This is the first John Jakes novel I have read but now I feel another one coming on. I loved reading about real life characters like Lincoln, Stanton, Davis, Jackson, Booth and others. From the way the author describes Lincoln's wife I'm surprised he didn't pull the trigger himself. Lon Price is the main character. A young idealist who is dead against the slave trade. He starts working for Pinkerton and works his way up to the lofty echelons of Washington's Secret Service. We see how the story changes him from a relatively innocent optimist into a battle hardened realist. There are many other great characters and storylines in this enjoyable book. We certainly get a true picture of how ugly that era was. The book actually takes a good couple of hundred pages to really get rolling due to character development. The reward is worth it though. I was sad when it ended.

ON SECRET SERVICE is the first book I've read by John Jakes. I must say that I'm impressed. The thorough knowledge and understanding of the Civil War period displayed by Jakes in this book is impressive. The literary portraits he draws of relatively little-known, but real, historical figures such as Alan Pinkerton, Lafayette Baker and Elizabeth Van Lew, combine with his well-constructed fictional characters to pull the reader into the story. His sense of the public moods of the times and his use of arcane historical detail, such as the use of balloons for surveillance, lends the story added interest and greater credibility.

With all of these strengths, however, the book also has a certain melancholy inevitability about it. In spite of all the effort and all the suffering of the hero, Lon, President Lincoln still ends up dead at the hands of John Wilkes Booth. Nothing can change that. Moreover, the romance between Lon and Margaret follows a rather predictable course. Finally, when all is said and done, everyone ends up deeply scarred by their experiences in the War. As fitting as this probably is, it is nice to feel that the survivors are headed for happier lives once the War is over, but one of the final images is of Margaret crying as she and Lon leave Washington to go west.

ON SECRET SERVICE is an excellent book in many ways. The quality of the writing is first rate, the characterization is good, and the historical detail is fascinating. There is plenty of action and it holds your interest all the way. But, in the end, Lincoln still dies. This isn't the author's fault, but the inevitability of it, and the mundane romantic storyline, hold my rating to four stars. Good, but not quite great. I do recommend it, though, especially for Civil War buffs.

I'd never read a John Jakes novel before, but when I saw this in the bookstore I figured it was about time. What a treat! Not only did the characters and story draw me in and keep me turning the pages until way past my bedtime, but the way the history is portrayed is great--so much information woven in so skillfully that you don't even realize what you've learned until you've finished. The machinations of the spies are as devious as Cold War Berlin. The NYC draft riot chapter blew me away. I've lived in New York all my life, and somehow this subject has managed to escape notice--no placques, no commemorations--and no wonder. It is one of the uglier moments in this nation's history. Aside from the historical aspects, this is a thrilling read with lots of exciting action, and a surprisingly sexy love story! I see that his NORTH AND SOUTH trilogy is back in print now--guess I'm going to have to read these too. I really recommend ON SECRET SERVICE. I'm going to give it to my dad for Father's Day!

I recently heard of a quote attributed to Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of evangelist, Billy Graham, when asked if she had ever considered divorce in the many years of their marriage; her tongue-in-cheek answer came to mind on my completion of this book: "Murder - yes; divorce - never!"

Sharon McCrumb might have had this thought in mind while writing "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him". If nothing else, this book has a five-star title; it is intriguing enough to practically carry the book on its own sly humor. Fortunately, the title's encouragement isn't wholly wasted on the story.

McCrumb again uses a technique which she has employed in other works - "The Ballad of Frankie Silver" and "She Walks These Hills", for example - weaving a historical event into the fibers of a modern mystery. Here, the poisoning death of Major Philip Todhunter, allegedly at the hands of his wife, Lucy, seems to have been re-enacted by her great-granddaughter, who has a religiously-militant husband. Trying to solve both apparent murders falls to forensic anthropologist, Elizabeth MacPherson, whose brother, Bill, a gawky small-town lawyer, has been hired to defend the accused wife. In addition to that case, Elizabeth is called to assist Bill's law partner, A.P. Hill, with the case of Eleanor Royden, a socialite who dispatched her ex-husband lawyer and his sweet-young-thing new wife into the afterlife after having been the subject of her ex-husband's bloodlust for the sport of divorce. Elizabeth juggles the investigation of these cases while wrestling with upheaval in her own life: her mother's new-found zest for life and her determination to avoid dealing with the apparent death at sea of her beloved mate, Cameron.

