The Stabbing In The Stables

The Stabbing In The Stables by Simon Brett

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I read this in June as an audio book for listening to in my car and it was an on and off thing. Sadly, 2 months later, I can hardly remember enough of the book to write a review. I guess that tells me something! I do remember that is was interesting enough to continue to listen it but alas, not memorable enough stay with me.

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Critical

Critical by Robin Cook

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I usually enjoy Robin Cook, but I found a lot of this boring. I guess it was the business side of "for profit" hospitals and I admit I skimmed through a lot of it. Laurie Montgomery is always a good character to follow as she seems to be authentic and there are enough details about her to let the reader identify with her, but it seems like Jack Stapleton is getting more and more one dimensional. It is highly unlikely that a person in his position, knowing the deaths that are coming from the hospital he is to have surgery in, would completely disregard the danger, especially when his wife is so adamant about there being a serious problem. Jack's one dimensional personality is beginning to make me wonder if he is to be killed off in a future book.

On the other hand, this is still a good book. Through most of it, the reader is propelled forward to find the source of the infection before disaster sets in and Jack is killed. While this isn't up to some of the earlier books, it is still a good book and I enjoyed it.


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Fatal Voyage

Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was a little different from the usual Temperance Brennan in that she started out being totally involved in the wreckage of an airplane and then after finding a foot that doesn's seem to belong to any of the passengers, she is taken off the crash team. Not only is she not involved, but her reputation as a profession is brought into serious question.

I didn't like having to wait for other characters to provide information any better than Brennan did. At first it seemed as if she was getting side tracked with mysterious problems with her car and strange mountain folk, but it all came together in the end, making this one of her better books.
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Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks

Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
While there are some patterns in this book...and patterns I have already used, the book is more about the social aspects of knitting. The book is hilarious. Anyone who has knitted any length of time knows of or has been in the situations Stephanie talks about in such an amusing way. I think even a non knitter might even enjoy her writing.

The book also serves a practical purpose. There are instructions for various stitches and projects as well as list of things to do or not do. All are informative and enjoyable.



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Break No Bones

Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was more complex than the other of her books that I have read. There were so many sub plots. When bones turn up at a picnic in North Carolina, Temperance Brennan goes to investigate, she thinks she is only looking at historical bones. Unfurtunately, that is not the case. Soon more and more bones turn up.

From there on, this book is similar to her other books, but immensely interesting, never the less. I did like some of the history of North Carolina which this book included.

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Women of the Bible: Jael's Story: A Novel

Women of the Bible: Jael's Story: A Novel by Ann Burton


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the Biblical story of Jael who is mentioned very briefly in the Old Testament. The author has created a story that could have taken place at that time an included a lot of historical detail to give a sense of what life might have been like for Jael. One of the major points was the vulnerability of women then. Jael's husband was brutal, but his wives and concubines had no protection under the law. Jael's husband was a blacksmith and the family lived in a large tent and moved with the army in order to be available to fix swords, chariot wheels and armor. The details about the men's and women's sides of the tent and the relationship between the various wives and concubines were very interesting.

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The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reclusive biographer Margaret Lea has grown up in her father's bookstore. She has been asked to write a biography of the dying Vida Winter. The mysterious Ms. Winter has been a wildly popular writer whose real background has been clouded in secrecy. It is not that Ms. Winter won't tell of her past, it is that she makes up wild stories that are obviously untrue. She published a book called the Thirteen Tales, but there were only twelve. But now she is dying and she wants to finally have her tale told.

As Margaret begins to interview her in her brooding mansion she finds that she is in the dark about what she is to write. Ms. Winter seems to be spinning a tale again and Margaret does some investigating. What follows is a tale that is eerily like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. As Ms. Winter becomes weaker, the story becomes more twisted and sinister.

I enjoyed this book. I found the idea to be completely original while serving up a true gothic mystery with all the false trails, the sinister seeming servants and the derelict old mansion. I will probably read this one again as I am sure I missed quite a bit the first time.


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The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sorry, no review yet. I am on vacation and will have to catch up later.

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The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book! It is the story of a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. Her brother dies on a train and her mother leaves her in foster care with a family in a small village. The story is told from the point of view of Death who comes to take various people during the story and has become interested in the person he calls "the book thief." The style of writing was very different and perfect for this story. While the time period is one of tension and tragedy, the book is not especially gloomy. The everyday life of Germans during the war is fascinating. The characters have depth and complexity and I find that I remember them in much the same way I remember Dickens' characters. I would recommend this book to anyone.

