A review of The Voice of Aliette Nouvelle

This book is an interesting variation on the basic detective story. It is quietly paced, more of a psychological puzzle than an action-oriented mystery. I think that is part of the point: This book is gently funny in the way it portrays macho men who dream of action with a capital "A".

As a female character, Inspector Aliette Nouvelle is engaging and believable. She is 35, single. She is doing well at her job. She is still looking for answers in her personal life. Her cat Piaf sits on the end of her bed as she sips a beer and reads alone at night. She uses the Billings Method of natural birth control to keep track of her body's rhythms which link her to the world. As a cop, Aliette has a way of "getting to" men, both colleagues and adversaries. (To say more would wreck the story.)

Inspector Nouvelle's assignment is to find a long-lost Public Enemy # 1. The story is set in an unnamed mid-sized city in present-day France. The author, who is from Canada, puts in enough authentic local color to let us feel the French environment - the Palace of Justice, shops in the dark, labyrinth-like streets of the Old City, the Vosges Mountains in the distance, a busy Rond-Point with a suave gendarme directing the daily flow of traffic.

My only problem was waiting for this story to become the usual kind of cop story. Once I accepted Aliette's way of doing it, I enjoyed it. The conclusion conveys some useful meaning in today's violence-prone world. I would be interested in reading another Inspector Aliette Nouvelle story from this writer.

No doubt New Agers and followers of Eastern mysticism (especially Sai Baba devotees) will dismiss this book out of hand. However I wonder how many of them have the same experience of the Eastern path that Tal Brooke has? My only quibble is that I'd have liked to read more of what happened to Mr Brooke after he left India. Also some parts in the middle are slightly boring but then I guess they were necessary to give the reader a real "feel" of day to day life in an ashram. This book should be a real eye-opener to anyone who reads it with an open mind.

Tal Brooke's revealing of his experiences with the famed Indian holy man, Sai Baba, is fascinating and revealing. Certain to infuriate Sai Baba devotees, the book is well written and addresses the man behind the "God" mask. It is certain to make the reader think about the pursuit of Eastern gurus, who, in many cases, are ultimately unmasked for the frail human businessmen that they really are. Brooke undoubtedly has taken quite a bashing for his outspoken book; however, with the ever burgeoning television and newspaper articles which confirm his original findings, he can finally be appreciated for the effort he made to get the truth out to an often hostile audiance.

It is not surprising that the first review of this book was overwhelmingly negative. Sai Baba, after all, has millions of disciples, and this book stands alone as the only comprehensive and credible, dissenting account of Baba's claims to be God.

The story is cinematic. The narrative is evocative and immersive, and is begging to make the transition to feature film. The book, written by a child of the sixties, tells a tale common to the era - a search for spiritual truth - but an uncommon tale in that the author went on a road less traveled, journeying to India and ending up as an intimate disciple of the country's most popular and charismatic guru, whose devotees include members of the Indian government.

But it is more serious than that. Baba is more than a guru. Baba claims to be God. The God. Your God and my God. That he can appear to back up this claim by performing dramatic miracles - materializing solid objects from thin air is one example - and having some undeniable level of revelatory knowledge into people's thoughts, makes him a very dangerous person if his claims are false.

To call this book 'one-sided' is completely missing the point. The book, if anything, tells two sides of the story in its answering the question about Baba's divinity.

The first half of the book is an account by an intimate disciple convinced of Baba's divinity. The second half recounts in great detail the gradual process of revelation of another side to Baba - a 'spiritual detective story', if you like - ultimately leading up to a powerful and dramatic conclusion.

When people set themselves up with any kind of power over us, whether politicians or spiritual leaders, it is important that their lives and their beliefs that influence and affect us are transparent and open for examination. In other words: if God gave us minds, presumably he would want us to use them.

The fact is that this book is the only chance that most worshipers of Baba around the world are going to get to hear an informed, alternative opinion of Baba's claims. And that the opinion is offered by one of the few people who can claim to have known him closely for two years requires them to pay attention.

I first read this book ten years ago, when it was available in the West as 'Lord of the Air'. It is one of the few books that I have read many, many times - no small praise from an English graduate and journalist.

The literary quality of the account, the intense and gripping story, the integrity of the investigation Brooke undertakes, and the personal suffering Brooke later underwent to get the text published in the West after the Indian government banned it, make this one of the few books that you absolutely have to read. Whether you have any interest in Baba, or just enjoy a good real-life adventure story, this book is highly recommended.

When I buy a book from online, I trust one star more than five stars. Because that realy save my money.

