In Danger's Path is the longest and ,to me, the most ponderous of the Corp series. I have been reading it since its debut, and it has been my favorite of Griffin's various series, but this one misses the mark rather badly. The usual fast paced action just isn't here and as one previous reviewer mentioned the focus has moved from the Corp to covert operations. The plot of this book centers on the weather station in the Gobi Desert,(an operation refered to in several other books, but now no longer on hold)and group of American refugees from Japanese occupied China. One flaw I noticed is that throughout the books, any one with knowledge of "Magic" cannot be sent into any situation where they may be taked prisoner, but apparently this rule does not apply to Capt. McCoy, since at one point he is asked if he knows what "Magic" is, and replies he doesn't know but he can guess, which he does accuratly, and is promptly sent on a dangerous mission anyway. I have throughly enjoyed the Corp series, but let's get back to the Marines, Mr. Griffin, and leave the OSS stuff to the other two series you have to deal with it......

Having read everything WEB Griffin has ever written, I, like all other Griffin fans eagerly await every new book. In Griffin's latest addition to his 'Corps' series: 'In Danger's Path' (GP Putnam & Sons, 1998)Griffin uses his standard issue storyline with his cookie cutter characters to tell the story of the WWII military and the OSS (predessor to CIA) attempting to set up a weather station in the Gobi Desert. Griffin, whos personal history remains a mystery to his fans, delivers exactly what his fans crave for. His ability to stick with a winning formula guarentees 'In Danger's Path's' success. Drawbacks: The final two-thirds of the book spends a bit more time dealing with safe-guarding national secrets then it does continuing the story line. However, if you're a fan of anything Griffin has ever written, then not only should you read 'In Danger's Path', but grab his other series', 'Badge of Honor' (police stories), 'Brotherhood of War' (army aviation stories), 'Men at War' (OSS stories in Africa), and 'Honor Bound' (OSS stories in South America). Enjoy.

This book continues the very popular _The Corps_ series, which may well be Griffin's best overall effort in novels about the profession of arms. Exciting yarn, excellent description of the military (in this, case, Naval/USMC) dialogue and character, good mix of people to like and not to like, plenty of amusing stuff. Everything, in short, that we have come to expect from Griffin. The reason he merits the top rating is that the above are so consistently excellent that they always overshadow the usual flaws.

Griffin's historical weaknesses are name consistency, proofreading, and repetition of pet plot themes. He has improved in most of these areas but only marginally. I mean, for goddess' sake, he's misspelled Vinegar Joe Stilwell's last name. However, the main predictability is still with us: males behaving erratically, copulating with multiple females at same time, getting in *big* trouble. I do wonder if Griffin's capable of writing a book in which infidelity doesn't play a starring role. Nonetheless, I recommend _In Danger's Path_ enthusiastically.

It's the last night of the 20th century, and the Digger has instructions to kill at 4:00PM, 8:00PM,and midnight. That is, unless he gets a message from his partner. However, after delivering the ransom note to Washington DC mayor Jerry Kennedy, the Digger's partner is victim of a hit-and-run driver and dies. The FBI knows the Digger will keep killing until he's found and they must race against time to find out where the Digger plans to strike.

Deaver is a good writer. I've enjoyed his "A Maiden's Grave" as well as the Lincoln Rhyme series. He introduces some a new set of characters in this book who are well drawn. The plot moves along well until the end. I won't reveal it, that wouldn't be fair, but it seemed a bit contrived to me. I don't feel Deaver laid enough groundwork for the ending, and I also think he intentionally mis-leads the reader in the beginning of the book in order to make the ending work. This is not fair play for an author. I've seen this in at least one other of his novels and I hope he doesn't make it a habit. This isn't a bad book but I don't think it's as good as "A Maiden's Grave".

A phycopath, who is controlled by a 'superior being', unleashes his reign of terror at a metro station killing dozens on New Year's Eve '99. He threatens to continue the carnage every four hours unless the city pay him $20m. And so begins a race against time with the FBI desperately trying to establish the whereabouts of the Digger with the only bit of evidence being the ransom note.

Interesting facts emerge regarding paper, ink and handwriting analysis, especially those dotted "I's"!

This book has great plots, believable characters, excellent research and surprise endings upon endings. Just when you think the book is drawing to a conclusion, JD throws another plot within a plot your way.

