the man is a lunatic! Anyway, this is a don't miss novel in my opionion and I look forward to reading more of her stories.

I recently took this guidebook on a two-week trip around the UK and found it to be just as useful and dead-on as every other LP book I've used (even though it is almost two years old). I looked at some of the others, and this the only budget guide for Britain worth picking up. Forget Fodor's, Frommer's, and Let's Go - this book is all you need for a trip to the British Isles.

I have traveled to England a dozen times and I own current editions of 12 different guidebooks. This is far and away the best. It has the most useful information in the easiest to use format. For one thing it has all the travel planning facts you need. In addition, the destinations are described with writing that is evocative, imaginative and accurate. The recommendations are reliable and I was never steered wrong in selecting lodgings and restaurants. Before I found this book, I had to combine three different books to get all the information that's included in this one. From a veteran traveler, I highly recommend the Lonely Planet guide.

This summer I took an awesome two week tour of Great Britain with Contiki Tours. The tour was great because of how it mixed a rigid tour with free time. My free time was excellent thanks to the information in this guide. I had used Lonely Planet before when I visited China. They did a great job on that book and they did a great job on this one. The information, history, culture and advice are priceless. This is a great guidebook to have. Lonely Planet might not have zillions of colour pictures, but it has priceless information and commentary.

I love this author and have read most of her books, but this one just bothered the heck out of me. She has written a book about a woman who has let a man rule her life because he was once a football star and who (poor baby) hurt himself and now just can't find the glory again. She is a doormat for her husband, children and friends. I only wanted her to tell them all to go away and to reclaim her life , if she can remember when she had one! More "brand names" of products used in this book, than in a catalog, what does it add to the story? So what did we learn? Be a doormat for years, give all to everyone in your life, let your husband come back time and time again after affairs to "help him cope" have a co-dependent relationship with your children. I don't think so! Nothing to cheer about, very predictable ending, Can she work Columbia into her life? I don't think so. She will quit as soon as someone has a problem in their life.
Come on Kristin, you can do better than this and have. Write about strong women. There are so many out there and they deserve for you to tell their stories.

This is my first time reading Kristin Hannah, this book was so good I enjoyed it so much! I love reading Elizabeth and Jack's love story though they were young when they got married things were put on hold for them both. Jack wanting to find something he was good at after his football career did work out he wanted to be well know and Elizabeth wanted more out of life then she was getting from Jack, they have been married for so long that they some how lost there way to each other they have two grown beautiful daughters that they are so proud of but they have to find themselves before they can find the love they once had a very beautiful story this is I loved it! I am looking forward on reading her others books that she has written.
Happy Reading Lisa

How many of us spend out lives taking care of everyone else and letting our own needs fall by the wayside? Kristin Hannah takes us into the life of Elizabeth (Birdie) Shore who is doing this very thing. A death in the family at a time in her life when she has so many questions helps her to break away to try and find the answers. Along the way she learns to no longer take herself for granted and to accept that she is a person with her own needs and wants. She resurrects her dreams and takes those first frightening steps to make those dreams come true. In the end she finds that she can be her own person as well as a loving wife and mother. A wonderful book for all of us needing inspiration to take that very first scary step to make our dreams come true and to learn to appeciate ourselves in whatever relationships we have in our lives.

Don't get me wrong. I love the burglar series. But this one was a bit too complicated to enjoy. When I read a Rhodenbarr book, I don't want to have to think too hard, but this one has too many twists and too many paintings to keep track of. The story starts out nice enough, with a kidnapped cat and a ransom call (in a Nazi voice) requesting a Mondrian painting. Unfortunately, the catnapping story loses steam and after awhile, I think Lawrence Block almost forgot it, then suddenly tried to wrap a bow around it. Bernie reveals the twisted details in the end, but he doesn't sufficiently explain how he solves the mystery. He rounds up the suspects into one room for the showdown, and the suspect list includes characters heretofore unseen. I wish all the suspects could have been introduced to the reader before hand, so we had a fighting chance to figure out the mystery ourselves.

Of the eight Bernie Rhodenbarr novels published as of the end of 1997, THE BURGLAR WHO PAINTED LIKE MONDRIAN is by far the best...and, ironically, it is also one of the the few Lawrence Block novels that, as of the same date, was out of print. MONDRIAN carries on the "Burglar Who" tradition of burying Bernie up to his neck in trouble and letting the reader watch as he resourcefully digs himself out. This time, the plot involves genuine and forged Mondrian paintings, a kidnapped cat, an impregnable building which Bernie repeatedly breaks into, plus a dozen other elements; and somehow it all comes together perfectly. Like a Mozart concerto, like a Fred Astaire dance routine, this book hits all the right notes, maintains its balance and rhythm, and leaves the reader wanting more. It won't be out of print forever. When it returns, buy several copies: this is one you'll want to give to your friends.

