Graven Images: The Best of Horror, Fantasy, and Science-Fiction Film Art from the Collection of Ronald V. Borst

Customer Reviews:

GREATEST MOVIE POSTER ART EVER.......2005-02-13

THIS BOOK IS A JOY TO BEHOLD.SINCE THE FRONT JACKET ILLUSTRATION REPRODUCING THE ONE-SHEET POSTER FOR "MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE"(UNIVERSAL,1932),CREATED BY KAROLY GROSZ,UNIVERSAL'S OUTSTANDING POSTER DESIGNER ,TO THE MORE THAN 500 OF THE FINEST VINTAGE FILM POSTERS(AND RELATED MEMORABILIA)BELONGING TO THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF RONALD V. BORST.MY PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS:THE BRITISH TWENTY-FOUR-SHEET POSTER(PRESSBOOK)FOR THE GERMAN EXPRESSIONIST FILM "DAS CABINET DES DR.CALIGARI(U.S.TITLE:THE CABINET OF DR.CALIGARI),DECLA-BIOSCOP,1919;THE PRODUCTION DRAWINGS BY ART DIRECTOR ALBIN GRAU FOR F.W.MURNAU'S "NOSFERATU,EINE SYIMPHONIE DES GRAUENS"(U.S.TITLE:NOSFERATU,A SYMPHONY OF HORRORS"),PRANA-FILM(GERMANY),1922;THE TWO ONE-SHEET POSTERS FOR "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA"(UNIVERSAL,1925),AND THE ONE-SHEET FOR PAUL LENI'S "THE MAN WHO LAUGHS"(UNIVERSAL,1927);THE SIX-SHEET POSTER FOR BELA LUGOSI'S "WHITE ZOMBIE"(UNITED ARTISTS,1932);KARL FREUND'S "THE MUMMY"(UNIVERSAL,1932) ONE-SHEET POSTER;THE SENSATIONAL(IN ART-DECO STYLE)ONE- SHEET FOR THE BRITISH PRODUCTION OF H.G.WELLS "THINGS TO COME"(LONDON FILMS,1936);THE TWO MYSTERIOUS POSTERS,ONE ONE-SHEET AND ONE THREE-SHEET,FOR JAQUES TOURNEUR'S "CAT PEOPLE"(RKO,1942),REPRODUCING THE LOVELY FIGURE OF SIMONE SIMON;THE ORIGINAL BRITISH QUAD POSTER FOR EALING'S "DEAD OF NIGHT"(1945);THE DOZENS OF POSTERS FOR AMERICAN SCIENCE-FICTION FILMS OF THE 1950'S.ESPECIALLY THE REYNOLD BROWN'S(1917-1991) CREATIONS FOR UNIVERSAL'S FILMS:THE ONE-SHEET POSTERS FOR "CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON"(1954),"REVENGE OF THE CREATURE(1955),"TARANTULA"(1955),AND "THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US"(1956).WE CAN ALSO ADMIRE HUNDREDS OF OTHER STARTLING FANTASTIC FILM POSTERS.HOW LUCKY MR. BORST IS!THE ESSAYS ARE VERY GOOD.MY FAVORITES:THE LATE ROBERT BLOCH'S "THE TEENS AND TWENTIES" AND "THE THIRTIES" BY RAY BRADBURY.BLOCH WAS A REAL CONNOISSEUR OF SILENT MOVIES,AND BRADBURY IS ALWAYS AMUSING.A GREAT AND BEAUTIFUL BOOK!

A MUST For Every Horror & Sci-Fi Fan, If You Can Get It!.......2000-07-15

I stumbled across this book about 6 years ago in a sales rackat Crown Books in Topanga Canyon, California. There were only threeleft, so I picked one up... How I wish I had snatched all three, because it is now impossible to get and some dealers are asking a fortune for used versions (Ron offers the best price and his are new!). One of a kind posters, many that are different versions from the same film and sometimes foreign versions, are artfully arranged and beautifully reprinted throughout this book. The reader can enjoy the fabulous art again and again, as well as learn quite a bit about the history of film posters, lobby cards and one sheets. Ron's narrative about his love for collecting posters is a treat and he paints a great picture with words of what it was like when he and his friends started out collecting. I urge you to visit Ron's shop on Hollywood Blvd. for a look at some truly classic film posters if you just can't seem to find this great book. What can I say but, "Five Thumbs Up!" (And thanks, Ron, for sharing!)