The pace is great, a highly recommended read.

I usually read two or three books at a time...except when an author "grabs me" as Deaver did in The Devil's Teardrop. I ordered the books on 9/1, received it on 9/3, read it on 9/4, and have loaned it to a friend.

While some aspects of the plot were unbelieveable, and some (the "click") incomprehensible, Deaver knows how to keep his readers turning the pages. His characters are always interesting, and reasonably real. Unlike a few other reviewers, I enjoyed Kincaid's loyalty to his children, and the mixed emotions he experienced in dealing with two conflicting desires.

The plot centers around a madman, programmed only to kill (it would have been nice to have Deaver explain how this creature came to exist), and to respond only to the specific instructions--or lack thereof--from the "real" killer. The Digger came across as an automoton, and perhaps could have been a robot, had the book been science fiction. From a human vantage point...he can't exist.

The weakest part of the book is the ending...somewhat predictable, even if left open for a sequel. Overall, Deaver is unique to the genre, and always delivers a compulsive read.

I really WANT to like Julia Quinn's work. She is one romance novelist who really makes you feel as if you're in the Regency era. However, lately she's been making it very difficult to like her work. I've read all of the Bridgerton series so far and the only one that has a plot that doesn't get tedious and a conflict that isn't contrived is AN OFFER FROM A GENTLEMAN (Benedict's story). In the remainder of the series, the so-called conflicts are silly. That is never more true than in this novel. The conflict of the novel isn't something that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Besides that, as many others here have mentioned, the romance itself (the raison d'etre for this novel) doesn't cut it. As so many other "gentle readers" have asked, why does Colin suddenly fall in love with Penelope after knowing her for 12 years and never noticing her? Quinn makes a cursory attempt to explain this by trying to show that Penelope has gained a little spunk and by having Colin wonder whether "he has changed." However, this reasoning is just not good enough to convince readers that the most eligible bachelor of the ton (who happens to be nice AND gorgeous AND rich, plus a host of other great qualities) would fall head over heels in love with a girl he's known forever and hasn't ever paid attention to until now. There's just no plausible explanation for it; he's too good to be true and she isn't. Also, I guess I do like the usual romance-novel conventions of the hero becoming jealous when he has a little competition for the heroine. That's noticeably absent from most of Quinn's work and certainly absent from this one, where readers are reminded on approximately every other page of Penelope's shortcomings in the marriage mart and Colin's eligibility.

Creating a series is a good idea because I think readers want to feel as if they "know" the characters from one novel to the next. However, if the novels in the Bridgerton were separate novels (i.e., not a part of a series), I can honestly say that I wouldn't have liked them (except for Benedict's story).

I gave this novel three stars because of Quinn's aforementioned talent for creating a feel for the era. However, although I usually recommend that Quinn fans read her novels anyway, particularly if they've already read some from the series, this is the first one in the series that I can truly say I DO NOT recommend anyone read, even diehard Quinn fans. You'll die of boredom.

This book was fantastic!! I've read all of the books in the Bridgerton series, so when I saw this novel on the shelf in my local Wal-Mart, I promptly bought it, went home, and read for the next three hours. I couldn't have enjoyed my time more. Although the other books in the series were good, I think this latest installment was pure perfection. If Julia Quinn can top this novel, I'll be camped outside my local Wal-Mart for the next release!!

I would like to warn would-be readers, that although the author does a good job of making this a stand alone story, I think you'll have a lot more fun reading this book if you've read the rest of the books in the series. Ms. Quinn does a wonderful job of seamlessly fitting in characters from previous books, and it's a shame not to know their backgrounds before you read this book. Most authors can't accomplish this smoothly, and she does a remarkable job of tying everything together.

Yeah, Julia!!!! Keep them coming!

Alas, Julia Quinn has finally done it. "Romancing Mr. Bridgerton" is the forth book to the Bridgerton brother series and I would have to say this is the best so far. I have read the book about Anthony, which I found was boring, but it kept me enough to want to discover what happens to Daphane, and as it turned out, Daphane's book was more exciting than Anthony's story. And of course, after reading about Daphane, Quinn left a cliff hanger that I could not resist.

The story of plain Penelope and one of the most well-known and sought bachelor, Colin Bridgerton.