I enjoyed this book (as I have all other McCrumb works), and often found myself laughing aloud at Elizabeth's wit and Eleanor's venom, in addition to the "folksy" atmosphere McCrumb describes in Danville, Virginia. However, I found myself annoyed at A.P. Hill, a newbie lawyer who takes herself (and womankind) far too seriously (as a female lawyer myself, sometimes all you can do with some clients and yourself is laugh - A.P. has yet to learn this survival strategy), and the sub-plots involving a group of ultra-liberal feminist academics and the extreme view of animal rights taken by one of them. The book lost credibility while muddling through these unrealistic and ludicrous elements, and they (in addition to a pervasive view of most men as sinister adulterers or bumbling idiots) sincerely made me wonder if McCrumb was wresting with some personal animosities on paper. But the book still raises important questions about a woman's relationship with herself and with the men in her life, and what it means for her to "take control" of her destiny. I think Ruth Bell Graham would chuckle reading this book too.

McCrumb has written a thought provoking book disguised as light mystery. Returning heroine Elizabeth McPherson, mourning the disappearance of her husband, joins her brother's law firm as an investigator. The plot revolves around a suspicious death in the present that mimics an unsolved murder from 100 years earlier. To solve one, means to solve the other. Elizabeth uses her expertise as a forensic anthropologist to do just that. What makes this book stand apart from the other Elizabeth McPherson books is the thread that runs throughout of spousal abuse and abandonment. The title is from a quote overheard from an abused woman: "If I'd killed him when I met him, I'd be out of jail now." While the mystery is entertaining, the undercurrent of abuse, abandonment, and loss of faith, leaves the reader with an aftertaste that is slow to go away. One must wonder what events were occuring in the author's life as she penned this novel.

Sharyn McCrumb never ceases to entertain, and to allow her Elizabeth MacPherson books to possess a lighter side her Appalachian series does not. "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him..." is a riot from beginning to end, with wonderful characters, a great plotline, and McCrumb's usual inimitable wit.

It's a great book to start with if you're introducing yourself to her Elizabeth MacPherson's stories, but all the others are great, too, particularly "Lovely in Her Bones," "Highland Laddie Gone," and "Missing Susan," which is deliciously wicked, ;-)

It was a believable story that could have happened on any college campus. There was a driving force to finish this book, so you would know the truth-eventually! The characters were real and exciting. You really wanted to know them. Krissy was someone-you hated at one time, and loved the next. I could not stop reading it! I had to know what was going to happen next! Now, I just want to read more books by Simons. She is great! This book would make a great movie.

I loved: "Tully". Red Leaves is an unbelievably great book. Ms. Simon's characters are taken from life. This particular novel is set at college, about four friends and the choices they make. The novel is shocking, sad and achingly funny. Headlines ripped from today's real world.

I was anxious to read the latest book by Paullina Simons, the author of Tully, and it didn't disappoint! Finding out who murdered Kristina Kim becomes secondary to learning about the details of her mysterious life. Kristina, like Tully, is a strong young woman who makes no apologies for her unorthodox life. Red Leaves is also very similar to Donna Tartt's The Secret Language so I think anyone who enjoyed it or Tully will love this book as well.

Sometimes I think I must have been an Eskimo in a prior life, because I love books about the frozen north. When I came upon this book, subtitled "Travels in Antarctica", by Sara Wheeler, my imagination was immediately captured as I realized this was a whole new territory for me to explore in my reading experience.

Ms. Wheeler is a young British travel writer who spent 7 months in Antarctica in 1995 as a writer-in-residence with the U.S. National Science Foundation. What a great gig!

A lot of research went into the writing of this book. And a lot of love. She mixes all the historical details of the early explorations of Shackleton, Amundson and Scott with her own modern and female perspective of the places she goes, the people she meets and the emotional effect all this has on her as she explores the coldest, windiest and driest continent in the world.

