Average customer rating:
- A fine story of a dangerous quest emerges, involving listeners in a delicate, finely honed drama.
- I will buy his next book but...
- The lyrical prose and powerful sense of place
- As Publisher's Weekly said, "a snoozer."
- Not the Piano Tuner
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A Far Country
Daniel Mason
Manufacturer: Knopf
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Binding: Hardcover
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The Piano Tuner: A Novel
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ASIN: 0375414665
Release Date: 2007-03-06 |
Book Description
From the best-selling author of The Piano Tuner, a stunning new novel about a young girl’s journey through a vast, unnamed country in search of her brother.
Raised in a remote village on the edge of a sugarcane plantation, fourteen-year-old Isabel was born with the gift and curse of “seeing farther.” When drought and war grip the backlands, her brother Isaias joins a great exodus to a teeming city in the south. Soon Isabel must follow, forsaking the only home she’s ever known, her sole consolation the thought of being with her brother again. But when she arrives, she discovers that Isaias has disappeared. Weeks and then months pass, until one day, armed only with her unshakable hope, she descends into the chaos of the city to find him.
Told with astonishing empathy, and strikingly visual, the story of Isabel’s quest—her dignity and determination, her deeply spiritual world—is a universal tale about the bonds of family and a sister’s love for her brother, about journeys and longing, survival and true heroism.
A tour de force of great emotional and narrative power.
Customer Reviews:
A fine story of a dangerous quest emerges, involving listeners in a delicate, finely honed drama........2007-09-08
Anne Twomey narrates this vivid story of a young girl's journey through an unnamed country in search of her brother. Isabel has the gift of second sight - when war changes her life and separates her from her brother, it may be the only thing that can help her locate him. A fine story of a dangerous quest emerges, involving listeners in a delicate, finely honed drama.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
I will buy his next book but..........2007-09-07
I wanted to love this as much as I loved "The Piano Tuner"...but it just didn't grab me. I spent much of the time trying to figure out if we were in the present day or in the future when global warming has REALLY kicked in. (I kept getting a feeling like I was reading "Friend of the Earth" meets "The Running Man".)
I also thought maybe more would be made of the "sixth sense" of the main character. All of this second guessing means that I didn't appreciate the careful drawing of Isabel and her relationship with her brother. I liked it - but not in a way that will stay with me the way Mason's first book did.
The lyrical prose and powerful sense of place.......2007-05-30
Daniel Mason's haunting THE PIANO TUNER left an indelible imprint on my memory, which helped to launch a never-to-be forgotten visit to Southeast Asia in 2004. Such can be the power of a gifted writer --- that the potency of his words can open doors and windows of the mind to seek further information on the subject, learn more about the circumstances in the book, or even to book passage to lands far away. So it was with great hopes when Mason's newest, A FAR COUNTRY, became available, and I grabbed it without hesitation.
Isabel is the 14-year-old daughter of a farm laborer and his wife, living next to a sugar cane plantation in an unnamed equatorial America country, quite likely Brazil. Her older brother Isaias is a talented violinist who chafes at the idea of being forever tied to seasonal work cutting cane or loading river barges, the occupation of villagers for generations. Drought and the increasing attacks by raiders as poverty spreads among the displaced peasants drive Isais to join the growing Diaspora of young people who drift hopefully toward the city in the south. On his infrequent returns home, he talks glowingly of gaining fame as a musician, always going back to the city and sending small amounts of money to help out his impoverished family. His visits stop, replaced by occasional phone calls, and then he simply vanishes.
Isabel yearns for her brother, and when she is needed to babysit for a few weeks for her cousin in the same city that has swallowed Isaias, she is eager to follow him. With little more than a few dollars and a meager lunch, she embarks on a journey via "parrot perch" --- riding in an open flatbed truck on a four-day journey to the South. She arrives, after much travail, in The Settlements. She has directions to her cousin's apartment in a neighborhood called Eden, a name that turns out to be a cruel joke. Eden is nothing more than an endless sprawl of tin-roofed shanties, baking in the tropical heat, indistinguishable from hundreds of other neighborhoods housing millions of displaced camposinos in pursuit of work and shelter. When she finally locates the apartment, she is distraught to find that Isaias, whom she expected to be there to greet her, has not been seen for weeks.
And so begins Isabel's search through the teeming city for her brother, with baby Hugo, her cousin's son, on her hip. Isabel was born with a second sight, an ability that frightened her parents to the degree that they had her exorcized by a holy woman. But she still feels the uncanny, compelling presence of her brother, which drives her to find him. She enters the world of people looking for "the disappeared" --- the tens of thousands who come to the city and are never heard from again. Yet she feels that he is close at hand, watching over her, and cannot abandon her quest.
A FAR COUNTRY is a bittersweet journey of the heart; a story of family love yearning for security and survival. Mason's brilliant lyrical prose carries the reader along in a mixture of fantasy and reality. While the story verges on magical realism, it is not in the mystical realm of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabel Allende. Yet the surreal location and Isabel's ability to find lost objects and people whom she loves lend itself to the genre.