This forth book was everything I had wanted to be. The dialogues between Colin and Penelope were great. It was witty and funny. And what else is great is that it kept me on my toes of who the infamous Lady Whistletown is. It brings in the former characters in previous books and brings in new characters that I have come to laugh at (Lady D). This is a book with some and not a lot of sensuality in it. But for me, it is enough to be romantic. I suggest fans of the Bridgerton series read this book. It leaves me for hanging more of what will happen. Good Job Ms. Quinn~!

While I foung the characters in this book interesting (their inner conflicts and character quirks made them truly human, not just stereotypes), the most prominent "character" was Death itself. It resides in the home, streets, the clothing of the people, the very air of the town. The voices of the dead speak clearly and are responded to. In their struggle to overcome grinding poverty and despair, the characters' primary battle is just to keep alive. Most of us who are fortunate enough to live comfortably, in this century, can't imagine the poverty the characters in this book experience, but Ms. Holman does a splendid job of describing their desperate lives to us. Each of the characters, including, and especially, Dr. Chiver, must grapple with his/her own conscience to determine how best to exist in the world of Victorian England in the midst of a cholera epidemic. The combination of satisfaction and pain Dr. Chiver feels upon obtaining a corpse for his anatomy students culminates in the horrifying final scene in which he must at last come to terms with, and face the consequences of, his own actions and attitudes. The gulf between the rich and the poor was wide and deep; neither understood the other, and we can see, in Chiver's fiancee, the forces that were at work to bridge that gulf. No one was portrayed as all bad or all good, and that was what made the people in this book so interesting to me. I found the subject and the plot fascinating and refreshingly different; however, the tidy ending left me dissatisfied. In my opinion, the ending weakened all that had gone before. Having said that, I still think it's a good read. Life vs. death, right vs. wrong, the gray areas that are reality are examined in a very interesting way in this book.

Dark and dingy though it may be, Sheri Holman's _The Dress Lodger_ completely changed the way I read and view novels. Inventive and well-crafted, it paints the gritty images of 1831 Sunderland with haunting accuracy and a voice that is neither modern or period - which, considering who performs the narrative in the story - revealed late in the book - could not be more perfect. This is also the first novel I ever read besides those Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books where you're sucked into the story by actually being personified as a character. You're not yourself, either - you're Fos, a matchstick painter whose tragic story gets overlooked in place of Gustine's. The narrative speaks to you, drawing you into the story with such gripping originality that it's nearly impossible not to be affected by it. Holman's narrative description and dialogue are also brilliant, creating very clear and definite pictures in the mind.

But besides the dark, surreal, but beautifully gritty narrative, the characters are what makes Holman's novel so special. From the very beginning I was prejudiced against Gustine, having a preconceived idea of what her character would be like, simply because she was a 15-year-old prostitute with a young son. I was prejudiced against Miss Audrey, simply because she was a wealthy young woman trying to do charity work in a harsh world that wanted nothing to do with her. From the very beginning, I was intrigued by the character of Henry, and felt that he would remain my favorite through the rest of the book. However, in a demonstration of Holman's genius, I went from loving Henry to hating him - without Holman ever -changing- anything about him. I went from being wary of Gustine and Audrey to caring deeply for them.

All of the supporting characters - Henry's uncle, Pink, Fos, the Eye, Whilky - are extremely well fleshed-out and all have their histories and quirks that make the book so real. _The Dress Lodger_ has also been heavily researched and based in historical fact. By the time you finish, it's almost impossible to tell which characters were fictional and which were actual people - because several of them, scattered throughout, really existed.

Possibly the greatest part of _The Dress Lodger_ is its intense and fast-paced climax, as well as the action leading up to it. Never have I read a book that plays over in my mind with the same intensity as a film. I -saw- these characters. I -heard- them. I -felt- their panic and their pain. Never have I read a book with so many unexpected yet bitterly realistic twists of fate. All of this is aided by Holman's masterful prose - she has a way of telling that very few authors have, if any.

At first glance, _The Dress Lodger_ is a sweet historical novel about a young prostitute trying to save her deformed infant son in a time and place when medical science was gravely distrusted, particularly in the lower classes. But it is not sweet. It is not wholesome. It is not warm and fuzzy. It is a heart-wrenching tale of obsession, justice, madness, lust, things not being what they seem, and labors in vain.

Do not read this book if you aren't ready to be taken for a ride. Do not read this book if you aren't fully prepared to let go of all your reservations and be swept away. This is not an easy story to read.

