As a participant in various rodeo events and activities, as well as a avid reader of Western contemporary novels, I am use to plain, dull novels in which the author rambles about a topic he or she has no knowledge about. However, this novel captures the reality in every detail no matter how stark it may be to create a remarkable series of events producing the images in one's mind with every fluid word. The author's use of desciptive adjectives provides fuel for a reader aware of the rodeo atmosphere, while also providing ample definative sentences, hindering a unknowledgable reader from making conjectures as to the meaning of various Western and rodeo lingo. The novel accounts the struggles between a lonesome rancher carrying a heavy burden, and a troubled teenager who is a up and coming rodeo legend. They need each other in their own ways, and throughout the novel their triumphs and pitfalls are emphasized in glorious detail, absolving the rancher's heavy burden in the conclusion. Anyone who enjoys the Western contemporary novels would benefit themselves by reading this novel. All to often the author of such novels have no bearing on the subject, and hence loses the reader in the muddle. This novel is crystal clear to all providing knowledge,and compelling the reader to continue on in the exquisative adventure that evolves throughout. It causes the reader to cheer in the triumphs, and fall in silence with the pitfalls. The author always keeps the reader's interest and attention, and causes wonderment as to what will evolve next. The novel engrosses everything that makes up the West and rodeo capturing the tradition that rodeo emphasizes. Warning, this book may entrall the reader preventing the reader from laying in down.

This was an excellent book! If your interested in something light and easy to read this is the book for you. It was very entertaining and enjoyable, especially since I know a little about rodeoing.

I really liked this book. The story was so great that I couldn't put the book down. This is a book that mom's can recommend to their children. The language was not offensive and their was no sex in the book. This fact along makes it a great book for teens.

As you might expect from such a great person, the Pope's book provides few insights into the Pope himself. He does show how our own lives can influence others, especially in a cumulative way, as the he tells of all of those who influenced his entering the priesthood. He cites the religiosity of his father; the holiness of Jan Tyranowski; the writings of St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Louis Marie de Montfort; the devotions in his parish, to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and of the brown scapular. The reader can't help but wonder if there is a link between the lack of devotions today and the lack of vocations today.

A priest's life is challenging. He must be attentive and sympathetic; critical and watchful with regard to historical developments; a giver of Christ; a spiritual father -- especially in the Confessional; holy; constantly training, studying and updating; promoting the family; defending mankind; in dialog with the youth; in dialog with the culture; intellectual and scholarly; and living the Gospel.

But a priest's life is most rewarding. The priest is "a steward of the mysteries of God." An essential part of his mission is fulfilled in the Confessional. The priest is an essential being in the only suitable offering that man can make to God, the offering of God-made-man, an offering made at every Mass. The priest is so united to Christ at Mass that he is "in the person of Christ." What a beautiful reflection on the Mass is offered by the Pope!

The challenge of the priesthood seems overwhelming. It would be without God. It is "a mystery of divine election."

Every parent of a potential priest should read this book.

'Gift and Mystery' is indeed an affectionate gift from Pope John Paul II to all those who pursue a priestly vocation. It is the story of his own priestly call which is a Divine gift as well as a great mystery. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his priestly ordination, the Pope reflects on his own growth in his vocation to priesthood and his ministry as 'a shepherd of God's mysteries'. We follow him through his college studies, his job in the stone quarry, his love for the theater and his theological studies to his ordination to priesthood. His deep faith and reliance on God, his gratefulness and kindness towards others, his devotion and dedication to the priestly commitment are all laid out before us with clarity and love. As he himself says, what is related here belongs to his "deepest being" and "innermost experience". Every priest and seminarian should read this and draw energy and inspiration from this 'Holy Father' and spiritual giant of our day.