While A FAR COUNTRY doesn't quite achieve the magic and panoramic exotica of Mason's first triumph, it still offers the lyrical prose and powerful sense of place, which is quite enough if armchair travel to other places through a good book is your goal.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
As Publisher's Weekly said, "a snoozer.".......2007-05-14
Reviews by Amazon readers were very encouraging but I should have read the Publisher's Weekly review at the top of the page. That review gets it exactly right; good descriptive writing, but a bit cliched, and ultimately a snoozer. If I had not been trapped on a 10-hour flight with nothing else to read, I would have put it down half way through when I realized there was very little story, just description.
Not the Piano Tuner.......2007-05-09
As stated in many of the reviews, Mason certainly has a talent for writing truly amazing descriptions of reality; however, that is basically all this novel is. I couldn't get into the story, what there was of it. Mason's earlier novel, Piano Tuner was phenomenal in that it was not only deliciously descriptive, but it also a great story. I just didn't enjoy this story. To be frank, I found it a bit boring. Having said that, I will eagerly await Mason's next novel.
Average customer rating:
- Different than Classic EJD!
- Lot's of drama and lots of sex
- Fabulous
- Great read!!!
- Its Not Up To Par
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Chasing Destiny
Eric Jerome Dickey
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 052594950X |
Book Description
Eight-time New York Times bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey's new novel is filled with intrigue, speed, and sex appeal. And an unforgettable female narrator rides her sexy yellow motorcycle right through it all.
Billie (aka "Ducati") is known as much for her extraordinary beauty as for the sexy yellow motorcycle she rides through the mean streets of Los Angeles. Tough, talented, and self-assured, Billie's used to doing things her way—but that was before love threw an oil slick in the road and spun her life into chaos.
Billie's first problem is simple: she's pregnant.
Her second problem is that her lover, Keith, is still married.
Keith has some "things" to deal with, and the people in his life are dark and duplicitous enough to take matters into their own hands, determined to keep Billie from having her baby. Billie suddenly finds herself confronted, attacked, run off highways, threatened and shadowed. Keith still has ties to his manipulative wife, Carmen, and he adores his fifteen-year-old daughter Destiny. Will he do the right thing by his new family, or stand by his old one?
Soon all eyes shift as everyone finds themselves desperately chasing Destiny, a troubled and deceptive girl dancing on the edge of womanhood. When the rubber meets the road, everyone's fighting dirty for what they want...and they're all willing to destroy their enemy or go down in flames to get it.
Customer Reviews:
Different than Classic EJD!.......2007-10-18
I will always support EJD. I love his style of writing. His characters are sometimes wordly, come from a variety of socioeconomic classes, tend to be somewhat eccentric, and go through extreme phases of mental emotion. While his intimate scenes for me are always orgasmic, I did not feel that I was reading classic EJD in Chasing Destiny. While EJD has an excellent way with words, phrases and character development, this one was over the top. I enjoyed this story, was a little disappointed with the ending, but EJD never concludes his stories in a typical manner. EJD, please don't resort to the drama-filled stories that overcrowd our shelves these days. Stay true to your craft and not conform. You always have a supporter here regardless.
Lot's of drama and lots of sex.......2007-10-02
This is not my favorit EJD book. The drama and high antics were superb, but the content and the characters were mean, selfish and sad. Fiction is generally based on facts, but I'd hate to know any of the damn near middle age folks acting the way they act in this story. Too much was unbelieveable for me or I just don't know people that stupid. I love EJD earlier work, but this did not do it for me. Chasing Destiny was not bad, but it was not good.
Fabulous.......2007-09-13
Considering all the baby momma drama I have had, I am so glad someone finally wrote about it. This book was fantastic from start to finish!
Great read!!!.......2007-09-03
This book sat on my bookcase for more than a year before I picked it up to read...I'm so sorry I waited that long. It is one of EJD's best books so far. I was rooting for Ducati all the way through this book. I loved how it ended and would love to read more about her.
Its Not Up To Par.......2007-08-10
Dickey's books have been way better than this, i was kinda disappointed when i read this book. It was to jumpy and the plot of the story wasn't really all that good.
Product Description
A series of mean emails and not-so-funny jokes in the latest tween novel from the Beacon Street Girls provide parents with an opportunity for frank discussion with preteen girls about online dangers. In Just Kidding, the Beacon Street Girls and their preteen readers learn about cyber-bullying, gossip, no-jokes zones and how the Internet can spread rumors, spoil friendships and contribute to hurt feelings.
Book Description
Ashley Pond was only twelve years old when she vanished from a school bus stop in a town south of Portland, Oregon. As a shocked community came together and police began a frantic search, another tragedy was just about to take place.
Miranda Gaddis was Ashley’s best friend. Just two months after Ashley’s disappearance, Miranda was on her way to school when she, too, was abducted. Nobody knew the scandalous, unspeakable secret that the two girls shared…except for one man who lived just one block away.
