Search this site    Maneater Author: Grazer, Gigi Levangie ISBN: 0-7432-2685-2 Pages: 320 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Simon & Schuster Published: June 6, 2003 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Gigi Levangie Grazer has written one previous novel (Rescue Me), helped pen the screenplay for Stepmom, and, not least, is married to Hollywood uber-producer Brian Grazer (he of the wacky hair and the not-so-wacky partnership with Ron Howard). At first glance, Mrs. Grazer appears to be a complete parvenu as a novelist. Maneater rips off every girl-power/shopaholic source from early Tama Janowitz right up to Sex and the City. Her prose can be ungrammatical, her plot hopelessly predictable, and her characters paper-thin. But Grazer has a secret weapon: her preternaturally acid powers of observation. When she writes about the freaky mores of Hollywood, the book exerts an irresistible pull. Thirtyish LA It girl Clarissa Alpert reflects on her shallow, jobless, mateless (but fabulous!) life, and decides it's high time she was married. She and her four best friends (hello, Sarah Jessica Parker and company) hatch a plan to snag the cutest, hottest young producer in town. What ensues is hardly new territory, but the book is enlivened by Grazer's amazing ability to nail down pop culture ephemera. To wit: "Clarissa was sentimental--she liked saving messages from old friends and C-level celebrities. She had an answering tape collection that dated all the way back to babydoll dresses, sparkle dust and Hole." Her eye for detail--and her refusal ever to make Clarissa lovable, or even likable--make Maneater a hypnotic read. This is fiction-as-gigantic-chocolate-bar. Halfway through, you feel a little off color, but there's no way you're going to stop. --Claire Dederer From Publishers Weekly:  Masquerading as chick lit, this pitch-black comedy by Grazer (Rescue Me) is actually a scathing satire of L.A. society (to use the term loosely). Clarissa Alpert is 31-admitting-to-28, wears only Gucci and Prada, greets friend and foe alike with "a triple-cheek air kiss" and "had slept her way, without mercy, regret, mourning or conscience, through Greater Los Angeles." Her four best friends, less clever than she but equally venal, agree that Clarissa is the valedictorian of men. Among them, love is rare, but sex is plentiful and organized into a precise taxonomy that includes the "Curiosity Fuck," the "Boredom Fuck" and more. But lately Clarissa has decided that it's time to get married. Fortuitously, film-school grad and would-be producer Aaron Mason appears in her life. He's wearing cowboy boots (ugh), but driving a Bentley (her favorite car to be seen in); he's a foreigner (anyone born between California and New York is foreign), but the heir to a department store fortune. After her first sighting of him, Clarissa reserves the hotel and the florist and selects her Vera Wang wedding gown. Her divorced parents-amiable, chick-chasing father and "brittle-boned, anorexic, four-pack-a-day smoker Jewish mother"-bring their own demented enthusiasms to the matrimonial pursuit. In due course, the fanciest wedding of the season takes place despite the bride's refusal to sign a pre-nup. But this is only one-third of the way through the book, and as you might imagine, Clarissa doesn't quite live happily ever after. A true antiheroine, Clarissa, like the rest of the cast, is unapologetically loathsome. In lesser hands she would be merely irritating, but Grazer gives Clarissa just enough intelligence and spark to make her shameless antics deliciously entertaining. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. The Celebrant Author: Greenberg, Eric Rolfe ISBN: 0-8032-7037-2 Pages: 272 Format: Paperback Publisher: Bison Books Published: January 1, 1993 Condition: Price: USD $3.49 Amazon.com:  In the Ragtime tradition of revolving a fictional world around a factual core, Greenberg's 1983 novel is a polished gem, which is fitting because it is partly built around a jeweler. Though The Celebrant never caught on much with the general public, its adherents were virtual zealots; to them, reading the novel bordered on having a religious experience. Its sophisticated weaving together of the life of Christy Mathewson, the Giants' great hurler and role model, with a family of immigrant Jews in New York in the first quarter of the 20th century captured their imaginations--then sadly disappeared for almost a decade before its welcome reissue. On the surface, The Celebrant is obviously a baseball story--many of "Matty's" greatest on-field feats are meticulously recreated--as well as a story of how deeply the game reached into the lives of new arrivals from the Old World desperate to become American. On a deeper level, it is a stunning meditation on the fragile balance between the heroism of a man who won World Series rings and the hero worship of the young jeweler who made those rings for him. Its simplicity is deceptive. The Celebrant does much more than celebrate; it paints the corners of another era and another ethos with the command and control Matty himself was known to exhibit. -- Jeff Silverman Review Sports Illustrated : "An oft-overlooked novel that blends fact and fiction to create a charming turn-of-the-century tale about the intertwined lives of New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson and the family of a young Jewish immigrant who makes his World Series rings."--Sports Illustrated Library Journal : "In this fictionalization of the life and times of New York Giants pitching star Christy Mathewson, the author has written a richly detailed narrative."