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Marker

Marker by Robin Cook

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was one of Robin Cook's better novels. Laurie Montgomery has done 3 autopsies on young healthy people who have recently had surgery and have died unexplainedly. They seem to have recovered from the surgery with no problem, but some hours later are found dead and the autopsy doesn't reveal anything wrong. Laurie can't seem to get anyone to pay attention to her and especially not Jack Stapleton, who is more concerned with his basketball games with his "homies." When she gets her fourth case, she begins to do some investigating and turns up 6 more, all at the same hospital. The reader knows who the murderer is as we hear from her as the books goes along and this is very effective. Unfortunately, we don't know who hired her.

To add to that, Laurie is very aware that her biological clock is ticking and she sees that the realtionship with Jack is going nowhere and she moves out. Jack just can't get past the death of his first family and Laurie doesn't feel she has any more time to invest in this relationship.

I feel that the character of Laurie is developing very well and I feel as if I have gotten to know her, but Jack seems to be becoming more and more one dimensional. His refusal to take her seriously either in their relationship or at work makes him appear less intelligent than we were led to expect from earlier books. I hope that this downward spiral unto linear geometry doesn't continue.


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Bones to Ashes

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Temperance Brennan is curious about some old bones found in Arcadia. She had a friend from Arcadia who disappeared when they were girls. She was told nothing when her friend disappeared and discouraged from asking any questions. The bones bring back the old memories and she wonders if they could be her long lost friend. The skeleton has odd lesions that Tempe cannot explain and the don't seem to fit the situation of this girl's death.

I liked this book, but some of it was problematic. First, I am not a forensic anthropologist, but I knew what was wrong with the bones. I should think a professional would know right away. Next, the relationship between Tempe and Ryan is getting very tiresome. A real relationship doesn't proceed in such a painful and complicated manner. Tempe is an extremely intelligent person and yet her personal life is that of someone with an IQ of 80. There are some real problems with character development.

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The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide

The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide by Robert Jay Lifton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is so hard to read...not from the writing, but the events and the people who perpetrated them. I am finding that I can only read a few pages at a time. The book is extremely well researched with footnotes and an extensive bibliography. A great deal of it comes from actual interviews.

The extent of Nazi crimes is far more unimaginable that I could have ever thought and nothing is worse than doctors, who are trained to heal, turning into killers. The book deals with the SS doctors, German doctors, prison/inmate doctors and prison/inmate/Jewish doctors. I is also filled with the elaborate lengths the Nazis went to to cover up what they were doing to the world and to themselves.

As I continue to read this book, I am amazed at the amount of source material Lifton has used. The foundation of the book is interviews with the doctors, a few SS doctors, but mainly prisoners who were doctors. I am on the chapter on Mengele and it is one of the most extraordinary things I have ever read. I have read numerous books on Hitler and the concentration camps, but was left unsatisfied. No author could answer the question, "Why?" Why did seemingly normal people do such atrocious things?

The chapter on Mengele explains how he was able to compartmentalize his mind and do seemingly contradictory things. He would work hard to save a Gypsy from typhoid and then send him to the gas chamber later that week. In understanding the mind of Mengele, I finally began to understand some of these incredible events effected ordinary people. Make no mistake, Mengele was not a normal person. He had to have had a sadistic streak already, but, as the author says, he was “the right person at the right time and at the right place.” He saw himself as “healing” the German race and beyond that, healing mankind through genetic selection. He was an ideologue, as were the leaders of the party. They saw themselves as purging the race of man of the undesirables, which would lead to the “thousand year reich.” He was a demigod in Auschwitz and acted accordingly, but at times, he would be seen as honorable and courageous.

This is the book that I have always been looking for. I feel I have begun to understand the impossible.



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Bloodroot (China Bayles, #10)

Bloodroot by Susan Wittig Albert

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In this book, Susan Wittig Albert takes China Bayles back to the Old South and immerses her in her childhood. Her mother, Leatha needs help with her Aunt Tullie and there is no one but China who can help.

I got the feeling that the mystery was just a vehicle to carry China back to her roots and untangle the fascinating story of her ancestors. Many of the characters in the book are extremely well drawn and the reader is able to establish a connection, but the crime and its victim are not as fleshed out. Never the less, it is one of her best books.


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Pinnochio

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


We are all so used to the Disney version of Pinocchio that it is startling to read the original version. While there are differences, there is enough similarity to the original for everyone but the purist. Pinnochio has more adventures and meets more people in the original, but he is still the same little disobedient, gullible puppet. We read this as a homeschool book and really enjoyed it.

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The Basics of Genetics

The Basics of Genetics by Betsey Dexter Dyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was an absolutely fascinating book on genetics. The author used color of dogs as her example and I learned just how complex some colors of dogs are, especially white dogs. The most interesting part was how the genes have switches which activate them only under certain conditions...if the color is brown and if the hair length is ? then...

