Mystery Crime Books

I didn't find vol. 3 to be as engrossing as the first two volumes in the series. Partly, I think, because of the lack of a central protagonist. Brubaker opts to tell three different interconnected stories here rather than focusing on a central character. I would still recommend The Dead and the Dying if you are a fan of the series, crime fiction, noir, Ed Brubaker's writing, or all of the above. Criminal Vol. 1: Coward, and Criminal Vol. 2: Lawless, are some of the best fiction I've read in awhile. So if you are looking for an introduction to the series, start there.

The first two volumes of the Criminal were hard boiled bonanza. In third we see a story telling bonanza. The third volume has one story, from three different acters. The story starts from the middle, proceeds to the end for one charaters, then it starts again from the middle, proceeds to the end for one other character and in the third story we see the beginning. This editing trick made the story great, sure the characters are complex, drwaing and coloring are superb, but the story telling and edinting is what made this one great for me. If you want the good stuff read Parker novels, if you want the best read Criminal.

I'm a big Ed Brubaker fan. His comics have always carried a crime and noir feeling about them that strike a resonance within me. I know we must have read the same books growing up. Probably still like the same authors, if we compared notes.

I've read his work on CAPTAIN AMERICA and DAREDEVIL, and his work on GOTHAM CENTRAL (which is finally getting the hardcover treatment those books are due). I've thrilled to SLEEPER and the undercover cop motif he worked out in that run. Still don't know why that hasn't become a movie, but maybe it's in the works.

But I'm really wowed by his CRIMINAL books. The comic series comes out irregularly, when Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips have time to put the issues out. Timeliness is a big thing in comics these days, so they make sure they're ready to rock and roll before they start releasing them.

I've reviewed the previous two CRIMINAL graphic novels and found both of them to be great reads. Each graphic novel before has stood on its own, so readers new to the series don't have to read them in any particular order. Brubaker's world of criminals and hustlers gets bigger with each new volume, though, so it's interesting to watch it grow.

However, the earlier books have to be read in order. In this latest graphic novel, CRIMINAL: THE DEAD AND THE DYING, you can read any of the three issues in any order. In fact, I'd recommend going back after you've read it the first time and mixing up the reading order just to see what new information you get out of the story.

Each of the issues is set in the 1970s and concerns itself with a different character, but all of them have lives that overlap. The book immediately reminded me of PULP FICTION in the way that it ended almost the way it began.

The first issue, "Second Chance In Hell", revolves around Jake a young black boxer with ties to a criminal past. All his life he's been best friends with Sebastian Hyde, the heir to a criminal empire. Jake's father worked for Sebastian's father and the two boys, despite being racially separate, grew up together.

While Jake and Sebastian's relationship is undergoing a strain, Jake's old flame Danica walks back into the picture. Jake is supposed to be training for the fight of his career, supposed to be focused, but he can't help getting pulled back into the fire by Danica. Regular readers of CRIMINAL have met Jake before. He's the bartender at Undertown, a place where all the bad guys congregate and plan heists and murders. In this issue, we get to see his back story as well as how he got his limp.

"A Wolf Among Wolves" reveals the history of Teeg Lawless, the father of the two boys in CRIMINAL Volume 2. Readers are treated to a returning, disillusioned war vet who went into Vietnam with all kinds of problems to begin with. He came back with even more, including a gambling problem that puts him on the wrong side of a deadly bookie.

Brubaker deftly weaves this story in with the first tale, mixing characters and revealing more of what happened during the robbery that changed things forever between Jake and Sebastian. It also reveals how much Danica had to do with things.

I admit, I was seriously stoked over this issue when I saw how neatly Brubaker had plotted everything. I had questions left over from the previous issue, and some of them were answered, but not all.

"Female Of The Species" is Danica's story. Everything we thought we knew about her gets flipped on its head and turned inside out in this issue. We find out why she made the decision that broke Jake's heart and how she got seriously messed up herself after all of that. When I saw her on the page in the first couple of issues, I didn't like her. But after reading her story, I saw her in a new light. Just as Brubaker planned.

Throughout all these issues, Brubaker's ear for street dialogue and his eye for pacing and the neon-drenched shadows that cling to the alleys commands attention. Sean Phillips's artwork brings the rough world of these career criminals into sharp focus.

I hope the pair continues turning out these stories. They've currently got a new arc underway and I can't wait to see what happens. I just have to be patient as they take their time. That's hard, though, because nobody does bad as good as they do.

This volume of Criminal is arguably the best yet. While the characters aren't as immediately likeable as Leo, or desperately engrossing like Tracy, they are perfectly crafted and shoved into a delightfully broken morality tale.

I agree word for word with S. Curly in his above review, except for the deduction of one star for the lack of essays. You can't judge this product on what it lacks, but on what it presents. The essays are an incentive to the monthly readers, but they're not Criminal. The book doesn't deserve to be penalized for not reprinting them. That's like penalizing a DVD release because it doesn't have a special feature that interviews the director's friends about their favorite things about the genre. You may catch such an interview on TV, but to decide the product is worth less because they're not included is flawed thinking.

This third collection of stories coincided with "Criminal"'s relaunch as a new volume, with a new format, including more pages, though some of these are given over to the articles, which are, of course, not included in these collected editions, since they are meant as incentives to monthly readers. These trades feel somewhat incomplete for someone who reads the single issues, one of the few cases where a series debatably reads better in that format (for the record, these three issues featured: Duane Swierczynski, crime novelist and Marvel comics writer, on 'The Burglar' by David Goodis; Marvel/Vertigo writer Jason Aaron on his favourite film and TV tough guys; and Sony VP Michael Stradford on 'The Yakuza', a 70s Sydney Pollack/Robert Mitchum gangster drama). Brubaker and Phillips elect to take their new larger issue format to tell three one-shot stories, which nevertheless are indelibly linked by the story of one character, who appears in all three.

