Al is a river guide in a Discovery Unlimited white water rafting expedition who sends letters to Star, Pug, Rita, and Jessie who all took part in a white water rafting trip last year down the Grand Canyon River. They are surprised to find out that the letters were actually sent by a teenager named Troy who also took part in the trip last year. Troy got rafts, a permit and all the equipment from a sponsored company to run the Grand Canyon River once again. Last year they hadn't run the whole river because they all kept getting into arguments with Troy. Troy decided to plan this trip to make up for what happened last year and to try and get closer to Jessie. After much thought they all decided to try and run it again. Their one rule was that nobody alone was boss and they all had to work as a team to get something done. The river was traveling at 50,000 fps (feet per second) and that was high and hard to run. They made it through the first big rapids and their only challenge was Crystal Rapids and that would require more strength and thinking. The river was now climbing to 72,000 fps and was making history. Canyon Magic was another group running the river so Troy decided to hook up with them a few times. Later on, Troy decided that he was going to take over and do things his way and the others had to follow. Jessie, Star, Pug, Rita, and Adam, who joined later, decided Troy wasn't going to push them around. So Troy said fine. He had been stuck up and grumpy the entire trip and didn't participate in anything. Troy thought that he could go far with Jessie, but Jessie disagreed. They made it past Crystal and it was easy going from then on. Troy straightened out and cooperated the rest of the trip, but most of all, he learned the truth about himself.
I would rate this book a five star because it was an exciting, heart pounding story. The River Thunder was well told and very detailed about its adventures.
I really liked the book because it dealt with being in the outdoors, easy to read and it taught you to loosen up and move on with your life. This book is also a sequel to Downriver.

I never knew there was so much life below the Grand Canyon walls. Seeing the Canyon from the visitors center 1 mile above the Colorado River can be quite overwhelming, but wait until you see it from the river itself. This book is more than an adventure down the Colorado by raft, it's geography, hiking guide and biography. I have never wanted to explore the Canyon more than since I read this book, and feel I already have. The book is well written and well developed. It's excitement and adventure will keep the attention and build imagination. It's also great for adults and tells a lot about the Canyon itself. It's based on a real actual accounts Will Hobbs (author) had himself while in the Canyon. I reccomend this book for all ages and abilities. Get surged witin the River Thunder!

You always wander what happens next in a book. This book is the perfect example of a sequel. It's like reading from down river to river thunder without ever stopping it leaves you wanting to go adventure yourself. Go on the adventure River Thunder.

A surprisingly good book! I have never read anything from this author (i am a scf-fi/Fantasy man) but this was a really enjoyable read... i think i will pick up some more of his works...this is what Pulp books should be...

Buy this Book!

As previously stated--ordered (from Amazon.com) the rest of the Streeter mysteries: "Long Reach", "Low End of Nowhere" and "Totally Dead". Have gone thru all of them and want more! I only hope that Michael Stone is bound to a long-term publishing contract which requires that he write a new Streeter mystery every two months! Mr. Stone, I'm waiting.

This guy Stone can write--characters well drawn, humor, tough broads, very devious and brutal low-lifes, a fast-moving plot that keeps you guessing and interested, and "Streeter"-tough, cautious and smart but not indestructible or infallible. Also, he got some issues about long-term relationships with the fair sex, even though he needs one. This was a great read-didn't put it down for long--wife enjoyed it too. Highly recommended as an example of the tough private eye genre. I'm about to order the other 3 Michael Stone "Streeter" books.

Beardance is a book you just don't put it down until you finish it. On a scale from 1-5, I would rate this book a four and a half because, it teaches children and adults about things that if you put your mind to something and you have enough determination, you can get anything done. Cloyd goes back to the mountains with the old man to find more grizzly bears in Colorado. He finds two little cuds and the Fish and Wildlife Department take them away. It wasn't easy for Cloyd to try to save them. I admire him for trying to save his little friends. I was reading this book for language arts class and I encourage any student or adult to read Will Hobb's works because they are very interesting and exciting. I recomended this book to anyone who likes grizzly bears or the mountains.

