Product Description
What if you could have your every wish ... whim ... and desire? What would you want? And what would others want from you? Jess Claiborne is about to find out. After eight years in a Mexican prison, Jess is attempting to readjust to normal life. Then he inherits a mysterious box from his murdered uncle--a box that will grant his every wish. Jess soon realizes that ownership of the box comes with a terrible price tag--possibly the life of the woman he loves, and his own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Action packed
Reviewed by Ellen Hogan for Reader Views (6/06)

Jess Claiborne is having a bad day. The restaurant he is the manager of is about to close. He doesn't have the money to pay for the shipments of food to feed the few people who still come to the Palace. To make matters worse, he has a meeting with an attorney who represented his uncle's estate. It seems that even though Jess had only seen his Uncle Truman a couple of times in his life, his uncle made him his sole beneficiary. After learning that Truman gave all his money away, the only thing left for Jess was a box, and a video tape.

Jess takes both items to the apartment he shares with Sierra Price. He tells her about his inheritance and they decided to watch the video together. It seems that the box will grant the owner any wish they want, but you have to be careful how you word the request. Jess and Sierra decide to test the box and Jess wishes for a pizza. A few minutes later his Aunt Temple arrives with a pizza in hand.

Jess also learns that there are people who want to take the box from him. In fact, he and Sierra are kidnapped. The kidnappers promise not to hurt Sierra if Jess will comply with what they want done. Jess says he will, but still watches and waits for a way for the two of them to escape. During this time he has flash backs to when he was in a Mexican jail for eight years.
Meanwhile, Aunt Temple knows all about the box and its powers. She hires mercenaries to help her break out Jess and Sierra. When they are finally free again, Jess decides to keep the box and use it for good.

"The Inheritance" is an action packed book, you won't want to put it down until you are finished. It is a very quick and easy read.



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Product Description
Thirst you cannot quench; Music you cannot endure; Choices you cannot reverse; Commands you cannot resist.

By popular request, here are the early short-stories of author Christopher Andrews, collected for the first time ever. Decidedly intemperate compared to his more recent works, "The Darkness Within" offers an unnerving, and sometimes wickedly humorous, examination of the darkness that lurks under beds, around corners, and, more often than we care to admit, within our own souls.

Also includes "Connexion," the short-story sequel to the Triumvirate novel, "Pandora's Game." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I bought this for just one story...
I bought this for just one story, called "Connexion", which is the bridge between Pandora's Game, and Of Wolf and Man in the Triumvirate series. I had a feeling that one would have to do with Trey, since the end PG mentions finding him. (And yes, it does have finding Trey in the short.)

But, wow, was I surprised. The rest of the shorts are visceral gore, and I say that in a yes! Gore, more gore, please way. There's a warning at the beginning, but I was still shocked at how different they are from the novels. They're all very short, very fun, and very violent, but I like the last in fantasyland. (I can't read true crime because it sickens me; throw some early Christopher Andrews, John Skipp or Clive Barker in front of me, and I want more violence and gore.)

Of course, I had made the purchase figuring that Christopher had said he wasn't really crazy about the stories, and that he'd published them because people wanted to get them, and that he was sort of hesitant about publishing them. So I was thinking 'well, that isn't a great sign, especially with no reviews, but he's hooked me on Trey so I have no choice'. For five bucks, I could get another fix of my favorite of his characters. I ended up enjoying every single story, surprising myself with how quickly I read them. I immediately bought Of Wolf and Man when I was finished (past my bedtime), saving that for the next day which was one of my days off.

"Connexion" was by far the most subdued of the stories, as is fitting the Triumvirate world; I would have been disappointed otherwise. It was also completely worth the five bucks on it's own, and the fact that his other stories were so lovely was only a bonus for me. Very highly recommended, although I'm not sure Connexion will make all that much sense if you haven't read Pandora's Game first. As I suspected, Connexion was the last story in the collection, so you can buy this, read the stories up to Connexion, then go back to Pandora's game if you want to try out Andrews' writing before committing to one of the novels.
... Read more

Product Description
"To Be, or Not to Be, That is the Question."

Here is the novelization of Shakespeare's, "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark." It has been adapted to allow modern readers of the 21st Century to enjoy the work of The Bard, while maintaining the richness of Shakespeare's original setting and style.

Whether you are a student or perhaps have simply been intimidated by Shakespeare's text, this is the novelization for you. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Shakespeare Made Easy
Do you have a hard time understanding Shakepeare?If you do, this is the book for you.I almost always have to have someone explain Shakespeare's work for me.Not with this one.Christopher Andrews wrote this in such a way that anyone can understand.I would highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys Shakespeare, but have a hard time understanding his work. ... Read more

Product Description
"Dracula Slinks Into the Night" is always fun for Halloween, a comic story of a lawyer who goes to a Halloween party as Dracula in Pasadena with his wife, who is the Corpse Bride. She's not happy with him because she's been pressing him for children. What happens that night changes their lives forever.

The book contains three short stories from award-winning author Christopher Meeks. There's the title story and "The Farms at 93rd and Broadway," which both appear in his longer book collection "Months and Seasons." Additionally is the new short story "The Nantant Poet," which had only previously appeared in the literary journal "The Gander Press Review." ... Read more

Product Description
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND HIS MONUMENT COLUMBIA