A MUST For Every Horror & Sci-Fi Fan, If You Can Get It!.......2000-07-15

I stumbled across this book about 6 years ago in a sales rack at Crown Books in Topanga Canyon, California. There were only three left, so I picked one up and paid about $11 for it. How I wish I had snatched all three, because it is now impossible to get and some dealers are asking a fortune for used versions (Ron offers the best price and his are new!). One of a kind posters, many that are different versions from the same film and sometimes foreign versions, are artfully arranged and beautifully reprinted throughout this book. The reader can enjoy the fabulous art again and again, as well as learn quite a bit about the history of film posters, lobby cards and one sheets. Ron's narrative about his love for collecting posters is a treat and he paints a great picture with words of what it was like when he and his friends started out collecting. I urge you to visit Ron's shop on Hollywood Blvd. for a look at some truly classic film posters if you just can't seem to find this great book. What can I say but, "Five Thumbs Up!" (And thanks, Ron, for sharing!)

THE QUINTESSENTIAL VINTAGE MOVIE POSTER HORROR BOOK.......1999-12-01

I have seen the collection in person and let me tell you that this book is phenomenal! . There is no book that comes close to this masterpiece. Ron still sells copies at his store in Hollywood. It is a must for any horror fan. From silent to the 70's it's all in there. There are even some items in his book that are 1 of a kind. Yes, the only specimens left on the planet earth. A feast for the eyes!

The Formation of Nabataean Art: Prohibition of a Graven Image Among the Nabataeans (Ancient Near East)

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The Formation of Nabataean Art: Prohibition of a Graven Image Among the Nabataeans (Ancient Near East)
Joseph Patrich
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

It is well known that during the Second Temple period the Jews of Judea strictly observed the injunction against graven images. Although the Jews borrowed techniques and artistic styles from the surrounding Hellenistic-Roman culture, they abstained from using images in their art. What is less well known is that, during the same period a similar phenomenon was taking place in the adjacent Arab kingdom of Nabatea, and this despite the fact that, unlike the monotheistic Jews, the Nabateans worshipped many deities. In both kingdoms political independence went hand in hand with a cultural independence that expressed itself in religion, language, script and art. Although continuity with iconoclastic Judea may have had some influence on Nabatean steadfastness to tradition under pressure from the dominant Hellenistic-Roman culture, it appears that their abstract perception of their gods and disregard for figurative art were innate, growing out of a particular theological doctrine. The principles of that doctrine have not been preserved, but we can deduce its existence - and to a lesser degree, its nature - on the basis of certain archaeological discoveries that we will discuss here subsequently. ; Unlike the common practice both in the Greco-Roman West and in the Parthian East, to accord the gods a human form, the Nabateans represented their gods in the form of a stele. The abstract manner in which they perceived the form of their deities, affected their approach towards figurative art. A systematic survey of Nabatean art indicates that negation of figurative art is evident in all domains of their creativity. Hundreds of years before the Nabatean civilization, but in this same geographical area, there was a similar religious and artistic phenomenon of venerating stele gods and negating figurative art among another Arabian tribe, which scholars tend to identify with the biblical Midianites. The same spiritual wellsprings that nourished a nonfigurative tradition among the North Arabian tribes for hundreds of years - first the Midianites and then the Nabateans - ultimately resurfaced, nourishing the nonfigurative tendency we see in Islamic Arabian art. This book examines the origins of prohibition of a graven image among the Nabateans, its effect on all facets of Nabatean art and its subsequent influence on Islamic art several hundred years hence. The implications for the history both of ancient religions and art lend to Nabatean

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Telling it like it is
A book to know God more and to enjoy true freedom
A Great Book of Fiction for All Christians
No Graven Image by Elizabeth Elliot

No Graven Image: A Novel
Elisabeth Elliot
Manufacturer: Revell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0800759923
Release Date: 2004-09-01