Pope John Paul II is an intellectual giant, capable of holding his own with any great thinker. However, JP2 has been blessed with an ability to relate his innermost longings and ideas to even children. Gift and Mystery is a recollection that can hold the interest of any scholar while making a schoolboy smile. The pope methodically retells his soul's desire to be united to God and to follow His will as a young boy, employing a most vulnerable state of being to the reader. We follow the pope through his college and seminary days with delight until that wonderful day this man was ordained a priest of the Lord. With clarity and love, JP2 gives us a taste of the power of the Holy Spirit transforming him into the glorious leader he is today. At the same time, it gives us a hope and a vision of what God can also do in our own lives. A true masterpiece!

JAYNE KRENTZ did an excellent job with this mystery/romance thriller. I loved how she weaved the love story around the surprise death of a resident in Witt's End. How about the name of that town? Right away we should have known that some strange things were going to happen in a town with the name Witt's End. Basically, everyone in that small town were at their wits' end. The town was dying unless someone gave it a "shot in the arm": and, a shot it got, opening of a mail-order company for the products they offered.

They say, opposites attrack. It sure was true in this book. Who would have expected the big-time businessman to fall for a strange lady of unconventional qualities from Witt's End. His doing so demonstrated that he too was at his wits' end for relationships. He gambled away his rich family inheritance for this free-spirited lady. In the process, he relives his childhood years and discovers he never was treated like a real member of the family and that his lost was really not a lost at all but it was a enlightment and a gain.

The mysterious Witt's End held secrets of its own but when discovered one-at-a-time those secrets constructed a bond with that town that could not be ignored.

Krentz, kept me interested right up to the end and I am sure you will be too.

I truly enjoy Ms. Krentz's books, and Hidden Talents is one of my favorites. The character development is great, the chemistry between Serenity and Caleb is wonderful, and who can resist the quirky, off-beat inhabitants of Witt's End? Pick this one up and see if you can find a bottle of "Ole Hogwash" (a Witt's End product) to drink while you read. Enjoy!ps - If you enjoyed this one, be sure to try Absolutely Positively, Trust Me and Deep Waters. You won't be disappointed!

Yes, I have read this book several times. It is just as good the fourth time as the first. If you like your books with strong male and female characters, you will like Jayne Krentz. Serenity is not like many female characters I have read, she is gentle but strong, caring and loyal. I love her uniqueness and her 'alternative' lifestyle. Caleb is a man who never really knew if he was loved and does not really believe it exists. The two meet amidst a murder mystery which they try to solve as well as putting their own lives back together. What a great couple. And I loved the secondary characters! I think you will too.

Life goes on for investigators with the Office of Special Investigation, Moscow, former Soviet Union. In his Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov series, Stuart M. Kaminsky has deftly transplanted the Ed McBain police procedural to Russia: individual detectives, each having his/her own serial back stories, investigating different cases. And through the time span of the series, the reader also watches the Soviet Union disintegrate. In this, the 13th installment of the series, Putin is in power in Russia and the men and sole woman of the OSI are tracking down a missing Mir Cosmonaut, the theft of a major motion picture negative on the life of Tolstoy - due to premiere soon in Cannes, and the murder of a research physiologist at the Moscow Center for the Study of Technical Parapsychology.

This is not a "cozy" Jessica Fletcher-type murder mystery series. The brooding of the Russian soul is frequently mentioned. "The Yak," former KGB functionary, is directing Rostnikov, and the one-legged decorated veteran of the War Against Nazi Aggression must "walk a tight-rope" between his conscience and the ever-shifting Powers That Be. The spectre of Chernobyl and the tension and power-struggles in the wake of the Soviet Union loom constantly in the background. Prolific author Kaminsky gives the reader a feel for the people and politics while raconting a riveting tale.

The economic and political mess of Russia provides prime hunting grounds for Kaminsky's Edgar Award-winning ("A Cold Red Sunrise") Porfiry Rostnikov series. "Fall of a Cosmonaut" opens with a prologue set in the crumbling Mir Space station where Rostnikov's name is mentioned by cosmonaut Tsimion Vladovka in the midst of a major unexplained disaster.