The first story ("Second Chance in Hell") details the origin of Gnarly, the bartender of the Undertow who appeared in the first two story arcs. We get his backstory as a down-on-his-lukc boxer with a childhood connection to Sebastian Hyde, the man we met in the preceding story as the aged, all-powerful underboss of the city. This may be the strongest of the three stories, though all are quite good (personally, I'd quite like to see a story about Gnarly set in the present day, to see what happened with him and the little girl Angie). The second story ("A Wolf Among Wolves") is about Teeg Lawless, the father of Tracy and Ricky Lawless, both featured in the preceding arc (aptly titled "Lawless"). Lawless is a drug-addicted Vietnam veteran who returns home to find himself indebted to the mob, and, in the course of trying to escape its clutches, may find himself relentlessly pulled in (much as his son Tracy was in the preceding story). Tracy is the least sympathetic of the three main characters (though characters in crime fiction don't need to be conventionally sympathetic; indeed, that's often the attraction). Phillips makes effective use of blacked-out panels to communicate Teeg's drug-induced stupor, and the ending has a rather bitter tone mixed with Teeg's parental sacrifice, knowing how his children will turn out. Finally, there is the story of Danica Briggs ("Female of the Species"), the first female main character in "Criminal"'s run so far (there is usually only one prominent female character per tale, the obligatory femme fatale). Danica is indeed a femme fatale of sorts, but, by the time she gets her solo tale, we already know her beginning (in Gnarly's story) and end (in Teeg's). It lends the finale a morbid poignancy.

Brubaker is a first-rate writer of crime fiction, and "Criminal" features him at the top of his game. The tone is brilliantly noirish, with a perfect atmosphere of desperation and sober immorality (with clearly levels, from those just out to survive to those who are out to dominate; the first story, in particular, gives an interesting spotlight on Sebastian Hyde, at the point where he was caught between entering the family business or staying out of it). Sean Phillips' art is perfect for the subject matter, bringing the properly grey sensibility to a noir world. This is probably a five-star collection, but I deduct one for the absence of the articles, which add a lot to the reading experience.

how can carol higgins clark show her face in public after this book? her mother is a much better writer. does she even consult her mother before writng? i read someother books by her and they were better. the only expalntion for this book would be she was taking some of those knockout drugs she wrote about in this book.the characters go out of thier way to find a woman who is going to brand a man. they do not know them. why does the brand say i am snake? why does she brand blond men? are they cows? where would you buy this? also the guy's parents can drive in from maine through a blackout? they have to go through new jersey which was also in a blackoout in this book. what about highway lights and traffic signals?
how did everyone from the other states make it over the bridge? unbelievable.

This was the first Carol Higgins Clark book that I have read and I'm afraid that it will be my last. Admittedly this book is a quick read so you don't waste too much time on it, but I suspect that it was very quickly written too.
The tone of the writing suggest a mildy talented teenager is writing the book. There are far too many characters who all seem to 'coincidentaly' wind up involved in the same farce. New York comes across as a small town, not a huge city!
The character names sometimes stretch the powers of belief - Mr Blankbucks and Huckleberry Darling??
Do yourself a favour and find something else to spend a couple of hours reading - even a local newspaper will have more entertainment value.

I'm afraid that I have to agree with most of the reviewers. This was the weakest of the Regan Reilly mystery series. The book lacked suspense and pausibility. The reader knew early on what the outcome would be, and why would anyone attempt to break into a dwelling that one previously owned when contact with the new owners could easily be made, relating to them that some important papers had been inadvertently left behind. Also unexplained is how cellphones and laptop computers can be used so freely without without electrical recharging. Additionally, Georgina was not a believable antagonist. Branding someone in the midst of a NY City blackout does not appear to warrant the extensive involvement of either a private investigator, numerous unrelated strangers, or the head of the major crime division of the NYPD.

If this book is a precursor of what we can expect from Carol Higgins Clark in the future, I'm afraid her readership will suffer immensely. She may have,like so many other mystery writers, simply been zapped of any fresh and original plot twists.

Really, really glad I got this at the library and didn't spend any money on it.
The plot - Crazy lady actress leaves some letters in a loft her estranged husband sold to Regan Reilly(heroine of this series). Instead of just going by (or calling) to retrieve her letters, she hatches this plot with her "friend" to go break in and get them back. This happens during a blackout of NYC where all cellphones work and our heroine manages to drive thru everything to rescue a friend and find a mystery to solve, no problem.
Can't believe this even got published.

My friend bought me this book for my birthday knowing I liked mysteries (If you actually want to call this a mystery),therefore, I felt obligated to finish it even though I didn't like it 20 pages in. I've since made a vow to myself never to be this loyal to any friend. No friend is worth what I went through while reading this.
Ok, where to start? First of all, this is the only (and last) book I've ever read of this series or this author for that matter. Is it just me or is this the perfect, crime-solving couple that's better looking than you or I but not quite Brad and Angelina. They love each other soooooooooo much it makes me sick. I literally think the last words of the book are (You might not want to read the next line if you haven't read the book)
something like "I love you so much dear, what would I do without you?" and they all enjoy a good laugh like the last 9 seconds of your typical Scooby-Doo episode.
The main plot follows a derranged girl who picks up blonde guys, drugs them and brands "I am a snake" in their arm, all the while New York city is under a blackout, making things even more ridiculous. So perfect wife gathers the usual suspects along the way so they can save this poor blonde-guy from being slighlty uncofortable for a little while. Invigorating.
Do yourself a favor and don't read this book. Do your house a favor and don't bring this book inside of it.