History places in prominence Columbus and America. They are the brightest jewels in her crown. Columbus is a permanent orb in the progress of civilization. From the highest rung of the ladder of fame, he has stepped to the skies. America "still hangs blossoming in the garden of time, while her penetrating perfume floats all round the world, and intoxicates all other nations with the hope of liberty." If possible, these tributes would add somewhat to the luster of fame which already encircles the Nation and the Man. Many voices here speak for themselves.
Six hundred authors and more have written of Columbus or his great discovery. An endless task therefore would it be to attempt to enumerate, much less set out, the thousands who have incidentally, and even encomiastically, referred to him. Equally impossible would it be to hope to include a tithe of their utterances within the limits of any single volume, even were it of colossal proportions. This volume of tributes essays then to be but a concordance of some of the most choice and interesting extracts, and, artistically illustrated with statues, scenes, and inscriptions, is issued at an appropriate time and place. The compiler desires in this preface to acknowledge his sincere obligations and indebtedness to the many authors and publishers who so courteously and uniformly extended their consents to use copyright matter, and to express an equal sense of gratitude to his friend, Stuart C. Wade, for his valuable assistance in selecting, arranging, and [Pg 6]indexing much of the matter herein contained.
In one of the galleries of Florence there is a remarkable bust of Brutus, left unfinished by the great sculptor Michael Angelo. Some writer explained the incomplete condition by indicating that the artist abandoned his labor in despair, "overcome by the grandeur of the subject." With similar feeling, this little book is submitted to the admirers of Columbus and Columbia, wherever they may be found.
... Read more

Product Description
This book is the most appalling of true-life prison writing which chronicles the events of years spent in Spanish prisons. It highlights the fact that much international crime is planned in prison and how prison is the villain’s jobcentre.
This harrowing book is prison writing in the raw and is not for the squeamish or politically correct. The anti-Spanish and anti-French sentiment is solely the author’s undiluted emotions at the time of writing due to the treatment he received at the hands of his jailers.
Welcome to the brutal, ugly and dangerous corridors of Satan’s arena where Chance’s pen and fists worked doggedly whilst all around him was chaos.
... Read more

Product Description
This drama is based on a real event. In the early 1960s, an anonymous committee of ordinary citizens in Seattle selected kidney disease victims from a pool for an experiment with something new: a kidney dialysis machine. If the experiment worked, a small number of people would live instead of surely die from kidney failure. But who among the pool lives? How will the committee choose? Playwright Christopher Meeks centers the action on one person, attorney Gabriel Hornstein, who desperately needs what the committee offers.

This morality tale races against time and asks what is a life worth? What criteria should this committee and ones today use? Race, gender, net worth, family size, career, what? For readers who like moral issues and real drama, this play will get you involved.

As Los Angeles Times theatre critic David C. Nichols said of the play's most recent production in Los Angeles, "Those who have personal experience with its topic should perhaps bring Kleenex." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Life-or-death decision by committee
"Who Lives?" is a play by Christopher Meeks. Having read the author's two short story collections ("The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea" and "Months and Seasons"), I knew he was an excellent writer, so I was interested in seeing how well he did as a playwright.

"Who Lives?" is based on real events in the early 1960s. Kidney dialysis machines had just been invented, making it possible for the first time for people with severe kidney disease to have some hope for the future. Unfortunately, the dialysis machines were in such short supply in those days that demand far exceeded the capacity of the few machines available, and only a handful of patients could be admitted for the life-saving dialysis treatments. In order to select the patients, committees composed of anonymous citizens were created to review the applicants and make life-or-death decisions.

That's the background of "Who Lives?" In the play, which takes place in Seattle, the central character is Gabriel, a hard-driving, obnoxious lawyer who has alienated most of those around him, including his family and professional associates. When Gabriel learns that he has chronic kidney disease and has only a few weeks to live, his doctor submits Gabriel's name to the dialysis committee, but he is turned down. Gabriel then has his investigators find where the committee meets, and he goes to the committee and threatens to sue the members unless they reverse their decision and approve him for dialysis. Caving in to the overbearing Gabriel, the committee also adds Gabriel to its membership.

The real drama is in the committee meetings, where life-or-death decisions are made. Starting with no pre-determined criteria for selection, the committee members, who represent an average cross section of society, struggle with their own deep-seated feelings in deciding who most "deserves" to live - and why. Each member of the committee brings their own prejudices and preconceived notions of human worth to the table, and the meetings are loud, contentious affairs. Surprisingly, the pompous Gabriel adds to the committee's understanding of its role, and in a shocking move, he makes a decision that will dramatically alter the lives of several people.

"Who Lives?" is as timely today as it would have been almost five decades ago when the real committees met. Although there is no shortage of dialysis machines today, I imagine the same kind of decisions have to be made for kidney transplants. "Who Lives?" was poignant and thought-provoking, and I'm still wondering what I would have done if I had been on a dialysis committee. An extraordinary play, I'm grateful that Christopher Meeks took on the challenge of writing it.

Life-or-death decisions by committee
"Who Lives?" is a play by Christopher Meeks. Having read the author's two short story collections ("The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea" and "Months and Seasons"), I knew he was an excellent writer, so I was interested in seeing how well he did as a playwright.

"Who Lives?" is based on real events in the early 1960s. Kidney dialysis machines had just been invented, making it possible for the first time for people with severe kidney disease to have some hope for the future. Unfortunately, the dialysis machines were in such short supply in those days that demand far exceeded the capacity of the few machines available, and only a handful of patients could be admitted for the life-saving dialysis treatments. In order to select the patients, committees composed of anonymous citizens were created to review the applicants and make life-or-death decisions.

That's the background of "Who Lives?" In the play, which takes place in Seattle, the central character is Gabriel, a hard-driving, obnoxious lawyer who has alienated most of those around him, including his family and professional associates. When Gabriel learns that he has chronic kidney disease and has only a few weeks to live, his doctor submits Gabriel's name to the dialysis committee, but he is turned down. Gabriel then has his investigators find where the committee meets, and he goes to the committee and threatens to sue the members unless they reverse their decision and approve him for dialysis. Caving in to the overbearing Gabriel, the committee also adds Gabriel to its membership.

The real drama is in the committee meetings, where life-or-death decisions are made. Starting with no pre-determined criteria for selection, the committee members, who represent an average cross section of society, struggle with their own deep-seated feelings in deciding who most "deserves" to live - and why. Each member of the committee brings their own prejudices and preconceived notions of human worth to the table, and the meetings are loud, contentious affairs. Surprisingly, the pompous Gabriel adds to the committee's understanding of its role, and in a shocking move, he makes a decision that will dramatically alter the lives of several people.