Read this book if you're willing to let your life be changed by it. Read this book if you're sick of warm-and-fuzzy historical novels, if you want something that will hit you over the head, suck the marrow from your bones, and leave you saying, "My God, I've never read anything like that."

If you haven't guessed, I highly recommend it. But not to the faint of heart.

"The greater good? Good and evil are opposite points on a circle, Dr. Chiver. Greater good is just halfway back to bad." - Gustine.

150 years from today, someone may write about our era and readers will be astounded at the squalor in which we now exist. We are, for the most part, blithely unaware of it; or we take it as "how life is." This is what Sheri Holman has most successfully conveyed about her characters in THE DRESS LODGER. She writes of life as it was, or must have been, with no shades drawn.

The main character, Gustine, is a young prostitute or "dress lodger" by night. She rents a fancy blue dress from her landlord/pimp to attract a higher-class clientele. By day, she is a potter's assistant. Work is no stranger and she scrimps and saves to provide for her infant son. Gustine's life span coincides exactly with the onset of Cholera Morbus in Western Europe to its extinction in the latter part of the century.

The book is narrated much like an Ancient Greek play, at times, with a chorus of dead voices telling the story. This might be somewhat disconcerting to some readers, but I personally found it an excellent vehicle in which to convey the quiet dark horrors of the times. If you are looking for a romance novel, don't expect it here. If, however, you don't mind getting your fingernails dirty while you're scraping through the filth of 1830's England, or biting those same nails in reading of what becomes of Gustine and her extraordinary baby, then this is the book for you.

Sick Puppy has all the elements of a classic Carl Hiaasennovel: a slightly off-kilter love story unfolding in the midst of anexplosive mix of sleazoid exploiters, deranged eco-defenders, and corrupt government officials. That said, however, it lacks the one element that sets Hiaasen's other (and better) novels apart from others in this genre--Sick Puppy simply wasn't funny. Whereas Hiaasen's trenchant wit normally breathes life and side-splitting humor into his stories, this one remained flat and predictably formulaic, not to mention overly drawn out. Hiaasen obviously was reaching when the dog became the main character in the middle of the book.

We've read every one of his books and eagerly await the arrival of each new one. We hate to say it, but if we had it to do over again, we'd borrow the paperback copy of Sick Puppy from someone rather than buying the hardcover. Better yet, we would reread a funny Hiassen book such as Double Whammy, Skin Tight, or Lucky You.

Carl Hiaasen's "Sick Puppy" brings back his usual madcap hijinks, something that I felt was missing in his last novel, "Lucky You". The crooked politicians are there as is an environmental terrorist and the ever popular ex-Governor of Florida, Skink.

The story has some extremely hilarious moments. I particularly liked the 911 calls listened to by Mr. Gash, they were hilarious! The bad guys get their (unusual) due at the end, always a fun thing about a Hiaasen book and Skink rides off in the sunset waiting to appear again (probably in Hiaasen's book after the next one - he has a pattern of showing up).

My only criticism is that Hiaasen's books are starting to sound the same. Twilly Spree, the environmental terrorist, is like Skip Wiley from Tourist Season. Palmer Stoat is like Francis X. Kingsbury from Native Tongue and Desiee Stoat is like the lead female character in every Hiaasen book. The only thing he didn't do this time was have a reporter or former reporter (Hiaasen's regular gig) as a character in this book.

I think Carl Hiaasen needs to look at a whole new type of plot for his next novel, one that doesn't involve trying to save the ever-shrinking Florida landscape. I think he could really write the ultimate comedy novel if he broaded his horizons. And with all of the crookedness in Florida, it shouldn't be a problem.

After reading Luck You, I was extremely pleased with Sick Puppy. A trust-funded young man with anger-management problems by the name of Twilly makes it his mission to keep South Florida clean. His main target is a lobbyist with some fetishes that might be considered strange, until you read about the other characters. Twilly attempts to teach the man a lesson...several times, but he just doesn't get through to him until he gets the man's dog, renames him and then starts to sabotage one of the lobbyist's biggest projects, the ripples of which reach far into the politics of Florida, which is already funny itself. An enjoyable addition to this book is that the dog is used as a great character too. The description of what Boodles/McGuinn is thinking and doing is excellent and doglovers out there will be nodding along with this. Twilly is an okay character that is actually the most normal of them all along with Desi, the wife of the lobbyist. The rest of the characters are where the real fun can be found. The plot is fantastic in both senses of the word, but the characters have basis in real world politicians and slick businessmen, or rather how we might perceive them to be. Overall, a great book that is refreshing and humorous.