The Lymond Chronicles are the most amazing series of historical fiction I've ever read. And I've read a lot of historical fiction. Dunnett does a brilliant job of developing a complex story line that you can read over and over and still discover links in the chain.

Game of Kings introduces us to Lymond, the brilliant young Renaissance man who is always trying to explain himself to people who not only don't understand him, but that don't understand how his mind works. But Dunnett does a masterful job of both keeping us in suspense about Lymond's motives while at the same time creating a sympathetic character.

Read this book--it won't disappoint. Then read the rest of the series--they won't disappoint either.

Believe all the reviews that say that this is a difficult read. Unless you are an Oxford Scholar (which I am not), this is not an easy read. I had to read the first 100 pages twice before I could finally get into this book and somewhat understand what was going on but once I did, I must admit this was a delightful book. I have read tons and tons of books and there are very few that I could name that kept the adventure rolling. I devoured the pages quickly in order to see what trouble Lymond was getting himself into and how he was going to get himself out of them.

I really enjoyed Lymond as the anti-hero but I must secretly admit that my hero was his mother, Lady Sybilla. I guess the saying is true, BEHIND EVERY GREAT MAN IS A GREAT WOMAN. You read this story and decide if this is true.

I am an avid reader of all kinds of books and have an advanced degree in literature and I have to say, this book was just TOO MUCH WORK. It seems like there was a grand plot in there somewhere, and I know people love this series, but I simply couldn't follow it -- with the arcane vocab and extensive use of untranslated foreign languages...sure, I'd slog through it if it were a class assignment, but after 200 pages of wondering if I'd had a head injury which wiped out my reading comprehension skills, I gave up.

I have to agree with the reviewers who have rated this book poorly. It was so boring. I truly kept waiting for the book to get good because I really wanted to like it. I finally put it down with 50 pages left -- at that point I knew it was not getting any better. I was actually relieved to start a new book. The Game of Kings is not worth the time, money, or painstaking effort.

I have just finished the last of the six - Checkmate. I was gripped from the first - Game of Kings. The writing is stunning, the plots complex and very exciting and the hero, Francis Crawford, is mesmerising. I highly recommend all six to anyone who is fond of historical fiction. The stories are all set in amongst genuine characters and events over a period of 10 years in the middle of the 16th C starting in Scotland with the young Mary Queen of Scots but taking in history and politics during that same period in England, Russia, Malta, Turkey and France. The personal stories of Francis, his family and friends/enemies are twisted through the whole in a wonderfully witty, moving and fascinating manner. To start with I was slightly daunted by the detail but persist - the rewards are great.

This is one of Jance's earlier J.P. Beaumont mysteries. It was still a page turner. The story is set in the Seattle area and those readers familiar with the city will appreciate the many references that make this series so enjoyable. The series only gets better.

"Injustice For All" by J. A. Jance, ©1986

This is a tried and true sort of mystery novel. The hardbitten detective is trying to solve a murder that is not on his duty roster.
I enjoy the Seattle area and it is always nice to read about somewhere that you know. The detective is good at what he does and has gotten caustic about. I recently read about genius' are idiosyncratic, so people they have to work with or through tend to dislike them. It begins to be that the genius is not appreciated as he should be, and Beau is getting to like that genius.
In the beginning he gets to enjoy the fruits of love, and, of course, she enjoys it as much as he does. How wonderful, but it is sort of contrived, maybe. I am not all that experienced, so I am not a real good judge of this stuff, but it seems that it makes him a little bit too perfect. Like his being independently wealthy: just a bit too much of all the good things happen to him.

J.P.Beaumont has buried Anne Corley, but isn't finding being rich as attractive as it's advertised. J.A. Jance fulfills our expectations with Beau's "hard boiled, flawed" character and his partner Ron Peters. A mystery wouldn't be any fun if the good guys didn't win in the end, but a confessional is trite.
One of the best characters in the story is the flamboyant city of Settle, especially for someone who has never been near the west coast and missed seeing "Sleeping in Settle." I personally enjoy the character of Ralph Ames. Maybe because he reminds me of a cousin I had by the same name who was slicker than oil on water.
A vacation gone bad with a beautiful blonde, needing comfort because of the body at her feet keeps you turning pages.
Nash Black, author of "Sins of the Fathers" and "Travelers."

Just buy it and all the other stories with JP Beaumont.
I love them...all!

I enjoyed this book all the way through. The characters are great and the situations Beau puts himself into are quite entertaining. All the way up to the last 30 pages I was waffling between a four or five star rating. The ending just didn't work for me. I've never been a fan of the bad guy thinking he's got the upper hand spills his guts to the cop ending. That knocked me back to 3.5 stars.

That said, Judith Jance really has something going on. It was fun riding along with the investigation, meeting the suspects, attending events uninvited to harass politicians. Something that I particularly enjoyed was that the list of suspects was assembled complete with negative perspective and suspicion and then as Beaumont moves through the list, the suspicion dissipates and we meet every day likeable people. Well done.