Ms. Dyer also has a way of explaining even the most complex concepts in ways that layman can understand. Not only will this book explain basic genetics to you, but you will never look at dogs the same way again.


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Damascus Gate

Damascus Gate by Robert Stone


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have to say I am a bit ambivalent about this audiobook. I picked it to try to understand about the daily conditions in this area of the world and the book helped in that respect. It is hard to imagine how people go about the daily business of life in an area filled with such conflict and animosity. All sides have their problems and have adapted to the powder keg they live on. On the other hand, the deep cynicism was a little hard to take and at times I felt like I was listening to a dream rather than a connected story. A lot of the characters melted into each other and I often lost track. There didn't seem to be a sane person in the bunch.I also had a problem with some of the hippie like discourses. I didn't like listening to people rambling on, saying things that didn't make any sense and thinking they were being profound. I think I understand what the author was trying to get at, but it was very tiresome. At times I had to go back and listen to a section again because I missed the tiny bit of action which propelled the story because I was so lost in the meandering of some of the character's long discourses.

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The Quiet Game (Penn Cage series, #1)"

The Quiet Game by Greg Iles

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Penn Cage’s wife has died and now his five year old daughter is seeing glimpses of her mother everywhere, including Disney World. Page feels that a trip back home in Natchez, MS will settle both of them. Unfortunately, Penn’s father, a revered and respected doctor is being blackmailed for something from his past and the Judge has a personal agenda. On top of that, things are happening that appear to concern the murder of a black man in 1968 and Penn is drawn into the strange happenings surrounding the original murder.

Penn Cage is a sympathetic hero and his morals and ethics seem to be as above reproach as are those of his father. Unfortunately, even the best of people have things in their background that ma y be open to different opinions. While, I like this character a lot, there are some inconsistencies and lack of integrity that are unsettling. That said, this is a good book with lots of action and a clever plot.





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The Dante Club

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This novel was an interesting twist on a mystery novel. Holmes, Longfellow and other noted giants are trying to solve some gruesome murders that are based on Dante' Inferno. I didn't find that the focus of the story. I was most intriuged by the brilliant, but poor student who was forced to rob recent graves to provide cadavers for the students to autopsy. To me he was the main character and certainly learned a lot about the state of medicine during that time. I found the mystery surrounding this young man's mother to be most interesting.



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Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine

Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine by Bart D. Ehrman


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This audiobook was incredibly interesting. The author is a noted Biblical scholar and he refuted many of the claims made in Dan Brown's book resoundingly. For example, that the Emperor Constantine decided the can of Scripture and that he rejected some 80 other Gospels. The canon was established more than 100 years beyond his time and there were only a few other gospels and they had glaring errors or in some cases were almost nonsense. The whole mystique of "the sacred feminine" is just not proven by any of the historical documents in existence. The book was very well arranged and written respectfully refuting the character's statements in the books rather than attacking Brown. As a work of fiction, the Da Vinci Code was a real page turner, but the actual documents that Brown says exist to prove what he wrote simply don't exist.

The only problem I found with Ehrman is that he does not have any room in his historical facts for faith, and especially a personal faith with a real Jesus Christ. His approach is purely historical, which is fine, but there is more to religion than simply choosing to believe a bit of history and staking your life on it. With that said, I would recommend the book to anyone interested in real scholarship presented in a logical, easy to listen to or read text. The author is clear and concise and easy to follow.

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Miss Julia Strikes Back

Miss Julia Strikes Back by Ann B. Ross


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was a lot like a previous book in the series when Miss Julia meets Mr. Pickens. A jewelry ring of thieves has stolen from Miss Julia, Hazel Marie and a number of Julia's friends. With Sam gone to Russia and Mr. Pickens and Heather Marie gone on a cruise, Miss Julia, Lloyd and Etta May have gone to Florida to search out Mr. Pickens' detective friend, Frank Tuttle, to help them. When Tuttle turns out to be an alcoholic and in need of rescue himself, the trio manage him as well as the thieves in a riotous adventure that defies logic, but is still a lot of fun.

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Miss Julia Stands Her Ground

Miss Julia Stands Her Ground by Ann B. Ross


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is entertaining, but a the back flash of Christmas is a little confusing. I was listening using an audiobook and I wasn't sure if it had been recorded wrong. Nevertheless, it was entertaining as are all the books in the series.

When Hazel Marie's dastardly uncle comes back, he wrecks havoc with the household. He is bound and determined to prove that little Lloyd is not Wesley Lloyd's son and not heir to the Springer money. No one can figure what he has up his sleeve, but it causes the usual angst and turmoil. While Miss Julia has the help of Sam, she ends up providing the solution to the problem with the help of Lillian's secret.