As Antarctic explorations go, hers has a certain degree of comfort. She is helicoptered around to various bases, and even though there are periods of time that she spends in a tent or igloo or prefab shelter, she has radio contact with the base and always has a supply of food. But this, of course, is what it is like to travel to Antarctica these days, and she is fortunate indeed to have the experience of going there. This is not a tourist destination after all. And virtually everybody there is a scientist of some sort.

She describes her experiences well and I loved he sense of humor, especially when describing the differences between the bases manned by different nationalities. The Italians have the best food. The Brits are completely male, bonded in their background of English private schools and given to bawdy toilet humor and practical jokes. And the American staff is approximately 25% female.

The book was a slow read, especially the parts which go into detail about the fascinating history, but I didn't mind. Also, the pace of the book tended to remain the same throughout as she traveled from base to base making her observations. The bases might have been isolated, but even in 1995, she was able to get e-mail there.

The concluding chapters were the most interesting. Perhaps it is because by then the reader has absorbed all the history and first impressions. During these last chapters, Ms. Wheeler spends several months with an American woman artist in a prefabricated cabin out on the ice. The artist paints. The writer writes. They develop a deep friendship as they prepare meals and grapple with the environment amidst the startling beauty of their surroundings, watching the long polar nights welcome the sun.

I was sorry to see the book end because during the time I was reading it, I was transported to a very real part of the world that I will probably never have the opportunity to visit myself. So for all my fellow armchair travelers, I definitely recommend this book.

There have been many, many travel books written, but so few actually remain with you, actually transform you. Terra Incognita is one of those books.

No matter how Sara Wheeler got there, her 7-month trip through Antarctica unfolds beautifully between the eccentric and fun "beakers" she meets along the way and the intense splendor of the continent. Because of her mode of travel (spending a few days or weeks here or there, until her final 2-month stay in a shack during her last trip to see the coming of summer), Wheeler most likely got to see more of Antarctica--it's various bases, landscapes, and people--than just about anyone alive.

Added to this is a great amount of Antarctic exploration history, which makes the book seem more than just a seven-month journey . . . more like 100 years of attempts to figure out this hypnotic and enigmatic continent; reading it encourages you to do your own further research on this subject. While I do agree that there could have been more maps included, just have a globe or atlas nearby if you want to follow her travels more closely!

In my opinion, the downfall of most travel books is that the author focuses too much on him- or herself to the exclusion of everything else. Wheeler does include her thoughts, feelings--how she sees herself changing with each experience. These are never intrusive, however. The only other book that comes to mind with this sort of balance is Matthiesen's The Snow Leopard--another fantastic travel read. This book is quiet but never empty and never dull. Read it and be transported.

"Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt"--you can't change your soul by traveling across the ocean. Wheeler quotes this adage and provides some fascinating insights into it from her own perspective, noting that her wanderlust comes from her fear of losing her faith if she lives too long and home and is forced to confront the sad realities of daily life. I feel the same way and had never heard it expressed so beautifully. This is a fine travel book that provides an interesting contrast to recent works on the physical conquest of Antarctica, for this is about the mental conquest of this strange continent. I have read many books about Antarctic exploration but this is the first one that made me want to go myself. I especially appreciated her comments on the disjointed feeling the traveler has when leaving the country she's just visited. Travel literature isn't supposed to be about the country you're visiting (that's what guidbooks are for)--this kind of writing is much more interesting and lasting.

Jane Whitefield, the last hope of persons on the run, has promised herself to remain home as a housewife to her doctor husband, but gets caught up in another hide-the-person-on-the-run situation. The title of the book refers to an awful lot of the Mafia's money which Jane must help dipose of while helping a septugenarian and a teenager elude a manhunt consisting of almost everyone in the USA with an Italian surname. Although some of the plot points are a little hard to believe, e.g., a nation of Mafia families working as efficiently as the FBI to find Jane and her runners, and Jane's almost unlimited reserve of financial resources, Perry keeps the reader's interest as Jane and company race around country trying to turn dirty money into clean charitable donations.