-Library Journal. Booklist : "The reconstructed accounts of Mathewson's most famous games reflect painstaking research and a colorful imagination."-Booklist Kansas City Star : "Greenberg splendidly evokes the essence of turn-of-the-century America by deftly mixing fact and fiction in the tradition of Ragtime."-Kansas City Star. People : "A captivating novel."-People. Elysian Fields Quarterly Review : "Greenberg recreates the famous events of the era, from the Merkle saga to the Black Sox scandal, in enchanting detail. If this isn't the best baseball novel ever written, it's definitely in the top five. A real treasure!"-Elysian Fields Quarterly Review. The Boleyn Inheritance Author: Gregory, Philippa ISBN: 0-7432-7250-1 Pages: 528 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Touchstone Published: December 5, 2006 Condition: Price: USD $9.99 From Publishers Weekly Starred Review:  Returning to the scene of The Other Boleyn Girl, historical powerhouse Gregory again brings the women of Henry VIII's court vividly to life. Among the cast, who alternately narrate: Henry's fourth wife, Bavarian-born Anne of Cleves; his fifth wife, English teenager Katherine Howard; and Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn), the jealous spouse whose testimony helped send her husband, Thomas, and sister-in-law Anne Boleyn to their execution. Attended by Lady Rochford, 24-year-old Anne of Cleves endures a disastrous first encounter with the twice-her-age king--an occasion where Henry takes notice of Katherine Howard. Gregory beautifully explains Anne of Cleves's decision to stay in England after her divorce, and offers contemporary descriptions of Lady Rochford's madness. While Gregory renders Lady Rochford with great emotion, and Anne of Cleves with sympathy, her most captivating portrayal is Katherine, the clever yet naïve 16th-century adolescent counting her gowns and trinkets. Male characters are not nearly as endearing. Gregory's accounts of events are accurate enough to be persuasive, her characterizations modern enough to be convincing. Rich in intrigue and irony, this is a tale where readers will already know who was divorced, beheaded or survived, but will savor Gregory's sharp staging of how and why. (Dec. 5) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist:  Just when we think we have heard the last of the Boleyns, after The Other Boleyn Girl (2002), Gregory resurrects the ill-fated family in the persona of Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford. After her damning testimony results in the execution of both her husband and her sister-in-law, Anne Boleyn, Jane continues her ruthless scheming as she serves as lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's reviled Bavarian-born fourth wife, and naive, doomed sixth wife, Catherine Howard. Narrated in turn by this trio of intriguing women, this tale of court politics and treachery unfolds from three equally compelling points of view. Margaret Flanagan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved The Client Author: Grisham, John ISBN: 0-385-42471-X Pages: 432 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Doubleday Published: February 1, 1993 Condition: Price: USD $2.29 Mark Sway, age 11 but years wiser thanks to a drunken dad who abused his mom, is out in the woods behind his Memphis trailer park teaching his kid brother, Ricky, how to smoke Virginia Slims heisted from Mom's purse. He's a pretty upright kid--he's determined to protect his brother from drugs, and he once defended his mom with a baseball bat. The dangers of smoking rapidly escalate when Mark glimpses a guy trying to commit suicide by carbon monoxide in his car nearby and tries to stop him. The guy is Jerome, a lawyer who tells Mark that his Mafia client has murdered Senator Boyd Boyette and buried him in the concrete under his garage in New Orleans. Then Jerome puts a bullet in his own head. Little Ricky flips out, and so does Barry the Blade Muldanno, who doesn't want blustery U.S. attorney Reverend Roy Foltrigg to find the corpse and bust him. Caught in a ruthless game between the Mob and the amoral authorities, Mark's family has no defense in the world except Reggie Love, a 50ish divorcée who has just turned her life around by becoming a lawyer. Does she have what it takes to help Mark beat the system? The life-or-death chase is on! Mark has seen a lot of movies, and he sees life in cinematic terms. So does Grisham. Even if this novel had never been filmed, it would still be a really good, fast-paced movie. Its literary limitation is also its filmlike virtue: The Client is a rush. The King of Torts (Limited Edition) Author: Grisham, John ISBN: 0-385-50804-2 Pages: 384 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Doubleday Published: February 2003 Condition: Price: USD $2.29 From Publishers Weekly:  Grisham continues to impress with his daring, venturing out of legal thrillers entirely for A Painted House and Skipping Christmas (the re-release of which this past fall was itself a bold move) and, within the genre, working major variations. Here's his most unusual legal thriller yet--a story whose hero and villain are the same, a young man with the tragic flaw of greed; a story whose suspense arises not from physical threat but moral turmoil, and one that launches a devastating assault on a group of the author's colleagues within the law. Mass tort lawyers are Grisham's target, the men (they're all men here, at least) who win billion-dollar