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Ramses Volume II: The Eternal Temple

Ramses Volume II: The Eternal Temple by Christian Jacq


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the second book in the series and deals with the young Ramses II as he becomes Pharaoh and his early reign. This volume is about the early building projects which Ramses started and the various intrigues in the court designed to overthrow Ramses in favor of his older brother.

I found the reasoning behind all the buildings and monuments to be fascinating. The thought was that building the temples and tombs was a way of honoring the gods and protecting Egypt. When Ramses was crowned, his nature was bound with the gods and he became their representative on earth. Building various temples would protect Ramses' Kah or eternal soul/spirit and bring prosperity to Egypt.

The last few chapters deal with Moses and his emerging belief in the one God as opposed to Ramses. Moses is shown as the master builder of Ramses temples and ultimately his new Delta city, Pi Ramses. As he builds, he becomes more grounded in his Hebrew faith and the book ends as Moses heads for the desert.

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Everlasting

Everlasting by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I found this book hard to get into. It had all the normal elements of a romance, but they were a little too contrived to hold my attention. The heroine was constantly making incredible and false assumptions and then acting on them in a way that was sure to lead to more confusion and cross purposes. For the first three quarters of the book, almost everything goes wrong between the two main caricatures and in the last fourth, everything goes impossibly right.

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"O Jerusalem (Mary Russell, #5

O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I haven't read anything from this series lately and since I have been recently studying the area, I found it to be very interesting. This book takes place in 1918 in Sherlock Holmes' twilight years when he and his young protege, Mary Russell have to leave England because of their previous case. Mycroft is able to arrange for them to help discover a terrorist plot in Jerusalem, keeping them out of the country for a while.

Holmes and Russell are smuggled into the area and meet up with two Arab operatives. As they cover the surrounding territory, there are all sorts of interesting bits of history which are included. The city of Jerusalem is honoring General Allenby who led the liberation of Palestine from the Turks and is expected to make a brief speech. It is interesting to note that the British have liberated the Palestinians from 400 years of oppressive Turkish rule and Allenby and T. E. Lawrence were the heroes of the hour. The Palestinians are grateful to the British and very much want them to stay and protect them from the Turks. Another interesting fact is that there are both Palestinian Arabs and Jews in the area who are living together fairly peaceably. The book is not especially fast paced, but the bits of Arab, Christian and Jewish culture are fascinating.

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Modern Scholar - Odyssey Of The West III

The Modern Scholar - Odyssey Of The West III (3) The Medieval World by Timothy B. Shutt


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I listened to this audiobook thinking it was part III of the earlier series on the Middle Ages and essentially, it covered the same period and added a great deal to my understanding of the Era. Shunt covers the period by examining great books like The Confessions of St. Augustine, The City of God, Beowulf and The Poetic Edda, The Divine Comedy, and others. It included the authors, St. Thomas Aquinas, Marie de France, Chrétien de Troyes, and Dante.

I found this lecture to be fascinating and it was very interesting to put these authors into the Medieval lectures of Thomas Madden which I read previously. Dr. Shutt's enthusiasm for the subject is infectious and made the series even more enjoyable.

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Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thouroughly liked this book. Seabiscuit was the Horatio Alger of racehorses. There was nothing physically to attract notice. He was ungainly and in a way his owner, trainer and jockey were also. He suited the common man during the depression era and when he won it was like all the ordinary people won against all the odds.

The book traces Seabiscuit from his earliest days and is a wonderful rags to riches story. No other horse has won the hearts of so many ordinary people. It is also the story of his owner, his trainer and jockey and how Seabiscuit pulled them up out of obscurity and made them more than they were also. It is a story of obstacles overcome and victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.


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Ramses: The Son of Light

Ramses: The Son of Light by Christian Jacq


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was an excellent story of the great Pharaoh, Ramses II. While it is clearly fiction, most of the action is consistent with what is known about him. It probably presents him as a more sympathetic ruler than he was, but captures his boldness and shrewd management of Egypt.

The action is told from the point of view of Ramses, his older brother who was passed over in favor of him, and his 4 friends from school, including the Biblical Moses. In this case, however, Moses was not raised in the palace as another Prince of Egypt. The book is in multiple volumes, so there is space enough to get to know the characters and to cover a lot of the known actions of the the Pharaoh.

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Miss Julia Paints the Town (Miss Julia, #9)

Miss Julia Paints the Town by Ann B. Ross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is just plain fun. Miss Julia is the perfect spunky little old lady. She knows what is right for her town and she'll move heaven and earth to get it, too! She isn't afraid of anything...well, except for being "unseemly."