"Who Lives?" is as timely today as it would have been almost five decades ago when the real committees met. Although there is no shortage of dialysis machines today, I imagine the same kind of decisions have to be made for kidney transplants. "Who Lives?" was poignant and thought-provoking, and I'm still wondering what I would have done if I had been on a dialysis committee. An extraordinary play, I'm grateful that Christopher Meeks took on the challenge of writing it.

"Who Lives?" by Christopher Meeks
I read `The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea` by Christopher Meeks, and I loved it, so I also bought `Who Lives?`

I thought this was it!This play helps us Japanese audience see and think deeply about life and responsibility.I'll recommend it to anyone to read and any drama groups to perform.Someday I hope Yokohama Theatre Group can perform this show.

In the book, the author's simple and clear language opened up the complex human decision-making story.I've trusted the read throughout although not always on the characters or the decisions.This play makes me think, and what a pleasure that is!


Keiko Amano
Communication Director
Yokohama Theatre Group, Japan

At Rise: The Play as a Novel
Christopher Meeks made a stunning impression as a writer of short stories in his collection THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN AND THE SEA published in 2005, an author who is not only observant of the little things that propel us through living but also as a man closely in touch with all the senses.Now he has published in book form his 1997 play WHO LIVES? and once again he ranks as a talent to watch. Note: the term 'At Rise' in a manuscript for a play indicates the curtain or the lightsgoing up to open the experience of a story, yet here it can also be used to indicate the intensity of Meeks' substantial gifts as a writer, a playwright, and a craftsman.

The story of the play, presented here in script form yet happily free of the many action indications usually found in scripts as asides that paralyze the movement of the eye through the meat of the story, is terse, tight, economical, and packs a wallop - even as a reader. No stumbling blocks, here, just propulsive story telling (think Tennessee Williams, William Inge, or even Shakespeare). Yes, the mellow secrets of the visual representation of the play's mechanics are present - double stage settings for the immediate story and for the committee input with accompanying lighting cues that allow us to understand how the characters interact between the personal and the group.

1963 is the year.Kidney Dialysis is a new machine that can prolong the lives of patients with renal failure, the beginnings of the entire field of kidney transplantation.Seattle is the place where a hospital is beginning to offer dialysis to candidates, and because of the plethora of potential candidates, a committee has been chosen to review all possible recipients - a thumbs up or thumbs down as to whether applicants live or die. Not a committee on which many would like to serve.But the main character of the story is one Gabriel Hornstein, a Jewish lawyer married to a Christian wife Margaret, whose marriage is rocky at best given the demanding personality of Gabriel.When out of the blue Gabriel is diagnosed with kidney failure he is outraged, pounding his fists at the heavens, until he hears of the Dialysis machine: he of course immediately demands he be placed on the life preserving apparatus despite the fact that his physician tells him there is a waiting list. Gabriel coerces his physician to be placed on the machine, and because of the inherent life/death decisions made by the 'committee' (a priest, a union labor leader, a college student, a businessman, and a housewife) Gabriel demands there be a broader range of opinions on this decision body.Gabriel is placed on the committee as 'patient responder' and his physician is placed on the committee as 'care giver'.

The committee reviews candidates requesting dialysis: a black violinist for the Seattle Symphony, and accountant, etc.The thunder of Meeks' drama is the dialogue that occurs in the ethical, racial, religious, arts value to society, political, the right to die and eventually in the transformation of the members of the committee as they each grow from the heinous task of deciding 'acceptable patients'.And in the end it is the acerbic Gabriel who climaxes the play with a surprising decision.

Christopher Meeks continues to impress (he has other plays under his belt), but this reader is hungry for the next novel (or even another collection of short stories) which really seems to be his premiere métier.Highly recommended for reading: highly recommended for performances in schools, community theaters - and there is even a screenplay obviously present in this book format...Grady Harp, January 07

Consistency is the mark of man they call Meeks...
Yeah, it's not often in life that you come across an author who can pull out the literary stops not once, twice, or thrice in a row. I puff you not, babies, but I've already begun to lose count of the streak of unparalleled good turns writer Chistopher Meeks has released into the idea marketplace. My goodness...my head is all aflutter just with ***feedback*** after my latest read of Meeks' latest fictive cut, WHO LIVES?

My feelings are that when you read a book, you don't want to simply go through the motions. You're not interested--at least I'm not, m'kay?--in having your eyes flit from left to right across the page--or right to left if you're reading WHO LIVES? in either its Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashtu, or Hebrew translations--randomly taking in words and sentences like the act of reading is some mid-afternoon commute from your ball and chain cubicle job back home to the 'burbs where the smell of cut grass, lemonade, and pot roast awaits you (about the closest thing to a sensory assault in the 'burbs).

No, I say.

Rather, you want the words from the books you read to touch you somewhere deep within your soul, if you've got one. You want to walk away feeling ethereal, light, and on a cloud with a certain identifying digit because that's what you bargained for with Christopher Meeks. You know this because you've already been reading Mr. Meeks' stuff for some time, and you wouldn't expect any less from the award-winning LA Times-reviewed playwright and novelist. Now would you?

But let's take the hypothetical example for the moment for all you naysayers out there that you've never heard of the "Meekster" before.

Let's say that you were ambling about at your favorite Powell's in Portland somewhere on the Left Coast, and you had some spare moments and change on hand rushing between squash matches to seek out a stimulating read. You come across this wicked alfalfa "tentacular" cover on the shelves towards the back somewhere and so you dip into your corduroys to treat yourself generously. Would you buy WHO LIVES?

I say you totally would, babies. Why?

Well it's because Meeks drills down like an Alberta oil sandsman to the sometimes crass realities of life: we're all mortal, we're all going to get sick at some future date, and we're all going to need critical medical care because the world's going to hell in a handbasket.

Who will be there for you when the time comes to meet your maker?

Who will attend to your every need when your robustness and vigor are things you can no longer sustain, when you're leaning over the bed in agony in your semi-private room, begging for a sign from something holier than thou, that someone be there for you when the bell tolls?

These are the concerns Meeks contemplates in this tale, as contemporary in two-double-oh-seven as it was back in those terribly decadent eighties, when our gluttonous cravings for all things material outstripped our basic common sense and restraint.