The is the first book I have read with REAL marketing insightsinstead of some fluff written by a consultant. I highly recommend this book...

I am an Internet executive who has read most books on Internet marketing. I can honestly say this was the best book on Internet marketing I have read to date. The interview format solicits true insider advice, and is extremely useful and practical. I was especially impressed by John Herr's chapter (VP of Buy.com). Great book!

It was terrible

The story is realistic and cleverly told and the characters are distinct and clearly defined, and also realistic. The character of the girl - daring, unscrupulous, and somehow very intelligent - was especially interesting. Definitely worth trying.

William J. Brooke is a master of modern storytelling. He recreates a sense of connection, previously provided by bards and communal poets, which our society has lost. "Teller of Tales" is wonderful, entertaining, and moving in both its overstory and the rewritten fables it portrays with such humour and clarity. I most sincerely recommend this, and the other two works in the same series, "Untold Tales" and "A Telling of the Tales" as three of the richest, most lasting books you'll find on today's bookshelf of notable children's works.

I am very disappointed with this "book". And I use the term "book" loosely, it is really nothing more than one big commercial for her workshops.

There are people who think that the only way to practice Native American (or any indigenous) spirituality is the traditional way. According to them, Creator and the spirits only listen when they are addressed via rituals established within a tribe-specific context and transmitted unchanged through time. These people will not appreciate Brooke's book (forgetting all the while that most "traditional" Native practices are actually rather recent, at most a couple of hundred yrs old).

What Medicine Eagle is trying to do here is present her experiences and conclusions about the nature of reality and the spirit world. These conclusions are often tentative and one often gets a feeling that her work is still very much in progress. In any case, one can be virtually certain that anyone who writes books about Native American spirituality is either a sincere beginner (who still harbors the illusion that talking about it can be useful) or a shameless exploiter of naive audiences, or both. This book belongs somewhere in between naivete and exploitation. The first part, which deals with her vision quests, is interesting. The second part is a plug for her workshops and is boring.

One chapter I liked was the one on Moshe Feldenkreis. The Westerner tends to be disconnected from his/her body and any spiritual work done under such circumstances can be fruitless or positively dangereous (spirits talk to us through the body and if we are not conscious of the talk, they will tweak the subconscious mind in ways we might not appreciate). Feldenkreis was a true expert in bodymind integration and a combination of his teachings with those of indigenous traditions is a great thing.

Creator has created all of us equal and what (s)he cares about is not the tribe one might belong to but the sincerity of our prayers and a dedication to "save all beings" because all of them are our relations. Spirit has many ways of seeping into our body and expanding our awareness of interconnectedness. Brooke, in this book, shows us her own path towards such awareness. It seems to work for her and maybe it will work for others, too.

Brooke Medicine Eagle is one of the few native medicine teachers that have not been forced by threats of violence to stop teaching non-native peoples. She has consistently through the years been a voice of the rainbow way - joining all peoples together in the celebration and love of Mother Earth. This remarkable book tells of her journey, her visionary call to her work, the long years of training that occurred before she began to teach, and offers many techniques she has found useful in helping promote personal balance on the Earth path. Brooke is one of the remarkable voices of our time - this book offers her voice clear and unfettered. The voice of a contemporary Earth mystic who has been trained in both traditional Native and contemporary healing paths. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

A shrinking violet type hears the voice of her rapist on an open forum radio program and begins to plan retribution. Author Emma Brookes keeps the plot moving and generates some suspense, but the contrivances will create far more chuckles than gasps. Weightless and formulaic made for tv style fluff.

I had never heard of author Emma Brookes but I really enjoyed the book "Dead Even". I'll try to find the book "Face Off". It is difficult to find a good mystery writer like Mary Higgens Clark, and I've read all her books, and now that I've read Emma Brookes, I hope she is a prolific writer.

While Nellie Bly was certainly a compelling character, and the biography clearly well-researched, the author presents her subject in a dull, lifeless manner. After waiting for years to read a comprehensive work about someone I have always found so fascinating, I was terribly disappointed.

Nellie Bly (born Elizabeth Jane Cochran) was a very interesting lady. I chose her for my report, and this was the most helpful book. I didn't think I'd want to read the whole book through, but I did since Bly's life was so exciting!