How do you give away over 10 billion dollars while still avoiding the Mafia who's searching for you coast to coast? That's the latest problem Jane Whitefield encounters when she has to make Bernie the Elephant and his housekeeper Rita disappear. Bernie has been nicknamed "the Elephant" because of his photographic memory. He knows where a great deal of Mafia money is invested but he's getting older and his memory is starting to falter. Thus, he has to disappear before the Mafia Dons decide he's no longer a help but a liability. Jane figures if all the accounts that Bernie manages are drained off and donated to charity the Mafia will no longer have a reason to look for him. But we're talking close to 14 billion dollars. And to make it worse, the Mafia has found out about Jane and has plastered her picture from one end of the country to the other.

I found the premise of this novel intrigueing. Perry handled the whole idea of donating the money to charities in a plausible fashion as well as still keeping the heat turned up on the heroine and her charges. Just when you think they're all home free Mr. Perry throws another monkey wrench into the deal. As usual, Jane is a well drawn character, the plot moves along nicely, and the dialog is believable. Perry, unlike many of today's genre writers, actually puts suspense into the suspense novel. Try this book, I think you'll like it. And then, if you haven't already, find the rest of the Jane Whitefield novels and read them too. You could certainly do a lot worse.

Once more Jane Whitefield is asked to help out. This time the Mafia itself is involved, from coast to coast. And for most of the time the author does his heroine and his readers right. The suspense is nailbiting indeed, and the plot in ingenious, to say the least. Maybe, for once, too ingenious. Until now Perry did made us feel that Jane's struggle with all kind of modern evil is totally believable, and that she acts with a deepfelt 'righteousness', rooted in her ancestry and her person. For that kind of writing, though, plotting must be subservient to 'reality', so we can step into Jane's world and feel for her and the victims she's helping to vanish. Not so this time. The plotting itself is meticulously carved out. But the premises are, frankly, a bit too much. Perry tries to convince us that the Mob has put alls its ill-begotten eggs in just one nest, a walking human nest. He tries hard, but it's simply too much to believe that most of the Mob's money is floating in one man's memory. Not with today's reader's knowledge about high finance, off-shore banking and other kinds of wizardy. The guy maybe guarded as the proverbial walking Ford Knox, but the idea that a simple heart attack or a stroke would end it all is too much. And as the believability of the plot goes astray, so goes the novel itself. It ends up as a giant Chrismas party (oh, wouldn't we wish....), and we even feel the smiling ghost of the Butcher's Boy reading over our shoulder. Mind you, the novel is still enormously enjoyable and everyone who has taken a liking to Jane Whitefield and het world will not be disappointed. The problem is that Thomas Perry's earlier four Whitefield novels are of such a high quality that a flawed fifth is keenly felt. I sincerely hope that Jane's next encounter will be more in the realm of believability. She's simply too good to vanish.

I love Louisa May Alcott's work, from her dark delvings into the human soul to her revenge tales to the wholesome family chronicles. Sadly, I could not love this book. Anyone who reads it will be unsurprised that Alcott wrote it at the age of seventeen -- it reads like the summertime fantasies of a teen longing for love and a Tall Dark Handsome Man with a Tragic Past.

The heroine, Edith Adelon, is a penniless Italian orphan who lives on a rambling estate belonging to the Hamiltons, filthy rich aristocrats. Edith's humility and goodness make her a favorite in that place, of everyone except Lady Ida. Ida is not wealthy, though she is an aristocrat, and (by the standards of the day) is aging to old-maid-hood. Enter Lord Percy, a friend of the family, and a Tall Dark Handsome Man with a Tragic Past. He and Edith fall in love, until a hidden secret threatens to change all of their lives.

I can see why this dripping-with-sentiment little novel was buried away for so long. Alcott would never have been able to stand it being read when she was a serious writer; it reads almost like a parody, but with the dead seriousness of the bad work. It is also saddled with terrible characterization and a storyline that would make a seasoned reader cry. There is also a rather alarming message about social classes and whether they should be defied.