Book Description

Praying Christians are society's best revolutionaries. They engage in the most remarkable act a human can perform, and, in so doing, unleash God's sustaining power. In No Easy Road, Dick Eastman offers challenge, guidance, and encouragement to help believers on the sometimes difficult, though always rewarding, journey of prayer. This best-selling classic, originally published by Baker in 1971, tracks a Pilgrim's Progress-like progression down the road of prayer. Using stories from biblical times to today, it walks readers through the Peak of Unbelief, the Plateau of Intercession, the Mountain of Self-will, and more. Designed for all believers who seek to revitalize their prayer lives, it is also a pertinent resource for pastors, prayer leaders, missionaries, and others who wish to mobilize others to pray.

Customer Reviews:

Telling it like it is.......2007-05-29

I do not know when I have read a novel so quickly. I read it quickly in order to send it off with my daughter who was headed to Africa to work with a missionary team and I wanted them to be able to read this book.

Those of us in ministry think that everything is automatic if we are "faithful" (whatever that is). Mrs. Elliot helps us focus on the God we serve in ministry and not on the idol of ministry itself. This is must reading for every missionary, ministry person or any Christian who has bought the line that says: "If you are faithful God must bless your work".

Pick up and read to the betterment of your soul and your relationship with God.

A book to know God more and to enjoy true freedom.......2005-04-29

This tremendous book must be read by all sincere christians who are trying to live a life pleasing to Jesus christ. Every one of us have our own fanciful idea of God which sometimes contradicts the Bible. This book will free us from all christian myths and will lead us towards a richer christian life.
Ellisabeth elliot shares her experiance and things she learned in this novel.
If you are a chritian missionary, pastor, or any worker this book must be read by you.

A Great Book of Fiction for All Christians.......2003-11-07

The only thing wrong with this book is that it is out of print. In The best thing about it is that it shows how important good Christian fiction is. In her own plucky style, Elisabeth Elliot shows what it means to be a real missionary. One of my favorite parts is when the missionary (Margaret) helps a not-so-helpful but well-meaning American visiting Ecuador realize that giving gospel tracts to South American Indians who can't read at all (let alone read Spanish) is less than helpful. Don't miss reading this book. Buy it and share it with those you love (including your pastor). You won't be sorry!

No Graven Image by Elizabeth Elliot.......1999-12-10

This book is an awesome representation of missionary life. A young, unmarried, woman named Margarat is working as a Bible translator to the Quicha Indians in the mountains of Ecuador. Most of the action takes place in her mind, where she tells you about her previous ideas of missionary work. The end is astonishing and will leave you with a new view on how God works. This book makes you search your soul for what you believe and why. It draws you into the story line, as if you were actually in the mountains of Ecuador with her! I highly recommend it for anyone planning to go into missions or just with an interest in missions.

Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and its Symbols, 1650-1815

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A Resource on Colonial Visual Art

Graven Images: New England Stonecarving and its Symbols, 1650-1815
Allen Ludwig
Manufacturer: Wesleyan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0819560405

Book Description

In Puritan New England, with its abiding concern for things not of this world and its distrust of forms and ceremonies, one art flourished: the symbolic art of mortuary monument stonecarvers. This carefully researched, beautifully illustrated work was the first to consider this art in depth as a meaningful aesthetic-spiritual expression. It is reissued for today's readers, with a new preface outlining changes in the field since the book appeared in 1966.

Customer Reviews:

A Resource on Colonial Visual Art.......2003-04-19

Particularly striking are the many plates which provide a rare insight into the artistic notions of a culture that generally frowned on decoration. As a document on early American notions of form, the books holds its own with the best studies of architecture, pottery and antiques that I have seen.

Graven Images: Graphic Motifs of the Jewish Gravestone

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Graven Images: Graphic Motifs of the Jewish Gravestone
Arnold Schwartzman
Manufacturer: HNA Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810933772

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Maybe you shalt not worship them, but it certainly isn't a sin to read them.
Fantatic
Well writen stories about morals everyone can use
This book was Graven Images was good!
A Very Good Book

Graven Images
Paul Fleischman
Manufacturer: Candlewick
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0763627755
Release Date: 2006-01-24

Book Description

Paul Fleischman spins three engrossing stories about the unexpected ways an artist's creations reveal truths - tales whose intriguing plots and many moods will entertain readers and inspire future writers.