At no other time have Meeks' words been a virtual clarion--nay, a summons!--to remedy our decadent ways, to look beside ourselves to care for our fellows as if their various sufferings were our very own. In our precarious times, babies, where life turns on the fulcrum of a meager veneer of security, we must all heed his message. Meeks tells you this in his characteristic plain speech and with his harmonic level tone, the underlying message being that may you never need to hear what he has to say spoken louder than a whisper. Keep the message in the back of your grey matter, he entreats, because the Piper might soon be coming for his due.

Words, babies, words. Meeks doesn't club them over you like some ooga-booga neanderthal from the Paleolithic Age, hoping through some good old-fashioned elblow grease and fancy hocus-pocus tricks that you're going to grasp the core notion of his literary premise.

No siree. No such luck.

Meeks is rather a true craftsman of the artform. He's been there and back and always manages to draw freshly from the well. When you've seen and done as much as Christopher Meeks seems to have done in life, the need to dazzle and devastate with prose is as facile as a college frat trick.

Instead, think Baryshnikov, babies. Ballet. Grace, levity, and precision.

If you don't read this book, you can then of course buy into the alternatives. Just don't blame me if the environmentalists come pounding on your door for having over-consumed your quota of fossil fuels in the long trip back to the shop just to return your copy of That Other Piece of Er, Fiction in exchange for Christopher Meeks' WHO LIVES?

This man is definitely onto something here. Please don't deny yourself the opportunity of finding out what.

Hand on the heart,
--ADM in Prague ... Read more

Product Description
I think that a book like the following, which deals with a subject so great and so mysterious as our hope of immortality, by means of an allegory or fantasy, needs a few words of preface, in order to clear away at the outset any misunderstandings which may possibly arise in a reader's mind. Nothing is further from my wish than to attempt any philosophical or ontological exposition of what is hidden behind the veil of death. But one may be permitted to deal with the subject imaginatively or poetically, to translate hopes into visions, as I have tried to do. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Through the Veil
If you are interested in the "What if" and "What would it be like" in regards to the after life, then this book offers a beautiful and thoughtful vision of what that might be...Highly recommended and I intend to read it to my older relatives as they approach Crossing the Veil themselves. Beautifully non-denominational and transcends the dogma or restrictions of specific spiritual traditions but encompasses all with warmth and love. A God of truth and love could only smile at this travelogue of his "house of many mansions." ... Read more

Product Description
An easy to read, but totally devasting attack against the heresy of Arminianism. Recommended reading by John Owen, John Gill, and Augustus Toplady. ... Read more

Product Description
The gloves come off in this electric exchange, originally hosted by Christianity Today, as leading atheist Christopher Hitchens (author of God Is Not Great) and Christian apologist Douglas Wilson (author of Letter from a Christian Citizen) go head-to-head on this divisive question. The result is entertaining and provocative—a glimpse into the ongoing debate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

Short, entertaining, but not very insightful
Hitchens and Wilson make this debate very fun to read. Because they are such good writers, they make all of their points in very entertaining ways, and the short length of this book (easily completed within an hour or two) makes it a perfect afternoon read.

The debate itself, however, leaves something to be desired. Wilson's main point seems to be that atheists cannot account for "good" - he claims that they have no way to define it. Hitchens really doesn't do a good job at responding to this point except to say that morality is "innate" and "evolved" (Wilson is quick to point out the flaws in this).

Similarly, Wilson seems unable to respond to the many absurdities in Christianity brought up by Hitchens. In fact, Wilson at one point seems to agree that much of Christianity is absurd and simply claims dismisses it on the grounds that (he believes) atheism is also absurd.

It suffices to say that neither of these debaters makes a very compelling argument, though Wilson seems to push his main point a lot harder (i.e. better) than Hitchens does.I almost wish that this edition (which is a reprint of their debate through Christianity Today) had a few extra Rounds, perhaps ones which were a bit longer than the typical 2-4 page responses typical in this book. But then again, that might make the book a bit more tedious.

So, if you want a short interesting read for the beach then this is definitely worth picking up for a short bit of entertainment.

Rambling but Well Worth Reading
If some fair and neutral moderator could have been found, this debate would have been improved.As it is, the debaters often seem to talk past each other and add gratuitous remarks that detract.I write this review as someone who is a questioning and somewhat doubting Christian, both before and after I read this book.I found Wilson hurting his presentation by being spiritually condescending towards Hitchens.Moreover, Wilson does not answer Hitchens when he asks why a good God would have let thousands of years of human "lostness" and suffering go on before intervening with Christ.For his part, however, Hitchens makes a presentation that is quite diffuse and he does not squarely address one of Wilson's main questions: If you're an atheist, you might be able to see some moral ideal, but WHY should you do it, particularly if there is a net cost to you and no one will see you acting against that ideal? I find this to be one of the strongest challenges posed to atheists, although others have stated it better than Wilson.Overall, though, it's well worth reading this brief exchange.

Missing the point
A poor debate, using impressive words in a soup of weak arguments. Both discourses riddled with fallacies, too many to count or repeat here.

The debate format with Hitchens postulating and Wilson defending resulted in a pedantic chase of small, irrelevant points with logic mistakes forcing concessions of little consequence.

There is no substance in the debate, leaving the question of ethics and morality fully cinched. You either accept dogma, or believe that changing mores determine what is good and evil. The fundamental characteristic of a formal systems that cannot be simultaneously complete and consistent eluded both debaters.

I was looking for Hitchens' main book on the subject, but because it is not available on Kindle, I took this substitute which did not meet my expectation.

In the words of Wodehouse, an author loved by both contenders, "I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, they were far from being gruntled."

Excellent Debate
I was a fan of Christopher Hitchens and always enjoyed his debate skill. As a Christian, I do not agree with him, but his quick-wit and nimble mind are to be admired. I had never read anything from Douglas Wilson, but he proved to be a worthy adversary. He matches Hitches in wit and rhetoric and makes for a entertaining and engaging debate. It is a quick read and worth it. Big thumbs up!