The main problems are the characters. They are pretty much two-dimensional stereotypes; the good ones are completely devoted to one another because of random acts of utter goodness that they did in the past, or simply because they say or do something that seems selfless and noble. The bad ones lurk in the background, making not-so-devious plans out of sheer malice. Edith is beautiful, self-sacrificial, humble, sweet, virtuous, brave -- essentially, she's all good things. She never so much as trips on her skirt, and we're even treated to the stereotypical "bringing soup to the sick."

Percy is the male counterpart in every way: handsome in a wussy kind of way, chivalrous, sensitive, tragic, willing to shatter class boundaries for the one he loves, virtuous, self-sacrificial, strong'n'silent, brave -- yep, he's all good things as well. Both of them are so good and saintly that it's difficult to sympathize with them. Lady Ida is cartoonish in her badness, but she's also the most three-dimensional character in that she has a reason for acting as she does, even if we're not supposed to care because it's her own fault. Lord and Lady Hamilton are the usual stiff uppa-clahss parents; Amy is pretty dull in her relentless enthusiasm and girlishness.

The plotline itself is like an update of Cinderella with a few improbable twists. When Edith discovers The Secret, her response is so unrealistic and saintly that you'll have to swallow a groan; so is her protection of the ridiculously-tempted boy Louis. Likewise, Lady Hamilton's response to Edith's saving Amy's life is simply ludicrous. The book lacks her trademark humor, wit, and passion, the little quirks and embarrassments and snatches of humor that make her characters human. They blush, they shed tears, they flit around or glide or stride. But they don't emote. The dialogue is earnestly comedic, using phrases and words that no one would actually use. (Percy's comment about a Edith's love "sanctifying" a scarf is particularly funny)

Why two stars? One is because Louisa is Louisa -- she gets an extra star for that alone. The second is because there is some truly breathtaking descriptive scenes in this book. But if you read this book, then "Long Fatal Love Chase," then "Behind a Mask," then "Little Women," then you will get an idea of how her writing changes.

My recommendation? Read it if you're a die-hard fan of Louisa's works. Otherwise, pass it by and watch the TV movie, or read "Little Women."

Written nearly 20 years before "Little Women", when Louisa May Alcott was only 17-years-old at the time, "The Inheritance" is supposedly her first novel, although it was never published until five years ago in 1997 (and was later made into a TV movie the same year). The two editors (Joel Myerson and Daniel Shealy) briefly talk about Louisa's literary accomplishments in the afterward of this book, remarking on what a rare find "The Inheritance" is, as well as it being a steppingstone in her writing career. It is notable since it is her first novel, but I wouldn't consider it her best work. However, I've only read one other book by Miss Alcott: "A Long Fatal Love Chase". That one I liked much better, because it was more adventurous and suspenseful than "The Inheritance", even though it still followed the same romantic path.

This sentimental 19th century romance novel is set in the rich English countryside. It follows the Hamilton family (the stoical mother: Lady Hamilton; the obedient son: Arthur; the naive 16-year-old daughter: Amy; and the envious cousin: Lady Ida) and Lord Percy, a friend of Arthur's, as they all fawn over beautiful Edith Avelon, an orphaned Italian young woman who had been brought to England from Italy when she was ten. Ever since, Edith has been a playmate and governess for Amy, but recently she's become the love interest of Lord Percy, to Lady Ida's dismay. Already devoted to the Hamiltons, Edith will soon learn of a secret that will further bind her to the family.

Probably the most unappealing thing about this book is Edith. She's so nauseatingly good, she seems unreal; she could have been a nun. She's extremely loyal to everybody, even her enemies (Lady Ida, for instance); she's kindhearted toward the sick and elderly; she's a beautiful singer; she's incredibly attractive, self-denying, gentle, pure... Gag. The one good feature about this book, though, is its brevity; it's just under 200 pages. It's worth a try if you're a Louisa May Alcott fan or really into 19th century romantic literature.

According to a note on the text in the Penguin Classics edition, "The Inheritance" was written by Louisa May Alcott when she was only 17 years old. This novel tells the story of Edith Adelon, an Italian orphan who lives with the aristocratic Hamilton family. This is a sentimental, romantic story about love, treachery, and a family secret. Class stratification is a significant theme.