Can wood, copper, or marble communicate? They can if they are the graven images in Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman's trio of eerie, beguiling short stories. If you whisper a secret into a wooden statue's ear, will anyone find out? Can a wobbly weathervane bearing the image of Saint Crispin, the patron saint of shoemakers, steer a love-struck apprentice toward the girl of his dreams? And if a ghost hires a sculptor to carve a likeness of him holding a drink to a baby's lips, what ghastly crime might lie behind his request? And, in a brand-new afterword, the acclaimed storyteller reveals how he found his own author's voice.

Customer Reviews:

Maybe you shalt not worship them, but it certainly isn't a sin to read them........2005-11-07

Paul Fleischman has had a long luxurious career as a children's author. But before he published "Graven Images" back in 1982, he probably could not have predicted how well he'd someday be received by the literary community at large. At that time, he'd only written two books: "The Birthday Tree" and "Half-a-Moon Inn". If you've ever read more than one Paul Fleischman book then you know that he loves to make wildly different kinds of stories. One day he'll make a book of poetry meant to be read aloud by two voices. The next day he's suddenly come out with a book pairing the Trojan War with 9/11. Turn around again and you've found yourself face-to-face with a wholly original picture book about a boy creating his own unique civilization. Blink twice in a row and the picture book is entirely wordless and about the circus, but involving shadows. Reading through "Graven Images" now, you definitely get a hint of great Fleischmanish things to come. With nods to Roald Dahl's adult tales, old fairy tales about boys named Jack, and ghostly visitations, this is one Newbery Honor book that deserves another turn in the public spotlight.

Split into three short stories, each tale in this book involves "graven images" in one way or another. The first story, "The Binnacle Boy", starts when a woman discovers that her son's ship, the one he was sailing away on, has floundered in the harbor. It's crew? All dead and not a clue to be found. Hoisted from the deck is a statue of a sailor called a Binnacle Boy. Only it may know the reason the crew has died, but its mouth doesn't say a word. It's only when a small deaf girl with the ability to read lips discovers the true murderer that the story reaches a shocking but not entirely unfamiliar ending. "Saint Crispin's Follower" is a far cheerier tale of a star-eyed cobbler's apprentice and his hopeless love for a girl in the town. Thinking the weathervane shaped like Saint Crispin will never lead him wrong, our young foolish hero traipses in and out of calamity to find his heart's desire by the end. "The Man of Influence" is the last and most supernatural of these tales. A sculptor of great men is without a patron and nearly starving when a ghost desires that he carve him a statue of its own likeness. The desperate artist agrees, thinking the ghost to have been a great man in its life. It is only after the commission reaches its close that the sculptor realizes the irony in calling anyone with money "great".

I enjoyed the idea of people either reaching some kind of a comeuppance or just desserts through statuary of one sort or another. Really, that's the only thing these three tales have in common. The first book is like (as I mentioned before) a Roald Dahl mystery. You may not know that it's a mystery as you read it, but by the end it's clear who the true villain is. "Saint Crispin's Follower", on the other hand, is a slapdash comedy of errors. Our hero is like those characters named Jack in the old folktales. He's a fool, but he gets what he wants through sheer dumb luck rather than skill or intelligence. "The Man of Influence" is the hardest story amongst these three to pin down. On the one hand, we seem to be dealing with a creepy tale of murder and buried secrets. On the other, there's a moral to the story that Fleischman doesn't force down the audience's throat. That's all well and good, but it makes for a confusing end. Should you be involved in a children's bookclub of some sort, I highly recommend this third story as an interesting read. It'll get the kids debating why the sculptor did such-n-such for hours on end.