Antiquarian book dealer Berni Rhodenbarr feels pretty good about his current job, appraising New York millionaire Gordon Onderdon's personal collection. While checking the library, Bernie, being a thief, cannot help casing the rest of the house in case he decides to abscond with something.

Bernie's close friend Carolyn Kaiser informs Bernie that someone has abducted her cat. For ransom, they want the Piet Mondrian painting hanging in a museum where it is virtually impossible to steal anything. Bernie, knowing that Gordon has a fake on his wall, returns to the wealthy man's home to steal the painting. Instead, he finds a corpse and no painting. Of course, the police turn to Bernie as the prime suspect. Now he has to rescue the feline and prove his own innocence.

This is a reprint of a classy Bernie Rhodenbarr novel, which may be the best of this highly regarded series. Bernie and friends remain interesting and fun, while New York City comes to life in a way rarely seen in a novel. The crisp story line keeps reader attention throughout the book. Bottom line is the entire eight-novel collection is worth reading because no one does Manhattan any better than Lawrence Block does with these incredible tales.

Harriet Klausner

I don't understand the people who have said they thought this book was slow. I savored every word and didn't want the book to end. Mapson's prose sparkles, and her observations about life, love, and family are witty and funny and oh so true. I also loved the world of the Wilder sisters. The New Mexico setting was wonderfully drawn, and even though I know nothing about horses, I felt a part of that world and understood the feelings of the people in it. This is a wonderful book, the kind I would heartily recommend to my own sisters and daughters. I can't wait to read Ms. Mapson's other books.

As a male reader, I always come away from reading one of Jo-Ann Mapson's books better understanding how women think and feel about love, relationships and....men. In The Wilder Sisters, I particularly enjoyed the family dynamics of Rose and Lily's parents, who operate a horse ranch in Floralee, New Mexico. While there is no actual town of Floralee on the map, I found clues that made me believe we were in Taos--Michael's Restaurant, Sage Bakery, etc. Mapson's strength in painting locales and developing characters is strong and convincing. She doesn't shy away from examining human imperfections, but she doesn't male-bash, either. Austin, the alcoholic vet Rose has a crush on, comes across as a complex, sympathetic character. So does Rose's father, Chance, but I have to say my favorite character was Shep Hallford, the ranch wrangler. In this respect, Mapson's writing belongs right up there with Larry McMurtry--if he wore a skirt.

Mapson's sure hand reveals a story as wild and beautiful as the New Mexico range. She introduces us to the Wilder family, sprung from that land with toungues as sharp as cactus spines and hearts as tough and enduring as the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I loved this novel, and eagerly followed the trials of Rose and Lily, the down to earth daughters of patriarchs Mami and Pop Wilder. This is a marvelous story about love, sibling rivalry and the price one pays for happiness. Ultimately it is about the wanderer finding her way back to the homeland and finally discovering what was once thought to be lost. I highly recommend it.

I found the book to be a fun read. Though I became frustrated with the characters at times I found the book to be believable for the time period. Wolfe and Jessi were both people haunted by a past that life dealt them. It's understandable why his mother named him what she did because she knew the life he would have because of his heritage or lack of heritage being an illegitamate child. It is understandable that Wolfe hated aristocracy and that Jessi had no idea what a real marriage was about, since that type of society is very plastic and polished so that thing are not always as they seem. I could truely feel Wolfes pain as an outcast and a boy growing up without the guidiance of his father. I truely did fall in love with Wolfe. I also loved Jessi because she was so strong and determined to learn and to be a good wife and because she was so honest.

This book is wonderful. It makes you laugh and cry. Wolfe is the perfet man for Jesse. Elizabeth Lowell makes the reader believe that they are part of the story. One you've read this book, you must read all of them.

This novel was my favorite from the Only series. The character of Wolfe was pretty compelling, and Jessi's reticence was believable though a bit overdone at times.

Another reason why I liked this novel best was because of the fact that Wolfe's character was the most consistent throughout the series. Reno and Whip were really fun, easy-going flirts and jokers in the other books (especially in Only Mine), but as soon as each respective character took the starring role they became all moody and emotionally traumatized. The worst case of Jeckyll-Hyde syndrome I've ever read about.

This is not really a criticism, but why do all the men in the Only series have the exact same moves? It's like they all got together and shared sex tips. A tad creepy. Perhaps Lowell should imagine some new sex scenarios.

One final observation, aside from Jessi, all the female leads seem too similar. Scenarios are the same - accusations of harlotry later revealed to be false, and so on. If it weren't for the different physical descriptions, I probably couldn't correctly differentiate the characters if given paragraphs about their personalities.