But of course, that could describe all of Andrew Neiderman's writing's under the V.C. Andrews name. This book was very similar to Dark Angel, the second book in the Heaven series, in that the female adult figure was worried about her age and her beauty and the male adult figure worried about his business and showing off his house. This book also sounds like all the other Orphan series books in that it starts out with the girl going to a really fabulous house and being disbelieving, and then ends with the girl having to leave due to tragic circumstances. Is it getting old yet? Yes. Thank goddess there's only one more! And, yes, I'll probably read it anyway. The characterization in these novels is getting a little better, but still needs work. I guess I'm waiting around for the fine-tuning to be perfected and the originality to take over. Has anyone thought about whose point of view Runaways is going to be told from? If all the books are first person, and all fo! ur girls get their own prequel, is Runaways going to break the pattern and be third person or are we going to have to be satisfied with only one of the girls' perspectives? Guess it won't be long before we find out.

When I first read this book, I thought it would be almost the same as "Butterfly". Pretty blonde girl gets adopted from the orphanage and lives with rich parents; father is as nice as can be but the mother is obsessive with trying to make the newly-adopted daughter and clone of herself. However, as I read on, I saw some differences: 1. Butterfly (Janet) tried to please her adopted mother (can't think of her name right now..."Mona" keeps popping into my head, but I know that wasn't it...) any way she could, while Brooke is a little more headstrong and does what she wants to do; 2. Brooke handles stressful situations better than Butterfly did until the end, which is just a smidge more dramatic than "Butterfly"'s ending; 3. Brooke does not let usually herself be intimidated. Unlike most of the V.C. Andrews heroines, she stands up for herself against the snotty girls at her private school. All in all, this was one of the better books in the "Orphans" series.

The Orphan series is nothing like Fear Street stories at all. As a reader of both the above mentioned series I can assure you there is not even a trace of Stine in these Orphan series. I like it that way to because if I wanted to read Stine Then I would buy Stine. Brooke, is a wonderfully written story. I can't wait to continue on with this series which is totally unlike any Fear Street book I have ever read. So read this book if you want a nice intresting story to read. It is a little similar to the first book Butterfly but they were both good so don't mess with success right! Besides Brooke was much more head strong than Butterfly so eventhough there circumstances were similar there seperate personalities caused different outcomes in the stories. So in conclusion read Brooke and enjoy it!

This book was a big dissapointment to me. I was looking for a comprehensive reference on types of plants and how to grow them. What I got was hundreds of photos of elaborate gardens that I'll never have the time nor space to grow. Don't buy this book unless you either have a lot of time and money at your disposal to create huge, elaborate gardens, or unless you want a nice picture book.

I saw this book at the university store and I paged thru expecting an encyclopedia but to my suprize there were excellent photos and many ideas for gardens. I purchased the book for my gardening expert(my MOM) for Christmas. I am sure she will enjoy the new ideas. This is a good book for those people who have space indoors or outdoors to make arrangments and gardens. I recommend this book to those that spend many hours on their plants a week already.

As an encyclopedia of plants, you wouldn't buy this book. As a source of ideas for garden spaces of all sizes and shapes both indoors and out, it's a book with which to spend many happy hours.

This book was good if you like detective work. I am not really into all that so, I did not really enjoy it all that well. The plot was well thought out and the idea of a psycho killer brought some good chills down my spine every now and then. Overall, this book and I just did not click at all. Way too much detective work involved. I am sorry, but I do not recommend this book to anyone who does not like detective work.

Fourteen year old Jessie Matthews is frantic to find someone to help her find her missing sister, Amy, presumed murdered by by the Kansas City Butcher. The desperate Jessie is the only person who believes her sibling still lives. She rides a bus from Pueblo to Kansas City in an attempt to enlist the aid of renowned psychic Suzanne Richards. However, Suzanne does not want to become involved because she is still reeling from a recent case in which her interference led to the freeing of a killer (on a legal technicality) who killed again.

Initially, Suzanne refuses to get involved, but she changes her mind when she realizes that Jessie has psychic abilities. To learn if the suspect being held by the police is the Kansas City Butcher, Suzanne must touch her quarry. She poses as a nun and substantiates that the police, in deed, hold the killer, but she also feels that there is a second murderer. When the killing spree continues even with the prime suspect behind the bars, it appears as if the police will have to free the man. This leaves it up to Suzanne to locate and rescue Amy before the killer is released and finishes his ugly task.

FACE OFF is an exciting terrifying thriller that grabs the reader from the start and never lets go until the epilogue. Suzanne is a reluctant heroine, brilliantly described by Emma Brookes and the support cast adds to the aura of a well written, very refreshing blending of psychic abilities with a serial killer chiller.

Harriet Klausner

Jessie trusts Suzanne's psychic talents because Jessie has experienced visions too and convinces Suzanne to help her track down the serial killer who has kidnapped her sister. Together they form a bond strong enough to convince the police they are on the right track, a bond which saves Jessie's sister from the Kansas City Butcher.