With the newly republished edition of this book, the original illustrations by Andrew Glass have been done away with and replaced with those by John Jude Palencar. I am certain that Mr. Palencar is an adept artist in his own right, but it seems a pity to do away with the particularly creepy pictures that originally accompanied this book. Andrew Glass had an odd vision of the kind of story this was. Drawing pictures that would give even fellow creepy artist Stephen Gammell pause, Mr. Glass imbued those pictures with an odd undercurrent of ickyness. This is most apparent with the picture that accompanies the tale "The Man of Influence". For some reason, the ghost of the tale is pictured here as virtually rotting before our eyes. One hopes that Mr. Palencar will include illustrations of equal horror in this newest edition and not water down the book for contemporary audiences.

I've been attempting to seek out children's books in which statues play an important role. That was sole reason for picking up "Graven Images" from my local library. Now that I've perused it, however, I'm happy to report that it far and beyond exceeded my expectations. If you've a kid that wants to read some scary stories but they don't actually want to read anything TOO scary, this is the book to hand them. An excellent predecessor to Fleischman's later work and a read as good as it is timeless.

Fantatic.......1999-09-24

The 3 stories were all connected in some way. But they are also very diferent,too The author puts a twist at the end.

Well writen stories about morals everyone can use.......1998-12-29

This book was a pleasure to read. It was easy to understand. There was no violence and it had many morals we can all use. For example "don't be 'nitpickey' about things.

This book was Graven Images was good!.......1998-12-18

This book Graven Images was good! In this book there are three stories. My favorite story out of all of these is the "Binnacle Boy". The "Binncle Boy" is about a boy who dies in a ship reck. There are not alot of pictures in my book but I still thought it was a good book.

A Very Good Book.......1998-11-30

This book is very deserving of the Newbery Honor and is one of my favorites.

Graven Images: Fifteen Tales of Dark Magic and Ancient Myth

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Some good, some bad
Stories based on magic and myth

Graven Images: Fifteen Tales of Dark Magic and Ancient Myth

Manufacturer: Ace Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Outsiders : 22 All-New Stories From the Edge

ASIN: 044100766X
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Book Description

In this thrilling new anthology from the editors of In the Shadow of the Gargoyle (cited by Locus as one of the year's best anthologies), today's top fantasy and horror talents take a close look at our distant idols. Ancient gods who faded into history, all that remains are the mortal-made likenesses of their images-sacred relics, holy statues, and hallowed trinkets bearing the images of those fabled gods who ruled over of all creation... Now, at last, the old gods have returned-in these all-new tales of the sacred and profane, the beautiful and grotesque, the loving and vengeful.

Includes stories by:

Nebula and Hugo Award-winner Robert Silverberg
Nebula winner Esther M. Freisner
World Fantasy Award-winner Brian McNaughton, Tanith Lee, and Gene Wolfe
Hugo Award-winner Lawrence Watt Evans
and Other acclaimed authors, including Jack Ketchum, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Storm Constantine, Chelsea Quinn Yarboro, Kathe Koja, and Yvonne Navarro

Customer Reviews:

Some good, some bad.......2003-05-18

I saw this book on the bargain rack and the summary about the old gods so I picked it up. Like any collection, some are good, some didn't hold my interest. Here are some of the good ones.

Diana of the Hundred Breasts- I liked this one. The narrator is on an archeological site with his genius brother, Charlie. Charlie and the narrator unleash the Goddess Diana.

The Face of Sekt- My favorite. It is the story of the goddess Sekt who has to wear a mask to conceal her face. She gets a request to go to the King to heal his son. His son was made ill by a magican, who was really a djinn. It's interesting to hear the story from an actaal goddess.

The Goddess Danced- I LOVe this one. Meena is from a Hindu family and her mother, who died during the birth of her younger sister Abha, never neglected the Brahmin rites. Some boys torutre Meena by throwing acid on her face so she has to marry this blind man. The family is mean to her and forces her to beg. I won't give away the ending but the moral is that every woman has a goddess inside of her and should not be mistreated.

Heart of Stone- A magician's house is sacked and he is killed. There is a "woman" in a stone that is left behind- she is some kind of spirt. She is trapped in there and is forced to lip read fortunes for another untruthful man, who wants money.

The Eleventh City- A story in the form of a letter. The narrator s in the little town of San Marcos del Lago and he talked to a man who had an interesting story. There was a pig who couldn't die so it brought bad luck where ever it went.