class-action settlements from corporations selling bad products, then rake fantastic fees off the top, with far smaller payouts going to the people harmed by the products. Clay Carter is a burning-out lawyer at the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) in Washington, D.C., when he catches the case of a teen who, for no apparent reason, has gunned down an acquaintance. Clay is approached by a mysterious stranger, the enigmatic Max Pace, who says he represents a megacorporation whose bad drug caused the teen--and others--to kill. The corporation will pay Clay $10 million to settle with all the murder victims at $5 million per, if all is accomplished on the hush-hush; that way, the corporation avoids trial and possibly much higher jury awards. After briefly examining his conscience, Clay bites. He quits the OPD, sets up his own firm and settles the cases. In reward, Pace gives him a present--a mass tort case based on stolen evidence but worth tens of millions in fees. Clay lunges again, eventually winning over a hundred million in fees. He is crowned by the press the new King of Torts, with enough money to hobnob with the other, venal-hearted tort royalty, to buy a Porsche, a Georgetown townhouse and a private jet, but not enough to forget his heartache over the woman he loves, who dumped him as a loser right before his career took off. Clay's financial/legal hubris knows few bounds, and soon he's overextended, his future hanging on the results of one product liability trial. The tension is considerable throughout, and readers will like the gentle ending, but Grisham's aim here clearly is to educate as he entertains. He can be didactic (" `Nobody earns ten million dollars in six months, Clay,' " a friend warns. " `You might win it, steal it, or have it drop out of the sky, but nobody earns money like that. It's ridiculous and obscene' "), but readers will applaud Grisham's fierce moral stance (while perhaps wondering what sort of advance he got for this book) as they cling to his words every step along the way of this powerful and gripping morality tale. Clouds Author: Gunn, Robin J. ISBN: 1-56865-444-8 Pages: 208 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Guildamerica Books Published: August 1, 1997 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Book Description:  Shelly Graham has moved back home to Seattle where she's flooded with memories of her high school boyfriend, who took off for Europe after she broke up with him. As a flight attendant, Shelly travels to Germany with her sister, where she runs into the former boyfriend who has occupied his thoughts. Unfortunately he's engaged now, so Shelly hides her feelings for him. After returning home, however, Shelly must face these feelings-especially after her path crosses her old boyfriend's-again-in Glenbrooke. Only this time, they're both ready to be honest. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. About the Author Robin Jones Gunn is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than 45 books, including 8 in The Glenbrooke series. She is also the author of the nonfiction work, Mothering by Heart. Robin and her husband, Ross, live in Portland, Oregon, with their teenage son and daughter. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Yonder Stands Your Orphan Author: Hannah, Barry ISBN: 0-87113-811-5 Pages: 320 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press Published: June 9, 2001 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly:  Hallelujah! After a 10-year absence, Hannah (Airships; High Lonesome) is back with a vengeance with a Southern gothic novel full of every kind of excess: violence, sex, religiosity, creepiness and humor. Here we have Tennessee Williams, Flannery O'Connor, Harry Crews, Peter Dexter and Clyde Edgerton all squished together, baked in hush-puppy batter, dipped in honey and sprinkled with Jim Beam. Set in a lake community in the vicinity of Vicksburg, Miss., the story revolves around a fellow named Man Mortimer, a thief, pimp and murderer and those are his good qualities who physically resembles the late country singer Conway Twitty. On his trail are Byron Egan, a somewhat reformed biker-turned-preacher and prophet, and Max Raymond, a former doctor who plays saxophone in a bar band and has an attractive Cuban wife who sings, sometimes for the band, sometimes nude in her back yard. Meanwhile, the young town sheriff, distrusted since he hails from the North, manages to shock even the most degenerate denizens of the area with his affair with a luscious 72-year-old widow. The plot is kaleidoscopic, with flashes and slashes of wonder, humor and the macabre expertly mixed. Hannah tosses off linguistic gems on almost every page: "... sometimes he felt he was a whole torn country, afire in all quadrants." Describing a car, "It smelled like very lonely oil men." Reading today's fiction is too often like eating stale bread. With Hannah (finalist for the American Book Award and the National Book Award), just imagine your most mouthwatering meal, take a double helping and you've come close to the pleasure of reading this book. (July)Forecast: This is Hannah's first novel in 10 years, and arguably his finest. Grove is celebrating it with a 25,000-copy first printing, and retrospective reviews and features will ensure that readers sit up and take notice. Sales will be strongest in the South, but should be steady elsewhere, too. An evocative, Faulkneresque jacket will attract browsers. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal:  Hannah's first novel in ten years (since Never Die) concerns a motley group of eccentrics living along a lake near Vicksburg, MS. Among them are Man Mortimer, who resembles the late country singer Conway Twitty and has his hand in nearly every kind of evil in the area; Max Raymond, an ex-doctor turned saxophonist; Mimi, his smoldering, Cuban-born wife and singer with their Latin band; Sheriff Facetto, a young lawman and amateur actor in love with a still-attractive 72-year-old widow, Melanie Wooten; and Gene and Penny Ten Hoor, who run a cult-like camp for orphans. The plot revolves around the increasingly malevolent consequences of Mortimer's attempts to retrieve some bones, evidence of an old crime, found by the children of a former lover in the trunk of a 1948 Ford coupe. This is a wildly colorful, darkly comic, and ultimately sinister tale of madness and murder. For larger public libraries. Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, Andover, MA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Hitler's Niece Author: Hansen, Ron ISBN: 0-06-019419-7 Pages: 310 Format: Hardcover Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: October 1999 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Hitler's Niece offers the unforgettable spectacle of a tyrant in love: kneeling, shouting, groveling, sputtering with rage, posing naked for his lover with fists clenched and stomach sucked in--and that's leaving out the dog whip and jackboots. The unfortunate victim of these attentions is Angelika Raubal, daughter of Hitler's half-sister, and the only one in his circle who dares to stand up to him. "What a good game: Who's not frightened of Adolf Hitler?" Geli's friend Henny playfully asks. No one, as it turns out, but Geli--the one who should be most afraid. Ron Hansen's tale begins with the most gemütlichkeit family gathering imaginable: a Sunday-afternoon party celebrating the infant Geli's baptism, with a pale, peevish, and hungry young Adolph as one of the guests. Geli's father Leo teases the would-be painter ("Rembrandt's only rival!"), the Monsignor needles him about his ancestry, and finally Hitler leaves in a huff. This is, truly, a new view of der führer--the 20th century's greatest villain as the embarrassing relative you don't want to talk to at reunions. By the time Geli has reached her teens, however, the tables have turned. Her father is dead, her mother is an impoverished widow, and Hitler has begun his meteoric rise to power. Geli herself is no intellectual, much less interested in politics, but she's a fun-loving, good-looking girl who captivates the Nazi inner circle even though she speaks her mind more often than she should. At first, her uncle seems like a savior, sending Geli off to university and showering gifts on his "Princess." As the infatuation deepens, however, Hitler's grip tightens, until what began with a family party ends 23 years later with a gunshot. The basic outlines of this story are true--or at least rumored to be true--and although Geli's 1931 death was officially ruled a suicide, Hansen describes a quite plausible version of events. But the real enigma here is not who killed Geli Raubal; it is Hitler himself. How did he manage to seduce her? How did he manage to seduce an entire people? In a way, Ron Hansen's novels are all mysteries: solving the murder of a prodigal son, as in Atticus, or approaching the miracle of faith, as in Mariette in Ecstasy. He is preoccupied with the big questions, and in Hitler's Niece, that big question is none other than evil. In this case, evil wears an ordinary human face. The novel's Hitler, much like the real one, is lazy, vain, jealous, and cowardly. In his relations with other people, "he shoots for love, but the arrow falls, and he only hits sentimentality," as his sister puts it. His looks are far from impressive; until Geli sees him speak in public, he seems "wary, officious, and ordinary, like a concierge in a hotel that had fallen on hard times." But what Hitler has is the most powerful seduction tool of all: the ability to inspire fear. By the time his niece has learned to fear rather than to pity him, it is too late--for her, and for the German people. In this heartbreaking portrait of aggression and complacency, Hansen has created a Hitler all the more frightening for how much he looks like us. --Mary Park The Haunted Cove Illustrated by Ned Butterfield Author: Hazelton, Elizabeth Baldwin / Butterfield, Ned ISBN: Pages: 174 Format: Hardcover Publisher: American Education Published: Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Three children become involved in the exploration of a secret cove that is reputedly haunted. The Rescuer Author: Henderson, Dee ISBN: 0-7394-3302-4 Pages: Format: Hardcover Publisher: Multnomah Published: 2003 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Bread Alone Author: Hendricks, Judith R. ISBN: 0-06-008440-5 Pages: 368 Format: Paperback Publisher: Harper Paperbacks Published: May 28, 2002 Condition: Price: USD $1.69 From Publishers Weekly:  The First Wives Club acquires a junior member in this pleasant if unremarkable first novel. When 31-year-old Wynter Morrison finds herself locked out of her house by her handsome, spoiled husband, David, who has taken up with a beautiful blonde, she is devastated. With only three years' experience teaching high school, one year in real estate sales and seven years experience as the "Executive Wife" and "Charming Hostess," Wyn has little success fending for herself at first, but a growing self-awareness emerges slowly once she leaves her old lifestyle