Yes, the characters are fairly shallow, the plot is predictable, and the dialogue is often very stiff and corny. But I found "The Inheritance" quite charming and enjoyable. The mild suspense leads ultimately to a satisfying conclusion. Along the way are some memorable scenes, such as a sequence involving the creation of historical tableaux.

The Penguin Classics edition includes an excellent, substantial introduction by Joel Myerson and Daniel Shealy. They discuss Alcott's remarkable life and career and place "The Inheritance" in literary and cultural context.

Erica Spindler has written a fast-paced, enjoyable thriller with a several "neat" plot twists!

One of the factors that adds to the charm of the book is the New Orleans setting. The reader is encouraged to take note of what are some of the author's obviously favorite haunts in the city. An added bonus is that it makes me want to go back to the Big Easy and make sure to see the sites as she sees them.

Anna North is an engaging heroine, easy to believe in. It is evident why the cast of supporting players in the novel is attracted to her circle. The events are thrilling, and it is difficult to put the book down once you have gotten past the first few chapters. There is a dual storyline involving Quentin Malone's partner that takes away some enjoyment from the book, but overall, I'm thrilled that I found Erica Spindler, and grateful to Amazon reviewers, who led me to this discovery. I'm looking forward to reading some of her past work, and "Bone Cold" (bad title) will have a permanent place on my paperback book shelf.

Read "Bone Cold" for a fast-paced look into a psychological mystery!

As a child, writer Anna North was the victim of a terrible crime. She has changed her name and moved to New Orleans to put the past behind her but, 23 years later, the nightmare begins again. Someone has not only discovered her real identity, but is sending chilling threats to her and her friends. When red-haired women bearing a striking resemblance to Anna start getting killed on the streets of her French Quarter neighborhood, she has little doubt that she could be next. As the campaign of harassment against her heats up, it becomes increasingly hard for her to know whom to trust. Quentin Malone is a homicide detective who doesn't quite seem to buy her story at first. His partner has been exhibiting some bizarre behavior and argued with the the first redheaded victim the night she was killed. Then there is Dr. Ben Walker, who not only wants to counsel Anna on a professional level but wants a more personal relationship with her. Even Anna's sweet and gentle neighbors whom she has known for years come under suspicion. I would have read this through to the end just for the richly wrought images of French Quarter New Orleans, but the story is clever and compelling and worth sitting up late to finish.

Kidnapped and tortured as a famous couples's only child, she escaped and became determined to never let the monster find her. Assuming another name, she becomes an aspiring suspense novelist. Her life was going well, until somehow, her true identity becomes known. Now her publisher wants to use her name as a publicity campaign. A madman is sending her threatening letters and even momento's of the women he is killing. All of them look vaguely like her. If that weren't enough, she is also being pursued by a policeman and a shrink. Who do you think she will end up with? Uh, Uh.... You have to read the book. I loved this book because it kept me guessing right up to the very end. With all the twist and turns, you will truly love the ride. Be prepared to want to read 24/7 because you will not want to put it down until you find out what is going to happen. Well done,Erica!

i don't know if the matter that i have read a lot of books of agatha christie has left a side effect on me and now i can see some things predictables in suspense books, or it's just that this IS one predictable book.

is an amusing reading but if you want to read a real master of medicine writing you have to read robin cook's ( just the ones related with medicine, the others are not that good ).

there's one thing for sure : is an easy reading book and there are just a few of characters, so you couldn't be lost in the plot.

anyway this was my first palmer's... now i bougth "the patient" and i hope it wouldn't be predictable too.

thanks for reading my review. from the Argentine lands, Bertran Saragusti.

Michael Palmer proves again that he is a top notch thriller writer. I find his novels extremely readable, and well written. These are sometimes mutually exclusive qualities of thriller fiction. He also does a good job in explaining the medical aspects of his novels. Knowing a bit about cardiology and related medical treatments, I was able to get past the jargon. I do wonder if a reader, with little or no previous knowledge of cardiology,would not get lost in the medical descriptions.

Frankly, the resolution caught me by surprise, which was a pleasent surprise since many books of this genre are predicatble. But what was predictable was the "bad guys." Unfortunately, the were almost charecatures of themselves.