There were some very funny and creatively developed scenes that went a long way toward establishing me as a fan of J. A. Jance. The word-picture memory trick was hilarious. And the Pasco police chief's office as well as the Mary Kay convention were stand out scenes.

i am not one who likes to read but since i had to do a book report i figured "wat da hell" lol... n e wayz lisa jackson did a good job ei diz book n i never stopped readin it... i now read alot of her books n this book is worth reading...

This is the best book I've read in a long time, and I've read plenty. I found it difficult to put down. It has romance without a lot of fluff, action without a lot of gore, and mystery to keep you thinking. The main characters, Brig and Cassidy, were very likeable, yet believably flawed (I can't stand it when the main characters are perfect). Thank you, Lisa Jackson, for the entertaining book which I finished much too quickly.

Lisa Jackson does it again. She is one of the best authors on my list...in fact, she's at the very top. Out of all the books i've read by her, she hasn't let me down yet. Including this one which was a page turner. Way to go Lisa!!! U got my vote!

Final Scream is the fourth book that I have read by Lisa Jackson. I like to read her books because I know that it will have alot of suspense and mystery.
The story is mainly about the Buchanan Family and Brig McKenzie. Cassidy Buchanan is a rich girl from a 'normal' family, and Brig is the poor boy from a trailer. He is older than Cassidy, but there is an attraction between them.
I did find that the book was too long, and I thought that there was alot of pages taken up in laying the history of the story for the characters. Some things were hard to believe, while others were just plain sick.
Things I question: If Cassidy wasn't in love with Brig's brother, why did she marry him? Why was someone always getting pregnant, drunk, or living a double life?
Things I had a problem with: I didn't like the character of Cassidy that much. Despite her weird family, I lost alot of sympathy that I had for her when it seemed that she was using Brig's brother. This is the second book that I have read by Lisa that has the 'mystical crazy person'-Brig's mother, as a Native American. Since this is the second book that I have read of hers where this is the case I was a little offended. Being part Native American might have something to do with it, but that's my opinion. Maybe in the next book, the crazy person will be of another ethnic group. My fingers are crossed!
I like most of Lisa's books, and I think she has a great talent for description and suspense. But this was not one of her best books.

Wealthy tomboy Cassidy Buchanan fell hard at 16 for Brig McKenzie, a lothario from the wrong side of the tracks hired to break her unruly horse. Her older sister Angie would do anything to have sexy Brig in her bed, but it's Cass that Brig has eyes for. When Angie and one of her suitors is killed in a fire, Brig flees the ranch, convinced he'll be the primary suspect (whch turns out to be correct, as no other suspect is considered or investigated). Fast forward 17 years, and another suspicious fire has occurred on the property. Cass in now married to Brig's older brother Chase, who has always been driven to surpass his humble roots and the marriage is on the rocks. When she learns that Chase and an unidentified man were injured in the fire, she races to Chase's side, offering to help nurse him to health. She suspects that the other victim, who soon succumbs to his injuries (with the help of the arsonist responsible for both fires) is Brig, and mourns the loss of her true love while nursing his brother back to health, and suddenly feeling an intense connection to her once estranged husband.

"Final Scream" is a repackaged and expanded version of the previously released novel "Intimacies" which was penned by Jackson back in 1995. Half of the book is spent in 1977, building the relationship of Brig and Cassidy, as well as setting the stage for what a nasty family Cassidy came from. Love, lies, deception, infidelity, and incest rule in this story, with a haiku pulled at the end to identify the arsonist. It's a long book (coming it at nearly 600 pages), but pretty engrossing once you get involved in the story; it could have been trimmed at least 150 pages and still maintained the romance and suspense. I would have preferred that Jackson tighten rather than expand the story. But despite its length, it's an intriguing and fast moving story.

This item is wonderful!!!!! I think everyone should get a chance to redad it! Even rented on the library.Really!

The book The Haunted Hotel by Ron Roy is part of the A-Z Mysteries series. I have enjoyed many books written by Ron Roy. In The Haunted Hotel there is this ghost that terrorizes the hotel and three kids try to figure out who the ghost is. The main characters are Josh, Dink and Ruth Rose .The book is set in a hotel. It shows how hard it is to be a detective.
My favorite part was when they found out who the ghost was. The book is very exciting and fun to read. I recommend this book for people who like mysteries. That's what I think of the book.
By Hilda

The time that I read this book I felt so thrilled for the ghost that tortures the Shangrala hotel.This book is the one reason that I bought the entire series. Ron Roy is a person that loves mystery books. I am glad he made those books because if he didn't then I wouldn't be thrilled by any other book.

This book was great. I liked it because it was a good mystery for younger kids! My favorite part was when they found out who the ghost ...was! I think it was a good book and I hope other kids enjoy reading it like I did!!!!!!!

It was the first book I ever read in the A to Z mysteries. I like it because it was short and there were map in the front page. It about three kid, Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose who solve the mystery of the ghost in the hotel. Read it, you will like it.

If you love Monk on TV, you will love these books. They follow the series exactly. Good reads. Mr. Monk in Outer space is the fifth title in this series. Two more are coming soon.

Although I've been watching the tv series of Mr Monk for several seasons, I only found out about the novels 2 weeks ago at my local library. I borrowed one and then hoarded the next three before anyone else got them. I was surprised how well written they were and how many crimes there were. Most normal crime novels devote their entire length to solving a single crime. In Lee Goldberg's Mr Monk, Monk hilariously solves anything from five to a dozen! Written from the first person aspect of Natalie Teager, the first four novella were, in some ways, actually more fun than the tv series. You cant see the actual compulsions so excellently and accurately portrayed on tv, but as there are no hourly time limits, Goldberg is free to include more shenanagans and raise Natalie's and Stottlemeyer's blood pressure just that little bit more!