The police and FBI managed to overlook the girls’ neighbor whose daughter was a friend of Miranda and Ashley’s—and who had a catalog of sexual-assault allegations behind him. Author Linda O’Neal was a private investigator intimately involved in this shocking case. Now, she and her co-authors—also participants in the case—tell the chilling story of one town’s devastating loss…and how the murderer was finally found.
Customer Reviews:
awful rewrite of history.......2007-08-19
The entire narrative concentrates on how the author was the "only" one who was capable of finding the truth. In some deluded wanna be V. I. Warshawski way, writing with hind sight being 20/20, she was obviously correct and always on the right trail... Or maybe just cashing in on the fact that she lived in the area at the time that it occurred and therefore can claim some fame. It is a poorly written recap of news articles available to everyone.
Okay, but could have been better.......2007-05-13
I tackled this book with relish, but found that it was too drawn out alot of time, and should have been condensed a little. Ms. O'Neal, while to be admired for her efforts, did seem to overplay her role in this case. Also, being a family member, she was very "soft" on her comments on Ashley's mother, who should've never allowed her daughter to be near that man. At least the man was found and convicted, so the family has some closure. A recommended read if a true crime fan, but not for the reader just looking for a good story.
Horrid writing! .......2007-05-12
I picked this book up because I remembered the story of the two missing girls, but I never knew the outcome. I was very interested in what happened. Unfortunately this book is so poorly written I don't think I can finish it. Whoever was the editor/ghost writer for this book was either blind or an idiot. Don't waste your money or your time. I really hope a talented person or even semi-talented person decides to write this story over, anything would have to be better than this book.
WAS EXPECTING BETTER.......2007-04-02
THE STORY WAS O.K., BUT HER HUSBAND SOUNDS LIKE A SAINT!! IF I HAD MY DRUTHERS, I WISH I HADN'T BOUGHT THIS BOOK.
DON'T BUY IT!!.......2007-03-05
I am a big true crime fan, but I agree with every other negative reviewer about this book - it is the worst I've ever tried to read. The writing is disjointed and terrible, but what is worse is that the author seems to use this story to inflate her own oversized ego. The book is more about her and her husband than those poor little girls. I am used to professional writers like Diane Fanning, Dale Hudson, Kathryn Casey, Corey Mitchell and an old favorite, Ann Rule. I hope this woman has another job because she'll never make it as a writer.
Book Description
On an evening like any other, nine-year-old Katie Mackey, daughter of the most affluent family in a small town on the plains of Indiana, sets out on her bicycle to return some library books.
This simple act is at the heart of The Bright Forever, a suspenseful, deeply affecting novel about the choices people make that change their lives forever. Keeping fact, speculation, and contradiction playing off one another as the details unfold, author Lee Martin creates a fast-paced story that is as gripping as it is richly human. His beautiful, clear-eyed prose builds to an extremely nuanced portrayal of the complicated give and take among people struggling to maintain their humanity in the shadow of a loss.
Reminiscent of books such as The Little Friend and The Lovely Bones, but most memorable for its own perceptions and power, The Bright Forever is a compelling and emotional tale about the human need to know even the hardest truth.
A Featured Alternate of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Book-of-the-Month Club
Also available as a Books on Tape AudioBook and an eBook
Download Description
“With what consummate skill Lee Martin conjures up a small town in the grip of tragedy and how deftly he explores the way in which a casual remark, a brief kiss, a white lie can have the most terrible consequences. The Bright Forever is a remarkable and almost unbearably suspenseful novel.” —Margot Livesey, author of Banishing Verona and Eva Moves the Furniture
“Lee Martin’s The Bright Forever goes deep into the mystery of being alive on this earth. Written in the clearest prose, working back and forth over its complex story, and told in the dark, desperate, vivid voices of its various speakers, it holds you spellbound to the end, to its final, sad revelations.” —Kent Haruf, author of Eventide and Plainsong
“Like Winesburg, Ohio, The Bright Forever captures, in alternating voices, the individual acts of desperation that lead to a community’s sorrow. And, like Sherwood Anderson, Lee Martin is not happy to let guilt reside singularly or simply. This is a morally complex quilt, a page-turner that also insists on the reader’s participation in moral contemplation.” —Antonya Nelson, author of Female Trouble and Talking in Bed
“I read The Bright Forever in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. Part Mystic River, part Winesburg, Ohio, this harrowing and beautiful book is one of the most powerful novels I’ve read in years and heralds the breakout of a remarkable talent.” —Bret Lott, author of A Song I Knew by Heart and Jewel
“The Bright Forever will get under your skin with its exquisite psychology and fine-tuned suspense. Lee Martin has created a world of aching beauty and terrible loss.” —Jean Thompson, author of City Boy and Wide Blue Yonder
“The Bright Forever is ravishing. . . . Lee Martin’s characters, dear readers, are us—riven and bedeviled, our souls gone grainy and rank, our hearts busted and beating heavily for love. We have Martin to thank for having the moral courage—yes, an old-fashioned but rare virtue—to tell it to us plain.” —Lee K. Abbott, author of Living After Midnight
A Featured Alternate of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Book-of-the-Month Club
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Pretty good.....as a Whodunnit!.......2007-08-26
This book kept me compelled due to the mystery lover in me. Although the subject matter is tragic, you just wanted to know what happened to Katie! I have to say this book seemed more of a thriller than anything to me, I was constantly wondering who did it?? Who was lying?? Who was hiding something?? I actually got scared thinking there are peoeple like Mr. Dees and Ray in this world. I felt there were some loose ends at the end of the book, but, this book is good for a rainy day and it's a quick read. However, I do feel the author could have gone the extra length and really strengthened this book.