Small town Pastor takes on the leading Atheist mind - and wins?
Ok, I will admit from the start that I am a fan of Doug Wilson. His wit, humor and intelligence have entertained and enlightened me for quite a while. And since I am a committed Christian it would be disingenuous of me to say that I can approach this little book as an unbiased reader. As a matter of fact, my Reformed presuppositionalism won't allow me to do that as the heart of that view says we all approach ideas with our presuppositions firmly in tow.

Christopher Hitchens has his presuppositions as well and, like all good atheists, he holds to them without even attempting to provide the slightest justification for their existence. Wilson is a Reformed presuppositionalist and approaches the debate from that standpoint but it is his humor that sets him apart from the great debaters that proceeded him (like Greg Bahnsen). He can make you laugh and then set you up like no other.I just loved the line about the guy in one end of the pool who didn't want to venture to the other side of the pool for fear he might get wet. Wilson butters you up with lines like that and then goes for the jugular with the two foundational beliefs of atheists - 1. God does not exist and 2. They hate Him.

Hitchens is obviously intelligent but that does not serve him well here. Saying something is stupid does not make it so and the idea that our sense of morals and ethics "evolved" with us is a swiss cheese kind of idea. Alot of mayo and some good ham might make it taste ok but it is really full of holes. Forgetting the logical flaws so imbedded in that argument (what is ethical, moral and right today could be an abomination tomorrow and visa versa), I have to ask whether that justification is really satisfying to anyone who rejects the idea of God? You mean to say that our ethics are based on natural selection and there is no meaning or purpose behind them? If that was the case, why would we do anything that runs counter to the Darwinian idea? Please think about it - if God does not exist, we are all just matter in motion and are a result of natural selection only. Love, honor, justice are no different than nose hair.

Well, obviously, reading this book did nothing to change my mind. But Doug Wilson is always a good read and, if you have never been exposed to the Reformed apologetic, come and hear it done so very well. ... Read more

Product Description
OF WOLF AND MAN -- Award-winning 2nd novel in the TRIUMVIRATE series.

Two years have passed since werewolf Sean Mallory and his undead partners, the vampire Alistaire and the zombie Trey, crossed over into our world. The journey has been difficult, but the Triumvirate is finally adjusting to their new home.

Now Sean has received a cry for help from northern Alaska. A pack of werewolves are on the prowl, slaughtering hunters with increasing frequency.

But the Triumvirate soon learns that these werewolves are different from any they have before encountered. To make matters worse, all odds stack against them - the environment, the time of year, the lunar cycle, everything. Murphy's Law at its worst.

Crippled and outnumbered, how can the Triumvirate save the people of Alaska if they cannot even save themselves?

WINNER:IPPY book awards Bronze Medal for Horror! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Better than New Moon

The other day I watched the movie adaptation of "Twilight: New Moon," which made me want to reread "Of Wolf and Man" as a palate cleanser. Both stories are about werewolves and vampires, but unlike "New Moon," "Of Wolf and Man" isn't totally ass.

"Of Wolf and Man" is just as good on the second reading as it was the first. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Christopher Andrews is amazing with character. Even in the few places where the story starts to slow down, the characterization is so great that it pulls you right through and onto the next flurry of action. For some reason I've always felt a special fondness for the police chief in this book. I don't know why.

"Of Wolf and Man" was at IPPY award bronze medalist, which I feel was unjustified.

It should have won the gold.

Best so far....
Pandora's Game focused on the vampire's character, Connexion was a nice bridge between the first novel and this one (and, yay, focus on Trey), but this novel was the best so far. Sean, the werewolf, is the main character, and the history between him and his sister is fully revealed.

But I think the fact that the action really ramps up is what makes this the best one yet. It makes sense, though, because PG really had to set up the whole premise. In Of Wolf and Man, Andrews is free to really let loose and jump right into the action. And he takes advantage of that quite well.

PG was a good set up, more of a mix between drama/horror, and this novel is more of an action/horror. I also like how, by setting this in Alaska, we get a lot of weaknesses of the characters. This, in the end, forces one of them to take an action that sets up the third novel in the series. Also, the werewolves go against the mythology set up in the first couple of novels, which keeps the plot, and the fights, from being, well, boring. If it were just two werewolves fighting, I could pop in endless movies; reading about Sean having to wonder why the other werewolves are different, and figuring out how to defeat them makes them fun and dangerous enemies.

And, I know I'm going to sound like an obsessed little fan-girl, but Trey is a huge reason for me to keep reading the Triumvirate. He was barely in the first novel, and I loved him in Connexion - but that was so short. I loved getting him in a full length novel. Again, I can't explain the attraction, but I find myself completely fascinated by his character. The childlike attitude is fleshed out, and we get to see one of his tantrums.

I have to admit that the fact that PG focused on the vampire, and this focused on the wolf, so it follows that book three will focus on the zombie. But more than that, I practically squealed at the end; there's another twist, although I'm not quite sure where it's going, that hints at further problems for Trey in the third novel. ... Read more

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Based on a true story, we follow award-winning Filmmaker/Actor, Christopher Jaymes, as he exchanges his would-be vacation in for a six-week stint as an aid worker in one of the world's most tragic disasters. Upon his arrival in Bangkok, he was informed that a tsunami had devastated the west coast of Thailand and that the only hotel still standing was the hotel holding his reservation. A demystifying and satirical, yet astonishingly human commentary at the gut-wrenching realities occuring at a time where selflessness should flourish, but selfishness prevails. Jaymes leads us through an adventure of mental anguish while drug-infested degenerates and hallucinatory aid workers pull together in hopes to fulfill their dream of serving humanity. At the core of the madness, Jaymes examines the fine art of deflecting ego chatter and the innate fear of the unknown that most of us harbor in the depths of our souls. ... Read more

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According to the EPA, all molds have the potential to cause ill health.In fact, an epidemic is now under way in the insurance industry for claims involving moldy buildings, and lawsuits are on the rise.Ensure that your workplace is safe for all employees by taking steps now to prevent mold and remediate its clean up.This Guide covers the effects of mold on health, remediation and preventative steps businesses can take.It also includes state and federal legislation and more. ... Read more

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"Excerpt from the book..."
Columbus had anticipated repose from his toils on arriving at Hispaniola,
but a new scene of trouble and anxiety opened upon him, destined to impede
the prosecution of his enterprises, and to affect all his future fortunes.
To explain this, it is necessary to relate the occurrences of the island
during his long detention in Spain
... Read more

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This story is one of sixteen stories from CHAIRS.