Cora- About a man named Edward Brown who had a manticore named Cora. His Great Aunt Irene took his inheritance and gave it to a man he never knew named Herbert. They become friends, more than freinds and then Herbert decides to leave him. Lets just say a manitcore can't stand the betrayal of the one it loves most.

Shaped Stones- About a boy Teru and his younger siblings, Baisil and Lexa. He gives up his heart and becomes a tool of a man to ensure his safety.

Wanderlust- You know the Hawaiian hula girl in the car? Well what happens if she doesn't want to part with you?

giottas Window- A man, Thomas Ashen, realizes he has a beak and other people have trunks or beaks but no one believes him. He is taken to an asylum by Jane but and she realizes that she sees them too.

Stories based on magic and myth.......2001-02-13

Graven Images presents short stories of dark fantasy by such classic writers as Robert Silverberg, Gene Wolfe, Tanith Lee and others, gathering stories based on magic and myth and providing satisfyingly diverse plots and settings. Any who want to receive a collection strong in characterization and diverse in dark fantasy setting will find this an excellent leisure choice.

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Flawed heroine tangles with a serial killer
satisfying read
Requires a lot of concentration.
Enjoyed it alot
Compelling at times but left me feeling dissatisfied

Graven Images
Jane Waterhouse
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425156737

Amazon.com

With her second thriller, Jane Waterhouse has gotten the kind of attention from reviewers and readers that it usually takes good writers five or six books to achieve--if they're lucky. This is a beautifully written and superbly plotted story about a true crime writer, Garner Quinn, who becomes dangerously involved in the ghoulish mystery of human body parts discovered inside the lifelike sculptures of a famous artist. Quinn is a marvelous creation: a tough-talking, compassionate person who will go to almost any length for a good story.

Customer Reviews:

Flawed heroine tangles with a serial killer.......2004-02-04

As Waterhouse's story opens, narrator Garner Quinn, a forceful, driven and highly successful writer of true-crime books, is convinced of the innocence of a young farmboy accused of being a serial killer known as Holy Ghost. She champions his cause and works tirelessly to free him.

Once the young man is acquitted, Quinn, despite her promise to spend time with her teenage daughter, is immediately caught up in her next case. How can she help it when it concerns body parts found in the sculptures of Dane Blackmoor, a romantic enigma Quinn once cast as her father in lonely childhood fantasies? Is Blackmoor a killer? Is Quinn being stalked by the real Holy Ghost?

Although the plot takes several meandering turns, Waterhouse's writing is punchy and vivid, her flawed heroine skillfully depicted, and the ending pulls out all the stops, involving the forces of nature as well as the diabolical workings of a sadistic killer's mind.

satisfying read.......2003-05-26

This is the fourth Jane Waterhouse book that I have read. I read two later Quinn Garner books which I liked so much that I decided to read Jane Waterhouse's backlist. I found the characters complex and compelling. The plot was a little bizarre at times, but I found the book hard to put down.

Requires a lot of concentration........2002-03-19

Although this is Waterhouse's second book, it is the first in her Garner Quinn series. The protagonist, Garner Quinn, is a well-known author who writes books about true-crime. It can a little difficult to follow sometimes, because Waterhouse jumps back and forth between Garner's past and present, a book Garner wrote about one of her father's clients (Garner's father is a well-known, well-respected lawyer), and two current storylines all being interwoven into one story. This book requires a good deal of concentration (and maybe even a little backtracking) to keep everything straight, but was overall very interesting.

Enjoyed it alot.......2000-03-14

This is my first excursion into a Jane Waterhouse book. I found it to be a very satisfying read that kept me turning the pages. When the main character (Garner) is being "wrapped" by Dane, I felt like it was happening to me. The relationship with Garner and father was excellent, though unresolved as many relationships are...particularly with parents. I am looking forward to reading other Waterhouse mysteries.