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The Modern Scholar: The Medieval World, Part II: Society, Economy, and Culture

The Modern Scholar: The Medieval World, Part II: Society, Economy, and Culture by Thomas Madden


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This lecture was the second in the series and covered the economic and social history of the Middle Ages, filling in and explaining the gaps in Part 1. I found it to be just as interesting as the first series of lectures and again found the roots of a number of present customs as well as cultural conflicts between nations that are still influencing events today.

This series traces the development of the Christian/Roman Catholic Church during the Middle Ages as there were very few aspects of history which were not intertwined with religion. For some reason, most of the histories I studied in high school and college seem to imply that after the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity the church was essentially the same as we know today, with the exception of the Protestant Reformation which came near the end of the Middle Ages. It was very interesting to learn how the cannon evolved and how the church and state developed over the approximately 1,000 years called the Middle Ages. I found this series to be as fascinating as the first.

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Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World'sMost Notorious Nazi

Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World'sMost Notorious Nazi by Neal Bascomb


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is the story of the identification and capture of Adolph Eichmann in Argentina. The author first details some of the elements of the capture and then backtracks to help the reader understand the role Eichmann played in brutality of the “Final Solution.” At the end of the war, Eichmann went into hiding and after 2 years, with the help of a division of the Roman Catholic Church, he was spirited out of Germany and given a new identity in Argentina. I had no idea until recently that the Catholic church saw Hitler as a force in protecting Europe from the atheistic communist and, before the true horror of the Nazi crimes were well known, was part of an organized effort to help high ranking Nazi’s escape.

The bulk of the book is about all the minute details that went into the identification of Eichmann and the decision of the Israelis to attempt to capture him. By the time Eichmann was identified, the Germans were attempting to put the war era behind them and they weren’t interested in capturing him and bringing him back to trial, especially since there were a number of high ranking Nazis who were in the present government. (The rest of Europe and the US, also were using Nazis as spies and weren’t interested in trying Eichmann for fear that their names would come out.) The Israelis were not a country when the crimes were committed so they felt that the Argentine government would not turn him over them. The only thing to do was to capture him and spirit him out of the country.

I thought the book was well written and even though the reader knows the outcome, the details are very interesting and create a sense of excitement and suspense. My only objection is that there wasn’t a lot of information about Eichmann himself. It is so hard to understand what makes a person do something so abhorrent and the book would have been better if it had gone into more of his family background.

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A Crime in the Neighborhood: A Novel

A Crime in the Neighborhood: A Novel by Suzanne Berne

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was disappointed in this book. It seemed more like a slice of life in a time period that seemed to be interesting, but the choices the characters make are unfortunate. I didn't find the characters particularly well developed and at times didn't act in character.

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The Fracture Zone: My Return to the Balkans

The Fracture Zone: My Return to the Balkans by Simon Winchester


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was an excellent book! I wanted to understand the Balkans and the tangled relationships between the peoples of the former Yugoslavia. Winchester does a great job of mixing history with interviews with the various people from each country. This may sound dry and uninteresting, but his combination of foreign correspondent/travel writer gives just the right mix to make the book fascinating.

What really surprised me was the beauty of the area. I had no idea that there are so many areas of every country that are incredible vacation spots. These countries could be more like the French Rivera than a war zone with just a little rationality.

I would recommend that the reader use the internet to look up the maps of the area and photographs of the places mentioned. It puts things into perspective.

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The Modern Scholar: The Medieval World I: Kingdoms, Empires, and War

The Modern Scholar: The Medieval World I: Kingdoms, Empires, and War by Thomas F. Madden


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
While I had to listen to sections of this book more than once, it was very good. I studied World History in High School and college, but I wish I had had a course like this. Madden is a great teacher and he wove together the events of what we used to call the "dark ages" in a way that made a lot of sense and explained a number of things that I have never been too clear on.

Since this class took in about 1,000 years of history, there was a lot left out, but the series has several courses which cover other aspects. It was interesting to note the pattern of civilization rose and fell. As a people became more cultured and prosperous, they seemed to lose discipline and military strength leaving them open to conquest by a more primitive society. The conquering society them absorbed a great deal from the former and after prospering
followed the same pattern. The course also covered the religious history of Europe, which was essentially the civil history also. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand world events today as many of the present customs and conflicts are based in this early history.

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Columbine

Columbine by Dave Cullen


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was excellent! So many times I pick up a book about some unimaginable event trying to find out what made a person act in such an unbelievable way. Usually I am disappointed because it is so hard for anyone to get in the head of another person whose mindset is so foreign. Fortunately Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold left journals and videos that opened up their minds.