Which leads me to book five- Mr Monk in Outer Space.

Obviously, Mr Monk isnt really in Outer Space per se. He'd have a coronary just thinking about it (although if he actually got there, he'd probably love the peace and quiet imho). But the crime committed happens just outside a scifi convention of Beyond Earth, a 1970's sci fi tv show.

This fifth novel was brilliant in some ways, but a little disappointing in others. I never like it when I solve the crime way in the beginning. It's like in Mr Monk and the Two Assistants, and he reads the mystery books and solves them after reading the first few pages. I also thought it was a bit unusual for Mr Monk to actually have to plan to draw the killer out at the end. That seemed a bit out of character.

Still, there's enough fun for the whole family, so to speak, and I am now about to dive into the sixth installment, Mr Monk Goes to Germany.

So overall, not the best of the series, but if this is a "bad one", then that says volumes about the quality of the others.

221. I've not read any other Mr. Monk books.

222. I've not seen a single episode from the television series.

223. I did find Mr. Monk in Outer Space, by Lee Goldberg, witty and, first and foremost, a mystery novel.

In Mr. Monk in Outer Space, "murders" at the headquarters of Burgerville (i.e., Burger King) and at the sci-fi convention for Beyond Earth (i.e., Star Trek), take Mr. Monk and his assistant, Natalie, to adventures involving revolving doors, four-breasted alien females, coffee stains, and animal heads.

The diatribe between Mr. Monk and... everyone else... is always interesting. When Monk's brother gets involved, Mr. Monk finds someone to pity.

I will look for another book in the series, and an opportunity to watch two or four episodes!

Just like the other Monk books, this one had me laughing out loud and making everyone around me jealous.

Mr. Monk is an obsessive-compulsive - and also a great detective who consults for the San Francisco Police Department. They only call him in for the really tough cases, like the murder of Conrad Lorber, CEO of fast-food giant Burgerville. And then the murder of Conrad Stipe, creator of the cult television hit Beyond Earth. But the corpses don't stop piling up there. Mr. Monk's incredible skill is needed!

The story is told by Natalie, Adrian Monk's long suffering assistant. A single mother with a 12 year old daughter, Monk seems to be Natalie's second parental responsibility.

Monk has enough quirks, neuroses and phobias to get his own chapter, if not volume, in the DSM. But his unique skills are needed to solve all these murders which have an oddness of their own. Lorber, for example . . . well, I don't want spoil it for you. So I won't tell you much about Conrad Stipe's murderer except that he has an odd nose and ears.

Though Monk can't make it through a revolving door, won't go to odd-numbered floors, counts the parking meters on streets, is afraid of elevators and so much more, his powers of deduction are so great, that solving the most baffling of murders is child's play for him.

But this time, he needs not only Natalie's help, but that of his brother as well. Ambrose Monk is an agoraphobic (panic disorder in today's lexicon) who hasn't left his house in years. But Ambrose is a successful writer of all manner of things like installation manuals. He is also the author of the authoritative history of Beyond Earth and understands Drach, the entirely made up language of one of Beyond Earth's characters. (If you get the impression that Beyond Earth is a send up of Star Trek, you're absolutely right - and it is very funny.)

Adrian Monk, for once, has to acknowledge his brother's worth, which is mildly heartwarming.

All in all, Mr. Monk solves a bunch of murders in his inimitable way and everyone lives neurotically forever after.

Lee Goldberg has turned out another very humorous installment of the Mr. Monk saga.

Jerry

The fifth and final book in the Vicky Bliss series finds Vicky on a cruise down the Nile with John and his new bride. Vicky is understandably upset and confused- she was sent here to stop the Cairo Museum from being robbed. Is everything as it seems?

This is a satisfying end to my favorite series by Elizabeth Peters. The story is entertaining and unpredictable. Many loose ends are tied up, and although I would wish for more stories starring Vicky and John, the story is wrapped up well. I definitely recommend it.

I love this author. Her writing is whitty, and intelligent. I am also a great fan of her other mystery series.

I have no idea where do those 5 stars from the numerous reviews come from. This book is closer to a soap opera then to a serious mystery novel. It reminds me little of M.C. Beaton novels, only that in my opinion those are significantly more enjoyable to read. Perhaps it has been a mistake to start with a 5th book in the series, if the 1st book in the series comes my way I will give it a try, if only to verify that the rest is not much better then the 5th. I guess these books are targeted towards female audience.
On the other thought, I might give this author miss in a future it took a considerable effort to get to the end of this book. Not my cup of tea.

I am new to reading mysteries outside of those written by agatha christie. I picked up this book because I was intrigued to read about a smart and clever art historian as detective and also because this book seemed to get so many good reviews.

I am close to the end but so far it has been a total letdown. ugh!!! vicky is a big blond ditz who spends more time worrying about her hair and clothes than in learning about the suspects she is hired to find or about the art treasure she gets to visit. (there is very little info on the artwork at all, which was a letdown as I am a nerd and like learning about that stuff.)

vicky is not a sleuth! she needs to get rescued by a big strong man left and right. she can't figure out anything for herself. everything is spelled out for her, and for the reader, except that I was pretty much able to guess the guilty parties from the start. it isn't that hard!

the big mystery here is wondering why we are following such a vacant vicky around? why not a character who is informed and observes things?

the soap opera romance is cliche. this book is a bit of a letdown if you are hoping for a gripping intelligent thriller.

reader beware!