The voices are those of Bangkok based freelance journalists and their invited guests. Each Saturday morning, over coffee, the members of Chairs gather to share the latest gossip, scandals, myths, dangers, exploits, and loves that bind together their small community. Sam Kohl is a narrator of the main stories, and Sam reveals, with perfect timing and ingenious twists, the clash of cultures as expats meet Thais, Chinese, Karen, and Burmese. Chairs is a search for redemption with stops at the Oriental Hotel, Pattaya, the Thermae, and the jungles of Burma. Along this journey you enter a vividly created world populated by adventurers, body snatchers, executioners, dreamers, collectors, diplomats, mistresses, ghosts, and war veterans. ... Read more

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In the Confederate States of America, a famed civil rights leader is assassinated and the nation is plunged into rioting and revolution. McKenna Alexander, U.S.-born television reporter, and Cullen Davis, her Southern-born ex-husband, are hunted by the authorities and by assassins as they follow a trail of treachery and deceit to uncover the truth behind the murder. The search will take them from the elite boardrooms of Richmond to the internationally divided city of Little Rock; from the nightmare chaos of New Orleans to the national park of Washington City as they discover secrets that reach from the Presidential offices to the revolutionary underground to Cullen's own powerful family. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Not the greatest alternate history, but a decent novel
I'm a fan of alternate history, though most of what I've read in the genre is, yes, Harry Turtledove. I've also read a bit of S M Stirling and Eric Flint, as well as the "Axis of Time" series by John Birmingham, and even things like "Fatherland", so I've something of a high standard when it comes to alternate history.

This book (which is, incidentally, the first book I've read on my new Kindle), is not good alternate history. Oh, it has a reasonable point-of-departure, where the CSA manages to win the Civil War, but aside from the fact that the USA and CSA are two different countries, there's no real differences between this world and ours. History seems to have gone on exactly the same track as it did in our world, and that's just not as it should be. As a result, I'm docking the novel a star.

That aside, it IS a good mystery and political thriller-type novel. The overall plot of investigating how events thirty years ago tie into events happening in the present day works well, and the main characters are interesting and compelling.

So as a story, it's good, but it doesn't work as alternate history and, here's the rather confusing part, it didn't really NEED to be alternate history. Change just a few elements and this story would work in our world which is, as I pointed out, not all that different from the world in the novel.

I did like the book enough that I'm willing to check out other stuff by the same author, but I do hope if he tries to do alternate history again, he'll make it actually, you know, alternate.

Alternate History - Eat your heart out!
In a world where the Confederacy survived the war, things are as complex as ever in the 20th century.

McKenna Alexander finds this out for herself as her ex-husband is first rumored to be part of an assassination plot against a recently released civil rights activist, and she ends up turning up dead.

Going after Cullen in an attempt to save her job and find out the truth, she goes on a roller coaster ride of intrigue, passion, murder, and rekindled love.

Awesome read!Great details and world building!You get info from all sides for a nice 360 degree view of the plot and all the years and facts leading up to this great clash.If you've ever even toyed with the idea of reading alternate history, this book is for you!

Great alternate history story--gotta read pick.
Meet McKenna Alexander, clear-headedTV-reporter, and her drunken, womanizing, gambling ex-husband, Cullen Davis, the future president of the Confederacy. That's right--or at least that's a possible future in this relentlessly interesting alternate history tale.

For connoisseurs of the alternate history genre, Rebel Nation delivers from the very beginning. In a fantastic double set up, Ulysses S. Grant meets an untimely demise, leading to the survival of the Confederacy.Almost two hundred years later comes the bombing death of a famed civil rights leader, which triggers rioting and revolution until McKenna and Cullen enter the picture. These two lovers fight and duel, but are, of course, destined to be reconciled.

Rebel Nation has enough decadent wealth, courage, weakness, vengeance, hate, family conspiracies and other juicy human indulgences to hook you and keep you reading. Alternate history is a tough genre to write--it requires a peculiar kind of imagination, but Christopher Stires creates active scenes and concrete details that make his story compelling and believable.

Rebel Nation is an interesting, challenging tale that deftly conceals a deliciously unexpected villian until the grand finale. It's a story you can sink your teeth into. A thumping good read.

Reviewed by Cheryl Swanson, Reviewer with Gotta Read and Author, Death Game

Alternate History Complete with Romance and Mystery
Reviewed by Lynn O'Connell for Reader Views (6/06)

It's May 1864; General Grant is dead and Sherman has been captured by the Southern army.The Union has failed to win the Civil War.And, so begins the prologue of "Rebel Nation."Next, the reader is taken to 1964 to a church in Natchez, Mississippi where a hired killer sets off a bomber in an effort to kill civil rights activists.The remainder of the novel and the main plot of "Rebel Nation" takes place in contemporary times in the `Confederate States of America.'McKenna Alexander, a Northern-born news reporter, and Cullen Davis, her Southern-born ex-husband, are trying to uncover the truth behind the assassination of a famous Negro civil rights leader, Frannie Shepherd (who was also the lover of Cullen's father).A third key character, Victoria Talbridge, Cullen's grandmother and head of Talbridge Firearms, struggles to uphold her Southern family's power despite a mentally unstable daughter and Cullen's lack of interest in the family's business.

Author Christopher Stires does a wonderful job of accurately describing details of American history including names, dates and events from the Civil War and on into the twentieth century.In a couple chapters, for example, Stires touches upon World War II and the involvement of both the Confederacy and the Northern States in the battle against Hitler.Also, the modern-day Confederacy with its own government and laws all steeped in the South's old-fashioned traditions is portrayed very realistically.It is interesting the way that Stires draws in controversial modern issues such as drug usage and abortion in this alternate history.Stires' ability to combine historical accuracy with realistic alternatives made this a book that held my interest until the very last page.It was amazing to see how each detail and character tied together by the book's last chapter.

