Rat City, with a Seattle setting, is a marvelous read. We rarely read a mystery although we've been big fans of Morse, the British detective of TV. We read Rat City because a fellow poet wrote it. Holy Socrates! What suspense, dialogue and movement. On page one Jake Rossiter takes out (kills) a guy who came into his office to plug him. He didn't even know why the guy was coming after him. "You won't make it," I told him. "You're checking out. Who are you, and why did you try to kill me?" He focused on my ceiling fan and whispered, "Gloria." It was the last thing he ever said. Jake Rossiter undertakes a search to find out why a well-known gangster wanted his head, but he is led into many blind alleys before he comes up with the answers. The story, somewhat reminiscent of Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade series, captures the dialogue and mood of the time of Seattle's corrupt underbelly. You love Rossiter's girl Friday, Miss Jenkins. With this first novel Curt Colbert, a Vietnam veteran, has created a many-faceted character that warrants many more stories. Colbert's writing style and voice keep you turning the pages of this well-written book, which is a real page-turner. (Barb read the book in two days. Couldn't put it down.) We recommend Rat City as a must-read book, even if, like us, you don't usually read mysteries.

Sam Spade, Mike Hammer, and Travis McGee all three rolled up into one will almost equal one Jake Rossiter. Curt Colbert chose a setting in Seattle when Seattle was wide open and wild after WW2 and he made it work. Curt Colbert's sense of humor and irony are clearly on display through the actions of Jake Rossiter and his conscious - Miss Jenkins. Miss Jenkins can more than handle her own with her boss without him even knowing it. Together they make a team to be reckoned with. Curt Colbert keeps you on the edge of your seat with his very first page and you will not want to take the time to put this excellent novel down. There is a reason why he was a Shamus Award nominee for "Rat City". Read his work and find out for yourself.

Rat City author. Curt Colbert, must have been a voracious reader of late 40's and 50's pulp detective fiction. The hard-boiled slightly tawdry Spillane style of book is given an expert make-over-- improved too.

Set in Seattle circa late 1940's, Rat City is part Spillane,
and part transplanted Chandler (yeah, at times Colbert writes that good). This isn't yet another attempted tribute to hard boiled pulps of yester-year however, it's got a unique setting, interesting characters, a leave you breathless pacing and an all out make no appology style. Private dick Jake Rossiter is part Hammer, part Marlow with a bit of Jim Rockford thrown in. The parts gel together well and create an original character you'll have some empathy and respect for.

There's also some excellent well researched historical detail in Rat City, but don't worry, it doesn't slow things down a bit. Oh and you can forget about this one being politically correct or indulging in a big helping of revisionism--not going to happen. What does happen is that Curt Colbert creates some dimension to his female and minority characters which makes the novel feel fresh and vibrantly alive. Rossiter's gal Friday Miss Jenkins is full of surprises as well. Colbert's not going to soft soap how things could have been back in the late 40's, but he can give his characters the kind of dimension in one novel, it took some pulp detective fiction authors many books to partially accomplish.

If you're looking for the kind of tough and tawdry pulpy detective novel no one writes anymore..well this one's for you.
You'll be hooked within 5 pages. Some of the tough as a three day growth of stubble rat-a-tat tough guy lines are memorable and few fall flat.

I wouldn't have thought it possible to write a novel like this without having the whole thing crash and burn avoiding a jay-walking copy-cat at the intersection of Cliche Avenue and Self Parody Boulevard.

I enjoy being pleasantly surprised. This is a splendid genre book and I'm grateful that Curt Colbert created it. I look forward to the next adventures of Jake Rossiter and Miss Jenkins.
I hope there are several more to come.

Oh yeah I should mention that this isn't a book to start right before your bed-time... you'll find yourself staying up much too late with the thing as it's truly difficult to put it down once you start reading it.

-- Writer, Poet, Critic, Christopher J. Jarmick is the author of the critically acclaimed mystery suspense thriller, The Glass Cocoon (with Serena F. Holder).