Where, oh where, is another Vicky Bliss novel? Although I'm a major fan of the Amelia Peabody series, beginning with Crocodile On A Sandbank, I'm also a fan of Vicky Bliss (is it just me, or do others find her last name amusing, given her determination to be taken seriously?). Vicky and her fellow characters are an incredible bunch, and I've always enjoyed her adventures. This time it's off to Egypt, where she begins to doubt her own sanity, and as always, the sincerity of her some time lover, John Smythe. But fear not, gentle reader, all will be explained. Usually with the wit and humor this series is famous for. Elizabeth Peters writes wonderfully amusing dialogue, and the scenes crackle. My only complaint is that we haven't seen Vicky in a long time, and I, for one, miss this series. This one is a roller coaster in the manner of Indiana Jones. Don't miss this one, it's a real treat for fans!

Perhaps the only thing stranger than what Mormons believe is how little Americans understand what Mormons believe.

Much to the chagrin of this uniquely-American sect, Mormons only bubble to the surface of public consciousness when they're doing something weird: killing people, having sex with little kids, threatening to secede from the Union, etc.

Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (Doubleday, 2003) could be fairly criticized as contributing to such a skewed perception of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). Krakauer starts off with the 1984 murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty by two Mormon fundamentalists who claimed to have received a revelation from Heavenly Father to kill their brother's wife and infant daughter.

Krakauer then jumps back to the history of the Church's charismatic prophet, Joseph Smith, and intersperses a more-or-less chronological Mormon history in and around the case histories of individual Mormon nutballs.

The Church's reaction was swift and predictable. As soon as the book hit the streets, the LDS Office of Media Relations (who usually maintain a policy of silence in response to non-Mormon scholarship or pop culture references to Mormonism) issued an immediate press release denouncing Krakauer as "no historian...a storyteller who cuts corners to make the story sound good."

Which might be understandable (no group likes to be associated with its members who go off the rails), except the Church's denunciation - often followed by brisk excommunication - of even its own historians and intellectuals is doing far more to keep Mormons in the kook fringe than the rich history of the Saints themselves. This doth-protest-too-much secrecy is bound to appear to outsiders like insularity, rigidity, and fundamentalism.

Krakauer's admiration for LDS culture and its influence on American history is evident to anyone who doesn't approach the book defensively from the start and he adequately justifies the need to understand high-profile anomalies like the Laffertys through the lens of Mormon history. The Church's insistence upon mainstream ignorance of everything from their formation to their temple rituals has been backfiring on the Saints since 1830.

More importantly, Under the Banner of Heaven is far more interesting when considered in reverse of the way it's usually interpreted: as a vehicle for understanding America through the Mormons rather than examining the Mormons under the microscope of their own highly readable narrative.

Americans already fetishize religion only in terms of the devout - whether the devoutly mainstream or the devoutly fundamentalist. This may be somewhat more true of Mormons. The Church itself extends the mantle of Mormondom solely to its mainstream devotees, the late LDS Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley once declaring, "There are actually no Mormon fundamentalists."

But if Krakauer is guilty of overemphasis on Mormonism's craziest adherents, it only reflects the degree to which Americans already minimize or ignore the many shades of grey that exist among the culturally religious or among non-practicing believers. We Yanks so admire the doctrinaire purity of belief that it's perhaps surprising we don't have more practitioners of "violent faith" well beyond the mountain-ringed Zion of Salt Lake City. (Incidentally, according to federal crime statistics, Utah is on the lower end of violent crime rates per capita, though they have an unusually high rate of stolen vehicles. But "Under the Banner of Car Theft" wouldn't be nearly as interesting.)

The tension in Mormonism between obedience and anarchy (begun when Smith encouraged his followers to receive their own revelations from Heavenly Father, only to find that such a policy usurped his own authority) Krakauer identifies as the source of a constant fundamentalist undertow that tugs at mainstream Mormons. But that same tension exists throughout American culture and trying to determine which preceded the other may be a chicken-egg question.

Mormon culture values obedience to authority while Mormon theology is a freewheeling blend of revelation and "faith-promoting" folklore - a combination Krakauer suggests leaves disillusioned Saints with little option but to abandon the official Church and seek their own revelations for restoring Smith's original vision, sometimes with dangerously blood-soaked results.

However, this same cycle of conformity and rebellion reveals itself throughout American history, as the Union swerves between seeking a unifying culture and staunchly - sometimes neurotically - maintaining the right of its individual citizens to do more or less whatever they please, seeking to live their lives free of federal intrusion, even if doing so involves living outside the law whose supremacy is embodied in the Constitution itself.

For those disinclined to regard Joseph Smith as an emissary of God, he fits right in with America's long history of traveling charlatans and charismatic hucksters, convincing hundreds of the earliest Mormons that he had discovered a set of golden plates on New York's Hill Cumorah - which he alone could translate, which he alone had ever seen, and which could not be reproduced when his assistant, Martin Harris, lost 116 pages of the original manuscript.

(It's widely believed, though unconfirmed, that Harris' wife hid the missing pages in frustration over her husband's obsession with Smith and his visions. Lucy Harris eventually left him when Martin sold their farm and gave Smith every penny they had to print the first translations.)

The golden plates became The Book of Mormon, the bedrock of LDS scripture. Criticized for its shoddy attempt at archaic language (the phrase "and it came to pass" is repeated over 2,000 times), its story is extraordinarily complex and purports to be a history of Jesus and the Israelites in North America.

