Over six novels, Natasha Cooper's Willow King has gone through more evolutions than the animals on the Galapogos Islands. Once a woman with a secret life -- British civil servant by day and glamorous romance novelist on the weekends -- she has since shed the bureaucracy, wedded a police officer, and opens "The Drowning Pool" by giving birth to her first child, at age 44, while her obstetrician is being unkindly murdered four doors down the hall.

Spending a week in the hospital (possible under Britain's National Health Service plan) gives her time to investigate, and soon uncovers a passel of suspects, including an administrator who had been at loggerheads with the doctor over budget cuts, the wife of a wealthy businessman the doctor was having an affair with, and a nurse whom he had fired.

The solution, however, seems marred by a motive and suspect tossed in from left field, and "The Drowning Pool" is wet-blanketed by King's worries over her responsibilities toward the baby, her relations with a husband who objects to her investigations, and the demands on once was her private and minutely controlled life. As an outrageously successful novelist who has, as a friend observed, a "stunning house, perfect and loyal housekeeper, health, brains, love, Superintendent Worth to attend to your every whim and now a baby as well," it's hard to feel sympathetic toward a woman who wonders if she is losing her identity. Most mothers I know would risk that and more to have a full-time housekeeper around to change the diapers.

This is what I'd call a warm-fuzzy. The characters are all too nice to be believable and the mystery is lame.

I object most of all to the awkward way the author uses adjectives. In the first chapter alone we have "kindly patronage", "craggily handsome", "amazingly kind", "gloriously confidence-building" "refreshingly cool", "reassuringly unhysterical", "enormously luxurious", "achingly tired", "irresistably reminded", and "frightenly young". The whole book reads like someone told her to lengthen it by 8 pages, so she got out her list of adjectives and started plugging them in.

And how about, "Curiosity got the better of Willow's uncharacteristic yeilding to Tom's wish to protect her from herself." Please! Where was this writer's editor?

At forty-four years of age, romance writer Willow King gives birth to her first child. Her spouse, Scotland Yard Detective Tom Worth is delighted with his new daughter, but frets about Willow's health. Things turn nasty when Willow's obstetrician, Dr. Alexander Ringstead, is found dead in a nearby room. Tom should not have wasted his time worrying about his beloved wife's recovery from the complications she suffered from while giving birth. He should have worried about her starting a new investigation. As soon as Willow learns about the murder, the amateur sleuth gene inside her kicks in and she begins to investigate. ...... Willow soon finds a host of people with grudges with the deceased. Some of the suspects work at the hospital while others were victims of the womanizing doctor. As Willow digs deeper, she places herself and her newborn in danger from a killer, who will resort to anything, including murdering a new mother and her infant, to insure that the case remains unsolved. ..... The sixth Willow King mystery is a very good entry in the series due to the opportunity to see more into the personal lives of Willow, her spouse, and their housekeeper. Though the who-done-it is not quite at the level of the previous entries, it is better then most of the current books on the market. Natasha Cooper is an excellent mystery writer and her latest tale is quite good. However, if readers want a taste of quite great, try one of the previous entries. ......Harriet Klausner

I love bug books! I'll read anything I can get my hands on, and have no problem with it. But this book needs to be written. It is a major disappointment, and I feel like the author should refund my money. What we have here is either (1) a filmscript, of director's notes, or (2) the author's notes that he "forgot" needed to be made into a novel. It is being narrated by a disinterested observer, and there is no guts to it. "The old poachers have had a slow night...." Now let me EXPERIENCE what the poachers are feeling and seeing. In all my years of reading fiction, I have NEVER seen this before. It fails, miserably. Wolfgang: nice idea, I think; now write the book, and send me a copy.

This story is hilarious and horrific at the same time. I didn't think so many zany and weird characters could be jammed into 100-plus pages. A Giant Alligator Snapping Turtle comes along and almost gobbles up the small Louisiana river town of Scottsville, creating havoc for townspeople and evil oil barons alike. I think they should make a movie out of this story. It would put "Jaws" to shame. If you want a quick easy read for the weekend while your sipping a cold one, "Snapper" is a good bet.