Compelling at times but left me feeling dissatisfied.......1999-07-02

I read two of Jane Waterhouse's more recent books first and I was really looking forward to delving into this one. It started out tremendously and I could barely put it down, but then things seemed to unravel. The guilt or innocence of the Bird man was fascinating, but that plot came to an unfulfilling end. And the body parts in the sculptures, while resolved, still left the reader with tons of questions. I felt like the book could have been 100 pages longer to allow the plots to really develop and draw to a satisfying conclusion. I loved the attraction between Dane and Garner, but even that relationship never really developed. Overall, a good book to borrow from the library, not one I'd necessarily want to make part of my own book collection.

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A Kansas Reader
Midwest Book Review Says Skillfully Crafted
Really enjoyed this mystery
A Super Mystery That Delivers!
Thriller and Love Story

Graven Images
Nancy Mehl
Manufacturer: Publishamerica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1588515958

Book Description

Cally Jo McAllister was only four years old when her mother was murdered. As her mother's body lay sprawled on the floor of their once happy home, Cally cowered in fear, hidden by the darkness afforded her from the top of the stairs. Concealed from the killer, she clearly saw his face when he looked up from the horror he had created. Before her mind closed, and the memory became buried somewhere in a place where children lock away the monsters they cannot understand or defend themselves against, she recognized the man who had forever changed her life. Three years of intensive counseling with a talented and caring children's therapist finally helped Cally to bring back the monster. Unable to say his name, Cally drew a picture so accurate that the killer was immediately identified and brought to justice. Now, in college and studying psychology herself, Cally works as a police sketch artist with an uncanny knack for bringing the images of criminals to life on paper. Her ability is fascinating to some and frightening to others, for it obviously comes from somewhere outside of herself. When a nightmare she had as a child returns with a vengeance, and with it circumstances that cause Cally to wonder if the man who paid the price for her mother's murder was guilty after all, Cally's life is thrown into a whirlwind of turmoil and fear. Could the murderer have been someone? Could that person be closer to her than she can possibly imagine? GRAVEN IMAGES will take readers on a rollercoaster of suspense and suspicion, and leave Cally poised precariously between life and death, love and deceit.

Customer Reviews:

A Kansas Reader.......2004-12-29

Every time I laid "Graven Images" down, it seemed to call out to me. I kept picking it up; it's one of those kind of books. And when you finish reading it, you keep thinking about it. It's a psychological thriller, a love story, a mystery--and it raises the frightening spectre of the reliablity of young child's testimony.

Read it, and you'll still be thinking about it next month.

Midwest Book Review Says Skillfully Crafted.......2003-08-25

At age eight, Cally Jo McAllister sat in a crowded courtroom and testified courageously against her mother's murderer. It was a horrifying scene, even to those adults present in that silent court.

The reader feels Cally's fear, her determination to be strong, and shares the overwhelming terror from a child's viewpoint. The evil. The monster. The shadowed darkness. The seeping blood that Cally thinks is strawberry pop. Through Cally's eyes, I saw the monster's face. Her testimony sends him off to prison, where he dies and Cally Jo is safe. Right? Guess again. We accompany her to adulthood knowing full well that the danger did not end for Cally in the courtroom

Nancy Mehl has skillfully crafted a tightly woven suspense thriller.

I was mesmerized. I learned quite early that the wrong man went to prison for the crime. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, became a suspect in my mind. I cringed through Cally's recurring nightmare's, as her subconscious mind attempted to reveal the true monster. And I shuddered as two potential love interests entered her life, fearing one of them might do her in. I met the shadowed monster, made more fearful by his obvious insanity.
The monster could be anybody.

Ms. Mehl is a gifted writer and story teller. She dragged me headlong into Cally's life and held me breathless there until the last page. Anyone who likes the mystery suspense genre, and even those who don't think they do, will be rewarded when they read this book. I can't wait to see what Nancy Mehl comes up with next!

review by L.A. Johnson for Midwest Book Review

Really enjoyed this mystery.......2003-08-23

I recently met this author at a local book signing. She is a super person and her book is finely written.

I loved the character of Cally and also the fact that the story was set in Wichita.

I couldn't put the book down once I started reading. I made my husband pick up dinner.

I can hardly wait for Ms Mehl's next book!

A Super Mystery That Delivers!.......2003-08-23

Graven Images is one of the best mysteries I've ever read. The plot is tight and delivers perfectly. Cally McAllister's nightmare is realistic and chilling.