To non-Mormons, the story is startling for its unapologetic racism. Six hundred years before the birth of Christ, Lehi left Jerusalem for the Americas. His two sons, Nephi and Laman, split the Hebrew tribe into two warring factions and the Lamanites were cursed by God with dark skin as punishment for their disobedience.

After his resurrection, Jesus visited North America to share the gospel with these tribes, uniting them for 400 years, until the Lamanites rebelled and slaughtered all the Nephites (except Mormon, whose son, Moroni, returned to tell Smith of the existence of the golden plates).

The Lamanites, now the dark-skinned American Indians, forgot their Jewish heritage and this, according to Mormonism, is why European settlers found no white people when they arrived in the New World a thousand years later.

To non-Mormons, this story is not only viciously racist (until the 1970s, it was used to prohibit all but white men from holding the Mormon priesthood), but clearly insane - referring to inventions that didn't yet exist at the time these events supposedly transpired and DNA research has conclusively dismissed that American Indians are descendants of the Jews.

But setting aside that all scripture is a matter of faith by definition (nothing in The Book of Mormon is any crazier than talking snakes, virgin births, or ritualistic bathing before 5-times daily prayers facing Mecca), Krakauer's history forces an anthropological question that he never quite addresses head-on.

To be fair, it's outside the scope of his project in Banner, but all religions could be fairly described as merely giving a divine stamp of approval on the battles between ethic tribes over the course of world history. Mormonism only seems uniquely racist because the tribes in question (European settlers versus the indigenous people of North America) are still races we recognize and whose tensions are still felt in contemporary society.

Whatever animosity may exist among them now, the battles that originally shaped Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are lost to the mists of ancient history. Mormonism is no more racist than any of these; it suffers this reputation simply for being modern enough that the effects of its early history are still visible in America today.

The point here isn't that Mormons aren't kooks; it's that they're no kookier than the deepest elements of American culture itself. The apocalyptic streak of LDS theology perfectly mirrors our historical flirtation with scientism, our spasms of religious revival (from which Mormonism itself was born), and our current fascination with the disaster scenarios of Y2K or global warming.

Mormon obedience to authority is a microcosm of our security in conformity; their fierce protection of freedom from government intrusion little different than the "Wild West" mentality that has shaped American identity since before the Declaration of Independence.

Mormon "revelations" are nothing more than the logical extension of Protestantism's democratic ideals of removing intermediaries between God and man; Smith's Doctrines and Covenants are Luther's 99 Theses for a new era. Their love of gurus, reflected in the anticipation of "the one mighty and strong," is simply a more earnest incarnation of America's love of PT Barnum, traveling faith healers, and The Power of Positive Thinking.

The book's title isn't misleading, only perhaps incomplete. The "banner of heaven" is the star-spangled banner itself and the "story of violent faith" is the story of our own national history. For, in America, as in Mormonism, if we act upon what we say we truly believe, anything is possible - from the Revolutionary War to the murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty in the name of God.



From "All About Mormons," South Park, Episode 7.12 (which, despite its clearly satirical spin and some relatively minor inaccuracies, contains a remarkably good summary of Smith's story, when Gary - a preternaturally friendly and talented Mormon boy - moves to South Park and is regarded as a freak by the local townspeople):

Gary: Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense. And maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up. But I have a great life and a great family and I have The Book of Mormon to thank for that. The truth is, I don't care if Joseph Smith made it all up. Because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice, and helping people. And even though people in this town might think that's stupid, I still choose to believe in it. All I ever did was try to be your friend, Stan, but you're so high and mighty you couldn't look past my religion and just be my friend back. You got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls.

"Every day people are straying from the church and going back to God." (Lenny Bruce, 1972)

Jon Krakauer began this book with the murder of Brenda Lafferty, a Mormon wife and her 15 month old daughter, Erica, in American Fork, Utah in 1984. It was quickly established that Brenda and her daughter were killed by her brothers-in-law, Ron and Dan Lafferty. Ron was a mainstream Mormon but was converted to Fundamentalist Mormonism by Dan shortly before the murder. From this story, Krakauer traces the origin and development of the Mormon Church and the splinter fundamentalist wing. This is a book with two stories connected to each other by religion. It is an informative book about one of America's home spun religions, Mormonism; the others include the Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Southern Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, Pentecostalism (Sarah Palin's Christianity), and various others (see: Harold Bloom, The American Religion, 2006 Chu Harley Publishers). Many of them, including the Mormons, arose in the mid 19th century. They seem to have a fascinating history. The Seventh-Day Adventist Church sprang from the early movement started by William Miller, who might have had a greater reputation had his prediction that Christ's second coming was due on 22 October 1844 come to pass.

Joseph Smith was a charismatic young man who started his career as a crystal gazer using "peep stones" to tell fortunes. In 1823, when he was 17 years old, an angel called Moroni visited him and told him that a sacred text written on gold plates and in an ancient Egyptian language would be revealed to him. The plates had been buried for more than a hundred years. Smith enlisted the help of his (future) wife Emma (whom he persuaded to elope with him because her father didn't trust him) to get the plates from Moroni. After several attempts and much praying, Smith was finally given the plates which he duly translated with the help of the "divinely endowed spectacles" called "interpreters", given to him by Moroni. Smith lent the transcribed text to his neighbour Martin Harris (to show his family). Harris, who worked on this project as Smith's scribe lost the entire transcript so Smith had to re-transcribe the plates which Moroni handed him again after much praying and pleading by Smith. The plates were returned to Moroni after the second transcription was completed. The local press approached by Smith to print the completed book demanded $3,000. It was too large a sum for Smith to raise. He prayed and received a direction from God that Harris had to sell his farm and use the money to print the book. Harris found himself unable to reject this direction from God did as directed and the book was published. Soon after that, on 6 April 1830, Smith incorporated the Church of the Latter Day Saints - and Mormonism was created. Harris, meanwhile, was divorced by his wife.