If you like the outdoors, then you will love Beardance. The book takes place in the wilderness of Colorado. The Weminuche Wilderness. When I was reading this book, I was sad, fascinated and surprised. The book had some gory parts in it, that is what made it surprising. Some parts in the book made me fill like I was actually there in the wild with the grizzly bears. The characters remind me of my Grandpa and I because I used to always go camping, when I had the chance, with my grandfather, especially in Colorado. The characters in this book are Cloyd; he's the boy living on a farm with his grandpa. The other character is Walter Ladis, the old guy with the cowboy hat. Irsa is the girl that they call the grizzly woman because she knows a whole lot about grizzly bears. ` He had a sensation that he was moving on four legs.'' When he looked around behind him, he noticed his tracks, and they were bear tracks.'

Will Hobbs has an amazing way of taking the reader inside the book and planting him in the middle of the mountains along with Cloyd. I thought Bearstone was excellent; but it doesn't compare to this one. To think of a young boy devoting his life to keeping the bear cubs alive is awesome. My students loved Far North and will probably love this one even more. I highly recommend all of Hobb's books to my reading students. So far, none of the books have failed to be an instant hit. This one will be the next. I can't wait to read any new ones he writes; he just doesn't write fast enough.

This book is a quick and easy read -- great for summertime when you want to actually be gardening, not reading! The tips are wonderful, as are the "best" and "worst" plant lists. Many people *will* appreciate the space left for writing down your own ideas or information -- for the cost of the book I personally would rather have more tips in the book itself and jot down my gardening log in a cheap notebook.

"Month-to-Month Gardening: Colorado" is an attractive, well-organized and helpful beginner gardening guide to Colorado. It is one of the few Colorado books that recognize gardening in the Colorado mountains is vastly different from Colorado high plains gardening. This is not an exhaustive book although the variation and the brief format of the tips makes for easy absorption. Included are helpful lists of recommended plants including lists of xeriscape plants, mountain plants, and others. Local landscapers and gardeners have contributed garden designs that help tweak the imagination. If you are starting out in Colorado gardening, this easy to use book will get you pointed in the right direction.

Month-To-Month Gardening Colorado is the best book I've read yet on successful gardening in Colorado. The books offers hundreds of tips on things you can be doing to create a beautiful garden. I especially love the journal provided throughout the book. By journaling facts about my own garden, the book has become my own personal gardening guide. I love this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in successful Colorado gardening.

I truly enjoyed this book. Ms. Morgan brought out all aspects of a relationship in this book. Sometimes, the Christian/Inspirational fiction books are stiff and lack a depth to the characters. I was happy to see that this book didn't.

Abby comes to Culdee Creek to be a housekeeper to Conor MacKay and to give lessons to his daughter Beth. This experiences teaches both of them the value of friendship, a kind word, trust and love. There were times the writing brought tears to my eyes because of the vividness of the descriptions.

A wonderful book, and I will be sure to find book 2.

I've been a fan of Ms. Morgan's for many years. I loved all her futuristic and fantasy novels. It was a wonderful surprise to find out that she wrote Christian romance novels too and I didn't hesitate in buying this book.

I've never been more pleased. She writes with her heart and I believe its because she's been through the grief and is narrating from experience. I cried along with the heroine and cheered with her when she finally overcame her sorrow. I'd give this book to someone who has lost a loved one and is in need of inspiration and God's love.

I haven't read any of Kathleen Morgan's previous books, but she has brought inspirational fiction a gift. The reference to intimacy (physical, emotional and spiritual) is realistic and powerful, although not graphic. Imagination has it's own rewards. The story line is great! The characters seem alive! Keep writing inspirational fiction, Kathleen!

This was the first book I ever purchased off Amazon and I really enjoyed reading Mr. Martin's work. He does a very good job of telling you what to use and where to go in southern Colorado. I plan to take it with me this summer along with my 3wt and use it when i am on the water.

Scott Cash Thompson

This is a book to use in planning a trip to an unknown area. I've flyfished warm water for years but I know little of trout fishing and nothing of doing so in Colorado. This book provides the detail to make decisions on which drainages and particular streams to fish. It clearly points out what is public and private water, what fish are there and provides some information on rod weights and lengths (though I would like to see a bit more of this) and good information on flies and lures to use.