OK, review no 83, nobody's gonna read this, but I just had to, if only to express my profound disappointment that one of the greatest authors in romance is losing her touch. Really, the storyline was borderline believable and the end was ridiculous, sorry. Also, the characters were lacking the warmth of earlier characters. Nealy's just so indecisive, does she want to be free or trapped, picky or loosened up. And honestly, for a woman who wants a normal life, she certainly is right up the wrong path of life... Sadly, I hated this book, it didn't give me goose bumps (except for the kid episodes, which were great. The kids are really the book's stars) and that is so unusual for an SEP book. Thank God the book she is promising for next year sounds like a pure winner! Two very much loved characters hitting it off sounds like a lot of fun, sort of "Heaven Texas" meets "Lady be Good" although hopefully at last with an original storyline.

As a die-hard Susan Elizabeth Phillips fan who has read and LOVED all of her books, I was a little disappointed with "First Lady." Typical of SEP's books, the characters are well drawn (especially Lucy and Button), and the story moves along quickly with great dialog and SEP's unique humor.

As the widow of an assasinated President who is persuaded to continue in her role as First Lady, Nealy Case is fed up with being a revered public icon and escapes to enjoy the freedom of being an ordinary person. She delights in everyday experiences that most people take for granted or even find annoying, and seems to blossom as she sheds her well groomed, perfectly mannered exterior. Along the way, she meets up with Mat Jorik and his two charming charges - Lucy, a surly teenager, and her adorable baby sister, Button. They travel together headed for Iowa where Mat hopes to leave the children with their grandmother. Naturally, along the way the dynamics between Mat, Nealy and the children evolve in humorous and touching ways. This part of the book gets 5 Stars!

My problem is with the conclusion of the book. Given Nealy's desire to escape from her controlled existance (first as the daughter of a Vice President and then as the widowed First Lady) and her delight at experiencing "real" life first hand, it didn't seem logical that she would reverse course completely and return to an even more restricted existence - not only for herself but for Lucy and Button as well.

I loved the interaction between Mat and the two children. Actually, Mat's relationship with Lucy and Button was more interesting and believable than his relationship with Nealy. And like another reader, I didn't understand how Mat would or could give up his role as a journalist and let his strong personality be absorbed by someone like Nealy who until the very end of the book didn't seem to really know who she was.

It should be said that SEP on a bad day is FAR BETTER than many writers on their best days; so I'm glad that I've read this one. But I'm looking forward to her upcoming work that brings back Kevin Tucker and Molly Sommerville. If it's anything like "Heaven Texas", "It Had To Be You" "Nobody's Baby But Mine" or "Dream A Little Dream", it should be a great book!

Nobody does it better than Susan Elizabeth Phillips. For all her vaunted talent in creating wonderful romantic comedy, SEP knows how to create characters that walk right off the page and straight into your heart. The laughs and chuckles are there--and so are the heart-tugging moments. Mat is, IMHO, one of her best heroes, a strong man who can fall in love with a woman who's achieving her own personal growth and strength--and yet not be threatened by her success. His strength comes from within, not from artificial measurements of macho. And that's the best kind of tough in my book--and in this book, too. Shoot, this guy is tough enough to cope with a teenager, a baby with a mind of her own, and to love Nealy even when their lives head in an unexpected direction at the end. A real hero indeed.

As for Nealy? Gosh, I adored her. Her journey across America and back echoes the journeys a lot of us have taken. While the ending initially surprised me, I think it's perfect. Here's a woman who learns her own strengths, learns what family and community in the largest sense are about, and learns to accept her own special talents.

And as for Button and Lucy? SEP has created 2 more memorable characters.

This book is one you won't want to put down--but it should be savored. It has everything: a sexy hero, an appealing heroine, bust-your-ribs funny scenes, and achingly, meltingly beautiful moments between characters you just want to wrap your arms around. First Lady is really special--and the ending leaves a reader with a theme that speaks to all women.