Great read!.......2007-08-14
Couldn't put it down! Multi-character voiced, in a who-done-it, is filled with suspense, drama, and a look at small town USA in the 70's. You will want to be part or Katie's disappearance!
Very similar to "The Lovely Bones".......2007-07-17
On an ordinary summer evening in the early 1970s, 9-year-old Katie Mackey disappears on the way to the library. In this small Indiana town where everyone knew everyone, and no one bothered to lock their doors, the possibility of not being safe rocked the entire community.
Thirty years later, a number of individuals related to the case take turns narrating the events that took place that summer. Henry Dees, the odd reclusive schoolteacher who tutored Katie in math; Raymond R. Wright, the friendly construction worker who earned the town's contempt and suspicion when he married a widow so soon after her husband's death; Katie's older brother Gilley, 17 at the time of her death; and others set the tone, giving readers a glimpse at their lives that particular summer, at the town's secrets, lying just beneath the veneers of seemingly dull and ordinary citizens, and the effects that the disappearance of one small girl can have upon an entire town.
This book is incredibly similar to Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones," except for the fact that Katie herself is never narrator, like Susie. Still, I wouldn't let that stop anyone from reading it -- this is a wonderfully written, poignant story that is bound to stay in a reader's mind for quite some time.
Well done.......2007-03-19
This is the story of a nine year old girl who goes missing after leaving home to return her library books one summer night.
Lee Martin tells this story in a very interesting way. Incorporated with the traditional narrative are four different perspectives from people who are connected to the story. We hear their experiences directly from them in their own distinct voices. One of the characters, Mr. Dees, speaks directly to the reader. Their experiences are overlapping, they do not fit together like the pieces of a puzzle, and each one colors our perception of the truth. One of the character makes us question their version of the truth.
I thought it was a very well written story, the characters were well developed the story was believable and the essence of the era was captured.
Transports you back to the 70's...........2007-03-11
Katie Mackey is one of those bright rainbow children; charismatic, brave and shiny at the age of 9, her disappearance shocks a small town in Indiana and reveals suspicions and social inequities in the foundation. Katie, on her bike, was returning library books and never came home. Her parents are the town's wealthiest couple, the objects of envy, and then of pity. In Martin's writing, you can capture how people felt the day of the disappearance; the smell, the feel, the taste of that day--in many ways the end of their innocence.
Told from five points of view, the tale is unique in that Martin speaks with a clear and recognizable voice from each of his narrators, not just one style disguised in 5 characters. Martin draws us in, leaving us to question the motivation of each of the narrators; Katie's older brother, her tutor, a misfit couple where the wife was a widow who remarried too soon and her husband is a grifter who strikes an inharmonious chord in the small town. A third person narrator helps to stir the pot.
Shame and sadness intermingle as each narrator asks the audience to have patience while the tale is drawn out. Finally, vengeance takes over, followed by emptiness. What the small town was becomes invisible and lost in what it has now become. Martin's elegant writing propels the tale, and first one, and then another conclusion is drawn.
A short, compelling read; you'll remember "The Bright Forever" for a long time after you put the book down.
..."wherever there's a circle of light, there's also someone standing outside it..."
Average customer rating:
- The Darkness Gathers
- Compelling!
- The second time is even better.
- A Great Read
- It comes SO close....
|
The Darkness Gathers: A Novel
Lisa Miscione
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Angel Fire (A Lydia Strong Mystery)
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Smoke (Lydia Strong Novels)
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One Grave Too Many
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Dead Secret
ASIN: 0312283598 |
Book Description
Following Miscione's gritty debut, Angel Fire, this second novel ratchets up the suspense and the stakes. In her fan mail, Lydia receives an anonymous cry for help-a tape of a miss-ing young girl's desperate message on an answering machine. The accompanying note begs Lydia to find and protect Tatiana Quinn, 'and all the other girls in need of rescue.' This simple case of a missing teenager soon becomes much more. Someone is anxious for Lydia to drop her investi-gation, someone powerful and nervous enough to engineer the early parole of Lydia's mother's killer. Now, in addition to tracing the roots of Tatiana's disappearance back to the girl's step-father's business dealings, Lydia must find the man who wants her dead, completing his unfinished business from years ago.