I ordered this book in planning a fly fishing trip to Colorado. I'm still haven't yet decided where to go but this book provides the information to make a decision. The is plenty of detail on what to expect, how to get there, what fish are in that area, how to fish for them and particularly what equipment (rod lengths and weight, leader length, tippet size etc) is needed. This was money well spent.

On May 24, 1869, Major John W. Powell, a one-armed veteran of the Civil War, along with nine others (geologists, geographers, scouts and adventurers), set out from Green River, Wyoming to explore the last great unmapped and unknown portion of the continental U.S. No man had ever descended the Colorado river as it cut its way through 1,000 miles of incredibly rugged badlands. However, Powell and his band of men completed a remarkable journey of exploration through this country.

A passage from Powell's narrative of the expedition, after they had been on the river nearly two months, conveys very well a perspective of the challenge Powell and his men faced, the courage they demonstrated and Powell's matter of fact, but powerful writing style.

"We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown. Our boats, tied to a common stake, chafe each other as they are tossed by the fretful river. They ride high and buoyant, for their loads are lighter than we could desire. We have but a month's rations remaining. The flour has been resifted through the mosquito-net sieve; the spoiled bacon has been dried and the worst of it boiled; the few pounds of dried apples have been spread in the sun and reshrunken to their normal bulk. The sugar has all melted and gone on its way down the river. But we have a large sack of coffee. The lightening of the boats has this advantage--they will ride the waves better; and we shall have but little to carry when we make a portage. We are three quarters of a mile in the depths of the earth and the great river shrinks into insignificance as it dashes its angry waves against the walls and cliffs that rise to the world above. The waves are but puny ripples. We are but pigmies, running up and down among the sands or lost among the boulders. We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not. What rocks beset the channel, we know not. What walls rise over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things. The men talk as cheerfully as ever. To me, the cheer is somber and the jests ghastly."

This book is a classic tale of exploration and discovery!

John Wesley Powell, for better or worse, made the American West what it is today. He was the primary founder of the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency that has vandalized the West, and of the United States Geological Service. He also completed the last great feat of exploration on American soil when he and his cohorts undertook the voyage that is the main subject of this book. That the book combines two voyages into one epic adventure is not widely known, but it does not detract from the narrative to any meaningful extent.

Powell's narrative of the so-called Grand Canyon voyage is simply, yet powerfully, written, even carrying touches of the poetic. It is easy to sense his feelings of awe and wonder, particularly in exploring the canyons themselves. Powell never put his main function, scientific discovery, out of mind until the race through the Grand Canyon became one against the calendar as well as the power of the river. Even then, his writing evidences a sense of charity and concern toward his men.

Powell's narrative evokes many vivid memories of the beauty and timelessness of the country he explored, particularly his writings on the now-vanished Glen Canyon. It seems a pity, somehow, that much of what he saw is buried under stagnant, polluted reservoirs, the worst of which ironically carries his name. Would this brilliant, feeling man approve? I do not think so.

The growing recognition of the role native Americans have played in our country's history and development would find a more sympathetic vein with Powell, and his studies of ethnography and acclimatation to the arid habitat by native Americans may prove a more lasting memoir. These parts of the book should be read with equal care.

As to the canyons themselves, Powell would be the first to tell you that the artificial plug of stone at Page, Arizona, is only temporary, and that, as with the volcanic debris at Lava Falls, the river will soon have its way again.

makes you feel like you are there, check out the song mr. powell by the ozark mountain daredevils.

In this 6th book in the Mandy Dyer mysteries series involving a dry-cleaner who helps solve mysteries, Mandy finds herself as the proud new owner of a bunch of old clothes. It seems that a long-time customer has left them to Mandy after her death, and Mandy struggles to determine why this customer left her such a large bunch of ragtag clothing. During her search through the bags of clothes, Mandy discovers that sewn on several garments is a huge collection of buttons, some of which may be valuable. Thinking of the suspicious nature of her deceased customer's death and the potential value of this button collection, Mandy envisions a possible murder plot. Mandy sets out to determine if homicide was the case of death, and who the killer could be. Also included in this mystery is a possible new love interest for Mandy (she finally has broken off her relationship with Stan, the old cop boyfriend from previous novels) that sparks old feelings from the past.