As a newcomer to Seattle myself and a member of Newcomers of Greater Seattle, any information to help us get better acquainted with our new home is wonderful! This is a great addition to my collection of "Seattle info" books.

A very informative, wide-ranging book. Full of good things to say about Seattle, which is my one caveat-- I want an honest appraisal of the different neighborhoods, and sometimes I felt as though rough areas got glossed over. Still, the book has been a good companion for us while we search the web looking for houses in the area.

Lots of useful information for a person interested in Seattle either as a visitor or new resident.

Emerson's only moderately competent private eye sails through a tale that presents moral dilemmas as well as insights into relationships without being pretentious, some wildly improbable characters, witty wise-guy prose and a strongly realistic evocation of the West Coast. Easy reading and excellent of its type!

This was the first (but not the last) Earl W. Emerson book I've read. I found it very enjoyable, and could not put it down until I was done. Being from the Pacific Northwest, I especially enjoyed all the references to familiar places. I went to our local bookstore this afternoon and purchased several more Earl W. Emerson mysteries. Can't wait to get started. Going back to start at the beginning of the Thomas Black series with "Rainy City", as I would like to see his relationship with Kathy unfold in chronological order. Highly recommended and just plain fun!

I've read all of Emerson's Thomas Black books and have enjoyed every single one of them. (I'm currently reading Catfish Cafe). I started reading this series almost 10 years ago and am constantly waiting for new ones to come out. The humor as well as mystery in his books keep you reading until the very end. I'm not into really gory and scary books but I love mysteries. Emerson's writing gives me exactly what I want. Deception Pass was not quite as suspenseful as some of his other books (try Million Dollar Tattoo). I kind of knew the ending in the middle of the book, but I read mostly because I enjoy the character Thomas Black and I like to hear the descriptions of Seattle in the books. This book is written in the typical Emerson style and you won't be disappointed!

While better known for his Leo Waterman series, G. M. Ford has begun an interesting new series featuring the reclusive Frank Corso. First seen in Fury, Frank Corso is back and as dark as ever. Since this novel picks up approximately seven months after events depicted in Fury and refers to those events repeatedly throughout this novel, I would strongly urge prospective readers to read Fury first before reading this novel. It simply isn't possible to review this novel without giving away a few details, which would be better covered in their entirety in Fury. Having said that, I am simplifying greatly the plot and storyline to keep out as much as possible for those unfamiliar with the previous novel.

For years, the government has chased the Russian mobster Nicholas Balagula through one trial after another with no success. Balagula sees United States justice as a game-a game where he has always won by jury tampering, violent intimidation and the murder of witnesses. Now, he is on trial once again. This time, he is being tried for the deaths of 63 people who lost their lives in a hospital building collapse. The trail has been moved from California up to Seattle and extraordinary measures are being taken to protect the safety and integrity of the jury and the case.

Frank Corso is the only non-participant allowed to attend the murder trial of Balagula. His well-publicized notoriety and connections gets him unlimited access and he hopes to turn the project into another one of his true crime books. While he wants another success on his hands, he also wants the government to win. At the same time, with a grandstanding golden boy of the United States Attorney's Office in charge, Warren Klein, he has his doubts whether they can do the job. It looks like his suspicions are correct as from the beginning the trial things begin to go wrong and like most golden boys of one stripe or another, Klein blames everyone else for his mistakes.

While his suspicions concerning the case have been initially confirmed, Corso isn't really paying attention. His old flame and very special friend, Meg Dougherty, is in intensive care in the hospital. Apparently in her occupation as a photojournalist, she witnessed something so horrendous that she drove her car under a parked semi in a desperate attempt to get away that nearly resulted in her death. Corso wants to find out what she saw as well as clearing himself from the suspect list as the police seemed convinced that he had some hand in her near death.

Frank Corso is an interesting and hard to define character. This novel reveals a little more about his personality and what drives him while at the same time managing to hide a tremendous amount behind his darkly complex personae. As in his other books, a certain sense of darkness and moral decay pervades the work. Full of interesting complex characters, tight writing and multiple themes make this another good read. Once again, he provides a journey where justice is not an absolute black and white stereotype, but shades of gray. G. M. Ford's books are never simplistic stories with two-dimensional characters but complicated stories featuring multidimensional characters and shades of moral nuance. As always, this is another one of his books well worth reading.