That isn't the only thing that makes this book so good. Dave Cullen does an excellent job of pulling everything together so that the reader gets a picture of the events as they happened and the years afterward. He laid everything out in a way that made sense of something that goes so far outside anything most of us know. I just wish he was able to tackle Hitler, or Ted Bundy or any of the other events that boggle our minds.

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Seeing a Large Cat (Amelia Peabody, #9

Seeing a Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book begins with Ramses, David and Nefret more as young adults than mid teens which they really are. In Egypt, they mature early and in this book, they begin to take a more active role.

The mystery centers around a mummified woman who turns out to be a contemporary corpse even though she is mummified. Emerson finds the body and the authorities don't seem to pay too much attention to it, leaving the mystery to them. There are 2 men who are possibly the murders and the reader is bounced between them.

In this book, Ramses emerges as a young man who becomes something of a T. H. Lawrence character. He and David have spent the summer with a Sheik of their acquaintance and returns with a beautiful Arabian horse and a talent for disguise. He and David make use of these disguises to follow Nefret and the various suspects.

One of the new characters is a woman who is pretending to be a medium who has an old friend under her spell. She develops nicely and hopefully will return in future books.



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The Hippopotamus Pool (Amelia Peabody, #8

The Hippopotamus Pool by Elizabeth Peters


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is another great mystery starring the every unflappable Amelia Peabody and her curmudgeonly husband, Radcliff Emerson. They have found a tomb that appears to have the burial chamber unmolested by grave robbers. But nothing is ever smooth. The discovery of the tomb brings out all the villains in the antiquities trade.

There are several threads in this mystery and a new character, an engaging Egyptian boy named David. I like this new character and hope she will continue with him. Ramses and Nefret have grown a little and come with some teenage angst to enliven things. There is also an added thread which involves the Hippopotamus Goddess herself and lends a little more exotic atmosphere.



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The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog (Amelia Peabody, #7

The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog by Elizabeth Peters


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was a little convoluted and the ending was a surprise, but all the action and quirky characters that we expect from Elizabeth Peters are there. She and Emerson go to Egypt leaving Ramses and Nefret with Emily and Walter. I admit I was a little disappointed at first since he is such an engaging character, but we hear from him in some very entertaining letters and he seems a presence throughout the book.

The twist in this book is that Emerson is hit on the head and has amnesia and can't remember that he is married. This allows for some romantic tension which adds a great deal to the book. Emerson is his curmudgeonly self throughout the book and seems set on getting himself killed. Amelia has to keep him from danger without letting him know of their relationship. That little bit keeps the reader spellbound throughout the book as every scene holds potential disaster. All in all, this is one of her better books in this series.

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The_Echo

The Echo by Minette Walters


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I found this to be interesting, but rather convoluted. A homeless man was found in a rich woman's house, dead from starvation while lying beside a full freezer. The woman seems to have no connection to the man, but a series of connections appear as the plot winds on. Some of the characters are engaging and well drawn, but others never quite develop and the reader has to keep flipping back to the front of the book to identify them. There are elements in the plot which are really good, especially when the homeless boy comes to live with the reporter, but others, like Barry, never come to any full conclusion.

The main premise of the books is suffering and repentance, but it is presented in a vague and convoluted way. The evil deed in Billy's life is hard to bring into focus and, like others, I can't figure out who the woman in South Africa was. She is like a character from a play who keeps wandering in and out of the set of an unrelated performance.

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The Last Camel Died at Noon (Amelia Peabody, #6

The Last Camel Died at Noon by Elizabeth Peters


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This time Amelia and her husband, Radcliffe Emerson, are digging in the Sudan with their son, Ramses, who is 11 in this adventure. The have been asked to find out what happened to archeologist Willoughby Forth. Willoughby's father and his son need to know what has happened to him when he and his wife disappeared 14 years earlier. There exists a map to guide them in the wretchedly hot and featureless desert, but is it an accurate map? When the last of their camels dies, stranding them in the middle of the desert, things literally begin to heat up.

This books is even more exotic than the others with a mysterious village hidden in the mountains and preserved from the passage of time. As archeologists, they are thrilled to see the ancient peoples as living beings and not just detritus from the past.

I liked this book better than the rest and while I was reading, I thought that it would make a good Indiana Jones movie. There is enough danger, mysterious people and customs, and great last minute rescues to thrill movie goers everywhere. I can even see Radcliffe as Indiana Jones!



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Lion in the Valley (Amelia Peabody, #4

Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Amelia and her husband, Emerson, are looking forward to this season's dig as they return to the Black Pyramid in Dashur which taunted them the previous season. They return with their precocious son, Ramses, who seems to be a walking disaster as well as a talking encyclopedia.