Customer Reviews:
The Darkness Gathers.......2003-06-22
After reading "Angel Fire" I was curious about "The Darkness Gathers". I found this book well written and captivating. This writer has the gift of rising the interest of the reader and keeping that interest fed. It is a page turner and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading a good book. I look forward to reading more by this author.
Compelling!.......2003-06-12
I won't give a summary of the book, since that has been done, but suffice to say I found Miscione's portrayal of the chaos in Albania as well as the trafficking of women and girls into sexual slavery realistic and compelling. Distractors were the author's penchant for dropping brand-names throughout the book and the fact that Lydia's boyfriend willingly follows along, even when she places them into dangerous situations. And he should know better - he's a former FBI agent. But all in all, this is a good book and shows the author has done her research well.
The second time is even better........2003-04-30
I read the first Lydia Strong story, "Angel Fire," and I had such a good time I got this next one the minute it came out. And I was pleased to find that the series (at least I sure hope it will be) is getting better all the time -- the relationship between Lydia and Jeffrey getting stronger, the stories even more complex and intriguing (and scary, too). Miscone takes on a lot in her plots, but she makes it all work beautifully in the end.
A Great Read.......2003-04-29
The Darkness Gathers leaves you breathless. Good character developement along with intriguing plot from a talented writer.
It comes SO close...........2003-04-24
Darkness Gathers has many ingredients for success: an appealing heroine, the heroine's ambivalent relationship with a male love interest, colorful settings, and an intriguing opening salvo: a tape recording mailed anonymously to the heroine.
I really wanted to like this book, as we need more new authors and more detectives. And I hope the author takes the next step to write a breakout novel next time.
I'll let other reviewers describe the plot -- and I agree with those who say it's "ambitious," even audacious. What stopped me was pacing. I kept wanting to take my own blue pencil to the copy and cut, cut cut!
The book opens with a long flashback, which didn't seem necessary. Lydia's childhood traumas may have led her to become a journalist of crime, but that deserves a sentence or two. Think of Ranger Anna Pigeon in the Nevada Barr series. We learn early that the heroine was widowed early and tragically -- but from New York widowhood to Park Service Ranger is a story that was left untold for six or so volumes, and we didn't miss it.
After reading Sol Stein's books on writing, I've become more conscious of redundant words and phrases, so perhaps I'm overly sensitive. I noticed that Lydia wore a "jade black hair clip" in her "black hair." Um...what other type of clip would she wear? How about just "pulled into a knot with a shiny black clip?"
You can pick almost any page, if you're so inclined:
"He took hold of her hand and rolled over onto his back, displaying his enviable abs and pecs..."
Or "She reached over ... with fingers cool and moist from the sweating plastic cup she held."
Less description, more action -- especially if the author uses the omniscient viewpoint, where we readers are like outsiders watching a show. And description can be presented with action.
My other quibbles:
We're told over and over again that Lydia has a special sense -- but it's not clear how she uses that sense in her work. Anyone who receives an anonymous tape, referring to a kidnapped girl, might be just a wee bit curious!
I had trouble with the far-flung plot -- Albanian kidnappings tied in with a villain from Lydia's dark past. I'd also like to see more sides to Lydia and Jeffrey. Instead of tagging along on Lydia's hare-brained ideas, Jeffrey needs to work his own caseload. He comes across as a little wimpy -- chasing after a woman who has her own agenda. Lovesick is fine for a tale or two but at some point we need gumption!
These two need to get into a solid fight and stop speaking sometime! If Jeffrey wants a relationship, he'd better start poking around...and let Lydia sulk and question her own feelings. And I didn't buy the detective opening his heart and files to two out-of-towners, just like that.
The author has talent and imagination. With a heavy dose of editing, and some complexity of character development, her next book could be a breakthrough.
Book Description
Meet Samantha McGregor
She seems like your average teen, but Samantha is unusually gifted. God gives her visions and dreams that offer unconventional glimpses into other people’s lives and problems. It’s a powerful gift with a lot of responsibility…
Bad Connection: Book One
Kayla Henderson lives on the edge. She likes to break the rules, considers partying an extracurricular activity, and can’t stand her parents. So, most people aren’t surprised when she goes missing. Like everyone else, Samantha McGregor assumes Kayla has run away. But then she has a vision where Kayla is tied up with duct tape over her mouth. Freaked by the image, Samantha wonders, Is Kayla alive or dead? Was the vision real or just a silly dream? Most important, can Kayla be found before it’s too late?
If God Gave You a Vision,
Would You Trust It?
Samantha McGregor knows that Kayla Henderson likes to break the rules, considers partying an “extra-curricular” activity, and can’t stand her parents. Fine. That’s Kayla’s thing. Samantha’s not even surprised when Kayla goes missing. Hadn’t she been saying she was going to take off, to go meet her online “boyfriend” in person? It might not be the smartest move in the world, but Kayla would be okay. She always was.