The protagonist in G.M. Ford's Seattle based 'Black River' is Frank Corso, a hard boiled, paradoxical true crime writer. He has a strong sense of right and wrong in the Sam Spade manner.

In 'Black River' the government is trying for the third time to nail known criminal and pedophile Nicholas Belagula for bribery. Witnesses and inspectors keep turning up dead.

After Corso connects seemingly unrelated events (murders) including one that strikes close to home---everything circumstantially points to Belagula.

Corso unearths a paper trail that verifies the connection. Turning an insider is all that's needed to convict Belagula.

G.M. Ford, an excellent storyteller, gives you a nonstop, rapidly moving plot with well-developed characters. Once I got all the players clearly identified, it was impossible to put the book down.

A couple of the bad guys are Elmore Leonardish, and the primary villains are absolutely loathsome.

The appearance of the US Attorney General was a bit much and the ending too neat and tidy---but the ride to the conclusion was thrilling. Do not miss this one.

One of the pleasures of reading Ford's books is the sheer strength of his writing. This is true whether he is being deadly serious or wryly humorous, as he was in his previous series. While he is a 'no frills' writer, he accomplishes his goal by having an unerring sense of the proper word or construct.

In this story, the sequel to Fury, we again meet up with Frank Corso, a journalist who lost his cachet when he wrote a story based on falsified evidence. Since that time he has moved to Seattle where his determination has found him a new job and let him reestablish himself as a newsman and a writer. He has been allowed to sit in on the trial of Nicholas Balagula, a ruthless crime boss who has never been brought to justice. But when photojournalist Meg Dougherty, Corso's closest friend is suddenly attacked and very nearly killed a different kind of trial emerges, with Corso sitting in the judge's seat.

A tangled web of loose connections sends Corso down the dark side of the city, tracking down hired killers, builders, and janitors to find what Meg saw that put her in a hospital. Corso isn't a genius, but a determined seeker who can eventually work his was through the toughest knot. Although this time what he doesn't know very nearly kills him.

As always, Ford's characters a gem-like. While the bad guys are 'bad,' the good guys aren't angels, and individual idiosyncrasies bring them all to life. The main characters do develop, but slowly. It has taken Corso two novels to move from his initial bitterness to a dark cynicism. For all that Meg is unconscious for most of the book, she has changed the most, which brings out the best and the worst of Corso's character.

Like a typical shallow fan, I wasn't all that comfortable when Ford switched from Leo Waterman. I had gotten used to the humorous antics of the alcoholic bums who made up Waterman's investigatory team. But Corso is a compelling character, and this new series may very well be closer to what Ford really wanted to accomplish. In any case, I think you will find Black River great entertainment.

I won't go on a long diatribe. I think the previous reviewers have said what I would have said. In a word - this book is excellent. It's well researched and Nan Mooney clearly has a passion for the topic which means everything when you're writing. There are no dull filler chapters at all. The intertwined story of Mae Mae is a hoot - she is the kind of grandmother we all would like to have as our own.

In sum - if you are new to the world of thoroughbreds and racing this is the book to start with. By the time you are through, you will appreciate the history and understand the passion and love of thoroughbreds.

I never rode a horse and probably never will. But I love a good story and I love beautiful language. My Racing Heart is both. The author's story is compelling not only because the horse information was previously unknown to me, but because we all have someone in our lives that was an inspiration--like the author's grandmother. Also, the verbage of the book itself was exceptional--gorgeous, interesting sentences that leapt off the page. The author has a flowing, vivid, picturesque writing style that keeps you reading.