If you are unsatisfied with how your life is going and you are ready to buckle down and make some changes, Dr. Phil's is here to support you in "SELF MATTERS." McGraw leads you through a series of exercises aimed at getting you to evaluate the events, people, and decisions that have played a key role in your personal development. Once you've identified areas such as "Your 10 Defining Moments" or "Your 5 Pivotal People," you can create a new roadmap to your authentic self by changing the things that haven't worked for you and by investing more fully in the things that have. One of my favorite sections was a discussion of "tapes" - conversations we have in our heads that play over and over, limiting who we are. Dr. Phil encourages you to go for it in life, to "drive with passion." For those who want another refreshing perspective that will show you how to rediscover your sense of well-being and aliveness and live way beyond what your mind holds as possible, you should grab yourself a copy of "WORKING ON YOURSELF DOESN'T WORK," by Ariel and Shya Kane. The Kanes have mastered how to live in the moment and their book allows others to catch this magical phenomenon.

With this book Dr. McGraw hits the nail on the head ... so to speak ... or does he put a mirror of truth in front of your face? Well, anyway, as usual McGraw is blunt and as direct as he can be and once again his advice is not for the faint of heart, because the reader may discover something very special or perhaps sensitive about himself/herself. This is McGraw's strategy and through all of this his advice is helpful and beneficial as he motivates to face the truth about one's self. Great book! Another book that has a more gentle approach, but is just as direct touching sensitive areas of one's life, and I highly recommend this book, is Dietmar Scherf's "I LOVE ME: Avoiding and Overcoming Depression."

Dr. Phil cuts through the psychobabble of modern self-help theory and tells it to us straight. Take charge of your life - start making decisions and living them now - stop waiting for someone else to make things happen for you - look into the mirror and see yourself for who you are and then go on from there. This is a great book and reminds me of the common sense approach Matt Pasquinilli takes in his book The Child Whisperer. The Child Whisperer is categorized as a parenting book, but I found it most useful as a self-guide to developing emotional understanding and an ability to see the truth in relationships. I suggest getting The Child Whisperer and read it along with Dr. Phil's Self-Matters.

You were sick but now you're well again, and there's work to do ... Timequake is a book about a book, "Timequake One", sort of. Which is to say, Vonnegut uses the supposed book "Timequake" as reference material typically saying "I wrote in Timequake One" while filling the rest of the story with cynical bitterness and sarcastic commentary which is simultaneously hilarious and solemn. He threads the plot of Timequake (wherein the cast of the universe is forced to live ten years of their lives twice, the second "rerun" being on automatic pilot) through relentless commentary about our modern world pitting himself and his "alter-ego" out of print science fiction writer Kilgore Trout as main characters in what can be best described as part auto-biography, part fiction. As I read this book I found so much relevant in my day to day life I could hardly believe it. There are some real thought provoking criticisms of our modern world presented here. I like the frank style of writing, and I deeply appreciate Vonnegut's bitterly sarcastic musings: "Then again, I am a monopolar depressive descended from monopolar depressives. That's how come I write so good." Give us a break, Mr. Trout. READ IT.

Kurt Vonnegut is certainly in my mind, and in those of most objectionable readers, one of the 20th century's greatest writers. If you have not yet read anything of his, you should take time out now to do so. However, this book is radically different from just about anything else out there (even from Vonnegut) that I wouldn't recommend making it your first reading of KV. If you are new to the author I suggest rather something like Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse-Five. Timequake, however, is pure gold for the die-hard Vonnegut fanatic. It is written in a rather odd and unthinkably off-beat style, truly, as the book jacket claims, "a literary form such as the world has never seen." There is absolutely no plot whatsoever. And there's basically only one character. The vast majority of the book is, in fact, not fiction but personal ancedotes from the author. Vonnegut appears in the novel both as an autobiographical figure reciting reminisces from his past, and as a character in the novel placed in fictional situations. Obviously, this is by no means a conventionally written book. However, this can be tremendously rewarding for Vonnegut fans, because here we get to see a lot of his views on different issues, as well as see him disclosing quite a few events about his past (not that he hadn't done that before, but still.) Read this if you've already made a sizable chunk in the author's repetoire.