This short novel is a great spoof on the horror and science fiction genres. So many books these days take themselves so seriously - they are to long and to convoluted. "SNAPPER" is fun and easy to read, and the characters are a hoot. Maybe a Giant Alligator Snapping Turtle is lurking beneath the swamps of the Louisiana bayou. This story would make a very interesting movie. An good weekend read.

I bought this book even after finding out that it was in modern spelling. I can see that modern spelling would help make the reading of the Wycliffe New Testament easier. But what I do not like is the tampering with the wording of the text. Some of the grammar has been changed into "modern" form and some of the vocabulary has even been changed. Where the original has "clepid" this one says simply "called". Yet many of the Middle English words are retained and then glossed in the margin. Surely anyone interested in the Wycliffe New Testament can understand the meaning of "thou shalt" which in this "modernization" is given as "thou shall" which sounds horrible!! This author, he "am" wrong!!

This edition of Wycliffe's New Testament is advertsed as having contemporary spelling. It seems to me that anyone interested enough in Bibles and Bible versions to consider owning and reading a Wycliffe translation would probably prefer the original spelling rather than the modernized version. Perhaps the editor thought that potential customers would be deterred from buying this Bible unless it presented easier-to-read, updated English spelling in place of the slightly more challenging 14th century renderings. I would disagree. A classic such as this is owned for its historic significance a good deal of which is lost by playing into the hands of indolent readers.

I for one will not buy a copy. There are a couple of places where the person with a passion for different bibles and translations can get a Wycliffe NT in his exact words: try greatsite.com for a facsimile copy or buy an English Hexapla.

The whole trend in modern Bible versions is simplification, effortlessness and catering to those who don't consider the Bible a book worthy of serious deliberation and effort to understand. This edition seems another case in point.

The other reviewers have nit picked this volume because of the word style changes, but make little if any comment on the scripture as to the "spirituals" (i.e., the spiritual aspects). Many of the verses in the King James must be translated "colorfully" or with a hint of obscurity because they generate confusion but are clarified here, PRAISE GOD! I have compared this book to the original Wyclif of the English Hexapla published by Samuel Bagster in England. I have not compared every word, but those which have been compared reveal this New Testament is accurate, and TRUTH (i.e., POWER). This book will help reveal the mysteries of the scriptures to you and HELP everyone come to know WHY Wycliff and his followers faced death for disseminating this material. This book puts the power of the word where it ought to be, in the hands of the believers and not the pastoral elite. BUY THIS BOOK! The "church" for years has created a dependency on them and not the word--just like Caiaphas, just like the Pharisees! The Phariseeic spirit in the church today is rampant and YES this text will throw down that spirit of evil and bring you closer to Jesus who is the word (John 1), and Jesus to you! I amazed at the self appointed editors who throw stones at this book for its "modernization". This "modernization" is NOT like a living bible or NIV feel good, this is the word. Compared to the King James which I highly revere this book unmasks the political creation of even the King James. Yes, even the King James has politically inspired softening of the truth of the word. There is GREAT power in the word and you WILL find it here if you read it. Again, BUY this book!

This is most certainly the worst trash marketed to young children one could find. Poorly written story of a "vampire rabbit" that is totally inappropriate for the targeted audience.

This book is great for young readers who are just getting interested in books.It attracts children with its great tale of adventure.So join Harold,Chester,and Harold on the wild search to find Bunnicula the Vampire before he uses his powers to conquer the world.

For many years I have been an amateur cactus gardener and I am always looking for information to better understand these unique plant forms. Last year I received a gift certificate for Amazon.com and quickly went on line to see what was in stock. I ordered and received several books including The Earth's Garden: Cactus by Jason Cooper. After reading it, I report that it is an excellent introductory book with basic information on cacti, their characteristics and their distribution. Its twenty four pages of large print and photographs provide material suitable for younger audiences or for someone just beginning to explore the cacti universe. The text is general and introductory and its color photographs, while interesting, provide little information on the biology or physiology of the cactus. If you are serious about growing cacti, this book offers little in the way of details about cultivation, propagation, care, feeding or maintenance of these unique plants.