A year later, Tsimion is missing and Rostnikov, head of Special Investigations, receives an ominous order to find him. Meanwhile, brooding Marxist stoic Emil Karpo and his unassuming partner Arkady Zelach investigate murder in a lab for paranormal research and Elena Timofeyeva (recently affianced to Rostnikov's son Iosef) and Sasha Tkach, his habitual depression overlaid by a peculiar euphoria since his life has bottomed out, are sent to recover a a great Russian epic film being held for exorbitant ransom.

The character-driven narrative shifts from case to case, encompassing the points of view of each investigator as well as various witnesses, victims and villains. The tone is a cross between Ed McBain's 87th Precinct (a particular favorite of Rostnikov's) and the Zen practicality of Janwillem van de Wetering. Personal developments entwine with investigations and everything is complicated by the daily difficulties of Russian life and occasional political incursions.

Kaminsky, who also writes the Toby Peters and Abe Lieberman series, delivers another well-constructed, well-written entertainment.

Stuart Kaminsky makes no secret that the Inspector Profiry Rostnikov novels are inspired by the "87th Precinct" books by Ed McBain. Indeed, Rostnikov himself can ofter be found re-reading a dog-eared copy of one of the 87th Precinct books. Like their model, the Rostnikov novels usually depict a detective squad working multiple cases, seeking the little clues which eventually will point their way to solutions to the mysteries. The world of Inspector Rostnikov -- the Soviet Union and, in the later novels, post-Soviet Russia -- is even more morally ambiguous than McBain's fictional city of Isola, and Rostnikov often finds himself between serving justice and enforcing the law. I find Rostnikov, the gentle, physically powerful detective whose greatest relaxation is found in repairing faulty plumbing, to be one of the most appealing characters in modern crime fiction, a man both wise and compassionate. "Fall of a Cosmonaut" is another strong addition to the series, with the detectives pursuing three seperate mysteries while the stories of their personal lives advance yet further. I must emphasize that the Rostnikov books really should be read in order for maximimum enjoyment, as the characters and the crises in their lives progress from novel to novel and much would be lost if their futures were to be relieved too soon by reading out of order.

Are you ready for another great Archy McNally adventure? Set in Palm Beach, this P.I. finds himself involved in multiple murders. They seem unconnected, until he uncovers the tangled thread connecting them to his current investigation and infatuation of Madam X. This is quick to read with lots of that Sanders engaging prose. Included in this book are some interesting drinks from an antiquated bartender's guide which Archy attempts to stump his favorite bartender with.

I am in the midst of reading the most entertaining mystery series around, and I can't wait to get the next McNally book. McNally, the playboy of Florida's gold coast, wines and dines multiple girlfriends while working for stodgy old dad (the "pater", a.k.a. the "governor"). This book was no let down from the first two excellent entries in the series. The description of the bad guys was particularly humerous -- a slick con man and his thug buddy (something between a meat cleaver and a vampire, driving a gun-metal caddy). I really enjoyed the lunch scene between McNally and those two. The peripheral characters also added a lot of charm to the story. A certain element of danger enters near the end, as Archy starts to step on too many toes, but you know our hero must survive for another story.

If you like Lawrence Block's burglar series, you will love Lawrence Sanders' McNally series!

...Dapper Palm Beach PI Archy McNally has been requested by a monied client of his father's law firm to check the background of Theodosia Johnson, a beautiful neo socialite in the south Floridian circles, and soon to be married to an heir of a fortune...McNally cajoles, bribes with meals and pays off his many sources--caterers, barkeeps and newspapermen--but information about the lass starts coming in seemingly disconnected pieces, until the artist of a masterful portrait of Theodosia winds up with a knife in his throat and a stripper who seems to be into extortion gets a bullet thru her head and the rightful heir to the artist's estate is found strangled in her SUV under water. McNally falls for the mysterious lady (Madame X) further complicating things, and a creepy thug with Michigan plates on his Cadillac is seen once too often near several of these disconnected pieces. This is Sanders in his element--a likable, idiosyncratic, quippy fella (McNally--who may or may not be like the author) who has excesses very much like the real crooks against the backdrop of a glamorous area solving a heinous crime. While you read you can probably guess who ultimately is the culprit of the dastardly deeds, but the big, big fun is how Sanders chooses to get us to the punchline. A page turning enjoyable read for all....