I enjoyed the latest book in this series and was surprised at the killer's identity. The information regarding button collecting was interesting, informative, and added nicely to the mystery. I also was happy to see that Stan was mostly absent in this case, as he was not a supportive character for Mandy's inquisitive nature. This is an excellent book to read even if you have not read previous books in the series.

The first book in this series is "Taken to the Cleaners".

I love this series. Dolores Johnson is one of the few authors I will buy in hardback. I like her humor, her characters and the mystery she creates. I rank her with Laurien Berenson,Rhett MacPherson, Susan Cooper Rogers, Edie Clare..... I can't wait for the next book in the series. Thank you, Ms. Johnson, for introducing another love interest for Mandy. (I never did like Stan). Don't pass up this fun series.

I've been waiting a long time for BUTTONS AND FOES, the latest Mandy Dyer drycleaning mystery, and I wasn't disappointed. BUTTONS AND FOES is a fun mystery with a treasure hunt thrown into the mix, and this time Mandy bumps into a potential love interest who promises to add a bit of steam to the series.

Good work, Dolores Johnson! I can't wait for the next Mandy book.

Michelle Black pens a sturdy novel worth acknowledgement from those that adore the years of the gold rush. I am one of those people infatuated by anything that brings those early days of gold rush fever to life. This story takes place in the high hills of Colorado, called Leap Year. In separate stories, the old days are revealed through letters written by Darcy Close's great aunt, Grady. Aunt Grady has died, but in a surprise gesture, willed ownership of the entire (ghost) town of Leap Year to Darcy. When Darcy explores the historic old home on her first visit, she becomes aware that the place has been ransacked in the aftermath of her aunt's death. An intriguing secret makes itself known in the letters Grady has written to Darcy, unfortunately, many pages are lost and tangled in the chaos left behind by the persons responsible for breaking into the home. Darcy begins to question alot of the events that occurred long, long ago, and the circumstances of her aunt's death in the very home she is in.

Therefore, two stories are weaved together. The lust for knowledge of the days long ago are satisfied. Wonderfully described are the harsh, freezing Colorado winters, and the methods of survival by these tough minded, original folk that literally make their own rules in the high elevations of Colorado. In contrast, Darcy's city ways begin to take a backseat as the prospects of a new love interest, western lifestyle and unique personalities reveal new possibilities for her. She finds herself becoming comfortable in the small town, yet there is danger in Darcy being in Leap Year.

A wonderful blend of mystery, romance, entertaining characters, and accurate locale portrayal. What a treat to be privy to the real reasons behind the facts of ancestors' lives--something the present-day heroine isn't even totally privy to, as we can never know the real stories of our parents, grandparents, etc. And, like the main characters, I moved from the Philadelphia area to a small old goldmining town (pop. 270) in the Colorado Rocky Mts. five years ago. If you're drawn to this area, read this book!! It is an accurate representation of living "at altitude" and in a small town filled with "characters"!

Mingling the past and the present makes for an intriguing tale of murder, deceit, survival and love. Pure Rocky Mountain Magic!

This book covers it all, from accurate and interesting ride descriptions, to quality maps, to action photography, to a veritable database of other outdoor adventure resources.

The book does a great job capturing the overall scope of Colorado mountain biking, throughout all of Colorado.

One of the best guide books I've ever seen.

Well worth the money. Excellent maps, background information on every ride, good directions to trailheads. I recommend this book to everyone who does off road in Colorado.

This book is a fantastic guide to some of the best trails in Colorado. As an avid mountainbiker I have used the book to get me to and through many rides both in my area and on many a weekend journey. The informatoin on lodging, places to eat and other recreation in the areas is a great aditional tool that most guide books overlook. if you are going riding in Colorado this is the book you need.