Alternate history novels bring the name of Harry Turtledove to mind for many of us.I find Stires' style and attentiveness to detail to be every bit as good as Turtledove.Also, one thing that Stires has done in "Rebel Nation" which I haven't seen in any of Turtledove's books - Stires made me care deeply about a character, McKenna Davis, so much so that I would love to read a sequel if that were possible.

This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys alternate histories, particularly about U.S. history.The book is going to be most interesting to someone relatively familiar with American history.It also would be enjoyable for the reader just looking for a good mystery.I also tend to think this book would be preferred by female readers because of the role of McKenna Davis in the book and the partial focus of the book on her romantic relationship with her ex-husband.

In summary, "Rebel Nation" is a very good alternate-history novel detailing a divided America in contemporary times with a Confederacy.This book is Stires' second novel and first alternate history.His ability to develop multi-faceted characters that the reader can envision and care about is amazing as is his ability to weave all the details together for a well-constructed conclusion.

Five Stars for a rising star in Alternate History.
Just when I thought the theme of the South winning the Civil War had been done to death this author proves me wrong.Christopher Stires, in Rebel Nation, presents a divided America as we enter the 21st century.With flashbacks galore he traces an interesting history of a Federal United States and a Confederate United States after the Civil War.Sure he makes the mistakes made by Harry Turtledove in having people alive up through World War 2 who would not have been with such a change in our history.However, the author traces history in such a way that you believe him.For example he makes it logical that after Pearl Harbor the two nations fought side by side to defeat the Japanese and Nazis.Still they are very separate nations and though slavery is abolished in the South, there is an internal Civil Warfor Civil Rights brewing.What puts the author above Harry Turtledove and many other alternate history authors is the way he defines his characters, he makes you care about them.Unlike Turtledobe, he isn't afraid to have some decent White people in the South who care about Civil Rights.Both American nations do seem to have a preponderance of spies and assassions.Cullen Davis is the lead character, however there are so many more of interest.Two very strong women dominate the story.First is reporter McKenna Alexander who is from the North, but who loves the South. A great heroine.Even more interesting is a woman who has to be the most evil and compelling to appear in print.It is the matriarch, Victoria Talbridge who is a master manipulator with her fingers in every plot in both countries.Like a mafia queen she fights to make her family supreme and beside her, J.R. Ewing and Tony Soprano are babes in arms.I plan to read this again, soon.It is great.A real page turner. ... Read more

Product Description
It is the near distant future and Earth has vastly changed. Political, social, and religious reforms have melded the vastness of humanity into one voice and world. Deviant Behavior isn't permitted. An underground movement has sprung up to free humanity from terrible persecution, blind prejudice, and false progression.

Marlene Strombella a native of the Mars Colony she hides her lesbian passions from the general public. She lives a lie, a false marriage, to avoid detection by the government.

A starship of alien refugees has been granted political asylum from their home planet. Nicknamed "Dualies" for the tall, elegant aliens possess both set of genitals and are shunned by most humans.

Marlene finds herself attracted to one of them. A willowy and elegant creature named C'est'a. She strives to come to grips with her fascination. But between her regular job, her role in the Resistance, and the "re-genderization" of her last lover Marlene cannot cope with it all.

Does she have time to uncover the truth of her feelings for C'est'a, break through the distrust her would-be lover's race have for humans, and still carry out her covert operations? Or will Mars erupt into possible interstellar or inter-species war first? ... Read more

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As she explores her feelings and her relationship with the mystical man she finds herself irresistibly drawn to, Kimberly Stephens finds that she has gotten herself into the middle of a deadly cat-and-mouse game of international proportions. A passionate novel of sensual intrigue, "The Saint of Malibu Shores" takes you on an enchanting adventure that you hope will never end. ... Read more

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Christopher Robbins was a bright but impoverished young journalist when he met Brian Desmond Hurst in the early 1970s. Hurst was then in the twilight of his career as Ireland's most prolific film director -- many years had passed since he'd made his most famous film, an adaptation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL with Alastair Sim in 1951. But Brian's formidable desire, energy and joie de vivre were still much in evidence, and Robbins was contracted to write the screenplay for Hurst's swansong, a vast biblical epic starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Redgrave. Thus began a friendship that lasted until Brian's death in 1986. It was a period full of laughter, eccentricity, laughter, travel, adventure -- and laughter. They made an odd pair -- the elderly, theatrical and larger-than-life Hurst and the young, slightly naive but keen Robbins -- but Chris now acknowledges the debt he owes his mentor: a debt of friendship he wants to repay. This wonderful book is the result. The Box Office Blockbuster never happened, but in trying to get the project off the ground Chris had entered Brian's world.This, his memoir of that time and their friendship, is a wonderfully engaging and often hilarious portrait of one of the last great eccentrics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An inspired and inspiring memoir.
Brian Desmond Hurst was a soldier (a veteran of the Gallipoli campaign), a film director (his best remembered effort being the Alistair Sim version of "A Christmas Carol"), and, in the end, equal parts dreamer, grifter and raconteur.

We meet up with Hurst well into his twilight years.Journalist Christopher Robbins is sent to meet the openly gay (and still quite frisky) Hurst, who is searching for a fresh young talent to pen a screenplay about the events leading up to the birth of Christ.A chance encounter of the luckiest sort.Together they travel to Morocco, Ireland and Malta.The friendship that develops, and is so lovingly documented in these pages, is obviously life changing for Robbins.Hurst understood well the business of living in the moment; and though he may have been a bit of a schemer, he opened up a new world of discovery, adventure and infinite possiblities for Robbins.