I read "Seabiscuit" last summer, and I have never been on a horse. I heard an interview with the author, and I picked it up. I also took a gamble on Nan Mooney's "My Racing Heart", and was not disappointed. Her voice jumps off the page- fierce and wounded and powerful. She brought me back to a time that I had forgotten, when we choose to change, and give up a part of oursleves. I found so much honesty in these pages, about how girls grow up, and who we pretend to be. The wild child in Miss Mooney's book, is so loveable, difficult, and frustratingly stuck. Her portrait of her grandmother conjured so many fantasies of these old Pioneer women.. I wanted to have this woman show me how to ride a horse, and live a life. I want to buy this book for every girl going through these years ( 14- 40??) of reclaiming that sense of danger and adventure, and LIFE. Such a great read- perfect for a summer of reflection and adventure.

I stumbled across this book while browsing in search of a good read to enjoy over lunch. This was my first journey into Ford country and I found it delightful and surprising. For me the plot line and characters carried me back to Travis McGee days. In many ways it was a retread of several of John McDonald's McGee mysteries. A mysterious death and suspicions of foul play. The P.I. slowly unraveling the tapestry of the suspect's personality and discovering a long, dark thread that leads backward into a web of deceit and darkness. If you've read McDonald you know the tale already, but this does not prevent the story being well received. The setting in the Northwest is well-placed and described. The supporting characters are enjoyable. The bad guys are appropriately bad and even if you realize where the plot is going there are a couple of surprises along the way that bring delight. A good read and I will now be hunting for other books of the series.

This is as good or better than the old Travis McGee stories by John MacDonald. Great plot, wonderful characters, crackling dialogue...author Ford is a superior talent. When someone this good writes a novel, their work almost defies description because the result is like magic. You are transported, informed, entranced, amused, and entertained. Try Ford's series of Leo Waterman, Private Eye, novels. You'll be glad you did. Also... please ignore the luke warm endorsements on the back covers of his books. They don't do the author justice; he is BETTER than they say.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot reminded me of some John D. McDonald books where Travis McGee backtracks an evil killer. Plus Leo Waterman has a hilarious sidekick--a foul mouthed New York phototgrapher--that helps him Some of the scenes with the photographer are laugh out loud funny. One negative is Ford's characterization of the minister which showed some anti-Christian bigotry on the part of the author.

In Seabell, by their choice, a large community of Cambodians live segregated from the rest of the citizenry. Bridget O'Hearn, while not Asian, has come to know the Cambodian people from her work for the SouthEast Asian Assistance Agency. When Hahn Lys and his wife are found dead in their apartment the SEAAA appoint Bridget to serve as liaison between the community and the police. Enter Detective Jack Patrewski. He and O'Hearn set out to unravel the mystery surrounding the deaths and in doing so find themselves embroiled in an even greater mystery. Before long O'Hearn is convinced that the deaths relate back to the old Khmer Rouge days while whispers of bad karma surrounds much of the thinking of the residents. O'Hearn is viewed by many within the community as an unwelcome intruder, while others believe she is a helpful outsider.

Death Stalks The Khmer is the well wrought product of writer Harrington, who like her Bridget O'Hearn is well versed in the intricacies of the Cambodian refugees living here in this county. Harrington has peopled her work with a fine assortment of characters. The clash of cultures resulting from transporting a large group of people from their own land to what is considered to be a safer enviornment is presented in a deft manner in this well crafted ethnic mystery. As in life, the old generation presented in Death Stalks The Khmer clings to the old ways while the younger generation yearns to be wholly American.

Steinbeck's displaced Okies are evocative of the struggles facing those who fled the terror of Pol Pot and now live in an enviorment very different from that they have always known. This fast paced thriller is reminiscent of the drama found in the works of Dashiell Hammett.

I am not a professional writer/reviewer but I have read enough books in my almost 60 years to be a professional reader. I was quickly pulled into the mystery by the descriptive dialogue and the desire to know more about the people who had survived the Khmer Rouge era. I like most Americans have seen the news stories and the movies about the horror of that reign of terror but had given little thought to the pain the survivors have had to endure. I thank Patricia Harrington for reminding me how fortunate I am to be an American.