The season has hardly begun when Ramses is kidnapped and mysterious things begin to happen at the dig. Always aware of the villager's superstitions, Emerson is trying to make light of the bad luck and danger that seems to haunt the dig. Even Emerson has to come to believe in the Master Criminal, an interesting character who seems to have a peculiar interest in Amelia.

I read parts of this book again, as it is confusing. The reader should be aware that the Master Criminal is a genius of disguise and he appears in several guises throughout the book.

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The Mummy Case (Amelia Peabody, #3

The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Amelia and Emerson have wanted to take their son, Ramses, to Egypt for the season and at 5, he is ready to go. He is unbelievably pompous and precocious and adds a great deal of energy to the book. Barbara Rosenblatt's narrations in the audiobook gives him character and charm.

Radcliffe, in his egocentric way, has waited to get a permit for digging too late and they end up with late burials and mounds of rubble for the season. This is especially galling since they are almost in the shadow of Dashur. However, an antiquities dealer is murdered after Amelia has gone to visit his shop and a master criminal seems to be behind it. Amelia is tempted by a bit of papyrus she wants to get for Walter and finds that it is connected with their dig. She isn't the only one who wants the papyrus. Besides this, there are mummy cases which seem to appear and disappear leaving the reader wondering.

This one is a little confusing because of the identity of the "master criminal" that Amelia believes in and Emerson does not. He seems to not only be a genius of crime, but also a talented master of disguise. The reader is kept wondering who he is right to the very end.


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The Curse of the Pharaohs (Amelia Peabody, #2

The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amelia Peabody and her now husband, Radcliffe Emerson have been staying in England pursuing scholarly reports and lectures and caring for their gifted son, Ramses. They are enticed back to Egypt by Lady Baskerville, who wants Emerson to finish the dig which costs her husband his life. With mixed emotions, they leave Ramses with Walter and Emily and head for Egypt with renewed zest.

Lady Baskerville has surrounded herself with a large cast of characters including the wealthy American, Cyrus Vandergelt, the photographer, Arthur Milverton and the eccentric/mentally ill Madame Berengaria and her daughter, Mary. Almost immediately there is a body and archeology turns into the true crime which Amelia has such a knack for.

Amelia is such a wonderful character and one has to admire her pluck and self confidence. She is fearless as she pursues her mysteries amid her daily archeological study.

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Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody, #1

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I haven't read this in years, but have decided to read the series again. All of the other books are fun and interesting, but this will always be my favorite. I think the interaction among the characters is best in this book. I love the spunky Amelia Peabody and it has always pleased me that some one as irascible as Emerson could be loved and admired.

The story starts with the indomitable Amelia beginning on a trip to Egypt to explore the antiquities. Her companion is unable to continue setting the stage for the employment of Emily. While in Egypt, the two women become involved in exploring a site where the Emerson brothers are excavating. Strange things start to happen...mummies, a cousin suitor for Emily's hand and Egyptians whose superstitions make them behave in unpredictable ways and a clash of temperments between Peabody and Emerson. This is a great read.

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The Deeds of the Disturber (Amelia Peabody, #5

The Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I haven't read any of Elizabeth Peters books for a long time and I really enjoyed this one. I've about decided to go back to the beginning of the series and read them again. As with all of her books, they interactions between the main characters is just as interesting as the mystery. In this book, Peabody's unpleasant brother, James, has foisted off his children on her. As the book proceeds, the boy and girl make Ramses life miserable and the reader is waiting desperately for Amelia to see through them.

The mystery centers around some murders happening at the British Museum. Various people try to get the Emerson's involved, which they eventually do. After some trips to an opium den and a country manor house, Peabody and Emerson manage to get to the bottom of the mystery and, with Ramses help, unmask the killer.

Amelia Peabody Emerson is one of those characters that seem to take on a life of their own. Her matter of fact attitude in the face of danger and her fussy attention to detail are delightful. As a Victorian woman, she is refreshing in her no nonsense approach to life.

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Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon Mysteries, #6

Blind Descent by Nevada Barr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Blind Descent is a wonderful title for this Nevada Barr mystery. From the moment claustrophobic Anna Pigeon goes down into the cave to answer the request of her trapped friend, the book is tense with suspense. Why does her friend, who knows she is claustrophobic, want her to go down into the cave? There must be a reason and Anna is alert for clues that are only too present, but equally mystifying.

I am not claustrophobic, but I found myself feeling the same fears as Anna. Barr is so good at creating a scene and the emotions that surround it. As all her books take place in National Parks, I am learning as much about them as being entertained by the mystery. Will Anna be able to hold it together and help her friend out of the cave? Who is it that her friend fears? Who is behind the mysterious coincidences? Who is determined that this rescue will be a failure?