in Los Angeles. After visiting a friend in Seattle, Wyn moves there to take a job at a local bakery. No longer dependent on David, Wyn finds solace in living a spartan existence and working hard in the early morning hours baking bread, though she is frustrated by the unimaginative veteran baker. Her memories of a year abroad in Toulouse during her sophomore year at UCLA where she learned to bake bread in a family bakery are sprinkled throughout the story, as are her favorite bread recipes. Over the course of this long, convoluted tale, Wyn transforms from a "willfully ignorant," betrayed wife living in sunny L.A. whose greatest worry is what to wear to the next symphony ball, to a flannel shirt-wearing bakery owner living in the rainy Northwest who finds love with a bartender-turned-writer. In this engaging novel, Hendricks creates a compelling narrator whose wry, bemused and ultimately wise voice hooks the reader. Even though Wyn's story is predictable at times, this is a well-written, imaginative debut. Agent, Deborah Schneider. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal:  When in doubt, bake bread at least that is what Wyn Morrison does. She was once known as Wyn Franklin, but one day her husband informed her that they were growing apart and that he needed some time to himself. Having been a career wife who managed her busy ad executive husband's successful social life, Wyn is lost. To top it all off, her mother has found happiness with another man after being a widow for 15 years. Wyn still desperately misses her father and can't quite become accustomed to the idea that her mother is going to remarry. Breadmaking is her solace, and it leads quickly to a job in a bakery and a chance at a new life. In addition, Wyn meets Mac, a handsome bartender who could prove to be the man able to make her truly happy. Dotted with bread recipes, Hendricks's engaging first novel will appeal to fans of a good story and intriguing characters. Highly recommended for all public libraries. Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Finding Moon Author: Hillerman, Tony ISBN: 0-06-017772-1 Pages: 319 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Harpercollins Published: 1995 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly:  Location figures powerfully in Hillerman's newest novel, but it isn't the Southwest of his Navajo mysteries (Sacred Clowns, etc.), nor is this a Joe Leaphorn story. In April 1975, Moon Mathias, managing editor of a small-town Colorado newspaper, begins a redemptive journey that takes him first to Manila and then across the South China Sea to Cambodia, just as Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge begin their reign of terror. Moon's brother Ricky, owner of a helicopter transportation service based in Cambodia, has recently died in a jungle crash. Their mother receives word that Ricky's baby daughter is being smuggled out of Vietnam to the Philippines. After his mother has a heart attack in the Manila airport, Moon takes over her mission, but the child does not arrive. Finding and contacting Ricky's acquaintances, Moon fights time, political exigencies and his ignorance of his brother's life as he tries doggedly to locate his niece. The effort involves an appealing cast, including a wealthy Chinese man seeking his ancestors' bones, a Dutch woman searching for her missionary brother and Vietnamese refugees, who join Moon on a suspenseful, albeit not quite credible, journey to a series of villages along the Mekong River. In the end, as the title suggests, Moon finds more than he'd known was lost. Hillerman's mastery of setting and his compassionate, patient characterization are fully present in this tale, which is otherwise somewhat formulaic. 350,000 first printing; $300,000 ad/promo; HarperAudio. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal:  Beginning with The Blessing Way (LJ 5/15/70), Hillerman has contrasted the contemporary cultures of Southwestern Native Americans with the dominant U.S. culture, creating best-selling mysteries in the process. Finding Moon is a dramatic departure, but it contains similar cultural contrasts. Set mostly in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon in 1975, it is the tale of Moon Mathias, self-described third-rate editor of a third-rate Colorado newspaper who, when his younger brother dies in Southeast Asia, discovers that there is a baby daughter missing somewhere in Vietnam. Reluctantly drawn into a search for the child, Moon is thereby drawn into a search for his own values. He leads a motley group of culturally varied misfits in his quest. With its vivid characters and a strong sense of place, trademarks of Hillerman mysteries, this tale will likely receive a strong reception in libraries everywhere. --Roland Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. Pleasure of Believing Author: Hobbet, Anastasia ISBN: 1-56947-085-5 Pages: 325 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Soho Press Published: April 1997 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From School Library Journal:  When Muirie "escapes" her California life to recoup at her Aunt and Uncle's ranch in Wyoming, she runs headfirst into conflict. Aunt Bert has sold the cattle and converted the remaining ranch to a bird hospital. Her fixation with preserving the area's winged wildlife puts her in direct conflict with her rancher neighbors, her husband, a state Congressman, and with Muirie who misses the old ranch. A story of an old way of life colliding with new concerns, Pleasure of Believing gives