...if you can get past the author's writing style.

Overall, it had some very good information and helpful tips that I plan to incorporate my 3 1/2 year old child with PDD (Asperger's). My one complaint (which is the reason for 4 stars) is that the author did not portray the information in an organized way. I spent most of the book reading about how good the method works, but it didn't go in depth enough to get a good picture on what to do with my son until towards the end of the book.

It would have resulted in a much shorter and easier to read book, if Ms. Wheeler had just presented a chapter explaining the pros of the methods she has used, followed by the methods of teaching in a concise A though Z manner.

My 3 and a half year old son was diagnosed with (high functioning) Autistic Spectrum Disorder last month. While we're still dealing with the shock of the diagnosis, it was a relief to read that children with ASD are among the hardest to train. We have been attempting toilet learning for the past two years using "traditional" methods and have not had one single success. What a relief to find out that these traditional methods do not work well with autistic children! We are looking forward to working with my son's teachers using the methods described in the book. The book is also a good overview of problems people with Autism have in the toileting arena - we now have a better idea of what potential problems my son may have later (ie, using public restrooms) and feel empowered by the strategies suggested in dealing with them BEFORE they happen.

The instructions and diagrams are clear. Although it implies 'autisitic' children, my son is mentally challenged I am using the best suited methodology for him and I can check off easily where we are. It explains in a logical way why a particular approach, what to expect. Finally, he is nine, I have signs of progress. It is an undersell to say 'children with autism'. True several books have sections on this but this single bit of literature that comprehensively covers a critical area. Trust me I have read many.

This is one of Dorothy Garlock's better books, in my opinion. The characters are well developed and the plot is full of adventure. Willa is a strong, intelligent heroine who always manages to make the better of whatever hard situation is thrown her way - escaping a wild mob, fending off the advances of a lecherous gambler, taking on the role of semi-guardian to two orphaned teens along the way, nursing their injured aunt back to health, and taming the heart of a grief-stricken cowboy (Smith, our hero) who has up until now sought comfort in only a bottle. A very entertaining read and a lot of romantic tension between the hero and heroine. It grew a little weak towards the end, which is why I gave it only 4 stars, but it was still a very enjoyable book.

I just finished A Gentle Giving, by Dorothy Garlock, and it was wonderful! This one was not one of my favorites of hers, but it was very good. Willa actually escaped a house in flames, caused by the angry townsfolk, in nothing more than ther nightgown. The family she joins up with, lends her clothing... so not even owning the clothing on her body, she is thrust into the hard life of a wagon trail. When the father is killed, leaving behind two teenagers to fend for themselves, Willa chooses to help them get to their next of kin in the Big Horn Mountains. This was an excellent read... and I'm off to read The Listening Sky by Dorothy Garlock now.

I listened to the audio cassette recording of Dorothy Garlock's A Gentle Giving and I liked this Western Historical romance and I liked the characters Willa Hammer and Smith Bowman and though I don't feel it's a keeper I enjoyed the romance story.

In this one, both Brady Coyne and especially Tapply seem to be a bit world-weary. The plotting is weaker and more forced than usual in Tapply's books and the development and especially the denouement of his mystery is much weaker than we have come to expect from Tapply. Coyne spending a lot of time wondering like some big-city Jimmy Carter about sexual desires for another woman gets a bit tiresome. Still Tapply makes for easy reading and Coyne is one of the most interesting of such series characters.