This book contains the major practices and beliefs peculiar to Mormonism. Polygamy is one of them. The Mormons, however, refer to it as "plural marriages". This practice among the early Mormons and still practiced surreptitiously by present day fundamentalists created a great deal of bizarre relationships. One of these was exemplified by the case of Debbie Palmer who, by her being married to a Blackmore as his sixth wife, established her as a stepmother to her stepmother. The entanglements proved too much even for Krakauer who admitted that many of the relationships can't be explained without a flow-chart. Mormons also believed that there should be no sex with the wives if unless they were ovulating; and there must be no sexual intercourse with a pregnant woman. The head of the Mormon Church is called "Prophet", and God revealed many of his intentions and directions through them. Joseph Smith the original prophet had no less than 133 revelations which were canonized as "doctrines and covenants" ("D & C"). D & C #132 was the covenant revealed by God concerning plural marriages - it has not been abrogated, and has become the springboard for fundamentalist Mormons. Another interesting belief was that an ancient Hebrew tribe emigrated to America and subsequently gave rise to two branches - the dark skinned Nephi (who descended into native American Indians) and the light skinned Laban. Eventually, the Nephites slaughtered the Labanites and that explained why Columbus met no Caucasians when he landed in America. It was also believed that prior to the extermination of the Labanites, Jesus visited America and tried to get the two warring tribes to cease hostility.

Plural marriage was one of the practices that gave rise to much hatred by "gentiles" against the Mormons. Krakauer described vividly the persecution the Mormons faced at the hands of the "gentiles". It was a horrifying account of the way the Mormons were driven out, first, from Missouri, than Illinois. The eventual arrest and assassination of Joseph Smith during his incarceration pending trial (notwithstanding an undertaking from harm) had an air of excitement more commonly found in works of fiction. The murder of Brenda Lafferty was linked to the practice of plural marriage. Brenda was a bright and stubborn woman who prevented her husband, Allen Lafferty from following his brothers' fundamentalist inclination to plural marriage. One day, Dan and Ron Lafferty received the word from God that Brenda had to be killed. Her baby daughter had to go too because, as Ron declared, she might otherwise grow up to be "a [...] like her mother." Her throat was slashed so deeply she was virtually decapitated.

One interesting facet which would not have escaped the reader is just how many such "special ones" God had anointed in the history of the Judeo-Christian faiths; the prophets that God had chosen to reveal Himself and his intentions. More importantly, how does one reconcile the contradictory revelations? The followers of each group will, no doubt, declare that the others were false prophets. How one tells a true prophet from a false one is not entirely clear. Perhaps God works in mischievous ways.

The Mormon Church, through its senior officer Richard Turley issued a long rebuttal two weeks before Krakauer's book was first published, citing a list of errors. Krakauer reviewed his sources and admitted five of them which he explained in his 2004 edition. Turley's complaints and Krakauer's reply are included in this edition. One of these being the reference to the Laban in the Old Testament as the same Laban referred to in the Book of Mormons when they were not the same person.

A very well intentioned book with one main problem Krakauer can never decide where exactly to place the Lafferty Murders in the narrative therefore whatever issue about the nature of Mormonism is being discussed is always cut short and refocused to some kind of vague tie in that relates to these gruesome murders at least in the mind of the author.

So the narrative will be clipping along and you will be very interested in a particular aspect the Golden Plates, The Sons of Ham, plural marriage or the fact that in spite of the LDS's claim to the contrary there have always been competing factions within Mormonism and all of the sudden you will be back on the murders with no idea of how exactly the author bought you to that point. This is at times tragic because while it is a very well researched book at times its subject matter was so broad it felt like it was two or three books in one. This leads on my part to both feelings of confusion and a desire to hear more.

Asserting that America's "homegrown religion" is one steeped in and ultimately defined by persecution and violence, Krakauer's extensively researched book about Mormon fundamentalism is an informative look at an aspect of life that people are not always willing to see. Centering around a double murder in 1984, Krakauer deftly blends the beginnings of Mormonism, and the eventual splitting of the religion into Mainstream Mormonism and FLDS (the fundamentalist sect) with character portraits of those affected by the faith. The threads all merge into an outstanding picture that is not even close to boring - the entire narrative is endlessly interesting, and no one chapter brings down the whole. Each compliments the other and the flow is brilliant. Some may be bothered by the noticeable slant the author takes, but otherwise the tome that winningly combines the thriller with the non-fiction genres raises essential ethical and moral questions that every person should at least ponder - even if they themselves cannot answer them.

This is a story of extremism. Two Fundamentalist Mormons murder their sister-in-law and her two-year old child for her bad influence on their brother. Extreme, right? Yes. But the importance and genius of this book is how Krakauer connects extremism to its foundation - mainstream Mormonism. His reporting of the Mormon culture was spot on, in fact, so precise and accurate that many mainstream members resented the intrusion. He got it absolutely right and made the connection with extreme behavior undeniable. Well done, Krakauer.