readers much food for thought. Should wildlife be killed, with taxpayers' dollars, in favor of domestic animals? If ranchers need tax breaks and price supports and predator control to make a profit, are they really making their own way? How can people be so unthinkingly cruel to animals, birds in particular? The various elements of the plot are pulled together when a frustrated rancher causes the death of a group of eagles. Some threads are left loose for readers to sort out for themselves. Young adults who persevere through a rather slow beginning will be rewarded with an interesting story, consciousness raising, and points worth pondering about environmental issues and interpersonal dynamics. Carol DeAngelo, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. Final Argument A Novel Author: Irving, Clifford ISBN: 0-671-74868-8 Pages: 333 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Simon & Schuster Published: April 1993 Condition: Price: USD $2.29 From Publishers Weekly:  Irving's 11th novel (after Trial ) is a fast-moving legal thriller noteworthy for its virtuoso interweaving of story lines, numerous plot twists and superior characterizations. At age 48, Ted Jaffe seems set for life: he's a partner at one of Florida's most prestigious law firms, and has a devoted wife and two children who love him. Then Elroy Lee, arrested on a cocaine charge, phones Jaffe because his name looks familiar in the Sarasota Yellow Pages. Lee testified 12 years earlier in a case involving the murder of rich Floridian Solomon Zide; Jaffe, then a state prosecutor, obtained the conviction of a young black man named Darryl Morgan who still sits on death row. Facts now suggest that Lee lied on the stand, but if the trial is reopened, Jaffe's wife would find out that he was having an affair with Zide's socialite wife, Connie. Jaffe ponders why he became a lawyer and races for a new trial before Morgan's fast-approaching execution date. Culminating in an edge-of-the-seat courtroom showdown with plenty of surprises, this superior thriller is a top example of the genre. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. The Spring Author: Irving, Clifford ISBN: 0-684-81076-X Pages: 288 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Simon & Schuster Published: August 8, 1996 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly:  A simple, fabled premise, the existence of a Fountain of Youth, supports this modest suspenser from Clifford (Final Argument). The age-conquering waters here flow in a spring located thousands of feet above Aspen, Colo., their existence known only by the several hundred denizens of the town of Springhill. To avoid arousing the suspicion of outsiders, the townsfolk have entered into a pact to die voluntarily at the age of 100. The plot, which revolves around a murder trial arising from the discovery of the bodies of two of the Springfield dead, lays bare the inevitable kinks in so apparently practical and civilized a social contract. The intensely rural setting, reminiscent of that of The Shining or Deliverance, helps to cultivate a low-level tension, as do small but disturbing incidents like the disappearance of a cat or an anecdote about a woman's decapitation by avalanche. More melodramatic frights erupt at appropriate intervals. Irving drives his narrative from the fantastic to the realistic and back again, playing a game that's sure and steady?but one that's safe as well. Fans of risks in horror or suspense won't find them here. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal:  The hamlet of Springhill nestles high in the Colorado Rockies. Residents are bursting with health, but they guard a secret: they grow old very, very slowly...and they decide when to die. When Manhattan attorney Dennis Conway falls in love with Springhill's mayor, Sophie Henderson, he and his two children move in with her. He's charmed by her parents, Scott and Bibsy, and by Harry Parrot, the town drunk/artist, but curious about the Water Board, an entity that wields great power over the townsfolk. When his in-laws are accused of illegally assisting in the suicide of two friends, he agrees to represent Bibsy. The secret (easy to guess, but who cares?) is revealed, and Dennis endangers his family to save someone whose time is up. Irving (The Argument, S. & S., 1993) delivers a parable about aging and euthanasia that's spare of prose and thoroughly creepy; book discussion groups will love it. Recommended for all libraries. -Laurel A. Wilson, Alexandrian P.L, Mount Vernon, Ind. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Long Time No See Author: Isaacs, Susan ISBN: 0-06-019570-3 Pages: 368 Format: Hardcover Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: September 4, 2001 Condition: Price: USD $2.29 Amazon.com:  In Susan Isaac's Long Time No See, Courtney Logan, former investment analyst, devoted mother, and Long Island housewife, leaves her home on Halloween night for a quick trip to the grocery store. Five months later, her badly decomposed body is found floating in the backyard pool, concealed by the pool cover. Enter Judith Singer, who helped find a murderer in Isaac's 1978 bestseller, Compromising Positions. Something about the Logan case doesn't make sense to Judith, and she becomes so engrossed in the mystery that she actually knocks on the grieving husband's door and offers to help exonerate him. Long Time No See draws on the best of the light, character-driven mysteries, like those by Janet Evanovich and Mary Daheim. Isaac's first- person heroine is impulsive enough to get