Then the vision comes…and reveals that Kayla is far from okay.
Samantha freaks. Was her vision from God or just imagined? If Kayla’s really in danger, what can Samantha do? Only one person can help her: Detective Ebony Hamilton, her father’s former colleague.
Now this unlikely pair must work against the clock—and the system—to patch together the truth and find Kayla…before it’s too late.
{INSERT ENDORSEMENTS TO COME}
READER’S GUIDE INCLUDED
Story Behind the Book
“The secular world has become very interested in ‘supernatural’ gifts. Take, for example, shows like Joan of Arcadia , The Medium, Monk, and Dead Zone . Yet it’s God who gives every good and perfect gift. My guess is that we humans barely tap into the vast variety of gifts that He has to offer. Not only that, but our fast-paced, high-tech culture rarely relies on those good ‘old-fashioned’ character traits like insight, intuition, wisdom, and foresight. My hope is that this series will provide a fun way for teens to explore deeper levels of spirituality and creativity while inspiring them to a greater love for God.” — Melody Carlson
Customer Reviews:
Wow! A True Nail-Biter.......2007-08-26
As a young teen, I can proudly say that teens will love this book! Its topic of spiritual gifts is something that not many are willing to take hold of; yet Melody Carlson is an amazing writer that has been gifted herself. A veteran in writing stories, Carlson takes the reader on a journey that begins on page one till you fold the back cover over.
Samantha McGregor becomes a larger tool for the Lord than she could have ever imagined. She has suddenly begun to have dreams involving a classmate,Kayla, who has disappeared from the local town. After being scarred enough to do something about the dreams, she soon realizes that they aren't just dreams...they're prophetic dreams. With the help of her father's old police partner, Ebony, Samantha begins to realize that these dreams are Kayla's only hope for safety. Can she get to her in time?
Samantha's pure heart and honest tone are easily relatible for teens. Carlson doesn't sugar-coat anything that Sam does. She has faults, doubts, and even has to deal with the anger towards Ebony due to her father's death on the job. This book is a must have for any teen Christian or not.
God is there, there's no denying, It's supernatural .......2007-08-14
Samantha McGregor is your normal, average, everyday teen girl. Except for one thing: she gets visions from God. She uses her unique spiritual gift to help out others in need. In this book, Samantha sees visions of one of her classmates who has been missing for several weeks. Everyone seems to think that Kayla has just run away from home, but Samantha sees her being tied up and in danger. She turns to the police for help to save her friend. But what if this is just her imagination working overtime?
First things first. This is not a Christian version of "Medium." Yes Samantha can see supernatural visions of the present and glimpses of the future. But she is very quick to defend that this is as a spiritual gift from God. I really enjoyed this book. It's a unique type of teen fiction and Melody Carlson handles it superbly. The storyline was excellent. I didn't know what was going to happen and was really awed by the twists and turns throughout the book. I liked how you have would the plot dealing with Kara and Sam's visions but also have Sam living a normal teen life. Sam is not portrayed as a someone who tries to flaunt her powers, instead she only wants to help out others. At times it'd be creepy seeing what she saw. I have no idea what I would do if something like this ever happened to me. She also acts very mature for her age in dealing with the police. The situation that Kara eventually found herself in, unfortunately, is all too real and there are many girls that have fallen prey to men like that. A good precautionary lesson mentioned there. I would highly recommend this book for teens. Melody Carlson has proved again that when it comes to teen fiction, she is the best author.
Good Story For Teens.......2007-07-06
This is a mixed review. 'Bad Connection' is a novel geared toward teenage girls and I am not one. I am the father of one and was asked to read the book by my daugher.
She loved it. She thought that it was a great book and is going to buy the next one in the series. I thought that it was ok. She would undoubtedly rate it as a five star book and I would call it a three, so I am compromising on four.
The story features 16 year old Samantha McGregor, who has received a gift of visions from God. In this case, she has a dream about one of her friends who is missing. She goes to the police with the information that she has and ends up being included in the investigation.
It is undoubtedly a fun book for teens. It deals with things that interest them. This book does not contain any inappropriate language, scenes, etc. It is based on a Christian worldview.
When my daughter asked me how I liked it and I told her that it was ok, she was shocked that I didn't love it. For that reason, I would recommend it as a gift for teen girls.
Christian Books.......2007-06-16
If God gave you a vision, would you trust it?
Samantha McGregor knows that Kayla Henderson likes to break the rules, considers partying an "extracurricular" activity, and can't stand her parents. Fine. That's Kayla's thing. Samantha's not even suprised when Kayla goes missing. Hadn't she been saying she was going to take off, to go meet her online "boyfriend" in person? It might not be the smartest move in the world, but Kayla would be okay. She always was.
Then the vision comes...and reveals that Kayla is far from okay. Samantha freaks. Was her vision from God or just imagined? If Kayla's really in danger, what can Samantha do? Only one person can help her: Detective Ebony Hamilton, her father's former colleague.