For many years I have grown cacti as a hobby and I amcontinuously looking for information to enhance my understanding ofthese unique plant species. Last year I received a gift certificate for Amazon.com and quickly went on line to see what was in stock. I ordered and received several books including The Earth's Garden: Cactus by Jason Cooper. After reading it, I note that it is a good introductory book with basic information on cacti, their characteristics and their distribution. Its twenty four pages of large print and photographs provide material suitable for younger audiences or for someone just beginning to explore the cacti universe. The text is general and introductory. Its color photographs, while interesting, provide little information on the biology or physiology of the cacti. If you are serious about growing cacti (inside or outside), this book offers few details about cultivation, propagation, care, feeding or maintenance of these unique plants. END

This book is about 460 pages and contains fives sections. He starts with the chemistry of explosives. The next section is on thermodynamics properties followed by a section on shock waves. The last two sections are on detonation and initiation. I was particularly interested in shock waves. I found the book inadequate in every possible sense. The notation is an absolute disaster. There is no saying what represents what and sometimes the same symbol has been used to represent several different quantities in the same place. One must try very hard to figure out what is actually meant. The mathematical treatment of shock waves is primitive and almost non-existent. I got the impression that the author does not have a good grasp of the subject. The book resembles an internal report or a collection of white papers as it is customary in some companies nowadays. The book needs a lot of editing, as some sentences are incomprehensible. Here is an example sentense form page 208 : "First we will look at the P-x diagram, a few diagrams in time of the shock presure and the interface, Figure 18.5. " If you know nothing about the subject, then this maybe a place to start because the book is very basic. Just be sure you are not confused by the inconsistent notation. If you are interested to learn about the shock waves and their interaction, I recommend "Physics of Shock Waves and High Temperature Hydrodynamic Phenomena" by Zel'dovich and Raizer.

Paul Cooper has done an outstanding job of detailing the diverse world of explosives engineering. Included is sufficient detail to get a researcher new to a topic started and enough background to help an 'old timer' teach. The last five chapters on Engineering Applications is an unequalled summary of the use and analysis of the practice of explosives engineering. I use this book as my 'carry along' reference for both R&D testing and systems analysis of explosive devices.

I am a die-hard fan of Susan Cooper. I have read all of her books multiple times and never get tired of her incredible talent of weaving flawlessly together the elements of myth, fantasy, magic, and the timeless fight between good and evil. I was very excited to read "Green Boy"...and was very disappointed. Terribly disappointed! The story is basically a heavy-handed environmentalist tract, flimsily placed in a fantasy plot. I can't imagine what she was thinking. It is difficult to connect to any of the characters, and Cooper's usually flowing and descriptive prose is jarring and disconnected. The plot is contrived and clichéd, and I finished the book with a relieved sigh because I got through it, not because I had a desire to read it again. Though I will never pick up this book again, it hasn't tarnished my opinion of her other works, which are definitely worth reading over and over again.

Trey and his silent younger brother love to visit their special Bahamas cay, but when they discover that their visits are bringing them to a frightening future world, linked to their own, their become involved in fighting off an environmental threat to their own beloved home. Fantasy blends with more than a touch of realistic settings in this fast paced fantasy.

This book is ok for the first time flea market vendor, though it contains very little information on the most difficult part of flea market selling----FINDING SOMETHING AT A GOOD PRICE TO SELL!!! Not a bad book but try to buy it used for only a couple of bucks. It contains info on what to sell, how to set up, and selling techniques,etc,etc...But once again, it contains almost no information on sources of things TO SELL.

I found myself laid off and without an income - this book showed me how to turn leftover items from yard and swap meets into cash. It talks about the business end of things - tracking sales, equipment & supplies... It's a good book.

I think that this book has some good ideas for beginners as far as (1) how to lay out fabric, (2) how to make basic slipcover patterns, etc.; however, the illustrations in the book are almost child-like in presentation.

It was good to show the same chair with three different looks, and the how-to diagrams were good if sketchy. But I found the watercolour illustrations rather mimsy.

This book for help in my job

This book was great for my psych class, but I believe it would also be great as a refernce tool for either psych or sociology students. Clearly written, made my class a lot easier!!