As a recent transplant to Washington, I am thoroughly enjoying the 'view' of the area through the eyes of the protagonist, Bridget O'Hern. Ms. Harrington's writing is good, and I can hardly wait to read future books in this series. The story line is quite interesting. I totally recommend this book to others.

This was the first novel in G.M. Ford's Leo Watterman private detective series that I have read. I found Ford to be a decent writer and Waterman to be a moderately interesting character. But neither can hold a candle to such greats as, say, Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder or the master Chandler's Phillip Marlowe. The back cover says that Ford is a former creative writing teacher and that figures because his writing is at time a bit too cute in its effort to be entertaining. The biggest drawback of Waterman's charcater, son of a now deceased prominent politician, is that he's far too happy with his domestic life and too well known in the community to be the classic alienated cynical private eye. Ford gives a good feel for life in Seattle as a backdrop for Waterman's antics. Waterman is also properly quick with both his wit and his weapons when need be. But his continuous run ins with the cops get tiresome after awhile and the story is bloated by about an extra fifty pages or so.

Overall, I rank Ford squarely in the middle of P.I. fiction writers. Though I enjoyed spending time with Waterman on this one occasion, I will not be going out of my way to seek him out again.

This is definitely a quality book. It is a very well developed story with interesting characters. The story builds very well and the conclusion is satisfying. I would recommend this book to any avid mystery reader. I am a big fan of Robert Parker, Robert Crais, and Harlan Coben. While Leo Waterman doesn't have the sidekick that the hero in those books does, he has much the same demeanor as Spenser, Elvis Cole, and Myron Bolitar. The wit isn't quite as snappy, but still enjoyable. These are only minor comments and what prevents me from giving the book 5 stars, don't let it prevent you from reading this book. I have a ton of books, but I am sure that I will pick up another one of Ford's novels sometime in the near future.

I've been looking for new authors recently, and decided to give Ford a try. I am happy that I did. His main character Leo Waterman is in the same vein as Robert Crais' Elvis Cole, only perhaps not quite as funny. In Last Ditch, Leo, in the course of doing some renovations to his property, comes across a buried body. The body turns out to be that of his late politician fathers biggest enemy, and has been missing for some 30 years. Obviously Leo's father is the number one suspect, so Leo sets out to find the truth. Leo is a great character in the genre, tough, but not unbelievably so, very human, and of course wisecracking. There are lots of twists and turns and misdirections in this well plotted novel. The writing is also above the quality often found in the genre, Ford really puts the reader into the scene. If you like a good mystery, Last Ditch is a good place to look.

I was a little disappointed that JUNE wasn't as hilarious as FAITH. However, it still has the quality you will expect from Lori Copeland. It is a story of trusting God, even when things don't quite go as you planned. JUNE is a well-written love story that will be hard to put down till you've read it all.

I loved this book because it gave me much more than I had expected. The story is lighthearted. The characters are full of faith in God. June and Parker express their feelings without a tint of lust. There are some adventurous and exciting scenes as well. Secondary characters are never omitted. They take their parts well in the story. I suggest that you read this one and you will start to love Christian romance.

Just finished JUNE and it's impossible to say how refreshing it is to find a Christian love story that says exactly what I feel about a certain 16 year old man in my youth group! Keep on writing and inspiring!

The basic summary is that Petra is about to have a party. Unfortunately, the rug she bought has a blood stain that won't go away because its magic related. So she calls in a magical specialist to come clean it. The competitor company ends up getting to her house first for the clean. Afterwards she finds out that the rug has been involved in a murder mystery. From then on out, the Wizard cleaning the rug tries to investigate the murder and figure out why Petra causes his powers to malfunction.

Although I enjoyed Petra's quirky thoughts, I found that I got kind of frustrated by the sexual tension in the book.

Petra, the heroine, is different from many other books because she is not the typical beautiful, slim, and young virgin. She's actually some what chubby, and has a penchant for collecting all things with pigs. Petra was born from 2 wizards, and has absolutely no magical skills. Unfortunately, she has a tendancy to cause other people with magic to backfire. This was never really explained thouroughly.