I particularly enjoyed Epilogue II. This final wrap-up was unlike almost any other novel I've read. I won't reveal the twist, but all I can say is that when I read it, I said "TOUCHE!"

Be prepared to kiss the weekend good-bye when you tackle a Palmer book. This one is no exception, however I must say that the formula is getting a bit long in the tooth. We all know the hmo-drug corporate establishment is bad, and that everyone associated with the main character is potentially bad. And as we read more and more of Dr. Palmers books we ultimately become less fulfilled upon the completion of each succeeding one! This one was no exception...the plot was somewhat predictable, the scenario somewhat claustrophobic, the cast of characters somewhat limited..he probably wrote this thing in one weekend too!! Oh, by the way, as with all his books..LOVED IT.

At the end of the 19th Century, America is a nation of vast opportunity and evolving values, certainly obsessed with the vast fortunes amassed by the likes of Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Mellon. Their private resort above the industrialized town of Johnstown, PA, is a jewel in the crown of the vast wealth of these Robber Barons. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Lodge features a man-made lake braced by an ill-repaired dam that ultimately imperils the town resting at its valley floor.

Using personal detail to humanize this disaster, Cambor introduces complex characters from Johnstown as well as one family who summers for a brief two weeks each year at South Fork, albeit a family not of the highest level of that very particular pecking order. In Johnstown we meet Julia of the broken spirit and her husband Frank, helpless against life's random cruelties, their proud son Daniel, and Grace, a runaway from an unbearably lonely life. Representing South Fork is the idealistic Nora, a child of fortune who reaches beyond her personal limitations before everything changes forever.

The novel actually ends with the flood, a vast surge of water from the ruptured dam, unleashing death and devastation that Memorial Day, May 30, 1889, obliterating Johnstown in minutes. I confess I wanted more detail about the actual flood and its physical consequences, who survived and who took responsibility. This is but a small complaint in a rich novel of American life on the cusp of a new century, a time when the American Dream still twinkles in the eye of the working man and when hard work promises a guarantee, security for a man's family after a life of labor. Detail is crafted into every page, days lived in hope and reason, pride and dignity. But, lest I wax too nostalgic, their time is cut short by nature's wrath and the enormous cost of privilege for the few. The novel opens with this quote, setting the tone for the quiet unfolding of catastrophe: "I have been watching you; you were there, unconcerned perhaps, but with the strange distraught air of someone forever expecting a great misfortune, in sunlight, in a beautiful garden" (Maurice Maeterlinck). Indeed, such disasters do create a sense of vigilance, of dreams discarded and the sad loss of innocence.

In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden by Kathleen Cambor is a novelization of the events leading up to the horrific Johnstown Flood of 1889 in Pennsylvania when over 2200 people lost their lives. After a night of heavy rains, the South Fork Dam had broken, sending 20 million tons of water crashing down the narrow valley into Johnstown. Carrying huge chunks of debris, the wall of flood water was as high as 60 feet, moving downhill at 40 miles per hour, destroying everything in its path.

In this mostly character-driven novel, the author manages to intimately acquaint us with many of the residents of the area and those who were visitors. In fact, she has managed to produce somewhat of a social history of that time and place. It is obvious that Cambor has done extensive research because, as the reader, I felt that the great attention to detail really put me into Johnstown in1889 as she set the stage for the disaster that was to come.

The South Fork dam which burst was below the site of a "gentlemen's club", The South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club, started by many of the wealthy industrialists of that time who lived in Pittsburgh (Frick, Carnegie, Mellon) and used by them as a mostly summer getaway.

Fourteen miles up the Little Conemaugh River, on whose banks Johnstown was built, a three-mile long lake was precariously held on the side of a mountain - 450 feet higher than Johnstown - by the old South Fork Dam. The dam had been neglected and poorly maintained, and every spring there was fear that the dam might not hold. But it always had, and the supposed threat became something of a standing joke around town.

Many residents of Johnstown knew of the terrible condition of the dam, as did some of the visitors, but their attempts to draw attention to the problems and the potential for disaster were in vain. It appears that the people who lived in the area just assumed that those of privilege and wealth took good care of the property, very much an assumption of "noblesse oblige" which never really happened.