Now this unlikely pair must work against the clock--and the system--to patch together the truth and find Kayla...before it's too late.
Bad Connection is an excellent book full of laughs, suspense, doubts, and even a little romance that I guarantee you will love if you give it a chance.
A Christian based series for all ages that I recommend is Dragon Spell by Donita K. Paul.
Some other Christian books I recommend for more mature teens or adults: Ten Thousand Charms (Crossroads of Grace Book One)by Allison Pittman, Winter is Past by Ruth Axtell Morren, Beauty For Ashes by Dorothy Clark, Child of the Mist (Book One of These Highland Hills)by Katleen Morgan, and Wings of Morning (Book Two of These Highland Hills)by Katleen Morgan.
Bad Connection.......2007-06-05
Have you ever had a dream, good or bad, actually happen? Well, in the book, Bad Connection, Samantha has visions that always seem to come true, the good and the bad.
Samantha McGregor is a gifted person. She has visions that come to life, either in a few days time, a minute's time, or even a month's time. But no matter what, they come true. These visions help to find two missing girls. One of which is a friend of hers, Kayla Henderson. At first Samantha doesn't know what to think of the visions, should she believe them? Are they a gift from god? Or are they just dreams? But she goes with believing that they are a gift from God and they are true when one of them happens the next day.
My favorite part of the book would have to be when Samantha gets invited to help the police find Kayla. They fly down to Arizona (where Samantha's visions led them) and they find Kayla. But on the flight back home, Samantha has another vision that just might ruin their plans. That is where the book ends, but it ends in a way that makes you want to read more.
The theme or idea of this book, I think, is to go with your gut instinct. If you are in a bad situation, and you think that you have a solution, go with it. In Samantha's case, she went with her first instinct. To believe that her visions will help find Kayla Henderson.
I really like the way Melody Carlson started the book. She just jumped right in with a vision that Samantha was having. I think that mostly, teenage girls would like this book. It has a lot to do with God and believing in yourself.
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The Stolen Relic (Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective #7)
Carolyn Keene
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ASIN: 068986843X |
Book Description
My friends and I knew before we got to Arches National Park that it's full of red cliffs arches, and rock formations -- plenty of places for hiking, biking, and getting lost. It's a good thing there are park rangers and guides to help tourist like us find our way. Or at east that's what we thought, until of the guilds left for a second to investigate some noise, and never came back.
It seems unlikely that a respected tour guide who knows the area like the back of her hand could just get lose. Something's fishy. And you can bet I'm going to get to the bottom of this before I find my way home.
Book Description
When Sophie shares her late mother's matzo ball soup recipe with the owner of the local diner, she realizes that she's made a slip. But she has no idea just how much trouble it will cause. After adding a few Midwestern touches to the soup, Wilda enters it in a cooking contest and wins first prize! She's going to be featured on a television cooking show and she wants Sophie to appear with her. Then, when the cast and crew of the show arrive in town, the chef disappears. Now Sophie and Sam have to find him, and find a way to prevent Sophie's face from being broadcast on national television.
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Major Disappointment..........2007-04-02
Following the main characters, Sophie and Sam, from the three previous books in the series, Missing Persons #4: The Unsuspecting Gourmet takes off where the last book left us. Having run away from their stepmother and taking their father's money in the first book, Sophie and Sam were forced to go under cover and eventually ended up in a small town where they were forced to hide their Jewish heritage and pose as someone else altogether so that they could evade their stepmother. The last three books each involved a mystery and The Unsuspecting Gourmet is no different. Sophie and Sam are again thrown right into the midst of another case to solve, only this time, they know the individual personally.
I want to state that I really enjoyed the first three books in the series. I liked that the characters never cussed or drank or did any of the things that can now be found in most all teen novels. It was all very clean and nice. For a very long time I was looking for books that I could read without encountering anything that made me feel uncomfortable and M. E. Rabb's series did just that; and it is extremely rare these days to find something that doesn't cross that fine line between what's necessary and what can be avoided without any damage done to the story whatsoever. These books proved that you don't need any of those things to tell a good story.
The Unsuspecting Gourmet is again not as bad as other teen books I have read. Before I get negative about this book I would like to state that I was looking forward to reading it. I waited for it to be available at the library, but neither my anticipation nor my liking of the three previous books could save my opinion.
Most of The Unsuspecting Gourmet is taken over by the romance between Sophie and Colin. In fact, the first fifty pages or so are mostly over her own inner turmoil regarding the state of their relationship. Now, I truly enjoyed the other books in the series but this fourth installment fell far below my expectations and kept falling...
First off, I am always annoyed when young characters in books have boyfriends. They're thirteen and have a boyfriend and get upset when the relationship ends, as if it could ever have turned into anything serious like marriage. I find stories like that ridiculous. Sophie is fifteen in the book, an age I believe is too young to be involved in anything relatively serious. It has always been my opinion that at that age most people are too immature. I think that M. E. Rabb made a mistake with her age. The story and romance between Colin and Sophie would have been much more believable if she had been at least two years older.