herself into trouble, yet thoughtful enough to invite confidences. And her voice is appealingly funny and honest. "Since becoming a widow," she reflects, when faced with a twist in her investigation, I'd tried hard not to indulge in the lonely person's Happy Hour: talking to oneself. About a year earlier, in the drugstore, I found myself befuddled, dithering between a condom rack and a display of batteries, and was startled when I heard my own loud voice demanding: 'Why am I here?' But now I gave in and had a chat with me. Although clever and well-written, the novel's real strength lies in its characterization and in Isaac's leisurely unfolding of the implausible dark side of the perky blonde murder victim. This is a welcome outing from a deservedly popular writer. --Regina Marler From Publishers Weekly:  The 20 years between Isaac's bestselling Compromising Positions and this second book to feature amateur sleuth Judith Singer have not affected the author's talent for snappy dialogue and astringent assessments of cant and pretension. In those two decades, Judith has raised two children, lost her husband, achieved a doctorate in history and is teaching (without much satisfaction) at a local college. When her Long Island neighbor, ex-investment banker and perfect mom Courtney Logan, goes missing, Judith become curious; and when Courtney turns up dead, and the husband is accused, she becomes downright obsessed. Greg Logan, it turns out, is the son of notorious gangster Fancy Phil Lowenstein, who arrives on Judith's doorstep with an offer to hire her to help his son. Naturally, her former lover, Lt. Nelson Sharp of the Nassau County Police Department, admonishes Judith to mind her own business, but she pursues her hunch that brilliant and beautiful Courtney seemed to be missing a certain "something" that no one could put a finger on. Judith suspects the key to the crime lies in the victim's character. How right she is! However, the real trouble with Courtney is that she's not very interesting, even at her worst, and Judith's investigation, despite several clever twists, goes on too long, as does the murderer's bizarre confession. But an upbeat ending will satisfy readers, and it suggests that it won't be 20 years before we encounter Judith Singer again. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Fear in a Handful of Dust Author: Ives, John ISBN: 0-525-10420-8 Pages: 244 Format: Publisher: Dutton Published: 1978 Condition: Price: USD $1.69 After the Reunion Author: Jaffe, Rona ISBN: 0-385-29413-1 Pages: 331 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Delacorte Press Published: August 1985 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Homeland Author: Jakes, John ISBN: 0-385-41724-1 Pages: 785 Format: Hardcover Publisher: DoubleDay Published: June 1, 1993 Condition: Price: USD $2.99 From Publishers Weekly:  The bestselling author of North and South returns with a new first-rate historical series that begins in 1890s Berlin, where young Pauli Kroner ekes out a living as a kitchen helper in a posh hotel. When his consumptive aunt dies, the orphaned Pauli books steerage to America, hoping to be reunited with his wealthy uncle, Joseph Crown, who fought for the Union Army and now heads a brewery empire in Chicago. Surviving a long, perilous journey, Pauli meets his American relatives, among them Aunt Ilsa, whose progressive views cause almost as much friction in the family as eldest son Joe Jr.'s alliance with the socialist labor movement. Pauli unexpectedly falls in love with Julie Vanderhoff, strong-willed daughter of a Chicago meat-packing millionaire who hates foreigners, further complicating the drama. Jakes portrays the Crowns, leading civic figures in Chicago, moving among a crowd of influential and important people, including Jane Addams, Teddy Roosevelt and Eugene Debs. Chock-full of fascinating period detail, his captivating story brings to life the sounds, smells and tastes of turn-of-the-century America in a manner comparable to Michener's Hawaii and Doctorow's Ragtime . An absolute must for the beach. Author tour; major ad/promo. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal:  In 1892, an orphaned German teenager, Pauli, comes to America to live with his uncle's family in Chicago. He arrives with the typical immigrant's vision of a flawless new homeland. During the next 10 years he experiences firsthand labor strife; poverty, greed, and crime in the city's slums; and suffering in the Cuban battlefields of 1898. Increasingly, his idealistic picture of the country changes until the end of the book when he sees his new homeland as a place where "men are free." Likewise, the three-dimensional main characters have strengths and weaknesses, good points and faults. Theodore Roosevelt, Eugene Debs, Thomas Edison, Clara Barton, and Jane Addams make their appearances, and readers witness the growing labor-union movement, the women's-rights struggle, national expansionism, and the beginning of the moving-picture industry. The book's major drawback is its length. However, readers who are willing to invest the time will find it an interesting view of the U.S. at the turn of the century. Shirley B. Blaes, R.E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA Savannah or A Gift For Mr. Lincoln Author: Jakes, John ISBN: 0-525-94803-1 Pages: 304 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Dutton Adult Published: October 21, 2004 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From Publishers Weekly:  The final leg of Sherman's march from Atlanta to Savannah