The years pass, the script gets written and bandied about, but the film is never produced (neither is Hurst's promised autobiography). What remained were the author's copious notes detailing, not only their shared adventures, but many of Hurst's ribald and hilarious stories reported seemingly verbatim.The man was the Irish Scheherazade.Along the way we are introduced to a rogues' gallery of eccentric characters, some royal, some famous, some criminal, some perverted, but all colorful and brilliantly remembered.This volume is often laugh out loud funny.However, Hurst's memories of growing up poor in Ireland, of his family struggles, and the absolute horror of his war experiences, are told with a poignant and shattering clarity.

This has proven to be one of those rare books for me.I never wanted it to end.There aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary to adequately discribe this uniquely rendered memoir.Once read, I defy anyone to forget Brian Desmond Hurst or "The Empress of Ireland."

Sorry To Leave The Party
The Empress of Ireland is the kind of book you don't want to finish, you feel a stab of sorrow when you realize you've passed the halfway mark.This memoir of the author's relationship with the Irish film director Brian Desmond Hurst reads like a novel.You are fully engaged with the characters and have entered another world.It is hilariously funny, deeply moving and the kind of book you will either read again or skim to reread favorite passages.The best book I've read all year.

A Boswell and Johnson Well Matched
I love it.Until I opened the book the name of Brian Desmond Hurst would have rung only the dimmest of bells, but apparently he was a figure of renown in the British film world of the 1940s and 1950s, and had a hand in dozens of films, most of them unreleased this side of the Atlantic, and you get the picture he was no Carol Reed over there.(He did discover Roger Moore.)But he was the funniest raconteur you'll ever read about, and we are lucky that young Christopher Robbins was right there catching all the quips and the bonhomie, and that he wasn't too shocked by the older man's rapacious homosexuality to write it all down for posterity.I haven't laughed out loud reading a book all year, and this one had me doubled over, nearly in pain.On every page you'll find something to cherish, and something to remember.

Some parts have the glory of utter bad taste.Teasing Michael Redgrave about his penchant for bondage (of a particularly painful sort), Desmond Hurst explains to Christopher, "There are a few in jokes about Sir Michael in our circle.'Sir Michael Redgrave, I'll be bound!' and 'Sir Michael is unable to come to the phone now, he's all tied up.'Do you understand?"Christopher though straight-identified shares his patron's love of gossip and scandal.Besides naming names, Robbins also plays discreet and shrouds some of his best stories as blind items.He doesn't reveal the identity of the popular star with a drug problem that made him impossible to work with, but he gives you lots of clues.The name "Richard Dreyfuss" springs to mind.

Beyond the fun and the frivolity, there's a lot of heart in the book.Hurst's memories went way back, to childhood in Belfast, the city where much of the Titanic was built."Brian's father proudly took him to see the great ship launched.'When the news came back of the ship's sinking, a tidal wave of grief struck Belfast.There was not a street in either North or South Belfast that didn't have a house in it with the blinds down, because there were some four hundred technicians from the town on that maiden voyage.'"And just a little while later, World War I was launched, and Brian was sent to Gallipoli, the most heartbreaking of all WWI battles.His clear-eyed and incredibly detailed memories form the best account I've ever read of that awful siege.

Late in the book is a sort of defense of Hurst's films; Robbins makes a case for the best of the war films, but the truth is, he is an unlikely figure to be re-examined.THEIRS IS THE GLORY sounds like a truly odd movie: it's the story of the Battle of Arnhem (later immortalized as A BRIDGE TOO FAR) made shortly after World War II as a "docu-drama," in which every actor you see on the screen, and every technician you don't see behind the screen, had to have fought at Arnhem.Could it really be good?I guess it's possible.History has a way of finding the good inside the bad, and happily Christopher Robbins shares that propensity. ... Read more

Product Description
Alex lives the life of a typical suburban kid, until his first day of high school brings the wrath of the school bully and star football player, Steve. After years of abuse, Alex turns the tables on his tormentor, hatching a slow and brutal plan to end Steve's tortures for good. But will Steve's murder really make life any better for Alex? And what if he actually gets away with the crime? Half Mast is a haunting and powerful tale of revenge? and the inevitable remorse that comes with it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

How is this book not a bestseller!?
Christopher Null- please write another book!Wow.This book is amazing...Don't hesitate to be one of the fortunate people to read this book.

half mast, all great
In brief, this story is about a teenager, who after several years of torment (though "torment" is an understatement) at the hands of a bully/school football star, decides to get even in the most drastic way you can.

He puts his plan in action a month or so before his tormentor is about to graduate and presumably leave his life for good. I was reminded of the Columbine shootists, who performed their unforgettable carnage shortly before they were to graduate, too. You might wonder why they couldn't hang on a little longer, but I think the book does a superb job of showing how each act of bullying piles up until you start seeing things in either/or terms.

Some of the bullying seemed so extreme and unbelievable, but I'm willing to chalk that up to the fact that I've never been a teenage boy. I also had some trouble with how indifferent the protagonist's parents seemed - even when the evidence that there was something seriously wrong going on in their son's life was staring them right in the face. What happened to the protagonist seemed to go far, far beyond even what the most indifferent would chalk up to "boys being boys."

Kudos to the author for resisting the urge to make his protagonist and his friends wealthy and famous while all the baddies got their comeuppance.

The next time something like Columbine happens, those who are looking for at least a few answers to the question of "why?" should read this book. Better yet, they should go talk to their kids.

riveting
This is a book to treasure - exceptionally well-written.A solid plot with a troubled yet engaging lead character - I have no negative comments about this book.It is simply AWESOME.

So much better than I expected
A very tight, well written story about bullies, victims, and high school that kept me turning pages well past bed time. The victim, Alex, is a completely believable recreation of an teenage kid pushed well past his breaking point. The story was so convincing I was flashing back to high school the entire time I read it.

I think the best part of it was that author didn't take sides in the book. Because of that you are left thinking about the characters and the story well after you have finished reading it.

very well done
this is my actual message to the author over IM:

finished your book a couple nights ago (the day after i got it) i like it a lot, very well done

i actually had certain kids in mind that played the dif roles

also strange, i pictured my jr. high caf for the caf scenes even though in the book it was hs ... Read more