At one point in the story I was extremely bothered when Sophie's older sister, Sam, is worried about Sophie being alone with Colin and brings home one of THOSE books; you know the kind I'm talking about...the birds and the bees...
That was fine with me. It was plausible for her to be worried, but it was Sophie's reaction that really got to me. She makes a comment about one of the pictures and then makes a very tasteless remark. The whole time I was thinking, the girl is only fifteen! She shouldn't even be thinking about that kind of thing yet! I'm coming off sounding like a total prude, but I just think this scene was completely out of character for her and made me disgusted.
I also had a problem with the mystery, which did not take place until about page one hundred something, much more than halfway through the book. On the back there is an excerpt that states what the plotline for the story is, and that doesn't happen until much later on; it's not even really one of the main points in the book. And then when the mystery was solved, (I saw the end coming a mile away; too predictable)it was so abrupt. It felt as if the author threw it in as if they had suddenly realized that a mystery was missing.
Then there was the sudden lack of character development in this novel. Sam was nearly nonexistent. Sophie had changed and was almost unidentifiable, and Colin had been reduced to the cheesy, cliched boyfriend. He only showed up when it was time to pull another one of his corny moves to assure Sophie of his affection. It seemed that every time she felt insecure or had doubts or wanted to call him but couldn't make up her mind whether he might want her to or not, he would suddenly be at her door. I don't like cheesy coincidences. It was like a really bad romance movie that I hate to watch.
----(Extremely minor Spoiler)----
In the beginning, there is a moment when Colin brings Sophie and Sam a Christmas tree. (One of his many irritating appearances in the book. He continues with this behavior, nonstop. Of course, nothing like a real boys actions.) Sophie immediately thinks something like, "Oh, that's so sweet. It's like bringing flowers only bigger." Not a page later, another person enters their house and says the EXACT SAME THING! It's like the author didn't think the readers would understand the momentous gesture his actions implied and had to choke us with our own stupidity. Well, I certainly noticed now, only not in a good way.
Another time when the author doesn't believe the reader is smart enough to understand happens later in the story when Wilda is talking about her recipe. I was reading and I realized that she basically said the same thing in two separate paragraphs on two separate pages. Very annoying. Again the author obviously didn't think I had read her words the first time so they had to be repeated.
----(End Spoiler)----
Overall: A major disappointment in what was a very good series, full of annoyingly different characters from their previous selves, little climax or mystery where the mystery was concerned, no worrying where the stepmother or their dilemma was concerned, and no caring on my part.
An interesting, funny, trendy 'Nancy Drew'-type series that will please mystery readers of all ages.......2006-01-27
Sophie knows that she's made a big mistake, when she accidentally lets her mother's famous matzo ball soup recipe to Wilda Higgins, the owner of the Petal Diner. After all, she and her sister - Sam - are known to the town of Venice, Indiana as two Christian girls whose parents were killed in a car accident, not two Jewish girls who ran away from Queens, New York with their evil stepmother's money. However, Wilda quickly adds some Midwestern touches to make the recipe her own, then enters it into a contest. However, when Wilda wins, and is chosen to appear on Griffin Gateaux's cable television cooking show, she invites Sophie to join her on-screen. Now, Sam must figure out a way to prevent Sophie's face from being plastered all over the media, or their covers will definitely be blown. But that's the least of their worries, for Wilda and Griffin quickly disappear while touring local dairy farms, and now it's up to Sophie and Sam, along with their Private Investigator boss, the gruff Gus, to find Wilda and Griffin before they're both...expired.
With so few mystery series on the market for teens nowadays, it's wonderful to have the opportunity to pick up one of M.E. Rabb's books, and enter the small town of Venice, solving missing persons cases. Rabb has a talent of creating interesting, out-of-the-ordinary problems for the Shattenberg sisters, that keep readers guessing from first page to last. THE UNSUSPECTING GOURMET is no exception. Sophie and Sam are quirky, and fun to read about; and the adventures they encounter in the bizarro Venice, Indiana leave readers laughing, and dying for a slice of Wilda's famous pie. An interesting, funny, trendy NANCY DREW-type series that will please mystery readers of all ages. My only qualm is that it appears that this series has been discontinued.
Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper
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Dangerous Plays (Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective #16)
Carolyn Keene
Manufacturer: Aladdin
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ASIN: 1416906053 |
Book Description
Dad, Bess, and I are all set for London when Ned's Shakespeare professor asks us to do a simple favor: to take a look at his townhouse while we're there, since he can't seem to locate the housekeeper and fears something's wrong. Sounds easy enough, so I take the key.
Eager to cross the favor off our list, we stop by 53 Banbury Square shortly after we land. And let's just say things in the townhouse aren't quite tip-top. And the key? Well, it unlocks a Pandora's box of serious trouble.
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Books Index
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