provides the backdrop for Jakes's latest Civil War novel (after Charleston), focusing mostly on the fate of a comely widow. Sara Lester is the owner of the magnificent plantation Silvergrass, but her continued possession of the place is threatened on two fronts: by the Union soldiers steadily advancing on Savannah ("a gift for Mr. Lincoln") and by corrupt Judge Drewgood, who pressures her to sell the property. When the retreating Confederate army lays waste to Silvergrass, Sara and her feisty 12-year-old daughter, Hattie, take refuge with Sara's best friend, Miss Vastly Rohrschamp. Hardly are they settled at Vastly's house in Savannah when a band of rogue Union soldiers breaks in and wreaks havoc. Thankfully, an unlikely rescuer comes to their aid: Stephen Hopewell, a journalist traveling with the Union Army. Stephen's subsequent wooing of Sara is pleasing, but other story lines are contrived: an African-American slave named Zip attaches himself to a Union officer and comes to his aid, and Hattie befriends Tecumseh Sherman after an unfortunate encounter with the Union leader in downtown Savannah. Jakes continues to explore the nooks and crannies of American life during the Civil War, and while this isn't one of his best efforts, it's an enjoyably lighthearted take on an otherwise underexplored stretch of Sherman's march. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Enemy Women Author: Jiles, Paulette ISBN: 0-06-621444-0 Pages: 336 Format: Hardcover Publisher: William Morrow Published: February 1, 2002 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 Amazon.com:  Enemy Women, the outstanding first novel by poet Paulette Jiles, leads us into new terrain, both geographic and historical, in the war between the states. Set in the Missouri Ozarks during the Civil War, Jiles's story focuses on the trying times of 18-year-old heroine Adair Colley. When a group of renegade Union militiamen attacks the Colley home, stealing family possessions, burning everything down, and taking away her father--an apolitical judge--Adair gathers the remnants of her clothes and mounts a rescue effort. Unfortunately, she is falsely accused of being a Confederate spy, a charge that lands her in a squalid women's prison run by a decent commandant embarrassed by his post. After he helps her escape, the two agree to seek out one another after the war; their separate, harrowing journeys and the evolution of each character throughout make for breathtaking action and powerful writing. Each chapter of Enemy Women begins with excerpts from historical testimony about this terrible period in the Civil War, when marauding soldiers pillaged and murdered whole families and communities at will. These documents add depth and resonance to Jiles's remarkable narrative. --Tom Keogh From Publishers Weekly:  For Adair Randolph Colley, at 18 the eldest daughter of a widowed Missouri Ozarks schoolmaster and justice of the peace, the Civil War becomes personal when her father, who has remained neutral in the conflict, is arrested by the Union militia, their home is nearly burned and their possessions stolen. At the start of this spirited first novel, Adair and her two younger sisters try to follow their father's captors, but Adair is falsely denounced as a Confederate spy. At the prison in St. Louis, upright commandant Maj. William Neumann is embarrassed to be interrogating women and has requested a transfer to a fighting unit. He's touched by Adair's beauty and spirit and asks her to give him some information so she can be released. Instead, she writes the story of her life, augmented by folk tales and fables, and he finds himself falling in love. When he gets his reassignment orders, he proposes marriage and asks her to escape, promising to find her after the war. Thus begins a long and terrible journey for each of them. Poet and memoirist Jiles (North Spirit) has written a striking debut novel whose tone lingers poignantly. Not a typical romantic heroine, Adair has the saucy naevete of an unsophisticated countrywoman and the wily bravery born of an honest character. Jiles's strengths include a sure command of period vernacular and knowledge of the social customs among backwoods people, as well as a delicate hand with the love story. Sure to be touted as a new Cold Mountain, this stark, unsentimental, yet touching novel will not suffer in comparison. Agent, Liz Darhansoff. (Feb.)Forecast: Family stories were the basis of Jiles's plot, augmented by Civil War letters and documents prefacing each chapter. While the writing is literary, the book is more accessible than Cold Mountain, and could easily win a wide audience, boosted by regional author appearances. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Lingering Shadows Author: Jordan, Penny ISBN: 0-373-15224-8 Pages: Format: Hardcover Publisher: Pocket Books Published: April 1992 Condition: Price: USD $1.99 From the Publisher:  The dramatic story of extraordinary men and women who find the strength to step out of the shadow of the past and into the light of a passionate future. Irrevocably linked by ambition and passion, held apart by the sins of the fathers, together three couples forge new lives in a riveting journey of freedom and fulfillment. Four Novels - "The Blue Knight, The Black Marble, The New Centurions  and The Choirboys" Author: Joseph Wambaugh ISBN: 0-517-36647-9 Pages: 728 Format: Hardcover Publisher: Random House Value Publishing Published: December 12, 1988 Condition: Price: USD $2.99 The blue knight -- The black marble -- The new centurions -- The choirboys.