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Black Water (Tango Key Mysteries

Black Water by T.J. MacGregor


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I first realized that this book relied on time travel, I was leery. I generally don't care for such books and especially not a mystery, but this was very good. Mira's daughter, Annie, was abducted by am man who was able to travel back to 1968 where he was keeping her with another surviving child he had brought back. Shep, Mira's FBI boyfriend is in the present and trying to find Mira and Annie.

For most of the book, I was able to keep straight the ramifications of people from the present and their influence on the past when brought from their own time, but I thought that the reason for kidnapping the children was a little weak. That did not really detract from the book and it was a very good read.

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Seizure

Seizure by Robin Cook


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
For a book that has no good guys, this was surprisingly good. Dr. Daniel Lowell has developed a procedure for using stem cells in curing Parkinson's disease which shows great promise in lab animals. The powerful Senator Ashley Butler is one of the foremost opponents of stem cell research, but has been diagnosed with Parkinson's. In a secret meeting, he has promised that the bill to ban stem cell research will not proceed out of his committee if Dr. Lowell will use him as his test subject. Both men are thoroughly self serving and amoral. They decide to do the procedure in an unlicensed infertility clinic in the Bahamas which is run by two doctors who are even more despicable than Lowell and Butler. Add in a couple of mobsters who have invested in Daniel's company and want their money to provide dividends and you have a thoroughly disgusting cast of characters. There are two women involved and they seem to have the only modicum of conscience in the book.

Cook has again written a book that is timely and complex. You are kept guessing up to the end of the book and at times, it seems impossible for the book to come to a satisfying conclusion. As with most of his books, the book is fast paced and believable.

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Hallowed_Bones

Hallowed Bones by Carolyn Haines


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoy these books. P.I. Sarah Booth Delaney finds herself and her partner, Tinky, involved in helping a young woman from New Orleans who is accused of poisoning her severely disabled infant when she is found in Mississippi visiting the grave of her flamboyant mother. The young woman is a faith healer and seems to be a gentle and loving person incapable of harming her daughter.

The plot itself is very interesting, but the life of Sarah Booth and her "haint" Jitty adds a great deal to the story. Sarah Booth is torn between the man she feels she loves, the married sheriff, and a much more suitable suitor. The sheriff refuses to let the relationship develop because of the vows he made to his neurotic wife. You have to be rooting in the corner for the two of them, at the same time, you can't help but admire the decency of the sheriff. In the background is Jitty telling Sarah Booth that her biological clock is ticking away and that she has a duty to her ancestors to get married and produce offspring. The mystery is a bit light weight, but all in all, a very good, if light, read.

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Chosen To Die

Chosen To Die by Lisa Jackson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Regan Pescoli has been working the "Star Crossed Killer" case and then finds herself a little closer to the action than she would like when the killer shoots out her tires causing her to plunge her car over a gulch. The killer takes her to his lair and, following his usual pattern, nurses her back to health only to plan to take her, naked, out into the frozen Montana winter to leave her to freeze to death. The whole Sheriff's office has been working on the case night and day, but doesn't seem to be making much progress. The murder of a wealthy man in the county provides some clues when it is discovered that he was killed with the same rifle.

I enjoyed this book except for the language. Just once I'd like to read about a sharp and capable woman detective who doesn't adopt all the men's worst habit when she joins them in what was considered a male-only job. Other than that, the plot is complex, but well developed. There's lots of adventure and enough clues for the reader to figure out who the killer is before he is revealed.

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Refining Emma (Candlewood Trilogy, #2)

Refining Emma by Delia Parr


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the second in this series and it is as good as the first. As I said in the first review, this is an inspirational book about ordinary people struggling to do God's will and act as God would have them act. It isn't about action or mystery. It is similar to the Mitford series or the earlier Miss Read books.

In this book, Emma again strives to bring her will in line with God's will. She tries to be a loving and gracious hostess in Hill House and to meet the needs of the people around her. A romance that began in the first book develops further in this one and there are some unpleasant guests which lend spice to the book. Emma finds it difficult to deal with the cantankerous Burke brother and sister and struggles to find something redeeming in them. She also struggles to keep the secret of her unwise investment in Hill House, which she loves and which is a haven for so many who are dependent on her.

I am inspired by the care she takes of those around her and how she finds a way to love them as God loves them. It is refreshing in this era of "me first." I have to admit I am also inspired by the amount of work she cheerfully does even when exhausted. It reminded me of the description of people, "not afraid of hard work" and caused me to think a lot more about the attitudes of earlier generations towards work in general. After reading hundreds of old family letters, I know that Emma's work is not an exaggeration and I am in awe of their strength to not falter when the work load is heavy.

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