...Upon it's release, "Timequake" was hailed as Vonnegut's final novel (and it may very well be). He had been writing it on and off for ten years, and after a series of rewrites and revisions, he admitted that the book ultimately failed. Therefore, the original sci-fi premise--the events surrounding a 'glitch' in time that causes people to relive episodes of their lives over and over again--becomes merely a sidelining plot, whereas Vonnegut's often pessimistic reflections on his life, career, family, and existence in general, becomes the main focus of this semi-autobiographical book.

So in addition to revisiting Vonnegut's fictional alter-ego, Kilgore Trout, we witness Vonnegut in his everyday life and his struggle to write a novel doomed to fail. The result is a classic collection of Vonnegut's combination of humor with heartbreak that has defined his written career of the past half-century.

For Vonnegut's many devoted readers, including myself, "Timequake" is a difficult book to read. We know it is a farewell to his fans. It is also an emotional read, since our hero is often critical of himself, and not in the lighthearted sense of his earlier novels. He is old, he is ill, he is bitter. When so many people consider him to be one of the greatest novelists America has produced, he seems to view himself as a failure...instead of ending his career with a crowning achievement, he chooses to quietly wave and step out the back door.

Nonetheless, Vonnegut's incomparable talent makes this an excellent book. However, one should not rate this book without first becoming familiar with his earlier work. Only then can it be appreciated as the ingenious conclusion to an illustrious career.

I've only been moved to write an amazon review twice before. But this is simply one of the best books I've read in years.

This is a book about three missing little girls, but it is really about a small town trying to cope with the fact that there is a monster among them. We know from the prologue that the girls are not only dead, but mutilated -- it is horrifying and brutal, and I can't imagine any reader not wanting to read on to find out how it all happened.

And that's one of the amazing feats of this work. We know at the outset what has happened to the girls, yet we read on, fascinated, about the events leading up to their abduction, and the effect of the kidnappings on this small town. Tensions and suspicions mount, and suddenly every neighbor, every friend, is a suspect.

And Dobyns doesn't stop with just a great, suspenseful story. He raises questions about levels of behavior that are acceptable in society, and how even the best of us slip over those barriers from time to time. This makes the book all the more frightening, because you can really see why this town finds it so difficult to accept that the killer is a trusted friend and neighbor: such acceptance forces us to consider our own secrets and infractions, and recognize that there is all too little separating us from the monster who is capable of the most heinous of acts.

Yes, Dobyns tells us in the end who the killer is. But it is truly secondary -- the point throughout this novel is that it could have been anybody. And that is truly frightening!

Okay. I read quite often, and I really treasure a book as well-written as this one. Being a Master's Student in Literature, I tend to shy away from most mystery and thriller type books. I just find most poorly written.

Dobyns, however, writes with a beautiful prose. Apart from having a chilling and absorbing story, the book is written with a style that should be grouped with other modern books of high literary merit. I didn't feel cheaper after reading this book. Instead, I was satisfied when it was over.

This book is told through the eyes of a man similar to most of us. We can see through his eyes. We feel as though what he sees happening in the town of Aurelius after the disappearance of a young girl is something that could happen in our own towns.

Nothing about this book seems at all out of place. All the characters aren't as well-developed as we may wish, but they aren't supposed to be. In real life, we don't know everything about everyone. This book is just the way it's supposed to be. It's seen through the eyes of a real human.

Even though the ending isn't necessarily satisfying in the traditional thriller sense, I didn't care. This book isn't about how the murder mystery is wrapped up (even though we aren't left hanging, thank God!). It's about a small town, and how they react to a very real horror. It's a wonderful novel.

Read this at night, wrapped up in a blanket, alone on your couch. It will frighten you. You will love it.

The first sentence of this almost 400 page mystery novel jump-started me into a virtual marathon read. Stephen King commented about it, "Very rich, very scary, very satisfying." How true, how true! What sets Dobyns apart, I think, is his rich development of character and environment. I never questioned, "why is he telling me this?" I enjoyed the ride through small details and gestures and the town itself. I could almost make a schematic of Aurelius. He made so many of the citizens suspect in the dark murders we read about, yet did not confuse me as to who they were. His protagonist revealed much about himself, as he twisted the story with the past and sometimes the future.

This summer I attended a writer's retreat in Indiana. Dobyns was there. I watched him observing the attendees at meals and readings. I felt as though I had spinach between my teeth one night when I caught him staring at me, a way past my prime woman. Now I know I may well look like a character in his next novel. Whew! The man is so creative. I'm so glad to have so many of his novels left to read.