CUTTER'S RUN is very good, although not quite as good as the rest of the books in the series. Over the last couple years I ahve forced myself to leisurely read this series, because I enjoy it so much and don't want to run out of Brady Coyne mysteries. Alas, I have just the current one remaining. These books are written intelligently and exceedingly well. Brady is like an old friend. Tapply deserves to be a best-seller; his books are so much better than the drivel by Grisham and other mystery/thriller writers.

Brady Coyne is back--in CUTTER'S RUN--latest in a series Wlliam G.Tapply fans hope will take us through Brady's old age, eons from now. Brady drives a second hand Jeep in this one. He's his usual funny, thoughtful self, in a beautifully drawn Maine setting, where pollution kills, (and nearly gets Brady). CUTTER'S RUN combines superb writing with an entertaining mystery that transcends the genre, something Tapply does in every one of his novels: In CUTTER, he uses a romantic encounter to ponder the meaning of "betrayal", just as he uses baseball to talk about "life" in FOLLOW THE SHARKS. In Tapply's hands these are not your usual metaphors. The Maine country setting in CUTTER'S RUN adds depth to the action and characters and becomes part of the plot, like the glittering moon over the powdery beach in DEATH AT CHARITY'S POINT. Tapply crafts his tales with pure art.

There were lots of things that interested me about this book--reading about the gourmet food industry, what it must be like catering to the rich and famous etc. But I did not come away from this book caring about any of the main characters--Cat Marala, the heroine, her boyfriend doctor Sam, her coworkers etc. The only one that came off believable was the italian co-owner Angelotti--you could feel his pain as news of the human bones found in the soupbones closed down the business. I enjoyed "listening" to the woman in the store lecture on the uses of olive oil and the details of how precise and prepared you need to be to be a top notch caterer. Maybe this wasnt her best book, I may try again....

one part essay on food and food customs(including menus, recipes and a glimpse at meat processing), one part lesson in anatomy and one part introduction to embalmimg all simmered in a classic whodunit base.authoritative and entertaining narration and steady pacing.

Hello- Amazon - what is a review of Hard Bargain doing being included with Hard Evidence?

I had a hard time reading Hard Bargain, but I bought Hard Evidence and finished up Hard Bargain so I coudl get to the next one. I don't know now why Hard Bargain was hard to finish. I put it away until Hard Evidence came out and then finished the one before I read the other. Kat Marsala is an excelelnt character. I must confess I started reading these in the library and then went to used bookstores to add them to my collection, but once I got started I've been faithful.

I recommend this and all of Barbara D'Amatos works to all those who love a good mystery and have the skill to suspend their disbelief. Who reads to solve the problems of the world? Read for pleasure and enjoyment. There is time enough to work on the problems of the world in daily life without working during your leisure hours.

I'm a huge fan of Susan King's writing and think she's one of the most original authors in the historical romance genre, but unfortunately this one didn't do it for me. I love the idea of Michaelmas being a healer, of Diarmid being in need of her skills for his niece, of his former skills as a surgeon being dulled by an injury, etc. etc. All of it seemed wonderful and original but once I started reading, plowing through this book was the literary equivalent of walking through Scots oatmeal. There just doesn't seem to be any romantic spark to these characters...I know other reviewers have praised the quiet buildup of the romance, but I just couldn't find any romantic appeal in their relationship. There was no danger, no suspense, no real conflict...it seems to me this was another one of King's great ideas that just didn't seem to pan out as successfully as others. Lovers of Scottish historical romance won't be disappointed, however. Her knack for detail and atmosphere isn't dimmed. This time, the romance is.

This book ended lovely, but getting into it took some work. I think that part of it may be that the names were hard to work out the way they sounded in your head. I thought the book would have been much better if the characters names that been easier to read. The story seemed to be going no where fast and then it picked up somewhere around page 75. This book would not be one of the first books that I recommend, but it would be in the middle.

I was wondering if you so happen to have "Lady Miracle" in hard back? I have seem to have misplaced my library's 'Lady Miracle' book. Thanxs Jennie-Rose