The author makes it clear that those of wealth, the patrons of the club, were the "bad guys" who had no interest in the people who lived below the dam....they were only concerned with the little world they had created in the mountains. They had bought the abandoned reservoir, minimally repaired the old dam, dangerously raised the lake level, and built cottages and a clubhouse in their secretive retreat. There was no question about the shoddy condition of the dam, but no successful lawsuits were ever brought against club members for its failure and the resulting deaths.

Cambor manages to bring these people and the fictional town residents to life by relating their personal histories like one would peel back the layers of an onion...slowly and cautiously, revealing parts of their pasts in succeeding chapters. As a reader, one comes to really care about these people and what happens to them-- Frank Fallon, a Civil War veteran, and his family; James Talbot, an attorney for the club, who visits yearly with his wife and daughter; Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon, leading industrialists of the era; and many other residents of this doomed area.

She also manages to make the dam itself one of the characters in this book, describing it as a "great, organic giant....fed by mountain springs and streams that coursed through layers of the earth like arteries through limbs."

The words of the title come from haunting and foreboding lines in a Maeterlinck play "I have been watching you: you were there, unconcerned perhaps, but with the strange distraught air of someone forever expecting a great misfortune, in sunlight, in a beautiful garden."

All in all, despite knowing the outcome, I would recommend this book for its wonderful writing and style, and its glimpse into history.

This is a book to savor, a touching romance overcast by the looming disaster of the Johnstown flood, so beautifully written that the characters remain in the mind long after the pages are closed. Kathleen Cambor peeks into the lives of the rich and famous industrialists of the late 1800's - Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, Henry Clay Frick - all members of the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club. This summer retreat for the wealthy was created by re-building the South Fork dam. There were questions about the dam's stability from the beginnings of the project, however these were swept aside due to the importance of the club's members. The wealthy members do not give a thought to the people down below in Johnstown as they enjoy the pleasures of an idyllic locale.

Ms. Cambor also touchingly re-creates the lives of those living in the doomed city of Johnstown. Some few will survive the flood which took the lives of 2200 and was the worst industrial tragedy of its time. Although the book climaxes predictably with the flood, there are surprises in the aftermath.

I had never read a collection of short stories before, byMaeve Binchy or any other author. What a pleasant surprise! Theshort story format made for a quick read, which is a nice change after reading The Glass Lake! The stories themselves oozed with Maeve Binchy's creative and imaginative style that I have come to enjoy after reading five of her books. Definitely a winner!

When I first started reading this book, I never realized it was one of short stories. As usual Maeve Binchy fleshes out the characters and you can understand very quickly what is going on.

What I like about each of these stories, is that it shows a point of view, of a character at a pin point of time. That pin point of time, is a crossroads. They can opt to continue on, in their well worn rut or they can make decisions that change their lives. These are not earthshattering choices, but ones that define their character.

If you don't want to settle into a book that will take a while to read, and you've never read Maeve Binchy, here is a good taste. I liked it especially well, as when I read it, I had little time available to read, it gave me just enough story to ponder on, each time I read.

Excellent bunch of stories.

I usually don't like short stories as much as novels, but this book was a wonderful surprise. I loved The Return Journey and highly recommend it! Often short stories seem unsatisfying to me; if I like them, I am frustrated by their stopping too soon. That didn't happen with this book. I found these glimpses into the lives of the various characters to be intriguing and thought-provoking--and just the right length. Somehow Maeve Binchy has provided just enough for the stories to be absolutely satisfying and complete--although you may find yourself lost in your own thoughts afterwards! Each story deals with a journey. If you've ever wondered what human tale lies behind the sad or excited face of a stranger met on the road, or been curious about an unlikely pair of travel companions--you may enjoy this set of stories. I think the book would be just perfect to tuck in a suitcase for a vacation. The stories would also do well on your nighttable to read before bedtime--and then dream of your own trip! If you're the type of person who likes to sit with a cup of tea and daydream next to a sea with "twenty different shades of green and blue"--and wonders about that person over there who is sitting on a rock doing the same: try this book!