Vorador, the hero, sounds like the typical hunk with a tragic past, who has no clue why his magic has gone hay wire since meeting Petra. He is the Grand Wizard of Seattle. He has a taste for women who are voluptous and look like the old Bath models in old paintings.

I liked the dialogue between the hero and the heroine. There was a lot of sexual tension between the two. Unfortunately, that was pretty much all there was between the two until the last couple of pages. It was kind of frustrating reading about that no kind of sexual fulfillment between the two occurred until the end. Well, there was one incident of Petra getting fulfilled but not Vorador. I'm not exactly sure either why they were fighting the attraction for each other either. Most of the book, Petra never hid her desire for Vorador, but she or he always ended up backing away.

The plot was good until the end. I didn't like the way the story ended. The killer ended up being who Petra thought it was all along. I kept expecting a twist, but there was none.

There were some side things I was not clear on. Why was Vorador's lab broken into and searched, if the Killer had no idea that the Amazon Wizard was there? Why did Petra the effect of making other's magic out of whack some times and not others? There were a couple of other open issues that were not resolved in the book either.

The whole Petra being in paranoia mode was annoying in the extreme too. I thought that could have been cut out. Even the whole Fytch jealousy issue seemed a little ridiculous as well.

Overall, I'm glad I didn't pay full price for this book. I bought it from [the store] for about [$]. I probably won't ever re-read it again, so its not going to be a keeper. It's most likely going to head to the used book store. If you buy this book, don't pay for it full price. I'm not sure if I would recommend this book. I liked the quarky sense of humor, and the potential of a good story line and characters. I will however keep an eye on this author for future books. She does have a lot of potential.

This is the first book I've read by this author, but I'm now looking forward to the next. What a good gauge of fantasy, romance and humour. It is very difficult to write a story that combines the classic elements of romance and fantasy, with their natural inclination towards the dramatic, and the lighter aspects of a comical touch. Anderson certainly succeeds with this one.

Petra W Field has moved to Seattle, a city hip deep in magic, although she has not a touch of magic herself, unless it is to make the magic of others a little screwy. This the master wizard Vorador finds out when he's called in on an emergency mission to remove some blood from Petra's newly acquired rug. Eventually they work out that the blood is from a (presumed) dead Amazon wizard, and the curse placed on it will not be removed (and hence neither will the blood) until her murderer is found.

Petra sure is a character - she's slightly wacky in that she's non-linear, she's lived with magic all her life and hence knows it well, and is aware of the effect she has on wizard's as a result of her mere presence. Vorador is everything someone in top magical form should be - handsome as can be, good at what he does, talented and of course a little bit full of himself as a result. Nothing like the non-linear to demolish a little arrogance, even as she sets him alight.

There's a cat that isn't, wizards, clones, pigs and a darn good mystery between these pages, as well as a clearly well thought out plot, a fun romance, a good bit of steam (largely unfulfilled until the end of the book, but there's plenty to keep the heat up along the way) and a large helping of teasing in both the passionate and comic senses. It perhaps goes a little over the top in the last few pages, but was I found it easy to overlook this small flaw. A successful blend of many elements has made a unique tale that sparkles. I think this is a fabulous book, and an author to watch out for.

Well when I started this book i had no idea what I was gettin into.
It starts in Petra's arpatment in a time when magic and wizards are ovbiously out in the open. Petra has purchased a rug with pigs on it( she loves pigs). There is a blood stain on her rug that will not go away so she called Rapid Renovations. The EKG beats rapid renovations. Needing a specialist they bring in Vorador.(Whose character i immediatly fell in love with!)
Vorador and Petra both have HUGE desires for one another which seem to constantly be put on hold. Suddenly the blood becomes a hole and Petras cat Bosco jumps into it. Vorador and Petra go lookin and find the Califronia Hotel with a strange occupant. An amazon warrior name Kitoka. Petra soon learns she is trapped in a murder case.
The author did an amazing job swirling passion, magic, humor, and mystery into to this book. With Petra's sarcastic nature and Voradors flames this book was great. I'm not going to ruin it for anyone so just read it!