I certainly recommend this novel.

Thriller and Love Story.......2003-05-05

Nancy Mehl grabs the reader in the very first scene of Graven Images, when the state calls Cally Jo McAllister, an eight-year-old child, as a witness in the murder of her own mother. Cally, with the counsel of child psychologist Lily Sinclair, describes the man she saw next to her mother's bloody body. This man, Albert Boone, is the custodian of the church the family attends.

The next chapter takes us to Cally McAllister, the young adult and student, who is paying her own way through college. To do this, Cally uses her artistic talent to draw pictures of the perpetrators of violent crimes. She wants to help people who have suffered what she did. She is also somewhat shy, though she has a warm friendship with Police Sergeant Dan Christopher. Except for Cally's friendship with Lily Sinclair, the psychologist who helped her through her childhood trauma, Lily's husband Dell, and Dan, Cally has few friends. Her only family member is her father, Jack McAllister, with whom she shares a troubled relationship. Although he was once a successful businessman, he lives a bitter and reclusive life. The reader learns early in the novel that Jack's previous generosity and love of life died with his wife, and that he guards a terrible secret.

Cally's life begins to change. A kind woman is interested in her father and a nightmare that Cally hasn't had since childhood returns to her, but it is evolving. Cally is convinced that her subconscious is trying to tell her something she missed years ago about her mother's death. Cally turns to Lily, her oldest and dearest friend. Cally also meets a handsome young lawyer who falls head over heels in love with her, but the reader, unlike Cally, knows that Dan Christopher loves her, too.

Mehl moves her novel into high gear as Cally begins to unravel some of the secrets kept by the people closest to her. She finds that her father has kept her childhood home, the house where her mother was murdered, and she is convinced that she needs to return to these familiar rooms to figure out what the dream is trying to tell her.

Mehl draws her readers into a web of conflicting and entwined motives with break-neck speed. It's a good thing Graven Images isn't a long book, or I wouldn't have made it to work one day. The end is satisfying and ultimately tender and warm-hearted. I'll be looking for Nancy Mehl's next book.

Average customer rating:

excellent story

Medieval Fiction in Rare Form

Lightning Does, Indeed, Strike Twice

Graven Images (The Averillan Chronicles)
Barbara Reichmuth Geisler
Manufacturer: Lost Coast Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Other Gods: The Averillan Chronicles

ASIN: 1882897846

Customer Reviews:

excellent story.......2006-03-26

This is a fast moving story with issues that remain timely. The characters are intersting and the images are powerful. I couldn't put it down!

Medieval Fiction in Rare Form.......2005-12-27

Geisler gives us a fascinating fictional tour through 12th century Shaftesbury Abbey. The story is reverent of its focus, and readers are likely to sense the author's deep appreciation for her subject. It never devolves into genre or religious tract. With this much religious matter, both Christian and Jewish, I expected to be preached to at least a bit, and I kind of held my breath waiting for it to happen, but my fear was unwarranted.

Ostensibly a murder mystery, the crime serves primarily as a great excuse for us to look in on the lives of the religious in 1141 England and the forces influencing them. The characters are well developed, with individual voices and motivations. The text is well written with great attention to quality story telling and no perceivable axe to grind.

Being personally familiar with western monastic tradition, I found her details ring true and the settings spring to life in 3D. I highly suggest this to all fiction readers. You do not have to have a penchant for historical or religious fiction to enjoy Graven Images. But don't expect a fluffy murder mystery that just happens to be in a monastery. This story has substance, including an important peek under the cloak of historical oversimplification.

I've already passed my copy on. I'm sure you will do the same.

Lightning Does, Indeed, Strike Twice .......2005-07-17

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book of this series (The Averillan Chronicles) -- it was a delicious mixture of history, mystery, anthropology, and superb writing. Ms. Geisler has really done it again with her newest offering. Dare I say that I found it even more entertaining than the first? Okay, I will dare. This (like the first installment) is one of those books that you buy extra copies of as "lenders" because you are afraid of your personal one leaving the house without an armed guard. I look forward to the next installment in this series (please say that there will be one....)

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